Liz was really beginning to worry about me at this point. I had hardly said anything since last night's dinner with Hana and her friends and not only that but I always replied with the same, annoying 'nothing' whenever she asked what was wrong with me. She didn't even stop pestering me when I tried to use the washroom when we got into the airport.
"Elvira May!" she shouted angrily.
Liz never usually calls me by my full name. She must've been really desperate.
"You tell me what happened in that washroom yesterday, this instant!" she demanded at the top of her lungs.
Hidden in the stall, I could not see anyone but I could be almost a hundred and ten percent sure that they were all currently staring at Liz.
"I told you!" I answered stubbornly, "Nothing!" I repeated for what seemed like the thousandth time.
Liz let out a wild, frustrated cry and from the sound of her heavy, retreating footfalls, she had stormed back out. I released a loud sigh, letting my head fall limp on my shoulders. I hadn't taken off my scarf for a single second since the incident with Sasuke and all the problems revolving around Hana had nearly caused me to forget the embarrassing markings on my neck. I didn't really want to go to the bathroom but it was one of the only places I could go to get away from the others for a while at least. Sasuke and Gaara had immediately loosened up after we had gotten into the car heading towards the airport. It was then that Sasuke resumed his usual behaviour towards me, teasing and being a pervert. Truthfully, I wasn't ready to make a move yet and all he was doing was distracting me so I decided to keep my distance for now. I gave him a stern look in the car and he was immediately tamed. He seemed worried that something he had done had changed my recent behaviour towards him drastically.
"Elvira?" there was a timid knock on my stall door.
"Hm?" I answered, knowing it was Karin by the sound of her voice.
"We're boarding, you better hurry" she said before quietly taking her leave.
I sighed. And Karin. Before we reached the airport, she seemed to have been in a sour mood, her glare always turned towards some distant enemy. But once we entered the airport, she seemed to have lost all her strength as if something had vacuumed her soul right out of her. It was hard to believe that just one meeting with Hana could change all of us like this. I reluctantly left my hiding place and splashed myself with some cold water before leaving and joining the others in the steadily shortening line up.
I opened my eyes and listened. The only sound in Liz and I's apartment was our steady breathing. I quietly got up and slipped into the washroom where I closed the door behind me and switched on the lights. I still couldn't really believe what I had done. Was I really able to seduce someone and keep them by my side even if my opponent was a living, breathing Barbie? Well, first things first...
"You just won't leave me alone, will you?" I sighed as I eyed the red markings on the skin along my neck.
I had iced them as soon as I had gotten in the door but all it seemed to do was make my neck cold. I exited the washroom and tiptoed into the living room. My laptop was sitting on our dining table, lights flashing idly.
"Might as well" I shrugged and sat in front of my laptop, opening it cautiously.
I winced as the laptop booted into life with a loud beep but made no sounds otherwise. There seemed to be silence in our room too so Liz was most likely still sleeping. As my computer finished starting up, I opened up a search page immediately.
"How long does it take for a hickey to go away" I spoke the words aloud as I typed them in and hit the enter button.
My cheeks warmed as I realized how ridiculous it would look to someone else. I, myself, didn't think that I would ever need to look this question up online.
"A week?!" I cried out in anguish before I could slap a hand over my mouth.
I held my breath for a few moments. Liz sure was a deep sleeper.
I turned my eyes back on the screen, "Two weeks tops?!" I hissed.
I rubbed my face with my hand tiredly. There was no way that I could keep my hickeys hidden for that long. Someone other than Liz was bound to find out soon and I would be a goner. I patted my cheeks and hardened my expression. I wouldn't let this get to me so easily. I scrolled down and noticed several entries on how to remove hickeys. I grabbed a piece of paper from the printer and a pen and began to scrawl the several remedies. Twenty minutes later, I had myself a list of ways to get rid of a hickey.
I read the first one on the list, "Makeup".
I snorted. As if I had any of that...if I really needed it, I'd have to get it from someone like Sakura or Ino and doing that was sure going to bring up a few unwanted questions. I put a question mark next to that one. I decided it was going to be a last resort.
"Lipstick tube" I read quietly.
Take the cap off of a tube of lipstick, place over the hickey and twist. Will cause the skin to redden but effects do not last for more than an hour. The suggestion had a few pretty good ratings but unfortunately, I didn't have lipstick either. At least it'd be easier to borrow than cover up.
"Next" I sighed.
Coat area of hickey with lotion. Rub with the back of a cold spoon vigorously for as long as you can. Change out spoon for a new, cold one every ten minutes. Recommended time for this treatment is forty-five to sixty minutes. Finally, a remedy that I can actually use without needing makeup. I got up and tiptoed into the kitchen. Pulling open a drawer, I took out all of our spoons and placed them in the freezer to speed things up. Next, I found a tube of hand lotion to use. Taking a generous glob of lotion, I spread it over my skin where the hickeys were and wiped away some of the excess lotion. A few minutes later, I grabbed a spoon from the freezer and pressed the extremely cold metal to my skin with a barely suppressed gasp of surprise. I began to rub in soothing circles, making sure to stay within the area of the lotion. After a while, the spoon warmed in my hands and I checked the clock.
I sighed, "At least forty minutes to go" and I stood up to get another spoon.
I jolted awake as my head slid forward again and the cold spoon hit my face.
"Crap!" I hissed as I tried to shake my drowsiness away and replaced the spoon on my neck.
I checked the clock for the tenth time in the last hour and my impatience got the better of me. I leaped out of my seat and raced for the bathroom. Wiping away the lotion with a tissue, I could immediately see the effects of the treatment. There were hardly any. But I was going to stay hopeful, it looked a shade lighter than before...maybe, just maybe. I threw my head back, frustrated as I screamed silently. I washed my face and plopped back into my seat in front of my laptop.
