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And in the middle of it all, sitting on the floor among dresses and shoes, are the rest of my BFFs: Echo, Jupiter — she’s the one who hollered just now — and Wyn. Although Wyn is in a computer screen set down on the coffee table because she’s in New York and wasn’t able to make it in person.
I’m very proud and happy to say that these aren’t all of my BFFs. I’ve got two more but both of them were too super busy to even FaceTime and hence couldn’t make it. For someone who grew up with people who branded her crazy, hence not worthy of their friendship, I’ve certainly made a lot of friends. And it’s all because of my very first BFF, Callie.
She’s the one who introduced me to every single one of them and I couldn’t be more grateful to her.
“Okay, tell me you know how to do this,” Jupiter says as soon as Callie and I resume our seats in our little circle. She has a makeup brush in her hand and she’s pointing it at Echo like she’s going to stab her eye with it. Then, “Because let me tell you, contouring is not my strong suit at all.”
I shake my head. “Here, gimme.” I turn to Echo who turns dutifully to me. “Now, just close your eyes and relax.”
She looks skeptical but does as I say. “Okay.”
And since Jupiter has already cleared her face with the kickass cleanser and toner she brought, I grab the bronzer and the highlighter and get to work. Although I have to say there is not much work to be done here. With her honey blonde hair and her light brown eyes, Echo’s a natural beauty. Her cheekbones are already high and so her cheeks are sunken the right way and the right amount. All I have to do is darken them a little bit so they are the first things people see on her face. And maybe accentuate her jawline a little more than it already is.
Piece of cake.
Ten minutes later, she’s ready to take on the world.
“Now open your eyes,” I tell her and hold a mirror in front of her.
She does and as soon as she sees herself, she gasps. “Oh wow. That’s…” She squints at herself, turning her face this way and that. “I can’t… I can’t believe that’s me. I can’t believe I look so pretty.”
I smile at her. “It is you and you are that pretty. Makeup just jazzed it up a little.”
“Exactly.” Jupiter looks at her with wide happy eyes. “Girls don’t need makeup to be beautiful because we already are. Makeup just gives us a little oomph.”
Jupiter raises her palm for me to high five and I do, feeling warm.
I have to say, when Callie introduced me to all these girls, I wasn’t sure if they’d be so welcoming. Not because they’re not all friendly and awesome. But because they’re already so tight with each other and also because until recently, I lived in New York and only visited Bardstown every so often.
Plus all these girls went to school together.
And it wasn’t a normal high school either. It was an all-girls reform school called St. Mary’s School for Troubled Teenagers. Which means it’s a school for delinquents, troublemakers and rule breakers. Which also means that going to that school, graduating from it like they did this year, is no easy feat.
There’s a stigma attached to it. Plus there are a million rules from when to wake up to how to do your homework and get good grades to graduate. It’s basically like a prison, and when you’re in prison together, you develop lifelong bonds. So I thought since I had a different high school experience, I wouldn’t be able to jell with them and do it so quickly and easily. But I did and now here we are.
“I think this is perfect,” Callie says while Halo is bundled up in her arms, playing with her golden blonde braid.
Wyn chimes in from the computer, tacking on to Callie’s statement. “For what we have in mind.”
Callie looks at her. “I know. This is going to be amazing.”
“Right?” Wyn grins from the screen. “And here I was worried that our days of planning and plotting were over.”
Callie grins back as Halo coos with happiness, probably watching her mommy smile. “It’s never over when there’s a guy involved.”
“A grumpy, hot guy who won’t have sex with you,” Jupiter adds in, grinning as well.
“Well, I’m glad my misery is so amusing to all of you,” Echo says, frowning.
Callie throws Echo a sympathetic look. “You’re not gonna be miserable for long. Trust me. He’ll see you like this and he’ll lose his mind.”
Wyn nods. “And all his inhibitions and reservations.”
Jupiter smirks though. “Which is very ironic. Given how you ended up in this situation.”
