Sixth Grade, Dark Red, and Busted
Do you remember that one time you accidentally wore lipstick to school in sixth grade? No? I do.
One day, I was home alone after school, and for some reason, I was in my sister’s bathroom. I found a tube of dark red lipstick. I took it out, took the lid off, and admired it—knowing the family would be home shortly. I put the lid back on and safely placed it in the drawer, knowing exactly where it was for later.
Later that night, after everyone had gone to sleep, I snuck back into that bathroom, knowing exactly which drawer it was in. I pulled the tube of lipstick back out, carefully applying it to my lips. I remember watching myself in the mirror, thinking I was doing a pretty good job. When I was done, I put the lid back on and returned it to the drawer, so no one would be the wiser that I tried it out.
I snuck back into my bedroom and just sat there, happy with what I’d gotten away with. After a little while, I knew I had to wash it off to get some sleep before school. So, I snuck into my bathroom and scrubbed it off. At that point in my life, I had no idea what makeup remover was. I just wiped at it with a tissue. I think I scrubbed my lips for a good 10 or 15 minutes, so hard I wasn’t sure my lips would still be there. Every once in a while, I checked the mirror to see if I’d gotten it all. Eventually, I thought I had. I figured I was in the clear. I snuck back into my room, lay down, and went to sleep.
The next morning, I got up, got ready for school, and no one in the house said anything about me wearing lipstick. I thought, “Way to go, you did it!” Off to school I went.
When we got there, we sat at tables in the auditorium for breakfast, waiting for the bell. I sat down with my friends, and one of them asked if I was wearing lipstick. My heart instantly sank. I thought I’d gotten away with it. I thought it was all gone. Apparently, I was wrong. I made up some excuse about kissing my girlfriend, but looking back, no one believed me. I got up from the table, gathered my things, and hightailed it to the bathroom.
This time, I used soap and water to scrub it off. I scrubbed and scrubbed until the bell rang. I had to go to class, so I hoped and prayed I did a good enough job. To this day, I don’t know if I did or not, but I can tell you, I avoided that one friend and hoped they’d never bring it up again
