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They were an awkward duo. What had started as the entire choir gathered together watching movies in Noel’s room had dwindled down to Noel and Penny sitting together in a tense silence. Penny’s foster parents were never quick to answer the phone, so by the time everyone else was gone, her parents were just picking up.
The two of them had never been alone before. They never had a reason to be. Penny was the weird, quiet, new kid that everyone would forget about until she showed up. Noel was polite enough to newcomers, but not great at making friends with someone as… unique, as Penny.
Noel sat on the edge of his bed, while Penny leaned against the wall from her spot on the floor. She watched Noel intensely as she ran her fingers through her doll’s hair. It always creeped Noel out when she did that. It felt like the beginning to some low budget slasher flick. She would always stare right at him, as if she was picking apart his every little move, and of course the doll only made it worse. Noel knew she was trying her best, and was sure she didn’t have any ill intent, but her actions were hard to ignore.
Noel squirmed under her gaze, feeling the need to do something to where her attention was warranted, or just something that would break her unwavering eye contact. He began to dig around in his pockets, satisfied once his fingers laced around a small tube. Pulling up his phone camera as a mirror, Noel applied a thin coat of clear lipgloss. He finally had a second away from her prying eyes as he carefully lined his lips.
“What is that?” Were the first words spoken between the two in what felt like hours. Noel jumped at the sound of the girl’s voice, nearly leaving a goopy line of gloss across his cheek. When he looked over at Penny, her head was tilted with confusion, almost in a canine manner. He sighed, she really was clueless about everything.
“It’s lipgloss, sweetie.”
“I thought lipgloss was red.”
“It comes in all sorts of colors.”
“But yours has no color. What is it’s purpose?” Penny’s head stayed at its awkward angle, but her torso pulled forwards with curiosity. Noel tapped his finger to his chin as he thought of an explanation for his naïve audience member.
“It doesn’t have color, but it still makes my lips shine. See?” He tilted his head to the left and right, Penny’s gaze followed as she observed the glossy reflection.
“It looks very interesting.”
“I guess so?”
“I have never worn lipgloss before.”
This took Noel by surprise, even though he knew it shouldn’t have. She had been in some sort of Amish paradise her whole life, right? She had no reason to know about lipgloss. But again, hasn’t every girl tried it at least once? Noel always heard Ocean and Constance talking about growing up digging in their mom’s makeup. It was odd to know a girl who completely lacked that experience.
“Well… um… I have other colors if you wanna come see.” Noel suggested tensely. He knew Penny wasn’t the type of person to have a problem with a boy wearing makeup, but she was always full of strange surprises. He honestly had no idea how she’d react to the offer.
Wordlessly, Penny stood up with her doll in arms, and creeped up beside Noel to the bedside table he had repositioned himself to. He pulled out a small decorated box, the name “Monique” was traced upon the lid in a dramatic cursive. When he opened the box, Penny’s eyes widened. Pigments in multiple shapes and colors filled the box to the brim. There were tubes, pencils, pallets, things Penny couldn’t even comprehend getting onto a person’s face. She stared at the collection in awe, too afraid to pick up anything to examine it further.
Noel dug through the box and began pulling out various tubes of lipgloss and lipstick. Some were clear, some were nude, some were red, some were as dark as night. Penny didn’t know they could make this many colors.
“The red and black are by far my favorites, but they all look cute with the right outfit.” Noel shrugged.
He glanced back at Penny, her eyes darted quickly around each tube, he could practically hear the gears turning in her head. Had he overwhelmed her? It was always so hard to tell what would upset her. Her hands didn’t shake though, she didn’t hum or grasp her doll tight, she simply stared dumbfounded at the table full of supplies.
“Umm… here. You can try one on if you want? Just pick your favorite color out of these and I’ll show you how.” Noel suggested, a bit of uncertainty lingered in his voice. Penny raised a confused eyebrow to his request.
“I can’t take your lipglosses.”
“Not take, just try!”
Penny shifted around awkwardly before extending a hand to graze the unfamiliar tubes. She landed on a subtle peachy pink. She grabbed it carefully and held it close to her eyes as if to inspect it for imperfections. Noel waited for her to give some sort of affirmation that this was her final pick, but she just kept observing the tube in silence.
“So… is that your favorite?”
Penny nodded silently, eyes still fixated on the gloss. Noel pulled out the chair to his desk, on top of which sat a large vintage vanity mirror.
“How about you sit here, and I put it on you in the mirror so you can see how to do it for yourself?” He offered politely, still a bit hesitant that his offers were too extreme for the sheltered girl.
Penny took a sharp inhale, almost unsure of what to do. She didn’t feel as if she was allowed to wear makeup, but there was also nothing stopping her. She was afraid of looking different, or not liking her reflection, but her curiosity pushed her past her worries as she settled into the chair.
Noel opened the tube, and led his hand towards the girl’s lips. Even though his arm drew near, Noel still kept his body rigid in one place as to not graze Penny anywhere besides the mouth. The choir had learned the hard way that she was sensitive to touch, and the last thing he wanted to do now was ruin this unlikely moment of peace that had been created.
“One, two, three, touch.” Noel counted down as he pressed the wand to Penny’s skin. She flinched a bit, causing her lips to press together tightly, but allowed herself to relax as she got familiar with the new sensation. She didn’t even realize her eyes were closed until Noel lightly tapped her shoulder and gestured to the mirror. Her top lip was painted with a flowery gloss while the bottom remained nude.
“Watch me do this, alright? See, I’m just gonna glide it across like so, making sure to stay in the lines.” Noel narrated as he spread the pigment. Penny watched in awe as the one simple stroke changed the entire color of her lips. He pulled away slowly, and Penny leaned in towards the mirror. She stared at herself blankly, too afraid to open her mouth or make any sudden movements in fear of ruining Noel’s masterpiece. She glanced back to him with concern, unsure on how to compose herself.
