To Eric's place

Mercy couldn't really believe it was happening. Eric, the one guy all the girls wanted but no one could get. Just like that, asked her back to his place. She darted into the locker room to grab her things, but didn't bother changing clothes before returning to the lobby where Eric was waiting.

"Alright, let's go." He said simply, and turned to leave without waiting for a response. Mercy hurried to catch up with his long strides. "I don't want to have to drive you home, and won't pay for an Uber. So you might want to take your own car." He spoke casually as they walked. "Doesn't matter to me, but don't plan on staying the night at my place."

Mercy frowned. So much for this being a romantic moment. Still, it was a chance to hook up with Eric. She was willing to make some concessions. It occurred to her as she climbed into her own car to follow him that she was just enabling his rudeness, but she didn't care.

The plastic sack full of makeup lay half-spilled on the passenger seat. Mercy smiled at it. There was some cheap eyeliner and mascara in there, and lipstick that would smudge like crazy. If he wanted to ruin her makeup, she could give him something to ruin.

Eric didn't give her an address, or even really a warning that he was going. He just started driving away and Mercy had to scramble to follow. She had no idea how far they were going, but she was eager to impress him when they got there, so while they drove, she constantly looked between the road and the mirror to add more makeup to her face. She knew the app had done something to her; that much was obvious by now, but it was already done. She had accepted that she now loved the look and feel of her cheap, flashy makeup.

She applied a couple coats of the mascara to her lashes, then drew dark lines around her eyes with eyeliner. She'd seen some pictures of girls with dark makeup tear streaks on their faces and was becoming increasingly positive that was the vibe she was going for, so she just kept adding more and more stuff around her eyes so that there would be more of it to run.

When they turned off the main roads and into the large parking lot of an apartment building, she quickly swapped her eye makeup for a tube of bright pink lipstick. She looked at herself in the mirror. A day ago, she'd have screamed and said it was hideous. It was a lot, even by her new, bold standards, but she hoped Eric liked it. There was always a chance that the change to the makeup he said he liked would actually blow this for her. Maybe she should have waited for him to simply tell her what to do...

He pulled into a covered spot and she found an open one nearby. Only thing left to do was follow him to his place. Eric's place, she reminded herself with a satisfied smile. The other girls were going to be so jealous when they found out. She couldn't help but feel like a lucky girl as she stepped out of the car to join up with Eric. It had been a while since she'd been to any guy's place, and she didn't want to do anything to mess it up.

She passed under a street light as Eric climbed out of his car and looked at her. He stopped when he noticed the adjustments she'd made to her face.