Paint On, Paint Off pv Willow Anderson closed

Date: May 24 2022

Dialogue: ✕ | Thoughts: ✕ | Quotes: ✕
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Creaking the door open ever so slightly, holding her ear for any signs of life beyond the door frame. Not a murmur was heard, nor were there foot prints, or rushing of water from the tap. Not even the slight shifting of weight on the toilet seat. All seemed scarce.
Pushing further into the room, the door creaking with every inch of pressure Monica added, and yet nothing stirred the inner peace and quiet that loomed in the girls lavatory.
Fully now within the borders of the washroom, she let the door fall shut behind her.
She lingered for a moment, insuring she was in fact alone in this space.
So far so good.

She entered into the space, carrying with her, a brown leather looking satchel under her arm. It's edges were battered, and had flakes pealing off of it. With stray thread falling out, and faded colouring on its sides. It looked like it had lived many lives, held my millions of owners prior to her, but in reality there was only one that owned this bag. It was given to Monica by her older sister, Victoria, when leaving for Hogwarts... a parting gift, so to speak.
'A right of passage', as Victoria had described it. A tradition that was started just between the two of them, and unfortunately, due to the fact Monica had no other sisters to continue this 'tradition', it seemed that it would start and end with her.

Coming to the mirror, she set the bag on the counter top, gazing at her reflection in the mirror. It wasn't that Monica was vain, nor did she think she was ugly, but she had gotten to the point where curiosity was getting the better of her. All the adults in her life wore make-up, and rarely did Monica every see Victoria, or her mother, leaving the house without a good application. What was all the hype about?
She had collected many photos from some of her favourite celebrities, as a reference/inspiration of how she wanted to leave the lavatory. Taking some tape, she stuck a photo of Alissa White-Gluz, one of her favourite artist, on the mirror surface, just next to her face for the best comparison.

Unzipping the back, make-up products practically spilled out. Eye-liner, mascara, lipstick, blush, eyeshadow, primer, foundation, sponges, brushes, and more that Monica couldn't even identify, falling all over the counter, and tumbling to the floor. Taking time to grab everything, in hopes that it didn't damage or break any of the make-up, but to be honest, how would she really know what 'damaged make-up' looked like.

She laid out all the products she had in front of her. Meticulously sorting it, to the best of her memory, in order of use.
She had only ever watched her sister apply make-up, and Victoria made it look so easy! But when it came to using the stuff herself, Monica was at a loss. She knew some simple facts, lip stick was for lips, Mascara was for the eye lashes, eye-shadow... seemed obvious... but when it came to everything else...
No clue! Let alone how to apply any of it on her face!

Taking a breath as she eyed the tormenting products before her, "Alright, no big deal, just do something simple, like put on mascara."
Simple, it was not.
She took up the lash paint, and twisted off the cap, pulling out the brush that rested just inside. She leaned in close to the mirror, and with every breath, a small section of fog overtook the clear reflection of the mirror, thankfully it didn't impede on her view with her eyes.
Raising the brush closer to her eye, she could no longer see past it, having to switch focus on her reflection with her other eye. Just as she began to make contact with her eye-lash, she blinked... pulling back, and taking a moment to breath. It was much more frightening than she had anticipated.
She took her idol hand, and held open her eye lids, submitting them to the will of the brush. It felt weird, like a tiny dog was licking the hairs one at a time. Everything in her wanted to run from the sensation, but her hand held firm, refusing the relief of a blink to occur.
One...

Two...

Three strokes she managed to get on, before her eye could bare no more, releasing her grip, her eye slammed shut, stinging behind the layer of skin. Water welling up behind them, offering a cool relief to her dry eye, but there was a surplus of water, it couldn't remain behind her eyelids any longer! A single stream escaped, rushing down the side of Monica's cheek. She took a moment, before looking at her work in the mirror....

Disaster!

The tear had carried the mascara down her cheek, lining the side of her face with blackness, making her look like a pathetic clown from one of those paintings that hung in the art Exhibit back home.
Turning the tap, letting the water run, she tried to rinse off the streak...unfortunately it only made matters worse. She has splashed water around her eye, spreading more of the mascara around her face, giving her a racoon like mask around one eye.

"Are you serious!? Why is this so impossible?"

Looking through the bag, she managed to find a small packet of wipes label, 'make-up remover' With a few simple strokes, her eyes was restored to its original state.
Drying her face off, she once again stared down her reflection, she wasn't about to give up without a fight. Giving the mascara a good 2 - 3 more attempts, all ending fairly similarly, with tears, or unintentional smudging ruining any progress she was making.

"How does anyone do this?"Her voice shook in her frustration.

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| 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: @Willow Anderson |