Alex quietly breathed a sigh of relief, wiping her damp eyes as Tara barged past.
‘There’s nothing wrong with you,’ she insisted as Tara sat down at the dressing table.
‘Nothing wrong? You’re shitting me, right?’
Alex couldn’t help but smirk. Tara’s bright red hair hung limply around her shoulders, some strands plastered to her face, while a halo of static frizz held strong around the top of her head.
‘And I swear the heat from the sun is fading this very expensive dye job,’ she moaned. ‘I should have stayed blonde. Blondes thrive in the sun!Thisis not thriving.’
‘I mean, it’ll be fine after you wash and blow dry it,’ Alex reassured her. ‘I have some anti-humidity stuff in my case if you want to use it.’
‘I already borrowed it.’
Alex looked at the empty space where her Color Wow spray had once been. Some things never changed.
Tara exhaled loudly. ‘UGH! No wonder he dumped me,’ she said, peering into Alex’s mirror. ‘Imagine waking up to this every morning. I’d feckin’ bolt too.’
‘Stop that!’ Alex insisted, ‘I’m sure it had absolutely nothing to do with that. You could be ten years in the ground and you’d still look beautiful, now shut up.’
At once Alex felt like a horrible human being. Of course, it was nothing to do with her hair,shewas the reason this was all happening, and here she was, acting like the dutiful friend. But what else could she do?
‘Your eyes are all red,’ Tara noted. ‘Have you been crying? You look like I feel.’
‘Allergies,’ Alex replied quickly. ‘I have allergies.’
‘Since when? I don’t remember you having allergies.’
‘Yeah, they appeared in my late twenties. Adult onset. Weird.’
Is that even a real thing?she thought.Please don’t google that.
‘It must be the cat or hay fever or something. I’ll see if Erin has any antihistamines. Now go and get a shower. You’ll feel better.’
Tara slowly got up and took a moment to compose herself. ‘Thanks, pal. You’re right. Onwards and upwards.’
‘Exactly,’ she agreed. ‘I’ll see you at dinner.’
Adult-onset allergies, she repeated to herself as Tara left.You couldn’t have just said you were tired? Idiot.
As Tara left the room, Alex held her head in her hands. All of this hiding, this pretence, it just made her feel grubby. She wanted to scream. All she did was meet a boy on a plane and now hearts were broken. Hers included. But as much as she tried to reason with her conscience, it was pointless. She’d fallen for Aiden and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do to make any of it better.
