On a Monday morning, before class even started, Andrea laid down her shimmery, gold binder on her desk and began setting it up for world history. After getting out a fuzzy, cheetah pen from her pencil bag, a girl with light brown hair and a green, polka-dotted tank top approached her.
"Hey," the girl greeted.
Andrea turned her body around in her chair. "Oh, hey, Kendra," she smiled. "What's up?"
"I got some news."
"Spill it."
"Do you still talk to Kevin?"
"Now and then."
"Well, I heard him talking and it turns out that he has a crush on you."
"Shut the back door!"
"It's true!"
"Is that it?"
"No. I've also heard that he is going to ask you out... again!"
"Shut the kitchen window!"
"It's true!"
"When is he going to ask me out?"
"Today."
"Right now?"
"Yes!"
"Turn the bathroom light off!"
"Keeping it on!"
Andrea stood up. "Should I just go up to him? You know, talk a little until he spills it out?"
"Go for it, girl."
Andrea tilted her body to look over Kendra. She noticed that her friend, Kevin, had just entered the classroom. She straightened her body to face Kendra. "Oh, he has arrived. How do I look?" She combed her naturally curly hair with her fingers.
"Is it that your real skin color?"
"Shut up, Kendra."
She passed Kendra and walked towards Kevin, who had just laid down his notebooks on his desk.
"Hey, Kevin," she stopped and smiled.
Kevin turned around and instantly flinched, widening his eyes. "Whoa," he said, breathlessly. "What happened to your... everything?"
Andrea smiled awkwardly. "Well, this may sound stupid but I made a bet with some girls. And now, I can't wear makeup for a few days so I can win."
He chuckled, awkwardly as well. "You don't say."
"So how's your day?"
"It's been well. Just chillin'."
"Me, too."
He nodded, making Andrea nod.
Suddenly, the school rang, making most of the teenagers in the classroom sit in their seats.
"Oh, the bell rung," said Kevin. "Guess we have to sit down now. Don't want the teacher to shout at us when he gets here."
Andrea erased her smile. "Oh, okay," she chuckled a bit. "Before I sit, is there anything you want to tell me? You know, just in case?"
Kevin's eyes moved away from Andrea's face. "No," he chuckled awkwardly. "No, no."
Kevin sat down in his seat before Andrea turned and went to her seat with a puzzled look on her face.
Later that day, Andrea asked Madeline if she could come over her house to talk. Madeline, of course, agreed but decided to invite the other girls over for their advice. So when all of the girls had arrived, Andrea was already infuriated.
"How could he change his mind like that?" she said, pacing back and forth in Madeline's bedroom. "I was so excited."
"I am so sorry, Andrea," said Madeline.
"I was looking forward to being in a relationship with Kevin Christie. But if he is going to act like that, then just forget about it."
"I totally agree."
"You know, people can't look the same all the time. You can't switch your brain off and on about a person you know you like."
"Totally, you are beautiful with or without her makeup."
"Well, I'm getting tired of it."
"What?"
"I love my makeup. I love my tan! I've had that tan for over twelve years. It is who I am. It is what makes me happy."
"What are you trying to say, Andy?" asked Lizzie.
"I'm trying to say... that I don't want to win this bet."
Madeline stood up from sitting on the bed. "What?"
"You heard me: I can't do this anymore."
"Yes, you can!"
"No, I can't. I'm a pale freak!"
"You're pale but not a freak," said Debra.
"Either way, I don't like being pale. I like being tan. I love being tan. I am Latina!"
"Latina people don't need to be tan," Madeline said softly. "They embrace their inner beauty."
"Well, my inner beauty is telling me that this bet can take a rocket ship off to the sun!"
"You can't quit. We can't quit. Four more days and we win."
"Madeline, it has been three days of us doing this bet. There are seven days in a week. Three times two is six plus another day is seven. Do you know how long that seems?"
"When you stretch it out mathematically like that, then yes, it does seem long," Skye stated.
"You and your talking," Andrea growled. "Don't you miss Tabitha?"
"Hey! Only I can say her name. One who misses must be the one who declares."
"What are you talking about?"
Skye paused. "I miss my pink streak. I'm quitting this bet!"
"Hang on for just one minute," Madeline shouted. "You two cannot walk away from this bet."
"Why not?" questioned Andrea, walking closer to Madeline. "We're people and people walk."
"Listen, I am not buying the Cow Belles shoes. Plus, we don't need makeup and tans and hair dye to be beautiful. Everybody's born beautiful."
"I agree with Maddie," said Debra. "We're beautiful just the way we are."
Lizzie squinted her eyes at Debra. "Ugh, Debbie..."
"What is it, Lizzie?"
"That pimple is off-the-charts."
"Pimple?!" She stood up from Madeline's black-and-white, polka-dotted chair. She bolted out of the bedroom, finding the bathroom.
"Debbie, people get pimples all the time," shouted Madeline. "It's not a big deal."
"I know it's not a big deal," said Debra, coming back into the bedroom. "But I have been drinking too water to even get pimples! I need my foundation."
"You don't need anything."
"You want to make a bet, sis'?" Debra growled evilly.
"Oh, crap."
"Maddie, let's just let it go since no one wants to be apart of this anymore," Lizzie insisted.
"But we have to prove our point."
"Okay, the point was that we were not fake," said Andrea. "So we skimmed everything that was 'supposedly' making us seem fake. But we are not using makeup and hair to be beautiful. We are using it as a way to express ourselves. It is what makes us different from everybody else. We know we don't need it but it's who we are. Does it really make us fake if we're trying to be who we want to be?"
Madeline sighed. "No. No, I see your point. But we promised that we would hold on. Can't we just hold on for the next four days?"
As Madeline continued to ramble, Skye dug into her jeans' pocket and pulled out a small mirror. She walked towards Madeline, with no hesitation, and held up the mirror in front of Madeline's face.
"But I'm sure we can-- Holy crap!" Madeline responded as she looked at her own reflection, seeing her pimples and dark marks. "Good lord! Turn the camera off," she pointed towards the camera on the tripod. "Turn it off!"
Startled by Madeline's yelling, Lizzie hopped out of her seat and ran over to the video camera to press the 'Stop' button.
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