True Beauty

Chapter 7

"Belinda!" I hissed under my breath.

"What?" she asked as our teacher continued to lecture at the front of the classroom.

"I don't have any more makeup. I'm all out," I explained, horrified.

She turned away from our teacher to face me with wide eyes. Belinda knew how serious this situation was. Normal people wouldn't have thought it was a big deal, but normal people didn't know about my port wine stain.

"Shala has about the same skin shade as you. Maybe she has some," Belinda suggested, looking at the fair skinned, dark haired girl in the back of the classroom.

I nodded, rising from my desk after Mr. Brodcelli went back to his own seat. He started to hum while he graded the worksheets that we scattered across the top of his wooden desk. I made my way to the back of the classroom where Shala sat. Looking up from her notes, she raised her eyebrows causing her forehead to crease in many different places.

"Hey, Shala," I greeted, squatting next to her desk.

"Um.. hi"

"You don' t happen to have some powder foundation do you?" I asked, extremely hopeful.

"Why? Your makeup looks fine," she commented, going back to reading and studying her notes.

"Um... I-I just thought I should touch it up a little," I struggled, trying to ignore my racing heartbeat.

She sighed and tore her eyes off of her handwriting that was scrawled in her spiral notebook. Digging in a small pocket of her bag, she pulled out a small compact mirror and a circular, clear container of powder.

"Need a brush?" she asked, digging further into the pocket.

"No, I have one. Thank-you so much," I replied, knowing she had no idea how grateful I was for her.

She nodding, going back, once again, to her notes. Rushing to my desk, I pulled the black, fuzzy make-up brush out of my Vera Bradley bag. Swirling it into the powder, I quickly dabbed it on and around my blemish. After multiple layers, the mark was nearly invisible, and I was satisfied.

"Thank-you so much, Shala," I huffed, handing her the powder and mirror back.

"Sure, sure," she muttered, grabbing them and shoving them back into her bag without taking her eyes off her notebook.

****

Is it seriously Friday?! I asked myself sitting up quickly in my bed. The day I've been waiting for my entire life is seriously here?! Rushing out of my room, I spotted my mom sitting at the table, drinking a cup of coffee out of a white mug with "Worlds Best Mom" written across it. A smile spread across her lips when she saw me.

A shriek of excitement escaped from my mouth as my mom stood and hugged me tightly. A permanent smile was etched into my features as I went back to my room to get ready for the half day of school I had before me.

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as I straightened my hair and applied the usual pound of make-up that was strictly necessary. I hummed the melody to "Chole" by Emblem3 as I walked out to the kitchen to get something for breakfast.

Grabbing a banana out of the fruit basket on the counter, I took a deep breath trying to calm my excitement. If these butterflies don't calm soon, I won't be able to hold this banana down, I thought myself.

"Excited yet?" Jessica asked, sitting next to me with a bowl of golden Captain Crunch cereal.

"Of course," I replied, hearing my voice flutter.

"I can tell," she laughed, bring a spoonful of cereal to her mouth. "You're moving a lot faster than you normally do"

Smiling, I threw the peeling of the fruit in the trashcan and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Swirling the brush covered in white paste across my teeth, I spit the white foam into the sink and rinsed my mouth with Spearmint mouthwash.

Exiting the bathroom, I found my favorite Chuck Taylor's and slipped them onto my feet. Grabbing my backpack, I shrugged it onto my shoulders. Pulling my keys off the hook, I started towards the front door.

"Little excited for school?" Jenny asked, placing her empty, ceramic bowl and metal spoon in the dish washer.

"Yeah, just want to get it over with," I laughed, waiting by the door as she rushed to the bathroom to brush her own teeth.

Sighing impatiently, I leaned against the wall to wait for my little sister. After ten agonizing minutes, she was finally ready to leave. Pulling open the front door, the brisk wind blew into the warm house causing my long, blond hair to cascade behind me.

"Bye, Mom! See ya this afternoon!" I yelled, walking out the door and towards my car.

Rapidly, I flung my bag full of text books into the backseat and hopped into the leather driver's seat. Twisting my key in the ignition, the car sputtered to life. Jenny slammer her door shut just as I started to reverse out of the long, gravel driveway.

"What are you so anxious to get to school for?" she asked as she watched the speedometer inch towards sixty-five.

"The sooner I get to school, the sooner I can leave," I answered, passing a tan Buick smoothly.

She rolled her eyes. We made it to our schools in record time. I made a fifteen minute drive only seven minutes. Pulling my backpack out of the back seat, I locked the car doors and hurried into the high school.

"You're here quite early," Mrs. Lazarillo commented as she walked past me in the deserted hallways.

Spinning the dial on my locker, I unlocked it and grabbed my Spanish text book. Pushing the locker door shut, I made my way down the unusually quiet hall. Someone grabbed my waist from behind before I could enter the Spanish classroom.

"Punctuality is a very sexy trait to have, you know," Tyler muttered in my ear as he kissed my neck.

Giggling, I spun around to face him. Pecking his lips, I smiled. I opened the door and entered the classroom, towing him by his wrist. Setting my things on my desk in the front of the classroom, I greeted Senora Gonzales, who was sitting at her desk.

"My appointment with Dr. Chen is this afternoon," I told him excitedly.

"To get that nast- I mean the birthmark off your face?" he asked, kissing the cheek that my port wine stain didn't inhabit.

"Yes," I replied, making sure the teacher couldn't hear a word we were saying.

She was still grading quizzes as if no one had even walked into her room. It was one of the things that made her my favorite teacher. She didn't eavesdrop. And if she did, she didn't make it obvious that she was listening.

"Well I hope they can get it off," he stated, running a hand through his brown hair.