Part 1 of Chapter 1 - comments are appreciated
September 13, 2007
Jaden,
There are so many things I wish I could say to you. Like how you still tear me up inside. You stopped talking to me months ago and it still feels like days.
There are so many questions I wish I could ask you. Were you only there for me because you felt obligated? Did you feel like you'd have my blood on your hands if I ended my so-called life? Are you glad to be rid of me? When I can't even rid me of myself.
I want to be able to think of you and not feel a knot in my stomach. I don't want to cringe at the thought of you. I'm tired of this unending pain. You don't think of me, so why am I forced to think of you? I don't want to care about you anymore because you've made it quite clear that you don't care about me. I hope you're happy that you're free of me. I never thought you'd abandon me. You will cause my downfall. You are my greatest disappointment.
- Amelia
I took the note I had just written to my former best friend and folded it neatly in half and then in half again. I wondered to myself whether or not I'd have the courage to actually give it to Jaden. I wrote her name on the top of the folded paper in loopy handwriting.
Amelia? Hello? Earth to Amelia! Are you paying attention to me?"
I suddenly jerked out of my trance, slightly alarmed. It took me a few seconds to realize that my favorite teacher, Mr. Pryce, was trying to get my attention.
"Yes?" I asked tentatively.
"Class ended five minutes ago. Are you okay?" he asked. He was peering at me through his black square-rimmed glasses with a concerned look in his eyes.
"Oh. Um, yeah. I'm okay. I was just thinking about what I should write about for this new assignment." Thank God I paid a little bit of attention to his lecture today. I had spent the majority of class writing that note to Jaden. I was still debating whether or not I was brave enough to give it to her. "Sorry." I added.
"If you're sure that you're okay. You can talk to me anytime you need to. You know that, right? My door is always open to you." He didn't buy my story about the homework assignment. I could see it on his face and I could hear it in his voice. I'd never been very good at lying. My friends were always able to tell when I was bluffing at the poker games we used to play. My chest tightened at the memory. There was a lump in my throat. I was afraid that I was going to start hyperventilating right there.
"Right. Thanks." I managed to say very quietly. I wasn't sure that he heard me.
"It's the weekend, Amelia. Don't worry about your schoolwork until at least 10 PM on Sunday night." He said as he winked at me. He was always one to try to lighten the mood. It was one of the qualities that I liked best about him.
"Yeah. See you Monday. Have a good weekend, Mr. Pryce."
At that, I packed up my schoolbag as quickly as possible and hurried out of the classroom. How could I have not noticed that the dismissal bell had rung? I really needed to pay more attention to my surroundings. The last thing I needed was for Mr. Pryce to start worrying about me.
He had so much on his plate already and the thought of him worrying about me made me feel guilty. In addition to the fact that he taught three different English Literature classes, he was the drama director and he was still trying to decide which play we were going to do next.
He also had the divorce on his mind. His wife had been having an affair for two years. I know this because Mrs. Pryce had run off with my father less than a month ago. I really didn't want to make his life more stressful than my family already had. I bit my lip at the thought. I didn't need to burden anyone. I needed to keep my feelings to myself. I was quite capable of making it through the day. No matter how hard it was.
When I got to my car my true best friend, Nikki, was already there. "Hey, you!" she said while poking me in the shoulder. "Where have you been?"
"I got caught up in Mr. Pryce's room." I explained.
"Oh. Well, what should be do tonight?" She asked.
Nikki had been my best friend since I moved to Madison when we were 10 years old. She introduced me to all of the friends that I have now. I immediately clicked with Jaden and the three of us had been inseparable since. Up until a few months ago that is. I tried not to remember those times because of the pain that I felt at the memories.
"Um, I'd rather just go to bed." I said biting my lip again.
"Melia! You can't! That's all you do anymore!" She whined as we got into my green Ford Taurus. I was quite fond of my car despite the fact that it was old, rusty and an awful shade of green. The only car that I deemed worthy of being green was the Volkswagen Beetle. It was my dream car.
