Run (H.S)

Chapter 10

Immediately after my name is typed into the search engine a bunch of articles start popping up with reviews of my performance. I hold my breath while looking at a few.

"Best performance of the night!"

"Olivia's raw vocals were one of the best to ever hit the VMA stage."

"Flawless"

"Beautiful stage presence!"

I can't help the smile that forms on my lips from the compliments. I didn't think that I had done this well. My nerves were definitely present that night along with the fear of having to look at my past in the face and deal with it. While the reviews make me feel like I am on cloud nine there is always that voice in the back of my mind saying it's not enough.

"Stop criticizing yourself so much Livi! You did this all by yourself! You did it! Look where you are now compared to a few months back." Stella has always been able to read me like an open book. Sometimes it's a blessing and at other times it's a curse.

"I did it. I made it!" The disbelief is clear in my voice. All the nights spent writing songs in the makeshift studio in the attic. Every song lyric, every piano note, all the crumbled-up pieces of paper surrounding me on the floor of the home studio led to this. Everything I have dreamed of is sitting right in front of me. I am going on tour, recording an album, and making music that is life changing for a living. I don't have to go back to the old dusty pub or the old smell of coffee brewing at 6 in the morning in the rundown shop.

"You did it! Now go get ready, we are going out!"

I have never really cared to go out, but I know Stella is too stubborn and won't take no for an answer. I head into the ensuite bathroom in my room and start doing my hair and putting on my makeup. I decided to go all out tonight since I don't go out often. I was also feeling a little more bold than usual.

My green eyes are more apparent after the heavy layer of black eye liner along with the dramatic smokey eye that is added. I decided on a light shimmering pink color for my lipstick and I was just finishing putting it on when Stella came in with a curling iron.

I have always been good at doing my own makeup but when it comes to doing hair, I need Stella. Me and curling irons do not get along very well. Every time I have tried to curl my own hair it has turned into a giant catastrophe of knots and twirling ends that Stella always ends up having to fix.

Stella gushes about my makeup and how much I deserve the night out the entire time she is curling my hair. By the time she is done I think she has run out of words left in the dictionary that she could say without repeating herself.

Stella goes back into her room to finish getting dressed while I am standing in my walk-in closet trying to find an outfit for the night. I don't have many outfits for going out clubbing due to the fact that I prefer not to go out that often. The smell of alcohol alone reminds me of my childhood home. It's not that I don't drink. I do on occasion just never too much.

"You still haven't picked something have you?" Stella's voice makes me jump and turn towards the closet door where she is standing fully dressed ready to go. She has her hair up in a neat bun along with two stands framing the sides of her face on either side. Her makeup is done up to the nines although she doesn't need it. She is wearing a long sleeve tight dress that stops mid-thigh along with some skintight black heeled boots that reach up past her knees.

"Not yet. I am looking." The frustration from trying to find an outfit comes out clearly in my voice.

"And that is why I got you an outfit while I was out today." Stella nods her toward the bed in my bedroom. I follow her out of the closet and look to see the black bag sitting on my bed.

"Go ahead. Open it."

I pull out a cropped skintight long sleeve shirt along with a black short leather skirt out of the bag. At the bottom of the bag there is a pair of boots that are similar to Stella's, but where hers are open at the points showing off her painted toenails, mine are closed.

"I know you're going to say the skirt is too short and that you don't want to show off that much of your stomach even though it will only be a tiny bit. Just try it on."

"I wasn't going to say that." The hesitation along with the sheepish smile on my face definitely give away the fact that I definitely was going to say exactly that.

I always loved when girls wore crop tops and were confident enough in themselves to show that little bit of skin. I have always been too shy to wear them myself.

After I put the outfit on, I emerge from the bathroom to where Stella is sitting on my bed. I start looking in the mirror that is hung up on the opposite wall from the bathroom. It actually shocks me how much more confident I feel in this than I thought I would. Stella is staring at me out of the corner of her eye waiting for a reaction.

"I actually love it!" Stella squeals at my response while I grab my phone and wallet off the nightstand making my way towards the door.

"Let's go!"