For the next few hours, Holly was in her absolute element. All talk and even thought of Joe was out of sight, and she practically flew around the room creating a curl here, a perfect amount of lipstick there, and generally acting like our own personal stylist.

Of course Amber let her try out whatever she wanted - Holly was probably the luckiest girl in the world, anything she did was bound to look amazing.

And true to affinity, it did. Amber had eventually picked out the peach shift dress Holly had given her, and with her pin curls and lightly shadowed eyes, she looked the true meaning of elegant.

"You look just like Daisy a'la The Great Gatsby A, you just need one of those feathers in your hair and some pearls - oh actually..." she said, diving into the massive tool box she'd bought with her. She brought out a pearl necklace, and ran over to Amber. "Perfect." She said, admiring her work. Amber was beaming, and kept looking at herself in the mirror, touching something up every now and then. Who was she trying to look so perfect for?

Kat was visiting her Aunt and Uncle in the city today, and would be joining us later, which meant that next on Holly's hit list was...

I saw her advancing, brushes and makeup in hand. I quickly dodged past her and grabbed my makeup bag and dress from my bed.

"You'd better get on with your own makeup Hols, I'll do my own!" I backed into the bathroom and locked the door. I stood still for a second, taking in the wonderful quiet that was suddenly around me. I could hear dull murmurs of Holly's incessant talking, and Amber's occasional laugh. I loved my friends, but every now and then I sought the peace and solitude I'd been so used to.

I hung up my dress on the back of the door, still in the bag it had been in since I'd bought it on Wednesday. I hadn't got it out since. I half knew that if I did, I would change my mind about it instantly, and go running back to the shop. I was regretting choosing it.

No one else had seen it yet, I'd made sure of that.

I looked at myself in the mirror, trying to work out exactly what to do with my face. I sighed and grabbed the makeup removal wipes off the side - best to start with a blank canvas,

It was strange, seeing my bare face in the stark light of the tiny bathroom. Usually I immediately covered it back up again with the same black eye makeup that meant Holly occasionally teased me as 'panda eyes' about. Today though, I resisted the temptation. I looked at my face. Green eyes. The lightest hint of freckles around my nose - which I usually covered up without a second thought. My dark eyebrows clashes with my dyed red hair, giving away the game. I gathered my hair with my hand and pulled it to the back of my head, exposing my face even more. I looked again.

Hmm. Not sure about having my ears out.

Using my other hand I pulled a section of hair over each ear, causing a few shorter curls to come loose. They dangled at the front of my face. I'd let my hair dry naturally after my shower as I'd watched Holly work her magic with Amber, something I never usually did. Surprisingly, I quite liked it this way. I tied the rest of my hair up and put it into a loose bun - I'd sort it out a bit better later.

I was determined to try something different. I don't know...re-invent myself? Ugh I sounded like a teen rom-com. But it was true. I'd only been here just over a month, but it had been the most life-changing month of my life, there was no arguing with that. All the dark makeup, messy birds nest hair and perpetually grumpy complexion was a reminder of my past. It sounded ridiculous, but I needed this change.

I'd printed off nearly twenty pictures in secret in the computer suite last night. Celebrities I'd never heard of, glamorous models, trying to get some inspiration. I looked at one, crumpled from where I'd stashed it into my makeup bag. The woman's face meant nothing to me, but I tried to study her makeup. The image was too pixelated to see anything properly. I chucked the picture in the bin and looked around at the makeup bags and pictures surrounding me. I laughed. Who would have thought I'd turn into such a girl?

I looked at my face again. But I wasn't 'such a girl' - not in the way Cassie or even Holly was. I was me, Rainbow Arcus, the girl with the ridiculous name and the mind-reading ability, and for once, I had to admit, that sounded a pretty cool person to be. Tonight, I would be me - and I would show it.

---

 "I'll get it!" I heard Holly shout. Oh god, the boys must be here. I'd spent the last five minutes avoiding leaving the bathroom, but now there were boys around I knew Holly would want me out there so she could attempt to set me up. I heard a couple of deeper voices join in with Holly's high pitched giggle, and sure enough...

"Rainbow! Come on you must be done in there!" One of the boys said something quietly and I heard them all laugh. I held my breath and opened the door quickly, stepping out into the room. The laughter stopped abruptly.

"What?" I said quickly, as four pairs of eyes stared at me. I'd double, triple, quadruple checked my reflection in there. There was nothing weird on my face or in my hair. Was there?

"Rainbow..you look..." Amber started, but stopped. Now I was really paranoid.

"If there's something wrong you better tell me now!" I said half laughing.

"No...there's not. R, you look amazing!" Holly smiled.

"You look great." Duncan stepped towards me, holding something out.

"What's this?" I asked. He took my hand and slid it onto my wrist. I looked at the white rose that now adorned my arm.

"I didn't know what colour dress you'd be wearing, so I thought I'd play it safe with white. I hope that's ok." He looked tentatively at me, his eyes giving away his worry. I smiled in what I hoped was a reassuring way.

"It's lovely...I don't know what it is but it's lovely!" I laughed.

"It's a corsage! You're supposed to buy them for your date for stuff like this...I googled it." He laughed. "I'm glad you like it anyway."

There was a knock at the door again. Amber jumped up to answer it and Holly immediately pounced on me with an open bag of crisps.

