The Big, Bad Badboy

Chapter 40 - War Paint

Poor Emma! Everyone around her is in a relationship.

Can you relate to this? Or are you happily in a relationship? (Lucky you!)

~D
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So, everybody I knew was in a relationship. I would lie and say it didn't bother me, but it did.

It wasn't because I was the lovey dovey romantic type, constantly daydreaming about the perfect relationship, because I sure as hell wasn't, but because couples stick to each other like glue.

Take Dee and Steve for example. They were always together and talking amongst themselves. The only time I could talk to Dee was during registration. Steve had even joined our daily walk back home after school. I had no problem with Steve, he was a great guy and everything, but I missed my friend. And now all of my other friends were in a relationship. I felt insecure, even though I know I shouldn't.

"Cat got ya tongue?"

Ruby was standing in front of me, her eyes studying my face curiously. I was sitting on my bed staring into space, so I'm not sure what exactly she was trying to deduce from that.

I shrugged.

"Did that Grey guy finally ask you out?"

I rolled my eyes. She was still going on about that.

"No. We are hanging out, but not like that..." I confessed, as Ruby's face morphed. Her eyes were wide and excited.

"Oooooohmygosh!"

Ruby honestly got way too carried away with the tiniest things. If she was going crazy about Grey and I going to the cinema, how would she react if I was getting married?

"Calm the hell down. It's literally just a movie." I stated, for what was quite possibly the millionth time since yesterday.

Ruby said nothing more, although I could tell she was holding back.

"So, what's bothering you?"

She had plopped herself down next to me, her arm slung around me as support.

"It's stupid..."

It was.

Ruby assured me I could tell her, no matter how ridiculous the issue was. And so, I told her.

"...so, now I'm worried that everyone will forget me. They're all so caught up in their own relationships."

Ruby squeezed my shoulder before offering her take on the situation.

"To be honest, they're still hanging out with you, so you're worrying about nothing. They're your friends, after all. And Emma, if you want to feel more included, just get a boyfriend. I'm sure Grey would be more than happy to oblige."

And we're back to that crap. I tried to ignore her last piece of advice and absorb the rest. They hadn't actually abandoned me yet so I suppose I should be grateful for that.

***

The weekend finally arrived and I was ready to watch the movie with Grey. That was until Dee emerged.

"Emma, you need to look gorgeous for this, ok?" She had a bag of stuff with her, and I was dreading what might be inside.

I watched Dee unpack her bag, and out came many unnecessary items. First an eyeshadow palette, a tube of mascara, some lip gloss, three different shades of lipstick, thin black eyeliner, five different colours of nail varnish and last but not least, some foundation.

"No, no, no and no!" I turned my head at each product, shaking my head insistently. I refuse to wear anything except casual clothes and my innate beauty.

Dee shook her head at my response.

"No, Emma. You are going to sit there and let me doll you up! If you don't, there will be consequences." She threatened, leaning close to me with a menacing grin. Suddenly my room felt small, the walls closing in as I thought of all that Dee could blackmail me with. Oh crap.

Then my frown turned to a grin mirroring Dee's own. I had dirt on her too.

"Well, you can threaten me all you like but I have just as much dirt on you as you do on me."

Dee looked panicked for a split second. Then her panic morphed into an intrigued expression.

"Game on." She challenged, raising her eyebrows an inch.

My mind thought to the first thing I could.

"I'll tell Heidi that you find her stories boring." I fired out.

Dee didn't hesitate in throwing back something of her own.

"I'll tell Heidi that you bought earplugs so that you didn't have to hear her rapping at karaoke night."

It was really awful but I didn't have a choice.

"I'll tell Jeremy that you hate his glasses because they're too big."

"I'll tell Jeremy that you don't like the neon trainers he wore last week and that you lied through your teeth about finding them 'trendy'"

In my defence, I was trying to be a good friend. Who hasn't lied to a friend about that sort of thing before?

"I'll tell Steve that you deliberately pretended to be bad at Chemistry to get moved to his class."

Dee went red at this statement.

"H-how did you know?" She was all flustered, bless her.

"Oh c'mon, you used to get full marks. It didn't take a genius to realise that you were deliberately getting fifty percent every time."

"W-well, I will tell your mother about that time when we were 12 and you stole her high heels and accidentally broke them."

It was a phase. I got over it.

"Well I will tell your mother that it wasn't your cat that peed in the pot plant ten years ago."

Dee threw her arms in the air in frustration.

"I'm going tell to Ruby right now about why she really got stood up by her date two years ago. Do remind me, was it maybe because you liked him too?"

Dee turned on her heel, about to race into Ruby's room. I had never been more ashamed of anything than that incident. I should've stayed away from Ruby and Clark, but I couldn't. So I ended up texting Clark from Ruby's phone to cancel the date. They never talked again and thankfully, Ruby had never found out.

"WAIT!" I threw myself at her feet, diving headfirst at the ground and grabbing her ankles with my fingers.

"What the actual hell, Emma!?" Dee shrieked, shaking my fingers off her ankles. I forgot, she hates it when people touch her feet. I don't really understand it.

"I'll do it. I'll wear the frickin' beauty shit. Just don't tell Ruby about you-know-what." I mumbled hopelessly, collapsed on the floor.

"Come on, let's get you up." Dee was beaming as she leaned down and offered me her hand, pulling me up with great force.

And thus, I sat back down on my chair and allowed my face to be Dee's canvas.