Chapter 3

The rest of that first week of school went smoothly. Friday though, Sara had a date with Scott. He was supposed to pick her up and take her out to dinner and a movie. She still went home with me Friday after school but had teased me while we walked to the bus stop.

“You know I was serious about Laura giving you a ride home if you wanted her to.” Sara said while we walked side by side to where we would catch the bus.

“Uh huh, sure.” I rolled my eyes at her.

“You don’t believe me?”

“Nope.” I really didn’t either.

“Sam! I’m telling you the truth.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Fine then, you asked for it.”

I kind of expected my sister to say something else after that but she didn’t. That actually gave me pause and that pause was just enough to let in a sliver of doubt. Maybe she was telling the truth...

It wasn’t until we were sitting on the long bench seat all the way in the back of the bus that I finally turned to Sara.

“You’re really serious,” I said. “Laura really has a crush on me.”

“I’m pretty sure, yes,” Sara grumbled.

“If that’s true, how come I haven’t seen her.” I stared at Sara, looking for any signs or hints that she was lying, but there weren’t any.

“You haven’t?” Sara looked at me sideways, questioningly.

“No!” I exclaimed in surprise. “If I had, I wouldn’t have just said I didn’t.”

“Are you sure?” Now it was Sara’s turn to give me that same I don’t believe you look I had given her.

“Of course, I am sure.”

“Well, maybe it’s because Laura changed a bit over the summer...”

“Changed, what do you mean, changed? Did she dye her hair a different color or get it cut short or something?”

“No, not really. Nothing like that.”

“Then changed how?”

“Well, she lost weight. Quite a bit actually.” I gave her a startled, worried look and she hurried to continue explaining. “She wasn’t really fat ... before.”

“Not that I remember.” I agreed.

“She’s really not fat now.” The way she emphasized ‘really’ statement startled me.

“Like anorexic? Is she sick?”

“Oh God no,” Sara gave me a dire look. “She just ... well, lost weight.”

“So, I wouldn’t recognize her now?”

“Maybe...” Sara shrugged.

“What do you mean, maybe? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“You’ll just have to see for yourself.” Sara smirked but didn’t say anything further on the subject.

When we got home, Mom was already there and immediately started fussing over what Sara was going to wear on her date with Scott. I just groaned and rolled my eyes. Neither Sara or Mom were impressed with my reaction at all. So, I did what one would do in my situation. I decided to hide in my room until it was time for dinner. I was sure it would be a lot safer in there than anywhere else in the house.

I was right, for about an hour. That’s when they came barging into my room.

“What do you think?” Mom asked, snapping my attention away from my computer.

“Of wha ... holy shit!” I gasped.

Mom was smirking and Sara had a shy smile on her face.

“I told you he would like it,” Mom announced proudly.

I did like it; I couldn’t take my eyes off Sara’s outfit. She was wearing a stunning dress that reached all the way down to her ankles. Form fitting wasn’t the right description. More form hugging or even squeezing. It was black and tight, and where the fabric strained, it lightened, making it nearly transparent over and around Sara’s curves. At the top it had thin straps over her shoulders and a neckline that dropped just enough to show off Sara’s incredible cleavage, but not so much as to be truly daring or improper. The bottom was different, it was loose and flowing from her hips to the hem.

I made the universal gesture with my finger for her to turn around. Sara giggled and did as I requested. When she spun, the bottom of her dress lifted showing off her lean, toned calves.

I scanned her from head to toe. Not a single crease or line anywhere, which wasn’t all that surprising, but it assured me that she wasn’t wearing panties. I knew she wasn’t wearing a bra because I saw a hint of the outline of her nipples where the fabric had thinned as it stretched.

“You look amazing, Sara,” I declared, leaning back in my chair with my arms crossed in front of me.

“Really?” Sara questioned, like she didn’t quite believe me.

“Oh, come on,” I groaned. She was fishing for compliments and I knew it. I still obliged her though. “You know you look gorgeous.”

