Hearts Don't Break Around Here

Chapter 4 - Butter Pastries

10th Grade

"Will you please hold still?" Roseanne says frustratedly, grabbing Jennie's chin. "You're going to make me get it everywhere." She pauses, giggling. "That's what she said."

Jennie rolls her eyes. "I can't stay still for much longer." Roseanne's masterpiece is almost done. But it won't look half as good as she wants it to if Jennie doesn't stop moving.

"Just a few more minutes," Roseanne says, sticking her tongue out in concentration. "I just need to do the teeth."

It's Halloween today, and for the first time in about three years, Jennie and Roseanne have plans. There is always an awkward window between trick-or-treating age and partying age, but they have finally entered into the beginnings of the partying stage of their lives. The party is hosted by some asshole in their class who probably was forced to invite the entire grade, but it doesn't matter because they're going to a party and there might even be alcohol!

Roseanne decided to dress up as a cat. It's not her most original idea, but she liked how she looked with the cat ears on, and the makeup was simple. She doesn't want to scare people away, after all. Jennie, on the other hand, doesn't give a shit about scaring people away and wanted to just paint her face to look like a skull. Of course, Jennie has absolutely zero artistic talent, so it became Roseanne's new project to recreate her face. They've been sitting across each other, cross-legged, on the floor, for almost half an hour. Roseanne didn't think it would take so long. Jennie is getting antsy. Roseanne smudges black paint just below Jennie's cheekbone, before leaning back and admiring her work.

"Okay! Go check it out." She says happily. Jennie huffs, getting up wobbly and walking to the bathroom. Roseanne doesn't follow her, but hears her gasp happily.

"Holy crap, Rosie this is awesome," Jennie says from the bathroom, and Roseanne can hear her grin.

"You like it?"

"It's frickin sweet, thanks," Jennie says, still smiling as she walks back into Roseanne's room. Jennie just recently got her braces off, finally, and she's been smiling a lot more since then. She used to be really self-conscious about her teeth. Roseanne remembers how Jennie never used to show her teeth when she smiled in pictures. But now she smiles all the time.

The makeup actually looks really cool, not that Roseanne likes patting herself on the back. Jennie has deep black rings around her eyes, sharp, dark lines underneath her cheeks, and black stripes along her lips as teeth. Jennie is really, really pale, so the white base paint actually doesn't look that stark or bright against the skin on her neck. Her hair is an even darker black than the paint around her eyes, which really pulls together the whole look.

"You look so great!" Roseanne says excitedly. "I'm pumped."

"You look good too," Jennie says, slipping on a black hoodie because she never wears anything else, not even on Halloween.

"Thanks. Ready to go?"

Jennie takes a deep breath. "Yeah let's do it."

x

As much fun as spin the bottle was when they were in middle school, spin the bottle is a lot more fun when you've had a few beers. Jennie refuses to drink, but Roseanne was so excited when she saw the cans that she couldn't contain herself. It's like all of the movies, with the red solo cups and the people making out in the bathroom. Only this time, it's real. The beer tastes like shit and burns on the way down but it leaves Roseanne's brain feeling slow, like liquid, in a very pleasant way. She's never been drunk before, but she imagines this is what it's starting to feel like. It's like the continuous stream of her loud, obtrusive thoughts has suddenly been turned off. She's so used to feeling terrified of what the people around her think but right now she feels like she's finally on the same level as them-- the alcohol acts as a barrier to all of the fear in her brain.