Mirror, Mirror

1.07 Birthday Girl

The moment Starla opened her eyes, she knew it was going to be a good birthday.

She got up extra early that morning to do her makeup and put together her outfit: a red sequined crop top, black leather pants, and black bootie heels. She pulled her white blonde hair into a high ponytail—she'd let Poppy-Anne do her hair nicer later today— and touched up her black nail polish until it gleamed. She made up her face with smoky black eyeshadow and a bright red lip, then added chunky gold earrings and a necklace to top it off. She gave herself a confident nod in the mirror, actually feeling gorgeous for once.

Her cousins were the first to wish her a happy birthday, ambushing her right as she was about to leave her room.

"Happy birthday!!!" Poppy said, thrusting into Starla's arms a... cake?

"Hmm," Starla said, carefully setting it on a table in her room. "Thanks, P."

"I baked it myself," Poppy said cheerfully. "Remember I told you I was getting into baking? I was thinking I just haaad to bake something for you. I hope you love it!"

"Yeah! I'll eat it later," Starla said, fully intending to not eat it later. "And you, Riv? What did you get me?" She looked at him expectantly.

"Just a little something," Riv said, handing her a small golden box. "Happy birthday, Star." She undid it eagerly and found a small glass of liquid inside. Perfume. She spritzed a bit on her wrist. It smelled like lavender.

"My favorite brand!" Starla said, delighted.

"Ugh, my brother gives you the same thing every year. Absolutely no creativity," Poppy-Anne said, rolling her eyes.

"Thanks, Riv," Starla said, ignoring Poppy. Riv shrugged, but looked pleased.

"I thought my mixed-berry tart was made with more love," Poppy-Anne sniffed.

"Of course," Starla said. "Well, we'd better head to class now." Starla said, leading them back into the hallway. "Birthday or not, we wouldn't want to be— ah!" As she turned the corner, she stumbled as her foot hit something. She bent down and grabbed the glass vase she'd knocked over before it rolled away. With delight, she discovered that it contained a single rose and a chocolate within it. She carefully tipped the vase so that just the chocolate but not the rose would fall out, then popped the sweet into her mouth.

"He remembered," she said with a smile.

"That's... creative?" Riv offered. Poppy-Anne gave a perplexed look, but didn't question it. They hurried to class.

Starla got so many compliments on her makeup, her clothes, her hair. It was her favorite day of the year because no one held back on flattering her. She spent much of the day glancing in her pocket mirror, confirming that she was indeed looking spectacular today. In short, it was a good day.

In literature class, Aunt Crystallia even let her skip tonight's homework.

"Thanks, Master Crystallia," Starla said graciously.

"Of course. I'll see you tonight at family dinner?" Aunt Crystallia said. It wasn't a question. Starla paused.

"Aren't we having dinner at my birthday ball?" she finally said sweetly. Family dinner was great and all, but she was anxious to get ready for her ball tonight. She needed as much time as possible to pretty up with the help of her cousins.

"I'm sure you can manage two dinners today," Aunt Crys said just as sweetly. Starla did the calculations and came to the conclusion that her aunt was not budging on this. Oh well. She was already getting out of a nightmare of an essay. She wouldn't push her luck.