Sierra looked down at her worn-out jeans and white, short-sleeved T-shirt. “What’s wrong with this?”
“You’ve been wearing it all day, not to mention that you wore it to work.”
“So? It’s comfortable.”
“Sierra, you could at least make a little effort to act like this is your first date. You know, brush your hair or something. You can borrow some of my makeup if you want.”
Sierra forced herself to swallow the immediate laugh that came to her. She never had worn a pinch of makeup. Why would she start now? And for Randy of all people. It was a ridiculous thought. But she refrained from laughing because it was one of the most generous and un-Tawni-like things her sister had ever said to her. Tawni rarely shared anything, but especially nothing personal like her thoughts, her clothes, her jewelry, or her makeup. Sierra didn’t want to ruin the moment.
“Thanks, but I don’t think so. Not for sitting around eating pizza and going out to the movies.”
Tawni scrutinized Sierra’s face and kept pushing. “A tiny bit of mascara. That’s all I suggest. It’s your choice.”
“Well, okay. I guess so. Just a tiny bit, if it means so much to you.”
“I’m only trying to help!” Tawni snapped.
“I know, and I appreciate it. I really do. But just a little bit of mascara, okay?”
Tawni coached Sierra all the way to their room. “You should change into something other than jeans.”
“What’s wrong with these jeans? They’re my favorite.”
“They make you look fat.”
“They do not.”
“Yes they do. And they look sloppy, like you bought them in the boys department at Sears.”
“I did not!” Sierra protested.
They stopped in front of their bedroom door, and Tawni turned to give Sierra one of her I’m-right-and-you’re-wrong looks.
Sierra stared right back at her. “I did not get them at the boys department at Sears.” Then, lowering her voice and adding a mischievous grin, she stated, “For your information, I bought them in the boys department at T.J. Maxx. They were three dollars cheaper.”
seventeen
AT TEN MINUTES TO SIX, Sierra studied her reflection in the antique beveled mirror above the dresser in her room. Tawni stood behind her, admiring her own handiwork. Sierra’s hair was pulled back in a loose braid fastened at the end with a large wooden clip. She wore no earrings, which made Sierra feel naked. Tawni said they were too cumbersome. The simple, fresh-faced look was what Tawni was after tonight.
“Innocence with a punch of attitude,” she said while twirling the mascara wand over Sierra’s upper lashes. “That’s you to the core, Sierra. You should look the same on the outside as you are on the inside. Now hold still. You’re not making this easy.”
“You’re going to poke me in the eye.”
“No, I’m not. Relax. I know what I’m doing.”
“You’re trying to make me look like you, Tawni. I’m not you!”
“I’m not trying to make you look like me.”
“So why are you doing this?”
Tawni pulled back and in a curt voice said, “Why do you make it so hard for anyone to treat you nicely?”
Sierra’s comeback was, “Maybe it’s because I’m used to certain people criticizing me rather than complimenting me.”
Tawni let the challenge fall to the floor. She went back to running the mascara wand over Sierra’s row of eyelashes. “There.” Tawni stood back, and they studied the results together. “You look really good,” Tawni said. “See what a difference a tiny bit of personal care can make in your appearance?”
Oh brother! Sierra still wasn’t sure how she felt about being “all dolled up,” as her dad called it. She looked at her face without making a comment. Her eyes did look larger. They even looked a little bluer than usual. But the freckles sprinkled across her nose made her look more girlish than sophisticated like Tawni. No amount of makeup could counterbalance that.
Still, she looked older than sixteen. At least, she thought she did. And Paul had thought so too, when he had first met her in London. He hadn’t believed her when she told him her age.
I wish I were going out with Paul tonight instead of Randy, Sierra thought. If I were, I’d let you give me the full treatment, Tawni! I’d want to look as fabulous as I possibly could. But I’m not going out with Paul. I will probably never see him again. I should be happy a guy like Randy is interested in me.
“Well?” Tawni asked. “What do you think?”
