I dry myself off and sit at the dresser. I take my time applyingfoundation; it closely matches my skin colour and covers up the fewblemishes that mar... my face. I liberally coat my face and neck with facepowder, one shade darker than my foundation; I now have the blank canvason which to apply the rest of my cosmetics. I apply eyeliner next, from the inner corner of my eyes to the outercorners, gradually thickening the line as I go. When I have thick blackline running along the edge of my. It got heavier and then even heavier. She looked outside as she hung up the phone and she looked at me. She wore a straight look on her face but then she said “Today’s a nice day for a photo shoot in here. Today is a very nice day in fact but let’s go upstairs. I want to show you the rest of the house, first. I’ll show you my bedroom. I’ll show you your bedroom. Who knows Joseph, maybe my bedroom will become our bedroom…nahhhh,” she said teasing me as she giggled. “But you never know do you?”. I saw him move back and then felt his hands grab onto the waistband of my skirt, one on each side. He screwed it back and forth, pulling it up until it was just below my tits. He reached back down and got the bottom of my shirt, folding it up and tucking it in the waistband he'd just moved above my stomach.I thought about someone knocking on the door and getting no answer, then trying the doorknob that Jack had forgotten to lock, coming in and opening the door to our bedroom. How I would look. It's hard to describe. Real? Like, a whole new level of real--like, the kind of real that makes everything else seem a little bit unreal.It is solid black. On the front, there is a single line of golden print:Happy Birthday.Inside, he finds a note.You've been dealt a shitty hand, Marcus, but in the game of life you get to choose how to play. Do you want to play?Marcus shivers. The air seems cold. He feels like he's being watched. He feels like it matters, like the question is real, like he.