Premature Evacuation (Underground Sorority #1) by Rachel Shane Page A

waves that feathered out along my face, framing it in a delicate romantic coif.
    “You guys, we’re going to have so much fun tonight!” Bianca said in her usual manner of emphasizing the adjective in the sentence for a dramatic effect. She turned her head side to side to check out her hair’s progress in the mirror.
    “I think that depends,” Erin said, sitting in her chair with perfect posture, “On whether my date is actually fun or not.”
    “You can always dance with us. Just like at Quigley’s,” I said.
    Our hair took longer than anticipated, so we had to haul ass over to the make-up counter. Bianca kept checking to make sure her updo remained in place as we power walked through the food court. Erin’s hair was at an awkward length due to her growing it out, so her hairstylist pinned her hair into springy curls in a random array on her scalp. My hair was down and free.
    We each plopped into chairs at the corners of the rectangular make-up counter. I couldn’t see Bianca’s or Erin’s progress like I could when we were getting our hair done, but I overheard Bianca ask for subtle taupes because her dress was a glitzy teal and she wanted to balance it out. Erin’s request remained a mystery.
    “So what do you want today, Miss?” The attendant asked me.
    “Dramatic!” I replied with a huge grin. I had my heart set on a complete transformation, something to really make Corey flip.
    “What does your dress look like?”
    “Slinky black with silver trim. Strapless.”
    She leaned back and cocked one eye the way Corey always did. Her hair was pulled back in the tightest ponytail I had ever seen. She had on way too much eyeliner and her foundation powder looked a little cakey. She topped off the look with fire engine red lips. I cringed. This better not be her definition of dramatic.
    “Excellent. I know exactly what I’m going to do.” She paused. “If it’s too much I can tone it down after, don’t worry.”
    I clasped my hands in my lap. “Um…maybe you should—”
    “Relax, you’ll look beautiful.” Those were the magic words.
    The attendant’s brush strokes were very similar to the way I painted, mixing various hues together to create a completely unique color, using smaller brushes rather than wider ones so no detail got overlooked, applying the shadow with short staccato strokes all over the eyelid, then layering another color, and another, and another, blending, layering, blending, until the stark white of the canvas was no longer visible and the process could not be recreated by another hand.
    Bianca’s make-up looked radiant. Different hues of browns outlined her eyes and complimented her olive complexion. Erin had opted for an almost nude look, all focus drawn to her plump, pinked lips. The outcome of my make up was exactly what I was going for. Soft silvers wrapped my upper lids, just under the brow, and nestled against deeper shades of silver that swept across my actual eyelid. Heavy black eyeliner circled my eyes, but not in a raccoony way. Soft blush grazed my cheeks and matched my red lip-gloss.
    When we left the mall, we were running late so Bianca called Corey and told him to give us an extra half hour. No time for lunch. I was anxious to see him and also feeling strange because of my lack of food. Now my stomach only contained butterflies.

T HE FORMAL ALWAYS TOOK place in far away locations that wouldn’t sound exotic to the average person, but when you were stuck in bleak, gray, upstate New York, anything off campus seemed magical. When Corey pulled up in front of Rho Sigma, Nate’s head leaned against the passenger seat window. I wrenched open the back door and started to climb in.
    “Hold up,” Corey said. “Nate, dude, move into the back with your date.”
    “First she takes over my bedroom, now shot gun. What’s next? My body?” Nate grumbled but obliged as he shuffled into the back seat. Bianca beamed a smile at Corey, which helped a little to combat Nate’s