"Next" I croaked, I was out of clean spoons anyways.
Scrolling quickly past the unhelpful suggestions, I came by an interesting one.
"Toothpaste?" I said out loud in a small voice.
Rub white toothpaste over the hickey, then allow it to dry, and later, wipe it off with a warm facecloth. After a few applications, the hickey will be faded.
I nodded as I read and before I knew it, I was already back in the washroom fumbling with the cap of our toothpaste tube. As soon as I managed to get the ridiculously small cap off, I put a blob on my finger and slapped it to my neck, rubbing like a madman. I had to force myself to calm down and let the toothpaste dry. I paced around impatiently in the bathroom, unusually twitchy and irritated. As soon as I began to feel the crustiness of the dry toothpaste, I threw my facecloth under the hot water and removed the uncomfortable, scab-like substance on my neck.
I cursed explosively, then breathed deeply, "It's okay, it's alright. It said after a few applications" I reminded myself and again, applied toothpaste to my neck.
I almost yelped as I looked in the mirror. I looked absolutely awful. Saying that I looked like a sleep-deprived zombie was an understatement, can you imagine? But, at the very, very least, the hickeys were definitely lighter in colour than before, much to my delight. It was worth staying up if it meant that I wouldn't have to be looking over my shoulder every two seconds in public because of the hickey, even if it meant that I also had to sacrifice my entire tube of toothpaste. But, being me, I was still not satisfied. They were still noticeable if anyone decided to take just a bit of a closer look. I leaped back into my computer seat, my eyes focused as I scanned the suggestions. I was nearing the end of the list and that made me nervous. How could a hickey be so damn hard to remove?!
"No, no, no, no...no, no, no..." I grunted as I flipped through all the suggestions.
Then finally, "Onions" it was even more interesting than the last remedy.
Cut an onion in half and hold it to the hickey. Onions have a pulling action and will pull the dried blood from near the surface of the skin. I ran that thought through my mind. Never have I heard of that aspect of an onion but who cares? I was pretty desperate. I skipped into the kitchen and managed to find myself an onion. I dug a knife out of the drawer and held it over the onion before I paused. At this point, I was probably already half crazy. I was ready to do just about anything to get rid of a hickey. Just a hickey. I shrugged, under no circumstance would I let my reputation be threatened by some perverted jerk like Sasuke. My knife sliced through the onion like scissors to paper. I was about to grab the onion and press it to my neck when the tears came. It burned my eyes like fire and I forced my lids shut, seeking some sort of relief. None came. I stumbled blindly to the washroom and tried in earnest to wash the burning feeling from my eyes. After a few minutes of splashing water over my face, my eyes had stopped watering enough for me to crack my eyelids open a sliver.
"Ugh, I hate onions" I grumbled as I rubbed my eyes, the lingering feeling of the fire in my eyes just moments ago still there.
Just then, I got an ingenious idea. I grabbed my facecloth that was currently splotched with toothpaste and soaked it with lukewarm water before laying it across my eyes. I felt my way back into the kitchen and peeked under my makeshift blindfold for two seconds to locate the onion and press it to my neck. With a content expression playing on my face, I trotted into the living room and lounged across the couch. If this didn't get rid of the hickeys, I didn't know what would.
"Um...good morning...?" a puzzled voice reached my ears, pulling me out of my sleep.
Since when had I fallen asleep anyways?
I sat up straight and ripped my blindfold from my face, "Oh! Hey, Liz...um...morning" I answered awkwardly as we stared at each other.
"Uh..." she started, pointing to the onion in my hand, "Is that what I think it is?".
I nodded slowly, "Yeah...".
Liz let her jaw hang open just a little, "Well, I can safely say that I've never heard of that hiccup remedy before" she said as she let her usual smirk dance across her lips.
I scoffed, "Well, you're half right. It's definitely not the hiccups" I got up, removing the onion from my neck.
"Uh...then may I ask why you have an onion plastered to your neck?" she said as she followed me to watch me dispose of the onion in the garbage.
I raised my eyebrow, "What else?" before rushing past her into the bathroom, lifting my chin to get a better view of my neck.
My mood jumped off of a fifty story building and landed on the street below with a loud smack. Pancake flat. The hickeys were still there, though extremely faded, still visible.
Liz looked over my shoulder into the mirror, her face sculpted into an expression of nonchalance, "Are you trying to get rid of your hickeys?" she asked.
"No duh, Sherlock" I huffed, stomping out of the washroom.
Maybe I could find some chocolate or ice cream or something. At least then I wouldn't have to go to school about as approachable as a ticking time bomb.
"Uh, Sherlock Junior?" Liz called from behind me.
"What?" I growled.
"You know, maybe you could have asked me 'cause even if I can't remove the hickey, I have the next best thing" she chastised.
I turned to look at her, my expression challenging, "Oh yeah? And what's that?".
She reached into her pajama pockets and pulled out a suspicious-looking, flat, square-shaped object, "Cover up. I went and got it for you the day we came back since I know how much you hate how you look right now" she chuckled.
I could've started the waterworks right there and then but I felt that a bear hug was more suited to the situation. I crushed Liz within my arms, even lifting her a few inches off the ground as I thanked her over and over again.
"Y-you're k-k-killing m-me!" she hissed.
I dropped her but my smile was no longer on my face and my gratitude had long since faded away, "Say, you said that you bought that the day we came back...and you only thought to tell me now? Two days later?!" I demanded.
Liz seemed to shrink a little in size as if she weren't small enough already, "Uh...it was, uh...just, uh...just a tad funny...to, um, watch" she stuttered.
I could've sworn my vision turned red for five seconds, "Liz..." came my low and obviously angry as hell voice.
Usually, that voice came before I began to yell. And, oh, was I going to yell.