Serenity Falls

Chapter 55

This 3 day update confuses me so much, aha. Feel lucky that I actually remembered it was today :-) Anyway, here you go!

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"Are you done yet, Veronica?" Alyssa snapped, as her make-up artist brushed yet another coat of blush onto her cheeks, smudging it in with her forefinger.

She had been sat in the chair in the grand dining hall for close to an hour now, and she was getting bored - not to mention the fact that she was now ridiculously uncomfortable following sitting in the same position for all this time.

The dining hall had been transformed into something resembling a salon prior to the dance. Both Veronica’s and Alyssa’s personal hair stylist’s equipment were sprawled out on the dining table, covering almost the entire tabletop. Two dresses were hanging up inside protective covers on the walls, which would later go under Alyssa’s scrutiny to determine which one she would wear.

One of them was the purple dress she found in the boutique a few months back, the second was a custom-made designer dress she had had imported from Paris last week. It was a limited edition, costing over ten thousand dollars which her father had paid for (thankfully, right before he had found out about what happened at school).

"Almost," Veronica answered her, placing down the brush and pausing before picking up the mascara wand again.

"You’re not making me look overdone, are you?" Alyssa questioned. "I’m paying you enough, so you better make it look decent."

"Yes, Miss Taylor."

Just as she began to swipe the mascara wand over Alyssa’s long lashes, the noise of the doorbell rung through the house. Alyssa swiped Veronica’s hand away quickly and jumped from her seat, her freshly-curled blonde locks bouncing on her shoulders.

"That’ll be Kayla," she called.

She entered the entrance hallway and threw open the door, greeting Kayla as her friend stepped inside her house. When she had broken apart from their quick hug, she stepped back to scrutinize her friend’s dress.

"Not bad..." she said, nodding appreciatively at the short pink figure-hugging dress that Kayla was wearing. It was a good decision – flattering, pretty and yet at the same time not so extravagant that it would outshine Alyssa herself. That was the most important factor.

The dress was a deep pink, separated into two parts by a dark rose belt. The bodice was completely covered in glitter, which glinted each time it caught the light of the chandelier above their heads, with a dainty sweetheart neckline. The skirt graduated into a lighter shade of pink and finished above the knee.

Overall it was good, but not even close in comparison to Alyssa’s dresses.

"Alyssa? I need to finish your make-up."

Rolling her eyes, Alyssa called back in response. "Okay, Veronica." As she walked across the hall, she muttered to Kayla, "I don’t even know why I hire that woman."

As it turned out, Alyssa’s make-up was almost finished and only took around five minutes to complete. When Veronica had finished, she snatched a mirror from the table, peering at her reflection closely. Unexpectedly, Veronica had done a good job and Alyssa found herself satisfied with the end result.

"Kayla!" Alyssa snapped, causing her friend to spin round quickly. "Get over here and let Veronica touch you up. You’re looking a bit pasty."

Kayla nodded, trotting over to the seat which Alyssa had just vacated. Immediately, the make-up artist picked up a brush and began sweeping it lightly over her face, gradually adding a darker tint.