'Anything?' She says. It's the first thing she's said to me since she accused me of taking sides.
'Anything legal.' I nod as I reach for my coffee.
'There is one thing I want.' A slow grin takes over her face, and a slow creeping dread overcomes me. I don't like the way she's talking.
'What?' I ask hesitantly.
'Let me give you a makeover.' She bounces excitedly. In a similar way to how Georgia did at the fair last night, when I told her that I'd take her on the carousel again.
'Julie.' I groan as I take a seat in the small seating area that the coffee stall has set up in the mall. 'What's wrong with the way I look?' I ask. I'd thought I looked pretty nice today. My hair is up in a ponytail, I skipped make-up, but my skin isn't covered in spots, there are just a few freckles dotted about. I'm wearing some coral colored shorts and a white camisole with my favorite white sandals.
'Nothing,' she says quickly, 'but sometimes it's nice to try out new things.'
'Julie I don't want to dress up and pretend to be something I'm not.' I think back to my freak out with Charles last night. Him, dressing up differently, in stuff that made him uncomfortable and wasn't true to who he was. That brought up a whole bunch of emotions that boiled over until I almost told him everything. If Julie hadn't come along at that moment, then yesterday evening would have gone a lot differently.
It's the first time I've ever wanted to talk about it, explain it all. I just knew in that moment that Charles would listen, uninterrupted, and maybe it would have helped to talk.
The moment passed though, and it's probably good that it did. I made a promise that I wouldn't ever discuss it. So that's what I need to stick with.
'It wouldn't be pretending to be someone else. How do you know that you won't end up loving how I style you, and instead of it being like pretending, it's actually more like you're finding who you really are. Look at me, at the moment I have my Marie Antoinette look as you call it, and yet just six months ago I was really into a much more tailored preppy style. It's ok to have more than one side of your style.' She looks at me with wide, pleading eyes, 'Please let me do this, and I won't be mad at you anymore. I promise.'
'Ok,' I say reluctantly, 'fine, yes, but if I don't like it...'
'Then you can go back to what you want.' She laughs giddily. 'Ok, first stop is the hair salon.'
'What?' I almost choke on my coffee, 'Julie I don't want to cut my hair.'
'Fine,' she sighs, 'just a trim then, and I promise I won't have them do anything that you can't reverse easily tomorrow. Deal?'
'Deal.' I nod.
When we come out of the salon, it's after I've spent well over an hour having it washed, trimmed, blow dried and straightened, so that it's sleek and shiny and there isn't one flyaway hair to be seen anywhere on my head. It's so different from my normal beachy waves, that I'm already having second thoughts about all of this. I know that I can just wash my hair and the waves will come back, and it's taking everything I have, not to rush to the bathrooms and hold my head under the faucet.
'Next stop,' Julie smiles, 'have you ever had a manicure?'
'No.' I shake my head.
'Well today you are.' She pulls me towards a nail and tanning place, 'And then we'll get you a spray tan.'
'Oh no.' I shake my head, 'Nothing irreversible.'
'Spray tans fade.' Julie pouts, 'Please, I promise we won't go super dark.'
'Do I really have to do this?'
'Libby I'm not torturing you, I'm styling you. Trust me, you'll look fabulous.' She pulls me inside, and I can't argue with her without sending her into another sulk.
I get a tan, much lighter than Julie's almost orange look, but a good couple shades darker than my natural sun kissed skin. It's also a shade darker than I agreed to, because Julie told them to change it when I was in the booth, saying I'd accidentally told them the wrong shade.
I get a manicure and pedicure while Julie gets hers redone. I didn't get to pick out the color that got put on my nails. Julie chose a pale pink that has a little shimmer in it.
We leave there and Julie pulls me towards a make-up store. She hurries around it like a whirlwind. Talking to the sales assistant, while holding pots and tubes towards my face to test the color against my new skin tone. It makes me feel like I'm being talked about and not included in whatever this is.
We come out of the store thirty minutes later, after Julie spent an astounding $163 on make-up, despite my best arguments for her not to spend that much money on me.
