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halley finn los angeles, california ———
stormi toggled with my hands, attempting to pull me up and off julia's couch. today i was finally visiting my sisters after i was gone in both new york and toronto for the past month.
"so, how's the show going?" julia asked as she handed me my drink and pulled stormi up into her arms.
"it's good," i sipped my drink, "i'm gonna have to go back to the city next month...they just need the last batch of interviews."
stormi ran off to go play and julia sat down beside me, "do you like toronto?"
i thought about the answer, and it was partially yes. i loved the atmosphere, the food, seeing auston, the architecture, and just canadian people. one thing i didn't like was the cold, but that couldn't be a major factor—it's only cold for a couple of months and shawn says toronto in the summer is absolutely breathtaking; it brings everyone together.
oh, and shawn. another thing about the city i love.
"yeah, it's a great city...it's fucking cold in the winter, but i've heard it'll be beautiful in the summer," i answered after snapping out of my trance. "i guess they deserve a nice summer after the awful winters."
"do you just hang out with auston while you're there?" she asked again, "isn't he busy with hockey and stuff?"
"yeah, i stay at his apartment so we hang out, but he is busy so we aren't together all the time. we actually went to his game and i made a new friend who lives in toronto, so we hung out a lot."
"i know who shawn mendes is, hal," she smirked, "you don't have to try and dodge talking about him."
"i'm not dodging talking about him," i defended myself impulsively but knew she was right. it's not like i was dating him, but when it comes to me talking to a single person of the opposite sex, my sisters go absolutely batshit and want all the details.
"is he nice?" she asked, twirling her hair in her hands. "mhmm, he's a very cool person to be around," i replied and hoped the conversation would end.
julia heard stormi shouting inside and excused herself from our catch-up to handle it. i pulled out my phone and scrolled mindlessly through it, listening to the radio blasting through her outdoor speakers.
my attention was averted from my phone when i heard a familiar opening lyric and guitar play through the speaker. "here's some new music from shawn mendes, 'in my blood'!" the radio host whispered over the track as it played.
how could i forget the release date?
as the bridge of the song played, julia walked back outside, towels in hand. she glanced up and heard the music, muttering "speak of the devil. at least he's a good singer."
she looked at me and i could tell she was gonna ask me an inappropriate or uncomfortable comment. i smirked at her in a way that she knew meant i didn't want to hear it.
"okay, i won't ask about him anymore," she said, standing up and stripping into her bikini, "now let's go swimming."
———
the elevator dinged on floor 6 and i stepped out and walked down the hallway to apartment 674, the unit he had told me was his. i knocked on the door a couple times, and after hearing no response, i fidgeted with the door knob to see if the door was open—and it was. man, he really needs to start locking his doors.
i walked in and shut the door behind me, announcing "i'm here!" through the apartment. in the matter of seconds, shawn emerged down the hallway with his phone in hand, dressed in sweatpants and a black tank top (stop looking at his arms halley). "hey, sorry, i'm just getting off the phone with my sister...gimme one minute."
"aaliyah? can i say hi?" i eagerly asked him. he nodded and handed me the phone, aaliyah on the screen.
"good afternoon ms aaliyah," i smiled through the phone at the sixteen year old. she was honestly cooler than her brother—sorry shawn.
"hi halley! what're you doing hanging out with shawn, he's lame," she smirked and i watched shawn roll his eyes. i chuckled, "i don't know, i'd much rather hang out with you."
shawn was afraid of where this conversation was gonna go and tried to grab the phone from halley, laughing "this conversation is over. bye liyah."
he continued to try grabbing the phone and i playfully responded by waving it so he couldn't. my arm got tired and i surrendered, whispering "i'm gonna steal your number from your brother's phone," to aaliyah.
shawn hung up the call and walked into the kitchen. "i have a bone to pick with you, mister," i said, following him. "why didn't you remind me that your song was coming out? i had a plan to give you the best promo ever."
"you did, eh?" he replied and i both blushed and cringed at his use of the apparent canadian catchphrase. he threw me a bottle of water and i smirked, "yeah, you would've gotten a million extra streams."
"well, i'm releasing a new song tomorrow...you can promote that," he added and searched through his fridge for food.
"the one i heard you singing in toronto?" i asked, thinking back to that time. it was a great song.
"yup, it's called 'lost in japan', scott and i finished producing it the other day," he explained, "its out at midnight."
i looked to my bag on his table and remembered what i had brought. "well, it's 4pm, and time to party!" i exclaimed, walking to my bag.
"what?" he muttered, confused, watching me pull a bottle out of my bag.
"it's only fair that you get to try the tequila since you let me hear 'in my blood'...so happy release day," i said, placing the bottle of 818 in front of him on the counter.
"fuck yeah!"
— notes! i literally hate abiding to stereotypes but my guy friends do in fact say eh after any statement and i think it's adorable - xoxo a canadian
