Precedent

Chapter Four

I wake up when Venus' alarm goes off. I check my watch before I remember it's not working anymore. I get out of bed and check the annoyingly pink furry clock on the wall. Seven o'clock. At R.A.O.F., we had to get up at five. In the past, I get to sleep in.

I notice the alarm on Venus' phone continues to go off. It's playing a song I don't recognize, not that I expect to recognize anything here anymore. I walk over just as Venus sits up, leans over and presses off. Groaning, she gets out of bed.

"Hey," I tell her. She gives me a drowsy smile.

"Hey, roommate," she says. I can tell she's still tired. "Do you know why I set my alarm for seven on a Saturday?"

"Um...school?" I ask. On Saturdays, we get to sleep in until six and we don't have training. On Sunday, we wake up at five for our weekly church service. Well, since we don't have a church, it's really a "mock" church service, but still...

Venus shakes her head and walks over to the coffee maker.

"Nope. No school on Saturdays, remember?" I try to hide my shock. Sunday's the only day I'm used to being free from learning and missions.

"Oh...yeah...sorry," I say awkwardly. Venus shrugs and gets a strange looking cup from the cabinet. It has a handle on the side and on the front it says: I break for coffee break.

"It's fine. My brain does strange things when I'm sleepy too." I fake a smile.

"Um...maybe shopping," I suggest, remembering what she said last night.

"Oh! Yes!" she exclaims. "The mall is far less crowded at this ungodly hour. Hurry1" She rushes off to get ready. "Borrow anything from my closet except the red dress!"

I walk over to the door from which Venus had emerged with the pajamas last night. Inside, I find it's a room full of clothes hanging on hangers. I stare in amazement at the color coordination. I've never seen so many colors. In fact, I've never gotten to wear a color other than black before.

Slightly giddy, I examine different outfits. Most of the clothes here are dresses. Some are dresses Venus probably wears to school dances, if this school has dances. The rest are clearly nice, but for leisure.

I end up deciding on a short sleeve white shirt, a pleated, knee-length pink skirt, and an elbow length green sweater. I also wear white shoes with a tag that says Keds. Someone has scribbled their name on it in curly writing. Weird.

I get dressed. As I took a shower yesterday and I'm not sweaty I don't need one. I brush my hair and I put my hair in their pony-tails.

Venus comes out of the bathroom, her hair dripping wet. She is wearing what looks like a thin, pink komodo.

"Oh! That looks so cute on you!" she exclaims at the sight of me. "If you want to borrow some make-up, it's in the third drawer down on the left!" I frown. Make-up?

Curiously, I go into the bathroom, which is just as extravagant as the rest of the apartment. I open the third drawer and find odd things. There was a closed tube-like thing with what looked like a stick of red paint inside. There was also a tray with little compartments. Each compartment has colored powder in it.

"Hey, Venus?" I ask loudly.

"Yeah?" she calls back.

"What is this stuff?" Venus comes into the book. She is wearing a short pink dress and very high, pink heels. She raises an eyebrow when she sees the drawer I am peering into.

"That's make-up," she tells me. "Do you want help applying?"

I let her put make-up on me. According to Venus, all girls wear it. I don't tell her that I've never heard it. I just say that my mom's never taught me, which is technically true. Until now, that is.