Life Imitates Art

Part 4 - Helping One Another

I'm not sure about the reason for the sign on the door. No boy would wish to be caught dead in here. Tessa even has one of those four-poster beds that people call 'princess beds'. She hangs some of her many blankets from the posts, creating a fort she calls her 'reading den'. The walls are a light pink, but she doesn't have posters up like most teen girls do. Her walls are adorned with family photos, sometimes making it look more like a hallway than a bedroom. The centrepiece of the wall is a huge framed print of her on her 16th birthday, almost 2 years ago now. She's standing in a glittery purple frock. God, I remember her getting ready for all that. She even jokingly asked me at the time if I wanted to wear a dress when I turn 16. Fat chance of that! Though my OC probably would love it.

Tessa places a long strip of kitchen towel on my lap before showing me three small pots of nail polish, each a different colour. "I brought 2 dark blues, so you can choose which one is more Maxine's shade. The other is a base and top coat."

"I'm honestly not even sure I want to know what that last one you said even is."

"Oh you're going to find out right now! This is a base coat. It's completely bare but you use it to get a little shine on the nail. You also need to use it to protect your nail beds from any harm."

"Ah I see. Very interesting." Why did I agree to this?

"You'll love it. You'll see. And you'll have to learn all this if you ever find a girlfriend. She'll be so impressed!"

The first nail sparks no reaction other than 'jeez, that stuff is cold!' But as she moves on to the third and fourth, I begin to see the shimmer that Tess referred to moments ago. I wiggle my ring finger on my left hand to watch the light bounce off it.

"I can see your finger waggling. Is someone a fan of the base coat then?"

"I'm just fidgeting."

"Mhm." I'm not just fidgeting. I am mesmerised by the subtle shimmer. 

"I'll tell you this much. If a base coat entertains you that much, just wait until I add some coloured polish on top. You'll be unable to sit still!" 

Once the base coat is completed on all ten nails, Tess encourages me to wave my hands around to help it dry quicker. As I move my hands left and right, Tess sees some humour in it all. "You look so girly right now!"

"I'm only doing this for you. Nothing else to it."

"We'll see. Now settle your hands again, Maxine. I need to start adding blue! Which one do you prefer?" Tessa brushes a little of each one onto the kitchen towel. The one on the left looks more like a dark purple than a dark blue, but it honestly looks a lot nice than the murkier one on the right.

"The left."

"I prefer that one too. OK, keep those hands still."

"I'll try. I don't know why they're so shaky!"

"Just imagine your drawing something right now. I need those hands as steady as they would be if you were drawing a dress. Use the photo of me as inspiration if you need it. Imagine how steady those paws would have to be if you were drawing that picture over there."

Somehow, that advice works. I imagine how tricky it would be to get every sequin in its proper place and how steady my hands would be throughout that whole process.

And again, Tess proves to be right when it comes to colours. Once the blue...purple...blurple? is added to all ten nails, it does become harder to focus on anything other than the captivating colour.

"There you go, Maxine! Now I just need to do another base coat on top. Then you're all done." I don't even bite at the 'Maxine' comment because I'm so enchanted by the new hue on my nails. This has to be used in a drawing!