The Significance of Orange Juice

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

I gave myself an appraising look in the mirror. The previous damage had been fixed and it no longer looked like I’d been crying my eyes out. I smoothed down my dress anxiously. It was extremely figure hugging and wasn’t a dress that I would ever buy for myself, but Olivia had left it here after the last time that she tried to drag me to a club. And since the whole point of this expedition was to give my parents the figurative middle finger salute, the fact that the dress was quite revealing worked to my advantage.

Deciding that the dress was as good as it was ever going to be, I set about trying to do my makeup without Livvy’s help. Three pokes in the eye later, I gave up. If I kept trying to do my makeup, I was going to lose an eye. I looked at myself in the mirror, trying to work out what was wrong with my image. After a moment’s thought, I reached up and pulled my hair from the hairband so that it fell in wavy curves around my face. I smiled at my reflection, proud that I’d managed to do all of this without Olivia.

My phone was lit up with a new message to say that Olivia was outside, so I snagged a pair of heels with one hand and my phone and purse with the other. I ran down the stairs, not bothering to try and hide the fact that I was going out. This miniature rebellion would be entirely useless if my parents didn’t even realise that I’d snuck out. Questions from my parents followed me out of the house as I walked over to Olivia’s car, demanding to know where I was going at this time of the night. I ignored my parents and slid into the seat next to Olivia and buckled myself in. I can’t believe that after so many years of my parents not caring about anything but my grades that they thought they deserved an answer to their question.

Suddenly I realised that we were still parked in my drive way and I turned to see Olivia staring at me with equal parts pride and shock. I raised an eyebrow and Olivia opened her mouth to speak, before shutting it again. She swallowed and then opened her mouth a second time and managed to choke out a few words.

“Izz… What are you… Are you… Jesus, are you sure about this?” Olivia pulled out into the road as she spoke, but her eyes kept flicking back to me. I swatted her on the head and she focussed her attention back on the cars in front of us. Olivia had managed to demonstrate yet again her uncanny ability to know what I was thinking, and it was clear that she wasn’t sure whether she should be supporting my new-found sense of rebellion or if she should be carting me off to a mental institute.

“Yes, I am.” I said. My voice was strong and Olivia relaxed slightly as she realised that I was sure that I wanted to do this. She nodded to show that she understood and I smiled in relief. I hadn’t realised how much I was worried that Olivia wouldn’t understand until she accepted my decision.

The journey to the club was silent after that, Olivia to uncertain about my sudden change in appearance and me dealing with the butterflies that had erupted in my stomach. I forced them down and turned to look out of the window. I was determined that I wasn’t going to chicken out of this one. For once, I was going to show everyone that I was not a good girl. I was Isabelle Franklin, undercover bad ass.

Olivia pulled up into the car park next to the club and I took a deep breath of air before stepping out of the car. My hand shot out to grab on to the door as I tottered uncertainly in my heels. Liv noticed me stumble and she reached out to balance me.

“The secret to an outfit like that it to believe that you can pull it off. You look fantastic, Isabelle. You just have to believe that.” She held my eyes until I nodded. “Right, then let’s go find Alex and Jay!” Olivia almost squealed Alex’s name and I sighed internally. Of course Olivia would invite her boyfriend. I should have expected it. Plus, I couldn’t complain if I was left alone with Jay again, since I was the one who invited him. I just couldn’t pass up the chance to show him that he was wrong about me.