Claudia and Gabs - 1

"Don't put your hair up in a messy bun again. And wear your contacts. You have such pretty eyes; why are you always hiding them behind glasses?"

Claudia didn't look up and continued to mindlessly scroll through the messages on her phone. She could tell by the tone of her mother's voice that she hadn't reached the critical stage yet. It was still a "why-don't-you," not a "you-have-to." Even though she was perfectly comfortable right where she was, Claudia decided that it was best to get out of sight, so she could be out of her mother's mind.

As she unfolded her long, skinny legs, Claudia heaved herself off the couch and softly called as she made her way down the hallway. "Going to my room. Tell Gabs when she gets here."

With a soft click, Claudia closed the door to her private sanctuary. "Hey, boys," she smiled as she lifted the door to the cage, "Come on out and talk to me." Her parakeets, Frodo and Pippin, happily obliged by each hopping onto a shoulder. Claudia sank down beside her bed and stroked Pippin's feathers.

Why was her mom always bugging her about looking so girly? Why should she care? She liked wearing sweatpants. She hated wearing make-up. She liked to put her hair in a bun.  She hated wearing her contacts. Of course, she admitted, most of her preferences were due to the fact that she was just too lazy to do all that girly stuff, but so what? Besides, if her mom wanted a girly-girl, all she had to do was look in the bedroom across from Claudia's. Her sister, Camille, filled the role perfectly. Name brand clothing? Check. Nail polish in every color of the rainbow? Check. Shopping? Check. No one could spent their mom's money better than Camille. It was all pretty stupid to Claudia.  She hated spending money, especially her mom's, but if any money was going to be spent, Claudia would rather buy food than clothes.

Before Claudia could consider the matter further, the door burst open, startling Claudia and causing the parakeets to screech loudly. "Clau....dia!" the voice half-sang, half-yelled, "I'm here! Did you miss me?!" Then, person in the doorway struck a runway model pose and dissolved into giggles.

Claudia finally exhaled and started to giggle as well. "Gabrielle! You scared me. Get in here and shut the door."

"What's up, bird?" Gabrielle said as she lunged at Pippin and dramatically threw herself on Claudia's bed. "Oh my gosh, Claudia, have you checked Twitter lately? Brian has been totally sending me flirty messages all morning, and it's totally making Stink mad. I love it!" Gabrielle immediately rolled over to her stomach and opened her Ipad. "I have to check to see if he responded to my tweet."

Claudia silently regarded her bestie. She and Gabrielle had been BFFs practically since birth.  Born a couple of months apart (Gabs was older by two months), the two grown up in the same church, gone to the same preschool and elementary school, and now, had all their classes together in high school. Other than family stuff, there wasn't a single memory of Claudia's that didn't have Gabs in it.

Where Claudia was quiet, reserved, nature-loving, and old-fashioned, Gabs was loud, extroverted, trendy, and materialistic. Each knew her role in the friendship, and for that reason, each knew the other like the back of her hand. They spent as much time together as their parents allowed, and each was regarded as another daughter to the opposing family. Even though Claudia had a sister, she considered Gabs to be every bit a sister as Camille.

"Do you think Brian will ask you out?" Claudia asked. A couple of months ago, Claudia had been somewhat interested in Brian herself, but when Gabs declared an interest in Brian, Claudia backed off. When Gabs "fell in love," it was understood that Claudia's energy would be used to help Gabs with any relationship assistance she might need.

Gabs continued to scroll and concentrated on her Twitter feed.  Finally, she looked up, "What?" She asked, "Oh, yeah, I don't know. He sends flirty messages, but he sends them to Chloe and Holly too. He's such a playa.'" As she said this, she winked and flicked a wrist toward Claudia. "But of course, he likes me best." Again, Gabby's infectious giggle erupted; then, Gabby's leaned closer to Claudia. "So, what's new with Jake?"

Claudia turned away and pulled away from her sitting position. She considered the question as she carefully returned Pippin and Frodo to their cage, her face purposefully turned away from Gabs. Should she tell her or not? On the one hand, she had learned her lesson the hard way when she had been interested in Justin a while back.  She and Justin had been texting back and forth, and Claudia had let her bestie in on the conversation. Sadly, Gabs had posted something about Justin and Claudia being in a relationship on Facebook. Once Justin saw that, he quit texting her. But if Claudia didn't tell her, Gabs would know right away that something was up. Claudia had no poker face, and Gabs would pester her until she told anyway.

"We've just been texting back and forth," Claudia nonchalantly said, "Nothing big - just talking about the weekend, sports, and stuff."

"Ooh, let me see," Gabs said as she reached for phone in Claudia's back pocket.

Claudia grabbed it before Gabs could and said, "It's no big deal. I erased them all anyway. So what are we doing tonight?" Claudia knew the surest way to deflect Gab's attention was to swing the conversation back to Gabs.

As Gabby launched into a descriptive explanation of the evening's agenda, Claudia stared at the image in her bedroom mirror. She regarded the loose top-knot at the crown of her head, the widow's peak, the full lips, and liquid brown eyes that stared back at her. Was she as beautiful as her mom claimed?