@carrythat says, “ i don't get it. ”
mumbled from pouty lips, shauna sulks as she sits at the edge of her bed, big doe eyes looking everywhere but at the girl in front of her. it felt like she was jackie's life-sized, fucked up doll or something. even so, she makes no effort to fight the other teen as more make-up is applied to pallid features.
“ i mean, it's not like i need to impress anyone. ” no one looks at me after all; they're all too busy looking at you. jackie's effortless beauty caught the eyes of everyone around them. where she was the sun, shauna was just a cloud in the sky. invisible. disregarded. for the first time in what feels like hours, shauna lets her gaze meet jackie's. it wasn't hard; they were eye to eye after all, the team captain leaned in close (maybe too close?) with a brush in hand. “ can we stop already? ”
what isn't there to get? they're going to a party where everyone and their grandma will be in attendance and jackie wanted to help her friend look insanely hot? is that so much?
jackie’s never seen shauna outside of a natural look—a palette of neutral tones with a brown eyeshadow, mascara, and a glossy pink lip—nor had jackie ever the chance to doll her, or anyone, up before for that matter. figured it to be an exciting pastime like how they'd make of girl’s night in movies and tv shows, so that’s where her intentions lie: some innocent fun! it's already fun getting ready together and walking in as a matching pair. it'll be fun—in fact, it is fun—when she gets to hang out with shauna. even more when she gets to do stuff to her.
red-polished hand delicately holds out a small pot of glitter white eyeshadow whilst her other hand’s index finger lightly pats down the center of shauna’s eyelid, blotting the adjacent sides with the powder — near the inner corner, over the middle, then the outer corner, back to the middle, and repeat.
“ because you never know who'll be looking... ” she speaks without hesitation, stressed and slow through a concentrated stare, reassuringly: “ and you will be turning heads, thanks to me… ”
other’s eyes flutter open when her finger pulls away, and already, immediately, refuses to meet the team captain’s gaze. the team captain does not give chase, rather is preoccupied: staring, darting back and forth between the girl's eyelids, comparing the lengths, the intensities of the pigmented bases and the abundant flourishes...
it’s a bold look she chose for shauna: a cool glittery lavender and white eyeshadow with a subtle pink blush and a glossy dark pink lip to top it all off. something experimental for jackie. she is entirely glad her friend was convinced to play model for her. not just to see her creation firsthand on someone else's face—though shauna’s look isn’t to go alone tonight! jackie intends on a similar ensemble: working with a light blue eyeshadow and a bolder red lip instead—but as an activity they could do more of, together. something jackie hopes shauna could crawl back to for more, to teach her, to allow her to experiment on and with. and so far, shauna is looking pretty damn good! all that’s left is the blush and lip.
she sets down the eyeshadow and grabs the rosy pink blush and complimentary brush, easily flicking open the container and rubbing the brush in to collect the color. tossing her hair aside, she goes back in, inching closer than necessary. her breath, light and hot, swirling between them through the small form of an 'o' on her lips.
what’s funny is: jackie didn't give it much thought, instinctively reaching and sitting close to her best friend. heart races. mind latches onto something: mint. she knows mint. it's the scent wafting in the space between them; the aftertaste of her tootpaste lingering in the roof of her mouth; it's the ( only ) aroma digging into her nostrils, so poignant, that she knows shauna will bear the brunt of the force. then it’s suddenly fingertips, realizing the curvature of the plastic thick handle of the blush brush hovering over shauna's cheeks—the matte-ful of makeup caked on her face, her doing, that makes her already soft features, look more soft. it’s tracing the almond shape of shauna’s eyes, following the lash lines to the lashes, themselves, long and beautiful, and to the, just barely noticeable, unevenness of her lids. something that cannot be altered or covered like acne or blemishes or scars, but accomodated—left side of her eye, where the crease goes a little deeper, allows the skin below her eyebrow to sink over the shadow, which jackie accounted for, applying the glitter and lavender above the creases, to enhance the flare, the beauty... jackie swallows.
mid-air, brush adjusts as a hesitant hand, carrying the cutesy blush palette, anchors and cradles itself along shauna’s jaw. awkwardly, her spare fingers caress her cheek, gauging the cheekbone, nudging shauna to turn her head before releasing her grip. brush hairs just about touch her cheek when—
the bark comes and jackie can only think about the irony which shauna puts herself into, willingly. can we stop already? already, she says with an ire jackie is hardly familiar with ( although known shauna to have an attitude, it shocks her, nonetheless, when it bubbles to the surface–always in the form of snaps and small bites ) yet she remains unphased: simple scoff, single twitch of her brow, and a scrunch of her nose. she fends with a measely, “ you agreed to it, ” as she moves an arm’s length away from her face.
glares are traded in the momentary silence, when jackie reassesses the situation—so much for the fun—and rolls her eyes.
“ fine. whatever. keep to a simple eyeshadow. ” peeved, she fully steps away from the bed, making her way toward the desk, setting down the colored-brush next to the blush palette. “ makeup wipe is here to rub off the bit of blush. ”
index finger and thumb daintly outstretched, as if picking up snot-infested tissue, cleans off the remaining eyeshadow dust on a wipe. standing in front of the mirror, jackie reaches for the palette and repeats the process on herself, done so half-heartedly—dabbing her finger into the light blue powdered rectangle and dragging it along the lid of one closed eye.
she looks down to collect another sample to complete her other lid before looking up, through the mirror, at shauna. she'll come around... she sighs.