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I snatched the dress before Mother could finish. “I like the lace.”
Mother sighed again. “Fine, at least it’s not sparkly. Now hurry and change. You’ll burn her old outfit, Lava?”
“Certainly.”
My heart lurched as I stumbled into the dressing room and locked the door behind me. For a moment I leaned against the closed door, my heart pattering as I clutched my new dress. Stardust floated out of my hair and morphed back into herself with apop.
“Well, this is fun.” She immediately began tugging my star clips from my hair. My hand fluttered up to stop her.
“What are you doing?”
“Rescuing yourrealstyle before your horrible mother destroys it. You’ll need it when we return to the Dream Realm.”
“But we’re never going to—”
“Yes, we will. Like I’ve been constantly telling you, this mess is all a misunderstanding and won’t last forever.”
She finished removing my hair clips and waited for me to tug off my dress and unlace my ballet slippers. I handed her my old style and she morphed into a bag to put my clothes inside before changing back into herself with a reassuring smile.
“I’ll keep them safe.”
I hadn’t realized just how dear my style was to me until it’d been stolen. Tears burned my eyes before I hastily wiped them away. “Thank you, Stardust.”
Someone knocked on the door. “Hurry up, Eden. What’s taking you so long?”
Mother. I quickly pulled on my new dress and shuddered as it settled around me; I felt like I’d just donned a costume. After Stardust morphed back into another disguise small enough to nestle into my hair, I shakily stepped out of the dressing room, hastily closing the door behind me so she wouldn’t notice that my Dreamer outfit was missing. Mother’s disapproval softened into one of her rare smiles.
“Muchbetter...except for the lace. Can you remove it, Lava?”
“I want it,” I said.
Mother pursed her lips before she relented with a nod. “Very well, I’ll allow you this silly indulgence.” She seized my hand and frowned at my purple nails. “These will have to be painted black, as will those purple stars on your cheeks.”
“Can I have black star clips, too?”
“Are you trying to bleed my dream dust dry? Fine, but if I do this for you, you must make more of an effort to fit into your new home.” She took my arm and guided me towards the painting station. Fifteen minutes later, I stared at my reflection in disbelief.
Was thatme? My wide eyes took in my new style, so similar to my old yet nothing more than a shadow of my former self. Black dress, black ballet slippers, a thin layer of black glitter I’d begged and pleaded for Mother to allow me to wear on my skin, black fingernails, black stars painted on my cheeks, black star clips. Black, black, black—so much black. I hated the absence of color, though at the same time it felt like an appropriate representation of the darkness currently filling my hardened heart. If it weren’t for my wavy lilac hair and violet eyes, I might not have recognized myself at all.
“It’s notyou,” Stardust, still hidden in my hair, whispered. No, it wasn’t, not the old Eden anyway, but now I knew she hadn’t actually been the true me.
Mother came up behind me and rested her hands on my shoulders. “There’s my real daughter.” She kissed my cheek and I nearly jolted at the foreign contact before I found myself managing the smallest smile, my first in months. Mother squeezed my shoulders before releasing me, leaving me yearning for her touch.
“Let’s get some ice cream to celebrate and show Blaze and Trinity your remarkable transformation.” And after paying for my new style, we left the shop.
* * *
Blaze and Trinitywaited for us at Frozen Hearts ice cream parlor, sitting at a secluded table holding hands. They managed to tear their attention away from one another to gawk at my transformation. Trinity beamed and even Blaze broke his usual stoic expression to smirk.
“Finally, I can stomach looking at you,” he said by way of compliment.
“And we won’t be embarrassed to be seen with you,” Trinity added. I flinched.
Mother patted my hand. “It’s definitely an improvement...although I could do without the lace, which Eden insisted on, stubborn girl.”
Trinity leaned towards me the moment I shakily took my seat. “What do you think of your new style?”
“I love it,” I said in a monotone. Trinity frowned as her slippery power invaded my heart and detected my lie, but before she could question me about my dishonesty, our ice cream arrived, providing a much-needed distraction. But after only a few bites of my maple-acorn blend I couldn’t stomach seeing my black fingernails each time I lifted my spoon. I abandoned my treat and slouched in my seat.
