Autumn lived in a linked house in such a normal-ass neighbourhood I was almost surprised. I didn't know what I'd expected, but it wasn't a regular house.

Her parents didn't seem to be home. Nobody came out to greet us in the hallway as Autumn kicked off her shoes and I followed her example. I faintly smelled a florally air freshener, maybe something from Rituals. 

On the wall, there was a family picture. In the back left, there was a pretty brown-haired woman with freckles who looked a lot like Autumn (safe the freckles). Next to her a tan, dark-blond man with a broad, pearly white smile. In-between and below them, there were two kids. A younger Autumn with long hair, and a taller, brown-haired boy who had to be her brother. 

They looked like such a typical, white middle-class-ish family, I had a feeling her parents hadn't been happy with Autumn's haircut. It didn't fit the picket fence, happy family image that they seemed to want to portray.

I didn't ask, of course.

"Alright, we have to talk about your attitude," Autumn broke the silence. 

She'd noticed me staring at the family picture and raised a brow at me in clear disapproval. 

"Also, hang out at the bar until it's later in the evening and everyone's at least a bit drunk," she added. "You looked terrible dancing at Jem's party." 

I made a plopping sound with my lips. "Yeah, great." 

Like I hadn't already felt self-conscious about my dancing before. Thanks for confirming I indeed looked awful while moving, Autumn. 

"I'll drop the dancing. Can we talk about the attitude part instead?" I asked, following Autumn into the living room.

The interior also looked like it came from the filmset of a typical 'good' American family movie. Clean, spacious, but inviting with cute little magnets on the fridge, lots of light coming in from big windows, and a fluffy couch. 

"Sure," Autumn said. She walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch, folding her legs up. "The biggest part about the attitude is to have one." 

I gingerly sat at the corner of the other couch, my hands in my lap. "Have one?"

"Yeah. For example: don't sit there like you don't belong here." Autumn gestured at me. "How would you sit if you were home?" 

I thought about it for a moment, then leaned back so I was sitting more comfortably. I was still tense, though, and I couldn't entirely hide that. Autumn seemed to notice, too. She sighed.

"Better," she said. "Whatever you do, don't act like they're better than you. Smile a lot. Show that you're having fun and that you belong there." 

"Right," I muttered. "I can do that, I guess." 

Autumn tilted her head and side-eyed me. "I don't know, can you?" 

"Uh," I stammered at her inquisitive stare. "Maybe with a few shots of alcohol. That did seem to make it easier at Jem's party." 

"No." Autumn sighed. "Try again. This is where I give you a stab underwater, and you put me in my place by doing the same to me." 

"Honestly, how?" I blurted out. 

Autumn raised a brow, and I realised she'd misinterpreted my question. I understood she wanted me to deliver a low blow, I just didn't understand how on earth I could insult one of the most perfect girls from Demont high. What was I supposed to say? You're so pretty it's a joke?

"I can fit in a lot better than you with your cue ball head," I finally pressed out, going for the one obvious thing that made Autumn stand out now. 

I immediately wanted to apologise for saying such a mean thing, but Autumn cracked a smile. "Alright, Celia. Not great, but good enough." 

"I actually like your hair, though," I still felt the need to shyly add. That sounded stupid. Autumn literally had almost no hair anymore now. "Or, should I say... lack of hair?" I corrected myself. "Uh." 

I was surprised when Autumn's smile lingered on her face a little longer as I stammered through my words. I'd expected her to snap at me like she usually did, but she didn't reply to my compliment. 

Instead, she stood. "Aside from attitude, there's something else you also need."

Autumn walked to back to the hallway and I followed her up stairs, then to the left. We took the second door and suddenly I was standing in Autumn's bedroom. 

I was mostly overwhelmed at how pink and purple it was. Autumn still had a few of those glow in the dark stars that used to be popular when we were in kindergarten. There were little dots of glue in a few spots where the stars must've fallen off. She'd sprayed most of her furniture pink, seemingly herself, and her bedsheets and little pillows were purple. 

"It's... colourful," I commented. My eye fell on a poster of a ballerina. "You like dancing?"

"What? A lesbian with a buzz cut can't have feminine hobbies?" 

I saw the spark in Autumn's eyes, and this time I was prepared. I knew she was testing me again, and she wanted me to be confident. 

"I was surprised since I never heard you talking about ballet, yes," I admitted earnestly, and for the first time ever I actually felt I'd passed one of Autumn's 'tests.'

"I took classes from when I was five, but in my teens it quickly became clear I didn't have the kind of flexibility and ability to coordinate together with others required of a professional ballerina," she explained. "Now, it's just for fun." 

Personally, I couldn't imagine any scenario in which Autumn wasn't good enough. The notion even she got rejected for something was strange. 

"Anyway, but that's now why we're here," Autumn said, walking over to a wooden, but very pink-sprayed closet. She opened it and I caught my own reflection in the mirror attached to the door. 

My hair had decided to be both frizzy and flat at the same time. I hated how it could do that, and that Autumn saw me with sucky hair. I quickly tried to straighten some particularly rebellious strands while Autumn rummaged through her closet. 

"What are we here for, then?" I asked. We'd already bought clothes for Jasmine's birthday, so it couldn't be that.

"Talking's not the most important part," Autumn replied. She was finally done searching, and presented me with a pair of high heels. Stiletto's that looked like they'd make me break my neck if I tried to walk on them. 

Autumn jutted them in my direction and I held up my hands. "I will fall and die," I said. "And these will not help me look any less stupid if I did decide to dance later on." 

"That's why I'm giving them to you now, so you can practice walking on them. Then, when Jasmine's birthday comes you won't break your neck." 

I grimaced, grudgingly accepting the pair of shoes which felt foreign to even hold in my hands. 

"At least try," Autumn told me, clearly feeling my reluctance. 

"Yeah, fine," I replied. "I guess you were right about the clothes, too. I expected the crop top to become jiggle-town and it didn't." 

I looked in the mirror on the closet door again. Autumn and I were both in its reflection now, and I looked so flabby and dull next to her. I grabbed my stomach. 

"I'll have to lose some weight, too, I suppose. You and Jasmine are both so much skinnier than me."

  Autumn frowned at me in the mirror. "No," she replied sharply. "You're build entirely differently than Jasmine and I. You shouldn't compare, and you look fine just the way you are; healthy and beautiful." 

My face was burning. 

"Thanks," I murmured awkwardly.  

Was I imagining things? Autumn had really just called me beautiful, and I because it came from her, I knew she meant it. Autumn was blunt as fuck when telling me my flaws and when I looked stupid, so I could be pretty sure she meant what she said when paying me a compliment as well. 

Autumn held my gaze in the mirror. "I mean, honestly," she added. "Do you think Jem would kiss you if you weren't pretty?"

"I uh, I guess not." 

Considering his ex-girlfriend was her. Autumn. While Autumn could pay me a compliment, I could easily rave about her bone-structure, the shape of her eyes and lips in return. I refrained, not wanting to make my cheeks go even redder. 

I broke our eye contact, averting my gaze to the pair of stiletto's still in my hands. 

"Uh, so after this party I start telling people to leave you alone?" I quickly changed the topic, steering away from anything that would make me blush harder and stay more stupid things. 

"No," Autumn replied. "Not yet. Wait until you're fully on the inside, which you will be after Jasmine's birthday party. If you do exactly as I said today."