I wish I knew who was doing this because I so want to be BFFs
Me too, I text back. I grin to myself before telling Lucy I have to go and finish my homework.
*
I set out the zines on a Thursday morning, but the bathrobe stunt is set for the following Tuesday so as not to be overshadowed by the buildup to the Friday night football game. The season is winding down, and I’m glad it looks like we’re not going to make it to playoffs so it will end even sooner. But even without the weekly pep rallies and the pre-game frenzy, I know Mitchell and his friends will reign over East Rockport High well into winter and spring. And senior year, too. Senior year will probably be the worst ever.
I’ve seen Seth in class and a few times in the hallway since he discovered my secret, and we’ve nodded and smiled at each other. Today, Monday, he catches up with me as we’re walking out of English class.
“You ready for tomorrow?” he asks.
“I think so,” I answer.
His breath smells like spearmint gum. I notice the slightest bit of stubble on his chin and wonder if he has to shave his face every day or just once in a while. I picture him shaving in his bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and his chest bare like an actual man would do, and my legs go all trembly.
“Well, good luck,” he says, and he walks off suddenly, loping down the hallway.
That night my mom is working late, and I skip dinner at Meemaw and Grandpa’s, insisting that I have a lot of homework I want to finish. But what I do instead is spend the evening on my bed, texting with Claudia and Sara and Meg and Kaitlyn trying to figure out if they’re going to do the bathrobe thing tomorrow, too, or if it will just be me and Lucy.
I don’t want to get in trouble, texts Claudia.
Me either, agrees Meg.
But there’s no rule saying we can’t wear bathrobes, Sara chimes in. I remember how upset she was the day she got called out for dress code.
I’m not sure what it will even do, Kaitlyn offers. But at the same time it feels like it might be kind of cool to see what happens
So it’s two against and two in favor. Well, kind of in favor. My vision of every girl at East Rockport High showing up in a bathrobe and full of indignation fades from my mind. I should count myself lucky if a quarter of the girls at school go along with it. My stomach knots up, and I wonder, what would the lead singer for Bikini Kill do? Or a younger version of my mom?
Look, I text, you can always bring your bathrobe and hide it in your locker if you’re scared and then if other girls are doing it you can take it out right? I mean I guess what I’m saying is I’m just tired of this dress code BS so why not try?
There’s a pause and a few text bubbles pop up and then go away. Finally, someone responds but only to me. Claudia.
You do know the girls in their bathrobes are gonna have everyone staring at them tomorrow right? You don’t care about that???
I frown. I’m glad Claudia can’t see me.
Maybe … but if a lot of girls do it then there will be too many girls to stare AT right? Also Lucy is definitely doing it so we won’t be the only ones.
Another pause. This time it’s longer. Then Claudia texts again.
Of course Lucy is doing it … she’s into this stuff.
What stuff?
You know … this kind of making a big deal about stuff stuff …
Yeah I guess … but maybe that’s just because she’s used to doing this sort of thing at her old school in Houston? You know?
My texts with Claudia dissolve into back and forth statements that sound like questions? So we end on a nice note? And don’t rock the boat? At last we sign off and I’m 99 percent sure that Claudia won’t be wearing her bathrobe to school tomorrow.
But then there’s me. After I toss my phone aside, I take out my turquoise terrycloth bathrobe that goes down to my knees and slide it into my backpack. I brush my teeth, wash my face, put on my old Runaways T-shirt, and cue up “Rebel Girl” on repeat. As I’m listening to the song through my headphones for the fifth time, I can make out the sound of my mom coming in the front door over Kathleen Hanna’s throaty yell. I reach up to slide the headphones off my head, but then I stop. Normally if I’m still awake when my mom comes home, I go out to the den to catch up, at least for a little bit.
But tonight I don’t feel like it. I slide my headphones back on and turn up the music, drowning out every last thought.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
It’s early November and chilly enough that my bathrobe over my jeans and T-shirt feels good and not too hot. But my cheeks are still burning from nervousness as I walk toward the front doors of East Rockport High. On my morning walk to school, I stopped half a block away to slip the bathrobe on over my clothes before immediately taking it off, then walking a few more steps, and finally stopping to put it back on again. Now that I’m getting closer to actually walking into school dressed like this, I have to fight the urge to rip the bathrobe off one more time.
As I approach the campus, my eyes scan the clumps of students in front of East Rockport, checking if I’m the only one who looks like she forgot to get dressed before coming to school. My heart skips up to my throat. I scan left to right and spot jeans, skirts, jeans, skirts, and then, thankfully, a tight circle of what looks to be some sophomore girls all dressed in bathrobes over their outfits. They keep peering over their shoulders like they’re checking to see if anyone around them matches.
My heart slips back down to my chest where it belongs. I exhale. I want to walk by them so they’ll see me and know they’re not alone, but just then I feel someone collide into my left shoulder.
“You did it!”
It’s Lucy, and she’s wearing not only a puffy pink bathrobe that makes her look like a Hostess Sno Ball, but also fuzzy pink slippers that match.
“Oh my God, you look awesome,” I say, and Lucy grins and shrugs like she knows.
“I saw a few other girls by the gym entrance who had them on, too,” she tells me. “I think there are already more girls doing this than the hearts and stars thing.” She eyes the campus carefully. “I wish I knew which girls were the Moxie girls. I mean, they’re here somewhere.”
The irony is too much for me to handle with a neutral face, so I just urge Lucy along so I don’t have to make eye contact. Along the way into school, we wave to a few other girls who have bathrobes on. I spot Kiera Daniels, and she has on fuzzy slippers just like Lucy, only her getup is lavender. Kiera and I wave at each other. More than half of the girls she’s with have bathrobes on.
Inside all the buzz is about the bathrobes. I overhear a few guys asking each other what’s going on and some people talking about “that newsletter.” It’s a zine, but whatever, I think as I start toward history. Lucy says she’ll see me in English and we split off.
Heading into class, I see Claudia in the back row. No bathrobe, just a pale pink top and jeans. She waves at me as I walk in.