In the Middle of Nowhere by Julie Ann Knudsen

as though my innocent lust for
him would be written all over my face and that everyone around me
would be able to read it, including him.
    I couldn’t believe that Tessa was inviting me
to a party at his house. What would Rocky think if Tessa showed up
with me? Who else would be going? Other girls or just guys? What,
in the name of “The God,” would Erica and Taylor think about
this?
    Again, I was about to respond, “no,” but
wrote something so uncharacteristic, even I couldn’t believe it.
“When can you pick me up?”
    “I’ll head over in about ten,” Tessa
answered.
    I slammed my laptop closed and pushed it far
away from me as if it might infect me with some sort of incurable
virus. What the hell did I just do? I told Tessa that I would go to
a party with her to the home of one of the hottest guys on the
planet. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Who was this
stranger staring back at me?
    I quickly realized there was no turning back.
I jumped up and ran over to my closet to try and figure out which
new outfit I would wear to the party. My initial doubt disappeared
and was replaced with intense mixed feelings of both anticipation
and dread; a combination I had never felt before in my sixteen
years and one week of life.
    • • •
    I looked in the mirror and was quite please
with what I saw. I had on a pretty, lacy navy blue top with a
matching blue cami underneath and a pair of expensive London Edge
jeans. All the girls in my school wanted LE jeans, especially after
tons of celebrities were photographed wearing them. The only
problem was that you could only buy them in specialty
boutiques.
    Luckily, Portland had one such chic shop
called Salsa. Two of the girls at my party had given me gift cards
from there and I used the birthday money my grandma had sent me to
cover the difference in the cost of the trendy denim. My mother had
said that she was “dumbfounded” that I would waste so much money on
one pair of jeans. I wanted to tell her that she was acting like
half of that same word without the “founded” part, but I didn’t
dare. She probably would’ve slapped me.
    I hadn’t had time to take a shower, so I
re-straightened my hair and put on a minimal amount of makeup. I
thought I always looked prettiest if I looked more natural than
heavily made up. I cleaned up my room and fussed with my bed and
comforter.
    I did a final check in the mirror, and once I
was pleased with the product, grabbed my cell phone and keys and
headed downstairs. I now had to deal with the biggest, yet
scrawniest obstacle that was going to come between my night out and
me.
    • • •
    I stood directly in front of the television
and waited for it.
    “What the heck are you doing?” James wailed.
He stood up and tried to push me out of the way. I had braced
myself and didn’t budge.
    “Listen! I’ll make a deal with you.”
    “Get outta my way first!”
    “No. I need your undivided attention.”
    “Fine.” He put down his controller. “Hurry
up!”
    “I’m going out tonight and was gonna leave
you by yourself.”
    “So,” James shrugged. “You’ve done that
before.”
    “Yeah, but last time I got caught.”
    My brother got defensive. “That wasn’t my
fault!”
    “I know. Sorry. But tonight you’re gonna have
to tear your butt away from your video game and into bed before mom
gets back. Remember, she said that she’d be home late.”
    “What if she checks on us?”
    “That’s simple. You’ll be in your bed,
hopefully asleep and I stuffed my bed with clothes to make it look
like I’m in it. Then I’ll just quietly sneak in after Mom’s
asleep.”
    James nodded his approval and became very
thoughtful. I could hear the wheels churning in his head.
    “What’s in it for me?”
    I knew this moment would happen and, luckily,
had already thought out a payment plan.
    “I’ll buy you the Grand Theft Auto video
game, as long as you never let Mom see you playing it.”
    James squinted his eyes and