Аманда Хокинг - Switched

I waited until we got home for the simple reason that Maggie lives there too. I knew she would go bananas with happiness over the dance, so I figured that she could work as a good balance to Matt, who would most likely recommend instating a chastity belt. Once in the door, I kicked off my shoes and tossed aside my bag. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, and Matt started going through the mail that Maggie had left on the kitchen island.

“Hey, is Maggie around?” I asked, twisting the bottle top on and off repeatedly.

“Yeah, she’s upstairs,” Matt replied absently. “Why?”

“Oh. I just… I had something to tell you,” I said unsurely, then took a long drink of my water.

“Yeah?” Matt turned to look back at me, worry tightening his voice.

“What?”

“It’s good news,” I insisted and took a deep breath. Matt turned around completely, leaning his back against the island and crossing his arms over his chest. He was suspicious of anything I considered good news. “There’s this dance tonight at school, and it’s fully chaperoned. And, well, Patrick’s going to pick me up at seven. And Finn is going to meet us there.”

“Patrick?” Matt raised an eyebrow and his voice got harder. “That goofy guy that’s supposed to be ‘just a friend?’” He did angry air quotes, which would’ve made me laugh if I wasn’t feeling defensive.

“He is just a friend! We’re going with Finn too! We’re all friends!” I left out the part that while Patrick and I were definitely just friends, I wasn’t so sure about exactly what was going with me and Finn.

“But just Patrick is picking you up? Not Finn?” Matt said gruffly. “You know, even if there is another boy involved, that doesn’t help your case. Going somewhere with one handsy, teenage boy is bad enough, let alone throwing another one in the mix.”

“It’s just a dance!” I said. “A school sanctioned function! And I’m just doing what you told me! I’m making friends! They just happen to boys! It’s really not that big of a deal!”

“I’ve never met these boys, and I only just started hearing about them a few days ago.” Matt shook his head. “No, this sounds like a bad idea. I mean, why am I just hearing about this dance now?”

“Because Patrick just asked me today,” I lied. As a rule, I didn’t lie to Matt about anything important. But this wasn’t all that important, and it was mostly a white lie anyway.

“He asked you? That’s not what you said. You said you were going as friends.”

“Yeah, we are. But he asked me. I didn’t just spontaneously decide I was going with him,” I shrugged. Matt was making me question what I thought I knew. We were just friends, weren’t we? I mean, Patrick was pretty obviously trying to set me up with Finn, and it just might work if I stopped fighting him on it so much.

“So how does Finn work into this equation?” Matt didn’t believe anything I was saying, which I didn’t think was very fair considering how little I lied to him.

“Patrick asked him too. And I can’t drive, unlike Finn, so Patrick offered to pick me up.” I crossed my arms and looked at him evenly. “So there.

That’s everything.”

“I still don’t know,” Matt shook his head.

“You know what? Let’s ask Maggie and see what she thinks,” I suggested and started walking out of the kitchen to find her. Maggie would think this was the greatest idea ever, and we both knew it.

“Her opinion doesn’t count!” Matt insisted, grudgingly following me.

“We’ll see about that!” I retorted. “Maggie! Mags! Where are you?”

Telling Maggie about the dance may have been the worst idea I’ve ever had, and my life is made up almost entirely of bad ideas. I discovered her upstairs, painting the bathroom a pale yellow. As soon as I told her, she clapped her hands together, tossed her paint brush in the sink, and embraced me so tightly, she probably cracked a rib. Matt started to voice his complaints, but Maggie shut him down. To keep him from getting in her way, she commanded him to finish the bathroom before the paint dried. He complied only because he knew that there was no stopping Maggie anymore, and at least this way he wouldn’t have to witness anything.

Maggie knew better than my mother to try and force me into things I didn’t like. I wasn’t a Barbie, and I made it impossible for treat her to treat me like one. She just sat on the bed and watched me as I rummaged through my closet, offering suggestions and comments on everything. This included an endless stream of questions on both Patrick and Finn, and Matt would grunt or scoff every now and then at my answers, so I knew he was listening.

Once I had decided on a simple blue dress that Maggie insisted looked amazing on me, I let her do my hair. I only agreed to it because honestly, I couldn’t really do it myself. My hair refused to listen to anything I tried to do it, and while it wasn’t exactly obedient for Maggie, she had a few tricks up her sleeve that outwitted it. She left some of it down, so the curls would frame my face, and pulled the rest of it back. When Matt saw me, he looked really pissed off and a little awed, so I knew that I must look pretty awesome.

I stood in front of the door, standing on my tip-toes to look out the half-moon window at the top. It was getting close to seven, and I couldn’t believe how anxious I was feeling. If Finn hadn’t promised he’d see me at the dance, I knew I wouldn’t feel this way at all. I liked Patrick, but he never made my stomach freak out the way Finn did. Just thinking of him made my heart speed up, and I hated the way it felt. And secretly loved it too.

“When is this boy getting here?” Matt grumbled. He stood about a foot behind me, hovering even more than he usually did. Yellow paint stained his hands and hair, but he didn’t seem to notice. He just crossed his arms and glowered at the door, as if he was expecting a burglar to break in at any moment.

“I don’t know. Soon.” I fidgeted with my thumb ring again and adjusted my necklace, making sure it was centered.

“Are you sure he’s even coming?’ Matt asked hopefully.

“Matt, leave her alone,” Maggie commanded. “And back off. Give her some room to breathe.” She was using an amazing amount of restraint by staying back. Perched on the arm of a living room chair, she had on a flannel shirt splattered with paint and a bandana wrapped around her hair to protect it.

I was actually a little surprised that she hadn’t bothered to get changed to meet Patrick, but then again we had kind of run out of time.

“I am backed off,” Matt muttered but took a few steps back in Maggie’s direction.

“You’re gonna have a lot of fun tonight,” Maggie promised for the hundredth time. I must’ve looked nervous, which didn’t help the situation any.

When I heard the sound of a car, I stretched up on my toes again to peer out the window. Patrick had parked in front of the house in a beat up Honda, and my heart skipped a beat. He had actually picked me up. We were going to the dance. And Finn would be there. I swallowed hard and tried to remind myself that none of this was a big deal at all. I couldn’t believe what a freak I was being.

“He’s here,” I said and took a step back from the door, so it wouldn’t look so much like I had been waiting around like a total loser.

“He is?” Matt panicked and rushed to the door, so he could get a look at him through the window. “That’s his car? That’s a death trap! There’s no way you’re going in that!”

“Matt! Knock it off!” Maggie ordered him.

“Maggie, you haven’t seen this car!” Matt insisted but moved back so there was actually room for me to open the door. Maggie gave him a severe look, and he sighed his resignation.