Rouge

“I was everywhere,” he says. “All around you. I was the air you breathed and I was the ocean you swam in. I was the breeze that came through the window and lifted the sheets where you slept.”

resting bitch face,

Well, Beauty can be scary sometimes, it can take your breath away. Maybe that’s what’s happening to Tad.

If Tom talks, he really only wants to talk about two things: my Beauty and how Mother is evil. A terrible person, Belle. A vile bitch queen.

If Tom talks, he really only wants to talk about two things: my Beauty and how Mother is evil. A terrible person, Belle. A vile bitch queen.

“No, Belle.” And the words are like a slap. My face stings with it. For a minute, Mother looks cruel. It feels like her beauty was only a disguise. This thin, hard mouth, these flashing eyes, this jaw of stone—this is the truth of her face

“What sort of journey?” I ask.

She looks at me like what a question. “The only journey that matters in the end, Daughter of Noelle.”

“Retinol?” I whisper.

“The soul. A journey of the soul, of course.”

“What sort of journey?” I ask.

She looks at me like what a question. “The only journey that matters in the end, Daughter of Noelle.”

“Retinol?” I whisper.

“The soul. A journey of the soul, of course.”

But she did go the way of roses.”

She’s beautiful in a way that destroys me a little.