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Rhylie slumped against the door frame, her foot against the wood and her slender arms folded.
My shoulders dropped and dragged my mood down with them.
“Please…? It’s not going to cost us anything.”
She rolled her eyes, tears clouding them. She couldn’t understand why I wanted to live, really live, in the moment, singing along to my favorite songs.
“For you,” she finally said, stepping into the room. “But you can be the one to try to make me look beautiful. I’m in no fit mood. But I promise I’ll try to have a good time.”
Rhylie sat on the closed toilet seat, her eyes shut and her trust in my hands as she let me decide what to apply to her face. She fidgeted with her pajama shorts, adjusting them so the cold seat didn’t touch her tanned skin.
I tightened the towel around my body and bent before her, my fingertips angling her beautiful face into the false light that wasn’t bright enough to see her natural peaks and shadows.
I pulled an eyebrow brush from the bag balancing on the basin, and went to work, fluffing her naturally thick brows.
“Born beautiful,” I whispered, our eyes meeting. “I love you even more than Remington Cole. And that’s a lot. You’re the best sister in the world.”
Rhylie humored me. Her laugh became music to my ears, and no matter what I heard tonight, it would remain my favorite song.
“I doubt you love me that much.”
“Well, it’s close!” I nudged her and hopped on excitement back to the makeup bag.
It took me less than ten minutes to glam up Rhylie’s face. She didn’t need the help from minerals and liquids. She was perfection embodied—a real-life doll without the plastic parts.
I wasn’t jealous, but more so tonight than always, I hoped my inner light would shine bright enough not to fade into her shadow.
“Come on, my sweet sister. I bet the queue to get in is already miles long.” Rhylie’s perfect teeth flashed, a quick smile, falling from her face only when she turned away, and it brought one back to mine.
We walked to the venue, arm in arm. The money we hadn’t wasted on an Uber was spent on pre-loved dresses earlier today.
The queue was long, and Rhylie insisted on waiting our turn, even as I dragged her to the front. “I don’t think we should cheat the line!”
I ignored her.
“Hi!” My excitement popped through my mouth. I tried to look around the guy at the door and see inside as it opened and closed to let in other guests. His black suit blocked my view, his dark glasses looked down on me, and his big hand, housing many gold rings, kept the guestlist close to his chest.
“We’re meeting Daniel here.”
“Name?” the man asked, with an unfamiliar accent.
“Catharina and Rhylie Sutter.”
The door opened again, and Daniel popped out in a fancy blue suit that highlighted the pretty blue of his eyes, just as the doorman found us on the list.
“Daniel!”
“Catharina, it’s about time. I’ve been checking back and forth for you. Come on.” He shared a sharp look with the doorman and said, “They’re with me.”
Daniel—and his perfect suit—guided us inside. With my hand in his, he rushed me and Rhylie, whom I pulled along, through the building crowd of people, to where we’d watch the show.
The stage was being set. A piano stood center stage, awaiting the guy who’d open the show.
Long strides took us onto the stage, separated from where Remington and his band would play by only a bar. A bar that would have to hold me up for the entire night, as my legs were already wobbling like jello.
“This good for you?” Daniel asked.
“On stage!” I couldn’t believe my luck.
