The air blowing through my wet clothes felt good as I ran. A few guys saw me running and followed me with their eyes. Feeling self-conscious, I continued on. My mind drifted. A lot had changed in the past few years. I was no longer invisible. People were nicer to me. My confidence grew.

I ran through the town, past the library. It was one of many routes to choose from. My mind drifted to Andreas. Where did he come from? Will he ever talk to me? Is he a jerk? He sure didn’t seem at all friendly this morning.

The moving truck was still there when I got back home. As I stretched on the porch I saw the boy, Andreas, step out of his house. When he saw me, he paused. I stopped stretching and met his stare. My heart began to beat faster and I held my breath. Should I say something? Wave? Before I had the ability to move, he looked away and walked back into the house.

School was starting soon. Wouldn’t it be great if Andreas and I became friends before then? We could walk home from school together. I sighed. That wasn’t likely to happen. Things like that never happened to me. If I looked like Veronica, he probably would’ve already introduced himself to me.

My shoes were still wet, so I left them on the porch to dry. I went in the house and walked up the stairs. Veronica was in her room putting on her makeup.

“Hey,” she said. “Do you and Daisy want to look for swimsuits today? The stores are having a big end-of-summer sale. We should get one for next year.”

“Or this weekend,” I said wiping a drop of sweat off my chin with the back of my hand. “It’s supposed to be hotter tomorrow.”

“Well, you girls can enjoy it. I’m going back to my apartment tonight. School starts in two days and I need to get some things done before then.”

I sent Daisy a text and took a quick shower. When I got out she had texted saying she was ready to go. I threw on a pair of denim shorts and a comfy white t-shirt with “Pink” written on the front, then headed out with Veronica to pick up Daisy.

The mall was nice and cool. Veronica and Daisy turned heads almost as soon as we walked in. I suspected it was their blond hair. It made them look like sisters even though Daisy was more of a plain pretty than a gorgeous pretty like Veronica. Gawd, can’t anyone handle seeing two blonds together? Guys were gawking at them like they were an anomaly. I felt invisible again.

A couple of hot-looking college-age boys wearing football jerseys were heading our way. I began to get nervous. They tried to catch Veronica’s eye, but she kept walking. Daisy had her eyes on the dresses in the window of a nearby store so she didn’t notice the guys. The better-looking of the two locked eyes with me and smiled.

“Hi Pink,” he said in a flirty tone.

Pink? It took me a few seconds to realize what he was referring to. I looked down at my shirt. Veronica and Daisy were giggling. I turned around to look at the guy. He and his friend had turned around and were grinning at me. Heat rushed to my face. Oh. Migod. I whipped my head back around and kept walking.

“Looks like you have a couple of admirers,” Veronica teased.

“Yeah, Pink,” said Daisy.

They giggled again.

“They’re too old for me,” I said trying to sound annoyed but couldn’t stop the smile from forming on my face. “Unfortunately.” This time I was the one who giggled. I could get used to this kind of attention.

The department store didn’t have many one-piece swimsuits left. I always wore a one-piece.

Veronica shoved a bikini in my hands. “Here, try this on.”

“What? No! I’m not wearing that!” I said shoving it back to her.

“Why not?”

“It shows too much skin! It’s embarrassing!”

“Just try it on. It’s not going to kill you.” She pushed it back in my hands and nudged me toward the dressing room. “You have a sexy body now. You might as well show it off. Maybe you’ll finally land a boyfriend.”

“Oh, shut up,” I muttered as I stepped into the dressing room. I removed my clothes and put the bikini on. Is this the right size? I feel naked. I pulled the edges to cover more of me and turned my body in the mirror. Huh. It doesn’t look bad…

I heard a couple of girls chatting as they approached the stall next to me. One of them went in while the other stood outside.

“Ugh,” said the girl in the stall next to me. “I think I gained weight.”

“Do you want me to get you a different size?” said her friend.

“Yeah, can you get me a size two?”

My jaw dropped. A size two? That’s her big size? I started to doubt myself and didn’t want to leave the dressing room.

“Lilah, how does it look?” said Veronica outside my door.

“Um. I don’t know.” I chewed on my thumbnail.

“Let me see. Open up.”

I opened the door a crack.

She pulled it open and gasped. “Lilah, you look amazing!”

“I do?”

Daisy appeared next to Veronica and gaped. “I can’t believe how awesome you look! I’m so jealous! Okay, I totally need to go work out now.”

We laughed.

“You have curves in all the right places now!” said Veronica.

“Gee, thanks for reminding me of how pudgy I used to be,” I said.

“But you were a cute pudgy,” said Veronica trying to pinch my cheek.

“Cut it out!” I batted her hand away.

“It was your clothes that were bad,” she said. “Really bad.”

Daisy made a face and nodded in agreement.

I feigned surprise, but laughed. “Okay, well, I guess I have to agree with you there.”

“Now you dress super cute, thanks to me,” said Veronica.

“Yes.” I rolled my eyes. “Thank you.”

We made our purchases and followed Veronica to the cosmetics counter where she schooled us in the art of applying makeup. We were excited about going back to school with a new look.

The air conditioning of the mall had spoiled us. As soon as we stepped outside, the sun and heat pressed down on us and stung our skin. Daisy and I immediately made plans to go to the beach the next day. She wanted us to wear our new swimsuits and was hoping that Marco Ambrosetti, the guy she had a massive crush on, would be there.

At home, I laid out my one-piece swimsuit on my bed and put my new bikini next to it. I still liked my one-piece. It was a little too big now, but I liked the color and the cut. Movement outside my window caught my eye. I walked over to it and looked out. Andreas had just finished running and was standing in his driveway catching his breath. He looked relaxed. What was he so angry about earlier? Was he mad at me for interrupting his fight with his dad? He lifted his shirt up over his head and took it off. Even from where I was I could see his ab muscles. I backed away from the window before he could catch me watching him.

He doesn’t know the old me. All he knows of me is what he sees now. My eyes flitted to the one-piece swimsuit on the bed. I snatched it up and marched over to the waste basket. With my arm outstretched, I dangled the swimsuit over the trash. If I threw it away, it would be gone forever. I hesitated, then let go.