Asian Girl Problems

"This color would look great on you!" She thrusts the palate of eyeshadow at me.
"No," I say, pushing it away.
Her facial expression snaps from excited to offended, her brows falling to her lids, falling to her pupils. falling to her cheeks, falling to her bottom lip, which sticks out.
"What do you mean, 'no'?"
"'No' as in 'I don't want that.'"
Her face further clouds. "You're no fun."
I roll my eyes and exhale slowly. If she likes the dumb eyeshadow so much, why doesn't she buy it? I tell her this.
"Because Lucy." She whirls around to face me. "Because Lucy. My eyes are blue. Yours are brown."
I look at the color spectrum. "Those colors don't go with brown."
Her eyes narrow. "It says right here." She points to a sticker with a brown eyeball on it. "For brown eyes."
"Well, I don't like those colors." I'm out of excuses.
"How can you not like them? They enhance your natural color and bring your eyes to life!" She looks up from the back of the package with a renewed sense of excitement. "You could really use that!"
Gee, thanks. "I don't wear eyeshadow, okay?"
"Exactly! So you don't know how much you'll love it yet." She tosses the box in my shopping bag with an air of finality on the issue.
I remove it as soon as possible, when I think her back is turned.
"I saw that."
I freeze, my hand midway to the rack, hoping she's not referring to my present action.
"Why won't you get the eyeshadow?" she whines. "Why won't you make yourself beautiful?" People are starting to stare.
"I can't wear eyeshadow," I admit through the corner of my mouth, avoiding the pitying glances from fellow customers.
"It's easy. You just swipe the applicator through the powder and brush it on your eyelid."
I grit my teeth. "I know how to put it on. I just can't wear it."
"You're allergic."
"No."
"It gets in your eyes."
This could go on all day. "It creases."
She shrugs. "Just use primer."
I thrust my face into her personal bubble and point to my extremely almond-shaped eyes. "It. Creases."