Page 83 of Some Kind of Forever
“That’s okay. Neither am I. We can practice together.”
She hops off the sofa, and I show her back to the bathroom, pulling out my limited collection of eye shadow, lipstick, andblush. Looking at her wide-eyed reflection in the mirror makes me chuckle as she reaches for pink lipstick and an eyeshadow brush.
We take turns being used as a canvas, with me adding warm, neutral colors to her eyes and cheeks and her using the brightest neons on mine. On the count of three, we turn toward the mirror to see our masterpieces.
She gasps as she moves her face closer, touching her cheeks gingerly with the tips of her fingers. “I look so pretty!” Her incredulous voice breaks my heart a little bit.
“That’s because youarepretty Artemis, makeup or not. And anyone who says otherwise is just a hater.”
“Maggie’s a hater then…” Her voice is low, and while I don’t disagree, I feel like this is something I should investigate further.
“What do you mean? Did she say you weren’t pretty?” I already know the answer to this. I’ve heard some of the out-of-pocket things Maggie has said to Artemis, and I just know she’s said something horrible here too.
“She said I looked like a clown with makeup, that I’d be prettier if I stayed out of the sun.”
My mouth drops as I stifle every single cuss word in my throat, regretting each time I turned down Ashlie’s offer to tag team the ballerina bitch and her friends. How anyone can look at this sweet girl and say such nasty things is beyond me. I kneel on the fuzzy bathroom rug and look my little sister in the eye.
“Maggie’s wrong. If she ever says something like that to you again, you call me and I’ll take care of it, okay? That’s what big sisters are for.”
Artie nods, and I wrap my arms around her shoulders, squeezing just as tight as she squeezes me. I don’t have a lot of practice, but I like doing this big sister thing. Artemis is adorable, and if I can help her keep her confidence, even a little bit, it will do wonders for the little girl living inside of me too.
Over my shoulder, Artie’s muffled voice says, “If I show you something, will you promise not to be madat me?”
I pull away from her to look at her face, where tears are welling in her eyes. “Of course. Why would I be mad at you?”
“Because I didn’t show this to you before…” She takes her phone out of her pocket, sniffling while she scrolls to a saved video. “Everyone always tells me to mind my business… I didn’t tell her you were my sister, I swear. But sisters arealwaysyour business, and she wasn’t saying nice things about you.”
“Artemis, who are you talking about? What?—”
She presses play, and I recognize the back patio of The Bluffs. I can’t see faces, and half of the video is covered, but that blue deck is as undeniable as the voices that come through the speaker.
Maggie: I’ve decided, girls. I’m going to kiss Chase at the event in San Francisco and finally make him see that we belong together. Artemis, you can’t tell this to anyone, okay? Cousin secret.
Tamryn: It’s about time! If he won’t make the first move, you have to take matters into your own hands.
Camryn: What about the waitress?
Maggie: What about her? She’s just a bitchy obstacle in my way. You two can distract her while I take care of Chase.
Artemis: I like her… She’s nice.
Maggie: Girls like her are trouble, Artemis. You really shouldn’t use her as a role model.
Artemis: Why not? She’s nicer than you are. That’s why Chase likes her instead of you.
Maggie: Mind your business, you little brat! The only reason I let you hang out with me is because your mom asked me to take you under my wing. Don’t push me.
The video cuts off, and I trace the patterned floor of my bathroom with my eyes as I sit back on my heels, trying to make sense of everything I just heard. My heart pounds, almost as quickly as the thoughts racing in my head. Chase’s highly unbelievable story was the truth? Maggie planned the whole thing. What I saw at the fountain was orchestrated to do exactly what it did—break us up. My thoughts swirl as wetness drips on my arm. I look up to see Artie’s eyes full of tears as she clutches her phone. “When did you take this?” I ask.
“The day we made the goop.” Her breathing stutters, and she erupts into tears as she rambles, “I kept forgetting to show you, and then I was going to show you after you got back from San Francisco, I swear. But then you stopped coming over because you were mad at Chase, and I didn’t want you to be mad at me too.”
“I… Come here, Artemis,” I pull her down to sit on the floor before throwing my arms around her neck. “This is not your fault, and I’m not mad at you. We’re sisters now, which means you’re stuck with me no matter what.”
She hugs me back, and eventually, her sobs quiet down to sniffles and whimpers. I grab wipes from the vanity and free her face of the makeup running down her cheeks. Reaching for another, I clean off my own, letting the coolness of the cloth slow the pounding in my chest.
“Why were you recording Maggie and her friends anyway?”
“I want to be a spy when I grow up.” She shrugs and holds up her phone, scrolling through the videos and pictures she’s taken over the summer. Some are dark and grainy, some clear and in full sunshine, but all of them are taken from far away with some kind of obstruction.
