My Half Brother - Part 7 (Patreon)

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We invited Susie to stay for dinner, and while I prepared the food, she took Julie upstairs to give her some advice and a demonstration regarding her eye-makeup, a topic where my own knowledge was rather limited. They seemed to be getting on well together because when I went upstairs to get something from my room, I could hear plenty of laughing coming from the master bedroom. Eventually, they emerged and came downstairs just as the meal was ready to be served.

I must say that my friend is very good at her job, for my younger sister might easily have been taken for a glamorous eighteen-year-old. She was wearing three shades of carefully coordinated eye shadow which, added depth to her eyes and complemented their color. She also had dark brown eyeliner, which defined her eyes, and long thick black lashes. Yet it didn't look as if it had been applied using a trowel, as it would undoubtedly have done if I'd been responsible. Her face, and particularly her eyes, seemed to glow with pleasure.

'Susie says that once I have my hair and nail extensions in place, we can come into her store one day when she's giving a demonstration. She'll teach us about the foundation and give us both a free makeover,' said Julie, fluttering her long eyelashes at me as she spoke.

'Let's not try to run before you can walk,' I said, trying to dampen her enthusiasm a little.

I then felt a wet blanket as Julie expressed her disappointment with a little girlish sigh. The only problem is that I know too many people in Wokingham and Bracknell and wouldn't want to explain why I was keeping company with a glamorous fifteen-year-old and exactly who my companion was.

Eventually, Susie was ready to leave as she planned to meet up with her new boyfriend later in the evening. I'd promised to drive her home, and we were about to get in the car when my sister appeared at the door.

'Jenny, please may I come along for the ride?' she asked in a little pleading voice.

'Come on, Jen, you can't keep your sister cooped up in the house all summer,' said Sue. 'You have to begin to trust that she's going to be alright.'

Julie looked so sweet in her dark red dress and sexy eye makeup that I couldn't bring myself to refuse her.

'Alright then, hop into the back seat, but do try and keep your head down as we drive out of the garage.

I needn't have worried. There was nobody around outside the house as we left, and indeed there was nobody around when we dropped off Sue at her home, twenty minutes later. Before she left us, we confirmed the arrangements to see her again on Sunday morning. Julie again thanked her warmly for all her help and handed over forty pounds so that Susie could purchase the necessary hairpieces. She then hopped out of the back seat and came to join me in the front.

'It's only just 8.00 pm, and there's an hour or more of daylight left,' I said. 'Would you like to come for a walk next to the Thames at Sonning? I asked. 'It's only a couple of miles out of our way.'

Julie gave me a smile that lit up the whole car.

Sonning is an unspoiled and truly picturesque historic village on the River Thames. It is an excellent antidote to the rather characterless Reading suburbs where we were living or the 1960s awfulness of Bracknell. People tend to go there just to have a quiet walk by the river or in the churchyard. There were quite a few people about that evening, including several teenage lads who gave us both the eye, although, to be honest, I think my sister attracted more admiring glances than I did. I felt a little bit overshadowed by her, and for the first time in a few years, I wished that I'd put on a dress as well. However, we weren't out talent-spotting on that occasion and so didn't give them any encouragement. We were just two sisters having an enjoyable evening walk and a chat together. We may have been brought up in separate towns and by separate parents, but we were undoubtedly now getting to know one another. I was truly growing to like my sister but was also concerned for her future.

'I'm glad that Susie is showing you how to put on your makeup, but don't you think that hair and nail extensions are going a little bit far. What if you needed to appear somewhere as Julian?' I asked.

'I'd be bound to have some notice of anything really important, and so I'd just have to take them out or trim my nails. Jen, I cannot tell you how important this is to me.' if anyone comes looking for me, just tell them that I'm away for a couple of weeks. They would be bound to understand given the circumstances.

'Alright then, I just hope you're right.'

Once again, there was nobody around when we eventually drove back to the house at 10.30 pm and put the car in the garage.

'Thank you, Jenny, for another wonderful day,' she said, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.

'But I haven't done anything much today,' I replied.

'Well, in that case, thanks for just being you,' she said and went up to the master bedroom to take off her makeup and get ready for bed.

I smiled and felt a warm glow.

It's pretty nice to have a younger sister.

It was a lovely warm, and sunny morning the next day. Julie and I were sitting on the back patio outside the kitchen, discussing what we would like to do with ourselves over a cup of coffee. Once again, she had dressed herself and used makeup with care and discretion. I was pleased that she'd not tried to repeat her glamorous look of the previous night as, without Susie's expertise, it would never have worked.

