by Jason Letts
If small sticks had been arranged on the ground, Cammie’s glare could’ve started them on fire.
“And what, contacts are going to fix all that for me?” she scowled, dropping the box on the table next to Eve.
“It’d be a start. Here, give me those.”
“Hey!” Cammie growled as Eve snatched the glasses off her face. She spun off the textbook and hopped on the floor, grabbing the box of contact lenses.
“I can’t see!” Cammie complained, groping after the wily young woman.
“Which one do you want?” Eve asked, glasses in one hand and contact lenses in the other. “The old you or the new you? My experiment’s going to test whether you can be happier if you act like a normal teen.”
“I want my glasses!” Cammie demanded, blinking rapidly.
“Do you really?” Eve doubted, pulling both hands behind her back. “I don’t think you do, and you know it. Tell me there isn’t some boy at school who makes your heart jump into your throat whenever he’s around and that you’re dying to impress. He makes you feel like a woman, doesn’t he? Tell me who!”
Cammie pursed her lips and grimaced, unwilling to budge. Eve tapped her foot on the ground and cocked her head to the side, letting her blonde hair drift onto her shoulder.
“Alright, fine. Maybe there is a boy I like, but it’s not a big deal,” Cammie confessed.
“Who is it?” Eve prodded, and Cammie bashfully dropped her head and mumbled.
“His name’s Garrett, and he’s a skater. I’ve only ever talked to him once when he needed to borrow a pencil, but I see him at school pretty often.”
Eve nodded sympathetically, coming closer and setting her hand on Cammie’s thin shoulder.
“I don’t know how to break this to you, but Garrett’s never going to notice you if you keep over-studying like you do. I bet we can get you a date with him before the day’s out. Can’t you imagine just the two of you sitting together, holding hands under the table as you wait for a single slice of pizza because you’re both fifteen and too broke to be able to afford anything else? Isn’t that what you’ve been dreaming of?” Eve suggested, staring into Cammie’s nervous eyes.
Cammie didn’t say anything. She stood very still as Eve took a step back and again extended the glasses and the contact lenses.
“What will it be?”
Cammie paused, took a deep breath, leaned forward almost to the point where it looked like she’d tip over, and snatched the contact lenses.
“Yes!” Eve cheered, and Cammie blushed as she tore the box open. They rushed to the bathroom, and soon they were shoving the tiny, clear disks onto Cammie’s eyes. As soon as one was in, the sting made her wince. The other one came much easier, and she squinted and rubbed her eyes gently.
“I can’t even feel them,” she noted.
She brought her eyes to the mirror to catch a glimpse of herself. Now that the glasses were gone, her brown eyes shone through, and her face seemed smaller and cuter.
“You look adorable,” Eve gushed, squeezing Cammie and smiling into the mirror. “He’s going to have a hard time walking when he sees you!”
“Thanks,” Cammie scoffed. “But this isn’t really going to get him to notice me.”
“Not by itself,” Eve agreed.
Fishing into her pockets, she started pulling out makeup compacts and applicators. They spilled out of her hands and rattled on the counter beside the bathroom sink. Cammie took one look and winced.
“Wow, so this is going to make me a completely different person, right?” Cammie said sarcastically.
“Quit being so smart,” Eve scolded her. “You’d be surprised how superficial people are. As long as you look the part and act the right way, no one will be able to tell there’s a geek hiding underneath.”
“But I’m not really a makeup girl,” she objected.
“You are now! There are probably a dozen girls out there who are after your boy, and they are all prettier and more experienced than you. This is the only way you’ll be good enough to compete. Look at me and don’t flinch.”
Taking far too much pleasure, Eve began by applying some eyeliner and then brought the mascara wand to her eyelashes. Moving on, she slapped some blush on her cheeks and coated her lips in a light-pink shade of lipstick.
“I feel like I fell face first into a cake,” Cammie sighed, glancing at the mirror and waving her hand to make sure she was really looking at herself.