'I'll do your make-up for you once we have your outfit. So,' she scans the stores around us, smiles and then pulls me towards an incredibly expensive designer store. 'This place is amazing.'
'Julie pleased don't spend too much on me.'
'This isn't just for you.' She says as she starts looking through rails of clothing, 'I'm having so much fun.'
'Just...don't go overboard, ok?'
'I won't.' She smiles, 'Now hold out your arms, I want you to try on some stuff, so anything I hand you, you have to try on. What's your size,' she looks me up and down, 'two?'
'Yeah.' I nod and she pulls a dress off the shelf and puts it over my arm.
Thirty minutes pass and I'm standing in the changing rooms, trying on a stack of clothing that I never would have thought to pick up myself. Mostly because I don't feel comfortable in any of it, but Julie won't listen to that.
I try and make myself happier about all of this. I may end up liking the end result, and it's making Julie happy. So I should at least give it a try.
I try and have a more positive attitude as we go to store after store, picking up several things in each place, because she says she needs options for when we get back to her place for her to put an outfit together.
'What will happen to the rest of the clothes?' I ask her.
'If you like them, you can keep them. If you don't like them, I'll return them.' She replies, 'Don't worry so much. Have fun.'
It's almost six thirty when we get back to Julie's house. We just spent the entire day in the mall, and I'm scared to think how much money Julie spent. She wasn't just shopping for me. Every time she saw something she likes for herself, it would be picked up without even looking at the price tag. I can't even imagine shopping like that. Knowing that no matter what the labels say, your card will be accepted.
'Ok.' Julie studies the piles of clothes that we just organized by garment type. 'I think I know what I'm going to do.' She grins and grabs the make-up. 'Sit down.'
She works quickly and professionally, but it still takes a long time, which tells me that this is going to be a much heavier make-up look than I have ever had before. She uses products that I didn't even know existed, and insists that it'll look sensational.
When she's done, she doesn't let me look in the mirror. She hands me a stack of clothing, and a pair of shoes and pushed me into her closet to get changed.
The items she's given me include a pair of white skinny jeans that hug my legs tightly as I pull them on. A white camisole, and a white lace top. Then a shockingly bright pink fitted blazer, with three quarter length sleeves, the cuffs turned up to show a pale pink lining. I slide it on and then put on the bright pink high heeled sandals, and the long gold necklace with a cluster of little heart pendants in pinks and golds.
When I'm done I step out into her room and she gasps loudly. She rushes over and starts adjusting things, hands me some gold dangling earrings with little pink feathers on them. I slide them into the small holes in my earlobes, and then she puts on some gold and pink bracelets onto my right wrist.
'You're done.' She beams at me, 'Libby you look fantastic. Close your eyes.' She instructs and then steers me so that, presumably, I'm standing in front of her mirror. 'Ok, open.'
I do as I'm told and open my eyes. I take in the image in the mirror and I don't even recognize myself. Nothing is the same. My hair is straight, and because of the tan it looks a lighter blond than it actually is. My skin is darker, my face is covered with makeup.
Heavy gold shimmer over my eyes, which have also been lined with a black pencil liner, and heavily coated in mascara. She even added false lashes to make them fuller.
She's put a bright pink lipstick on me, and then covered it with gloss to make it shinier.
Nothing about it looks like me, and then we get to the outfit. Expensive clothes that hug my body uncomfortably close.
'What do you think?' Julie asks excitedly.
'It's so...different.' I swallow hard.
'Do you like it though?'
'It's nice,' I say quietly, 'but it's not me. I...I don't feel like me in it.'
'You look so good though.' She looks me up and down again, 'It makes you look like a supermodel.'
'But I'm not a supermodel.' I say, turning to look at myself from more angles. It doesn't matter what angle I look at myself from though, it's just not me.
'We need a second opinion. I think this is very you, or at least very how you should look.' She grabs her keys.
'Where are we going?'
'We need more opinions, so we're going to your house to see what your mom and Pippa think.' Julie replies. I don't argue, because I'm exhausted, and going home feels like the perfect idea.
