After the tragic death of her parents, Valerie moves halfway across the country to attend an elite school. She takes a new identity to prevent herself from getting picked on at school. With makeup, she's seen as beautiful but without it, she feels u...
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07 : GAMES AND MISTAKES
first person. VALERIE
"TAP IT ON YOUR SKIN, YOUR MAKEUP IS MELTING." his words strike panic in my mind immediately. I pull out the compact mirror Ben gifted me, glancing at my reflection almost instantaneously just to realise my makeup looked flawless.
Zenith lied.
"So I was right, you are wearing makeup," he says, bending down an inch to study my face. "You're really good, it looks natural, what gave it away was that glitter on your face." he refers towards my cheekbones, he was talking about the highlighter.
I take a step back. "Why would you lie like that?"
"Why wouldn't I?" he takes a step forward. "I recognise you now. You used to run for track, right?" his words were laced with the bitter truth. It confused me how he recognised me, numerous people fail to distinguish who I really am.
He inches closer. "The same shoes you'd wear, the same large blue hair tie and," he gingerly places a section of my hair back. "Your heart-shaped birthmark on the side of your neck and how could I forget? Your name, Valerie." I gulp each time he spoke, it bewildered me how dangerously accurate he was.
"You've got the wrong person, I don't run for track and this birthmark you're talking about is probably eyeshadow," I lie smoothly, still confused how Zenith knows the littlest details about me.
I take a long-drawn sigh before speaking further. "Good for you, you know I wear makeup. Now what? Are you going to tell people how fake I am?"
"Do you want me to do that?" Zenith asks, his eyes browsing my appearance. "I don't understand why you think you're fake when you're just enhancing your features."
"You don't seem to understand, there's a reason why some people wear makeup. It makes them feel better and what you're saying is making me feel worse. If you're a good person, you wouldn't tell people about this." I whisper harshly, moving further away from him.
