✓ | I Hate You.

chapter two

CHAPTER TWO: MOOD SWINGS

     Cora showed up at Steve's house at 7:30, just like she promised. Her purse was looped onto her shoulder — it contained mascara, lipstick and other things to touch up her makeup later in the day. There was no telling how messy this party would be. The second she knocked on the door, Nancy was there. Only this time, Nancy was back to her usual self.

     No smile, just a glare. Cora felt incredibly awkward, as she didn't know what to do at this point. "Hi, Nance." Her own confident demeanour began to fall apart, as she didn't know how Nancy really felt about her anymore.

     "It's Nancy." The shorter girl muttered, before waving her into the house. Cora was shocked at the size of the mudroom, and began to question how big the rest of the house was. "You can start off by setting up drinks, I'll look for the speakers to set up the music."

     Cora nodded, "okay." She grumbled, getting more irritated by the second as Nancy's attitude was rubbing off on her. "Where's the—" she turned to ask one question, but Nancy was already gone. "Drinks."

     By the time that 15 minutes had passed, Cora had found the drinks and red solo cups. It took rummaging through Steve's kitchen to find them. She recalled opening every cupboard at least twice. When she started to set them up on the table, she angrily thought over her choices of agreeing to help set up in the first place.

     Of course I should've said no. She thought to herself. Why would she trust Nancy anyway? She'd never been nice to her before, and there was no reason to trust her immediately just because she stuttered out a few words.

     Nancy had been nothing but rude to her, and Cora had been the exact same. How could I be so stupid? But then Cora thought for a moment longer, okay, now I'm being dramatic.

     "Are you done?" Nancy's bitter voice echoed through the Harrington household. Bitter. That's exactly how Cora felt. This whole situation was driving her insane.

     Cora felt a sour taste on the back of her tongue as she spoke, "yup." She sighed softly. "All finished." Her tone was dripping with annoyance. Maybe even anger.

     Nancy walked into the room with raised brows at her tone before shaking it off, "whatever. People should be showing up soon, so just do whatever you want in the mean time." She wasted no time in leaving the room, which felt too tense for her to bare.

     "Sure." Cora mumbled softly, before spinning on her heel. She stood in place for a moment as she thought of where the bathroom might be, before beginning her search for it.

     She quickly realized how much larger the house looked on the inside, when compared to the outside. It was slightly mind blowing that there could be so many rooms in one home. She could've sworn she passed ten bedrooms — but she knew she was just seeing things.

     Eventually, Cora made it to the bathroom. Or rather, one of the bathrooms in the vast Harrington household. She locked the door on her way in, before facing the large mirror. She grimaced at the sight of her smudged lipstick, scolding herself for being so forgetful and itching her upper lip earlier in the day.

     Reaching into her bag, Cora pulled out a makeup wipe and a peachy lipstick. It was her favourite of all the ones she owned. She smiled softly when she realized it matched her heels.

     Cora pulled the cap off and twisted the lipstick tube until the lipstick itself was at a reasonable height. She leaned forward to apply it before suddenly remembering why she was applying it in the first place. "Whoops." She mumbled softly to herself, picking up the makeup wipe she had pulled out of her purse moments ago.

     The girl carefully wiped at the corners of her lips, and near her upper lip to remove all smudges. She groaned inwardly at the realization that Nancy had seen it, and didn't say anything about it.

     With a sigh, she picked up the lipstick once more, and began applying it gently to her plump lips. The colour was a natural shade, which she found to be much more appealing on her, rather than a vibrant and striking red.

     Once she was done, she twisted the lipstick back down and put the cap on it. She placed it back in her purse, before discarding the makeup wipe in the garbage next to the sink.

     Cora backed away from the mirror, taking in her appearance momentarily. She looked good enough, she thought to herself. She shrugged before lifting her purse, and looping it over her shoulder once more.

     At the sound of new voices within the Harrington household, she sighed softly. She fixed her posture before exiting the restroom, and making her way down to the party.

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halo speaks...

i'll probably come back here every couple weeks and edit it until i'm satisfied, but it's just practice and i would love feedback on it! be as harsh as you'd like