“She’s getting prettier, honey,” Peri called back, smiling menacingly until Kitty retreated to her room. She rolled her eyes at Odilie and Odilie rolled them back. “None of her beeswax.”

When Odilie got some light Botox on her forehead, Peri did it with her, to show her that she needn’t be afraid. They slept together in Odilie’s bed, ensuring that they didn’t crease their faces too much twenty-four hours afterward.

Peri helped Odilie decide on a new hairstyle, new blond highlights. She flinched with Odilie when the stylist chopped off five inches, giving Odilie a sharp bob. “But God, we can see your angles already,” Peri murmured, running her fingers through the wet hair.

They went shopping at the mall in Springwood, two towns over, the luxury one with the Neiman Marcus. They bought pricey makeup from the counters, clothes from designers Odilie had never heard of. Peri told Odilie to get a size smaller than she normally would, to fit her goal weight, to give her motivation.

“There is no way I’m fitting into any of this. Ever,” Odilie countered, tugging up the three hundred dollar jeans that barely went over her thighs. Afterward, when they were in Peri’s Alfa Romeo, she handed Odilie the Trifecta, as she called them: a pack of cigarettes, sugar-free Red Bull and an orange bottle of Ritalin. “How do you think I can stand any of this?” she said, waving her hand in the air, at what Odilie wasn’t even sure. “We all need artificial pick-me-ups. Thank me later, babe,” Peri murmured, zooming out of the parking lot, one hand on the steering wheel, lighting a cigarette with the other.

Later, when they were back at Odilie’s apartment, sprawled on her bed, Odilie drinking, and gagging, on the Red Bull, she turned to Peri. “Why is your boyfriend letting us spend so much of his money?”

Peri walked to the window, opened it, poked her head out and lit another cigarette, blowing smoke into the summer sky. She waited one more exhale before she turned around, answered Odilie. “It’ll benefit him in the long run. Don’t worry about that.” And before Odilie could question what that meant, Peri lunged back into the bed, cigarette high in the air and grabbed the can of Red Bull, splashed some vodka from the handle on the bedside table into it, took a swig from the can and handed it back. “Cheers! You look incredible.”

And Odilie, she felt incredible, too.

10

VERA

Present day

Pregnant Joanie has written a book, some kind of self-help tome, and she wants me at the party.