Toxic

Chapter 1

I smoothed down my own knee length skirt which was almost twice the length of Carly's and waited for Andre outside the room.

It was to my great displeasure when I saw that Carly was in the girls toilets at afternoon break. In her ivory hand she clutched a sponge, dabbing at her face with powder.

I retied my ponytail, scraping the dark strands out of my eyes.

"What makeup brand do you use?" that vile patronizing voice again. Why couldn't she just leave me the hell alone?

"Boots NO7, it's hypoallergenic," I muttered. True, my makeup did look a little rushed today for my usually neat eyeliner was smudged, my lipstick was all gone and to top it off, the light grey shadow on my lids had creased.

"Do you have oily skin? Try a primer."

"No, some of it irritates me." I placed deliberate emphasis on that particular word.

"Why don't I give you a makeover? You could come round to mine after school?" she suggested, with none of the malice I had expected her to reply with.

Oh Christ, I'd emerge looking like a total whore.

"I can't tonight, I'm busy. Thanks for the offer."

Her mahogany eyes roved over my somewhat scruffy appearance. A hint of a smile flickered on her lips, like I wasn't fooling her that I had other plans.

"It's 56 Cambridge Road. See you about half past four," and with that, Carly swept from the toilets.

I had known her for all of three hours and already I knew I would never like her.

I stood in front of the oak front door, and rang the bell apprehensively.

Carly answered. "Are you ready?" she gushed, and led me up to her bedroom, which looked like John Lewis, Superdrug and Boots rolled into one. Each surface was loaded with makeup - lipsticks every colour of the rainbow, shelf upon shelf of eyeshadow, beauty kits stacked on her bedside table.

You name it, she had it.

"This must cost a fortune!" I exclaimed. It wasn't just bog standard cheap stuff, like the crumbly £2 rubbish I was used to. M.A.C, Urban Decay and Bobbi Brown cosmetics were strewn all over her playboy duvet cover.

Carly clapped her hands excitedly, the tips of her acrylic nails clicking together. "Shall I do your hair first?" she motioned to my limp ponytail, which I hastily pulled loose. She sat me down on a cushioned stool and began to brush it through.

"How do you afford all this? The most I can stretch to is Rimmel every now and then."

"Really? I find the expensive products are worth paying that bit extra for, you know you're getting quality."

I shrugged, I mean, I already had Andre. It wasn't like I needed to attract boys. I was pretty sure that he wouldn't care whether I wore foundation that cost £20 or £5.

"You can have some of my spare stuff. I've got far too much."

Carly rummaged in a draw, producing an untouched smokey eyes kit, what looked like red nail varnish and a high end mascara, thrusting them at me.

"Thanks," I was sort of touched. My mum had stated quite clearly that if I wanted makeup, I had to buy my own.  I could wind Dad round my little finger, though. It was him who treated me to my new iPod.

She smiled appreciatively and told me to close my eyes while she applied foundation all over my face. It was a pleasant tone, and deepened my usually ghostly pallor. "I think we'll have neutral eyes and vampy lips. Go for a pin up look, you know?"

I nodded, pretending I had a clue what she meant by that, while she dusted shadow on my lids and slicked eyeliner across them.

Carly buffed my cheeks with a creamy blusher, to bring out the cheekbones I so usually ignored. I normally focused on my eyes, and maybe lips if I have time. My cheeks don't get a look in.

Finally, she slathered some crimson lipstick on my mouth and led me to her full length mirror.

"Oh my god, that's amazing! You should be a makeup artist." I told her.

My dark blue eyes really stood out with the liner edging them, and my lips looked fuller, plumped but not pouty. She had brushed my tangled mane too. My makeover looked totally professional, in comparison to what I usually put on. The old foundation I'd had since last year really washed me out, but whatever top notch brand Carly had put on my skin made it look flawless.

"Have a look at my neon lipsticks over there, you can take a few if you'd like."

Hands full with the products she'd already presented me with, I strolled over to a cabinet holding lipsticks in fluorescent pink, neon yellow, bright green and sky blue. I contemplated the idea of the green one when a phone began ringing downstairs.

"Excuse me." Carly rushed from the room.

I picked up the lime green stick and added that to my collection. A book that had fallen down the side of that cabinet caught my eye. I pulled it out, gazing at the frayed spine and crinkled pages.

This wasn't the sort of novel you'd expect to find in a teenage girl's bedroom. No hot boys, werewolves or romance.

It was a spell book.

A/N hey, thanks for reading, if you have any feedback, leave us a comment!Xx