"I know that you're still upset about Jade. She was wrong and she's changed. We can do better and she'll be sorry that she walked out of our lives the way that she did. Karma works in mysterious ways." Nikki said casually.
At that moment, Jade walked out of the school arm in arm with Elena Brown. Jade was short with shoulder-length mousy brown hair.
Elena was tall, skinny and had hair that was more blond than Paris Hilton if that was possible. She was so thin that she looked sick. She was "The Queen of Nastiness" as my friend Elijah had called her. She was the stereotypical cheerleader. I could not respect anyone that willingly affiliated themselves with her.
It was at that moment that I made my decision. I was brave enough to give Jade my note. Seeing her with Elena had dashed any hopes I had of getting my best friend back.
"Pathetic." Nikki muttered under her breath, shaking her head. She was pulling her long, black hair into a messy bun. "Anyway," she said clapping her hands together. "There is a new girl in my Spanish class and I've invited her out with us. Her name is Bailey Sanders and she's super nice. You really don't have a say in the matter. You're coming out with us tonight. If I have to blindfold you and stick you in my trunk, then I will. So help me God." I knew that her threat was not entirely empty. I decided not to argue just yet.
"Is it going to be just the three of us?" I asked a little wary.
"No."
"Who else?"
"Well, you know. The usual crowd. Kyle, Samantha, Elijah, Effie, Taylor and Rob. Oh, and Bailey is bringing her twin brother. His name is Cooper and word on the street is that he's really cute."
"Word on the street? You never say that." I said while raising one eyebrow at her.
"Whatever. So, what are you going to wear?"
I looked down and gestured at what I was wearing. I had on a pair of blue jeans with a hole in the right knee and a blue hoodie with yellow letters that said "West High Tigers". Under the lettering, there was a picture of a not-so-ferocious looking tiger. "I think I look alright." I muttered under my breath. I really didn't watn to make a big deal about appearances.
"We're just going to have to do something about that."
"Just be glad that I'm even leaving my bedroom tonight. Not that I'd have a choice as you put it." I said bitterly.
"I'm dressing you up. It'll make you feel better." She insisted, trying to get me to go along with her plan.
"Fine. If it gets you off my back."
Still intent on making my feelings known to Jade, I made a quick detour and stopped at her house. She wasn't home yet. I got out of my car and slipped the note in her mailbox. It was easier than I thought it would be. That was most likely because she was nowhere in sight. There was no chance of her coming out of her house to investigate what I was doing at her house after the months of silence we had towards each other.
Nikki was staring at me incredulously when I got back into the car. "What was that about?" She was still staring at me after I drove away in the direction of her house.
"I need closure." I said simply. There was a hint of anger in my voice that she picked up on. She dropped the subject.
I pulled up to Nikki's house, hoping she'd forgotten about her plan to make me her own personal Barbie doll when she said, "I'll be by your house in an hour and a half to help you get ready. We need to be at Sami's house at 7:30 to help her set up. Thank God her parents are out of town this weekend."
When I opened my mouth to reply, she cut me off. "Don't worry. We'll have plenty of time to get you ready." With that, she winked at me, hopped out of my car and was running into her house before I could disagree. Right. Because THAT'S what I was worried about. With a sigh, I put my car in reverse and backed out of the driveway.
When I got home, my mom was sitting on the couch with some TV show playing. She was wearing the same light brown sweatpants and white T-shirt she had on when I left for school. She had her laptop in her lap at she wasn't paying attention to what was going on around her. She jumped when I dropped my keys on the end table by the front door.
"Oh! Hey, sweetie! How was your day?"
"Find, Mom. How was yours?"
"It wasn't too bad. I didn't really do anything. I had plans to clean the whole house. But then this segment caught my attention on "Wake up, Madison!" and then I wanted to check my email. I read an article on the internet today about how you shouldn't put plastic bowls in the microwave. Did you know that can cause cancer?"
