"What was Smiles's 'water thing'?" I ask.
It took us over an hour to finally get back into Hailey's car when the concert ended. Hailey was upset she didn't get to meet Smiles as he was exiting the building, but that's what you get for sitting front row. We had to wait for all the other rows to clear before we could walk the food and drink strewn carpeted floor to the exit. By the time we made it through the doors, he was long gone. And I wasn't mad about it. It had been a long night, an enjoyable one, but a long and loud one all the same. My feet hurt, my hands stung from the remnants of the final applause, my ears were ringing, and the hairspray had just started to wear off. I was ready to go back to Hailey's apartment, but Hailey wasn't. If Smiles had asked her to a hypothetical afterparty, she'd go happily and have enough energy to party until the wee hours of the morning. And if I weren't so vehement that we needed to go back to her apartment, I think she might have enough energy to comb the streets all night until she found him.
But now that we're finally in the car, all I can think of is what Smiles's water thing was. I had gotten so distracted with the flowers towards the end that I had missed almost all of what he did up on stage.
Hailey picks her head up off the steering wheel where she had placed it immediately after entering the car. "Weren't you watching?"
I look at her streaky face, eyes red and puffy, and lips pouted prettily. She had managed to lose one of her four glowsticks, but her hair is mostly intact. I shake my head ever so slightly. "I got distracted."
She chuckles and shakes her head back at me. "Only you would go to a Harry Styles concert and not watch Harry Styles." I shrug. "That last song, Kiwi, he spits a spray of water at the very end. It's like his signature sign off."
I laugh. Of course it is, why wouldn't you spit water at the end of your concert? Hailey sits back and lays her head on the headrest.
"That was amazing." Her voice has a dreamy quality to it, the product of a dream come true, and I smile at her joy. I can tell she's not just talking about the water spray thing and she's not just talking about seeing her idol. It was the whole experience, the whole concert. And I was a part of it.
"Thanks for dragging me across the ocean for this." I turn and smile at Hailey. As much as I dreaded leaving work and traveling to another country all for a concert, I had a good time and I'm glad I came.
Hailey glances away from the road for a second to look at me. "Really?"
She tears up again and I put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't cry again! You're driving and I never know what to do when you cry."
We laugh and she blinks the tears away quickly. "Thanks for coming. This means more than you know." Maybe not, but I'm starting to understand. "Do you want to listen to some music?"
I'm pretty sure we're only a couple minutes from her apartment, but what the hell. "Is it Harry's music?"
Hailey's laugh rings through the car like a melodious bell. "I don't listen to anything else!"
She turns on the stereo, already loaded with a CD, and a song starts playing. I recognise this one! It's that watermelon song from the concert. Hailey sings loud and proud while I hum along, laughing until my stomach hurts.
Hailey pulls into her spot and we nearly fall out of the car, both exhausted from all the excitement. I did sleep most recently, so I'm slightly more awake than Hailey as she leans on me in the elevator. I manage to half-carry her all the way to her apartment and get her inside before she falls onto the couch with her eyes closed. I smile and hang up our handbags by the door before locking it with Hailey's advanced four-part locking system: deadbolt, chain lock, regular doorknob lock, and a sliding hatch. I turn and see Hailey dead to the world and thank my lucky stars she made it through driving home awake. I can't just leave her here though.
I stoop down and remove her heels, seeing two nasty looking blisters on her ankles. I grab two bandaids from my backpack and put them over the red areas carefully. She stirs a little bit and I use that wakefulness to move her to the bedroom.
"Hailey, come on, you can sleep in a minute. Just help me out a little bit." I would carry her, but I haven't made it to the gym in years. She hums sleepily and I throw her arm over my shoulder, lifting her as much as I can. "Do you want to sleep with your makeup on?"
She bolts awake when she hears that. "No, I do not."
I smother a laugh and watch her stumble the rest of the way to her room to find some pyjamas before journeying to the bathroom to change and take off her makeup. She comes out and dumps the watermelon dress on the floor in her room. The pink and green streaks on her face have been removed and the black mascera smears are gone. She comes to me with a brush, sleepy once again now that her makeup has been removed.
She holds it out to me, eyes starting to close. "Help me please."
