Chapter 7: Hottie Efoti

BY THE TIME RUTHIE and I rolled into the school parking lot, we were back to discussing the most important things in a teenage girl's life - clothes and boys. Just like old times.

"You have to show me where you got those jeans! The pockets rock!" Ruthie gushed. "Okay, how's the makeup?" She pursed her lips and gave me her most seductive look. I rolled my eyes.

"Are you kidding? You look perfect, as usual," I assured her. "You remind me of Jennifer on 'Court of Palms.'"

"Court of Palms" was Ruthie's favorite teen soap, and she considered Jennifer the hottest girl on the show. I only watched it when we were hanging out. Ruthie commentated each episode with paparazzi-like detail. A spontaneous giggle bubbled up inside me at the memory, but it was pierced with a happy cry at the fond memories and sudden gratitude that I had my best friend back.

She stared at me, wide-eyed, moisture welling up in them. "Oh, Tru!" She started fanning herself. "You've been watching our show!"

I gave her a trembling grin. "Of course! I had to catch up on all that soap smut before you got home so we could be ready for the new season, right?" I could almost read her mind - this was one of the best ways for me to show I was 100 percent back to BFF status.

She gave me a smile and fanned her watery eyes with her hands. "Oh, good gravy, girl! You're gonna wreck my mascara!"

"But, like," I said with my best valley girl accent. I knew it sucked and would crack her up. "Don't let it all out at once. You better, like, put on your Prada glasses."

Ruthie didn't disappoint. With a wink, she played along. "You are so right! They can't handle all of me yet."

She pulled out her black Prada glasses, which looked great with her purple belted tunic and skinny jeans. A long gold chain hung down to her stomach, which somehow emphasized her ample chest - a purposeful move on her part, I was sure. Large gold hoops swung from her ears. She finished her outfit with black mid-high sandals, giving her more height than she normally had.

My ensemble was mild in comparison. The topaz jewels on my back pockets were my only adornment. The jeans were dark denim. The yellow stitching stood out, emphasizing the back pockets and elongating my legs, which ended in gold Converses. Yes, Dad, gold shoes, I thought. He hadn't understood how awesome they were, but Ruthie did. My white T-shirt had a gold and brown owl on the front - profile only, thank goodness, because two owl eyes on my chest was asking for the wrong kind of attention. The T-shirt fit snugly in all the right places. My hair hung in waves down my back, my "golden lava look," according to Ruthie. While she went all out on the makeup, I stuck to mascara and lipgloss. She disliked my makeup-less style, but she rarely pressured me to wear more since our makeovers at the mall a few years ago. She had looked chic and fashionable while I had resembled a Vegas street walker. I'd stuck to neutral colors after that.

Even though I knew I looked better than I ever had at school, my pulse suddenly kicked up and my hands grew clammy. I couldn't even bring myself to open the car door.

Facing my classmates after being such a loser last year was starting to bring on a minor panic attack. Unfortunately, I knew what one was because I'd had a major one in front of everyone six months ago - my worst school moment ever. Ruthie noticed my dilemma. She reached over and hugged me.

"Tru, you seriously have nothing to worry about. Your new hotness will cancel out last year like it never happened. Trust me!"

More thankful than I could say, I hugged her back.

I reached for the car handle. "Let's do this," I said.

Ruthie suddenly let out a gasp. "Who is that?!"

I peered through the windshield to see who she was talking about. Walking through the parking lot in front of us was, well, a really hot guy who looked familiar. And strolling beside him was the most gracefully beautiful girl I had ever seen.

"Holy tri-tip!" Ruthie's jaw hung open. "That's Isaac and Phoebe Efoti!"

I blinked in surprise. "No way! They look like they grew a whole foot since I last saw them. And wow!" Isaac's muscles bulged through his t-shirt, making me lose my train of thought. "Wow," I repeated.

Had I been so out of it that I hadn't noticed how much everyone around me had changed? No, I was sure the two of them had looked very different the last time I'd seen them. I remembered Isaac as cute in a short and adorable kind of way. But no one was going to compare him to a teddy bear this year. Walking across my vision, he looked like the kind of guy you asked for help when you needed to move a piano - upstairs, three stories. He towered over the other students, and his neck and shoulders were lumberjack thick. I remembered Ruthie saying that he spent a lot of time surfing. I could easily see him jogging down a beach with his longboard. In fact, I kind of liked envisioning him running down the shore.

His sister, Phoebe, glided alongside him, tall and willowy next to his bulk. She looked like a Hawaiian princess, or that actress turned princess, Grace somebody, only Polynesian. While Isaac sported curly dark hair, with sun-bleached ends, Phoebe's hair was smooth and straight, like ebony fabric. They might easily pass as relatives, but hardly looked like siblings, let alone twins.

"Man!" whispered Ruthie. "They must feel like giants next to their mom. She's from Taiwan, I think. I never thought the twins would get tall, let alone awesome tall. Double dang! Looks like they're going with the Tongan DNA."

"Yeah," I agreed, remembering what I knew about their parents. Their dad, a Pacific Islander, was more of an average-sized guy, definitely under six feet. But even so, he looked like the Incredible Hulk next to their mom.

"Did you know that Isaac had a crush on you last year?" asked Ruthie.

I looked at her with surprise. "Really? You never told me."

"Well, you would have noticed yourself if you weren't ..." She stopped and pressed her lips together before giving me a contrite look. "Well, you know," she finished lamely.

She was referring to my dark phase, the days and months I wanted to forget - except for that one day. I wished I could remember it. But even though I didn't remember the details, I was constantly reminded of the consequences. It was going to haunt me forever. Luckily, Ruthie hadn't totally bailed on our friendship like all my other friends. It would have much worse without her. She'd been loyal the whole time, hanging out with me even when I was dead boring. I hadn't had the energy to invest on anyone else, and one by one, my other friends had dropped away.

I had been an emotional dark hole.

So it was no surprise, really, that I hadn't noticed Isaac's interest in me. Besides, as I recalled, I was pretty dweeby-looking my first two years of high school - and I had the yearbook pictures to prove it. Who would have thought anyone like him would be crush on someone like me? Ruthie must have spent a lot of time with the twins for Isaac to tell her that.

"Oh yeah, you hung out with them a lot last year, right?" I sidestepped the delicate subject of my mental absence last year.

Ruthie gave me a considering look.

"Well, you'll always be my best friend, Tru, but I needed to re-energize with a few others last year, because, well ... sometimes you needed some space."

More like she needed space; not that I blamed her. "Ruthie ..."

"No, it's totally okay!" she insisted. "I probably would have lost it, too. But, look." She squeezed my hand. "You're back. You were coming back before I left for the summer and it really sucked that my parents made me leave." She sighed and then shook off pity and regret. Look back through the windshield, she announced, "Let's not dwell on the past. It's a new year and for freakin' fried chicken! Isaac Efoti is a hottie! Did you see him?"