Twenty Nine – Charles
I'm out the front of my house when I see Julie's car pull up. She stops across the street and steps out, gives me a small wave and then leans into her car and says something that I can't hear. A minute later, a girl steps out. She has her back to me talking to Julie, but from what I can see, it's probably one of her school friends.
I look into the back of the car, and Libby isn't there. Surely Julie hasn't left her somewhere again. I'm already reaching for my car keys in my pocket to go and pick Libby up, when the blonde girl in the staggeringly high shoes, turns and I see that the girl is Libby.
My jaw drops open as she struggles across the street, looking way more uncomfortable than I have ever seen her before. Julie tugs her towards my lawn and grins.
'This is perfect, now we can get a guys opinion.' Julie says once they've reached me. 'Charles, do you like Libby's new look?'
'No.' I say it way too quickly, and I can tell from the frown on Julie's face, that she's not pleased. Libby's head snaps up to me and for a second I think she's upset with me too. 'You don't look bad, just...not like you.' I clarify.
'Exactly.' Libby smiles and it's then that I see she isn't upset with me, she's pleased I'm on the same side as her.
'Yes, it's a little different, but who's to say that this couldn't be Libby?' Julie asks.
'I'm the one saying that.' Libby pipes up. 'I appreciate you doing all of this for me, but the clothes, the hair, the make-up. None of this is me and I don't feel...I don't feel good in this stuff.'
'You're wearing jeans that cost over $300 and they're not good enough?' Julie asks. My jaw almost hits the floor at the price she just gave, and from the expression on Libby's face, I can tell she's thinking the same as I am.
'It's not that they're not good enough. I just don't like them for me.' Libby explains.
'You look so much better this way. Charles is a guy, he doesn't know what he's talking about. Let's go see what your mom and Pippa think.' Julie huffs and storms off towards Libby's house. Libby stays in my drive.
'I look ridiculous, don't I?'
'No more ridiculous than I did last night.' I laugh, 'You and I just aren't meant to wear clothes like these.'
'Agreed.' She smiles. 'All day today I felt like her doll.'
'Why did you let her do this?' I ask, picking up a strand of her hair between two fingers and then let it fall, 'You looked perfect as you were.'
'She was mad at me and said I could make it up to her by letting her do this. You know how it is...she can be amazing sometimes and make you feel so special, and other times...'
'She kind of makes you feel like you're not good enough to be seen with her.' I supply.
'Yeah.' Libby looks surprised by my admission. I'm surprised as well.
'Hey, I meant to ask. Do you want to come over later? Georgia has told me that I have to watch Meet me in St Louis with you, and she's saying that it has to be tonight, and she won't go to sleep until we've seen it.'
'Sure.' Libby laughs, 'I'll come over once Julie leaves, or...I couldn't invite her if you like.'
'No, don't,' I smile at her, 'something tells me you could use a break from Julie.'
'Very perceptive.' Libby laughs again, 'Ok, I'll be over soon.' She smiles and then turns and heads towards her house. I head into my own house and start making popcorn with extra butter, just the way Libby likes it.
'I take it that Libby's coming over tonight.' My mom says, coming up behind me.
'Yeah,' I nod, 'how did you guess?'
'The sheer quantity of butter you're using, and the tempting smell of coffee, which is what brought me in here.'
'It's in the pot.' I nod towards it, 'But you're supposed to be...'
'Staying off of caffeine, I know, but one cup won't kill me. The tumor might but coffee...'
'Mom.' I hate it when she talks about death or dying and makes jokes about it like it's nothing.
'Sorry love.' Mom kissed my cheek, and then pours herself a really generous cup of coffee.
'We're going to watch a movie if you want to join us.' I say searching the cupboards for some kind of candy I can bring out.
'There are jelly beans in the coffee can on top of the fridge.' Mom grins, 'And no thanks for the movie, Lewis has promised me a game of monopoly. Katie's playing as well and Georgia has told Sean that he has to watch the movie to get more wise, which is apparently something that movie will do.' Mom smiles, 'April's asleep, so you don't have to worry about her.' Mom places a hand on my shoulder, 'Try and have some fun tonight, ok?'
