“I think you should have deleted Nick’s pictures, too. Why didn’t he reach out before now?”
I smile. “You’re still mad at him. He’s not going to like that. I bet he thinks you guys are reuniting tonight.”
She snorts. “He doesn’t know me if he thinks I’d take him back that easily. Like you said, he’s spineless. His popular friend wanted me out of their exclusive club, so he dropped me. If hewants me back, he’s going to have to prove he’s strong enough to fight for me.”
“I was pretty surprised that he turned on Tristan.”
She rolls her eyes. “It’s about time. Tristan has led him around like a puppy on a leash for as long as I’ve known him. Here—” she tugs on a thick chunk of my hair “—lean your head toward me a bit.”
“Why do you think Nick turned on him?”
Serena purses her lips as she coats dye at the roots of my hair and slowly drags the brush down to the ends. “I’m not sure, but he also asked me out for coffee.”
“I knew it,” I say, my own eyes growing huge in the mirror. “Did you say yes?”
She shakes her head. “Nope.”
“Good for you. Make him work for it. Make him beg.”
She smiles down at my hair. “Just like you’re going to make Tristan beg.”
I snort. “I’m probably delusional getting this makeover. He’s already planning on taking me down. How is dyeing my hair and putting on a little makeup going to change anything?”
“I don’t know, Amy. I’m still not convinced he’s trying to take you down. It doesn’t make any sense. What would he do with those pictures?”
I sigh. Serena wasn’t as shocked about the pictures or the bet as I expected her to be when I told her the story.“Of course Tristan would make a bet like that,”she’d said.“He’s probably trying to convince himself he can get you in bed faster than the other guys.”
I can’t brush it off so easily. Not when he’s intentionally humiliated me before.
“I have no idea,” I say, “but he’s probably planning to use them in some way.”
She shakes her head. “I think he’s in love with you. Making that bet was gross, but it doesn’t convince me that he’s out to get you. He’s going to look dumb if he doesn’t pull it off. It makes no sense that he’d spend this much time trying to take you down. What does he have to gain?”
“Maybe Harper’s behind it.”
“Why now, though? It’s been years since your friendship ended. No, I think Tristan is up to something, but I doubt he’s trying to embarrass you. But even if I’m wrong, and he is—” she meets my eyes in the mirror, her own narrowing “—he won’t be able to do it. You’re not going to let him.”
I raise my chin. “No. I’m going to beat him at his own game.”
She smiles slowly. “Yes.”
“Alright.” She steps away from me, glancing down at my hair. “We’ll set the timer for a half hour and then rinse this out.”
My scalp burns for the next thirty minutes, but I use the time to cleanse my skin with a mud mask Serena brought. After I rinse it off, my skin looks as smooth as a baby’s.
“I never do girlie things like this,” I say as Serena rinses the dye from my hair in the sink.
“Do you like it?”
“I think I do.” There’s a wistfulness to my voice Serena must hear, because she smiles as she towels my hair dry.
“We’ll do it more often,” she says. “We’ll keep this going if you end up liking it.”
“That would be fun.”
“Alright, let’s start with the makeup,” Serena says as we return to my room. She pulls out a variety of brushes, eyeshadows, and lipsticks from her makeup bag and lays them out on my desk. “I’ll of course touch it up before you leave, but I want to give you a feel for what I’m going for.”
Over the next few minutes, Serena’s graceful hands brush featherlight strokes over my face. With each new color, my eyes grow wider.