“That’s good. Means I’ve done it right,” Eve concluded.
They left the bathroom and Cammie flopped down in the chair beside her book on the table. She lovingly traced its outer edge.
“Are we done yet? I’m never going to be able to talk to Garrett. We don’t even know where he is!” she moaned. Eve just crossed her arms and stared down at her.
“All it takes for me to find him is for you to blink,” she said, waiting for Cammie to comply. “There, he’s buying sneakers at the mall, which is exactly where we’re going. We’re not even close to done, not as long as you’re wearing that.”
Cammie had changed into sweatpants and a hoodie after she returned from school, but apparently that wasn’t going to work. She got up and started for her room to change, but Eve took her arm and held her back.
“No, the potato sacks you usually wear won’t cut it for this. We’re going to have to find you some new clothes,” she explained, carefully putting her hand over Cammie’s eyes so as not to smudge the makeup. “Hold on tight.”
When Eve removed her hand and Cammie opened her eyes, she found they were at the mall. Cammie gasped and looked at Eve, who shrugged like it was no big deal. They were standing right in front of a designer clothing store, people walking by all around them. Eve marched directly into the store, and it took Cammie a moment to wade through her reluctance before running to catch up.
“I can’t afford anything in here,” Cammie babbled as they entered the store and rushed over to the jeans.
“It’s a good thing we won’t be paying for anything then,” Eve snickered, removing a faded, ripped pair of jeans from the rack and holding them to Cammie’s waist. They appeared to be exactly the right size.
“What? We’re going to steal them?”
“Oh, don’t be such a baby. If it makes you feel better, I’m going to steal them,” Eve countered.
“You never used to do stuff like this. You would at least only take things that people threw away,” Cammie observed, putting an annoyed look on Eve’s face.
“I’m going to let you in on a little secret,” she whispered, leaning close. “People don’t own anything, not their clothes, not their cars, not even their bodies, so it really doesn’t matter. Besides, I’ll happily take the punishment if they can catch me.”
Tossing the jeans onto Cammie’s shoulder, Eve sauntered toward the tops. She picked out one that was a little lacy and one to go over it that was darker and had a lower neckline.
At the same time, some noise at the register caught their attention. A plus-sized woman was yelling at the cashier because she couldn’t fit into a small, and most of the other employees were trying to calm her down before she blew an artery.
“Ok, are we ready to go?” Eve smiled. “And don’t think I forgot about the security cameras. They’ve been mysteriously malfunctioning since we came in.”
Cammie put her hands to her head, straining.
“But the clothes have these tags on them that ruin the clothes if they aren’t removed properly,” Cammie cried.
Sighing, Eve stalked over to the counter as the woman at the register, red in the face, howled at the entire staff.
“I’ve been buying clothes my entire life, and never once have I been forced to wear a medium! I don’t know what you people think you’re doing with these sizes, bumping them up to make people feel bad about themselves, but it’s disgraceful,” she ranted, waving her arms in a way that exposed her pudgy middle.
Eve sidled up next to them, standing just a few feet from
the commotion, and reached behind the counter. She grabbed the gun and removed the tags without anyone even noticing. Cammie had already left the store, crossing her arms and scowling by the fountain as Eve strolled out carrying the clothes.
“Here, now go into the bathroom and put these on your bony little body,” she ordered.
“No, I’m not wearing those. This isn’t right!” Cammie said, and Eve put her hand to her face.
“Isn’t it about time you start making some of your own rules? The only thing that separates right and wrong is what you can get away with. Just think of what you need to do to get what you want. I can tell you Garrett is just a five-minute walk that way. Is he going to be your boyfriend or are you going to be a fifty-year-old cat lady who’s never been kissed? Do you want him or not?” Eve said, forming a smug expression and extending the clothes.
“I can’t believe I’m letting you talk me into this,” Cammie conceded, nervously snatching the clothes and running into the bathroom with them.
“Don’t blame yourself, sweetheart,” Eve smirked after Cammie was gone. “I know deep down what you really want.”
