Page 31 of Eternal

He might have my secrets, but he doesn’t have me. He never will.

Declan Pierce won’t break me.

I’m going to break him.

“Someone’s extra quiet tonight.” Violet nudges my arm.

She’s propped on the bathroom counter next to Mila, who’s adding another layer of eyeshadow to her lid. I’m leaning on the edge of the tub, scrolling through my phone.

“I’m just thinking.” I close my text messages after reading Declan’s for the hundredth time.

“Well, stop thinking and get ready.” Mila rolls her eyes, flipping her brown hair behind one shoulder. “It’s one thing to be fashionably late. It’s another to show up when everyone’s already too wasted to notice or care.”

Mila tugs down the hem of her neon-pink tank top, showing off even more of her cleavage. The fabric is already practically oil with how it hugs her chest, but she manages to make it even more provocative.

If there’s one thing Mila has in spades, it’s confidence.

She smooths her hands down her hips, which are the perfect hourglass many girls dream of. The lighting in the bathroom draws out the hint of red in her hair, and her cheeks are rosy without having to apply anything.

I glance in the mirror and catch my own reflection. It’s not nearly as presentable, but the difference between me and Mila is that I don’t care what people think when they look at me.

“I am ready.” I lock my screen and lift off the bathtub.

“No.” Mila shakes her head.

Even Violet looks a little disappointed as she scans my outfit.

While Violet isn’t as perfectly polished as Mila, she’ll fit in without a problem at Sigma House. Her straight black hair is down and perfectly ironed. Her white T-shirt shows off a sliver of her stomach, and she’s borrowed one of Mila’s plaid skirts to go with it, giving her the schoolgirl vibe I’m sure Kole will appreciate.

“What’s wrong with my outfit?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

My paint-covered overalls do nothing for my figure, and my shirt is caked in a layer of more paint. But if I try at all, Declan will think it’s for him, and I can’t have that.

“If you refuse to acknowledge that this is an unacceptable outfit for the grocery store, much less a Sigma Sin party, then we’re no longer friends.” Mila crosses her arms over her chest. “Come on, Teal. Try for once. Because this isn’t it.”

I roll my eyes, not arguing because I know she’s right.

“Exactly.” Mila storms up to me and grabs my hand, dragging me into her bedroom.

Mila, Violet, Patience, and I all share a dorm. There’s one bathroom that sits between my and Mila’s room and another that is between Patience’s and Violet’s rooms.

It works out, seeing as Mila takes up two-thirds of our bathroom, and my side is bare.

“I’m not wearing one of your dresses.” I drop down onto Mila’s bed while she disappears into her closet.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t need that kind of attention.”

Especially from the one person who is probably sitting around concocting ways to torture me tonight.

Mila steps back out of the closet, holding a scrap of black fabric in front of her and glaring at me. “Taking pride in how you look isn’t always about getting attention from other people.”

She tosses the dress at me, and I catch it.

“Then what is it about?”

“Caring aboutyourself, Teal.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “I get that all you want to do is hide in your studio and paint, but it’s not good for you to be locked in a room alone twenty-four seven. Sometimes, you have to actually live your life. You have to be seen by the world. You have to exist.”

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