FISH OUT OF WATER

5. Let It Go!-1

Chapter 5

Let It Go!

“Sit still! This cat-eye isn’t going to look very catlike if you keep wiggling,” Sierra says, eyeliner posed in hand, ready to strike.

“Where did you learn how to do this?” I ask.

“YouTube. I learn everything on YouTube.”

“I learned how to make my famous fudge from YouTube!” Lily yells from the bathroom, flatiron in hand. Sierra’s room smells like a mix of heat-protection spray, perfume, and her latest scented candle. It’s quite the contrast from my room that chronically smells like a swimming pool.

“I thought her secret fudge recipe was from her grandma or something,” I ask. Sierra gives me a stern look. I’m wiggling again. “Sorry.”

“Who cares where the recipe is from as long as she keeps making it for us,” she says, pausing for a high five. Sierra then resumes running the eyeliner along my closed lid. She leans back to admire her handiwork. “You have the most gorgeous eyes, Mar.”

Lily’s newly ironed blond hair shines like its lit from within. “Use the blue eye shadow on her. It matches her eyes so well.” She moves to her bed and digs through my bag to see what I’ve brought. My fashion choices are somewhat limited because I spend so much time in a swimsuit.

“Okay, none of this is going to work.” Lily rests a hand on her popped-out hip.

“I haven’t gone back-to-school shopping yet,” I say. I had a growth spurt last spring that carried on through summer, adding three inches to my height, so my current wardrobe choices are the total opposite of fashion. It’s just easier to live in my Adidas track pants for school and my favorite sweats every other time.

“Marina, it’s almost November! When do you think’s a good time to go back-to-school shopping?” Sierra says, laughing. “You could just wait until Christmas and let Santa bring you a new wardrobe.”

“Oh, man, no. Santa will only buy me shirts that button up to my neck and pants that are three sizes too big so no one can see I have a figure under all that denim.”

“It is so weird that your former-rock-star dad is so old-fashioned,” Lily says. She’s not wrong. It’s because he knows all the trouble I could be getting into if I wanted—trouble he got into as a teenager and young adult.

“I have the perfect thing.” Lily empties her backpack onto Sierra’s bed, pulling free a soft, lavender T-shirt with a screen-printed white rose on the front.

“Lil, no. This is your favorite shirt.”

“It’s perfect for you. This is definitely your color.”

I slide off my ratty tank top and pull on the shirt, the cotton so soft and the rose just the right amount of faded. Sierra grabs my upper arms and steers me in front of her full-length mirror, stepping around me as I’m now the tallest amongst my friends, thanks to that aforementioned growth spurt. She fluffs my wavy hair around my shoulders.

“Gorgeous. I am very good at my job,” Sierra says, winking. “Now get out of the bathroom, Lily! It’s MY turn!”