My mom was a huge hypochondriac and was always reading crazy article like that. Didn't she know you were risking cancer every time you walked out your front door? I stopped paying attnetion to stuff like that a long time ago.
"No, Mom. I didn't know that. I'll keep that in mind." I said rolling my eyes at her. She didn't notice.
"What do you have planned tonight?"
"Nikki's forcing me to go to a party tonight."
"That's great! You've been keeping yourself locked in yourself for months. You really should get out and see your friends."
"Yeah. Sure." She was one to talk. She's been doing the same thing for weeks. I did see where she was coming from though. She just lost the man she was supposed to be with forever. I hated my father for breaking my mothers spirit. She was an oddball sometimes, but she still had the biggest heart that I knew. It was hard for people to hate my mother and my father took all of that and destroyed it. I loathed him.
I walked slowly up the stairs and opened the door on the right, shutting myself in my bedroom. I really didn't want to go out tonight. If it had been just Nikki, Bailey and Cooper, I'd probably be okay. Maybe. I hadn't seen ayone of the others outside of school since last May. Just before Jade decided she was too good to be seen with me.
Okay, so in fairness, she abandoned everyone. Not just me. But for some reason, I felt like I was the core of the problem Jade suddenly had with everyone.
I decided that dwelling on this was only going to make the night ahead harder. Instead, I ignored Mr. Pryce's advice and pulled out my Trigonometry homework. I didn't have to do anything to get ready for the party. Nikki preferred it if I let her do all of the work.
"It gives me more to work with. I like to start from scratch." She told me when we were getting ready for Homecoming last year. Nikki was an artist when it came to fashion and cosmetics. I could see her working with the biggest stars in Hollywood ten years from now. She would help them get ready for big award shows like the Oscars and the Grammys. I just hoped she wouldn't forget about little old me in Madison, Wisconsin when she became this successful cosmetologist.
When Nikki came over, I was laying on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I was dreading the nights events that had yet to take place. How would everyone react to the fact that I was there? Would they be upset with me after months of my intentional isolation? Or, would they welcome me back to the group as if nothing had changed?
"Okay! Enough of the moping! It's time to get ready!" Nikki announced loudly as she walked across my room and put two shopping bags on my desk.
She was wearing a red, sparkly tank top with lace trimming along the bottom and a jean skirt. Her hair was curled to perfection. Her makeup was applied nicely to her tanned face.
"Please tel me you didn't buy me an outfit for tonight." I said glaring at the shopping bags.
"Not exactly," she replied. "I bought this for myself a couple of weeks ago. However, I've decided that if I were going to wear it, I would have done so by now. So, I'm giving it to you. Don't try to decline my gift either. I'm not goign to take the outfit back. You're keeping it ." I was pretty stubborn. But she was worse and we both knew it.
"Fine." I decided not to protest. We both knew how it would end. I didn't want to waster her time in a pointless argument. "But you better not get me anything for Christmas."
"Deal. Now get up. We've got to get you ready." She said as she pulled a green halter top and a pair of light blue, low-rise jeans out of one of the bags. I was a little nervous when I put the halter on. I was pretty modest with my body. Even though I was thin and had the "perfect body" for one, I'd never, ever worn a bikini in my life. To my surprise, the top wasn't revealing in the least bit. There were little light green gems and sequins lining the collar of the shirt. It was adorable.
"You look so cute!" she exclaimed with a huge smile on her face. "Now, lets do something with your hair." She said excitedly as she grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me to the bathroom. "Lean your head over the bathtub."
After I had my head under the faucet, she turned the water on and after adjusting the water she asked if the temperature was comfortable. When I told it that it was fine, she ran off. When she came back a moment later, I heard her flip a cap off a shampoo bottle. The next thing I knew, she was lathering my hair in the best smelling shampoo. Then, she washed my hair again using conditioner that smelled exactly the same way.
"Don't get up yet." She instructed me when she was done. Then she wrapped my head in a towel and helped me get up. Surprisingly, the halter I was wearing was not wet. I don't know how she did that.
