secrets ↠ demi lovato / 5h

[58]

"that's okay," Ally said as she resumed curling my hair. she chucked a pin at the table and it barely made it. when she had curled all my hair, she switched the curling iron for the straightener and with a smooth flick of her wrist, curled my fringe into one delicate wave. she then pushed the two instruments onto the table and ran her fingers loosely through my hair, spraying a final touch of hairspray to the curls. I tilted my head slightly to look at my hair.

"Ally, I love it." I reached up to touch it gingerly. "thank you so much. it looks so good."

"I'm glad you like it," Ally bent down to hug me from behind. "now I think I'm going to have to surrender you to Mani."

right on cue, Normani bounced out of her chair and came to stand beside us. "I'm ready."

"Normani, they ain't ready for this," I said, making her snort. Ally was called over for makeup, and Normani grabbed a spare bronzer from the table to start on my cheekbones.

"your cheekbones are, like, just nice because if they make your face super cute and yeah," Normani mumbled absentmindedly while she looked for a brush.

I giggled a bit, letting her start to dab the color onto my cheeks.

"wait," Dinah said suddenly, clapping her hands. "can we dress you up?"

"you guys!" Lauren half-groaned, half-laughed. "let her live!"

"can we?" Dinah asked eagerly before apologizing to her makeup artist for messing up her blush.

"sure," I smiled. I'd always wanted to know how the stage clothes felt like.

"but you can't wear the clothes to the show," Camila said, obviously crestfallen. "we have to return them. they're our backup clothes."

"that's okay," I said. "I'll change back into my clothes before the show."

Camila, Ally and Dinah yelled "YAAY!" at the same time.

"hold still, you're nearly done," Normani said, gently tilting my head so she could work on my right cheek. I couldn't see myself in the mirror anymore. "there we go." she moved me back so I could see my reflection. I touched my cheek slowly, looking at the detailed, precise contour of my cheekbones, shaping my face daintily.

"Mani," I said. "you're like a magician."

she smiled as she bent down to rest her chin on my shoulder. "do you like it?"

"are you kidding?" I said, leaning my head on hers. "it's so pretty. I love it."

"c'mon," Lauren said, taking my hand and leading me to another room. "let's get the clothes for you."

once we were in the other room, Lauren pulled the door shut and flicked on the light, beginning to rummage through the closet.

"how's things with her?" I asked, careful not to mention any names in case someone was walking past.

Lauren sighed. "it's hard. it really is. like, she's right there and I just- it's so hard not to just kiss her when she's talking about something and she's so excited and it's so cute. and to see her dancing onstage. it's like," Lauren lowered her voice. "she's so awkward sometimes-" she pulled out a white shirt with black and white ties I recognized as Camila's. "hold this. yeah, she messes up and then she gets flustered and it's so cute. or when she's rehearsing with Mani and her little unsure steps are just- ugh." she grabbed her own clothes and Camila's silver shorts. "it's so stupid. even to the point where I get to sit next to her on the bus or whatever makes me so happy. just interacting with her is such a privilege."