Chapter 10: Screw You
“Give me the safety pin back,” I demand, holding my hand out in front of me.
Ariel smacks my hand away and takes a step back to look at me.
“You don’t need the safety pin. Damn, this might be my finest work yet.”
I look down at the black, long-sleeved, body-hugging wrap dress Ariel decided was the only thing in my wardrobe that was salvageable for a date, grimacing when I see nothing but cleavage staring up at me.
“I usually pair this dress with a colorful cardigan sweater and a pair of ballet flats in the same color as the sweater,” I complain, shifting from foot to foot in the heels she made me put on.
“If you ever put a cardigan on again I will punch you in the throat. Also, if you ever use a safety pin to close the neckline of one of your dresses again, I’ll stab you in the eye with it.”
I stop complaining after that because Ariel scares me a little bit.
“Jesus, you’ve got great legs. Why in the hell have you been hiding them under long, hideous dresses?” she asks, grabbing a makeup brush from the sink counter and swiping my cheeks with it.
I have to admit, I do like the way my legs look in this dress, although I feel naked because the skirt stops several inches above my knees and I’m not wearing my usual pair of leggings underneath it. My bare legs actually do look quite nice, especially with the pair of black four-inch heels Ariel let me borrow. I just hope I’ll be able to walk in them without falling on my face. That’s not exactly the kind of impression I want to make on a first date.
My first date ever, aside from my senior prom.
Nervous excitement makes me press my hand to my stomach as Ariel finishes my makeup. Ariel and Cindy both assured me that the guy I’m going out with tonight was the best one out of all the emails I’d received. They said he’s really handsome, and his number one hobby is reading. I’m more than a little excited to be able to talk to another adult about books, especially a man. And a good-looking one at that.
Ariel finally finishes what she’s doing with my face, grabs my shoulders and turns me to face the mirror.
“Oh, my God,” I whisper when I get the first look at what Ariel’s been doing to me for the last hour in Vincent’s bathroom.
The only time my long, dark brown hair is ever out of a messy bun is when I first wake up in the morning. My hair is so thick that it always gets in my eyes, and I find myself constantly shoving it out of the way, especially when I’m busy shelving books at the library. Ariel refused to leave it up, and used something called a wand to add soft waves that curl away from my face and down around my shoulders. She didn’t go crazy with makeup, but it’s definitely more than my usual light dusting of blush and some lip gloss. She made my eyelashes look ten times longer and thicker with mascara, added some sparkly silver eyeshadow, and finished everything off with bold, red lipstick.
“You’re sure we can’t lose the glasses?” she asks.
“Not unless you want me running into walls and thinking my date is a plant in the corner of the room,” I tell her, pushing my glasses further up the bridge of my nose.
“I guess they’ll do for now, until we can get you some contact lenses. You’re definitely nailing the whole hot nerd thing right now.”
I smile at her, feeling much more confident about what’s going to happen tonight now that I look and feel sexy.
“We better get going. Cindy figured it was best to meet this guy at a public place, so he’s picking you up at the library in a half hour. We also made him send us an email with a scan of his driver’s license, and we called Mrs. Potter and told her if the guy looks sketchy, she’s not to let you get in the car with him,” Ariel informs me as she shoves all of the makeup she brought with her into a huge makeup bag.
As soon as we get out into the living room, I come to a sudden stop by the fireplace when I see Vincent standing by the kitchen island, pulling on a black leather jacket.
After my dad’s house, we stopped by Ariel’s so she could grab all the things she needed to give me a makeover. When we got back here, Vincent wasn’t home, and I assumed he had left for the rest of the night to go to work. Now my nerves are back in full force, wondering what he’ll think about how I look.