Page 6 of Rescuing Brinley

Done trying to fit in.

Done believing that maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t as weird-looking as she thought.

Done hoping there was a guy out there who would see her for who she was. Someone who wouldn’t care that her hair was bright red and frizzy, who thought her abundant freckles gave her character. Who wouldn’t care that her ears stuck out a little and her nose and eyes were a bit too big for her face.

Pretty people ran the world. And those who weren’t, simply muddled along as best they could. So that’s what Brinley would do. She had no idea what she was going to do after she graduated high school, but she wouldn’t stay here in the San Francisco area.

No, she was getting as far away from here as she possibly could get.

Eight Years after Graduating High School

“Brin! Guess what!” Cypress shouted, as she threw open the door to their apartment.

Brinley lifted her head and smiled at her best friend. She pulled a few pins out of her mouth and stuck them safely into the pin holder shaped like Bigfoot’s head. Cypress had found it one day when she was out and about and brought it home for her.

“You got the job,” she stated, with no doubt whatsoever in her tone.

Cypress frowned. “How’d you know?”

“Because you’re awesome. You were the best candidate and they’d be stupid not to hire you.”

Cypress laughed, and the smile on her face was genuine and full, and Brinley couldn’t have been happier for her.

After high school, her best friend had decided to go to college in Seattle, Washington, and Brinley followed along. The truth was, she didn’t care where she went, as long as it wasn’t Northern California. She was glad to get away, relieved she didn’t have to be in the same orbit as Callista.

Her sister was twenty-two now and still involved in pageants. She hadn’t gone to college and was still living at home with their mom.

And she was just as beautiful as she’d been the day Brinley left town.

More so, actually.

She was tall—around five-eleven—had beautiful straight auburn hair, striking green eyes, and was as slender as a model. She made decent money through modeling, in fact. But her first love was still pageants. She and their mom were always traveling somewhere to participate in another competition. She was starting to age out of some of them though, so Callista was attending international pageants more and more. The competition was much stiffer, but she usually placed in the top ten, and occasionally even won.

Even though Brinley wasn’t living at home anymore, though, her relationship with her sister hadn’t improved. The truth was, Callista had grown into a spoiled and conceited woman. She knew she was beautiful, and she expected everyone around her to fall all over themselves to do her bidding as a result. She expected doors to be opened, meals to be paid for, and men to worship at her feet.

She’d had more boyfriends than Brinley could name, but her sister only seemed interested until they got tired of shelling out money to keep her attention. Then she dumped them for the next guy who was willing to spoil her even more.

But Brinley was actually thankful to her sister. Because of her, and all the pageants Brinley had been dragged to as a child and teenager, she’d found her niche in life.

She’d majored in fashion design in college, and now she made pageant dresses and outfits for a living.

It was astonishing how much money someone would pay for a unique gown no one else would be wearing. And Brinley made those gowns, along with accessories to go with them, and less-formal dresses for the various portions of the competitions. She knew what looked good onstage and was creative enough to come up with different designs to flatter any figure.

And she was in high demand. Her dresses were well-made, unique, and had the top contenders in the pageant world booking her at least a year out.

The best part of her job, however, was that Brinley could work from home. From anywhere, really. She didn’t need to go out in public. Didn’t have to try to pretend to ignore stares and comments from people about her looks. She could stay inside, listen to whatever music she liked, and get lost in her sewing and coming up with fantastic new designs.

“Are you really willing to move to Alaska with me?” Cypress asked with a small tilt of her head.

Brinley frowned. “Do you not want me to go with you anymore?”

“No! That’s not what I’m insinuating. It’s just…it’s Alaska. It’s super rural. Cold. And there aren’t many people.”

“All those are the reasons why I want to move to Alaska with you,” Brinley said with a small laugh.

“We’re a pair, aren’t we?” Cypress said with a chuckle, as she flopped down on the couch near Brinley’s workstation. “This should be the prime of our life. The mid-twenties are supposed to be a time of partying, having one-night stands, and enjoying ourselves before we settle down and get serious about being an adult. Instead, I’m more interested in my research and you live like a hermit in our apartment, buried in fabric.”

“But we’re happy,” Brinley said firmly.