we smile at the moon

ELEVEN | THE NIGHT OF NIGHTS

I BLINKED AND it was midway through October, a week before the start of half-term. And suddenly it was the day of the fashion show, and the girls and I were outside the grand hall, which had been turned into a makeshift outdoors dressing room.

"Don't move," Adelina instructed as she pulled my hair back. "I'm going to give you the most Y2k hairstyle you've ever seen, and you're going to fucking adore it."

"I'm glad you have so much faith in your hairdressing skills, Ade," I snorted. "Do your best."

"I always do my best," Adelina huffed in reply. "Everything I do is perfect. And it's about time you realised that."

"Are we here to fawn over how awesome Adelina is again?" Yunji's voice shot as she walked by. "Hurry up, girls. We're almost up."

"Lok House goes first, hell yeah."

"Damned good for us," I agreed. "We get to watch everything else. They're going to have to miss some stuff."

"How unfortunate for them, then," Kate grinned. "Oh, I can't wait to see the boys'."

"It's going to be a fucking disaster," Ella snorted.

"That's what makes it fun!" Kate argued. "The horrificness of it all!"

Adelina wasn't done tugging at my hair yet, and I grunted when she pulled a bit too tight. "Hang in there, Hon, almost finished."

"Hurry up!" I snapped. "My god, it doesn't need to be that complicated."

"Yes it does," she growled. "It needs to look absolutely perfect. This only happens once a year, and it's our first, and you're going to slay."

"I love your outfit," Ella gushed.

"Thanks," I said with a smile. "Adelina, please—"

"Okay, done."

I turned to look in the mirror. "Not bad." She'd done a high ponytail for me, half down, half up, with some braids accenting it. "I didn't know I had that much hair."

"You have great hair," Adelina said before taking a sip of a bottle of water someone had grabbed for her. "Be my personal mannequin, please."

"Excuse me?"

"I think you have wording issues," Ella snorted. "Personal model, Ade. Personal model. Not mannequin."

"Okay. Sorry. Honoria, you can be my personal hair model from now on."

"You have longer hair than me," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's... different texture." Adelina flipped her hair. "Whatever. You're ready, get out of the chair. It's my turn."

"Your hair's literally perfect," Kate frowned as Adelina sat down while I took her original spot behind the chair. Adelina had already done her hair half down half up with two buns at the top, and it made her look very youthful. She'd somehow incredulously got permission to walk twice—once for Lok House, once as Jacilara. How she was going to change that fast escaped me.

"No, it's getting out of place." She tugged one bun free, and I watched as the hair tumbled down.

"Ade," Yunji said, "half the beauty is in the slight mess. You don't want every hair to be in place. It looks better when it's not."

"Well, I don't like it," Adelina said stubbornly.

"You do you," I told her. "I doubt anyone could convince you otherwise anyways. I am going to go touch up on my makeup. I think my eyeliner is smudging." That, or I hadn't applied it on nicely anyways. I was still a relative newcomer to makeup, but I was learning. Fast, I hoped.