Page 58 of Science Project

Your mother had the same thing …

“Your mother had the same thing,” he finished, just like I’d expected.

“No problem!” Lucianna said, swooping her finger down my nose. “We can smooth out the bump and make her look so much prettier.” She smiled at me. “You’ll look like an irresistible goddess, my dear.”

I pressed my lips together. Great.

Exactly what I don’t want to look like.

“How’s that sound, Nikki?” Dad murmured, as if he wanted me to complain.

“Great,” I said with another fake smile. “I would love that.”

Lucianna walked to the closet and pulled out another needle. I blew out a shaky breath and closed my eyes, thinking about taking that goddamn needle from her and slamming it into my eye and going blind so I didn’t have to see half the shit that Dad did to me.

“Don’t be scared.” Lucianna laughed. “It’ll just be a pinch.”

After a slight pinch below the bridge of my nose, Lucianna pulled the needle out of my face. She stabbed me with it a few more times, then held up a mirror in front of my face and beamed at Dad.

“How does it look?” she asked.

While Dad grunted in approval, I stared at a woman that I could barely recognize anymore. The innocent girl who used to cling to Hannah, giggle in her lap, and watch anime and cartoons early every morning … was gone.

Completely wiped away.

New hair. Lips overdone. Eyes dull.

Innocence faded.

Dead on the inside.

“Beautiful,” Dad said to Lucianna, slipping her some cash. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” I repeated to her, trying my best to sound grateful.

It wasn’t Lucianna’s fault. Dad had done this to me. If I didn’t have to be a dick, like I did in school, then I wasn’t going to. Maybe … just maybe … one of these days, Lucianna would see that I was here against my will.

Or maybe she already knew it but turned a blind eye because of Dad’s money.

“Come on, Nicole,” Dad said, shrugging on his jacket. “We need to stop at Henry’s house before heading home.” Dad flashed Lucianna his signature I’m such a great dad smile. “You’ve done wonderful yet again, Lucianna.”

After hopping off the bed, I ignored their flirting and grabbed my coat. I pulled it over my shoulders and slouched down into it, my lips and nose tingling. Then, I quietly followed Dad out of the building and to his car.

“How was your day?” Dad asked after he slipped into the car.

“Great.”

Most girls would’ve been ecstatic that their father had brought them out to the salon and spa so they could get whatever they liked. But I didn’t have a say. If I did, I wouldn’t look anything like this.

No blonde hair. No lip fillers. No Botox at eighteen. And, God, especially no bangs.

Before starting the car, he tucked some hair behind my ear and smiled softly at me. “I love your new hair, Nikki. You look just like your sister.”

He is sick. Absolutely sick. He probably thinks about her when he fucks me too.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out Hannah’s necklace that he had stolen from me weeks ago. He held it out for me to take, and I hesitated because I didn’t know if this was some kind of joke or not. Was he really giving this back to me?

“Here,” he said. “You’ve earned it.”

---