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@e-n-leonard

Ophelia

Jade stared at me as though I’d offered her a snake.

“What is it?” she asked, suspiciously.

Didn’t she know? Didn’t they have lipstick in her world? It sounded awfully sad. I wasn’t sure I’d want to live in a world without it.

“It’s lipstick,” I said, more gently than usual. “It’s pretty, I’ll show you.” I reapplied it, just to demonstrate.

I offered it to Jade, who gingerly took it, examining it as though she still wasn’t sure about it.

Jade tried it out, carefully, as though she wasn’t sure what she was doing but was trying really hard not to show it.

It was crooked, just like it had been with my first few times.

I gestured for her how to fix it, which Jade did, looking as though she wasn’t sure whether to get mad at me for correcting her.

Jade shoved the lipstick back at me. Had I done something wrong? I had been trying to share something with her, but perhaps it had made her mad.

“It’s easier with a mirror when you’re starting,” I suggested, cheerily. “It looks nice!”

It did. The bright color stood out without being overwhelming.

‘Thanks–” Jade said, dubiously.

Isaias commented on something, but my mind had already moved on to what to do next.

I tiptoed onto the stage, shielded by a heavy red curtain. My slippers tapped on the vinyl, a sound I’d gotten so used to. I faced the curtain, staring at what would be faces beyond. I wasn’t ready, but I would never be.