'We're going to need to buy some more food and other household supplies soon. Would it be safe for me to go out with you again, or would you prefer to do the shopping on your own?' she asked.

I didn't really relish going shopping for groceries and washing powder on my own, but we had to live.

'Alright, we can go out shopping together, but it might be better if we drove to a supermarket on the other side of Reading where there'll be less chance of you meeting any of your neighbors or school friends.'

She smiled.

'Most of our neighbors commute into Reading or London during the week, and Julian didn't really have that many school friends. However, if you're worried, there's a large 24-hour Tesco store near to Reading West railway station. Nobody that I know would be likely to go in there.'

'Good, in that case, we'll go there,' I answered, relieved that she hadn't suggested that we should drive over to Bracknell. 'Let's make a list of everything we are likely to need.'

There were a couple of people in the street outside the house as we drove off, but nobody appeared to take any notice of us. Likewise, our drive across Reading was uneventful, and nobody paid any attention to the two teenage girls who drove into the car part of the Tesco store and found themselves a trolley.

'I'm getting quite used to the convenience of having a car at my disposal.

Our shopping trip in Tescos took somewhat longer than I'd envisaged. There was no problem with the groceries, all of which we found quickly enough. The main cause of our delay was Julie's insistence on scrutinizing the cosmetics and items of female clothing on sale. In her previous life, she'd looked at these products from a distance but had never felt able to examine them, much less try them out. I put up with it for a while, feeling that it was one more experience that she would have missed, but after a quarter of an hour, I began to sigh irritably and roll my eyes if she asked my opinion, so she took the hint, chose a couple of inexpensive items for herself and we made our way to the checkouts. However, I was soon to discover out that her delaying me had actually done me a favor.

'Hello Jen, what are you doing here?' said a surprised voice from behind me in the queue.

I turned round to see Joe Stephens from my class peering down at me (he was 6ft 1in, after all).

'Hi Joe, I'm staying in Woodley for the next few weeks with my sister Julie,' I said, motioning to her who was standing in front of me in the queue and again wishing that I'd dressed a little more carefully that morning.

He nodded and smiled at her and then blushed slightly before turning back to address me.

'My family moved here a couple of months ago, but I continued going to school in Bracknell until the exams were over.'

'That's nice,' I answered lamely.

'Why is it that whenever I try to talk to a decent-looking guy, I turn into a complete idiot?'

'I'm glad that I've run into you, Jen,' he said, beginning to look a little awkward. 'A number of our classmates are planning to go out for a drink tonight to celebrate the end of school, and the beginning of the rest of our lives. We sent you a message on Facebook, but someone told me that you've been out of circulation for a while.'

'Yes, I suppose I have been busy, but I'll check out your message when I get home,' I replied, beginning to blush myself.

He hesitated for a second.

'I'm borrowing my Dad's car and have promised him not to drink any alcohol. I could give you a lift over to Bracknell tonight if you wanted.'

'Are you asking me out?' I wondered.

'I don't know, Joe, I may have to look after my sister,' I said, unable to stop myself from saying something so utterly idiotic.

He looked disappointed. I felt a sharp nudge in my back from the direction of Julie.

'I'm nearly sixteen and don't need to be "looked after" by anybody,' she whispered to me acidly. Then turning to Joe, she gave him a broad smile and said, 'I'm sure Jenny would love to go with you.'

Joe looked at me for confirmation; I'd turned the color of beetroot by then but managed to agree. He looked mightily pleased with himself. By the time we'd fixed a time for him to collect me, and I'd given him the address in Woodley and my mobile number, Julie had paid for our purchases and packed them back in the trolley.

'What was all that about answering for me?' I said to Julie as we crossed the car park with our trolley.

'Well, anyone could see that he fancies you, and you weren't exactly helping him along,' she said.

I blushed but didn't answer and couldn't be angry with her.

'In any event, he may have a younger brother,' she said, giving a girlish giggle.

'Now listen, young lady, you're only fifteen, which is below the age of consent, so there won't be any boys around while I'm responsible for you.'

'My God, now I'm beginning to sound just like my mother.'

'So, what are you planning to wear tonight?' Julie asked me over lunch later that day.

'I haven't really given it any thought,' I admitted.

'I hope you're not planning on wearing those leggings and that boob tube again,' she said.

'Why, what was wrong with them?' I said, but actually knowing the answer, they made me look like a prostitute.

