Chapter 2
My dad's face relaxed, and my mom grinned from ear to ear.
Just then, the smile on my mom's face suddenly froze.
"Honey, why does my face feel a little itchy?" she asked.
She instinctively reached up to scratch it.
I quickly grabbed her hand, my voice full of concern.
"Mom, you can't move around when you're wearing a mask. You'll get wrinkles," I said.
My dad chimed in, "Don't move. It's probably just the serum being absorbed."
The comments section echoed his words.
Someone commented: [Yeah, a little tingling is totally normal.]
Another chimed in: [That means the serum is working. Your skin's about to glow, miss.]
With everyone hyping her up, my mom had no choice but to tough it out.
But a few seconds later, her face suddenly broke out in a weird flush.
The redness spread quickly, from her cheeks to her forehead, then down to her chin.
"Honey, something's wrong. My face hurts so much; it's burning," she cried out.
Her voice was sharp, tinged with panic.
The viewers in the live stream also noticed that something was wrong.
Someone commented: [Wait, what's happening? Why is her face so red?]
Another echoed: [She's totally having an allergic reaction. Rip it off, quick!]
A third chimed in: [Holy crap, is that mask some sketchy knockoff or what?]
My mom panicked completely, screaming as she frantically tore at the mask on her face.
"Ah! My face!" my mom screamed.
I fumbled to help her but accidentally kicked the table.
The water cup toppled over, and my phone plunged straight into the water.
The live stream cut out abruptly, with my mom's terrified screams echoing in the background.
The moment the screen went black, my mom tore off the mask, revealing her face covered in red, swollen rashes.
She rushed to the mirror and let out a desperate scream.
"My face! My face is ruined!" she wailed.
She whipped around, her eyes bloodshot as she glared at me, looking like she wanted to devour me alive.
"Jessica. This is all your fault!" she snapped.
She lunged at me, arms flailing wildly.
My dad quickly grabbed her around the waist, holding her back.
"Calm down. Jessica meant well," he said.
"Meant well? She did this on purpose." My mom struggled wildly in my dad's arms.
"Honey, she's just jealous I'm prettier than her. She wants to destroy me!" she shouted.
I stood there, and tears streamed down my face instantly. My shoulders shook with sobs.
"Dad, I swear I didn't. I really didn't know the mask was bad," I choked out.
I pulled up the purchase history for the mask, which clearly showed that my mom had bought the unregulated product herself.
"Mom said this mask was recommended by influencers. She bought it because she saw many people using it," I explained.
My dad took the screenshot from me, then looked at my mom's face, which was a total mess, his brows furrowing in worry.
"Harley, what the hell is going on here?" he asked.
My mom was at a loss for words as she stared at the screenshot, her face flushing with embarrassment.
She stumbled over her words for a long time before finally managing to say something.
"I-I just wanted to try it out first. If it was good, I would give it to Jessica. Who knew that this would happen?" she said.
She didn't even buy her own words.
Disappointment flashed in my dad's eyes, but he was always the one trying to keep the peace.
"Alright, that's enough. We need to get you to the hospital right now," he said.
He grabbed my mom, who was still wailing, and rushed out the door, never saying a word to me.
I knew that in his mind, even if my mom was wrong, I, the one who had embarrassed her online, was even more at fault.
The next day, I went to school as usual.
But the moment I walked into the classroom, I could tell something was off.
Everyone was giving me these weird looks.
The hashtag "Scheming Daughter Gives Her Mom an Allergic Reaction Live" had blown up overnight and was now all over the trending list.
My mom's social media accounts had been dug up, too.
Her feed was packed with her flawlessly edited selfies, and in every single one, I was photoshopped to look like a total loser, chubby and awkward.
Anyone with eyes could see what was really going on.
My deskmate handed me her phone cautiously.
"Jessica, look, the comments are all dragging your mom," she said.
I tapped it open, and the top comment popped up:
[This mom is seriously creepy. She treats her daughter like a background prop and only photoshops herself in every picture.]
Thousands of replies echoed the same thing.
Just then, my phone buzzed.
It was a friend request from someone I didn't know, with a basketball court silhouette as their profile pic.
It was the most popular guy in school, Archie.