“She’s going to love it, Will. She’s going to start screaming and jumping up and down the second she sees it.”
Will grinned. “It’s custom engraved on the back too.”
“Well,” I said, “what does it say?”
Will shook his head, looking mischievous as he placed it back in the box. “None of your business, Rosie. I can’t reveal my secrets.”
Cassandra’s bedroom was a disaster when I arrived. Nearly every piece of clothing she owned was spread out on her bed, quickly joined by the contents of my duffle bag. We spent at least an hour in front of her full-length mirror doing our hair and makeup. I lined my eyes with more heavy black eyelinerand mascara than my mother would have liked. I’d stolen one of her lipsticks too, a Revlon reddish-brown color that I applied to my mouth, going outside the lines to try to make my lips look bigger. Cassandra borrowed it from me after and did the same.
In the last few months, I had noticed that my face was starting to change. The roundness of my cheeks was thinning out and my jaw was getting sharper. I looked … older. Especially with the makeup on. It was weird. Meanwhile, Cassandra’s face still held its baby shape, with her wide doe eyes. She had started to look a year or two younger than me, though she sure didn’t act like it.
“You bitch,” she said, staring at me in the mirror. “Why does that look so good on you and not on me?”
“Itdoeslook good on you,” I said, taking the mascara wand out of her hand and doing it for her the way I learned inSeventeen. “You just need darker eyeshadow.”
“Yeah, and also your boobs.”
She stared at my body enviously. We were essentially wearing the same thing—a jean skirt and tank top—but with my boobs and the new bra I’d bought, it all looked much sluttier on me than it did on her.
“The boobs will come,” I assured her, trying not to laugh. “Trust me.”
Cassandra snorted and waited until I finished the touch-ups on her face. When I was done, she looked in the mirror.
“Okay, it’s settled,” she said, running her fingers through her freshly curled hair. “We’re hot.” We each grabbed a sweatshirt from her closet, throwing them over our tops so Mr. and Mrs. Hopely wouldn’t get suspicious, then headed to Alex’s room to watch her finish getting ready.
“Are you bringing that boyfriend of yours tonight?” Alex asked Cassandra over her blaring music. We sat on her beige carpet, looking up as sheshimmied into her own denim skirt. Her waist was so tiny that she had to knot the bottom of her polka-dotted camisole with a hair tie to fit it snugly around her.
“Cole?” Cassandra replied, thinking of the most recent boy she was obsessed with. She shook her head quickly. “He’s not my boyfriend, and no. He was being weird last week.”
“Are you talking about Cole Mahoney?” Victoria asked, appearing in the doorway of Alex’s room wearing a tiny tank top and shorts I was pretty sure belonged to Cass. “I know his sister. He’s cute.”
Alexandria rolled her eyes as she stared at herself in the mirror. “Ignore Vicky. She thinks everyone’s boyfriend is cute. Even her sisters’.”
Victoria stiffened against the doorframe, frowning. “You’re one to talk.”
Alexandria went still and stopped straightening her shirt, her eyes wide. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Victoria shifted on her feet, looking nervous. “I just meant—”
“What? What exactly did you mean, Victoria?”
Victoria looked from Alex to Cass and me. She shook her head. “Never mind.”
Alex turned away from her. “Honestly, you know what? Just go. You’ve been irritating the shit out of me lately.”
Victoria looked like she had just been slapped but didn’t hesitate. She turned on her heel, taking care to slam Alex’s door on the way out. From the living room, I could hear her mother asking her what was wrong.
“She’d better get her period soon because I swear to god I’m going to kill her otherwise,” Alex said, staring down at her youngest sister.
“Shehasbeen annoying lately,” Cass agreed, devoted to her older sister. “Right, Rosie?”
I was playing with the carpet, twisting the strands through my fingers, doing my best to stay out of their squabble. But they were both looking at me now, waiting for my answer. “Oh, yeah, a little.”
Alex looked relieved. “Okay, so it’s not just me. I thought I was going to have to throttle her.”
As she put finishing touches on her makeup, Alex’s door cracked open again. The three of us turned, expecting Victoria to come slinking back in, but instead, Samantha stood in the doorframe. She’d just finished her sophomore year of college, and she looked taller and leaner than the last time I’d seen her, her baggy jeans now practically falling off her slender hips. Her hair was lighter too, almost blonde rather than the light honey brown that the rest of the Hopelys had. She was twenty now and really growing into herself. If Alexandria was the prettiest of the sisters, Sam was the most unique. She had a large patchwork bag slung over one shoulder that rattled when she moved.
A man stood beside her, tall and stocky. He was built like a football player, with wide shoulders and a protruding chest. His muscled arms stretched the confines of his short sleeves. From where we sat on the floor, I could see the slightest edge of a tattoo concealed around the back of his arm. His hair was blonde, though it had been bleached lighter on the tips, almost frosted. I figured this must be her boyfriend, Isaac.
