Next Door to a Star by Krysten Lindsay Hager Read Free Book Online Page B

to the drugstore next,” she said. She walked in and headed straight for the magazine rack. I mentioned I had read about what makeup Valeria liked and her eyes got big.
    “I love her,” she said. “I did a commercial with her when I was ten and she was so sweet. I never miss Charmed Lives .”
    “I bought some of the stuff she said she uses, but I can’t get the shimmery look she has,” I said.
    “Follow me,” she said. She went to the makeup aisle, picked up a sample tube, and squeezed a tiny bit of shimmer stuff onto her hand. “I love this stuff. You can put it on your cheeks, eyes, and lips. Oh, you need to get some bronzer too.”
    “What’s it for?”
    “It makes you look tan.”
    I let her pick out some shimmer cream and bronzer for me. We were going up to the counter when we ran into Charlotte and her grandpa. My stomach dropped. Simone went to get some gum, leaving us alone. Charlotte stared at the floor.
    “I forgot I said I’d do something with Simone today,” I said, talking way too fast. I sounded so guilty and slimy. “Can you come over on Saturday? I really want to hang out with you.”
    “Whatever.” Charlotte shrugged.
    “Hadley? C’mon.” Simone was standing by the counter.
    “So…see ya soon?” I asked and Charlotte nodded without looking at me.
    I felt like the worst person ever, but Simone talked all the way back to her house. As I sat on her bed, I realized all I had wanted this summer was to make new friends, and I had finally stepped out of my comfort zone and done that, but I had also made a friend feel like crap and I didn’t know if she believed my weak response. Life was so much easier when it was only me and Lexi…the same Lexi who swore we’d text every day and had messaged me a total of eight times since she moved. Could anyone be counted on?
    “Hadley, you’re not even paying attention,” Simone said, tapping the shimmer tube against her palm. “See? You have to mix it all up and there are certain parts of your face which are supposed to be bronze, like your forehead, and other parts meant to be lighter and shimmery, like the tops of your cheekbones.”
    She pulled out a pink egg shaped sponge and started to apply it.
    “The pink shimmer stuff goes on your cheeks and on the crease of your eye, but the white shimmer goes on your forehead, part of your nose, and the brow bone. Got it?” she asked.
    I nodded, but was totally confused. Did some girls instinctively know how to do stuff like this, or was it something you learned? And if so, where were they all learning this? I felt like there was some class I missed, like the time I was home sick when my class learned how to tell time on a clock. I swear ever since then, I have to mentally count to know what time it is—I can’t automatically figure it out like the rest of the world can.
    “Okay, bronzer is next,” Simone said, taking a little brush and lining my eyes with dark plum eye shadow. “I always wear dark eyeliner to make myself look older. It makes my eyes look super blue. Now go like this,” she said, sucking in her cheeks. “If you shade this part underneath your cheeks, it looks like you have noticeable cheekbones.”
    “Did you learn that from a makeup artist?” I asked.
    She shrugged. “Don’t remember. Do you want me to curl your eyelashes or do you want to do it yourself?”
    I let her do it since I wasn’t even sure what to do with the eyelash curler. I’d probably poke my eye out.
    “I can’t leave the house without curling my lashes,” she said. She pinched my lid a little bit and my eyes started to water. “Okay, what do ya think?”
    I picked up the mirror and I didn’t look like Valeria’s twin, but Simone had given me noticeable cheekbones and my eyes were bigger somehow.
    “It’s amazing. I don’t even look like myself.”
    She nodded. “Yeah, isn’t it great?”
    Later, Grandma noticed my new look as soon as I walked in the house.
    “What’s on your face?” she