"Sit on the toilet and face the wall."
"My hair was clean, you know. I took a shower this morning." I informed her.
"I know. Your hair was wet when you picked me up this morning. I just thought that you would appreciate the way my new shampoo and conditioner smelled."
"You were right. It smells amazing. What is that?"
"I can't say."
" Fine then, don't tell me." I said, sticking my tongue out at her playfully.
"Okay, I wont."
Once I had given up trying to get the information out of her, she removed the towel from my head and turned the hair dryer on and continued to dry my hair until it wasn't dripping anymore. She stopped once it was damp. Then she pulled out some styling gel and scrunched my hair. Then she hair sprayed it until she was sure that my hair was going to hold throughout the night. My hair was naturally straight and so it proved to be extremely difficult at times when Nikki tried to scrunch or curl my hair. In the end, however, she was always successful.
"Time for makeup." She said grabbing the second shopping bag. She must have brought it when she got the shampoo and conditioner. She skillfully applied some bronzer, eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara and lip gloss until she was satisfied. She surveyed her work for a moment. "Don't move for a second." Then she grabbed a few bobby pins from the drawer next to the sink and pinned some of my hair to the top of my head. "There. You are bee-yoou-tee-full." She said pronouncing every syllable in the word "beautiful".
"You may now look in the mirror."
When I got up and walked to the mirror, I almost didn't recognize myself. She had my shoulder-length blond hair scrunched and pinned so perfectly, I would have classified it as a work of art.
The makeup she applied was very subtle but it still accented my facial features nicely. I hadn't worn makeup in so long that I forgot what I looked like with it on. It was weird to me. I felt beautiful. I had a sense of confidence that I hadn't felt in months. It felt good.
"What time is it?" she asked. There was a hint of panic in her voice. She ran to my room and came back. "It's 6:30. I don't think Sami would shoot us if we showed up early."
"Does she know I'm coming?" I asked nervously.
"Oh yeah! She's ecstatic that you're coming!" That was good to hear. But, how would everyone else feel?
Jaden,
There are so many things I wish I could say to you. Like how you still tear me up inside. You stopped talking to me months ago and it still feels like days.
There are so many questions I wish I could ask you. Were you only there for me because you felt obligated? Did you feel like you'd have my blood on your hands if I ended my so-called life? Are you glad to be rid of me? When I can't even rid me of myself.
I want to be able to think of you and not feel a knot in my stomach. I don't want to cringe at the thought of you. I'm tired of this unending pain. You don't think of me, so why am I forced to think of you? I don't want to care about you anymore because you've made it quite clear that you don't care about me. I hope you're happy that you're free of me. I never thought you'd abandon me. You will cause my downfall. You are my greatest disappointment.
- Amelia
I took the note I had just written to my former best friend and folded it neatly in half and then in half again. I wondered to myself whether or not I'd have the courage to actually give it to Jaden. I wrote her name on the top of the folded paper in loopy handwriting.
Amelia? Hello? Earth to Amelia! Are you paying attention to me?"
I suddenly jerked out of my trance, slightly alarmed. It took me a few seconds to realize that my favorite teacher, Mr. Pryce, was trying to get my attention.
"Yes?" I asked tentatively.
"Class ended five minutes ago. Are you okay?" he asked. He was peering at me through his black square-rimmed glasses with a concerned look in his eyes.
"Oh. Um, yeah. I'm okay. I was just thinking about what I should write about for this new assignment." Thank God I paid a little bit of attention to his lecture today. I had spent the majority of class writing that note to Jaden. I was still debating whether or not I was brave enough to give it to her. "Sorry." I added.
"If you're sure that you're okay. You can talk to me anytime you need to. You know that, right? My door is always open to you." He didn't buy my story about the homework assignment. I could see it on his face and I could hear it in his voice. I'd never been very good at lying. My friends were always able to tell when I was bluffing at the poker games we used to play. My chest tightened at the memory. There was a lump in my throat. I was afraid that I was going to start hyperventilating right there.
