Chapter 8: Self Portrait

“What? An online friend?” Scarlett couldn’t help herself. How silly of Bell to trust a stranger on the Internet, she thought.

“Shhhh, shut up.” Bell covered Scarlett’s mouth, “It’s not like that, okay? I’ve known him for a long time, and it’s not like I just agreed to meet a total stranger. I’m not that absurd, okay? We’ve even video chatted a few times. He seems chill to me. Totally legit.”

Bell dragged Scarlett out of bed. Scarlett didn’t want to get up and go out on this date with Bell’s online friend, but Bell had left her with no options. Scarlett pulled out a casual graphic T-shirt and a pair of denim shorts from a pile of clothes on the floor and put them on in a rush.

She sat on the bed for a while and looked at Bell rummaging through her closet to find her nicest dress– the one with the floral pattern– for her all-important date. Meanwhile, Scarlett yawned and walked into the bathroom.

Bell finally found it– the dress with the flowers. It was pink, made with gossamer and slightly translucent delicate lace. The lace spread from the thighs down and showed off her long legs; it was also nipped at the waist to fit her trim figure.

“Nice choice! Not cheap, huh? That dress looks really expensive. It suits you though” Scarlett nodded her approval, admiring the dress.

“I got it from that store down the street– Self Portrait. It was almost four hundred bucks. But I’m worth it. Nothing but the best for Bell.” Bell winked at Scarlett.

Scarlett gave her a thumbs up, “Damn, look at you, Miss Moneybags!” But Scarlett was actually not that surprised to hear how much the dress cost. After all, Bell’s family were among the few in Irving City who could live on rental income for the rest of their lives.

Bell looked at Scarlett up and down and said, “It would probably look even better on you. I mean, I know I got the money, but you’re the one with the great body. Well, on second thought, it might be too tight on you. Your boobs are bigger than mine.”

Scarlett rolled her eyes at her. She would have loved to exchange clothes with her roommates as everyone else in the dorms did. But Scarlett was the only one in her dorm with her measurements. She couldn’t borrow other people’s clothes, nor could she lend her clothes out to others.

Bell sat on a chair and handed her bag of make-up to Scarlett. “Don't move!” Scarlett held up Bell’s head and carefully put eyeliner on Bell’s eyelids. Scarlett had great make-up skills, and so every time Bell had a date or an important meeting or presentation, she would enlist Scarlett for help with her make-up.

In less than 20 minutes, Bell was transformed. Now, in front of the mirror, they saw a pretty girl where Bell had once stood.

“Wow… Do we use the exact same cosmetics?” Bell looked at herself in the mirror and admired Scarlett’s make-up skills. “Thanks so much, girl! You always got my back. Anything I can get you? I definitely owe you one for this.”

“Les Petits Joueurs! Alex series! Thanks!” Scarlett blurted out without even wasting a second. “You’ve been prepared for this, huh? Deal! Next time I go to Europe…” Bell giggled.

“Alright, alright. So basically, you mean never.” Scarlett said and quickly tied her hair up into a ponytail. They were both dressed in fine clothes.

They walked onto campus hand in hand, one an enchanting beauty and the other an adorable cutie. They were eye candy for everyone on campus to see.

***

At the coffee shop, Scarlett chose a corner. She sat far away from Bell but could still see her to make sure that she was safe and enjoying herself. Scarlett sat, flipping through her magazine. A few times, she raised her eyes and found Bell and her mysterious Facebook dude chatting away. It looked like they were having a fun conversation.

“Oh, well, would you look at who it is! Scarlett, hey! What’s up?” Hey, you’re here, Scarlett!”. A familiar figure walked to Scarlett and took the seat in front of her.

It was Dan Jones, a second-year postgraduate also in the Russian department at the university. Scarlett thought of Dan as an older brother.

Scarlett shut the magazine swiftly and looked up at him. “Hey, Dan! Good to see you here”. Scarlett’s voice trembled a little bit.

She hadn’t expected to run into someone she knew at the café and had been, with full concentration, reading a list of the top sex positions that readers said they enjoyed. Thankfully, Scarlett had shut the magazine just in time– she had a quick eye. She had managed to dodge that bullet and avoid major embarrassment.

“What are you doing here?” Dan looked at her and asked. Dan looked good in his new black-framed glasses.

He was pretty popular in the department owing– he had a gentle temperament and was quite handsome, in an old-school type of way. He helped Scarlett a lot at school. For example, he would be the first to tell Scarlett about part-time gigs or competitions she might be able to enter. With his help, Scarlett had been able to do really well in her final exams, which contributed to her already high GPA.

Scarlett pointed inconspicuously to where Bell and her online beau were sitting.

Dan turned around and then looked back at Scarlett, “Oh, I see what’s going on. So, when did you become a private bodyguard to Ms. Bell, then?”

Scarlett rolled her eyes, threw the magazine onto the shelf next to her, and said, “How about you? You’re always busy, always scheming and hustling. Whatcha up to anyway? How come you got all this free time for a coffee today? Got a date, huh?”

Dan took out his phone and showed Scarlett that he had downloaded Tinder again. He said in a depressed voice, “Another date with some random girl off Tinder…”