I sigh wandering in the funnel of random thoughts as Jersey shoves my hand in the nail drying machine. I can't believe the week flew by so quickly and now I'm awkwardly swinging my feet under the counter stool in Venus' house with this goofy Ken smirk 'fashion mentor' pulling powers toward my poor nails on the opposite side of the table.
"Oh yes, that's what we need. Let's do this one now while those little dudes are chilling. By the way, do you know what this shape is called?" He flutters his eyelashes at me, referring to my nails and I shift on the stool uncomfortably, surrendering to the idea that Venus chose him as her assistant for today while I watch him rotating his neck until he hears it cracks and then continues adoring his work with a look of self-satisfaction.
"It is called stiletto." He says after I give a little shrug.
Okay, dear scientists. We need to put more effort into studying the phenomenon called 'Time slow down before the most important moments.'
I throw a glance at the window hanging open in Venus' room and my eyes get lost in the moment when night slowly consumes the orange horizon and sprinkles the first glitters onto the patches that already sank in the navy blue shades.
It's time to wrap up and go home soon. I need to finish all the homework in advance to spare myself the weekends.
"Venus?" I call out, intruding the dull silence we share with Jersey.
She, being a typical person affected by a chronic curiosity issue captures the pleading wave of my voice that reaches her in the closet room and responds with a loud thud as she probably threw something heavy out. That something might be a ton of the clothes that Venus still rummages in with a mission to find the dress she somehow managed to lose a day before the Award event.
I sign, partly disappointed because I'm still not confident in what I'll wear tomorrow.
Venus acts like she has no clue what is going on in her house and why some things disappear here without a trace but I assume that maybe it's because of the Bermuda Triangle that by some mysterious reason formed in the middle of that huge pile.
But maybe she just should declutter all the stuff and do something to tame her hoarder syndrome.
"Yes? Are you done already?" Venus resonates with interrogation.
"That's exactly what I wanted to ask," I reply with a shout back but as I avert my attention to rub my eye she in a split of a second 'teleports' to us in a big jump of excitement.
"See what I've found!" Venus reports, holding a long white gown in her hands like a treasure she has just dug out from a diamond mine.
"Forget about that dress. I want this." I put a hand over my mouth, slightly brushing my lips as I let my revelation to be known.
Her lips tug in a proundful smirk when she notices my jaw drop down and my eyes glow with astonishment as they shift to check the abundance of star beads sparkling all over the flimsy fabric.
Jersey sticks his head up to the commotion and gasps in utter amazement. "Woah! Even I would wear this."
"It's really beautiful. But it looks like a wedding dress." I assume, a note of doubt pinching through my voice.
"It's not a wedding dress. It must be Georgia's dress. She didn't even wear it often." Venus explains, blowing out the air from her puffed cheeks as she joins us in scrutinizing her sister's dress with the eagle eye from all sides to check if it's neat and has no holes or dirty spots to it.
"She will kill me for taking her dress." I grit my teeth together, doubting that it's the right decision to sneak Georgia's dress behind her back. But when I look at it-- that's when I know this is the most gorgeous dress my eyes have ever had a chance to fall on and maybe it is not that bad to borrow it for just one night.
"Oh, Melanie! Come on. She has already moved away with her husband and hopefully will not come back soon. I think she doesn't even remember about this dress. Plus, what sense for it to lay in the corner until it grinds into the stardust?"
Venus reassures enthusiastically for a few minutes as I scrape the back of my neck, still contemplating. When she hears no response from me, she clutches hands on her waist, pushing one leg to dangle ahead in a challenging position.
I turn my gaze to Jersey and see him shake his head in a couple of quick nods which is the last point to make me agree.
"Okay, I'll wear it." I release the tension from my shoulders.
"Good, queen. I knew you would make the right choice." Venus sends a playful wink my side and puts the dress on the hanger.
"Manicure is ready!" Jersey exclaims after some time, finally letting my hands move freely anywhere I want.
Thank Goodness. It's been four hours.
I flash him a grateful smile for taking responsibility for my nails that haven't been professionally touched before and stand up to grab my little belt bag.
"I have to go home now," I state.
