Oh my gosh, today was so annoying and kinda embarrassing at the same time. I was sitting on Joy’s couch after we painted our nails together, but she ran upstairs right when I finished my second coat. The polish is this super cute hot pink that I picked out, and I wanted it to dry perfectly so my hands would look flawless. I hate waiting though. Why can’t nail polish just dry instantly? It’s not fair.

I started blowing on my nails, pursing my lips really carefully and letting out steady little puffs of air. The cool breeze felt nice against my fingertips, and I could see the shiny wet polish moving slightly with each breath. I thought if I blew harder it would definitely work faster. More air equals quicker drying, right? That makes total sense in my head.

Then Joy’s dad, Steven, walked in with some lemonade. He saw me concentrating super hard and said, “Blow harder, you might get them to set quicker.” So I did exactly that. I took a big breath, pursed my lips tighter, and blew harder across all ten fingers. That’s when the worst thing happened — this little snort came out of my nose like a silly pig sound. I got so embarrassed! My cheeks went all hot and I tried to hide it by coughing like it was nothing. I hate when that happens. It’s so goofy and I always try to act more put-together than that.

Steven just smiled and said, “Patience is key, Chloe. Rushing it sometimes makes it worse.” I rolled my eyes in my head because waiting is the actual worst. I’m not a super patient person, okay? Things should just happen when I want them to. But I kept blowing anyway, leaning forward and sending stronger streams of air over my nails. The polish had that sharp chemical smell mixing with the lemonade he brought, and my lips were starting to feel a little tingly from all the blowing.

I got a bit too excited and shook my hand too fast. Steven noticed and said, “Not so rough. Be gentle with them or you’ll smudge the polish.” That made me feel kinda criticized, even though he said it nicely. I take stuff like that hard sometimes. Inside I was thinking, why can’t they just dry already? I shouldn’t have to work this hard for pretty nails. It’s frustrating and a little embarrassing that I can’t even get this simple thing right without making snorty noises or needing advice.

I pretended I already knew all that though and nodded like it was no big deal. But secretly I felt that spoiled part of me wanting to pout and have someone magically fix it. I kept blowing softer after that, watching the polish slowly lose its wet shine. My lips were pursed the whole time, and every breath made me more aware of how long it was taking.

Ugh, why do little things like this always turn into such a thing? I’m smarter than this, I swear. At least my nails look cute now… mostly.

Xoxo,

Chloe