Chapter Text
Prelude
Shauna replayed the memory for the hundredth time that night.
Jackie was lounging back on Shauna's bed in that floral slip dress that showed off her collar bone, hair perfectly curled and eyes sweeping over Shauna's frame in a look of smug satisfaction.
"Now that's more like it, Shipman,"
Shauna felt a pleased smile take over her face as warmth rushed into her cheeks. She quickly shoved the feeling of delight down, annoyed with herself. She didn't need Jackie's approval, she told herself. It made her feel like a dog waiting to be given treats for doing a good job. It was humiliating. She shouldn't care what Jackie thought of how she looked in her dress. (The boob dress, Jackie had called it.) Especially not after she had scrunched her nose at all the previous outfits that Shauna had picked out.
Shauna skipped ahead in the memory.
She was looking at her reflection in her vanity mirror with a makeup brush to her eyelid. They were already ten minutes late to Lottie's party and Shauna's hand just wouldn't stop shaking. It didn't help that Jackie was leaning over her shoulder to watch.
"You're distracting me, Jax," Shauna told her. Jackie rolled her eyes.
"Here, let me do it," she said, already taking the brush from Shauna's hand. "I'm faster at it anyway."
With delicate hands, she lifted Shauna's chin towards her and swept the brush along her eyelid.
It wasn't like Jackie had never done Shauna's makeup before. Actually, it was rarer for Jackie not to do Shauna's makeup before a party. It was practically tradition. But there was always something about it that was a little... awkward? Stressful? Shauna couldn't settle on a word.
Jackie leaned over Shauna, tongue pinched between her teeth in concentration. She was pretty like that, Shauna thought. But because Shauna was seated, Jackie had to squat slightly to be at eye level. She shifted uncomfortably at the position.
"Ugh, I can't get a good angle!" She complained, her lip jutting out in an adorable pout. "Here, let me just..."
Without warning, Jackie stepped around Shauna's thighs and sat down right in her lap, one leg on either side of Shauna's torso. Shauna froze up.
Jackie's eyes widened, noticing Shauna's sudden tenseness. "Is-- uh... You okay, Shipman?"
Shauna nodded. Jackie swallowed and began the tedious process of applying her makeup.
For 30 long seconds, Jackie was silent. Meanwhile, Shauna channeled all her energy into keeping her face neutral and her breaths slow and controlled. She shouldn't be this nervous.
Their faces were mere inches apart when Jackie finally set the brush down.
"Aaand... done!" Jackie smiled proudly, leaning back just enough for Shauna to relax a bit. She looked in the mirror. The eyeshadow was flawless, with dark glittery wings and a pop of red in the middle of her eyelids to match her dress.
"Now you just need lip gloss," Jackie stated, rifling through her dress pocket. She pulled out a small, half depleted tube of pink gloss.
"Strawberry Kisses," Jackie told her the name. "My favorite."
"Mhm," Shauna agreed, still a little dazed.
When Jackie applied the makeup on herself instead of Shauna, smacking her lips together with a pop and a mischievous smile, Shauna was momentarily confused.
"Want some?" Jackie asked her.
What was going on? Was Jackie taunting her? That must be why she had sat in Shauna's lap, right? To make her nervous, to catch her off guard and disarm her? She wondered if Jackie would laugh in her face if she said yes. Oh my god, Shauna, she'd say. This is the special lip gloss I wear to kiss Jeff. Do you want to kiss Jeff or something? Shauna felt sick to her stomach at the thought.
She might have kept overthinking to the point of despair, but she was snapped out of it by two hands cupping either side of her face.
And then Jackie was kissing her. It was short-- a soft press of the lips, only with enough pressure to transfer the gloss, but it turned Shauna's world upside down.
Back in her room, Shauna was still imagining the feeling of Jackie's lips on hers. The tingling warmth in her chest was there every time. She knew she shouldn't be thinking like this-- feeling like this-- but she just couldn't help it. She hoped that didn't make her some kind of creep. It was teenage hormones or something, right?
That night had been the first time in months that Shauna had made Jeff drive her straight home from a party without letting him touch her. For once, she didn't feel as resentful of Jackie. She didn't need to kiss Jeff, because she already had the taste of strawberry lipgloss on her tongue as she drifted to sleep.