Scattering Lilac Ashes

Chapter Thirty-Six

Lila's Design teacher, Mr Dillon, took pity on her class five minutes before class was due to end on Friday afternoon.

"Thanks, sir!" Lila's classmates chorused in unison as they jostled each other out the door, rushing towards the locker room. The energy within the locker room was reaching a fever pitch, with nervous laughter ringing in every corner. Lila made sure to take everything she needed for the weekend before sprinting to the carpark. Clare had agreed to pick Lila up after school to make sure they had enough time to do Lila's hair and makeup but had warned Lila that she couldn't be late. Lila frantically looked around the waiting bay to see if Clare had arrived yet, her stomach tightening with each passing second.

A few moments later, Clare's car zoomed around the corner, blasting an EDM song as she went. Relief swept over Lila as she threw her school bag in the back of Clare's car and dived into the front seat.

"Let's go!" Clare cackled, driving away almost as quickly as she had arrived.

Lila thought that Clare had broken at least three driving laws getting back home, but her excitement overtook her concern as she jumped out and took the stairs two at a time.

"Hi Lila," Lila's Mum called up the stairs after her. "I've pressed your dress! It's on the bed."

"Thanks, Mum!" Lila replied, opening her door forcefully. She quickly assembled her things and jumped into the shower. Upon getting out, Clare dragged Lila to Clare's room and threw her some clean pyjamas.

"Shouldn't I get changed in the dress first?" Lila asked, obediently pulling on the pyjamas whilst Clare fussed about at her vanity.

"And get makeup all over it? Are you insane?" Clare snorted, pulling out her vanity chair and gesturing for Lila to sit facing away from the mirror. Clare played the current Spotify Pop Hits playlist on her speaker and set to work beautifying Lila.

After an hour, Clare told Lila to look in the mirror.

"Whoa," Lila said upon looking at her reflection. She looked rather sculpted with the right amount of sparkle and glitter adorning her eyes and cheeks. Lila felt she also looked older than 16 and said as much to Clare.

"Well, I'm not going to make you look two," she said with a grin. "But, if you don't like it, I can tone it down. Let me pop your falsies on first, though."

The false eyelashes pulled together Lila's whole look, and she felt giddy looking at herself in the mirror. Lila didn't normally wear much makeup, but she could tell that her sister had put a lot of effort into making Lila look glam enough for semi, but not overpoweringly so.

"You've gotten really good at makeup," Lila said, sitting up straight as Clare grabbed a hairdryer.

"Thanks," Clare smirked. "I've been getting a lot of practice in."

"When you go out?" Lila asked, looking up at Clare's reflection. Clare turned the hairdryer on, drowning out any hope of more conversation. Lila's hair took about 45 minutes to style, given she wanted curls in a half-up style, but once she was done inhaling way too much hairspray, Clare helped Lila up.

"Time to put your dress on," Clare squealed. They hurried into Lila's room, unable to contain their excited giggles, which summoned an irate Daniel.

"WILL YOU-" he yelled as he opened his bedroom door, cutting himself off when he saw Lila's face.

"W-Whoa," he said, still holding his door open. "That's today. Right. Sorry. Carry on."

He slammed his door shut. Lila and Clare exchanged a look before bursting into laughter, tumbling into Lila's room. Clare carefully helped Lila into her vibrant red dress for semi and clasped Lila's simple but elegant necklace around her neck. Lila put her earrings in and slipped into her heels, turning to Clare once the full look was complete.