Page 65 of Cruel Dominion

Letting my relief chip away at my disappointment, I dipped my head and nodded against her cheek, sighing. “I’ll drive you home, then,” I vowed. “In a little while.”

17

ANNA

Why was I curling my hair? The wind was just going to mess it up anyway. I freed the freshly spiraled lock of hair from the curler’s clamp, then surveyed my progress in the mirror. About three-fifths of my head was done already, might as well keep going.

It was so dark, he wouldn’t even notice.

Whatever, I wanted to look nice. It was a special occasion.

I sandwiched another lock of my hair between the heated prongs. I stared at my reflection, zeroing in on the spot where my nose met my cheek. I missed a spot. I put down the curler and looked through the mess of bottles, tubes, pencils, and pots on my vanity, knocking over the foundation I was looking for. The cylindrical bottle fell and rolled off the edge of the surface, taking a lip gloss and eyeliner tube with it.

“Come on,” I sighed, sliding down to the ground and picking them up. Something caught on my curler, bringing it to the floor too, only before grazing my arm as it came down. I yelped, clambering back to my feet, knocking the vanity hard enough to knock down some more makeup. I snatched the curler off the ground where it landed way too close to the white plush carpet under my chair.

The red welt on my skin stung. I frowned, calling for Rosie. Moments later, she knocked, then poked her head into the door.

“Let me see.”

She turned off the curler before examining the damage. She tutted, telling me to wait. When she reappeared, she had the little first aid kit she kept in the kitchen. She led me to the bathroom and instructed me to hold my arm under cold water for a while.

She rifled through the kit for the Neosporin while I frowned at my reflection. The makeup was… fine. The hair was going to have to change. I looked at the water flowing over my scalded skin. All this just to have sex for the first time?

“Where are you headed tonight?” Rosie asked, coming over and turning the water off.

“Uh, nowhere. I was just trying out the curler.”

“Right before bed?” she asked, dabbing me dry with a hand towel. I shrugged, ignoring the heat in my cheeks.

“I wanted to see how it worked. It’s new.”

It wasn’t.

“The make-up too?” she asked.

“Umm.” I squeaked.

She motioned at my face.

“Are you trying out the makeup too?”

My face bloomed bright red. Why did I even try lying to her? I felt like I had to do it because I didn’t like to disappoint her but if she knew the truth anyway, what was the point?

“I… uh… I just haven’t washed it off yet. I wanted to head out to Summer’s house but I changed my mind so I’m just gonna wash it off before bed.”

“Hm,” she grunted, with a twinkle in her eye. She knew. She always knew. She never called me on it, but she always knew.

She put a thick coat of Neosporin on the burn and wrapped it loosely in gauze, telling me not to touch it. I thanked her and she left the room, allowing me to keep pretending that I wasn’t going to sneak out later to have sex with Carter.

I shuffled back to my vanity and slumped in the seat, wondering what now?

Was this an omen?

Abort mission.

The planets weren’t aligned.

It was a warning.

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