Marianne Elizabeth Hammer (top young adult novels TXT) 📖

that doesn’t mean that you can’t love him. It’s okay to love someone right away.”

“Yeah right!” Marianne shook up the bottle of foundation. “That would be totally creepy.”

“No, it would be totally natural. I’m in love all the time; there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Marianne put some foundation on a little wedge sponge and started to put it on Sally’s face. “Well, I guess I’m just not like you.”

“You are so deluded. You think we’re different, but we’re not. You’re in love with Patrick. I can see it in the way you act, in the way you’ve been talking about him all week. You’re just too scared to admit it.”

Yup. Marianne didn’t say anything.

“Am I wrong? You love him on the inside, right?”

“Close your eyes,” said Marianne. She put the foundation over Sally’s eyelids and then started with the brown eyeliner. “I don’t know. How do you know if you love somebody or not?”

“Well,” said Sally with her eyes closed. “You get this nauseated look on your face when your friend says she wants to kiss him.”

Marianne laughed, and Sally opened her eyes long enough to wink at her. Marianne dug her brush into the eye shadow and tapped the excess off on the side. “It doesn’t matter anyway,” said Marianne. “Even if I thought I loved him, it wouldn’t matter at this point in our relationship.”

“That’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever said.”

“How is that stupid? What? Do you want me to go tell him?”

“No. We all know you’d need a brain transplant before you’d ever tell a boy you loved him.”

“Exactly,” said Marianne.

“But if you admitted it to yourself, then you could start acting like it. That’s better than saying it, anyhow.”

“Yeah, well. I don’t need any help in that department. I already stare at him with goo-goo eyes and carry my cell phone around with me everywhere. I even put it on the sink when I take a shower.”

“You idiot,” said Sally. “That’s not what I’m talking about at all. I mean that you’ll start being more open, being more you.”

Marianne put blush on Sally’s cheeks. “Hmm. I guess I’m not in love after all. There is no way that’s going to happen.”

Sally pulled back to stare at Marianne with her mouth open. “You are one selfish witch.”

“I know!” Marianne nodded. “That’s part of what I’m trying to hide from him. Aren’t you listening?”

“You know,” Sally smiled sideways, “you’re not as jacked up as you think you are, Marianne.”

“Ha! That’s just proof of what a brilliant liar I am.” She shook her head and handed Sally the eyelash curler.

Sally leaned over to the mirror and did all the mascara stuff herself. “You love the man, and you hide your true self from him. Don’t you see a problem with that?”

“Not if I want him to love me back.” Ew. Too much honesty. Marianne wished she could take that comment back. She crawled over to the radio and hit play on Sally’s CD.

“He can’t love you if he doesn’t really know you,” said Sally. “It’ll be fake.”

Marianne crawled back to Sally. “Fake is better than nothing,” she mumbled toward the carpet.

Sally slammed the mascara tube back into Marianne’s hand. “I think we’d better stop talking about this before I punch you in the eye.”

Marianne smiled and shrugged. That was the best plan she’d ever heard. She finished putting on Sally’s lipstick and then flat ironed her hair into a little orange bob. Very cute. She rummaged through the closet for an outfit. Sally had tons of stuff, so it wasn’t hard to put something together. She picked out a pair of tight, dark jeans and a black camisole. She wrapped a thin ivory scarf around Sally’s neck and made her put on little black slippers. Unfortunately for Marianne’s self-confidence, Sally didn’t end up looking normal at all. She looked like she belonged on a magazine cover. “All done,” said Marianne, smiling. “You look so hot.”

Sally spun around in front of the mirror that hung on the inside of the closet. “Thanks, babe. I feel all fresh. A new creature—for one night, anyway.”

Marianne sat down on the bed to enjoy watching Sally’s good mood. “I wonder what everyone will say when we get there.”

Sally turned around in a flash. “Oh, honey. No one will be looking at me.” She pointed firmly at the makeup nook. “Your turn.”

“Fricker,” said Marianne under her breath. But she realized as she walked toward the gallows that she was actually a little excited. She’d always wanted to try out this look for herself but never had enough courage. Since Sally was forcing her to do it, she felt less nervous. If she looked like a dope, it would be Sally’s fault, not hers. There was no risk of feeling presumptuous this way; she had no choice.

Sally worked on her hair first. She attached a few thin white hairpieces onto her head and pinned up all of Marianne’s long hair in elaborate loops. She left her bangs down and cut a few more layers to hang down around her face. Sally even added a few turquoise feathers.

“I’m looking like a peacock,” said Marianne. “You know that right?”

“That’s the idea, dollface.” Sally grabbed Marianne by the chin and turned her away from the mirror. She found a new sponge and put too-pale foundation all over Marianne’s face. “It’s all about theatricality.”

“I thought Goth was all about truth.”

“This is truth,” said Sally, coming at Marianne with the black eyeliner. “You are a glorious, dark princess, and that’s exactly what you’ll look like when I’m through with you.”

“I can’t believe I’m going to go anywhere like this.” Marianne tried to hold perfectly still so she wouldn’t mess up Sally’s work. “See how nice I can be?”

Sally tapped her on the chin. “Okay, you can open your eyes, now. And yes, you’re very nice.” She sighed heavily. “I guess it’s my turn to start talking now, huh?”

“Only if you want,” said Marianne softly.

“I do, it’s just...” Sally paused and blinked a