Page 66 of Bound By Stars
“You’re going to thank me, I swear.” She pulls at the skin on my forehead, runs the wand through my lashes again, and sits back to examine her work.
“You look amazing, Wes,” Skye says, perched on the window ledge over my bed.
“So I’m passable?”
“Passable? Weslie, you are practically galactic royalty.” Asha puts the makeup neatly into her case, slapping my hand as I reach for the corner of my eye. “Don’t you dare touch your face!”
“She’s serious. I let her make me up once. She spent half the night slapping my hands.” Skye steps down from the bed and smooths her dress over her stomach and hips. The gold fabric falls perfectly into place, complementing the intricate pattern of waves on her head. She raises her chin, taking her usual stance, head high, shoulders back, confidence on full display. Her moonstone earrings glimmer in the overhead light. It all looks so natural on her.
I sit on my hands, squinting, widening my eyes, and blinking away the tickle of what I can only imagine is a unicorn’s worth of glitter.
“Now, dress.” Asha points to the bathroom.
I get up to do as I’m told.
“Wait!” She runs in ahead of me, stepping out with a smirk a second later. “My work deserves a proper reveal.”
In the tiled little room, she has covered the mirror over the sink with my towel. The dress hangs from the shower’s glass door. I run a hand over the sheer overlay, covering the silky black fabric underneath with sparkles. Some of the glittering adornments form constellations, but there’s no consistent pattern. I unzip it and step in, pulling the cap sleeves to my shoulders. I tug on the neckline between my breasts but even unzipped, it doesn’t budge, the seam around my ribs holding it appallingly low. I twist and reach for a full minute before I march out of the bathroom. “I’m not capable of the gymnastics it takes to get this thing zipped up.”
“Oh, Weslie!” Skye beams. “Wait ’til you see yourself.”
Asha twirls her finger, instructing me to turn away.
I gawk over my shoulder as she finds the tiny zipper. “What is that?”
“My dress!” The shiny, amethyst-colored gown clings to her all the way up to her Adam’s apple. She twists playfully and the light dances over it, casting a rainbow sheen over the iridescent purple fabric. Clasping the top of the seam at my back, she steps away. Holding her arms out and letting the wide fanning sleeves dangle from her forearms, she spins so the skirt flares out around her.
“You look incredible.” I try to pull up my dress again, but it’s even less giving zipped up. “But where is the neck ofthisdress? I feel like I should be wearing an undershirt or a sweater.”
Asha gasps. “Don’t you dare!” She skips to the open bathroom door, hand hovering over the button. “Are you ready?”
“Hit me with it.”
She taps the button and steps aside, clasping her hands together. The door slides closed, revealing its mirrored surface.
My mouth falls open. The sheer, starry top layer of my dress parts in the front as I step toward my reflection. The black fabric underneath is buttery soft and thin, draping over my body like a dusting of smoke. My curls are pinned up loosely. Soft tendrils frame my face and cascade down my neck like they naturally fell away from the updo, though I watched the girls methodically select each and every curl. The makeup isn’t what I imagined. It’s subtle. There’s a faint shimmer to my skin. Glitter catches the light at the edges of my eyes.
Asha descends with a brush and a tiny container before I notice she’s opened her case again. She sweeps silver glitter along my collarbones and paints some shiny goop on my lips. “Voila. You are a work of art.”
“At least I’ll blend in,” I say to my reflection. “I almost look like one of you.”
Skye steps up beside me in the mirror and hugs my arm. “You look like you, Weslie.”
I’m still gawking at myself in the mirror when Asha opens the door to the hall and announces it’s time to leave, slipping on sheer, sparkling gloves as she struts out of the room.
“You ready for this?” Skye smiles.
“I don’t know. What the hell do you do at a Gala?”
She shrugs. “It’s just a party. You’ll do great.”
“Let’s move, ladies!” Asha calls from the hallway.
I follow a few steps behind Skye and Asha until we get to the top of the grand staircase, and I stop, heart racing. “I need a moment.”
Asha frowns and then squeezes my hand. “Okay, but if you aren’t down there in three minutes, I’m putting together a search party.” She runs down the stairs ahead of me, slowing at the bend. Running her hand along the banister, she lifts one arm high and juts out the opposite hip. Applause echo from below.
“There’s an audience?” My stomach jumps to my throat.
