Diana, Age 14

The moment Mr. Sanborn starts passing back test papers at the end of class, Diana knows she's in trouble. The test took place in the week before opening night of Romeo and Juliet , and she didn't study nearly as much as she should have.

The instant her paper touches her desk, Diana flips it over so no one, not even herself, can see her score. Carefully, she turns over one corner and glances at the grade.

Her heart plummets.

She's failed. Again.

The moment the bell rings, Diana rushes out of class, trying to hide her test away in her binder as she walks. But not looking up as she walks brings her to crash into another student, spilling her books all over the floor.

"Jesus, Barbie, watch where you're going," the student complains. It's Talon Beckholder, one of the biggest jerks in the school.

Gritting her teeth, Diana kneels to collect her belongings. She's not going to apologize to him, not when he makes a point of acting so obnoxious all the time.

Just as she's reaching for her fallen math test, Talon snatches it up, smirking.

"Not doing too well, are you?" He asks mockingly. "Looks like you're one Barbie who's not going to be a doctor, scientist, or astronaut. Better get used to getting down on your knees in front of guys." He tosses her paper on the ground and saunters off.

Cheeks burning with humiliation, Diana grabs her paper off of the floor. As she shoves it into her binder, she can sense someone else's eyes on her. She looks up to see Jane Sammael- no, she's using Morgan as her last name now- watching while she exchanges books at her locker only a few feet away. She'd probably witnessed the entire scene, Diana realizes. God, what Jane, math prodigy extraordinaire, must think of her failing a simple algebra test. She must seem truly pathetic.

Extremely embarrassed, Diana hurries away.

The rest of the week doesn't improve, with her English teacher assigning a spring project that comprises of a fifth of their overall grade, and the introduction of a science unit she can't understand no matter how many times she tries. On Friday before classes begin, when she hears Trixie and Honey planning to hang out on the weekend without even considering including her, Diana finally gives in to the impulse to cry. She retains sufficient control to prevent her tears till she enters the girls' restroom, blessedly empty, but then lets them roll freely down her face.

After crying for several minutes, Diana realizes she's not alone in the bathroom, as she initially thought she was. She can hear all sorts of muffled clicks and snaps, and after searching her mind for several moments, she places the noises as cosmetic compacts and tubes being opened and closed.

Reaching for the handle of the stall, Diana inhales and exhales deeply. She doesn't want to face anyone else right now, but she needs to make a cold compress to prevent her eyes from swelling, or else everyone will know she's been crying.

Steeling herself, Diana rounds the corner to the sinks, then stops in surprise. Standing at the sinking, applying her makeup, is none other than Jane Morgan.

Jane catches her eyes in the mirror, and Diana is forcibly reminded of the time she ignored Jane at the beauty salon.

"Morning," Jane says, briefly pausing her eye shadow application. She raises an eyebrow when Diana doesn't respond.

With a deep breath, Diana takes a paper towel from the dispenser, and stands at the sink next to Jane, fixing a cold compress.

"Are you all right?" Jane inquires cautiously.

"Just a little bit of the blues," Diana replies, forcing her tone to be light. Talking to Jane still makes her nervous.

Jane turns to face her. "I really meant my apology, you know. It was wrong of me to put you through all of that grief during the play. I'm sorry."

Diana ducks her head. "I believe you." With rapid movements, she applies to cold compress over her eyes and waits for a few minutes. Jane does not speak again, but is watching Diana when she removes the compress.

"I don't think paper towels are going to do much good," Jane says frankly. She gestures to her designer makeup bag. "But I could try to give your face a little bit of work, if you'd like."

For a moment, Diana hesitates. Jane has been awfully rude to her throughout play preparations, but she's apologized several times now. "Okay," Diana agrees. "Just one thing."

"Sure," Jane says, readying her tools.

"Would you tell me what you're doing when you're putting on my makeup?" Diana requests sheepishly. "I don't know, and I'd really like to learn."

"No problem," Jane says with a smile.

For a moment, Diana only stares in amazement. It's been such a long time since she's seen Jane smile, she's forgotten how kind Jane looks when she actually does.

Jane finishes cleaning off her brushes with a makeup remover towelette, and selects a tube from her makeup bag. "Skin luminizer," she explains. "It's not a highlighter, or a primer, or concealer, but sort of like a combination of all three. It's for days when your skin looks dull."

