C4 4

I was getting angry as I looked at this boy with my mouth wide open. My mouth was open because I just couldn't think of the words I needed to say.

The boy's smile didn't change, but when I didn't say anything, he raised his eyes. As he ran his eyes over my face, he looked so cocky. Maybe he was hoping for a clever comeback and was pleased when he saw a hint of vulnerability on my face instead.

I just couldn't get rid of that feeling of weakness. In the end, he was right, and he had said the truth right away. He could see right through my new clothes and make-up, so it was like my whole act was a lie. As if I were just made of glass. Or maybe plastic that looks like glass but is really just plastic.

"What a deal!" Just seconds after he said the words, Daisy spoke quickly. I could hear all the different feelings that were in her voice. Panic, irritation, and protection.

The single word came from behind me in a loud voice, and I watched as the boy, whose name I think was Sterling, kept his eyes on me for a second longer before flicking them to her.

She said, "She wasn't homeless," and I heard the small click-clack of her shoes on the concrete.

As she talked, I pursed my lips. I wasn't homeless when I got Daisy's email, but that was true. Yet.

"We didn't save her either!" Daisy huffed and could finally be seen. I took my eyes off Sterling, who was laughing as he looked back and forth between Daisy and me.

She looked beautiful in a long white dress that fit her body just right. Her light hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, and the golden strands behind her bounced in the air. She had the same look as what she was. Like me, she wasn't made of glass or plastic.

"And that was like, literally so rude of you to say that to my sister, Sterling," Daisy said, shaking her head like he was a baby she was paid to watch and scold.

"What?" Sterling laughed out loud in surprise. "Why was that so mean? I told her she was hot."

If my eyes could roll any more, I might have broken a blood vessel in my face. Daisy gave a sigh that told me she was used to having to deal with him.

"You are such a guy," she said with a sigh. "Say sorry."

"It was the icing on the cake," Sterling said as he raised his hands in front of him and shrugged.

Daisy cut him off by saying, "Do it," which made Sterling sigh heavily.

He shook his head and looked at the ground. I could tell, though, from the way he grinned that he thought this whole thing was funny.

Sterling finally lifted his head, and with one hand he ruffled his messy hair. I watched him move more, but I wasn't as amazed as I had been before. Like, I wanted to remember his face so I could think of it the next time I wanted to hit something.

This time, when I looked at his face, it only made me feel more angry. He had a strong jaw and big lips. The small amount of hair on his chin and the way all of the above fit together. But mostly his eyes, because they weren't blue or brown like I thought they would be. They had a dark grey color.

I disliked them.

"Listen," he said, and the sound of his voice made me worry. He made me mad, it was pretty easy. Maybe I could have put up with him if he hadn't said stupid things that made me feel bad about myself.

He did, though. I won't do it.

Sterling stopped for a moment, and then his eyes moved to my sister. Daisy looked like she wanted to hurt him, just like I did.

"Dahlia," she said in a firm voice, her eyes flashing cold as she understood from what he didn't say that he wanted her to fill in the blanks.

Sterling nodded, and then he gave me a fake smile and looked back at me. "Dahlia," he said after that. "I'm sorry if I upset you. I just wanted to say that you weren't what I thought you would be."

Again, he raised his eyebrows as if he was proud of himself and wanted me to understand. But I couldn't find it in me to do that, so I just stared back at him.

"Oh my god, Sterling," I said. Good, she doesn't like you. "My sister hates my best friend, and they've only known each other for five fucking minutes!" Daisy yelled, crossing her arms as she spoke.

When she spoke, I could feel my face move a little. This was the best friend of my sister? I looked at my sister, who seemed like the biggest girly-girl ever, and then back at Sterling, who looked like he would have tried to fuck her as soon as they met. I was looking for the link, the part that seemed to go with everything else. It didn't look like there was one.

Daisy repeated, "I'm on her side," and I felt her arm wrap around mine. "Sisters come before misters, after all."

"Didn't you two just meet like, today?" Sterling looked at the way our arms were linked and I wasn't sure if he was jealous or just cautious.

"What do you think?" Daisy shot back, and her words had a hint of a laugh in them.

"Daze, you've known me for 13 years!" Even though he was laughing, I could tell he was serious. "Listen," he said as he turned around and looked at me. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Dahlia. Pardon me?"

When Sterling looked at me, his eyes were bright. I was sure he did this on purpose. He looked at me so confidently, as if he was sure that I would melt when he looked at me.

He made me want to laugh.

I said, "No," and kept my face as cold as ice.

And the dumb look that came over his face when he heard my answer made me want to laugh even more.

"Is she there?" We were stopped by a girl's high-pitched voice and the sound of shoes running toward us.

Before I could even turn around, blonde hair was in my face and skinny arms were around me. I was surrounded by a cloud of expensive perfume that made me want to sneeze.

"Oh, God!" Dahlia, baby! "I'm so excited!" Her high voice shot into my ear, and since her mouth was right next to it, I couldn't help but jump.