Cammie returned a moment later wearing the clothes and the makeup that Eve had given her. The jeans were tight, making it tough for her to walk. Little tears exposed her thigh in places. The tops wrapped around Cammie’s thin torso, adding the appearance of a little bit of curves.
“Can we just get this over with? I feel really weird,” the girl muttered, squinting as though she were in pain. Eve took her hand and jerked her down the hallway.
“I hope you’re not going to use that tone with Garrett when you try and seduce him.”
“I’m not trying to seduce him!” Cammie barked.
“Good, that’s much better,” Eve cheered. “Hold onto that tone and don’t let it go. Sometimes being a woman means you have to be ferocious, so when you talk to him, you have to be in control. Tell him what you want and use your tone to make sure he gives it to you. It’s sort of like what you do with dogs when you think about it.”
They came to the food court and started toward the large windows of the main entrance. Slowing down, they watched a sandy brown-haired boy holding a skateboard wave goodbye to a friend who was getting picked up. The boy continued to practice grinding against the curb. He fell, landing on his hands, but when he recovered Cammie and Eve got a good look at Garrett’s soft features, his cute nose, the bangs hanging just over his eyes, and his lips.
“I don’t think I can do this,” Cammie fretted, sucking her teeth and shaking her fingers.
“Mmm, maybe I’ll have to go myself. I could teach him a thing or two,” Eve savored.
“No, he’s mine!” said Cammie, defiant.
“Good, exactly like that,” Eve smiled. “Remember, your personality really doesn’t matter. You just have to look the part. Now go out there and make me proud.”
When Cammie blinked, Eve vanished, leaving her to take her shot at striking up a relationship with Garrett on her own. She’d never asked a boy for anything that wasn’t school related, and now even getting pizza seemed like a greater precipice than the top of Mount Everest.
Her breathing was unusually shallow, but she brushed through the mall doors, feeling the cold air against her skin, and shuffled out to where Garrett was by the curb. On his skateboard, he slid for about a foot before hopping off. The boy turned to see Cammie approaching and seemed embarrassed to be caught bailing from his move, but then he did a double take when he recognized her.
“You’re getting better,” she stated, and Garrett scratched the back of his head and grinned.
“I’ve been practicing,” he said, and Cammie nodded. “What are you doing here?”
“Shoplifting,” she answered, and the boy’s lips parted just a bit. He stepped onto the curb and drifted closer. He was almost as thin as she was, though he had a few inches on her.
“I thought you were just into science club and all that,” he added.
Cammie swallowed, struggling to hold herself together. She brushed her hair back like she’d seen Eve do.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” she said mysteriously.
“I can see that.” Garrett let his eyes drift lower over her clothes, and his lips puckered just a bit.
“Look, I’ve got to go, but we should have pizza tomorrow night,” she suggested, though it sounded more like a foregone conclusion.
“Ok,” Garrett agreed, still appearing kind of dazed by the whole thing.
“I’ll come find you at seven,” she declared, striding past him and forcing him to shuffle out of her way. She kept her back straight and her head up until she turned the corner and then collapsed onto her knees. Taking deep breaths, she looked up and found Eve standing there, a hand extended.
“I can’t believe I did that!” she gasped, disbelief and ecstasy painted on her face.
“Looks like my experiment is off to a promising start,” Eve said, waiting for the touch that would allow her to take them home.
*
Cocky isn’t a word I would normally use to describe Nathan, but Nate seemed to have it in spades. I guess just having a woman approach him was enough to set him off, because his every mannerism, raised eye-brows, a hand in his pocket, a quick nod, reeked of flirting. It took me a second to unwrap myself from his sexy glow and return to my senses.
“I’m sorry. I’ve just been trying to find you,” I said, still trying to put together how exactly I would explain why.
“What, are you from the women’s team or something? The soccer season’s over, but I could still drill you in some one on one.”
