Who Is She? | Jaz Anderson

• three •

Ayden stared at herself in the mirror. She hadn't worn this suit set yet. It brought tears to her eyes, since her father had been the one to buy it for her on Christmas Eve one year. It was a white button up with a black tie, a dark red vest, a black blazer, and dark red slacks of the exact same color. She sighed and put it on. She yelped as Carter opened her door as she was jumping around, trying to get her pants on.

His eyes widened and he slammed the door shut.

"I'm sorry!" His voice was muffled.

Ayden flushed red. "I... I'll be fine!"

She buttoned her vest and pulled on her blazer, then put on her gold cuff links. Backwards order. She snorted to herself as she pulled her braids into the highest neat ponytail she could manage and used two elastics just to be sure it held tightly.

"Ow," she mumbled as her elastic snapped onto her fingers for the third time. She sighed and slicked down her edges to her forehead.

For the first time in years, she pulled out her eyeshadow palette and dusted her eyelids with black shimmery shadow. She had learned how to do a smoky eye from YouTube and she smiled at the memory. She pulled out one of her many lipstick tubes and layered her lips with red. Then she tucked the tube into her inner blazer pocket. She pulled on her black faux leather boots and laced them tightly to her feet. She turned to her full length mirror and tried not to gasp.

She was the most handsome and pretty at the same time she'd ever seen herself.

Well, she'd given Jaz something to flirt with her over, she thought.

She made her way to Carter's room. She banged on the door and he opened it, embarrassed.

"I don't know what to wear." He looked her up and down. "And somehow, my little sister is more fashionable than I am."

Ayden grinned at him and pushed past him. "I know. That's why I'm here —" she gave him jazz hands. "— to help."

He sighed in relief as she spun to his closet. About five minutes later, after consideration and trying really hard bit to make any closet jokes, she emerged with black slacks, a tan blazer, and a white button up. She grinned at him and threw his shoes at him. He yelped and dodged, letting them hit the wall behind him.

He shot her a look and she shrugged.

"You're evil."

"Oh, I know!" Ayden agreed joyfully. "Now, go change, I'll get you one of my ties, since they're so much better than those."

Ayden skipped back out the door, going to her room.

"Hey there, handsome," a voice teased.

Ayden turned around slowly, biting back a gasp as she saw Jaz. She had blue eyeshadow dusted over her eyes, a contrast to her green eyeshadow earlier that day, and had reapplied her pink lipgloss. She wore a blue floral gown and when she spun, it flared out around her perfectly. She had on silver hoops and a pearl necklace with a silver laurel headband. Ayden tried not to scream. Jaz had silver wedges on that made the already fairly tall blonde taller.

"Hi," Ayden squeaked. She flushed and tried again. "Hi, pretty girl."

Jaz grinned. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Getting a tie for Carter," Ayden blurted. She slapped her face with her hands, accidentally fogging up her glasses.

"Ooh, why? Does he not any cool ones?"

"No," Ayden squeaked. "Um... want to help me look?" Ayden would've slapped herself if she could, but Jaz agreed, following her into her room.

"So..." Jax trailed off as Ayden opened her closet. "Woah, you have a big closet. Anyway! What's his color scheme?"

"I gave him black, tan, and white. He doesn't have any ties that are colorful so... that's what I'm up to."

Jaz nodded and pointed to the drawer labeled "Ties" in Ayden's best script. "So, we're looking in there?"

Ayden nodded mutely, pulling the drawer out. She placed it on her bed, chewing her lip as she looked over the collection.

"Hmm... maybe purple?" Jaz suggested.

Ayden pulled it out. She nodded. "You have a great eye for fashion, Jaz. I may have to come to you next time Sadie demands Carter and I go to one of these things."

Jaz laughed. "You don't need my help. You look amazing."

"Hmm..." Ayden turned to Jaz with a sudden flash of confidence. "Personal bias or truth?"

"Can't it be a bit of both?" Jaz winked and Ayden's cheeks heated up.

"Not really," she said, leaning in close before chickening out and pulling away, putting away her tie drawer and bringing the purple tie to Carter's room. When she turned around after knocking, Jaz winked again and disappeared down the stairs. Carter opened the door and started blankly at the purple tie.

"Purple?"

"Yes, Carter Kane, purple. You're wearing a purple tie and nothing can convince me otherwise."

He sighed and tied it around his neck as Sadie approached.

"What's up with the purple?"

"Ayden insisted," Carter said.

"Gee thanks," Ayden said sarcastically.

"You look okay," Sadie announced. "At least one of you has good fashion."

Ayden smirked, feeling good about herself after being complimented by her younger sister. "Time to go."

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I intend on making this story as long as possible. So you may suffer if you continue to read this.