I've always been… interested in making women look
as beautiful as possible while making them look
like themselves.–Laura Mercier
that I'm the first one to get to Sunny's house. I like to be the first one there, to get settled before the others arrive. I don't feel like any old guest at Sunny's parties. I'm a VIP.
Sunny's mom opens the door, and she's wearing her red KISS THE COOK apron over her clothes. Sunny's house always smells like a combination of curry and coconut. "I've been baking nonstop for you girls," she says as I walk inside. "Sunny asked for cupcakes and a birthday cake, plus I had to make my oatmeal-chocolate-chip cookies just for you." She winks at me.
"Thanks, Mrs. Ramal," I say, smiling. She knows those are my favorite.
"Sunny's up in her room," she tells me. I'm still holding Sunny's wrapped present, and I'm not sure if I should leave it down here or bring it up and let her open it before everyone else arrives. Maybe I should give it to her right away-she's going to love it so much, and I don't want the others to feel bad that their gifts aren't as good as mine.
I run up the stairs, trying not to step on the pretty pink rose design that's on the carpet. I always try to step on the cream background instead.
"Sunny," I sing, gently knocking on her door as I walk in.
"Lucy! You scared me," she says, sitting up in her purple beanbag chair. She's dressed for the party in her pale pink velour sweat suit. She likes wearing things that are comfy but still cute.
"Why? You knew I'd be early." I put my jacket and the present on her bed and my overnight bag under her desk. "So should I give you your present now or later?"
"Ummm, later," she says. "I have to talk to you."
I sit down next to her on the beanbag chair, nudging her so she'll move over and make more room for me. She smells like Dove soap, and her hair isn't totally dry yet. Sunny has extremely thick hair. She usually starts with a hair dryer but gets bored halfway through and lets the rest air-dry.
"Did you use that conditioner again?" I ask Sunny. Even though her hair's still wet, the top already looks greasy.
"No," she says defensively.
I shake my head at her. "Next time I'm at the pharmacy, I'm getting you oily-hair shampoo. It's perfect for thick, awesome hair like yours." I don't want to criticize Sunny, because no matter what, she always looks pretty. She has huge green eyes and near-perfect skin. Even so, she rarely feels good about the way she looks. And I want to help.
"Whatever," Sunny mumbles.
"Can I do your makeup for your party?" I ask. "Nothing too much, I promise."
Sunny groans. "Lucy," she whines. "I don't want to wear makeup. Can you get that through your head already?"
"But come on, just for the party. Just some of that Pink Lollipop lip-gloss I was telling you about. You loved it when I wore it the other day. Remember? And pale eye shadow." I smile at her sweetly as I unload my pockets. It's her party. Shouldn't she look and feel her best? "I took some stuff for you from the pharmacy."
"You thief!" Sunny says, inspecting the stuff I brought her. "That eye shadow-the Earth Beauty stuff? I thought you said no one buys that."
I shrug. "Yeah, that's why it was okay for me to take it. But trust me, it still works."
"Um, no thanks." Sunny mooshes up her face like she doesn't want to hurt my feelings. "Maybe some other time."
"Okay, but just dab some of this moisturizer on your cheeks." I smile at her. "Your skin is a little dry."
She rolls her eyes at me. "Fine, I'll do it in a second."
She taps me on the knee and looks me right in the eye. "Remember this summer when we discussed crushes? And we thought we were weird because we didn't have any?"
"Yeah," I say, waiting for her to tell me more.
Her eyes are wide, like she's excited but trying to stay calm. "Okay-Evan Mass." She smiles and shakes her hands in the air; her calmness is definitely fading.
"Really?" I kick off my sneakers and turn to face her.
"Ever since Earth Club," she goes on. "Now I like him. I really, really like him. It just happened, like, out of nowhere."
I smile, suddenly realizing that it's kind of exciting that Sunny has a crush. At least it's something to take my mind off the pharmacy. I tilt my head to the side and try to get a good look at her.
She folds her arms across her chest and presses her lips together like she's thinking really hard about something. "But it's not like anything's ever going to really happen between Evan and me. I mean-this is me we're talking about."
"Sunny, that is so not true," I tell her. "Confidence goes a long way, you know. That's what Claudia says. I know-open your present!"
Sunny hops up from the beanbag chair and goes to inspect my gift. "I said you should give it to me later," she complains. "Why are you tempting me?"
"I can't wait." I make a pouty face. "Please. Pretty, pretty please with caramel sauce on top."
Sunny sighs and eventually agrees. She's very impressed with my wrapping job, so she's careful. She doesn't just tear into the gift, making a mess of the silver wrapping paper and ruining the bows. In fact, she takes all of the bows and ribbons off and puts them on her desk.
"Oh my God," she says, not looking at me. She's holding the earrings up in front of her and inspecting them. "Lucy! I can't even believe you."
Giving a gift is sometimes even better than getting one. "You like them?" I ask, even though I obviously know the answer.
"I love them!" she says, in a classic Sunny shriek. "I can't believe you remembered. Did you, like, go to Italy and not tell me?"
I give her a look. "Hello. The Internet?"
"Oh yeah." She giggles and puts the earrings on, admiring herself in the mirror. Then she sits back down next to me. "So what should I do about Evan? Is there, like, something I can do about a crush, or do I just have to live with it?"
It's not like I expect her to keep flipping out over the earrings, thanking me over and over again, but our conversation about the gift ends a little sooner than I thought it would.
"We'll figure something out," I tell her. "Maybe we can go to the bookstore and read up on it. Or do some online research."
"See! It's so hard. It feels like another subject in school." Sunny moves her feet around on the carpet like she's tap-dancing. "Like something extra to worry about and focus on."
"Well, it's not like you're gonna have a test on it," I say, laughing.
She doesn't think it's as funny as I do. Her shoulders slump, and she says, "C'mon, let's go wait downstairs for everybody else."