Page 38 of Eye of the Beholder
“No,” I say, looking back to her.
“Then are you going to throw them away?”
I sigh, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees. “I keep meaning to. I just…haven’t.”
She pauses, and even from here I can tell she looks nervous. I think she’s steeling herself to say something, so I wait.
“Do you think maybe part of you wants to read them, and that’s why you haven’t thrown them away yet?” she says.
That hits a bit closer than I particularly want to look at. I frown. “I thought we were talking about Jack,” I say.
She pauses for a beat and then says, “We can talk about Jack.” She sits until all I can see of her is her head and her hair. Not a bad view, really.
Stop it, I tell myself.
“Or we can talk about something else,” I say.
“Or we can hang up and go to bed and remember to close our blinds in the future.”
I shrug, grinning at her. “The view isn’t terrible.”
Her eyes widen, and there’s a silence. I imagine her face turning red. “Are you flirting with me?” she says, her voice squeaking.
“What? No,” I say, but even to myself I don’t sound convincing. I shift uncomfortably.
“You are,” she says, jabbing her finger at me. “You’re flirting with me. There’s this sort of smile you do, like a smirk. Stop it!”
I groan and bury my face in one hand. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to. This whole thing has just thrown me off, and…you know. You look good. My instinct is to flirt with you.”
“Well, it’s weird,” she says, but she smiles.
I can’t help a smile, too. “You’re really proud of yourself, aren’t you?” I say.
“Sort of,” she says. “Although it’s really Lydia’s doing. But…I feel pretty. And Lydia was right. That sort of makes me feel a bit more confident.”
“You should feel confident. Flirtation aside, you look nice,” I say.
“Thanks,” she says, her voice soft. “Now go to bed, Cohen.”
I just smile at her and hang up.
Then I go to my desk, take a deep breath, and grab the letters from my dad.
***
I don’t know how Mina is feeling when Monday rolls around, but I find that I’m nervous on her behalf. I can only think that Virginia is going to be rude about it, assuming Mina put her makeover to good use and wore clothes that fit and whatnot.
I don’t even see her until lunch, where I notice that she’s sitting not by herself in the corner but with Lydia. She looks a bit uncomfortable—her smile is a kind of forced, and her voice is probably squeaky—but she doesn’t look like she wants to die or anything. She’s even talking to people, and I’m proud of her.
I had wondered how Mina would do when she was doing her own makeup and hair, but I shouldn’t have worried. She maybe looks a little less fancy than she did on Saturday, but it’s a barely recognizable difference, and she still looks great. Her hair is down, and there’s no baggy clothing in sight.
And people notice.
Part of it is probably that she’s sitting with Lydia, who’s well-liked by pretty much everyone. Lydia and I aren’t part of the same “group,” per se, but our groups intermingle a lot.
I look down my lunch table to where Virginia is seated next to Marie, and I strain my ears to hear what they’re saying. If anyone is talking about Mina, it will be them.
“Ridiculous,” Virginia is saying, her voice particularly snooty.
