The Eighth Chapter - Calliope Strumm

The Eighth Chapter - Calliope Strumm by BrInG iT oN... aLL oR nOtHiNg

(Sorry for Horrid Set, Hopefully Bio will make up for it.)

"Calliope, can you just try this on for me?" Mrs. Strumm said, holding up a lacy nightgown. Calliope was trying to pack for the sleepover she was going to tonight, but her mother wanted to help. Calliope took a deep breath and said,

"Mother, I am perfectly fine in the clothing department. I have a pair of pajamas on right now and that is what I am going to wear. End of discussion."

"But Callie,this will look wonderful with your hair ...-"

"Mother, please." Calliope closed her very neatly packed bag, emphazing the fact that she was done with the conversation. She walked out to the mirror in the hallway and checked herself over. She was going to have to look just right for this, or else she could probably say goodbye to her high school social status, if it wasn't already completely out the door.

She was wearing her favorite pair of orange-y salmon floaty shorts and a plain white tank with a pair of cozy Steve Madden moccasins. Her wild red hair was pulled into a slightly frizzy high pony, and a pair of contact lenses were in her eyes instead of her usual glasses.

"Mom, I'm leaving now. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon, kay?"

"Okay darling. Have fun!"

"I'll try Mom. I really will."

Calliope closed the door and turned on her slightly out-of-date iPod. She flipped to her most recently bought album, Circus. For a bookworm, Calliope had a good sense of what music was in or out. She pressed the play button softly with her fingertip and let the music run through her ears...

"I'm a put-on-a-show kinda girl-" Calliope hummed, bobbing her head slightly and walking a little more confidently through the busy traffic-filled streets. She did a little twirl and her hair came loose, and funnily enough, Callie didn't care. She was too absorbed in her music.

"Feel the adrenaline movin' through my veins-" Calliope started singing, jumping up and down. She ran through the streets, dancing and singing and enjoying herself. She found herself laughing and dancing with complete strangers, including a little old doorman with a little coat and cap, who laughed and patted Callie on the top of her head. She continued singing when she finally found the building she was looking for. She frantically pulled another black hair elastic out of her pocket and twisted it around her now fully frizzed out mane, trying to make it look normal. She looked at herself in the mirror once again.
Her tank top that had once been tucked in artfully under her shorts was now untucked and swaying freely. The shorts had fallen down a bit and showed a little tighty whitey. So that's why those boys had been staring at her behind! And the backs of her moccasins were pressed down by Callie's ankles. She looked like quite a mess, but oh well. She still had her entire collection of YSL Lip Markers and an outfit for school the next day, and that was all that mattered, right? Calliope went up to the man standing by the Elevator of Ellie's building.

"Um, sir, I need to get the Young residence" Calliope said, her voice breaking on the last syllable. "Wow, am I really that nervous?" She thought, wiping her hand across her forehead. It was wet, very very wet. Sweat. "Yes," she thought again, "I really AM that nervous."

DING!

Calliope froze. The elevator doors opened to a gloriously decorated hallway, with several doorways.

"Take a right at the end, and look for 27B." The elevator guy said, as the elevator doors closed again. Calliope just stood there, staring at the hallway. "What am I supposed to do?" One side of her questioned. "Go in there and show yourself! Don't be such a baby. Get it over with already!" The other side argued. It was almost like one of those cartoons with the imaginary angel and devil on Calliope's shoulders, only worse.

The angel and devil conversed, giving Calliope a huge headache, when she finally decided to go with the devil. Just get it over with already. What's the point of just hanging around when it only makes the stress level worse? Calliope nearly stomped to 27B, and rang the doorbell. Melody opened the door. Calliope sighed in relief. Thank God it wasn't Ellie, or Ellie's mom or dad or something. That would have been the road to disaster.

"Oh, hey! We were just, setting up a surprise for you," Melody said, with a smile. Calliope heard some giggling in the other room. Were they going to do some mean prank, like the girls at the last school?

Calliope followed Melody into Ellie's massive princess bedroom, where there was a pink spa chair, and boxes and boxes and boxes of Calliope's worst enemy.

MAKEUP.

Ellie introduced herself first, "Hey, I'm Ellie. You must be Calliope."

Then Isabelle, "Hi! I'm Isabelle, and I'll be doing your lips! Oops, not THAT way, of course, but I'll be making them over, you know?" Wow, Isabelle must have had a couple Red Bulls or something, Calliope thought, as she smiled to herself.

"So, just sit down, close your eyes, and prepare to be beautifyed!" Ellie said, as she picked up a dangerous looking weapon sort of thing. Calliope flinched, and all three girls laughed.

"Callie, it's just an eyelash curler. We'll tell you if something is going to hurt or not. Nice PJs by the way. La Garconne?" Melody asked.

"In your face, Mom." Calliope said in her head as she reclined into the pink plush spa chair. "I really hope this doesn't hurt."

An hour and a half and 6 trunkfulls of makeup later, Calliope stared at the girl in the mirror.

Calliope gasped out loud. The girl in the mirror. She was gorgeous. It couldn't be. But it was. It was Calliope. It was a different Calliope, though. Not the one everyone was used to. This new Calliope's hair was long and vivid red, but it was tame, and super-pin straight, and her electric green eyes were surrounded with dark gray shadow, making the green pop more than they ever did. And the skin tone was perfectly even, and the lips were the prettiest shade of neutral pink she had ever seen.
"Wow." was all she could say out loud. But on the inside, a million words were screaming.

"Now lets get this party started!" Izz squealed, and Circus started playing once more.

"Maybe, just maybe, I can fit in somewhere this year." Calliope thought, as she danced on the white furry rug.

And the other girls knew she was the next Pretty.

(Sorry, this was kind of corny. But I felt like making a set.)