“Frederick, this is Rachel, Fern’s friend. Rachel, this is Fern’s big brother, Frederick.”
“Hi,” I said, eyeing him. So this was the big brother that Fern apparently was having sex with, and that was also a member of the devil worshipping coven. He smiled politely at me and took a cookie from the plate. He didn’t seem like a devil worshipper, even though he was wearing black clothes. Of course, how would I be able to recognize one? Should he be wearing a hooded robe, hands dripping with peacock blood?
“Do you guys have any pets?” I asked, realizing too late that it was a suspicious question.
Frederick and his mother looked at each other. “We used to have a dog,” his mother said, “but she died last year.”
“Yeah, she was hit by a car,” Frederick said. “We still have a cat, though. She’s lurking around here somewhere I guess.” Abandoning the subject, he addressed his mother. “Can I use the car tonight?”
“Once your dad gets home and we’ve had dinner,” his mother agreed. “Rachel, will you be joining us for dinner?”
“I think I should be getting home after my hair is done,” I said. “But thank you.”
xXx
Fern blow-dried her hair after she came out of the shower, and it definitely was closer to white than it had been before. The only problem was the roots, where the hair had been darker, had a slightly orangey hue to them. But Fern assured me that she could brush it to hide the orange parts, and that next time she bleached it, it would look more consistent. It did look really nice, and I was proud of myself. And it was my turn next.
The hair dye smelled awful and it sort of burned my scalp. It was also really messy. We were really paranoid of getting it on the bathroom walls or the rug, but we were as neat as possible. When I looked in the mirror after Fern had finished applying the dye, my head looked like it’d been dipped in grape jam. We waited the allotted time, and then I jumped in the shower to rinse it off. I scrubbed at my head and watched dark purple water splattering in the bathtub and running down the drain. Vampy, Fern’s mother had said. I couldn’t wait.
Fern blow-dried my hair, not letting me look in the mirror yet. “Ooooh, it looks really, really good,” she cooed, and when I finally looked in the mirror, my mouth dropped open.
It was shiny and black. It made my skin look even paler and my blue eyes jumped right out. I could not believe the difference. My hair had always been mousy and brown, and my eyes and skin tone bland. Now I looked pretty. I couldn’t believe it. I felt beautiful.
Mom was going to kill me.
“Let’s do your makeup,” Fern said, excited.
I sat down at her vanity and she hovered over me. Again, I wasn’t allowed to look in the mirror. I’d never had anyone do my makeup before, and it was awkward. When she was putting on the eyeliner and mascara I kept blinking and squeezing my eyes shut and smudging her work. My eyes started running at one point, and Fern had to dab away the smeared makeup. After a few minutes she stepped back. “You put on the lipstick,” she said. I unwrapped the dark red colour I’d chosen and stroked it onto my lips as accurately as I could without the aid of a mirror.
“Done,” Fern said. “Check it out.”
Once again I gasped at my reflection. I barely looked like myself. I looked like a wonderful, beautiful version of me. She’d powdered my skin, making it even paler, and used a dark grey eyeshadow and tons of black liner on my eyes. There was a hint of pink blush on my cheekbones, which prevented me from looking too washed-out pale, and my lips looked gorgeous with the lipstick. I looked amazing.