“Oh, you can open your mouth Pen.” Noel added with an awkwardly concerned giggle. Penny obliged, allowing her lips to part slightly to take in a breath. Her skin felt sticky, similar to the way it would after eating gooey candies. Her hands tensed awkwardly as she slowly opened and closed her mouth, feeling the strange substance seep further and further into the crevices of her skin. It looked alright, but began to feel like sludge. She felt a pressure in her throat, which was only relieved by her letting out a steady hum. Noel’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion to her reaction.
“Do you not like it? We can take it off if you don’t! It’s no big deal!” Noel raised his hands in front of his chest defensively, although they both knew the girl had never once been angry with anyone in the whole choir, nor would she ever be in the future.
“Looks good. Too sticky. Need it off.” Penny responded, cringing at the way her lips touched when she spoke.
“Oh okay! Okay, um, here!” Noel scampered awkwardly for a makeup wipe. Penny felt bad that he constantly seemed so tense around her in comparison to the other choir members, but she wasn’t sure how to make it better. She hoped she hadn’t ruined the fun. Taking the wipe, she rubbed it across her lips, breathing a sigh of relief as the usual texture returned. She looked down at the box again, scanning for any item she may recognize as less overstimulating, but fell short.
“Are they all sticky?”
Noel, still anxious from his failed lipgloss attempt, took a second to register her question and reply.
“Huh? Oh! No, that’s the only sticky one. The eyeshadows and blushes are all smooth.” He stated matter-of-factly, pointing at the pans and pallets which lined the bottom of the box.
“Perhaps one of those will be better?” Penny questioned.
“Perhaps!” Noel responded, a hint of amusement in his voice after repeating her concise wording. He wasn’t giving up on Penny yet. He knew Ocean and the others hardly gave her the time of day, so for once in his life he might as well be the nice guy and show her a good time.
“Pick a color, any color.” A calm smile settled across his face. He could make this fun for them, he just had to be conscious of Penny’s… Penny-isms. They could make this work.
Penny’s eyes methodically grazed the colors again, just as they had done for the lipglosses earlier, but instead of hesitating, she now confidently pointed to the color of her choice. A pale and slightly shimmery blue.
“Nice choice! Let me grab a brush for that.” Noel dug around the box to find a small applicator, no thicker than his own pinky finger. He stopped himself from his natural course of action of diving directly into the color and applying it, and instead decided to see if a bit more accommodation on his end could help.
“This brush is going to touch your eyelid, do you wanna feel it before I start?” He extended the brush towards Penny, allowing her to gently take it from his grasp. Penny glided the brush tip alongside her palm, her eyebrows raising in surprise as the soft hairs tickled her delicate skin. It felt nice, odd, but nice.
“How is that? Too much, not enough, just right?” Noel questioned, hoping that this attempt would go over better than the last.
“Just right.” Penny echoed with a nod, handing the brush back to Noel.
“Perfect! So I’m gonna get you to close your eyes, then you’re gonna feel that exact brush on your eyelid! It might tickle a bit more, but it’s pretty much the same.” Noel stated confidently. Penny nodded in response, and on cue, tightly closed her eyelids. Too tight. Way too tight. Noel grimaced.
“Not so tight, Penny.”
Penny’s eyes twitched, moving around but still just as tense as before.
“I’m not sure how to make it less tight.”
Noel had made the same mistake when he was first learning. “Just shut them like you’re going to sleep!” Constance had told him. He finally had a chance to pass that wisdom forwards.
“Close them like you’re going to sleep.”
Penny shifted once more, but this time the tight crinkles of her eyelids smoothed out into flat surfaces. Noel grinned to himself, feeling proud of his simple explanation.
“Perfect! Now just keep them like that until I say to open them.” He directed. Penny nodded quickly in response.
Noel lightly dipped the brush in the blue shimmer, it’s pale hue shone brightly against the deep black of the brush’s fibers. He began to softly blend it onto the girl’s eyelids. She tensed up for a second, but was quickly able to relax again. He continued his work, only backing away until he got the perfect even blend on both eyes. He took a step back to observe his masterpiece. It was simple, but effective. Blue was a great color to compliment to the undertones of Penny’s skin. He grinned with satisfaction.
“Alright Pen, open up!”
Penny opened her eyes once more to meet her reflection, but this time without the thick uncomfortable texture to hinder her enjoyment. She drew closer to the mirror, admiring how the blue both contrasted yet blended into her pale skin. She tilted her head slightly so the tiny glitter particles could shine against the dim bedroom light. She let out a hum again, but this one was light in airy in comparison to her deep tense notes from earlier. An awkward smile pressed itself across her lips. When Noel thought about it, he didn’t think he had ever seen her smile until now. It was a strange smile, a smile that would only make sense for a girl like Penny Lamb. The smile left her face as quickly as it came, but her eyebrows remained raised with contempt.
“I like this one much more.”
“Yeah? It looks super cute on you.”
“It reminds me of magic.”
“Magic, huh? Well that’s a fun way to put it.” Noel sighed with a smile. The room was silent again, but this time, it was a comfortable silence. They sat together for a few more minutes, with Penny looking at all the different shades of eyeshadow. The quiet was interrupted by the harsh buzzing of Penny’s phone.
“My guardians are here.”
“Oh, alright! They won’t be mad at the makeup, right?”
“I’m sure they will not mind it.” Penny rose up from the desk, and gathered her belongings into her worn-down bag. She glanced over at Noel a final time before exiting his room.
“This was very nice. I would enjoy coming over again soon.”
“I’d enjoy it too, Penny.”