Page 12 of Blue in the Deep Blue Sea

I swallowed.

“Eventually, I became everyone else.”

“You two were just kids. Kids forget.” She dipped her finger into a pot of blue eye shadow and swept the color across my eyelid.

“No.” I opened my eyes, blinking when I noticed her finger inches from my face. “I’ll never forget the day he left me alone when I needed him the most.”

“Don’t move,” she scolded. “You’re ruining my art.”

I dragged two fingers across my lips, pretending to zip them shut, then stood still with my eyes closed.

“All I’m saying is… maybe it was all a misunderstanding.”

I shook my head.

“Out of all the words we said, it was our actions that tore us apart.” I paused. “And we weren’t children anymore. We were teenagers who wanted something so badly, yet neither of us got what we wanted.”

A breath slipped from my lips.

“We never wanted to be left behind, but we both ended up leaving at the same time.”

She dusted glitter over my eyelids before carefully lifting tiny rhinestones from a sheet and pressing them into the corners of my eyes, shaping little stars.

When she finished, she stepped back to admire her work.

“Maybe it’s better this way.” Her voice softened. “Sometimes things don’t happen because they’re meant to be. Sometimes they happen because they have to, so we can see we’re better off on our own.”

“Maybe.”

I blinked slowly as she cupped my face in both hands.

“Look at you.” The corners of her eyes crinkled with her smile. “Don’t you dare let any boy take that shine away.”

She grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. The car door slammed shut behind us. She spun me around until I was facing the window, my reflection staring back from the old glass.

“You are a motherfucking star,” she laughed. “And you’ve got me now.” She gave my shoulders a squeeze. “Now go behind my car and change into that dress I brought you, because tonight we’re going to have fun.”

“And live ignorant lives?” I laughed.

“Exactly.” She snapped her fingers and pointed towards the back of the car.

The sharp crack, like thunder, tore through my mind, pulling me back to the present.

I was still standing in front of the sink, staring at the dirty dishes.

I didn’t move.

For once, I left them where they were, as if that tiny act of defiance was the only victory I’d had in a long time.

One tear slipped down my cheek as the same feeling of unease washed over me. Gianni still hadn’t come home, and now I was starting to get scared that something might have happened. What if all those little lies cost us his life? What if all this backand forth, avoiding the truth, made us lose something we both loved most? A brother. A friend.

I heard footsteps drawing closer. The slow drag across the tiled floor told me it was my mother.

“Gianni still isn’t awake?” She asked.

“No.” I leaned against the sink. “He went to Sinclair’s.” I nodded, then touched my left ear. I always did that when I lied, but she’d never been close enough to notice that little habit. “Oliver had a job for him.”

“Okay.” She nodded and dragged herself into the living room. “I’ll have to go back to the Villa this afternoon. They need extra cleaning for tonight. Harry got engaged.”