"Right. Thanks." I managed to say very quietly. I wasn't sure that he heard me.
"It's the weekend, Amelia. Don't worry about your schoolwork until at least 10 PM on Sunday night." He said as he winked at me. He was always one to try to lighten the mood. It was one of the qualities that I liked best about him.
"Yeah. See you Monday. Have a good weekend, Mr. Pryce."
At that, I packed up my schoolbag as quickly as possible and hurried out of the classroom. How could I have not noticed that the dismissal bell had rung? I really needed to pay more attention to my surroundings. The last thing I needed was for Mr. Pryce to start worrying about me.
He had so much on his plate already and the thought of him worrying about me made me feel guilty. In addition to the fact that he taught three different English Literature classes, he was the drama director and he was still trying to decide which play we were going to do next.
He also had the divorce on his mind. His wife had been having an affair for two years. I know this because Mrs. Pryce had run off with my father less than a month ago. I really didn't want to make his life more stressful than my family already had. I bit my lip at the thought. I didn't need to burden anyone. I needed to keep my feelings to myself. I was quite capable of making it through the day. No matter how hard it was.
When I got to my car my true best friend, Nikki, was already there. "Hey, you!" she said while poking me in the shoulder. "Where have you been?"
"I got caught up in Mr. Pryce's room." I explained.
"Oh. Well, what should be do tonight?" She asked.
Nikki had been my best friend since I moved to Madison when we were 10 years old. She introduced me to all of the friends that I have now. I immediately clicked with Jaden and the three of us had been inseparable since. Up until a few months ago that is. I tried not to remember those times because of the pain that I felt at the memories.
"Um, I'd rather just go to bed." I said biting my lip again.
"Melia! You can't! That's all you do anymore!" She whined as we got into my green Ford Taurus. I was quite fond of my car despite the fact that it was old, rusty and an awful shade of green. The only car that I deemed worthy of being green was the Volkswagen Beetle. It was my dream car.
"I know that you're still upset about Jade. She was wrong and she's changed. We can do better and she'll be sorry that she walked out of our lives the way that she did. Karma works in mysterious ways." Nikki said casually.
At that moment, Jade walked out of the school arm in arm with Elena Brown. Jade was short with shoulder-length mousy brown hair.
Elena was tall, skinny and had hair that was more blond than Paris Hilton if that was possible. She was so thin that she looked sick. She was "The Queen of Nastiness" as my friend Elijah had called her. She was the stereotypical cheerleader. I could not respect anyone that willingly affiliated themselves with her.
It was at that moment that I made my decision. I was brave enough to give Jade my note. Seeing her with Elena had dashed any hopes I had of getting my best friend back.
"Pathetic." Nikki muttered under her breath, shaking her head. She was pulling her long, black hair into a messy bun. "Anyway," she said clapping her hands together. "There is a new girl in my Spanish class and I've invited her out with us. Her name is Bailey Sanders and she's super nice. You really don't have a say in the matter. You're coming out with us tonight. If I have to blindfold you and stick you in my trunk, then I will. So help me God." I knew that her threat was not entirely empty. I decided not to argue just yet.
"Is it going to be just the three of us?" I asked a little wary.
"No."
"Who else?"
"Well, you know. The usual crowd. Kyle, Samantha, Elijah, Effie, Taylor and Rob. Oh, and Bailey is bringing her twin brother. His name is Cooper and word on the street is that he's really cute."
"Word on the street? You never say that." I said while raising one eyebrow at her.
"Whatever. So, what are you going to wear?"
I looked down and gestured at what I was wearing. I had on a pair of blue jeans with a hole in the right knee and a blue hoodie with yellow letters that said "West High Tigers". Under the lettering, there was a picture of a not-so-ferocious looking tiger. "I think I look alright." I muttered under my breath. I really didn't watn to make a big deal about appearances.
"We're just going to have to do something about that."
"Just be glad that I'm even leaving my bedroom tonight. Not that I'd have a choice as you put it." I said bitterly.
