Page 10 of Noticing Natalie
Tim was taking me to prom. I was pretty sure Lynne had asked him to, considering he’d never offered to do that before. I’d never been to a dance, and he’d been to all of them. But whatever. I didn’t really care. I was just excited to get to go to prom.
Okay. That was a lie. I was half in love with Tim, even though I didn’t want to admit it to myself. It had happened slowly over the years. But I knew he didn’t feel the same way. Not at all. Tim had a definite type, and it wasn’t me. He liked tall, blonde girls with big boobs, a nice ass, and little ambition.
I wanted to be a doctor or a physician’s assistant, had black hair, blue-green eyes, and was skinny as hell. That was even after I’d gained a little weight over the past few months. I also wore glasses, had braces, and my activities ran towards the debate team and scholars bowl—not cheerleading or the dance team.
“I wish you’d wear contacts,” Alexis said, wrinkling her nose and breaking me out of my thoughts. Her golden curls cascaded over her shoulders, and I found myself to be slightly jealous of her. She was gorgeous in a way that outshone all her other beautiful family members. She was also semi-famous. She had tons of followers on social media. She was a nationally ranked tennis player. She wasn’t in danger of qualifying for Wimbledon or anything, but she’d probably get a college scholarship.
We all knew her fame had more to do with her looks than her prowess on the court, even though that wasn’t fair. She was actually climbing the junior ranks, and I was beginning to wonder if her tennis career might extend past getting a full scholarship to a D1 school.
I rolled my eyes at her. “I’ve told you; I can’t imagine sticking my fingers in my eyes.”
“It’s not like that,” she insisted, not caring that we’d had this fight multiple times before. “Once you get the hang of it, you don’t touch your eyes at all.”
“Maybe one day,” I muttered, even though it would be a cold day in hell before I did what she was asking me to do. Besides, I liked glasses.
“Are you ready? My God, it’s been forever!” Tim yelled from downstairs.
I heard Pete getting onto him.
“Well, I guess I’m ready,” I said. I thought I looked kind of pretty with my hair done and makeup on. And the dress and heels were really flattering.
Lynne kissed the top of my forehead. “You look beautiful, dear. Now let’s get a few pictures.”
I met Tim’s eyes as I walked down the stairs and was surprised to see appreciation there.
“Damn, girl!” His eyes lit up and he grinned at me, his dimples flashing. He looked insanely handsome in his tux. “You look awesome, Nat.”
“Thanks,” I said softly. “You look good, too.”
He smoothed his lapels. “I do, don’t I?”
“God, you’re so arrogant,” I laughed. I came down the rest of the stairs, and he slipped a wrist corsage on me. “Thanks. Your boutonniere is in the fridge. I’m not super comfortable putting that on you…”
“Yeah, that’s a job for Mom,” he agreed.
***
“Why do you have to go so far away?”
I sighed and looked at my plate. We were at one of Indigo Falls’ nicest restaurants, Louisiana Street. Most couples went to Halliwell or Atlanta to eat before the prom, but we’d decided to stay here where it was less crowded, and we knew the food wasgood. I was eating shrimp étouffée, while Tim had red beans and rice.
“We’ve talked about this So. Many. Times. I got a full ride to Brown. It’s my dream school. Why wouldn’t I go?”
He looked uncomfortable. “It’s just… I’m really going to miss you.”
I smiled at him. “I got a full ride to Emory, too. I haven’t fully made up my mind. Besides, whatever I decide I’ll come home for breaks. We’ll still see each other. And we have the whole summer ahead of us.”
“That’s true, I guess,” he said grudgingly.
Tim was going to Georgia Tech to major in civil engineering and minor in geology. He wanted to work at the quarry. He’d always wanted to do that, which I’d kind of thought was odd, but whatever.
We all had our dreams. Mine was to go into healthcare. I’d felt so incredibly helpless while listening to my mother slowly die in the front seat of the car. I just kept thinking that if she’d had a doctor close by, she might’ve made it.
And then my life would’ve been completely different.
I was really leaning towards become a nurse. The doctors might have saved my physical body after the wreck, but the nurses had started me on the path to saving my soul. Showing that they cared about me even though my dad hadn’t seemed to, had been crucial for me. And I wanted to give that to other people.
We ordered beignets for dessert, and I thought it was the best part of the meal.