'I had fun last night.' I point out.
'Yes, you had fun with Colin and Libby, but you were also disappointed that Julie didn't hang out with you guys.'
'I wasn't... ok, yeah I was.'
'Is she coming over tonight?'
'No.' I shake my head, 'She kind of...she's upset Libby. Libs hasn't said it in so many words but, I can just tell by the way she was looking. Julie kind of made Libs feel like...like the way she looked wasn't good enough, and then spent today, giving her this makeover that really wasn't her, and...I don't know, it just makes me mad that Julie could do that to someone who's supposed to be her best friend.'
'You're very protective of Libby.'
'I know.' I sigh, 'It's hard to explain, but sometimes I feel like... I don't know, I feel like she needs someone protecting her.'
'From over ambitious fashion stylers?'
'From...' I shrug, 'She just seems fragile sometimes, and that makes me want to take care of her.'
'You're a sweet boy.' Mom kisses my cheek again as Libby bursts through the back door, now wearing a loose fitting pale blue shirt, with some jean shorts that are frayed at the edges. The makeup has been scrubbed off of her face, but she's still more tanned than normal, and her hair is still shockingly straight.
'I'm going to kill her.' Libby shrieks, then spots my mom and stops herself, 'Sorry.'
'Don't worry about it.' My mom smiles. 'I'll leave the two of you to talk.' Mom adds, walking out of the room.
'I take it you're going to kill Julie.' I say, handing Libby a cup of coffee.
'Uh-huh.' Libby nods and sits up on the counter, beside where I'm standing so that we're facing each other.
'What did she do?'
'That outfit she got me today, the one I was wearing when I arrived home.'
'Uh-huh.'
'Well, since she's mad at me that I didn't like her makeover, and she can't return it now that I've worn it, she's charging me for all of the things that I wore today.'
'No way,' I shake my head, 'Libs she can't do that.'
'And yet...' She drops her head down, 'Char, it's over $900.'
'She's not getting that money from you.'
'Char she seemed serio...'
'No,'
I say taking her hand and squeezing it lightly, 'Libs she isn't getting that money from you. Where is she?'
'She went home when I took the clothes off and threw them back at her.' Libby says, keeping her eyes on her coffee.
'Ok, well tomorrow I'll go over and talk to her. She's not going to get that money from you.'
'I don't want to cause problems between the two of you.'
'You're not.' I say firmly, 'She is.'
'Char...'
'No, it's fine.' I smile at her as she looks at me, 'Are you ok?'
'Yeah, well except for the fact that my hair looks ridiculous and I'm really tan.'
'Here, come with me.' I tug her hand a little, and she puts her coffee down, hops off the counter and follows me out into the yard. I grab the house and turn it on. She tries to jump away from the water, so I wrap an arm around her waist and pull her against me. Then I shoot the hose up into the sky so that it rains down on both of us. Making her hair wavy again.
'You're crazy.' She smiles up at me, holding my gaze.
'And you're almost back to normal.' I grin at her. I can feel her heart racing in her chest, she's that close to me.
'I uh...I have to go.' She pulls back, looking flustered and hot. Her cheeks red.
'But we're watching a movie.'
'Yeah, I uh, know... I just... I'll be right back, I just have to go to my house and... do... uh... I'll be back.' She stumbles towards the fence.
'You ok?'
'Fine.' She calls over her shoulder. 'I'll be back in a minute.'
'Yeah, ok.' I call after her. That was incredibly weird.
Thirty – Julie
After everything I did for her today, she had the nerve to throw those clothes back in my face. All I did was tell her that she was being ungrateful, that she looked better how I'd styled her, and yes, ok, maybe I went a little overboard when I told her she was a cheaply dressed embarrassment, but I was angry.
I left the clothes there with her, because I'm a size four and have no use for the clothes I bought for her. So I told her she'd just have to pay me back for them. That's when she threw them at me and started yelling. Then she changed into some of her own clothes, took off the make-up I spent ages doing and stormed out.
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