Rearrange

Chapter One

                                                                          Chapter One

I sighed pulling myself up from the comfort of a warm pillow - that was a gift from my grandmother- and scrunched up my eyes taking in the dull light forcing it's way through the cheap pale fabric that you could barely call curtains. It was then, catching glimpse of three tickets blue-tacked to a beige wall that I remembered what day it was.  It was the 2nd of July and I would be seeing Miles Kane live. I had been counting down this day for months and when it arrived I almost forgot.

I chuckled to myself before wincing, as if leaving the bed was physically painful. The coldness clung to my skin, replacing the warm duvet cover that was long overdue a wash, a mixture of coffee and tobacco stains littered the pale pink cover.

"EMMA, EMMA!" screamed my friend waking up, I jumped, almost forgetting that I had even invited her around.

"What?" I groaned.

"Miles Kane!" she squealed jumping up from her makeshift bed on the floor.  She yelped as a part of her connected with the wooden bed frame but she was soon over it and she pulled herself up, jumping around.

You could hardly say she was eighteen, then again I has a cheek to talk. Seventeen years old and I was much shorter than most people my age. Sometimes I could look fourteen. It was hardly a selling point for me, especially when I was constructed of social anxiety and just general awkwardness.

I caught a glimpse in the mirror of a sleepy girl with a mane of golden blonde hair, she didn't look anything like me, wild eyed despite being tired, frizzy hair that was no doubt a doing of my drunken self. Thankfully even after what I could only presume was a wild night -as I had no real recollection of it- I wasn't feeling any hangover symptoms. No dry mouth, no wanting to hide under the bed for eternity.

"We need to get ready!" she screamed running to her suitcase.

"What? Ashley it's not till six!" I groaned 

"Emma fuck, it's tweleve! We've to leave at three!" she screamed louder still - if that was even possible-

I felt my stomach churn and my heart drop, a concert I had been waiting months for and we might not even get to see it. It was too late to both shower now. It would take too long, instead I pulled out a bottle of dry shampoo and hoped for the best. 

Tugging at my blonde hair I sighed, of course I had expectations for the concert. I had dreamt that he would see me, it would be love at first sight, and now here I was in Harry Potter pyjamas that reeked of cheap booze. I was just thankful that the clothes I had set aside weren't a mess. It seemed even in my drunken state I was careful.

I caught yet another glimpse of just how horrible I looked right now, dark bags under my eyes, hopefully from lack of sleep and not a broken nose -which I quickly checked and thankfully found no pain-, a slight cut to my cheek seemed to make one cheek look thinner than the other.  A sort of d.i.y bronzer. Heroin chic certainly sprang to mind.

Ashley was meanwhile plastering herself with makeup in the bathroom and also furiously learning the lyrics to the songs she hoped would be playing. She was always so self conscious about that sort of thing, which was bizarre, she looked like a ballet dancer, thin, fragile, light brown hair that looked perfect in a bun. I on the other hand, seemingly found most of the bad genetics in my family, including my mother's blush. It wasn't just a simple pink on the cheeks, it was a rosy pink all over. Like I was just getting sunburned.

-

I dotted the cut with concealer wincing at the slight pain - yet another fault I had, a low pain threshold- before plastering concealer under my eyes so it looked like I knew how to sleep. Dotting my face with powder I sighed, would I look silly to go with a lot of makeup or would more natural suit me? 

"Oh fuck it" I sighed pulling out the rest of my makeup before attempting to do a sort of twiggy style. The bottom faux lashes were a pain though but thankfully didn't take more than ten minutes -which was longer than the rest of the makeup steps put together- and I was done with a light brushing of a champagne colour eyeshadow all over the lid. 

It would mean a change of style though, instead of the baggy jeans and shirt I was going to wear I opted for a pale beige skater skirt, coupled with white shirt with a paisley print. I thought back to the beige blazer I had saw and mourned once again the £400 price tag that it had. 

"Oh you look so lovely Emma!"

I turned and smiled, trying not to hide my disappointment at the fact that Ashley looked so much prettier than me in her tight jeans, The Vaccines t-shirt and leather jacket. In fact her makeup despite being cakey suited her so much better than my sixties approach. 

She was certainly the swan whereas I in comparison am simply an ugly duckling.

"Aw you look beautiful Ashley!" I smiled and she grinned showing off her bright white teeth.

"I don't know what I should do with my hair, what do you think Ash?" I asked after a moment.

"Oh you should do an updo! It would look so nice, Just leave your side fringe down and split it down the middle and then have the rest up!"

I frowned "I'm not sure how to do that style of hair"

"I'll do it then" of course she could do it, it seemed she could do everything.

-

I found myself being jolted awake as my face hit the window of the train. It was now only one hour till I would be seeing Miles Kane in the flesh and it was beautiful. The sun was bright and I could feel the warmth seeping in through the window. My hair had remained intact despite not being used to such a hairstyle. I always found myself twiddling with a strand or reaching for hair that wasn't there.

"Stop fiddling Emma, you're going to pull it down" she snapped.

If Ashley had any other flaws, her main one would be -despite her sweet nature- the ability to turn into a moody cow, she was so easily irritated that it was bordering insane.

-

I pulled my arms closer together, the thin sleeves of the shirt were nothing against the wind that had picked up, thankfully due to excessive hairspray and four whole collections of blonde bobby pins my hair was intact, unlike Ashley's hair, which was blowing around and whipping at her face. I couldn't help but feel thankful that she -despite her seemingly faultless being- was also weak to nature.