OFF TRACK

21

SUMMER

It's finally Wednesday and I've been barely paying attention to anything all day. Don't ask me what my professors talked about in class or what I did at work or what happened at practice because all my brain can think about is going to Trevor's tonight.

This is our first real date. We've hung out a ton but it's never been like this. He texted me earlier today and told me to dress up, and that he has some big surprise for me after dinner.

"Ellie?" I groan from my room, I know she's home we came home from practice together thirty minutes ago.

"What?" She calls back but I can also hear her walking across the apartment to my room.

I turn to my open door right as she walks in, "I don't know what to wear," I pout. I'm standing with my towel still wrapped around me and I have four different dresses laying on my bed.

She laughs at me then walks over to my bed eyeing the dresses I pulled out, "I thought you guys were just having dinner at the apartment?"

"He told me to dress up because he has a surprise for me after dinner."

"Ooo! Fun!" Ellie claps her hands together, "Do we know anything about the surprise?"

"That wouldn't make it a surprise," I shake my head, "But he said dress nice and classy."

"Okay, uhm," she scans all the dresses again, "This one!" She picks up the light green satin dress I wore to our team banquet last year, "Do you have like a little cardigan? It's gonna get chilly tonight."

"Uhm," I turn back into my closet, sliding through all the things I have hanging, "Not really."

"Okay, hold on," Ellie turns and leaves the room. While she's gone I slip on the dress she picked out.

"Zip me?" I ask when Ellie comes back into my room with a small cropped white cardigan. She slides up the zipper of the dress up. I turn to look in the mirror, this dress has thin straps and square neckline, it sits right above my knees and sits tight around my torso but is looser around my waist.

"God, you're hot," Ellie sighs behind me in the mirror.

I blush, "Thank you."

"Honestly if you weren't with Trevor and I wasn't with Alex, we'd make a hot couple," Ellie puts her arm on my shoulder, she's in sweats and hoodie, we look like total opposites right now.

I roll my eyes at her then ask, "Will you do my hair?"

"Yeah, what do you want?"

I move to sit down at my desk so I can do my makeup. I already dried my hair after my shower, "Can you do the two little braids?"

I know she knows exactly what I mean, because I always ask her to do two little french braids just on the top top half of my hair, it keeps my hair out of my face but looks cute.

"Want me to curl the rest of it?" she asks starting to section my hair.

"Please," I smile at her through the mirror.

She nods and gets to work.

We spend the next thirty minutes just talking while I do my makeup and she does my hair. We haven't had time to hang out, just the two of us, in so long. She spends all her free time with Alex and now I spend the little bit of free time I have with Trevor.

"I've missed you, El," I admit when she's done with my hair.

"We see each other every day."

She's not wrong, we live together and go to and from practice together but that doesn't count.