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𝐒𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫, Charisma stared at her reflection, examining her efforts of perfectly shaping her brows, the dark lining eyes, contours of her nose and cheeks, and filled plumped lips. The tip of her freshly manicured finger slightly rubbed the inner corner of her mouth, ensuring the semi-nude tight line from fading onto her skin.
Once she subtly declared loyalty to Polo's side at school, he had been quick to toss her a towel and hold her robe open for her to snake her damp body inside. With uncertainty and anxiety, the oldest had rushed from his sisters en-suite to return to his own sanctuary and prepare himself for the first school day.
Like Polo, Charisma was dreading her, and now his return, knowing with him at her side, Las Encinas was going to be worse than anticipated. She had taken her time pulling her freshly ironed uniform from her closet, laying it along the edge of her bed before making it to her vanity, and taking just as much time applying her makeup. For once, to her benefit of being a perfectionist and underlying diagnosis of body dysmorphia, the brunette had filled in her eyebrows twice and taken off her eye makeup to reapply four times before she felt secure and satisfied with the simple look of bronzer upon her lids with winged liner.
Reaching for her setting spray, Chari squirted her face until her skin felt refreshed and placed it back upon her wooden mantle. Glancing at her cell phone beside her, she toyed with a strand of her hair, twisting it into a corkscrew shape along the length of her index finger, debating whether or not she should make one last attempted reach before the bell.
The twins used to adore creating scenes and being Las Encinas sole attention but now Charisma wanted nothing more than to fly under the radar instead of surprising her friends (if that's what some would still consider them to be) on the school steps with her brother, accused murder. With a sigh she let her hair fall from her touch and grabbed her phone, thumbing through her contacts.
It was still early in the morning and while most things had changed, Chari knew her friend's sleeping schedule wasn't one of them. The sun had barely began to rise over the horizon and shine through her curtains and like Charisma who grew to enjoy the fresh baking morning rays, the only other people to her knowledge who enjoyed this time was Ander, who'd be out on a morning run, and Lucrecia, who'd be mimicking her morning beauty routine.
Both names she scrolled over without a glance.
Chari knew who she wanted to call, even though her chances of being sent to voicemail were one hundred percent. Still, the odds didn't stop her from tapping Guzman's name and pressing the phone to her ear. The sound of ringing filled her ear and that was enough for her heart to stop and breath hitch in her lungs. She couldn't remember the last time her call wasn't blocked and sent straight to a filled voice box, this being the first chance of possibly getting through to him. To no avail, her hope was short lived when after the sixth ring, her call was forwarded. At least he hadn't blocked her number, giving her slight hope and reassurance that one day he'd actually answer her call.
Bringing her phone down, Charisma tapped end and sighed in defeat then chose to call the one phone she knew would answer and could relay information. The phone rang twice before a high pitched voice filled the opposite end, "what?"
"Polo's out," Chari said quietly into her phone, her eyes darting to her shut bedroom door. She wasn't taking any chances on her brother sneaking in on her. "He'll be there today," she pressed her lips together, rubbing the slick sheet of gloss. "They're letting him come back," Carla breathed into the end and Charisma nodded though her friend and brothers' ex lover couldn't see. "Yeah," Chari mumbled, "just - just give everyone a heads up."
"Are you okay?" Carla asked and Charisma sighed and reached for her lip gloss to apply some more. "Yeah," she lied, "I'll see you at school," then hung up and tossed her phone behind her to her bed. Filling up her cheeks with air, the girl counted to ten in her head while holding her breath, then let it out slowly.
It was easy to avoid her group of friends since school had been out but now term was back in session and Charisma had no idea how she was going to hold up being underneath everyone's' eye. While she still hadn't forgiven Polo, she did give him a lot of credit for the strength he built in willing to return to school, all considered.
One last glance over her styled hair and make-up, Chari reached for her golden locket and fastened it around the nape of her neck. With her eyes still lingered upon the mirror, her fingers went to the small heart and snapped it open, holding it upon its back. Her gaze dropped to the powder inside and automatically her tongue ran over the front of her teeth as she dipped the tip of her nail into the white then into her mouth.
Gliding her tongue over her teeth and wiping her cheeks, the bombshell sighed then puckered her lips towards the metal reflector. "Let's get this over with," she sighed then pushed herself from her chair and stalked to her bed, dropping her robe from her body so she could dress for the day. ▬▬▬ 𝖝𝖔 ▬▬▬