Sierra remembered when Granna Mae had stood before this same mirror a number of weeks ago. She had looked closely at her reflection and had touched the wrinkles in the corners of her eyes and said something about being twelve just yesterday.
Somehow Sierra felt she was at a milestone too. It was odd thinking that her grandmother had seen her own reflection in this mirror when she was twelve and when she was sixteen and many more times during the five decades that followed. It was strange to think about Granna Mae being sixteen.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Tawni prodded.
“It’s weird.”
“Oh, thanks a lot.”
“I’m not talking about the makeup. I’m saying it’s weird to think we have only one chance to cross the bridge from childhood into adulthood. And then we can never go back. This feels like one more step across that bridge.”
Tawni looked startled at Sierra’s comment. “Since when did you turn into a philosopher?”
“Don’t you ever think about stuff like that?”
“Yes, of course I do. I never thought you did.”
“I do sometimes. Like now.”
Tawni put away her makeup bag and selected a bottle of fragrance from the collection on her dresser top. She squirted a tiny bit into the air above Sierra’s head. “I think you’re a light, sweet fragrance kind of person. Do you like this?”
Sierra took a whiff of the air. It didn’t smell like Tawni. It was more like a fresh shower scent. “Yes, I like that.”
“Then close your eyes, and I’ll scent your hair.”
“You’ll what?”
“Close your eyes.” Sierra did, and Tawni gave her hair several squirts. “There. Now you’re ready. Except for your outfit, that is.”
“Let’s make a deal,” Sierra said. “You got to do all the stuff above the neck, so I get to pick what goes on below the neck.”
Tawni shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She put the perfume bottle back where it belonged and picked the hairs from her brush.
Sierra sorted through the heap of clean clothes on the floor and pulled out a blue shirt and another pair of jeans. Ignoring her sister’s small sounds of disapproval, Sierra carried the clothes down the hall to the bathroom, where she could change in peace.
Dad returned with the pizza before Randy arrived. Sierra could hear Dad and her brothers in the kitchen. As she headed downstairs, the door opened, and Mom came in, looking tired.
“How’s Granna Mae?” Sierra asked, meeting her in the entryway.
Mom took a second look at Sierra. “You look wonderful! Did you do your hair?”
“No, I was Tawni’s project for the afternoon. I kind of have a date tonight.”
Mom’s tired lines vanished as her face brightened. “You didn’t tell me! Does Dad know?”
“Of course. He invited Randy over for pizza with the family. He should be here any second. Do I look silly?”
“Sierra Mae Jensen,” Mom said, taking Sierra’s hand in hers. “You look adorable. You have no idea how attractive you are.”
Just then they heard heavy footsteps on the front porch and the sound of a male clearing his throat. Then the doorbell chimed. Sierra and Mom squeezed hands and exchanged silent giggles with their facial expressions.
“I think it’s for you,” Mom whispered, slipping into the kitchen.
Before Sierra could answer the door, Gavin and Dillon charged in from the kitchen, fighting over who was goi
ng to open the door. They both jerked the old doorknob at the same time, and the knob fell off in Dillon’s hand.
“You broke it!” Dillon yelled. “Dad, Gavin broke the doorknob.”
“I did not! You did!” Gavin shouted back, pushing his brother.
“Hey, you guys!” Sierra yelled above their shouting. “Cut it out!”
Dad came around the corner from the kitchen with Mom right behind them, both loudly asking what the problem was. At the same time, Tawni appeared at the top of the stairs and hurried down to find out what was going on.
“I’ll need a screwdriver,” Dad said. “Dillon, run out to the workshop and find a Phillips head and a flat head.”
“But I didn’t do it!” Dillon protested.
“I didn’t say you did. Just get them for me, will you? Hang on there, Randy,” Dad called through the closed door. “We’ll open the door in just a minute here.”