"Please eat some of them Rainbow. I'll eat them all if not and I do NOT want a food baby tonight of all nights!" I took a handful. "Well if you're offering!" Said Darren from behind her, and reached over her shoulder to grab half the packet in his hand.

"I didn't actually ask you!" Holly said, trying to grab them back, but they were gone in a second. Darren licked his lips. "Sorry Holly, snooze you lose!"

"You didn't want them all anyway!" I laughed.

"Rainbow - it's for you." Amber had shut the door to and was facing me. She quickly darted away as I went towards her. Who was at the door for me? Duncan was already here, and Amber could have let Kat in herself. I opened the door to see the back of someone's head. A tall someone's head. With dark brown hair. And I suspected, when he turned around, ridiculously blue eyes.

I was right.

"Sam?"

"Hi Rai..."

He trailed off, leaving an awkward silence hanging in the air between us. I filled it as quickly as possible.

"What do you want?" Still nothing. I sighed.

"Sorry. That came out a bit harsh. It's just..."

"You look beautiful."

I'd seen that look in his eyes before. It was the same one he'd given me when he'd told me about his Dad. Pure and raw, filled with emotion. It was a different emotion this time, not grief, but...something else. Something I knew I would see if I looked deeper into those ridiculously blue eyes.

Sam looked away. "Sorry." He muttered. "I'm staring. You just look really different." His eyes shot back up again. "In a good way! In a really good way." He smiled lightly. My heart fluttered.

"Sam..."

"I'm sorry. You probably think I've been avoiding since...that night, and since I got back from America. I've been too scared to bump into you, I couldn't face you knowing how much I hurt you that night." He wouldn't look at me directly.

"You hurt me? Sam, I destroyed your relationship and embarrassed you in front of the entire school. You'd be forgiven for never wanting to see me ever again!"

"Why would I want that?"

"Because I'm a stupid immature little girl who thought she actually had a chance at a stupid fairy tale ending." I let out a short laugh. It felt good to admit that to myself, and to him. Sam laughed too.

"I see a bright, beautiful young woman in front of me. Not just now, but always Rain." His words sent little sparks racing up and down my body. He reached out and grabbed my hand.

"Rainbow Arcus..." He stopped. He looked at the white rose on my wrist. "You've already got one." His voice had changed.

"Got what?" I said, staring at him intently.

"A date." He dropped my hand slowly.

"A...yeah...oh, yeah I do. Duncan Fletcher, he asked me earlier." Shit. "Is that why you were here?"

"No - no I just wanted to see you before the ball. It would have been more awkward to bump into each other there right?" He laughed.

"Sam you're an awful liar. And I'm not just saying that because I can read your mind." He shrugged.

"You've got me beat." There was another moment of silence. I opened my mouth to say something, but he got there first.

"Have a good evening with Duncan and your friends Rain. I'll see you around." He started to walk away.

"Sam!" He stopped. I tried to find the words. "Duncan and me - we're not a thing. I mean, we're just friends. We're only going together because Amber turned him down and offered me instead, not that I don't want to go with him, but...basically, what I'm trying to say is, he's not my first choice. But my first choice has been avoiding me and pretending I've never existed for weeks which, you know, kinda put me off asking him..." Sam smiled awkwardly. So did I, but caught myself. "Anyway, I'm going with Duncan now so...yeah."

"It's ok. I understand I've not exactly been approachable. And I should have been there for you. After all we've been through together, even though I'd only just met you, I can't help but feel there's something special about you Rain. About us. Like you're my soul mate, you're...like a sister to me."

In that moment, I swear I felt my heartbeat stop.

"A...a sister?"

"Yeah! The sister I never had. I lost my family Rain. And I'd never told anyone that. Why did I tell you? I trusted you, I saw something in you I'd never seen in anyone before, and I know that's got to mean something. Don't you?"

The brick was back. And it was a dead weight in the very pit of my stomach, the anchor on my heart.

"Yeah. It does." I couldn't bare to look at him.

"I can see you want to get back to your friends so I'll see you there - hey, maybe save me a dance?" He smiled the best smile I'd ever seen, and made my heart sink further. "And honestly Rain, you look so beautiful tonight. You look like...you." He turned and jogged off down the hall.

A sister. His soul mate - but like a sister.

I could feel my cheeks glowing red, I blinked my eyes continuously, not even giving them a chance to water. This was ridiculous. How could I have possibly believed, even for a second, that Sam was about to admit his undying love for me? Of course he saw me as a sister, how could it have been anything else?

I turned sharply and strode back into the room. Amber and Holly looked at me cautiously, trying to gage the situation.

"What did he want?" Amber asked as they both moved over. Duncan and Darren were too engrossed in watching a video on Darren's phone to pay attention to what was going on. I took a deep breath.

"He came to ask me to the Ball." Holly's eyes lit up. I shook my head. "I said I was going with Duncan, it doesn't matter, he was too late."

"His loss!" Holly smiled. "But you did the right thing. He's been such a dick to you, he doesn't deserve the honour - especially with you looking like that tonight. Honestly, I had no idea you could look so pretty!" There was a half a second gap, before "Sorry R! I didn't mean that you don't look pretty always, it's just you're a different kind of pretty tonight, you just look more natural, you look like you."

"I feel like me." I said. My mind half on other things. "I feel like me, and I feel like I want to have a good time tonight."

"I feel like that too." Said Amber, squeezing my arm. "Let's go and dance like the freaks we are."