Through The Dark

17 - Emmalyn

17 - Emmalyn

I looked at my reflection in the big, fancy mirror and bit my bottom lip. 'Are you sure this looks good?' I asked for what felt like the millionth time today –probably because it was. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other just to keep my mind busy. If I did not do so, I was sure my head would explode. I had never been more uncomfortable or felt more on the spot in my life than today –except for the little incident with Lena and Alex at the back of that building the other day, of course.

Olivia looked up from the magazine she had in her hands. She said she needed to find a trend for nails or hair or something like that. I liked fashion. I liked looking at clothes in magazines and buying them. But that was as far as I went with it. Olivia, though, was a whole different level. She thought of it all. What looked good with what and if it was trendy at this season of the year and whatnot. I guess it was part of who she was, since apparently she went to these kinds of brunches and events all the time. I knew they also wore a lot of makeup and stuff in ballet, so she got it from there too.

I wondered if she was allowed to go to at least one place without makeup. I could not even imagine how stressful it must be to have to worry about how you looked every single second of the day.

'That peach color looks great on you,' she appeased with an encouraging smile. I bit my tongue to keep myself from telling her it was not actually peach, but an atomic tangerine color. More feuds were the least we needed. 'It goes great with your skin tone,' she added with a solemn nod of her head, as if that way I would believe her.

'Huh...' I looked back at my reflection into the mirror and tilted my head. I never really knew that there were certain colors that went better with my skin tone than others. I guess my theory of learning something new every day kept on going. Just in a different way than I thought, for I never considered fashion to be something one had to learn about. 'Well, we're done then, right?' I questioned with an impatient tone. I was bored and tired of trying clothes already. I just wanted to go to the damn brunch already. I was very hungry.

Olivia scoffed and gave me a pitiful look. 'Not at all.' She threw the magazine aside and came up to me. I dreaded what she might do to me at first –want to wax any part of my body or whatnot-, but when I met her gaze, I truly noticed her for the first time in the morning.

I could still see some dark aura looming around her. Whatever it was that fight with her mother was about, it clearly upset Olivia. I had seen her lighten up a bit on Friday when she was with Ben and I at the ice cream parlor, but something –or someone, her mom seemed like a tough one to deal with- had obviously happened since then.

I understood it must be hard for her, though. I had not been in her life for long, and I had already witnessed so much happening to her. It was crazy, everything she had to endure. Now that many of my misconceptions of Olivia had been wiped away, I truly felt sorry for her. She was only human, like the rest of us, but somehow she ended up whirled in some heavy drama. And I refused to believe she had done anything to deserve it. She might come off as shallow, self-centered and selfish sometimes and whatnot, but she was a good soul in the end.

'We still have to find some shoes to match that dress and I have to do your hair and makeup. Then, I have to fix me up and the time for the brunch is running out. We need to get out of here soon,' she noted as she ran a hand through her hair with anxiousness. But towards the end it was more as if she was talking to herself. I wanted to laugh out loud because she looked funny mumbling to herself like that but decided against it. Our relationship was still rocky and not well cemented. Any joke or misplaced word could flip either of us over and then disaster would occur.