Sierra felt herself wilting in the midst of all the frenzy. Randy certainly could hear all the commotion. She wouldn’t blame him if he turned around and ran all the way home. Everyone was talking at once, trying to solve the problem. Dillon returned with three different-sized screwdrivers, and Mom was saying a missing piece probably had fallen on the floor. She got down on all fours and started her safari in between everyone’s legs. Gavin joined her and immediately found a dead bug he wanted to save.
“Try opening it with just the screwdriver,” Tawni suggested. “You don’t need to put the handle on to open it. The same thing happened before with the bathroom doorknob, remember? Granna Mae just uses a coat hanger and sticks it in there.”
“I know how to do this,” Dad said, sounding irritated. “I did grow up in this ancient house, you know.” He pressed something inside the doorknob hole with the flat-head screwdriver. It clicked and Mom popped up her head, colliding with Dad’s elbow.
“Ouch!”
“You okay?”
“Open the door!”
“Stand back, you guys!”
“Wait a second. Let me stand up.”
“Look out for my bug.”
The door opened, and six eager faces smiled to greet Sierra’s date. No one was there.
Sierra thought she was going to cry.
“Hi, guys,” a voice behind them said. They all spun around and saw Wes, Sierra’s oldest brother. Randy was standing next to him. “I found this poor guy out on the porch. Does anyone claim him?”
“I do,” Sierra said, feeling her cheeks turn flaming red.
Mom rushed over to hug Wesley and give him a big kiss. “You didn’t tell us you were coming home from college this weekend.”
“What? Do I need to make reservations now or something? Maybe that was your problem,” Wes said to Randy. “You didn’t call ahead. They only open the door if you call ahead. But now you know my secret: Sneak in through the back door.”
Everyone laughed, and Sierra said, “Everybody, this is Randy. Randy, this is my family. I forgot to warn you about them.”
More laughter.
Randy just stood there with a dazed look on his face.
“Let’s attack this pizza while it’s still hot,” Dad suggested, motioning with his arm that they should all follow him into the kitchen. As he passed Randy, he said, “So, do you like anchovies, Randy?”
“Uh … well, not too much, sir.”
“Oh, too bad,” Dad said.
Sierra stepped over beside Randy and said, “Don’t worry. He didn’t get anchovies. He hates them. He’s just teasing you. He probably got pepperoni or something. Don’t worry.”
“Oh, I’m not worried,” Randy said, his half grin barely inching up the side of his jaw.
Sierra smiled her best smile at him. But Randy looked worried. Very worried.
eighteen
ONCE THE TROOPS were seated at the dining room table, eating pepperoni pizza off of paper plates and sipping Pepsi from the cans, Randy appeared to relax more.
“You look like that guy in that rap group,” Gavin said to Randy. “Are you that guy?”
Randy shot a glance at Sierra and said, “I don’t think so.”
“Are you in a band?” Gavin wanted to know.
“No.”
Gavin looked disappointed.
“My dad used to be, though,” Randy said. “He played the drums.”
“That’s pretty cool,” Dillon said. “Do you play the drums?”
“A little. I play piano some too.”
“Oh.” Apparently piano wasn’t nearly as cool as drums when it came to Dillon’s choice of instruments.
“What does your dad do now?” Mom asked.
“He’s a scientist.”
“Da’ mad Mr. Science-Head,” Gavin said in a deep voice with his arms raised over his head and his hands hanging down like a gorilla.
“It’s a cartoon,” Dillon explained on behalf of his little brother.
“We could have guessed,” Wes said.
“What kind of scientist?” Mom asked.
“He’s sort of a geologist.”
“Sort of?” Tawni challenged.
Randy looked at Sierra, and then with a hopeful expression he said, “He’s actually with a team of men and women who are searching for Noah’s ark.” Randy scanned everyone’s face looking for feedback.
“Fascinating,” Dad said. “Wouldn’t it be something if they found it?”
Randy looked relieved. “Some people think that’s weird. He also works with a team of scientists who study Mount Saint Helens, but he’s really into the Mount Ararat project.”
“Is that where you got that really great coat you wear to school?” Sierra asked. “You told me your dad bought it in Nepal.”
