I spotted Hayden Paris sitting amongst a group of guys underneath the big pine. Two of them were playing guitar. When Hayden caught sight of me, he sent me a cheeky grin.
‘Hayden’s looking at you,’ Cassie announced in a singsong voice.
I groaned. ‘Don’t remind me. He’s probably replaying the image of me sitting in that puddle again and again, like some sweet reverie.’
‘Hey, Aurora,’ Jelena said, studying herself in a pocket mirror, ‘remind me again why this red lipstick thing is so vital? I really think a nude shade is more flattering for my complexion.’
All three of us sported matching crimson pouts, and I was beginning to tire of Jelena’s repeated requests for an explanation. She just doesn’t like taking orders from anyone, even in relation to cosmetics.
‘It’s very simple,’ I said. ‘Almost everything sensual in life is red. Think strawberries, roses, the soles of those breathtaking Christian Louboutin heels. Isn’t the most fascinating girl in a movie or at a party always dressed in red?’
‘Like Miss Scarlett!’ Jelena cried.
I knew she’d use that example. Jelena’s insistence on always being Miss Scarlett when we played Cluedo had caused some pretty intense squabbles when we were younger.
‘Exactly!’ I replied. ‘Miss Scarlett — the name says it all. Red is the colour of love, the colour of excitement. Scientific studies have actually proved that red makes men more amorous! WHY?’
Talking about my Rules of Attraction always got me excited.
‘Why?’ chorused Jelena and Cass, getting into the spirit.
‘It’s a biological reaction. When we see someone we like, blood rushes to our cheeks and lips. The other person subconsciously reacts to this, finding us more attractive. So, by wearing red lipstick we mimic that physical reaction, and the guys around us connect it with passion and are smitten!’
‘I suppose Marilyn Monroe always wore red lipstick,’ Jelena mused, still taking in her appearance in the mirror.
‘What about Gwen Stefani?’ added Cassie.
I didn’t need to explain that in ancient Egypt, the only choice of lipstick was red. I had them already.
Cass, Jelena and I are really close, but we also have two other girls who make up our group: Lindsay and Sara. They joined us just as Jelena was putting away her mirror. Lindsay is petite, with wavy chestnut locks, dark eyes and year-round bronzed skin, which half the school is jealous of and attempts to replicate with Ambre Solaire with varying success rates. The other important thing to know about Lindsay is that she’s part of TylerandLindsay, which isn’t two businesses joined into one super company, but a couple that’s been going out for so long and so seriously that the entire student body views them as a single entity. I was surprised that Tyler wasn’t glued to Lindsay’s side. I looked around and saw he was sitting nearby. Lindsay was blowing I-can’t-believe-we’re-separated kisses to him and he was making a show of catching each one in his palm. Oh brother.
Lindsay’s identity ring will come as no surprise — it reads ‘Love’.
Sara was telling some long, involved story, as usual. ‘And then they told me that they were discontinuing that brand so I said, “Well, how am I going to manage without it? Youths with significant expendable incomes are looking to this pharmacy to provide different options!” And then he got all self-righteous and so I demanded to see someone more superior and —’
Sara’s ring reads ‘Diva’. Everything about her is dramatic — from her bright red hair to the way she handles situations. To get out of PE last year, Sara didn’t complain of PMS or a strained ankle; instead, she fainted and had half the basketball team carry her into the sick bay while the other half ran for water and smelling salts. It’s virtually impossible to keep up with her constant level of hysteria, so I tune out when she’s not actually experiencing a real crisis. I think most of us do, to tell the truth.
Lindsay had gone from blowing kisses to Tyler to sign language (‘I’, gesturing towards herself, ‘love’, making a heart out of her two index fingers and thumbs, ‘you’, pointing at Tyler); Cass was smiling at more nervous-looking students; and Jelena’s interest had moved to the area near the canteen.
‘HS.’ Her voice was loud and clear.
We had a Hottie Spotting.
‘Where?’ Cass glanced everywhere, not so subtly.
‘Don’t make it so obvious!’ Jelena hissed. ‘Twelve o’clock!’
We all looked straight ahead, to a group of guys from our grade. Amongst them were two new, highly attractive faces. The one on the left had sun-streaked blond hair and a wide grin that displayed dimples in both cheeks. Even from a distance, his baby blues were very striking.
‘Potential Prince,’ Cass breathed to me.
The guy on the right had something no other guy in the school had — a goatee. That alone was impressive. He leant against the brick wall, showing off his muscular arms to perfection. Every so often he’d run his fingers through his dark, perfectly styled hair.
‘Guy on the right looks potentially egotistical,’ I said.
I love the fact that guys now take a greater interest in grooming, but sometimes I think the whole metrosexual thing has gone too far. I want a guy who takes pride in his appearance, but won’t dive-tackle me for rights to the bathroom mirror.
‘Girl standing next to me obviously hit her head when she fell last night, because guy on the right is godly,’ Jelena replied.
‘Exactly — looking down on the rest of us mere mortals,’ I retorted.
‘If he’s conceited, he has every right to be,’ Jelena said. ‘Look at him! So, what do you think? Should we approach?’
Sara was still going on her pharmaceutical sob story, and Lindsay had obviously decided she couldn’t take the separation from her beloved any longer, as she and Tyler were now sharing a swing, so the three of us looked at each other and made a decision.
‘High heels?’ Cass asked.
‘Check!’ we all cried.
‘Time for the Glide-By,’ Jelena said.
The Glide-By, like the scarlet lipstick, is based on evolutionary tendencies — though it’s likely Darwin never saw this one coming! In the Glide-By, you wear an eye-catching outfit but pair it with LOUD shoes. This is because although a guy’s sight is his primary sense when it comes to attraction, you often need to combine the visual with sound to really make impact. Back in caveman days, men were trained to focus on their direct line of sight in order to spot prey. This evolutionary tendency is still part of the modern man’s make-up, so he might not pick up on your presence, no matter how gorgeous you are, if you happen to be slightly out of his line of sight. This is where the loud shoes are vital. They announce your presence. The minute a guy hears a loud sound, such as a pair of heels amongst the silent scuffing of sneakers, he will almost always turn his eyes towards it — an instinct from the days when responding to a sound could mean life or death for him and his tribe. Once his eyes are on you, the gorgeous outfit will have its desired impact. And, if your Glide-By is successful and he becomes smitten, he may even learn to recognise the exact sound of your particular heels in a crowd, the way penguins recognise a partner amongst thousands of identical birds.