Unmasking the Nightmare

Chapter Four: Bad Puns and a Deodorant Dilemma

When most people are waking up in the mornings, it is often their parents or their alarm that wakes them up. Perhaps a pet or their siblings. But for me, waking up to the shouting of an overenthusiastic friend holding up a pallet of makeups and a basket of hair accessories is the worst thing to wake up to.

I took one look at her through bleary eyes, flipped my phone over to glare at the time, and said,
"You better be joking, Sab."

"Guess you're not a morning person." She shrugged nonchalantly. "You learn something new every day."

"If getting awaken at 5:47 by your friend holding up instruments of torture, then no, I'm not a moming person." I flipped over on my side, my back facing her. "Come back in a few hours."

"These aren't instruments of torture! They're simply instruments to beautify you. And nice try, but we're already on a time crunch. The ceremony starts at 8:00 and we barely have enough time to curl your hair, find you a decent outfit, and deceive the others into thinking you actually care about your appearance."

Light flooded my face as Sabina flipped on the light switch and someone was tugging on my arms with enough force to rip out my arm sockets. "Up, up, up!"

I hissed and brought a hand up to shield my eyes and wriggled away fiom Sabina's grasp. "Fine, I'm getting up!" I groaned and sat up, my head banging against the ceiling. "On one condition: not too much makeup and don't curl my hair. Last time you did that, you almost fried my hair off."

"The key word is almost, Nicole. And my cosmetology skills have tripled since that incident."
Sabina's lips twitched slightly. "Put a little faith in your bestie."

"Oh, I have faith in you." I crawled down my ladder sluggishly. "Faith that you will fry my hair, stab my eyeballs with the mascara wand, and make me wear high heels that will leave me unable to walk without a cane."

That earned me a smack in the head from the indignant Sabina. "Just you wait, when I'm
finished with you, you're gonna be just as radiant as your mother."

I sighed in exasperation, rolling my eyes. "It's way too early in the morning for terrible puns."

Sabina winked. "It's never too early for puns."

☆

It took Sabina an hour and forty-nine minutes to beautify me, as she liked to call it. About fifty percent of that time was used up on brushing through my thick, tangled hair which was greasy because I was previously planning on showering before the ceremony. That plan went out the window with Sabina's unannounced arrival, so I had to opt out for using dry shampoo instead.

When Sabina finally sat back on her heels, nodding in approval at her handiwork as she flashed her mirror up so I could see my reflection, I immediately wished I had never agreed to allow her to fix me up. Of course she hadn't listened to any of my requests.

She had applied pounds of makeup to my face that made my dry skin itch and I was tempted to run to the bathroom and wash it off. My long, dirty-blonde hair had been curled down my back, sprayed with some solution that would help bring out my natural highlights according to Sabina. She had snapped a glittery headband across my scalp and the glitter sprinkled down to my face, making me sneeze.

She had been horrified that the only dresses I owned were worn denim and had ransacked my dresser and closet, finally finding an outfit that would satisfy her. Much to my chagrin, pajamas wouldn't be a welcome attire for the ceremony so instead I wore a pair of dark skinny jeans, a crimson lace top, and a snug, brown leather jacket that was left unzipped.

I had begged her to let me wear boots rather than high heels, and she had met me partway, selecting a pair of tall, brown leather boots with a wedged heel.