"Will the shade look okay?" Diana asks anxiously.

"We should be fine, as we're both very fair-skinned. Just a little bit of this stuff, and no one will ever be able to tell you were crying." She lightly dots all over Diana's face with the liquid, then uses a sponge to blend.

"And now for concealer." Jane dabs beneath Diana's face with a different sponge.

"That color looks awfully bright for something that's meant to blend into the skin," Diana ventures, eyeing the salmon-colored cream dubiously.

"It's to cancel out your dark circles," Jane explains. "Don't worry, Diana. I know what I'm doing when it comes to makeup." She lifts a white eye shadow crayon. "Tilt your head back. I'm going to use this as a wash across your eyes."

"For a base, right?" Diana queries.

"Right," Jane tells her as she fills in Diana's eyelids. "I hate cream eye shadow primers. I've used Urban Decay, Too-Faced, even Tom Ford, but it never works well, always creasing and flaking by the end of the day. I swear, it saps the color out of the eye shadow, too. But a shimmery white like this will really make your eye shadow pop."

She leans back to consider Diana. "Do you want to go for a bold eye look, or something simple, like neutrals?"

"Bold," Diana says instantly. She's weary of being the same old predictable Diana, who fails tests and quietly accepts that her friends ignore her. She wants something different for once.

Jane proceeds with the eye shadow, and then applies mascara. "I'm not going to try coloring your brows," she explains. "I'm blonde, you're brunette, so I don't have a matching pencil. I suppose I could use black eye shadow, but I've never lined black eyebrows before, and I don't want to risk ruining your makeup."

"Probably for the best," Diana agrees.

She dusts several powders over Diana's face. "Light pink blush, just to give your face some color. It's a tea rose shade, so it's not wild and won't clash with your eye shadow, and I have just the lipstick to match. Highlighter, to bring in some light to your face- there are also liquid and cream highlighters, but I've always thought the powder kinds work best. And now, just a plain translucent powder to set it all in place."

Diana turns away from Jane and sneezes several times.

Rummaging in her makeup train case, Jane withdraws a Burberry lipstick and its matching lip liner, both still in their wrappers.

"Hold still when I use the liner to fill in your lips," Jane commands, tearing the shrink wrap from the pencil.

"'Fill in'?" Diana repeats blankly. "Isn't lip liner, supposed to, you know, outline?"

"I prefer to line, then fill in the lips entirely." Jane carefully colors Diana's lips. "I think it makes the lipstick last longer."

She draws the lipstick across Diana's lips several times, slowly, ensuring the coat is even. "You can keep this lipstick and liner when I'm done."

"Are you sure?" Diana questions. "They look so expensive."

Jane waves a hand dismissively. "It's fine. Even if I didn't have three other colors exactly like this one, I mostly wear liquid lipsticks these days, anyway." She nods at Diana. "You're done," she says with satisfaction.

Diana turns and stares into the mirror in shock. Not only does she look at least seventeen, but she also looks sophisticated, cutting edge. Even the usually unflattering fluorescent lights of the bathroom can't find a flaw. The best part is her eyes, though. Iridescent silvery white shadow starts at the inner corners, fading into the palest lavender, which gradually darkens across her lids till the outer corner, forming a gradient of violet across her eyes. Sleek silver eyeliner completes the look, adding an urbane, almost dangerous, final touch.

Diana looks stylish. Tough. Like she could be the heroine in the action movies who fights the villains while wearing a skin tight leather outfit and stiletto heels. She really needed something like this- not makeup necessarily, but something to transform her, something to give her confidence.

Turning to Jane, who's already started clean her brushes again, Diana gives her a winning smile.

"Thank you so much, Jane," Diana says gratefully.

"No problem," Jane replies casually. "And you know, Diana, if you ever wanted someone to tutor you in math, I wouldn't mind meeting you a few times a week."

Though, the unsolicited offer raises Diana's suspicions, she can't help but be both impressed and appreciative. "Really?" She asks cautiously.

"Really," Jane responds, with a genuine smile. The expression, one of legitimate, untainted happiness, seems nearly foreign on her features.

And then, in a move that takes both Jane and Diana herself by surprise, Diana wraps her arms around Jane in a tight hug.