The Face

“My father runs Palucci Brother’s Construction with his brother,” began Sandro Palucci from the front of my 10th grade Careers class. The night before, we had had to interview our parents about their jobs, and create a short presentation from those interviews. So far there’d been three construction company owners and one bakery owner’s offspring in the class.

I glanced over my notes quickly for my impending presentation. Mine wouldn’t be like any previous presentation. I’d interviewed my mom. She was much more unique. She’s officially a “Skin Care Specialist,” which I thought was a cool title, because it kind of makes it sound like she’s a dermatologist. Of course, she’s not. She works retail. She sells super fancy cream at a super fancy department store. With an official sounding job position.

From the centre of my forehead, a juicy, bulging red pimple snickered at my notes as it throbbed…