She spun me around and the other two shoved earrings in my ears and started applying stuff to my face.
“I am not a Barbie,” I said as Taylor swiped something on my eyelids. I was too busy concentrating on not getting poked in the eye to see what color it was.
“You are right now, my dear,” Taylor said, smudging some of the color. Renee was busy looking through her makeup to find a color that would work on me and found some pink lip gloss.
“Yes. Here we go.” She put it on my lips as Taylor tried not to jab my eye out with mascara.
“Isn’t this unsanitary?” I said. “Shouldn’t you be disinfecting that before you stick it near my eye?” Renee was a big proponent of hand sanitizer and disinfecting things and coughing in your elbow.
“Are you saying that you don’t want to share my germs? I mean, you are my sister. Are you saying you’re too good for my germs?” She pretend-glared at me.
“Fine, fine. Am I done yet?” I really wanted to see what they’d done to me. I hoped it wasn’t like when one of my little sisters decided to play dress up and used my face to practice their makeup skills on.
“Just about,” Taylor said, spritzing me with some of Renee’s perfume. Was that a subtle way of telling me that I smelled bad?
“Done,” Renee said, straightening one of the straps of the dress.
“Uh, shoes?” I was still barefoot. Through some miracle of genetics, Renee and I had identical-sized feet, so she shoved some black ballet flats on my feet. I was out of practice when it came to wearing heels. I’d probably fall on my face if I tried.
“Okay, now you’re done,” Renee said.
I turned and looked at myself in Renee’s full-length mirror. I looked like before me, only not. I never would have worn this dress, or done my hair this way, or put that much eye shadow on. Taylor had given me a sultry look that I was pretty sure I could never pull off, but it made me look older and mysterious. That illusion would be shattered the second I opened my mouth.
“What are you doing up there?” Mase yelled up the stairs.
“Making my sister sexy,” Renee yelled back. I gave her a look. “Oh, come on. I couldn’t let you go to a party in your frumpy wear. We should definitely go shopping.” I hated shopping. I’d always pretended to like it back when it had been a social obligation. I was actually thrilled that I didn’t have to do it anymore.
“Yeah, maybe.” I probably wouldn’t have a choice. She’d force me to do it as some sort of sister bonding and attempt to get me back to the way I was. It would take a lot more than putting on my old clothes. Or new clothes that would have worked on the old me.
“Can we go now?” I said, uncomfortable with attention already.
“Let’s go, bitches,” Renee said, whooping. “We have some shit to celebrate!”
* * *
Renee, Paul and I drove to campus to pick up Hannah. I was so glad she’d agreed to go, because I figured a lot of the people there would be upperclassmen that I didn’t know.
“Damn, you clean up good, girl,” Hannah said as she swept into the car, wearing a black shift dress. It was the first time I’d seen her arms bare, and I saw that the burn traveled down her neck and over her arm, as well.
“It’ll be too dark, and most people will be too drunk to notice,” she said, turning her arm back and forth as if she was looking at it for the first time. “Plus, I love this dress and I’m not going to let anything stop me from wearing it.”
She was awesome.
The party was at a house just outside of campus that several of the Steiners rented together. There were already quite a few cars there when Renee pulled up.
“Okay, here’s how this is going to go. If I see a drink in your hand, it better be soda. If I see you talking with any weird guys, someone will step in. You have a lot of eyes on you and this night is about Taylor and Hunter, okay? No shenanigans.”
“Yes, yes. I got it.” I was kind of offended that she’d think that I would try to ruin their special night.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep her out of trouble,” Hannah said. “I’ve got my eye on you, young lady.” We were the same freaking age.
Renee looked at Hannah and then back at me. “Okay, then. Let’s go.”
The house was already full of people, none of whom I knew, which made me beyond grateful that I at least had Hannah.
Hunter and Taylor were being bombarded with hugs and congratulations and bits of semisober unsolicited advice. Renee and Paul went to join them in the living room along with Megan and Jake as a few of the Steiners serenaded the rest of the room with dirty versions of popular songs.
“Man, I wish I could drink without pissing your sister off. She scares the crap out of me, by the way,” Hannah said.
“Yeah, she has that effect on people.” I scanned the room, looking for anyone that I might know.
“You look nice.” As per usual, Dusty Sharp had sneaked up behind me. I spun slowly, preparing myself for his snarky comments at the change in my attire. What I wasn’t prepared for was to make him momentarily speechless. His eyes widened and scanned me up and down. Twice. He swallowed and made a kind of stuttering noise. Well, that was a first.
“Keep your eyeballs in your head, dude,” Hannah said, stepping in front of me.
“And you look ravishing as well, Hannah Gillespie.” He waved his arm to indicate her dress.
“Nice recovery,” she said, patting his chest. Dusty didn’t look too bad himself. His pants almost fit him and he had a button-up on that was definitely a little tight in the chest region. Not that I paid any attention to it. Or the fact that the shirt clung to his arms, as well. They were...pleasant arms. Very nicely shaped and muscled. The kind of arms that you’d feel safe in, if you tripped. You knew they’d catch you....
“You okay there, Red?” Dusty peered at me as if I’d been staring at him. Shit. I probably had been. No, I definitely had been. “How about I get you ladies something to drink. Nonalcoholic, I promise.”
Dusty saw my hesitation. I didn’t accept drinks from anyone unless I’d poured or opened them myself.
“Trust me, Red. I’ll bring you unopened cans. Tamper proof. Be right back.”
“Smart. I never trust anyone at a party. Not that anyone would want to drug me,” Hannah said. She sounded disappointed, which was a little crazy.
Dusty came back a few minutes later as Hannah and I were trying to figure out a good place to park ourselves.