Because of Him

17

Chapter Seventeen

I had been anxious all day long. It was Friday—the day of the party. I trusted Logan when he said that it was going to be fun, but that didn't mean I couldn't be nervous about it. I wanted to keep calm but my body had a mind of its own, bouncing my knee up and down and tapping my fingers away on the desk. I was in my last class of the day, waiting for the bell to ring.

As soon as I heard the beep, I was out of my chair. I pushed past everyone in the hallway, trying to get to my locker as fast as possible. Once I had my bag, I made my way down the hallway. I didn't bother waiting for Logan since he was going home with the guys today, but he made sure to tell me he would be picking me up at eight o'clock tonight for the party.

As I strolled down the hallway, I caught sight of Kacey, who was talking with her friends. Some guy that I had seen around school a couple of times before was next to her and had his arm wrapped around her waist securely.

I mentally breathed a sigh of relief. If she had a boyfriend, that meant that she was finally over Logan. Oh thank God, I thought. Maybe she'll stop hating me, too.

I froze, however, as her gaze caught mine. She glared at me before tearing her eyes away from mine and going back to her conversation with her friends.

You could say my nervousness for the party got a whole lot worse.

❧

"Oh my God, look at this girl. She's gorgeous." I turned the Seventeen magazine I had been reading for the past ten minutes so Faith could see the girl I was talking about.

The girl on the glossy page had no makeup on, and she showed off the light freckles that ran across her cheeks and over her nose. Her eyes were a dark shade of brown, and her dirty blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders in even waves.

"That's called photoshop." Faith replied as a matter of fact-ly. "She's got nothing on you."

Faith agreed to come over and help me get ready for the party. I would have gotten ready on my own but knowing myself, I'd probably end up procrastinating and then telling Logan that I wasn't going to go when he'd come to pick me up. But it was part of the plan, and I was too good of a friend to do that to him, or to myself for that matter.

I rolled my eyes but still smiled. "Whatever," I said, "let's just get this over with." I strolled into my restroom, where Faith would do my hair and makeup.

"Jeez, don't sound so excited." Faith said sarcastically, following me into the room.

I chuckled and sat down onto the stool placed in front of the mirror, while she rummaged through her makeup bag.

"You won't be able to see yourself until I'm finished." She said, turning me around in the stool. "Now close your eyes."

I did as I was told, and closed my eyes. For the next fifteen minutes, all I could feel were brush strokes over my eyelids, and cheeks. When she was finally done with my makeup, she went on to my hair.

Another twenty minutes.

I was beginning to fall asleep when she finally spoke. "Okay," she said, "I think I'm done."

"Can I see now?"

She replied by turning me around.

The girl staring back at me was pretty, and she looked confident, and she definitely didn't look like me.