Playing The Player

:Chapter Twenty-Four:

"Listen, Courtney. You look great, it's just... I don't feel like this is right." I gave her an apologetic look through the mirror in front of me as I reached for a make-up wipe. It really did look amazing, the work she had done on my face, but I didn't even plan on going downstairs, so why would she bother putting the make up on?

She slapped my hand, ignoring the little scream I issued when her palm connected with my fingers. "No you listen, woman," Courtney demanded, leaning in close to me so I could see every eyelash on her eye, "I worked hard on this shit, and you're not going to ruin it for me. You don't want to go downstairs? Then don't go downstairs. But ruin my work of art, and I'll ruin something way more precious than the expensive make-up you're smearing off. Got it?"

Meekly, I nodded. What she said made sense, after all. I didn't have to show my face, so what was the big problem with leaving the make up on? I was completely fine with it. It was completely cool. I was A-Okay with it. Cool as a cucumber.

Lie. I hated the stuff on my face, but the thing was, Courtney could be very scary when she tried. And she was trying now.

"Good." She simpered, adjusting the black mini she had somehow managed to get from Nina's closet. "I'm going to go downstairs, check out what's happening, unless you would prefer me to stay?"

I shook my head; I knew she wanted to go downstairs. "No, it's fine. You go, I don't mind." She gave me a look and I sighed. "I promise not to get rid of the make-up."

As soon as she left, I rushed to my closet. My best friend may have forced me to promise not to get rid of the make up, but she hadn't said anything about the ridiculously short skirt that she had literally had to wrestle me into. I grabbed my pyjama shorts and a hoodie and quickly changed into them, giving the mirror a happy smile as I was a lot more comfortable.

I placed myself down happily on my bed, logging into Facebook as I cuddled happily with my pillow. The recent statuses were all about the party that was currently happening right outside my door. I rolled my eyes as I read them; some people really just were terrible.

"Party 2nite!!! (: Chek out ma fotoss (:" Hannah Trevor posted. Beneath the status, there were a few photos of the bathroom downstairs. I allowed myself a laugh before closing the laptop. Seriously, have these girls never attended an English lesson? I surveyed my bookshelf, wondering which -

The door burst open, and Courtney stood there, proudly holding a glass of something clear, but I was pretty sure wasn't water. "Hey! What happened to your outfit?" She asked loudly, giggling slightly.

"You didn't say anything about me having to wear it," I said smugly, smoothing down my singlet.

Courtney rolled her eyes, wobbling slightly on her heels; she was obviously tipsy. "So anyway, I'm downstairs dancing, and by the way, the party is full on crazy, so anyways, I'm dancing downstairs at this crazy party, and these vases get chucked around by these drunk guys, and I'm like, dude, you're going to smash something, I swear, and - "

I straightened up abruptly. "What? The vases are getting chucked around? The ones with the floral patterns?"

Courtney nods, a serious expression on her face which was funny because she was drunk. "Yeah, there was a pink one and a white one. There are like, so many drunk people down there and - "

Before she could say anything else, I pulled on my Ugg boots and hurried downstairs. I knew Nina loved parties and wasn't afraid to hold them, but there was always a line, and I didn't mind, well, didn't mind that much, as long as nothing got broken. Even if they were never around, I knew my parents would freak out big time.