“He brought it back for me last year when he was over there.”
“Does your mom work outside the home?” Mom asked.
“She teaches third grade at the Christian school.”
Sierra glanced around and felt relieved that things were going much more smoothly than they had at first. The conversation continued until all the pizza was gone. Dillon challenged Randy to a game of “Agitated Alligator,” his new video game, and Wes said he would play the winner.
“Do you mind?” Randy asked Sierra. She could tell he was dying to play the game.
“What time do we need to leave for the movies?” Sierra asked.
“It depends on what you want to see,” Randy said. He handed his empty plate to Sierra’s mom as she moved about the table collecting them. “Thanks,” he told her with a smile. “Great dinner.”
“Yes, I slaved all day over a hot pizza oven. Glad you liked it.”
“What do you want to see?” Sierra asked, trying to regain Randy’s attention.
“It doesn’t matter to me. As long as it’s good and clean.”
“Randy,” Dillon called from the family room, “it’s all ready.”
Randy looked at Sierra. She was trying to decide if she should be upset. Everyone else had stepped out of the dining room, and she knew she could say whatever she wanted. “Oh, go ahead. We don’t have to see a movie. We can just hang around here.”
Randy smiled. “You don’t mind?”
She shook her head. “Not this time.”
“Randy!” Dillon called again.
“I owe you a movie,” Randy said.
“I know,” Sierra said. “And I won’t let you forget it, either.”
Sierra showed Randy into the family room, where Wes was already at his place at the controls. “I’ll show you how to work this thing,” Wes said.
“Oh, I think I can manage it,” Randy said.
Wes handed him the controls and said to Dillon, “Look out, little buddy! When they act cool like that, they’re really master video game champions trying to cover up their expertise.”
“What’s ‘expertise’?” Dillon said.
“Watch and learn.” Randy made himself comfortable on the floor and pushed the start button. Sierra had a feeling she wouldn’t see him again the rest of th
e night. She went into the kitchen for a drink of water. Pepperoni always made her thirsty.
Tawni was at the sink, helping Mom with the few dishes that had accumulated during the day. She turned to Sierra and said, “I can’t believe you’re letting him do that!”
“Let who do what?”
“You turned your date over to your brothers. Those guys will play video games all night long. Don’t you care that he jilted you like that?”
“Actually, no. I think I feel more comfortable with my first date being like this.”
“This isn’t a first date. Not when he dumps you for a runt!”
“Tawni,” Mom said gently.
“This is a first date,” Sierra said firmly. “This is how I do first dates. And I happen to like it this way.”
“Well, I sure wouldn’t,” Tawni said.
“It’s not your first date,” Mom said to her older daughter. “Although I remember yours being a bit of a disaster. Didn’t he take you to a restaurant that was out of business?”
“His dad told him it was a good place. They just hadn’t been there for a year.”
“I remember that,” Sierra said. “You ended up at a Dairy Queen or something, and you were all dressed up with your hair fancy and everything.”
“We still had fun,” Tawni said with a slight pout.
“And I intend to still have fun tonight,” Sierra said. “Anyone for a round of Trivial Pursuit?”
“Great idea,” Mom said. “I’ll tell Dad to set it up.”
“I get Wes on my team,” Tawni said.
Within twenty minutes, four teams were steeped in battle over the Trivial Pursuit board. Sierra and Randy were the team in the lead, followed by Mom and Dad. Gavin and Dillon were last, and they pooped out after half an hour and went back into the den to watch a video.
The game went on. At nearly ten o’clock, Sierra reached her hand into the popcorn bowl and drew another fistful to her mouth. Randy rolled the dice, and she said, “Okay, this is it. Game point!”
Randy moved their marker to a hot-pink square, and Wes pulled the question card from the box. “Oh, perfect!” he said, reading the question to himself. “You’ll never get this, Sierra.”
“Let me see,” Tawni said, looking over Wesley’s shoulder. “I have no idea what the answer is. You’ll never get it, Sierra.”