Temptation [A Young Writer's Prize Submission]

New Faces

Chapter Thirty Four

One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbour, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

Proverbs 12:26

Some two hours later, I stared at my reflection in the mirror, but it couldn't be me staring back. This stranger had straight hair, without even a hint of a curl. My head ached a little after that, since Vanessa had back-brushed it into a half-up, half-down style. My fringe was secured away from my face, and I thought it made me look... older, somehow.

Perhaps that was the effect of the makeup, which I now wore more of than I'd ever done in my life.

"Foundation," Tasha had explained as she'd smeared some kind of crème on my face, swiftly buffed with powder, which had the same name.

"Suck your cheeks in," she instructed, brandishing a brush with pinkish powder on the tips. I'd done so, feeling like a fish out of water, as she patted and brushed this 'blush' on my cheeks. Honestly, I thought I could take care of that myself.

"I'll do her eyes," Vanessa smiled. "My hand is steadier."

That's reassuring. I'd closed my eyes, and felt something cold smear across my lids, followed by more powder, more brushes, and then a series of: "Open, look up, close... Open, look down and close... no, don't touch it!"

Despite the strange applications and the even stranger 'beauticians' it was probably worth it. Silvery flakes dusted my eyelids - coating over a pale red eye-shadow that somehow didn't make me look as though I'd been crying - which I might have been at one point, when Tasha almost jammed an eyeliner pencil into my eye. Thick strokes of liquid eyeliner over my top lids gave me a cat-like look. My lips were redder than blood.

They'd also manhandled me into the dress before going off on their own to get dressed. I was left with some time to look and judge my appearance.

There seemed to be even less to the dress than the last time I'd tried it. Had it always been so bright? I felt really obvious, standing there, the colour of flame, against the pale cream walls behind me. I could only reassure myself that Tasha and Vanessa would be wearing something equally ostentatious, to take attention off me.

I wasn't wearing any jewellery, though I wished I could have a necklace to stop eyes being immediately drawn only to my breasts, practically popping out of the dress. Tasha had refused to let me wear a bra, either, so I felt ridiculously exposed. The only thing that stopped me from folding my arms over my chest was that it only pushed my boobs together, and even more out of the dress.

It wasn't me staring out of that mirror. It was a confident, attractive girl who had the right to be standing with a group of other pretty girls and not have people wonder why she was there. I had never felt less like me, less like wanting to have a good time, less like wanting to feel pretty.

I wasn't surprised it took Tasha and Vanessa almost an hour to get ready. Eventually, I heard their exciting giggling down the corridor, before they knocked on my door.

Slipping and sliding in the shoes - thanks to the nude tights I was wearing under the dress, I opened the door for my two friends and gaped.

"Don't we look amazing?" Tasha smirked, pulling me out of the room and closing it behind me.

"Fantastic," I smiled, nerves filling me as I thought about how far I would have to walk in these traps of Satan - how many stairs or lumps in the carpet had the potential to trip me up. As if sensing my fear, Vanessa secured her arm around mine, supporting me as we began to walk.