A Smile is Worth a Thousand Kisses

By: Lady Fantasy

 

This novel is dedicated to my sister, Loretta, who took my darkness and turned it to light. Also to my guardian angel, who could care less if I called him in the middle of the night just to say hi.

 

Chapter One

The Disaster of the Day

 

"You're joking."

"Not in the slightest." Maddi said miserably. "So, there he is making out with my ex-friend and I'm standing right there! I mean, what the hell is wrong with his vision?"

"God, Maddi that sucks." I said, rubbing the counter with a dry cloth.

"Well, I don't care anymore." Maddi said, slapping the counter I had just cleaned for emphasis.

"Good for you, Maddi." I said. "The jerk didn't deserve you anyway."

"I agree." Maddi said. She sighed, blowing her bangs out of her face. "Lets celebrate!"

I looked around the spotless kitchen that my mother had spent her entire life cleaning when she wasn't working at the bank. It was spacious with large windows stretching the width of the wall showing nicely kept grounds where a herd of gardeners could be seen tending to the lawn. Everything was white with occasional burgundy or black tiles on the floor. I shrugged and hung the dish towel over the sink.

"There isn't a lot we can do here." I said. There was no way my mother was going to let us throw a party of any sort in her house. My dad probably wouldn't care but my mom would throw a fit if we so much as misplaced a leaf from one of her fake plants in the hallway.

"Let's go shopping!" Maddi suggested.

I sighed. I wasn't a shopping kind of girl. I rarely used the credit card my parents gave me when I was fourteen. I had hundreds of dollars on it, but it seemed I that I used it when in fact I was letting Maddi have full reign of it...within a certain extent of course.

"I suppose." I said finally.

"Good," Maddi said excitedly, getting up.

 

So this is how we ended up at the Harvard Mall on Tuesday afternoon. Maddi was going on and on about a pair of Dockers shoes that she was fantasizing about while I stared around, my hands in my jean pockets. The sun was streaming in through the high windows while dozens of people filtered in and out of the shops, either talking with friends or family.

Within a few minutes, I spotted Claire's and dragged Maddi inside. She didn't protest but instead went in ahead of me, immediately spotting a pair of shiny earrings. I went off towards the clearance rack, sighing and leaning to one side as I did so. Shopping really did wear me down...just walking around the mall did a number on me. Not that I was lazy it was just that it wasn't my thing.

"Oh, Jess, look at this." Maddi squealed from across the small shop. In the confined space, it seemed even louder. The person standing behind the counter stared at Maddi with a scowl, which of course, Maddi ignored. "These are beautiful!"

Maddi was holding up a pair of diamond earrings that did indeed look beautiful. I actually went over and held them up to Maddi's ears to see if they looked good. They did.

"Wanna get ‘em?" I asked her. "They would go good with whatever dress you would be wearing to the Halloween dance."

At the mention of the latest school's attraction, Maddi gasped with excitement and grinned from ear to ear. She started going on about a costume while I followed her, occasionally picking up a necklace or earrings. Maddi swished her long blond hair in a very characteristic way and tried on a hair band, asking my opinion.

We could stay in Claire's for hours but today, we only stayed in for roughly thirty minutes. The woman behind the counter looked glad to see us gone once we stepped out of the shop and into a nearly deserted mall.

"Wonder where everyone went?" Maddi asked me not taking the fact that it was nearly dark into consideration. Seeing the mall at night was a strange sight to me. I was use to always coming during the day so went the lights went on in shops, and they being the only light, it seemed ghostly even.

"God, I'm starving." Maddi said. She looked at me for my approval and I shrugged again. We headed off to the food court where Maddi bought a cheeseburger and I just a soda. ‘Anytime,' by Kelly Clarkson blasted on the overhead speakers as I slurped at my drink, looking across the food court, lost in thought.

The Halloween dance at my high school, Clover Fence High, was a big deal. It was something to see when girls would get rejected and go crying off into the bathroom. Unfortunately, Brittany Williams, Miss Thing, has not been rejected. Well, then again, she hasn't asked anyone...surprisingly enough. I knew who she wanted though...I mean, really wanted. Michael Hills, the only person in school that was out of Brittany's league. Both were dateless but Brittany wanted Michael and I had no clue about Michael's Watch List.

"Hey, Jess?" Maddi asked, interrupting my thoughts about Brittany and Michael.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think either of us have a chance with Michael?" She asked.

I had no clue how to put ‘no' lightly to her. Michael Hills was the most popular boy in school. How the hell were we supposed to get a chance with him?

As though Maddi knew exactly I was thinking, she said, "You have a better chance with him than I do, you know."

I choked on my Sprite. "Are you kidding me?" I spluttered.

"If you weren't so damn quiet and smart, you'd be the most popular girl in the school." Maddi said as though she were stating the obvious. "I mean, your rich for one and two, you're a great person. You could knock Brittany off her feet if you decided to come out of your shell."

"Maddi," I said. "I'm not ‘popularity' material." Now that was a fact.

"You would be if you'd stop moping all the time and maybe got out of the house instead of getting on the computer." Maddi said.

"What does getting on the Internet have to do with me being popular?" I said. "So what, I get on the Internet. I chat online...what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that popular girls spend their time at the mall, not at home in their room. Popular people throw parties and get drunk on a Saturday night. You, on the other hand, think that a decent night is getting your website finished or whatever." Maddi said.

"I have never gotten drunk in my life and I don't plan on starting anytime soon." I said fiercely. "And my parents would personally murder me if I threw a party, like I'd want to in the first place. And, I'm not that kind of girl." I added, seeing the look on Maddi's face, "So what? I'm a reserved person."

"That term should only apply to you when you've got yourself a guy and not a second before." Maddi snapped. "You need to go to that dance with Michael."

"No." I said.

"Yes." Maddi said. "You two look perfect together anyways."

"No, we don't." I said.

"Yes, you do."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"FINE!"