“Tell me everything I missed last night,” Eros said. “I spent most of the night solving romantic woes. God, I forgot how messed up teenagers can be. It was glorious!”
“Talking of romantic woes…” I began. “I might need your help sooner rather than later.”
I told Eros everything in detail, from the moment I first saw Marco to the kiss at midnight. He was hooked on every word.
Eros held his hands to his chest and sighed deeply, like he’d just finished watching Titanic. “Helen, this is one of the most romantic things I’ve ever heard.”
“I guess. It’s just annoying that he still hasn’t emailed me.”
“Um, Helen? It’s been less than twenty-four hours,” he said. “And even if you never hear from him again, just think about the moments you’ll treasure for ever. You’ve probably had the best first kiss that any teenager in history will ever have. And I should know!”
Eros had a point: gorgeous masked stranger, fireworks at midnight and a kiss that made me fizz like a bottle of pop. This story was almost too romantic to be true.
A full day had passed since the party, and Dad was none the wiser. If Aphrodite was going to terrorize me for borrowing her dress, she would have done it by now.
But, as I went downstairs for breakfast, guess who called me up to her room?
“Helen? Upstairs, please.”
I gulped and made my way to the attic.
Aphrodite sat at her marble dressing table brushing her hair (for the hundredth time that morning, probably). “You are a fool to think I wouldn’t detect the scent of mortals the minute I stepped in the house,” she said. “Or notice that you stole a priceless dress. The audacity!”
I fidgeted uncomfortably, because she was right. I did think I could get away with it.
“I hope you don’t have any plans today,” she said. “Because you and I are going to be very busy.”
Oh gosh. Whatever she had planned would be a lot worse than the mountain of French homework I’d left until the last minute.
“Well, tomorrow I’m back at school, so I need to finish my—”
Aphrodite lifted her palm to silence me. “Helen, please. I’m asking nicely but you do not have any say in the matter,” she said. “Unless you want me to tell Father about your … misdemeanours?”
I shook my head. She was blackmailing me! Furious as I was, there was nothing I could do about it. Not unless I wanted to deal with traffic-light hair again.
“Wise choice. I’ve seen Father’s temper reduce grown men to quivering wrecks. Now, sit.”
My heart raced while I imagined the terrible punishments she had lined up for me. After all, that cockatoo thing she did with my hair? That was for fun.
“Let me fetch my tools,” she muttered before leaving the room.
TOOLS?! Even Aphrodite must know that you can’t go around torturing people for stealing dresses (priceless vintage or not).
She came back in the room with several boxes full of tubs, creams and cloths. Aphrodite was not planning on harming me. But honestly? What I spent all day doing should be reviewed by the UN Convention of Torture.
Aphrodite needed me to test out a skincare line she’s been working on for the past few months. That explained why she was always out of the house, then. As she’s not allowed to test it on rabbits and puppies, I had to be the guinea pig.
“I have centuries of beauty expertise, Helen. And it’s going to waste!” she said, rubbing gloopy white lotion on my face.
While Aphrodite droned on about the ingredients, I checked my email inbox for the fiftieth time that day. Still no word from Marco.
“This product will blitz blackheads, zap zits and make your skin glow like you’ve spent a week in a Swiss spa,” she said. “That’s if I’ve cracked the formula.”
“If?!”
“Honestly, the world has never seen a product like this. And once the formula is perfect, every man, woman and child on the globe will kill to get their hands on this stuff. Imagine it! One product that will cure any skin ailment. It’ll make me fabulously wealthy of course, but I’m not in it for the money. Everyone will have no choice but to recognize my beautifying powers. Once again, I’ll be the world’s most famous beautician.”
“Isn’t that getting a bit close to breaking the rules?”
Aphrodite waved her hands dismissively. “Don’t you see, Helen? The rules are there to protect mortals from harm,” she said. “But I’ll be using my powers to help them.”
She stood back. “The lotion appears to be taking well to your skin. But do let me know if you experience any itching, burning, redness, flakiness, scales, that sort of thing.”
Crap. There was a very real chance I’d start my first school day of the new year with an allergic reaction.
That wasn’t all Aphrodite had in store for me. She planned on going global with this wonder cream and needed my help to do it.
I spent the rest of the day downloading video-editing software, setting up a webcam and creating a YouTube channel. Which she totally could have done by herself if she wasn’t giving herself a manicure.
Aphrodite clapped with delight once the page was all set up. “I’m going to call it Aphrodite’s Beauty Parlour. I simply can’t wait to get started.”
“I simply don’t care. Can I go now?”
“You may. Oh, and Helen?” she added as I got up to escape. “This is our little secret. I’d like to keep this project quiet until it’s ready to dazzle.”
Whatever. Like I’d be promoting her silly videos for her anyway.
I groaned as the alarm clock beeped on my phone. I’d gotten used to lie-ins over the last couple of weeks. Getting up early again was going to be a struggle. I pulled the duvet over my head (so warm! So cocoon-like!) and allowed myself a little extra time in bed.
So much had changed since pre-Christmas. I’d thrown my first house party, had my first kiss and was waiting for my first potential boyfriend to email me back – although with every minute that went by that seemed less and less likely.
Would my new air of maturity be obvious to everyone else at school? Dad hadn’t noticed, but I’d have to turn into a scarecrow before he’d notice anything different about me.
I wandered bleary-eyed into the bathroom and hopped into the shower. Then I remembered. The lotion on my face! My skin wasn’t burning and it appeared to be flake-free. I wiped the condensation off the bathroom mirror and looked back at my reflection.
My skin was fine. More than fine, actually. It looked great. Maybe Aphrodite was on to something with her wonder lotion? Or maybe kissing was good for my complexion?
My friends at school noticed it, too.
“Seriously, Helen, what have you used on your face?” Noor said in the lunch queue. “Foundation? Powder? What?!”
“Nothing new. Just a good night’s sleep, I guess?”
There was no point in telling them about Aphrodite’s lotion. They’d only want to try it, and Aphrodite had sworn me into secrecy.
“Must be the glow of luuurve,” Yasmin said.
It had been three days since the party and Marco still hadn’t emailed me back. Like I needed to be reminded.
“Have you heard back from Mystery Marco?” Daphne asked.