"One milimeter closer and I set your wings on fire." Sabrina called to the boy flying outside her door.
"What are you doing in there?" He asked.
"A sacrifice to the Aztec god of death involving the blood of a virgin! Now scram before I decide to use yours!" She screamed to him.
"Ooh, kill him Bri." Sabrina turned in surprise to the voice of Gemma on her bed. "When did you get here?!" She thought of the wings comment to Puck and crossed her fingers she wouldn't have to forgetful-dust her best friend.
"Your sister let me in through the bathroom door connecting you two a little bit ago. I only arrived in time to hear the blood of a virgin comment. Need me to play some empowering Nicki Minaj?"
Sabrina smiled at the Nicki Minaj comment. "Nah, I think he's gone. Although I could always use empowering music. How you manage to constantly act like the queen of everything baffles me."
"Hun, you've got to believe you're worth it." Gemma said. "The only thing more deadly than a woman is a woman with confidence."
"Gemma."
"I'm serious! You have to walk through life prepared to step on people to get to where you want!" Gemma insisted.
"Gemma, that might work for a rich girl who has everything handed to her on a platter. No way I could pull it off. Haven't you ever heard of 'don't burn bridges you have to cross?'" Sabrina rolled her eyes.
"Oh come on Bri, you gotta be prepared to step on some toes during your lifetime. Don't put your skills down. Come on, let's start with changing your walk a little. You already have the beginnings of a queen who walks through a battlefield hips swaying. I think that should be your approach. Like you're totally cute but you could definitely kill a man."
Sabrina tossed her hair and stared at Gemma.
"Or you could go with the 'receptionist who doesn't give a shit' like in all those movies. God knows you have the stare and eyebrows, all we need is a keyboard for you to sassily type while staring people down."
That managed to get a laugh out of Sabrina.
Gemma looked up to the right as she tapped her chin with a manicured nail. She caught a glimpse of the little airplane models hanging from the ceiling.
"What on earth are those?!"
Sabrina followed her eyes. "Airplane models. This room used to be my dad's when he grew up here. I guess I never redecorated." She said dispassionately. She had kept them up when she was younger to remind herself of her missing parents, but now that they were alive and healthy, they did seem kind of stupid.
"Okay, that is not okay. No wonder I always wondered why your room was so… un-teenage girl. It was decorated by some boy decades ago. We're redecorating. Hand me some scissors."
Sabrina stood.
"Oh, and when you walk to get them, sway your hips a bit more and keep your head even. Fill your thoughts of murder and femme fatales."
Sabrina rolled her eyes but did as Gemma instructed.
"Perfect." Gemma said when Sabrina arrived to hand her the scissors. "People will be throwing themselves at your feet."
She stood on the bed and reached up, and in a few swift snips, the airplanes were no more. She tossed them in Sabrina's trash bin.
"Okay, what don't we need to fix?" She put her hands on her hips and hopped down from the bed.
"Well, the room was repainted a bit ago and I chose a color I liked." Sabrina started.
"Alright, the color stays. We'll think of a color scheme and theme based from that. Do you like chevron patterns?" Gemma cut in.
"Um, sure, chevron's fine." Sabrina said. "My furniture will stay, but we could spray paint it or something?"
"No, the blondwood's good. I'm thinking something light and airy, with coral-y pink and spring green accents? Maybe some plum…"
Sabrina honestly didn't know how to respond. She had no clue how to decorate, and Gemma seemed to be planning this out already.
"Okay." She finally said.
Gemma echoed. "Okay. So, I think I know what to do. Pink and white chevron bedspread, green pillows and plum carpet. We could get you a green bean bag or something too. Any accessories?"
"Umm… Let's hang up lights, like Christmas lights?" She added. It could look pretty cool at night.
"Ooh, yes, twinkle lights. But not the weird ones, the ones with the big bulbs that look like they belong on Pinterest. This is gonna be one massive trip to Ikea. And hopefully not too many assembly manuals."
Sabrina grinned. "Who knows, maybe you have to fill the bean bags yourself there."
"Oh, if that happens, just kill me right then and there." Gemma groaned, flinging herself onto Sabrina's bed.
Sabrina flung herself next to her and they studied the ceiling together.
"Do you ever just sort of sit somewhere and think 'I'm worth more than this'?" Gemma said.
Sabrina turned her head and watched Gemma's jaw move as she spoke. "Lots of times. Why?"
Gemma propped herself up. "Realtalk. Why? Why do we think these thought and then keep putting up with it? When does this happen?"
"I don't know." Sabrina admitted; surprised with the words that exited her mouth. "I think it after Puck plays a prank on me, or when I get harassed in some way."
Gemma trailed a finger against her brow bone, pushing her bangs out of her eyes. "Let's make a pact." She said. "Next time we think anything like that, we should take immediate action. Even if we're at school, we should. Stand up and make yourself a change."
Sabrina nodded. "No more playing nice. Or, at least as nice as I can. Stop biting our tongues when a teacher is unfair, stop fearing bringing trouble."
Gemma grinned. "Let's be bossy together."
Sabrina matched the smile. "Let's."
Gemma reached out to give her a hug. "It's time to do stuff that will get us called bitches and improve our lives."
Sabrina could smell Gemma's perfume when she returned the hug. It smelled flirty and `girly, but under it Sabrina imagined the smell of complete victory and power.