Ghost Silk (Ghost Perfume, Book 2) | ✔

18 - Dance with me - Part 5

Rose

Kimberly ran into us as we reentered the house. Her short hair was curling on her forehead with sweat, and her face was flushed. "You found the ice princess." The side glance from her kohl-lined eyes made her appear even more cat-like. "It'll be fun to shoot you."

My thoughts had been a million miles away. "You want to shoot me?"

She smiled coyly. "Photos."

"I'm making a portfolio for college applications," John said. "This party is perfect, right? I've already got a few people's but you're the best Mad Hatter here."

I relaxed. "Sure, if it's quick."

"You got it. Want a drink?" John slung his arm around me. It thudded on my hair, tugging on it painfully.

I shrugged him off. "You're sweating," I said coldly.

He snickered. "I'm sorry, it's hot! Kimmy, did you set up upstairs?"

She nodded and flounced away. John nudged me to follow.

Posing for photos sounded like fun, and I was reluctantly amused by how neither of them seemed able to walk upstairs without holding the banister. Near the top, Kimberly missed a step, and I caught her before she fell.

In a bedroom with clothes on the floor and a laden crafts table in the corner, a camera had been set up on a tripod. John directed me to pose against a poster-covered wall.

Unsure, I angled to the side and stood with my jaw tilted up. John clicked the camera rapidly.

I repressed a smile and tried a bolder pose, arching my back and slanting my head backwards.

I'd never gotten around to taking pictures with the Alistairs ...

"Try to look, you know, mad? Nuts?" John said.

I picked up two scissors from the crafts table and crossed my arms in front of me, the scissors open on either side of my face, and smiled with my eyes.

"That's it," John praised.

"You're so beautiful," Kimberly said.

It was the way she said it, without pleasure. I became instantly uncomfortable.

"Can I get shots with both of you? Cat and Mad Hatter? Pose with her, Kim."

She moved closer. While John adjusted the camera settings, I put the scissors back on the table.

She pressed herself to my side, wrapping a hand around my arm.

"You've got the best hair, Rose," John said. "It catches the light, it has so many colors in it – it's like you've got strands of gold inside."

Kimberly made an aborted motion with her free hand towards her short, fine dark hair, her expression tight. Her grip on me tightened.

John's gaze was steady, not quite as drunk as he'd seemed. He knows what he's doing, I thought in disgust. 

Kimberly was wound up like a toy ballerina and I couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't insult her worse, so I stayed silent. Maybe I could say something to her later.

We posed for a few shots that clicked quickly by, under John's cheerful direction. But I was done.

"Last one," I warned.

John pouted and called for new poses. "Kim, do something with your face, you look like a boy ..."

She gripped my hair roughly. "How about I borrow some girly hair?" she nearly shrieked.