"I'm dressing you up. It'll make you feel better." She insisted, trying to get me to go along with her plan.
"Fine. If it gets you off my back."
Still intent on making my feelings known to Jade, I made a quick detour and stopped at her house. She wasn't home yet. I got out of my car and slipped the note in her mailbox. It was easier than I thought it would be. That was most likely because she was nowhere in sight. There was no chance of her coming out of her house to investigate what I was doing at her house after the months of silence we had towards each other.
Nikki was staring at me incredulously when I got back into the car. "What was that about?" She was still staring at me after I drove away in the direction of her house.
"I need closure." I said simply. There was a hint of anger in my voice that she picked up on. She dropped the subject.
I pulled up to Nikki's house, hoping she'd forgotten about her plan to make me her own personal Barbie doll when she said, "I'll be by your house in an hour and a half to help you get ready. We need to be at Sami's house at 7:30 to help her set up. Thank God her parents are out of town this weekend."
When I opened my mouth to reply, she cut me off. "Don't worry. We'll have plenty of time to get you ready." With that, she winked at me, hopped out of my car and was running into her house before I could disagree. Right. Because THAT'S what I was worried about. With a sigh, I put my car in reverse and backed out of the driveway.
When I got home, my mom was sitting on the couch with some TV show playing. She was wearing the same light brown sweatpants and white T-shirt she had on when I left for school. She had her laptop in her lap at she wasn't paying attention to what was going on around her. She jumped when I dropped my keys on the end table by the front door.
"Oh! Hey, sweetie! How was your day?"
"Find, Mom. How was yours?"
"It wasn't too bad. I didn't really do anything. I had plans to clean the whole house. But then this segment caught my attention on "Wake up, Madison!" and then I wanted to check my email. I read an article on the internet today about how you shouldn't put plastic bowls in the microwave. Did you know that can cause cancer?"
My mom was a huge hypochondriac and was always reading crazy article like that. Didn't she know you were risking cancer every time you walked out your front door? I stopped paying attnetion to stuff like that a long time ago.
"No, Mom. I didn't know that. I'll keep that in mind." I said rolling my eyes at her. She didn't notice.
"What do you have planned tonight?"
"Nikki's forcing me to go to a party tonight."
"That's great! You've been keeping yourself locked in yourself for months. You really should get out and see your friends."
"Yeah. Sure." She was one to talk. She's been doing the same thing for weeks. I did see where she was coming from though. She just lost the man she was supposed to be with forever. I hated my father for breaking my mothers spirit. She was an oddball sometimes, but she still had the biggest heart that I knew. It was hard for people to hate my mother and my father took all of that and destroyed it. I loathed him.
I walked slowly up the stairs and opened the door on the right, shutting myself in my bedroom. I really didn't want to go out tonight. If it had been just Nikki, Bailey and Cooper, I'd probably be okay. Maybe. I hadn't seen ayone of the others outside of school since last May. Just before Jade decided she was too good to be seen with me.
Okay, so in fairness, she abandoned everyone. Not just me. But for some reason, I felt like I was the core of the problem Jade suddenly had with everyone.
I decided that dwelling on this was only going to make the night ahead harder. Instead, I ignored Mr. Pryce's advice and pulled out my Trigonometry homework. I didn't have to do anything to get ready for the party. Nikki preferred it if I let her do all of the work.
"It gives me more to work with. I like to start from scratch." She told me when we were getting ready for Homecoming last year. Nikki was an artist when it came to fashion and cosmetics. I could see her working with the biggest stars in Hollywood ten years from now. She would help them get ready for big award shows like the Oscars and the Grammys. I just hoped she wouldn't forget about little old me in Madison, Wisconsin when she became this successful cosmetologist.
When Nikki came over, I was laying on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I was dreading the nights events that had yet to take place. How would everyone react to the fact that I was there? Would they be upset with me after months of my intentional isolation? Or, would they welcome me back to the group as if nothing had changed?
