T H I R T Y - E I G H T

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♫ Valentina ♫

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Valentina

THE PAIN IS so visible on Kaya's face while I paint her nails with the nail polish I got from the chemist.

"What now?" I sigh. She's been correcting my method since the first nail, and I want to do it right, so I didn't leave, but now I'm starting to regret it. I never noticed how much of a perfectionist she was when it came to beauty things, and I'm just realising it now.

"That's not how-, you need to-...honey, no. Here." She takes the applicator out of my hands for the nth time this afternoon and shows me how to properly apply the polish without leaving streak marks or gaps in the colour.

I copy her exact moves, and she nods when I do it correctly. I finish her whole hand, doing it right and not causing her to wipe it off with nail polish remover, which I thought was a bit much, but she knows more than I probably ever will about this shit, so I shut up.

Charlotte sits quietly behind me, pulling lightly at my curls while watching over my shoulder at me painting Kaya's nails.

"How's your piece going, Charlotte?" I ask the blondie behind me as I finish up on Kaya's pinky - her last finger.

All the art students were making a piece to be submitted to an inter-school art competition, and the top 3 art pieces would get an award, most likely a shit-ton of money or a trophy.

It wasn't compulsory, but Kaya and I persuaded Charlotte to enter it when she started to doubt herself. I've seen the shit she makes and I know she has the ability to rank in the competition.

She has an insane amount of artistic talent, something I wish I had, and it deserves to be recognised. My talent comes in the form of words, like I can write insane creative writing pieces, but I cannot draw for the life of me.

"It's...going. I've sketched the outline on paper, but I still need to transfer it to the canvas and not stuff it up, then paint it and glaze it. But there's still time, so I should be okay."

"When's the competition again?" Kaya asks, blowing the polish on her nails to dry faster while I screw the lid back onto the bottle and pass it to her.

She then opens the bottom drawer of her bedside table to reveal an entire drawer full of nail polish and she fits it in a small space near the corner. Who the fuck even needs that much nail polish? She gets her nails professionally done anyway, so not even she needs all that.

"16th of November," Charlotte replies, sighing softly while she continues to pull on the ends of my hair.

"That's plenty of time, you'll be fine." Kaya comforts, sending her a smile when she turns back to us, then turns to admire her nails.

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