With just a final swipe of eyeshadow, Rachel looked to her boyfriend standing in the powder blue doorway of their bathroom. He raised his eyebrows approvingly with a smirk.
“You look beautiful,” coming up behind her with warm arms around her waist; Rachel smiled innocently, throwing her chestnut hair into a high bun.
“Donovon, the more you compliment me like this, the more I’m going to think you don’t care at all that I’m going out with my friends and not you.”
“Oh I care,” he stated promptly. “But you and I are going out tomorrow night, so I can wait.” Letting go of her waist, Donovan spinned Rachel around. He held his fingers under her chin and kissed her on the forehead, shimmering eyelids fluttering as he did so. “Be careful, and be home by one, you have your graduation party in the morning.”
“I will,” and with the finality, she walked past her boyfriend and meet her friends waiting outside. Upon opening the door of the car, she was greeted with a chorus of ‘congratulations’ and all of the equivalents. Having the chance to get out of the house was important for her; after being stuck in a university with nothing to look forward to but homework and studying, a night out with friends for her graduation was new and exciting. Being given a chance to squeeze into her favorite dress with lipstick to match was something she’d missed about being free. After greeting each of her friends in turn, the gossip started and even though she had been out of the loop for a while, Rachel hung on every word. It seemed like everyone couldn’t wait to add their bit; with stories mixing, girl talking over girl, each fighting for their position in the conversation.
“I heard that Jenny’s pregnant, but it isn’t Kyle’s,” revealed Caroline, starting a new string of news.
“Everyone knows that Jenny doesn’t care if she sleeps with her brother, she just doesn’t want anything serious,” Sarah had barely let Caroline finish talking before she began.
“Who cares,” the voice of wisdom in the form of Rachel’s best friend Diane, is heard over everyone else. “We all know we want to know about you two living together!” Rachel smiles nervously.
“Yeah, you’re wearing an awful lot of makeup for a girl with a boyfriend!” Jane, a fan of snide remarks, evoked a collection of giggles from inside the van. Rachel’s skin, smooth as porcelain from all the foundation she’s wearing, creased as she searched for a valid answer. Saved from answering by the abrupt stop, Rachel followed the girls into their favorite club. Neon lights bouncing off of their IDs, and music so loud it hurts gives the friends sense of floating*. Earrings swayed as each girl strut to the bar, specific drink orders in mind; Rachel checked her phone.
‘Three hours, I still have three hours,’ she thought calmly. Her heart beat wildly as she drank wine that matched her lips, worrying about the behavior of the others, as Sarah was already unsteady. As the minutes ticked by, Rachel found herself enjoying the company of gorgeous strangers she hoped to meet, with slight pangs of guilt and fear as she inadvertently ignored the time, 10:15, 11:45, 12:30. Checking her phone tipsily one more time she sobered quickly, face gone white, from the draining of color, and the light of the phone bearing 1:16. Signaling to her friends that she was leaving, all four girls waved goodbye for no more than a second before occupying themselves. Taking more time than she had to waste, she hailed a taxi, and quickly declared her address. The drive home seemed agonizingly long, as she hurled herself from the cab, throwing money onto the front seat, and cursing the stilettos she thought were so beautiful. Silently unlocking and entering the house, she peeled her shoes away from her feet, tiptoeing up the old, creaky stairs. Breathing a sigh of relief at the darkened bedroom, Rachel changed into an old tee shirt and sweatpants before entering the powder blue bathroom that seemed so pleasant when she was getting ready. Swearing under her breath at the noise made by the faucet, she grabbed a washcloth from the shelf, moistening it with makeup remover. Scrubbing carefully at her piled on makeup, she winced. Healing lumps of scar tissue and broken capillaries once hidden by foundation and cover-up made themselves more and more obvious. Layers of blue and green eyeshadow stripped from the remnants of a black eye; recoiling as she rubbed too hard the cut made by his rings, the marks left by his fists. She stared at her now rugged appearance as tears left trails that blended in with the water dripping from her bruised jaw line. The comments made by Jane were still fresh in her mind, the clock flashing 1:38. Walking cautiously, having taken not more than a step into the darkness, Rachel shielded her eyes. The large hanging lights above her bed were turned on, but her hand had not yet moved from it’s side, her heart skipped a few beats.
“You’re late.” Quiet with anger, Donovan stands up from his place at the desk at the other end of the room, hand still poised on the light switch.
“Our taxi got stuck in traffic,” Rachel leaned up against the wall behind her, searching for anything solid to hold on to. She tried to act tired, while fearfully eyeing his fists, knuckles growing white. Donovan saw it too.
“Lier. After all I’ve done for you, you can’t follow a simple order? I told you to do one thing, be home at a certain time and you disobey me?”
“I’m sorry!” Tears flowed from her eyes, giving away any chance she’d had to convince him. Looking up from her boyfriends hands, she saw him advance on her and had not a moment before the searing pain of hand and face sent her to the floor. Like a parrot she repeated “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Tuning her out, he grabbed her arm, fingers lining up perfectly with the bruises he’d left a week ago. The one’s he’d kissed and apologized for. Hauling her to her feet he got into her face and yelled. Not hearing him, Rachel made a run for the door, only to find herself thrown against the opposite wall. A sharp pain in her neck, as though something was off, caused her knees to buckle. Her neck wasn’t in a plausible angle, but her blurring vision was all she could care about. Opening her eyes as wide as possible, she saw Donovan approach her one last time. He held his fingers under her chin and kissed her forehead as darkness enveloped her.