"Ordinarily, I would never go to one of these places," Ava began as she drove us away from the house Friday night. I was so excited and happy that I could barely breathe, much less talk. I could see she wanted me just to shut up and listen anyway.
First, I was up and out later than I had ever been. We didn't get started until nearly ten. Second, she made surprising changes to my hair and my makeup. From eight to ten, she oversaw my dressing and preparations. At the start, I thought my curly hair bothered her as much as it did me, but she showed me how to get it more fluffy so that it had what she called "the bedroom look." After that, she taught me how to do my eyes and, for the first time, let me wear some glitter. I thought we'd never get off the choice of lipstick. She had brought in a good part of her makeup kit. She didn't want me wearing anything she was wearing, however.
"We want to stress differences between us," she said, "not similarities."
"Why?"