“Thanks, Sam,” Sara’s smile was radiant as she bent over and wrapped me in a hug. “You’re the best.”

“Okay, you got your answer,” Mom cut in and Sara released me from her hug. “We still have to figure out what to do with that hair of yours.”

Both girls left my room, bouncing and giggling between themselves.

Something odd was going on with Sara. I couldn’t quite figure out what it was, but it was definitely different and strange. I shrugged it off as a girl thing and didn’t give it much more thought. Girls are just strange. The running joke with all the men at camp was that if anyone managed to figure a woman out, they had to share the secret with the rest of them. Needless to say, no one had found such an answer yet.

Scott showed up right before dinner. The knock at the door came as I was setting the table. Everyone had thrown on some level of clothing because of Scott’s impending arrival. That way no one had to run and hide when he eventually showed up.

“Sara, Scott’s here!” Mom yelled from where she was stirring the spaghetti sauce on the stove.

“I’ll get it,” I answered when Sara didn’t immediately come running down the stairs.

I unlocked and opened the door to find Scott standing there smiling, his hands behind his back which I assumed was to hide his nervously fidgeting fingers. He was wearing a pair of jeans, white basketball shoes and his black high school letterman jacket.

“Hey, come in,” I said dryly and stepped aside to give him room. “Sara should be down in a second.”

“Thanks, Sam.” Scott’s voice was pleasant to everyone else, but sounded like nails on a chalkboard to me at that moment.

I rolled my eyes behind his back. Scott wasn’t a small guy. He was on the varsity basketball team and had been since he was my age so of course he was tall. Tall enough to tower over me easily.

“I’ll go get Sara for you.” I told him.

“No, you won’t. You’re going to finish setting the table, Sam,” Mom said from the entrance to the kitchen. “Hello, Scott. She should be down in a second. She just finishing getting ready.”

“Thanks,” Scott smiled, doing his best to not shift his weight around nervously.

The sound of feet came from the stairs, and I watched the expression on Scott’s face go from excitement to terror as my dad appeared and not the expected Sara.

“Don’t worry,” My dad chuckled when he say the look on Scott’s face, “She’s right behind me.”

Just then, Sara appeared as if by magic looking absolutely incredible. Scott’s breath audibly caught in his throat, and I grinned at his shock and discomfort.

“Hi,” Sara smiled, a hint of red rising in her cheeks.

“Umm, hey. You look, uhh...”

“Beautiful,” I whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear but for Scott’s benefit. “I think the word you’re looking for is beautiful.”

“Yeah, beautiful,” Scott gulped. “You look beautiful.”

There was a round of chuckles at Scott’s expense, which made his face flush a deep crimson.

“Have fun you two, but your curfew young lady is twelve o’clock, understand?” My dad announced in a firm tone.

“Yes sir, I’ll have her home in time, I promise.”

“See that you do.”

With Sara officially off on her date with her boyfriend that left just me, my mom, and my dad for dinner. If there was ever a time to bring up the topic of grandpa’s pickup, it was now.

I didn’t jump right into it the moment we all sat down though, I waited for a while. Mom kept giving me strange looks the whole time. I couldn’t sit still and it was obvious I wanted to say something, but I just hadn’t done it yet. Without Sara to use as a distraction, a lot more attention was on me than normal. So, of course my anxious energy was noticed right away.

“What’s going on with you?” My dad asked between bites.

“Nothing,” I answered quickly, shoveling another forkful of mashed potatoes in my mouth.

“Sam, you’re squirming around like there is a fire under your chair,” Mom said. “Just spit it out already.”

“Well,” I managed to say around a mouthful of food. I did have my hand up in front of me face, covering my mouth so they couldn’t see my mouthful of food. It took me a second and some furious chewing, but I managed to swallow everything down. “I wanted to ask about getting a car ... or something.”

Mom smiled and Dad raised an eyebrow in question, leaning back in his chair.