Page 47 of The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back

"But what if…"

Ella let out a loud sigh. "What if, what if, what if? You know, no amount of preventative worrying is going to help you out here. It's not like you can get the right dose of angst and protect yourself. Just calm down and go with it. See where fate takes you."

I nodded meekly, which had Andre telling me to keep my head still. So many hands on my head all at once. I was being tugged in a hundred different directions. Everything today had been painful and boring and long.

"I know I'm new to getting ready for a date and all, but surely it's supposed to be less painful and stupid than this."

"No, this is about right," Andre informed me.

Finally, all the extensions had been put in, and the other stylists left. Andre used a big curling iron on my hair, and I could feel him pulling the hair around my face back and keeping it in place with pins. He misted over everything with hair spray.

He stepped back and looked at me. "Sometimes, I even amaze myself."

"You look awesome," Ella breathed.

"Do you want me to get someone to do her makeup?"

"Do you have time for that?"

He smiled at Ella, in that way that all adults did. "For you, anything."

I was in another chair, turned away from the mirrors again while Ella described my outfit and mask to the makeup artist. "Something dramatic on the eye," she said.

"What about my glasses?" I asked.

"They're not prescription so you don't need them, and they're a dead giveaway. Give them to me." I took them off and handed them over. Ella stuck them in her purse.

I looked down at my watch. The dance was supposed to start in an hour. "We're running out of time. You still have to get home and get ready too."

"We'll be fine," Ella said. "Stop worrying."

But I couldn't stop. What if this all blew up in my face? What if everyone made fun of me for trying to be pretty when I was still just plain old Mattie Lowe? What if Jake laughed at me? That thought made my stomach hurt.

The makeup part was over faster that I had imagined it would be. When I said as much, Ella just shrugged and said, "It's because you're already naturally beautiful."

I didn't have time to argue with her, because she started walking really fast. As we made our way through the mall, I could feel people staring at us. I crossed my arms across my chest. "Why are they looking at us?"

Ella smiled again. "They're not looking at me. They're looking at you. Jake's not going to know what hit him."

She talked the whole way home, which was good because I felt worse and worse. In addition to my head hurting and my throat burning, I had become completely congested. I had to get tissues from Ella's purse and blew my nose several times.

I had totally forgotten about my cold, and had forgotten to take medicine to keep these stupid symptoms at bay. My stress seemed to exacerbate everything.

Which was good, because now I had my excuse for staying home. "I can't go," I croaked.

"What happened to your voice?" Ella asked. "You sound terrible."

"I'm sick. I can't go to the ball. I'm probably contagious."

"They're all rich. They can afford doctors. You're going." She had that new determined sound in her voice.

I knew there would be no arguing with her. She'd roll me there on a hospital bed if she had to.

"You don't understand," I said as her phone rang.

"Can you answer that for me?"

I picked up the phone and looked at the display. Trent. "Hey."

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