She hesitated for a second, then walked over. I reached for my makeup bag while already scanning her face.
“Close your eyes. You’ve got good bone structure, so don’t fight it with overdrawn liner. Tilt up here, soften the edge. There. Now it looks like you actually meant to do it that way.”
Ella blinked at her reflection and visibly relaxed. “You’re kind of amazing.”
“I know,” I said easily. “Now scoot. I need mirror time.”
She grinned. “I’m letting you pick my outfit next.”
I rolled my eyes but didn’t argue. As I brushed out my hair with practiced ease, I realized how nice it felt to care about someone else’s eyeliner crisis. To help. To show up.
It was something I used to do all the time in the sorority — lining lips, adjusting straps, talking girls off the ledge over bad brows or worse boys. I hadn’t realized how much I missed it.
Not the noise or the drama, but the ritual of it. The comfort. The connection.
Even though I still hated parties. And definitely people.
But maybe notallof them.
***
“Why are we running?”
Ella bounced down the stairs of our apartment complex while I trailed behind. I was wearing cute little platform sandals, and I wasn’t going to roll my ankle on those damn stairs.
“We’re not running, but our ride is almost here.”
“Ride? You didn’t say we’d need a ride. Aren’t we staying on campus?”
“Nope, we’re not.” She grinned mischievously at me over her shoulder , as she pushed the door open.
Suspicion began to form in my chest, a strange, anxious feeling, like a ball of pure energy with nowhere to escape. My steps slowed as I squinted at her, the orange glow of the setting sun illuminating her silhouette and casting a shadow over her face.
“Where exactly are we going?”
“Hunter’s house.” Her tone heavily implied that I should know who Hunter was.
“Who?”
“You know, Colt’s best friend.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Who?”
“Colt, Hailey’s boyfriend.” I opened my mouth, but before I could get a word out, she held up her finger. “Don’t you darewhome again. You’re not an owl. Hailey, my old roommate — Colt is her boyfriend, whom you’ve met, might I add. We’re going to his best friend’s house.Hunter. I’m sure you’ve seen him around.”
“Can’t say I have.”
“Huh. Maybe it’s just me then. I feel like he’s everywhere.” She actually glanced over her shoulder, as though expecting him to materialize out of thin air.
Yeah, right.I snorted and squeezed past her outside, breathing in the thick, humid air.“It’s called the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon.”
“What?” Ella looked at me puzzled, her nose slightly scrunched.
“Also known as the frequency illusion. It’s a cognitive bias. Makes you think you see something, or should I saysomeone, more often when it’s really just because you’re paying more attention to it … orthem.” I tilted my head to the side, my lips pursed in amusement. “In other words, is there anythingyoumight want to talk about?”
An obnoxiously loud truck rumbled down the street behind me, and the urge to roll my eyes was strong. I suppressed it, just, mainly because I didn’t want to let Ella off the hook too easily.
She blushed, slinking past me. “Would you look at that? Our ride is here!”