"Already?" A squeak erupts Venus' mouth when she grants me a questioning look, motioning her arm to the door. "I've just ordered pizza five minutes ago. I thought we are arranging a Friday sleepover?"
A sleepover? With Jersey? I shout inwardly in my thoughts as I tap my fingertip over my temple. I need to process this information by little bits before my brain breaks down from such a load.
"Please?" Her hands automatically draw toward each other to connect in an angelic pleading gesture as she stares at me. "My parents are not home anyway and you know they don't really allow me to arrange sleepovers."
I crack my knuckles in contemplating silence as I only start to get used to my long nails.
"Oh, Melanie! Look what else I've got here." Venus changes the topic, hoping for the raising problem to settle down by itself with time while she diverts my attention by twirling a pink notebook with a Disney princess cover in her hands.
"What is this?" Jersey lets out a snorty laugh as he is packing his belongings.
"I have a very serious declare to make." Venus hauls a chair to the center, choking her laugh down but it doesn't want to go away and returns up her face in a form of red blush.
I squint my eyes in slight curiosity while she runs her fingers through the pages, standing tall on the chair as she makes the introductory phrase of her speech resonate throughout the walls we are stuck on her demand
If this what I'm thinking about, then I better run.
"Today I'm breaking up with Jeremy because he doesn't know how to kiss and smells like a dead fish. I threw his ring in the tra-"
Oh no... not this.
I jolt up from my spot, my mouth agape in shock. I extend my hands in try to grab Venus by her wicked throat but she luckily for her wiggles out of my rage. The room shudders in the chuckle that Jersey has no shame to supply. He doesn't even lift his ass to stop us when I'm chasing Venus all over the house with only one goal—take my notebook away before Venus announces more of my scandalous confessions.
Venus sucks in a preparational breath and leaps over the chair but I clutch my hands on her leg and we both stumble down and plummet down the floor. She can't stand steady on her feet because of the laugh that bubbles up from her belly and pulls her down whenever she tries to lift herself from the intensifying hysteric so she just rolls away from me, holding onto the diary that belongs to me.
Seeing how hysteric weakens her muscles, I take a chance to tear the notebook to my side; a look of fury glistening my face.
"What it says? I threw his ring in the trash because my mom said it's not real gold. What the hell! Did I really write this?" I yell out in indignation to my own young self and understand I just read it out loud when I see Jersey throwing his head back with a pig snort that encourages Venus to laugh even more.
I wish I was this much confident now.
I rest beside her, out of breath, thinking how the heck my diary ended up in the hands of a crazy person who is unable to resist the sudden urges of embarrassing people.
"We exchanged our diaries in childhood, didn't we?" I muse, proding Venus with my leg when I finally remember our impish deal but she is unstoppable.
"Oh well. It means I have your diary too so don't worry." I boast, taking my mocking revenge on her for being inattentive.
She perks her head in confusion when she hears that and a pillow rockets to my side.
I doubt she has something provocative in her diary like I do. She was a kiss of an angel but I still needed to scare her out as for none of us really remembers what stunts we used to pull in that silly age.
At least, I should be grateful that my friend has the diary, not my parents.
"Oh shit." I gasp when I look at one of my nails that hangs crippled by the cruel life. "I broke my nail."
"Welcome to your seat again, lady." Jersey rolls his eyes but then chuckles, motioning his hand to the stool as I lower my head in shameful agony.
Beauty puts so much weight on the nerves.
"See! Destiny has decided everything for you. You are staying overnight." Venus grins when she pulls herself together on the feet and the ring sound chimes. "Yay. The pizza has arrived."
"It's more like you forced the destiny to make this decision." I scoff, giving in and she just shrugs before waltzing to the front door.
As Jersey mends my nail, I unlock my phone to type mom a message that I'm staying at Venus' home tonight. However, my joyful expression falters when the first thing I see on the notification bar is the word 'Dorian'. Turns out has sent me a message an hour ago but I didn't even notice.
"Is everything okay?" Jersey mumbles, spotting my anxiety rising up and my hand trembling.
"Yeah." I let out a heavy lump from my throat and tap my finger to open the message.