Sunny Days

There are occasions where I look in the mirror, and I can’t see past the ugly.

That sounds super dramatic, right? But, I think every girl knows what I’m talking about. Overall, I don’t think that I am ugly, but there are just some days I look in the mirror and can only see every bad feature that I have. My lips are shaped oddly and therefore give me perpetual duck face, my skin tone is uneven, my pores are huge, my hair is too long and there are grays… I could go on and on and on.

Sometimes when this happens, I sit and feel sorry for myself while eating ice cream. Hey, if I’m ugly, I might as well be fat too, right? Other times, tonight happens. I decide that it’s not that I’m ugly, I’ve just been neglecting myself, and I go into full on makeover mode.

First, I called and ordered pizza from the shop I own (hey, makeover are hard work, and I need the carbs for energy!) Then, I climbed into the first tee shirt I got when I worked at the shop and pulled on a pair of boxers stolen from an ex-boyfriend. I went into the kitchen and I mixed up a mayo, egg, and beer mixture that I coated onto my hair. It smells disgusting and I’m not sure if it actually works or not. It was one of those remedies my sister swore too, but I was never really sure if she did it just to fuck with me (she once told me that washing my hair with water from the toilet would make my hair shinier. This is why mothers should never put older sisters in charge of bathing their little sisters.) Come to think of it though, she did use it on her own hair, so maybe she did believe it really worked…

Anyway, after this was done, I wrapped my head in plastic wrap – which, isn’t as easy to do as it sounds. I told myself I was doing this to lock in the moisture, but really I didn’t want to drip egg onto my couch while letting it soak into my hair. Once that was finished, I slathered on some green facial mask that kind of burns a little, but I figured that just means it was working. When that was done, I sat down on my sofa, a chick flick playing in the background, and got to work taming my unruly eyebrows. I was so engrossed in what I was doing, that I almost missed the knock at the door.

Pizza. Finally. But… I touched my plastic wrap hair and felt my hardened face and remembered the green goo. Did I want to answer the door looking like this? Who was working tonight? I mentally ran through the schedule and realized it was Paul, the shy geeky kid who had a crush on me. Oh, well, maybe it’ll be good for him to see me like this.

“Coming!” I shouted as I padded over to the door. I reached for my purse and pulled out the cash. Since I owned the place, I didn’t have to pay for the pizza itself, but I did still tip the drivers – I had been a driver before, and I knew how badly the job could suck.

I opened the door, and instead of geeky Paul standing there holding my pizza, stood two very non-geeky men. My mouth would have hit the floor had my facemask not stiffened to the point where I couldn’t move my face.

“Oh, sorry Lanie… I should have called…”

Guy number one (the one who spoke) was Noah Days. I didn’t mind so much looking like this in front of him – he’s cute in your total boy next door type of way (a little short, but stocky, blue eyes, dimples, sandy blonde hair that he has a tendency of letting get a tad too long.) But he’s been my best friends boyfriend since… Well, forever. They met in second grade, and together we formed some sort of weird three musketeers – he even took both of us to prom. He’s seen me at my best, and at my worst, and so this was not a big deal.

Guy number two however, was Noah’s college roommate and best male friend, John Westover. There was something about John that unnerved me, but not in a bad way. You know how love songs always talk about birds appearing and not being able to speak around someone? Yeah, that was me with John. The first few times we hung out I couldn’t even look him in the eye – it was just too intense for me to handle, so I spent the night looking at his nose and hoping it didn’t look like I had some weird nose fetish. He wasn’t even my typical guy – he was average height, black hair that he let grow too long in the front and he had the habit of rubbing his hands through so it spiked up, chocolate brown eyes, olive skin, and a dimple on just his left cheek. But, there was something about him, something I couldn’t put my finger on, but to say I was mortified to be caught looking like this in front of him would be the understatement of the century.

“Noah… John… Hi. Uh. Come in?” I said, backing to allow them to enter. “I’m just gonna…” I said, gesturing to my face.

“Lanie I didn’t mean to put you out, I should have called, should we come back another time?”

“No, no… It’s fine, I just… I have pizza on the way, tip the driver, I’ll be out in ten.” I said, trying not to sprint to the bathroom.

In record time I was cleaned and scrubbed, wearing no make-up (I couldn’t now look like I was trying, could I?) but wearing the yoga pants that made my butt look fantastic. When I re-entered the living room, both guys had made themselves at home, sprawled out on my sofa, chowing down on my pizza.

“You clean up nice, Mel.” Noah cracked, smiling.

“If I had known you were coming, I would have ordered more pizza.” I said, taking a slice from a now almost empty box.

“And you probably wouldn’t have been in your weird girl-gear either.” Noah tacked on.

“Green’s your color, Melanie.” John added, winking at me.

I smiled sarcastically at the two of them. “I have more mask in there, if the two of you are interested.”

“Now Mel, you aren’t suggesting that I need help with my rugged good looks, are you? This is all natural.” Noah said, stroking his own face appreciatively.

“I can tell.” I said, folding myself into an easy chair across from them. “So. What brings you two studs to my house on a Saturday night?”

“I wasn’t sure if you’d be home or not, but with Sunny gone at her Mom’s, I needed to talk to you alone.”

Sunshine was my best friend, and yes, her real name is Sunshine. Sunshine Meadows to be exact (and no, neither one of us knows what her parents were smoking to think that giving her that kind of name was OK.) Her name actually suited her – she not only had the long, shiny blonde hair that I’m sure you picture someone named Sunny would have, but she also had a pretty cheerful disposition. If Sunny wasn’t smiling, you better assume the world was coming to an end. Sunny and I lived together, we had ever since I dropped out of college and moved back home. Sunny was staying at her Mom’s house this weekend to help her recover from a minor ankle surgery.

“And you needed to see me without Sunny because?” I asked, taking a bite of pizza.

“I’m going to ask Sunny to marry me, and I need your help.”

“FINALLY!” I blurted out, with my mouth full. “How are you going to do it?”

“That’s where I’m going to need your help. I got tickets to the Pier. I’m going to tell her I won them at work, and invite you and John to go with us. We’re all going to ride the log ride they have, and at the drop where they take your pictures, we’re going to hold up signs that say ‘will you marry me?’ We'll make it so Sunny is in the front and won't see until we get off.”

“That’s really cute and all, but it’s never going to work. Sunny knows I’d never willingly ride a death trap like that.” I said, shaking my head. I was terrified of heights, and practically all amusement park rides.

“We’ve already figured that part out.” Noah said, glancing at John.

“Sunny knows you’re competitive, right?” John asked. I nodded. “So am I. We’re going to walk by a game. I’m going to bet you all that I can beat you. Sunny won’t care, and neither will Noah, but you take me up on the bet. I tell you if I win, you have to ride the log ride. You throw the game.”

“It works out perfectly because when we get off the ride, we tell Sunny that we HAVE to check out the pictures just to see your face, and she’ll see the signs in the pictures. I’ll stand behind her and get down on one knee, and when she turns around to look at me…”

“What do I get for putting my life on the line like that?” I asked, only half joking.

“You get to be maid of honor in your best friends wedding.” Noah said, smiling.

“And you get to walk down the aisle on the arm of a guy who looks pretty hot in a tux.” John said, winking at me.

“When does this all go down?” I said, sighing loudly and trying to ignore the though of John in a tux.

“Next weekend.”

“You know I wouldn’t do this for anyone else but Sunny, right?” I grumbled.