The door swung open then and I almost expected Daniel to stroll right in, but it wasn’t him. A stunning, dark-haired girl stood in the doorway. She looked somewhat familiar to me, but I couldn’t figure out where I knew her from. Anyone that beautiful was going to stick in my mind, but … I really couldn’t remember where I’d seen her before. Maybe she was from a television show or something.
“Star!” Emma waved her over. “Come and meet Callie. She’s the second secret…” She trailed off then, clearly realizing we weren’t exactly in a private place.
From what I could see, all the stalls were empty. “I think we have the room to ourselves,” I said.
Star quickly checked and said, “Yep, all clear.” She then stepped over to me, the sweetest smile on her face. “It’s so nice to meet you, Callie. I’m Star Darken, Lexen’s sister.”
Ah, well, that explained the supermodel good looks and familiarity. Now that she’d mentioned her family, I could see she had the same shaped eyes and nose as her broody brother. But she was definitely not of the broody variety. If anything, she seemed unnaturally nice and friendly.
Emma quickly pulled me toward the sinks. “We need to hurry. As I said, our guys aren’t going to leave us alone for long. Until Laous is caught, we’re under strict guard.” She really didn’t sound too upset by that. “But I figured you wouldn’t have any makeup or the essentials, being stuck in Imperial with Daniel, so Star and I brought you some supplies.”
For a moment I wondered if I’d heard right. Star pulled a small purple bag out of her expensive leather satchel and handed it to me. It was a half-moon shape, with a zipper right across the top. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I opened it.Whoa.They had packed in a veritable beauty shop, enough makeup and supplies to last me months. Or years. I had very little experience with beauty products, except when I’d managed to steal some of my mom’s.
Blinking rapidly, I stared down at the bag longer than was really necessary in an attempt to get my emotions under control. Finally, I was able to say without my voice breaking: “Thank you, this was really thoughtful of you both.”
“You really don’t need much makeup,” Star said, and my head shot up to find her examining me closely.
It was clear that she was very into this sort of thing. Her eyes were lined, sparkly shadow above her gorgeous blue irises. She wore the uniform, but it was all fancied up, with a scarf, and pins, and a ton of other adjustments.
“But every girl likes a little battle armor, right?” she said.
Emma grimaced. “I don’t wear much either, but ever since Lexen and I started hanging out in school, it’s been nasty-bitch central around here. So now I always put mascara and eyeliner on. Stupidly enough, they make me feel more confident.” She met my gaze and said, “They will try and undermine your confidence. Don’t let them get in your head.”
Looking between the two of them, my heart felt like it was about to literally burst from my chest. This feeling … the warmth and kindness and caring, I wasn’t sure I knew how to process it.
“I’m pretty good with keeping my fight-face on,” I replied huskily. “But thanks for the warning. If you two get into any trouble, let me know. I’ve got your back.”
My tiny, secluded world was suddenly filled with so many people. I was going to have to work triple time to make sure they were all safe. They both beamed smiles at me, and I wondered if maybe I could actually do this friend thing. Like … it seemed easy enough – be nice, care about them, and don’t treat them the way my mom treated me. Simple rules worked best for me. I didn’t like to complicate life with too much else.
I wasn’t an idiot. I knew we all had human feelings … except for Star, but from what I’d seen, Daelighter emotions worked similarly. Emotions did confuse things, but if I stuck to my core three rules, then everything should be okay.
The bell rang then, and I wondered how we’d managed to keep this bathroom to ourselves for so long. Quickly rifling through the makeup bag, I pulled out mascara and eyeliner, as well as a pale pink lip gloss and some pressed powder.
“My mom loved makeup,” I said, placing those items on the sink. “I have never owned my own, but I would sneak hers on occasion. Most of my attempts resembled a clown face.”
“Do you need some help?” Star asked.
Gripping the sink with my free hand, I nodded jerkily. “Yes, thank you.”
In an instant my face was being held in one of her hands, the eyeliner in the other. I just closed my eyes and let her do her thing; it really didn’t matter what I looked like. No one here cared. In what felt like thirty seconds, she was done.
“Perfect,” Emma exclaimed, clapping her hands.
Turning to the mirror, I tilted my head to the side and assessed the face staring back. “I have eyelash envy,” Emma admitted, fluttering her own dark lashes at me.
My lashes did look insanely long and thick with the mascara. The gray of my eyes was stormy against the thin line of kohl, and my lips were all shiny. Whatever blemishes my skin might have had were gone now, covered in a thin sheen of powder. It was all subtle enough that it wasn’t even obvious I wore makeup; I just looked more polished.
It made me feel … not like me, but I understood this battle armor thing, so I would just suck it up and enjoy the pampering.
“Is it okay?” Star sounded unsure, her gaze flicking to Emma for a moment. I wondered then if maybe she was really new to this whole friend thing too.
“It’s perfect,” I said, placing my hand on hers. “Thank you so much.”
Emma straightened, helping me throw all of my makeup back in the bag, which she then stashed in her backpack.
”I’ll give it to you later to take home,” she said, before turning to leave the room. “Come on,” she called, “I can feel Lexen pacing outside.” There was laughter in her voice; she clearly knew her guy well.
When she pulled the door open, we were met with a wall of muscles. Literally. Two broad backs covered the doorway and I now understood how we’d managed to hog the entire bathroom. Lexen and Daniel had stood guard, stopping anyone from entering.
