Revealing Glances: Unsettling Short Stories & Their Making

Friends Until the Break of Dawn

She knotted her brows, giving me a funny smile. “What do you mean?”

“You know, the Scorpions song,” I replied, trying to salvage my stupid comment. “’An August summer night, soldiers passing by’… never mind. It’s nice to meet you! How’d you know it was me?”

“Oh, August described you pretty well,” she replied, laughing.

And that was how I met August and Summer Wilmington. Despite having completely different lifestyles, we developed a quick and open friendship. I only had ten days left in California, and the siblings made it their mission to show me everything I hadn’t seen yet.

I declined a lot of their offers at first, since I didn’t have much money to spend. The fact they kept insisting on paying for everything also made me uncomfortable. When I confronted them, they apologized and said they enjoyed splurging on friends and just wanted us all to have a good time, so I gave in and appreciated getting spoiled.

For my last weekend, they organized an overnight trip to San Diego jam-packed with activities. It was the last major city on my list I hadn’t seen yet, so I was looking forward to it.

The day before we were to head off, Summer took me along to one of her posh salons and suggested we both get makeovers. I wasn’t a huge girly-girl, I preferred casual and comfortable, but Summer insisted with such wide-eyed excitement that I relented.

While she got her wheat-colored hair cut into a bob, my shoulder-length brown hair became a ridiculous blonde with painful extensions put in. I even had my eyebrows bleached, which made my eyes water.

Our next stop was for manicures, where I walked out with fake, gold nails. I thought they were tacky, but I didn’t want to offend Summer who got the same thing. She then suggested I pierce my ears and get a tattoo to match hers. I agreed to the former but passed on the latter, which led to a temporary tattoo on my left calf. As the cherry on top, she persuaded me to get blue contact lenses.

Afterwards, we went shopping. Summer insisted there was a club in San Diego I couldn't leave without seeing, but we had to be dressed to impress. She picked out for me some ridiculously lacy lingerie, stilettos with heels so high I kept wobbling in them, and a short, billowy, gold lamé halter dress that looked like I was wearing a Ferrero Rocher wrapper.

She also found me a gold purse with a long chain. I’d be more comfortable calling it a thimble, it could barely fit a few cards and a pack of gum. It was too small for my phone, but Summer said she’d have hers and promised me we’d never be apart.

The final total added up to more than I made in a year. I objected, but Summer told me it was her pleasure to show me the other side of life. She was so enthusiastic about the entire makeover process that I couldn’t help but get into it myself. I’d never done something this drastic before and, I had to admit, I enjoyed the lack of budget constraints.

When we met August that night, he was speechless. I found it amusing how he couldn’t stop staring at me. I could tell it was more astonishment than interest, and I didn’t blame him. I was still startling myself with every reflective surface I passed.

The next day, we made our way to San Diego. After delighting in countless touristy sites, nighttime hit and we got gussied up. I traded my T-shirt, sneakers, backpack, and cap for a dress too short, heels too high, a purse too small, and accessories too flashy.

“And here’s your fake ID card!” Summer said, handing me a California driver’s license.

I frowned. "What’s wrong with mine? I’m old enough.”

“I know, silly, but you don’t look like yourself anymore! And this club is very VIP, they don’t just let anyone in. With this, you’re a Wilmington, so you’ll have no problems!”