The Great Pretender

12: Crying Shame

"Could you go see if your sister is planning on coming down?"

"Uh, Dad. I don't think so- she's mad at me."

"Why would you say that?"

"Yeah, Ari, why on earth would you assume that I'm mad at you?"

Ari visibly cringed, but when she turned around, her eyes nearly popped out from her head. Standing in the doorway was a girl she thought was long gone.  "OH. MY..."

"I will be mad, if you were serious about tossing my clothes though- some of those were sentimental."

Ari didn't answer, obviously struggling with forming a thought as she gaped, dumbstruck at her sister. Cherish's feet were clad in a pair of bright red patent leather pumps, her black painted toenails poking out from the cutaway at the front. She wore a pair of long skinny black pants- long because they reached her natural waist, and not the thing that people like to call a waist these days. Her body was squeezed into a corset, skin tight and checkered with a thin halter strap. The front was cut low- looooow- but for decency's sake she'd worn a fitted black t-shirt under it.

Her face was made up- she was wearing make up?? Her lips were blood red, and her eyes were lined with graceful winged black strokes. On her head- well, on her head was a pile up of hair. A pouf of hair was teased high and pinned in place at her crown, while the rest was pulled back tightly into a giant bun- not a hair out of place. She was smiling, grinning at Ari, her red nails tapping on the door frame as she waited for an answer.

"Uh. They're in the garage."

"Oh good," Cherish said flippantly. "So are we going or not? I'm starving."

-.-

After spending so long being a strange robot-like version of Cherish, it was almost stranger still to be herself again. She didn't know how to act. It was pathetic really, that she didn't know how to be herself anymore. Well, she did- but she wasn't sure if she should ease into it or just change abruptly.

Come Monday morning, she decided on the former as she dressed for school. Selecting her outfit carefully, she merged her new old wardrobe with what was common and expected of her here. Her pants were fitting, unlike anything she had worn since moving to Toronto, but her top was exactly what people had come to expect of her, a plain button up blouse. After much debating, she pulled her hair up into a simple ponytail, teasing the crown upwards just a bit. She didn't bother with makeup, only lightly glossed her lips before pulling her black pumps from the shoe rack in her closet.

Deciding against driving, she went to school with Ari, sitting in slightly awkward silence in the passenger seat. Ari had been uncomfortably quiet since dinner the night before. For Cherish, it was a weight off her shoulders, and she found it much easier to tell Ari than she had expected it to be. Though, of course, it hadn't quite come out the way she had wanted it to.

"Rish, I'm sorry I took your clothes. It's just well- you're so much cooler like this."

She didn't respond, instead delicately nibbled the baked potato off her fork.

"I kinda figured you wouldn't want to dress in my clothes, so my plan worked!  But, where'd you get this stuff from? I thought you said you left it Montreal?"

"I did. Mom bought it with her."

"Oh! Well I don't get it Rish, how come you just left all your stuff behind? You've been so strange since you got here."

Again, she didn't respond, this time her mouth was stuffed full of steak and she shook her head.

"You used to love looking like you do! You and Len, I mean I can't remember a time when you two weren't-"