'Well, I suppose they would be ok if you're just going out for a drink and a laugh with the girls, but that'll be the last time you see some of your friends for some time you want to leave them with a good impression. Also, remember that Joe won't be drinking, so you need to wear something that'll intoxicate him with your beauty instead,' she said laughing.

'Is she making fun of me?'

'Such as?' I asked.

'Well, you looked pretty foxy in the black dress that you wore to my parents' funerals; it's no wonder that so many of the men in the congregation had their eyes on you. It just needs a bit of color, which we can some of my mother's jewelry and the judicious use of makeup.'

'What's the world coming to? Am I now being offered fashion advice by my fifteen-year-old ex-brother? But on the other hand, I suppose that I did look ok in that black dress?'

'I'm going to wash my hair this afternoon, and then I'll see what I feel like wearing later,' I replied.

At six-thirty, I knocked on the door of the master bedroom. Julie had just finished writing her blog and was watching YouTube videos about how to put on makeup. Nobody could fault her for her lack of dedication to achieving her ultimate goal. She smiled when she realized that I was accepting her advice and had put on the little black dress.

'You said that I could borrow some of your mother's jewelry,' I said.

'Yes, of course. There's rather a nice string of cultured pearls and a couple of pearl drop earrings that would like nice with the dress,' she said.

I tried them on and agreed with her opinion.

'By the way, how are your ears doing?' I asked.

'Ok, they have stopped hurting and appear to be healing up. I'm just anxious to be able to wear some proper earrings and not just studs, but I'm not going to attempt to move them for a few days yet.'

'It'll be too warm to wear tights this evening, and so I'm going to wear some open-toed heels. Would you mind helping me to paint my toenails?' I asked. 'I'll do the same for you afterward.'

'Yes, of course, I'd love to help, she said.

She trimmed my toenails then carefully painted each one with dark red lacquer, having first used foam rubber separators to keep the toes apart from one another. I'd have been leaned to opt for a brighter color, but she was adamant that the darker would be better, and afterward, I had to admit she may have been right. As soon as my toes were dry, I offered to do the same for her.

'Don't worry about them for now, although I'd like you to do them for me sometime, she said. May I help you with your eye makeup instead?'

'I only ever use mascara, and I can put that on in my sleep,' I replied.

'Well, I'm not sure that you always make the most of your good looks, Jenny, if you don't mind me saying so, and your friend Susie agrees with me.

'The cheek of my younger sister, what does she know about anything?'

'Susie gave me some useful advice yesterday, and I've also been looking at Youtube. I feel sure that a little eye shadow and eyeliner, you'd look a lot better,' she continued.

'If you can make me look as good as you did last night, then it might be worth letting you try.'

'Alright then, but I don't want to go out looking like a panda,' I replied.

Julie wasn't up to Susie's standards, but I must say she did a pretty good job on my eyes. I'd never used eyeliner before, and I made a mental note to get some for myself and practice. She also talked me out of wearing the ruby red lipstick in favor of one matching my toes.

'It's a pity that we are not getting our fingernail extensions done until Sunday; otherwise, you could have coordinated from head to toe,' she commented.

I didn't answer but felt that we'd done a pretty good job of my appearance between us.

'Wow. I don't think I've seen you in a dress before, other than the school uniform; you look great,' said Joe when he came to collect me

I smiled and thanked him, then went to say goodbye to Julie.

'I expect I'll be in bed when you get back if you want to bring him in for a coffee,' she whispered as I went to leave.

It isn't my intention to go into a lot of detail about what happened between Joe and me that evening, but suffice to say we both had a good time. I stuck to orange juice in order to keep him company, but we found that we could have just as much fun sober, watching some of the others drink too much and make fools of themselves. I was a little anxious that I might turn out to be overdressed, but several of the girls present had made an effort, and my outfit elicited a number of flattering comments. I suppose I've always been aware that I'm fairly good-looking, although no raving beauty. It is remarkable how knowing that you look good can boost your self-confidence in social situations. However, I had the feeling that, for one night at least, I'd gone up a league in the estimation of several of those present.

Joe drove me home at about 2:00 am and came in for a coffee, and he asked if he could see me again during the next week. I did my best to play it cool and suggested we go out for a drink the following Tuesday night. We had had an amazing night. Yet there was an unspoken understanding between us that any relationship would be going nowhere long term. After all, he would be going to Exeter University in September and me to Nottingham, which is more than 200 miles away. But there was no reason why we couldn't have some fun together in the meanwhile. I looked in on Julie after he left; she was asleep on her back, wearing one of her mother's nightdresses.