A Beautiful Life

Candy [Mandy Moore]

Bubblegum pop blasted through the speakers of the pink boombox perched on Teresa's desk. It played louder than it should have, and the sound was physically painful as Sakura sat on the chair directly in front of the noise. Her thighs pressed together, her fists fumbling on her lap.

"Ow!"

She felt another clump of hair plucked from her brow bone, her eyes shut in anticipation and agony. At the sharp ache, her nose wrinkled as her teeth gnashed. "That felt like a lot of hair, Teresa."

Sakura heard her sigh, and when she opened her eyes to find her roommate on her knees on the floor, she saw the dire glare of concentration sculpted to her face. Ignoring Sakura's plea, and with a lick of her lips, she brought the tweezers to her face again, the tool glistening a menacing silver like a polished weapon.

"Just relax. I know what I'm doing."

And without warning, Teresa plucked more hairs. Her eyes watered from the pain, an uncomfortable dryness settling in her mouth. "I said you could pluck my eyebrows, not pluck them off."

"Well," Teresa replied, pausing to remove another stubborn hair, "you have a lot of eyebrow."

After a few torturous minutes, Teresa sat on her butt, folding her legs together and carefully observing her work with a tilt of her head. She was wearing another denim skirt, and Sakura could see flashes of her glitter drenched underwear.

Rubbing her chin, Teresa nodded approvingly. A satisfied smile claimed her lips as she stood and took her hand mirror from her desk and held it before Sakura. When she saw her reflection, she faltered, hesitantly taking the handle from Teresa.

"So...what do you think?"

Sakura's lips pursed, and she exhaled a delicate sigh. They weren't exactly bad. Her usual natural curves were now carved black arches, and it took her a good moment to accept the new look and allow it to blend with her face.

"Aren't they kind of..." She pressed her finger against her right brow, feeling the tenderness and swell of fine skin that was once graced with hair. "...Thin?"

When she looked over at Teresa curiously, she laughed, standing abruptly and taking the mirror from her. She was all legs, skin darkened from a tanning bed, and instead of pulling down her skirt, she kept it hiked up as her breasts nearly spilled out of her pink tank top. Throwing the mirror to the bed, it landed in a silent thud as she then cradled Sakura's face in her palms, her stare almost uneasily intimate.

Sakura returned her gaze with squinted eyes, and Teresa hummed approvingly. "Don't worry, Sakura. They look great!"

But she was less optimistic. "They'll grow back, right?"

Teresa only snorted a laugh, finally lowering the music pounding through the radio. "Sakura, stop. Bushy eyebrows will never come back in style. Who cares if they don't grow back."

Sakura attempted to push her lips into a smile, but her expression only morphed as she watched Teresa grab a bag, this one coated in even more glitter than her underwear. It sparkled like a rainbow, if rainbows were made from cheap bright sequins. When Teresa glued herself to the carpet, she moved a lock of her flat ironed hair behind her ear, now rummaging through the bag.

"Now, your makeup!"

But Sakura's gaze darted to the clock suspended between their beds—a pink and black Lisa Frank butterfly. The placement of the thin black lines triggered a surge of panic in her chest.