"Okay! Enough of the moping! It's time to get ready!" Nikki announced loudly as she walked across my room and put two shopping bags on my desk.
She was wearing a red, sparkly tank top with lace trimming along the bottom and a jean skirt. Her hair was curled to perfection. Her makeup was applied nicely to her tanned face.
"Please tel me you didn't buy me an outfit for tonight." I said glaring at the shopping bags.
"Not exactly," she replied. "I bought this for myself a couple of weeks ago. However, I've decided that if I were going to wear it, I would have done so by now. So, I'm giving it to you. Don't try to decline my gift either. I'm not goign to take the outfit back. You're keeping it ." I was pretty stubborn. But she was worse and we both knew it.
"Fine." I decided not to protest. We both knew how it would end. I didn't want to waster her time in a pointless argument. "But you better not get me anything for Christmas."
"Deal. Now get up. We've got to get you ready." She said as she pulled a green halter top and a pair of light blue, low-rise jeans out of one of the bags. I was a little nervous when I put the halter on. I was pretty modest with my body. Even though I was thin and had the "perfect body" for one, I'd never, ever worn a bikini in my life. To my surprise, the top wasn't revealing in the least bit. There were little light green gems and sequins lining the collar of the shirt. It was adorable.
"You look so cute!" she exclaimed with a huge smile on her face. "Now, lets do something with your hair." She said excitedly as she grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me to the bathroom. "Lean your head over the bathtub."
After I had my head under the faucet, she turned the water on and after adjusting the water she asked if the temperature was comfortable. When I told it that it was fine, she ran off. When she came back a moment later, I heard her flip a cap off a shampoo bottle. The next thing I knew, she was lathering my hair in the best smelling shampoo. Then, she washed my hair again using conditioner that smelled exactly the same way.
"Don't get up yet." She instructed me when she was done. Then she wrapped my head in a towel and helped me get up. Surprisingly, the halter I was wearing was not wet. I don't know how she did that.
"Sit on the toilet and face the wall."
"My hair was clean, you know. I took a shower this morning." I informed her.
"I know. Your hair was wet when you picked me up this morning. I just thought that you would appreciate the way my new shampoo and conditioner smelled."
"You were right. It smells amazing. What is that?"
"I can't say."
" Fine then, don't tell me." I said, sticking my tongue out at her playfully.
"Okay, I wont."
Once I had given up trying to get the information out of her, she removed the towel from my head and turned the hair dryer on and continued to dry my hair until it wasn't dripping anymore. She stopped once it was damp. Then she pulled out some styling gel and scrunched my hair. Then she hair sprayed it until she was sure that my hair was going to hold throughout the night. My hair was naturally straight and so it proved to be extremely difficult at times when Nikki tried to scrunch or curl my hair. In the end, however, she was always successful.
"Time for makeup." She said grabbing the second shopping bag. She must have brought it when she got the shampoo and conditioner. She skillfully applied some bronzer, eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara and lip gloss until she was satisfied. She surveyed her work for a moment. "Don't move for a second." Then she grabbed a few bobby pins from the drawer next to the sink and pinned some of my hair to the top of my head. "There. You are bee-yoou-tee-full." She said pronouncing every syllable in the word "beautiful".
"You may now look in the mirror."
When I got up and walked to the mirror, I almost didn't recognize myself. She had my shoulder-length blond hair scrunched and pinned so perfectly, I would have classified it as a work of art.
The makeup she applied was very subtle but it still accented my facial features nicely. I hadn't worn makeup in so long that I forgot what I looked like with it on. It was weird to me. I felt beautiful. I had a sense of confidence that I hadn't felt in months. It felt good.
"What time is it?" she asked. There was a hint of panic in her voice. She ran to my room and came back. "It's 6:30. I don't think Sami would shoot us if we showed up early."
"Does she know I'm coming?" I asked nervously.
"Oh yeah! She's ecstatic that you're coming!" That was good to hear. But, how would everyone else feel?