Red ✔

Can You Face Rejection?

I spot Marilyn on the couch near the window. I notice her checking out the guy talking to Victoria. I check who the guy she is looking at. Billy Waters, the class clown. You can see the envy in her eyes, pining to be in Victoria's position. Those eyes seem similar to the look Leo had in her eyes when I talked to Tyler. Leo is jealous of me...? She rarely ever got jealous...of anyone. She does not have incredibly high self-esteem and does not care what people thought.

"Marilyn?" I say. "I have a problem."

"Yeah, what's up?" Marilyn shifts her eyes in my direction.

"My plan so far is not going so well."

"How so?" 

I explain how I cut in their discussion. Leo glared at me and then, left in an angry sloppy stomp. Tyler and I had a long awkward conversation. We did not speak more than two sentences at a time. There were no sparks, no click, no...anything. How was that possible? It was almost like my infatuation was a mistake. Maybe it was a big waste of time to spend on someone who does not keep a damn. I explain how I scurried away without warning.  My entire plan was off track. I still have about twenty minutes until the next part.

I moan, knowing he probably thinks I am impolite for walking away like that.

"What do I do now?" I punch the couch pillow bitterly.

“Hm...That is a problem," Marilyn says.

I stretch out my cheek skin, pulling it in into a long shape. "So how am I going to fix it? You're the expert," I say.

"Well, you have to show him that you can get more attention from other guys than only him. It shows that you can get any guy you want easily. Not that you're not pretty or anything."

"Got it. But why will guys be all over me?"

"That's why we have to allure them to you." Her eyes gleam with a plan.

"And just how are we supposed to do that?"

Marilyn leads me to the washroom. Then, she suddenly stops at her tracks. Victoria and Richard Anderson are embracing each other. They are all red and puffy on their lips. Their clothes are wrinkled.  The way their hair was in a tangled bunch makes me frown in pure disgust.  To my conclusion, they were MAKING OUT. She is dating Daniel, the hottest guy in our class. I am not actually that surprised because Victoria has a way with guys. I mean, I do not know any better, she might be an undercover slut. She is fourteen for Pete's sake. Honestly.

"If you tell anyone," she threatens, staring specifically at me. "You're going to be sorry." She flattens her hair and stomps off hotly. Richard follows behind her, shooting me a guilty look. I almost feel sorry for him. First, he made out with the evil witch of the west. Second, he is a part of the cheating spree with Victoria and that is never a good sign. 

Marilyn locks the door behind us as we go in and shuts the door behind us. As I would do, she rolls her eyes at her. "Gosh, who invited that wrench the party? Christina's nice, but not that nice."

I remember hearing throughout the other people's conversations about Victoria's "invitation."  I describe, "Christina and Victoria's parents are friends, so she doesn’t really have a choice. I cannot imagine what Christina has been through. No wonder she is so nice."

Marilyn yanks mascara, lip-gloss, eye shadow, and blush from her handbag. And I thought Holly was prepared with beauty supplies. 

"Makeup?" I say as she applies some mascara on my eyelashes.

"You'd be surprised what a bit of makeup can do." She smiles tenderly at me.

I close my eyes. The brush tickles my cheeks as she sweeps the blush on. I feel some lipstick being planted to my lips. Her hand moves from my upper lip to my bottom lip. The scent of the lipstick stings my noses. It has a strong, tight raspberry smell. It is artificial, which gives me a minor headache. I sit down on the toilet to make it easier for Marilyn to apply on the makeup. I enter into my own world after that. I daydream how Tyler will be all over me when I have the popular guys to surround me.