Enchant Me by Anne Violet

curse.
    “The guy was far away so I can’t be positive,
but I am having Tina ask around to see if anyone knows if he’s
back.”
    She looked back at her friends and then at
me. She sighed, “let me know if we need to file a restraining
order.”
    I looked at her like she was deranged. “Of
course.”
    I wondered how she could even doubt
it. Glad that awkward conversation was over, I hurried to my
room to spend some time with the other man of my life. It looked
like he had been quite the hellion while I was gone. Eyeliners that
had been on my vanity were spread across the floor, the tassels on
my curtain tiebacks were now just scraggly threads and some of my
pillows looked a lot worse for wear. He was lucky he was so damn
cute. Curled in a tight little gray ball on my bed, I nudged him
over and lay down next to him. So content it was ridiculous, I fell
asleep instantly. 

CHAPTER 5
     
    Sunday morning I woke up insanely late since
Saturday night’s dance performance had gone longer than I thought
it would. The Indian bridal party my troupe and I performed for
invited us to stay and celebrate. None of us wanted to leave--those
Indians really know how to party. And the money I had made was
sorely needed for new clothes and more airbrush ink. I glanced over
at my alarm clock. Crap! If I didn’t get out of the house in about
fifteen minutes I would be late for Christian’s soccer
game. As Cody chased his ball around the room I quickly
considered my look for the day. Since the field next to Pioneer
Middle School, where they were playing soccer, wasn’t too far away,
I could walk there instead of ride. I decided to wear a short
little white cotton dress and I would do minimal makeup and a
classic sort of ponytail. I even took the diamond stud out of my
nose. I smiled at my reflection. I barely recognized myself, aside
from the flaming red hair; I no longer looked like punk rock
Barbie- instead I looked like naughty Catholic school girl Barbie.
I wondered what Christian would think.
     I decided to bring Cody with me and was
glad my mom had the foresight to buy a leash and tiny harness for
him. Unfortunately, just getting the harness on him was an exercise
in frustration. He wiggled and flopped over on his back and did
basically anything that could make the job impossible. After what
seemed like an eternity, it was finally on and I gently tugged on
the leash to get him to walk which seemed to be his cue to flop
over on top of the leash and start gnawing on it. Giving up on
the notion I would be lucky enough to have a dog-like cat, I picked
him up, grabbed my bag that I had packed with a towel and other
random supplies for both of us and headed out the door. It looked
like mom must have already left for the day, which was probably a
blessing since I was sure she would try to talk me out of taking
Cody with me. 
    All the way there Cody protested with loud
meows and pushing his little paws against me in an attempt to get
down. The claws actually came out every time he saw a bird that
looked appetizing. I was ridiculously relieved when I finally got
to the field and I could put Cody down; I laid out my towel and set
down my bag which I tied his leash to. I smiled at how the grass
was almost as tall as he was. He seemed perfectly content romping
through the flowers and weeds. Looking out over the field I
eventually found Christian, his back to me, in some sort of huddle
with the guys. I almost didn’t recognize him in shorts, t-shirt and
baseball cap which covered up a good part of his dark hair. I
glanced around the field; it seemed I was the only girlfriend who
had deigned to show up. I almost blushed when I turned back
towards the knot of guys and noticed that they were looking and
pointing at me. I watched as Christian finally located me and a big
smile spread across his face. And I couldn’t do a thing to stop my
answering one. 
    My eyes feasted on him possessively as he
loped over to me. There was something about