Doreen by Ilana Manaster

“You’re going to give me a piece of your mind?”
    Just then they heard a knock at the door. “Speak of the angel,” Heidi said with an ironic curtsey as she crossed the room to open the door. Biz collapsed on the armchair, her forehead creased with worry.
    Heidi gasped. “Doreen! Oh my god, what happened to you?” Biz rushed to the door to see what the matter was, and when she caught sight of Doreen, she, too, cried out in surprise. But Doreen accepted their shock with a smile.
    â€œMay I come in?” she asked softly.
    â€œOf course!” Biz said, stepping aside. Open-mouthed, the two roommates watched Doreen walk into the room and take a delicate seat on the sofa.
    â€œAren’t you going to close the door?” Doreen asked with a light laugh.
    Overnight, the girl had transformed. No longer the awkward, lumpy person from the day before, Doreen was lithe and graceful. Her patchy skin had become smooth and lustrous and the frizz had gone out of her hair, replaced with gorgeous black curls. She blinked up at them, staring through long lashes with her piercing violet eyes: an exact replica of the girl in the picture Biz had touched up the previous evening.
    â€œWell, I’m here to be outfitted,” Doreen said. She stood up and spun around. “Do you have a vision, Heidi?”
    Regaining her composure, Heidi broke into a wide smile. This was going to work! Even the same army-green knit dress from the day before looked great on her. “Doreen, you look wonderful. Really. Let’s get you into some clothes, dear. Biz, close your mouth.”
    Doreen smiled with her strawberry lips and let Heidi lead her into the bedroom. Biz stood frozen in her pajamas, unsure of what she had just seen.
    â€œA vision,” said Biz, shaking her head in disbelief.

“It wouldn’t be lying, would it, if I didn’t mention certain things about my past?” asked Doreen. They’d managed to keep the conversation light for most of the walk to the cafeteria, but now their destination was in sight and Heidi could practically hear the sound of Doreen’s heart beating.
    Heidi had some misgivings herself—they might be rushing things along a bit, but it was only lunch and they had to start somewhere. And the girl looked awesome. They’d chosen a simple sundress from Heidi’s own closet that made her look simultaneously girlish and sexy, nothing like the high school disaster from the night before. Heidi did not know how Doreen had managed it, but she felt confident that her own influence bore much of the responsibility for the transformation.
    â€œI wouldn’t want to make something up. Or should I? I don’t know. Do I need some sort of story?”
    â€œNo need, my dear,” said Heidi reassuringly. “Your family is a known quantity around here. Everyone remembers Addison, and though Biz is strange, she is acceptable because of her name. Keeping your home life to yourself will only make you seem appealingly mysterious. That’s what I’ve done. I have never told a single lie about myself or my upbringing—I have simply kept mum. Reticence implies grandness, Doreen. You’ll see.” It was a lot for Heidi to admit. She hadn’t said anything specific, of course, but it was so unlike her to make even the vaguest reference to her modest background to anyone. She would admit that and more to Doreen if she would only ask. But the girl was too caught up in her own story to bother with Heidi’s.
    â€œI’m sure you’re right.” Doreen squeezed Heidi’s hand. “Oh, thank you so much for everything.”
    No matter , thought Heidi. There would be time .
    â€œHere goes nothin’,” said Doreen.
    â€œNoth ing ,” said Heidi.

    â€œNow it’s time for everyone’s favorite back-to-school game, who got a nose job! I can’t help but notice something different about your face,