Over the past few months, Ines has gone for several singing auditions by herself. She has no success from any of them. Irina has already forgotten all about it. Yet, Ines has not given up on her dream.
It was a Saturday morning. Eleanor had called both Irina and Ines to go into her bedroom.
"What is it, Mum?" asked Ines.
"Take a seat." said Eleanor, pointing at her bed.
Irina and Ines exchange a look and sat on Eleanor's bed gently. Eleanor pulled the drawing of her dressing table. She took out two bottles of scarlet nail polish from the drawer and put one on Irina's palm and another one on Ines' palm.
"Is this ......?" asked Irina with shock. Her face showed that she is shock and frighten.
"Yes." replied Eleanor firmly. "As you all know the history of our ancestor, Queen Wihelmina. All her female descendants have the power of swapping faces with others by using this nail polish. Wear this on every single finger and I think you know the rest of it." said Eleanor quietly.
"But, Mum..."
"I know what you are going to say, Irina. You guys are going to turn eighteen soon. You are old enough to make your own decisions with your abilities. Use this wisely, it can be used as your advantage or be turned as your disadvantage." Eleanor held their hands and closed their palms, ensuring them to hold on these tight.
Irina and Ines left the room and walked into their own rooms. Ines' face showed a bit of anxious. On the other hand, Irina had an evil smile on her face before walking into her room. Ines did not notice as she was busy worrying about her own things.
Ines laid on her bed, staring at the nail polish. Has Mum swap faces with others in the past? Ines wondered. If she had, whose face was it? And why? She remember seeing her mother's old posters. Those were her faces. Or were those someone else? Ines was frustrated. She just cannot work these out.
Ines walked toward her desk and turned on her laptop. Teenagers theses days are depended on the internet to find answers of everything. Ines is one of them. Ines went on search engine and typed in Eleanor Baker, which is her mother's name. Many things came up. She quickly scanned through and found news about Eleanor — "Famous songwriter jumped off a bridge after a fight with Eleanor Baker". Ines read through the news. She noticed the published date of the news. It was published nineteen years ago. She then found another article — "Eleanor Baker announced retiring from her singing career". Ines nodded as she read through the article. She already knew this. Eleanor stopped being a singer before she and Irina were born. Ines clicked on a video interview of Eleanor when she was still a singer. She plugged in her headphone and listened. Indeed, this isn't Eleanor's voice, just like her thought.
Ines went back to the first article and look at the photo of the songwriter. Who is he? She wondered. Ines stared at the photo for a while.
"Damn it." Ines closed her laptop with frustration and laid down on her bed.
*
"Wake up, Ines. Get ready now." Eleanor knocked on Ines' bedroom door. "Time for your piano lesson."
Ines opened her eyes. She looked at the alarm next to her bed. "Shit, it is two o'clock already." she murmured.
Ines sat up from her bed, walked toward the door and opened the door. "Ok, I am coming."
"Change your clothes and brush your hair before seeing Mrs. Taylor. Make yourself look neat and ready for the lesson." reminded Eleanor.
Ines closed the door. She brushed her hair with her hand through. Why bother? She though. She never wanted to learn piano anyway.
Ines changed her lounge to a casual flower-pattern dress and wear her yellow flats. She brushed her hair, put it into a ponytail and walked out of her room.
"What took you so long?" said Eleanor with a bit of frustration.
Ines didn't reply. She walked downstairs to the piano room.
"You are going very well with your practice. You should be able to pass your test and next month and eventually become a piano teacher in the future just like your mother would like you to be." said Mrs. Taylor to Irina. Irina smiled and said nothing. She bowed to Mrs. Taylor politely and walked out of the room. Ines stood next to the door and overheard everything. She rolled her eyes. Of course. Irina is good at everything. Everyone puts expectation on her because she always delivers. Everyone likes Irina. She is the golden child. Mum likes her more and teachers treat her differently than me. Ines thought.
She has a bright future ahead of her. Ines walked into the room with a bit of unhappiness.
"We will finish today. I hope you will practice harder and be as good as your sister." said Mrs. Taylor.
Be as good as my sister? Ines thought. That's impossible.
