Trailer Park Princess (5 page)

I have to admit I look awesome. Amandolette has dusted me all over with some weird glitter brush, so I literally sparkle. And she has agreed to drop me off so I can surprise him. “OK, so you’re hot once again, Rory, like super legal age hot. He is going to bust a…. haaaaa…. Ewww! DO. NOT. GET. ANYTHING. ON. MY. DRESS. FOR. REALZ.” And on that note, we make our way to Toby’s house. My hands are sweating, and my heart is pounding. What if he hates his gift? No matter how I dress up and act, if I give him his gift wrong, he may hate it.

“You have to get out of the car, girl; he can’t see all your hotness in here. Stop acting cray-cray and go already.” Mando reaches across and pops my door open while pushing me out. “Call me if you need a ride, babe. Love ya long time. TOODLES,” she
 coos while backing out. No turning back…

It’s times like this I need to be prettier. No, scratch that—I need to love me more. I need that confidence I can only find with Toby. He makes me feel beautiful. Most of my nerves come from being in Toby’s house. Reason One being his parents hate me. Well, his mom does, and I’m sure his dad does by default even though he’s never really met me.
  Reason Two is the fact that we will be alone, and even though Toby does not push me for anything, I’m kind of worried. When we first met, he made it clear to me he was waiting, per his religion, to be married before he had sex. But over the months he has expressed more interest in other areas. Sometimes I feel like he has done way more than he lets on, and I catch myself wondering if he gets mad when I stop his roaming hands. Oh well, I need to stop killing time and knock.

Toby answers the door looking very Sunday Tobyish. Black slacks with a white button up and tie on that matches my dress. I smile as he gawks at me like a teenage boy at the Bunny Brothel. His eyes slide over me from head to toe, making a few pit stops along the way. Finally, after soaking the floor in drool, he backs up and ushers me inside.

“How did you know to dress up, or the color of my dress?” I ask.

“I got a text from Amandolette telling me to dress up, and an image of the dress was attached prompting me to make sure I matched it!” he laughs. “Aurora, you look absolutely electrifying tonight. Pretty sure my heart just skipped a beat or heck, maybe even stopped working altogether.”

All I can return is, “Thank You.” He takes me by my arm and leads me to the dining room where he has candles lit. Two covered plates are on the table, and soft music is playing.

“I know you wanted to give me my present, but I felt it only right to make sure you were treated properly beforehand.” OMG, he thinks my gift is SEX! Seriously?

“Toby, I think you are confused. We can eat, but your gift will need to take place in the den.” He blinks, and it registers. Now he gets it.
Duh, no sex, Toby
.

“RORY! I just meant you should be treated like a lady, nothing else.” Ha! I can tell he’s covering up.
  He pulls out my chair and pushes me in as I sit. Uncovering the dish, I have to giggle.

“Chicken-n-Rice. Did you make it? Oh, and I love the drinks!” The sweet boy tried, and that is what truly matters. Not the fact that I’m about to eat boiled rice covered in chicken soup and a can of chicken chunks. And I just love the juice boxes. Come to think of it, I bet they are for him because they are a good source of Vitamin C.
AND OMG AT THE JELLO CUP
!  It’s kind of cute, though. Wow! Toby’s mom really does baby him. I drank colored water until I was old enough to read. How was I to know I was supposed to add anything other than the water and the powder from the Kool-Aid packet? It was so nasty, but I drank it that way for years, never knowing to add sugar. Now, I add sugar!

We eat our supper under the flickering candle light, which also tickled me because instead of using the tall, beautiful candles on the long table, he used some scented candles that usually went in the bathroom or somewhere. Instead of sitting at the other end of the table, he sits right next to me where our knees are touching. I love when we have that innocent physical connection. It’s like a zap of lightning straight to my inner core. I love Toby like I have never loved anything in my life, and I know he feels it, too.

 We finish our meal and make our way to the den, juice boxes in hand. I pull the wingback chair up close to the grand piano and tell him, “Sit.” I know he is confused because I’ve never told him about my love for the piano. He knows I adore music and beats, but this is something I taught myself years ago at the old school where my favorite teacher just happened to be my music education teacher. She helped me get started, but it was something that just came natural. It’s been a long time since I ran my fingers across the beautiful black and white keys. As soon as my hand touches it, I let out a breath I did not even know I was holding.  I run my hand down the entire keyboard, letting the strum ring out into the entire house. It kills me, knowing this amazing piece of art sits here unused. When he told me it was just decoration, I about died on the spot.

I bang out a few horrible notes and smile when Toby cringes. I give him a lopsided smile and wink before I sit up straight and start playing. It all flows out perfect. Never missing a beat, I key
Kiss the Rain
by Yiruma. He’s a South Korean pianist. He makes the most amazing sounds with his fingers. (On the real, I bet musicians are great at lots of things with their fingers.) Yiruma is my musical inspiration.

Toby is entranced and smiling while I finish out the song. I jump at the end when Toby squeezes me, not even realizing I had closed my eyes.

“Rory, that was amazing! How did…where did…I did not know you could do that!” I smile. “Can you play anything?” I nod yes, not understanding why he is asking.

“I can play anything I have ever heard,” I reply. He is not saying anything, just watching. So I sit back down and start something new he will recognize. I go directly to Bruno Mars, of course, and I play my version of
Liquor Store Blues
. It’s a little different, but I see it as soon as it registers with him, and his smile just gets wider and wider till both dimples are full-on beaming at me. I would do anything for that smile.

Toby stands and claps to let me know what he thinks about my hidden talent. “You will have to do that more often; it’s amazing. And why are not you doing this at school? You could get a scholarship and come with me. Rory, like seriously, you could be in the band, and we could be together always, even when I leave.” I smile even though his comment just ruined my perfect night.