I was struck, but I was let go just seconds later. When the blonde hair was taken out of my eyes, I could finally see the face of the person who had hurt me.

"My name is Tiff!" She said it with excitement as her hands grabbed mine. "That's short for Tiffany. And that's short for Tiffany-May," she said with a big smile, her blue eyes darting over my face. "But you can still call me Tiff!"

I laughed a little at how excited she was, and even though this was a kind of meeting I hadn't had before, it was much more friendly than the one Sterling gave me.

I smiled and said, "Hi, I'm..."

"God," she said, shaking her head at me. "You're so beautiful. Daisy, don't you think she's pretty? Sterling, huh? You told her she's beautiful, right?"

"That's exactly what I said..." Sterling began, but Daisy and I both talked at the same time.

"No, you didn't," she said. All of us spoke at the same time.

Tiff's eyes got big, and I'm sure mine did, too. "Wow, are you guys sure you're not twins? You're both talking at the same time, and you even look like twins. "Except for the hair, but..."

Sterling said, "I don't see it," and I wondered why he was still there.

I wanted him not to be.

"Really? That's what you think?" Daisy, on the other hand, seemed very happy about the idea.

"I'm a year older than Daisy," I said, hearing how much more shy my voice was than normal.

"Really?" Tiff asked. "That means you and Sterling are the same age."

So what?

I didn't say it because I wanted to.

"I knew she'd be attractive!" When another loud voice came, we all turned to look at the door to the garden.

Even though this boy looked nothing like Sterling—he was shorter and had blonde curls—he still had the same air of wealth that Sterling did. So did Daisy. Also, Tiff

The blonde boy walked up to me with a big smile, took my hand in his, and gave me a hard kiss. "Teddy, let me tell you, it's my pleasure," he said.

He smiled at me for another second, then let go of my hand and walked toward Sterling. "Like I said, I told you she would be hot, so you owe me fifty bucks, my dude."

Daisy and Tiff both let out a gasp of surprise, which is probably what I should have done. Still, I wasn't really shocked.

"You two made a bet on whether or not she would be hot?" Daisy's angry voice was heard.

"What?" Teddy said no because he didn't know how gross they were. "She's hot, so it doesn't matter. If she wasn't, I could see why that would hurt."

I didn't have time to answer before Daisy's next friend came into the garden. This time, Imara was politely introduced by a beautiful girl with brown skin and brown hair.

For the next ten minutes, I just tried to put names and faces together in my head. There was already Sterling, who I couldn't seem to forget no matter how hard I tried. Tiff, Teddy, and Imara came next.

Micheal was the next boy, and he was much more quiet than Teddy. He just took my hand and looked at me for a second longer than he should have.

Then Lea ran into the backyard as if she had always lived there. She, too, seemed quite shocked by what I looked like, for some reason. She wore a sharp look in her eyes and had jet-black hair cut into a bob.

The last person to say hello to me was Jalen. His eyes seemed the most honest of all the boys'. They were the same beautiful brown color as his skin, and his smile was just as real as his eyes.

I was sitting on the blue seat of a pool chair, still trying to remember all of the names I had just learned. After some small talk among all of Daisy's friends, the group seemed to split in two.

The boys were talking loudly to each other as they stood around a temporary bar and drank beers. The girls and I were all sitting around the pool, and each of them seemed determined to tell me something in particular.

I didn't know why I thought the worst of the girls, but they shocked me. Maybe it's because we've been fed harmful stereotypes since we learned how to use a remote control. They seemed nice, though. Nice enough that my jitters were starting to calm down and my anxiety was close behind.

"I know how it feels to be the new girl around here," Imara said as she braided her thick hair next to me.

"You sure?" I asked, again taken aback. Imara looked just as at home in this place as Daisy did.

"Yeah," she said with a smile. "When I was in the first grade, my family moved here from India. "Well, your sister...," she said with a smile. "Daisy, I mean, she was my very first friend."

I smiled at her and watched as she looked away from me and toward Daisy, who was talking with Tiff.

"She is a really good person. Imara told me, "You're lucky to have her as a sister," and I could see in her eyes how much she loved Daisy.

"I'm starting to realize that," I agreed, leaning my head back against the backrest.

"When she first came up to me at lunch, I was scared to death," Imara said. I mean, she went out with the quarterback, and she was the head dancer."

I was proud of myself when I realized that my earlier guess was right. Daisy just made me think of a girl.

Imara's eyes opened at something behind me as she said, "But she was so nice!" Then they shrunk. She kept looking at what she was looking at for a second longer before she looked at me again.

"Speaking of boyfriends," she said again, smiling at me. "You've got one?"

I just said, "Nope," shrugging.

She hummed, "Hmm..." "That's cool."

"What's the point of that?" I asked because I didn't get it at all.

"No reason," she said with a shrug and a coy smile on her face. "Sterling Hale is just looking at you." And he never looks at anyone too long."