Navigating Cute Boys and Frogs

      After eighteen years of life I have come to the conclusion that being a girl sucks. Not really being a girl, but being a girly girl. All of the poking, prodding, and hair pulling my best friend, Aria has been doing for the last hour has made me come to the realization that I would rather shave all the hair off my head, including my poor eyebrows then have her jab at me one more time. I am literally about to lose my mind and scream just that at her, when instead she decides to scream at me.      “Linds, I swear to all things holy that if you continue to move around, I am going to take these tweezers and stab your eyeball out! And even though my skills are aaaa-mazing, and you will still look totally bangable, losing one eye is not going to make Logan want to be your boyfriend! Now close your eyes and sit still, I’m almost done fixing these monstrosities that you call eyebrows!”      After her outburst I can’t help but chuckle. She’s gives me a pointed look and a throat clearing that makes me sit up straight and snap my eyes shut. Aria is scary, and when she says she will do something, she totally will. We have been best friends for forever. When I was in the third  grade a group of mean girls including my mortal enemy, Amber, were bullying me for being chubby when all the sudden Aria barreled between them knocking them all over, screaming at them to get lost and leave me alone. She’s been like my sister ever since.      Taking a quick peep at Aria through my eyelashes makes a smile come to my face. She’s dressed in a cute denim skirt and a flouncy white top that shows off her mid drift. Her blonde hair is straightened to her shoulders and her blue eyes look extra bright because of the teal eye liner she is rocking. Her crush and my friend, Jason,  is going to be at the party tonight, and I know she spent extra time on her make up  just for him.        I haven’t seen her at all the last two months because I was at my aunts’ house in Seattle. My Aunt Jane is amazing but also alittle crazy. I mean the woman doesn’t even have internet and has a very strict no cell phone policy except for one hour a day! One hour! So basically by the time I was done FaceTiming with my mom and a quick catch up with Aria, it was time to hand my phone back over. She works in a gym and volunteered to keep me most the summer so my mom could work extra shifts without worrying about me, since my dad passed away when I was two. My aunt  didn’t believe in letting me stay home by myself so she begrudgingly made me go to work with her everyday.       At first I hated it, moping around just spying on the high school aged kids and collecting the dirty towels from the bins. But, then I figured if I was going to be stuck in the gym 5 days a week I might as well work out. I started doing yoga, Zumba, and even cycling classes. Aunt Jane even walked me through some exercises on the equipment when she had time. I had always been a little chubbier, not overweight exactly but my cheer uniform was definitely not as nice looking on me as it was on Aria. I also play basketball in the winter for the varsity team but due to my terrible diet of pizza and ice cream the weight just always hung on my hips. But with the workouts my aunt was putting me through and the healthy meals and snacks she was feeding me, the weight started to fall off, and I have to admit my stomach and butt never looked better! I really don’t mind being a little chubbier and I’m never going to turn down a slice of pizza but either way I feel good about how I look right now. I even promised Aunt Jane I would start running everyday just to make up for my addiction to Oreos and all things greasy.      Knocking me out of my train of thought Aria shouts, “Girl I am all finished and you look sooooo fine! If I was guy I would totally hit on you tonight!”      Giggling at her, I go to say she isn’t a guy so that’s not going to help me but, words fall short when I see myself in the mirror. Aria dressed me in my black skinny jeans and a gray off the shoulder crop top sweater. On my feet are a pair of her black booties. My black hair is curled and falling down to the middle of my back. My green eyes really pop with the gold tones of the eyeshadow she chose. My skin looks flawless, and honestly my eyebrows have never looked better. I hate admitting that all that pain and her smothering my face was totally worth it!       “Wow Aria, you are going to have to get me ready everyday before school now!” I exclaim at her, excited for the first time tonight about going to this party.        “Babe we are going to be beating men off of you all night! I’m literally going to have to play body guard until we get to Logan. Senior year is going to be yours; I can already feel it!”       Logan  Jacobs. Popular. Funny. Beautiful. A six pack that all the girls drool over during basketball practice. I’ve had a crush on him since last year when we sat next to each other in Chemistry. We always joked and laughed together. I thought maybe he might like me too, but every time I saw him in the hallway or at a party, he really wouldn’t even acknowledge me, except to just treat me like he does all of his friends. No flirting. Barely any talking. No interest. Halfway through sophomore year and him paying me no attention unless we were in class, I gave up on him ever being my boyfriend, and kept my crush quiet. Aria knew how I felt though.        After coming home from my aunts this morning, Aria rushed over and when she saw me, she proclaimed that this was my year to make a move on Logan.     “Ughhhh Aria we already talked about this! Logan doesn’t even know I exist anymore and I’m not going to make a fool of myself just to get his attention! We are going to the party to dance and have fun before school starts on Monday, that’s it!” I chastise her.     “Yeah yeah I know what you said, but Linds this year is going to be different. You act like you’re not popular already but you are! Everyone loves you and this year so will Logan!”      Aria has a point, I do have lots of friends. Playing varsity basketball and being on the cheer squad helps me make friends with different groups of girls easily. I’ve never been one for drama and I pretty much stick to Aria who also has zero time for girl fighting. I’m also the manager for the boys baseball team. My freshman year my mom was dating the baseball coach and the girl that was doing I it ended up moving half way through the season, leaving my mom begging me to do it. I wasn’t really all that upset about having to gather all the guys towels and fill water bottles, or having to keep the book on all the different things the guys did, simply because most the baseball players were fine to look at, Logan included. But year after year Logan barely acknowledged my existence, other than a simple head nod or a smile every now and then. I became friends with most the guys, my favorite being Jason and Jake. But yet again I’m always just the friend. I’m the girl who’s hair they like to ruffle and make jokes with. Don’t get me wrong, I loved them. But, I wanted a boyfriend, not boys that were friends.       So, with that confidence in mind I pushed Aria out my door giggling all the way to her car. Tonight I was going to step out of my comfort zone and I was going to make Logan  look at me completely different. Tonight was my night. Or so I thought.