“Toby, One: you know I can’t graduate this year. Two: I do not have time for extra classes; I’m killing myself to get and stay caught up as it is. And Three: even if I could, what would I do about Thaxton? I can’t leave him. I’m all he has, and you know that.” I drop my head and walk towards the door. “Merry Christmas. I hope you liked it, but if it’s OK I think I should get home. I have breakfast shift tomorrow.” I open the door and never look back at him.

The ride is quiet. He pulls into the drive-through, but no one ever asks what he wants, so he throws a hissy and jerks the truck into a spot.

“I’m grabbing a milkshake, baby; what flavor you want? “ I can tell he is upset, and I don’t blame him. Five months from now, our relationship will be tested, and it’s scary. But I have faith in us, and he should, too. He will be here over the summer and all major holidays. It will be OK.

“Oreo, please.” I give a sad smile back and look at my mp3 player, searching for the perfect song I need. Music is my mood; always has been. It’s the one thing in my life I can always count on. After about fifteen minutes, I start wondering what is taking him so long. I can’t see through the glass of the building, so I call his phone. The blaring from the cup holder shows me it’s sitting with me in the truck, so I jump down from the seat and make my way inside to see if he needs help. I stop as soon as my hand reaches the door. I can’t help but stare at the site I see. Toby standing there with three cups cradled in his arm, laughing and joking with his hand wrapped around none other than queen plastic ex bitch Ashley. She sees my face and smiles. She knows she has hurt me without saying a word to me. The only thing that keeps me calm is the still-yellowing bruise across the bridge of her nose from our last fall out. I touch my nose, watching it register with her, and when she reaches up to touch hers in fear, Toby turns to see me as I walk away. I stomp off still wearing Mando’s dress, and Toby comes screaming for me to wait to try to explain. I want nothing to do with whatever he has to say. I always overlook his mistakes, proclaiming him perfect. He grabs my shoulder to get my attention, and my temper flares. Turning on my heels, I scream at him like a baby dinosaur.

“I HATE HER, TOBIAS!”
Holy cow! His real name. Where did that come from?
“YOU KNOW IT! And yet you stand there, knowing I’m sitting in the truck waiting for you, with your ARMS around her. There is no excuse you can give me to make it OK. NONE!” I lose the fight in me to the sadness, and tears start pouring from my eyes. I know my makeup is running, and right now, I hate myself for dressing up for him. I gave him something from me tonight I never give anyone, and he has just ruined it. TWICE! I’m starting to think he does not care as much as I thought he did. I jerk my arm away from him.

“Do not touch me or look at me, and do not feed me your dramatic bullshit. I don’t want to hear it. I GIVE GIVE GIVE and you just take take…take.” I turn to walk off and notice he still has all three cups. “You forgot to give your queen her milkshake, Toby. Just go away and leave me alone. I can do bad all by myself.”

I think he is going to let me go without a fight when I hear a gasp and a sob escape him at the same time.

“Rory, please baby, please listen to me. I love you, and I did not do anything wrong. This other cup is for Thaxton.” I stop in my tracks. He thought about my brother? “Rory, I swear I was laughing because I tripped her and when she fell she grabbed for me. I lifted my arm to shake her off.” Oh, he is lying.

“Toby, you idiot, I saw you hug her.”

Blinking he informs me, “No, I was not; you were mad and saw what you wanted. I had two cups in one hand and one in the other. I could not hug her mid-fall if I wanted to. WHICH I DO NOT! Think about this for a minute.”

I stand there just fuming, letting my pride get the best of me.

“COME ON, RORY! I love you, and you know that. Look at me, standing here in this parking lot, crying my face off, in front of all of them.” He throws his hand back at the door of the Dairy Bar, and sure enough, there stands his whole crew. The crew he is king of. The crew who refuses me. “What do I have to do? Do I have to get on my knees to prove to you that you are it for me?”
 And with that he drops the milkshakes and hits his knees, still in his dress clothes, tears pouring down his face, hands held towards me.  I can’t do anything but stare. I look over at his friends and see them looking at us with blank expressions. That’s when Clay opens the door, unable to witness it anymore.

“Rory, please give the man his dignity back and stop this. He was not doing anything wrong. I was sitting right there. He tried to be funny, and it backfired; that is it.” Clay sounds so sad.

“But I saw… he was…” Wow, I sound pathetic.

“What you saw was Toby trip Ashley and all of us laugh at her. He tried to shake her off, and Zac said something funny about Ashley just could not let Toby go. We were all laughing, and the next thing we know, Toby is running after you. I know it looked bad, but seriously, I wouldn’t lie to you, and you know that.”

I don’t know Clay very well, and I almost don’t believe him, but I notice the new shoes he has on and smile. Clay is rocking the same classics I normally do. Honestly, he is the only one who’s nice to me in the whole bunch, and he has no reason to lie. I think he really is a good guy. So I let my guard down and give a still teary-eyed Toby a small smile. I crook my finger at him and can’t help but say, “How do you call your lover boy?” Toby jumps up and grabs me around my waist, twirling me. He slides me down him, so we are face to face. He whispers, “I say babyyy, my sweet babbyyyy.” At that, I let out a gut laugh, put my hands on each side of his face, and kiss him hard. Looking over his shoulder, I see a raging-mad Ashley with her hands cocked on her hips, trying to burn a hole through me. So what do I do? I wink at her and kiss him again. We do not break it up until we hear Clay, “Ehhh, well I did not sign up for all that. Now I either need to get a girlfriend or go trip Ashley again to take that image away.” As he turns to walk off, he says, “Toby, you mess up again, and I may steal her from you.” I hear him chuckle before the door shuts, cutting off his laugh. We are alone again, and it’s time to get home. Milkshake-less, but that’s OK.