“No,” I corrected him, clearing my throat. “Actually…actually I’m from the school newspaper, and we’re doing an expose on our most popular athletes, trying to find out about their personal lives, family, and stuff like that. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
I had no idea how I came up with that, but I just fervently hoped it would work and he’d let me get some information about Cammie out of him. As much as I loved seeing him again, this Nate was proving a bit too forward for my tastes, and I longed for the sweetness of my Nathan.
“Yeah, I guess we can get to know each other with some questions. Let me ask you one first. What’s your name?” he asked.
He wanted to know my name? Once again, I should’ve been prepared for this and I completely wasn’t. My lips parted but nothing came out. Apoxy was some kind of magical being beyond belief, and that couldn’t be farther than who I was right now. What’s the perfect name for someone who’s just so painfully ordinary?
“I’m…Sarah,” I said, hoping he’d take my hesitation as some kind of girly shyness.
“It’s nice to meet you, Sarah,” he said. We shook hands, and the feel of his warmth flowed into me and made my stomach jump. It was hard to resist pulling him to me and planting a kiss on his lips. He was the man I loved and missed dearly, and yet at the same time he wasn’t.
“Nice to meet you too, Nate. Now how about we get to those questions. You have a sister named Cammie, right? Where is she now?”
Nate lowered his eyes at me and gave me an off-putting, scrutinizing look before the sound of pattering footsteps caught our attention. He turned just in time to catch the body of a thin brunette wearing a red pea coat who jumped onto him and wrapped her legs around him. I was taken aback. Maybe this kind of thing really was normal.
“You were supposed to meet me by the parking lot!” this new girl moaned, and when she unwrapped herself and stood on the ground my jaw dropped because it was Sasha, the ambitious law-school student who had dumped my Nathan right after his mother died. I’d never seen her wear such a bright smile on her face, and she wasn’t bashful at all about kissing Nate in public. The smack of their lips parting felt like a bomb going off in my ears.
“I’m sorry about that. I got held up by this girl,” he said, gesturing to me. That’s when some of Sasha’s familiar acidic glare returned. She obviously saw me as a thre
at, someone who had become taken by her very compelling boyfriend.
“And who’s this?” she scowled, hiding her face by putting her head on his chest.
“This is Sarah,” Nate answered. “She wanted to interview me for the school newspaper.”
“Right,” Sasha scowled, obviously not buying it. I really hated seeing her up against my man like that. I belonged there.
“It really won’t take more than a few minutes,” I promised. “We could find an empty classroom or something.”
“We’ve got plans now,” Sasha said, barely concealing her venom. Nate though didn’t seem at all put off by her behavior.
“She’s right,” he agreed. “If you want to talk to me, you’ll have to investigate me in my natural element. We’ll be having a party at the soccer house down on Water Street tomorrow night. Come find me there, and bring any hot friends you have.”
Sasha playfully slapped him on the chest before chuckling at him.
“Boo to you for inviting other girls to a party when you know I can’t make it! You’d better behave yourself, ok?” she said to him before shooting me another mean look.
“Alright, let’s blow this Popsicle stand,” he said as he let Sasha turn him away. “Wait, why do people say that when they’re trying to leave quickly? It seems to me if you were blowing a Popsicle stand you wouldn’t be going anywhere for a very long time.”
Nate winked at me before he left my sight, and soon I was alone in an unfamiliar place wondering what the heck I would do with myself until I got to talk to Nate at his party.
A hint of laughter caught my ears and drew my attention to my left. Through the crowd, I noticed a wisp of blonde hair and glimpsed a pair of blue eyes that were altogether disturbing for how similar they were to mine.
Unsure what was going on, I started pushing through the crowd to find out. I must’ve been seeing things, and this girl’s similarities were making me paranoid, but if I was wrong it could mean any number of strange things were happening.
But no matter where I moved or where I looked, that face so much like mine couldn’t be found. And yet that laughter, light-hearted and yet vindictive at the same time, hung just beside my head like a pearl earring.
