"Hayley, time for dinner!" My mother called up the stairs. "We'll be right down!" I called back. Hayley and I were busy concocting our plan to escape from the house to get to her boyfriend, Stephen's party. Lucky for us, the party didn't start until eleven o'clock, and my parents usually laid in bed around that time watching a romance movie. The plan was to get in cuter outfits for the party and to let Hayley do my makeup since I'd never done it. She had packed along her makeup case in her backpack just in case we actually got to go. Dinner was around eight o'clock on Fridays, so it would give us a couple hours to get ready. The plan was to sneak out the back door, and then come in the same way by leaving it unlocked. Carly was picking us up, since she had her permit. Technically, it was illegal to drive with your permit without an adult, but what was the worst that could happen? It was pretty simple. Except we couldn't get caught. Hayley and I walked down the stairs and sat at the dining room table across from my mother and father. The smell of Chinese takeout filled my nose as my mother opened the cartons, and handed us glass plates and silver utensils. My mother never allowed our family and any guests to eat on paper plates; she believe the food would seep through the plates and ruin the table with grease and leaving nasty stains. She was on the side of a perfectionist; the house was always clean, dinner was rarely takeout because she believed in healthy eating, and she always loved to have the family together for things. But she wasn't a perfect parent. She found ways to make sure I was always around, unlike most teenagers, who are always out and active and having fun. I put some rice on my place and some General Tso's chicken, and stabbed my fork through the chunks of rice. Hayley ate some of the noodles. "So," my mother started to say as soon as she sat down beside my father. "How was your day?" She asked me. "Well, I learned. I think that's good" I responded. I didn't look up from my plate, and neither was Hayley. Though she was a good liar, lying to my mother was hard for the both of us because this was a huge deal. Sneaking out to a party where there would be alcohol, dirty dancing, making out and loud music? I'd be grounded for years. We managed to keep cool by looking at our plates. "Well, I know learning is good. But did anything interesting happen today?" She asked. My father gave us side glances. "When does anything interesting ever happen to me? I'm basically a vegetable. I don't have a life. I have school, the library, Grandmother Elizabeth, and Hayley and Carly are allowed over. But that's about it" I said. As soon as I finished my plate, I didn't go for seconds. I grabbed Hayley's plate, and we got up. My mother held her forehead in her hands. "Thank you for dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Stevens" She said. My mother didn't respond. "You're welcome, sweetie" my dad responded. I put our plates in the dishwasher, and we ran upstairs. I hated seeing my mother upset, and I felt bad for that. But being trapped in a lifeless life sucks, and my mother should know that.
Hayley and I shuffled through my closet to find something for me to wear. I usually wore jeans or jean shorts during spring and summer, and a simple sweater or halter top. I did, have one romper; it was black with spaghetti straps and the bottoms were black shorts. "Perfect. Here, wear this" Hayley told me. I held the romper in my hands, and examined Hayley's outfit; she had brought cut off torn washed away denim blue shorts, a loose fitting hot pink tank top with frills that didn't go past her belly button, and black sandals. She would look far better than I did in my outfit. I was envious of her. Her life was filled with freedom and fun, and best of all, she had supporting parents all her life; Hayley was a lyrical and hip hop dancer, who had attended and won several competitions across the country. She always went to late night parties and stayed there, and always with approval for her parents. On rare occasions did she lie to them about why she came back so early in the morning, but they always believed her. She was always at the mall with Carly with tons of money to buy new clothes, and she'd been to Paris. I'd never even been to Burger King. It was pathetic how little I did. And I didn't even know why. I went into the bathroom to wash up and and change into the romper. When I had it on, I looked at myself in the mirror. My deep, straight, long thick brown hair fell across my shoulders, and my eyes glistened as I looked at myself. I was about to go to a party. I smiled, being excited. I hoped the night would go well. I walked out of the bathroom, and sat beside Hayley on the been bag. She had her makeup kit out, and was curling her eyelashes. All of the makeup she had on before was wiped away, and she was applying it so it would be fresh. I watched with curiosity as she pumped her eyelash curler up and down the roots of her lashes. It looked like it hurt, alot. But she didn't complain, so I stopped assuming it did. She did the same thing with the other eye, and then blinked. Hayley then picked up a big mascara stick, and opened it, holding the wand in her hand. Without making a mess, she quickly put mascara on her eyes, which extended her lashes. "Okay. I'll put on some gloss later, but come here" She told me. She looked at me, and rubbed her chin. "I've got the perfect idea for you" She told me. Hayley pulled out a small black notebook type of thing, and some makeup brushes. When she opened it, I was confused. "Green and pink eyeshadow?" I asked. "No, it's not eyeshadow. It's contour. It makes your face really stick out" She told me. "Let's get started" She told me.
An hour and a half later, I was looking in the bathroom mirror, and loving the makeup Hayley did on me. My cheekbones were highlighted, and filled with color, and my lashes were long and pretty. It was simple, and pretty. "Do you like it?" Hayley called. She was in my room, packing up her makeup and putting it in her bag. After the party, she was going home, but luckily, we lived on the same block, so we could walk together. "I love it. Thank you" I told her. "No problem. It's 10:56; let's get out of here" She told me, and put her bag on her back. My parents were already in their room, blasting yet another romance movie. Ugh. Hayley and I crept down the stairs, and carefully through the kitchen. The back door slid open with out making a creak, and Hayley and I ran out. I closed the back door slowly, and ran over to Carly's car. She smiled at me. I gleefully got in the car, and laughed. "Oh my god, I'm so excited!" I say. "Ready?" Carly asks me. Hayley, who sits beside her in the passenger seat, smiles at me. "Yes, I am" I respond. "Let's go!" She says, cheering, and pulls out the drive way. I cheer.