I chuckle. "Ok, Hailey."
I take the brush and lead her to her room, fearful of having to move her again if she falls asleep. She automatically climbs into her purple hammock and rolls herself in a soft blanket, then dangles her head over the edge so I can get to her hair.
I go for the glowsticks first. I start taking out the hair grips and let down the little space buns. Her hair isn't sticky, but definitely a little crunchy because of all the hair spray. It's difficult to get the plaited portion out because the strands don't seem to want to let go of each other, but I work at it gently until they're thoroughly undone. I hold little sections of her hair with one hand and run the brush through them with the other so I don't yank on any knots. I glance at Hailey's face and see that her eyes are closed and her breathing has gone deep and steady. She's asleep. I deliberately make my movements more gentle so I don't wake her up, but there's only so much I can do with all that hairspray. Her pretty blond hair is a little stiff towards the top, but that'll take a shower to get rid of, so I set her brush down on the little vanity beside her. I lift her head carefully and set it more centred on the netting of the hammock.
She sighs contentedly and rolls over, no doubt already dreaming about her night with Harry Styles. I leave and close her door quietly to get myself ready for bed. I don't have cute pink pyjamas like Hailey did, just a large, navy blue pullover that I stole from my dad when I moved out and grey shorts. My hair is much more difficult to get out, with more hair grips and more hair coated in spray than Hailey's.
My hair is temperamental about these types of things, and I don't think I should go to sleep with it in this condition. As much as I hate to impose on Hailey's hospitality and privacy while she's asleep and as tired as I am, I have to shower now.
I slip in and out, using the travel size soaps I brought, and am clean and fresh in less than fifteen minutes. I sit down on the couch and brush my hair a bit before I can't hold my eyelids open any longer and I finally let myself sleep.
>< >< >< >< ><
I wake to the sound of humming, and I vaguely recognise the tune as one of the songs I heard last night. The sounds of Hailey's shower come into focus and I sit up, taking in the morning light streaming through the curtains. I move to check my phone out of habit and realise that it's still dead. The wall clock says it's nine twenty three though.
I brush my hair again, this time trying to tame the mild bedhead snarls and tangles instead. It's still a little damp, but that's ok.
I hear the water in the bathroom shut off and a second later, Hailey comes out wearing a blouse and jeans with a towel wrapped around her hair piled on her head.
"Oh, good, you're up!" She makes her way to the kitchen. "Do you want to shower too? I saved you some hot water."
I stand and grab a change of clothes from my bag. "I actually showered last night after you fell asleep. I hope that was alright?"
"Yeah, of course! I wish I had showed last night too. That hair spray took forever to get out!" Hailey pats the towel still on her head with an exasperated sigh. "Go ahead and use the bathroom, how do bagels sound for breakfast?"
I smile. "They sound perfect."
I brush my teeth, wash my face, and change before coming out to the familiar smell of burning bread. I'm not a bad cook, but toasters are my nemesis when it comes to cooking methods. Toaster ovens are alright, but straight up toasters and I do not get along. Every piece of bread I have ever put in a toaster has come out burnt.
I sit down at the barstools, trying to hold in a laugh. Hailey turns around with the two halves of burnt bagel covered in enough cream cheese to hide the darkness on a plate with a sheepish smile.
She holds up a hand. "Before you say anything. My job on the bagel truck is toppings, not toasting."
We laugh and I accept the plate from her. She sits down with her own and I take a tentative bite. It's not as bad as I thought it'd be. The flavor of the multigrain dough and rich cream cheese hide the burned flavor pretty well.
Hailey watches me carefully with a concerned look on her face. "Is it bad?"
"No, it's actually pretty good! Better than I had expected if I'm being honest," I respond.
A look of relief passes across her face. "Good. I get free bagels from the bagel truck, and they're so good, you can't ruin them with anything. I'm sorry I don't have toppings though or fresh fruit to go with it. I finished the last of my strawberries Friday morning."
"It's alright, I don't mind a plain breakfast." We finish in no time and set out so Hailey can show me around the city a bit before we have to get ready for the meet and greet.
Thank you so much for reading! Don't forget to vote and comment, I'd appreciate it!
xoxo, Tilly