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“Probably not.” Mandy shook her head.

Mom looked at Isa.

“She’s wearing tennis shoes.” Isa was never able to keep a secret from any parental figure—Mandy was surprised she lasted as long as she had. Probably because the topic had never come up.

“Oh, Amanda.” Disappointment dripped from Mom’s voice—a sound Mandy was extremely used to.

“Mom, you said this wasmyevent and I could do whatever I wanted.” Those were the exact words Mom had used.

“ ‘Within reason.’ Tennis shoes arenotreasonable. And I still don’t thinkthatis the same dress.”

“Well, it is, and I do. And it’smyevent.”

With a glance at Isa, Mom tried once more. “Help me out here.”

“I tried to tell her.” Which was true, and likely another reason Isa picked out those hideous earrings, since Mandy ignored her opinion about her footwear.

“Perhaps you can put on those holiday party shoes for pictures,” Mom reasoned. “I’m sure Isa’s mom would appreciate it too.” Mom would be sending all the pictures to Isa’s mom since she had to work and couldn’t be there.

“I’ll think about it.” Which meant she absolutely would not be thinking about it at all.

Mom huffed—most likely realizing she wasn’t winning this one—then closed the door.

Mandy jumped up, grabbing a tube of Viciously Vamp lipstick from her makeup table, and applying another coat. It was Mandy’s night, and she wasnotgoing to let her mother ruin it.

“Oh, good idea.” Isa reached over, pulling a tube of sparkly lip gloss from her clutch.

“Lip gloss makes kissing really sticky.” Mandy had purposely not used it when she applied Isa’s makeup, instead opting for a soft pink that complemented her skin tone, but Isa loved her lip gloss. Especially the kind that smelled and tasted like bubble gum.

Isa scrunched her nose. “I don’t even know if I want to kiss Justin.”

“Ugh. Come on, Isa. You’ve got to get your first kiss over with at some point.”

“I told you, I’m not sure I’m into Justin, you know?”

“Does it matter?” For Mandy it mattered—totally andcompletely. She couldn’t kiss just anyone, because anyone she did kiss would also be the recipient of her heart. But maybe it would be different for Isa. They had talked about it only in the hypothetical sense before, and tonight it could be a reality for Isa.

“It matters.”

Mandy shrugged. “Fine. But if you do think you want to kiss him, trust me and wipe the lip gloss off first.”

Isa turned back to the mirror, applied another thick coat of the shiny gloss, and made a loud smack as she puckered her lips.

Mandy handed her lipstick to Isa.

Isa tipped her head to the side. “You could just carry your own purse.”

“Or you could hold this for me, so I don’t have to.” Mandy batted her eyelashes.

Isa let out a huff and took the tube, making a show of dropping it into her clutch.

Mandy kissed the air in response—knowing Isa didn’t really care about carrying Mandy’s things, she was just annoyed with her about all the kissing talk.

As soon as Isa buckled up the straps on her heels, they each took one last look in Mandy’s mirrored closet doors and went downstairs for pictures. Usually, Mom would have them pose in front of the fireplace, but this time, she immediately ushered them out to the backyard—where she’d had the gardeners plant fresh seasonal flowers just for the occasion. She also had the lawn mowed and the hedges trimmed, and did she have the fountain bleached? It looked brighter than the last time Mandy had been back there. Granted, it had been a while. The yard was more for aesthetics than it was for anything else. Just like inside Mandy’s house, the outside always had to look picture-perfect,or magazine-ready, as her mother called it. As a designer, Mom couldn’t ever be off her game. Mandy hated how everything always had to look immaculate.

The yard—just like the house—was too stuffy for Mandy. As stuffy as the outdoors could be, she supposed. The new flowers were pretty and had Mandy itching to go back inside to get her paints instead of going to a dance. But they would probably be just as inspirational tomorrow after she woke up.

Mom had the camera strapped around her neck and held it off to the side in one hand. “So this is the look, huh? No other shoes? Not even for pictures?”