Kaylor- Sunshine ☀️

Chapter 2

My breathing was shaky as I stood backstage, my colourful dress attracting the eyes of passing models. The loud thumping of drums began to echo through the building, electric guitar joining as Fall out boy introduced themselves. My head felt like I was floating, could I do this? What if I tripped? A warm hand rested on my shoulder, turning around my eyes met the emerald orbs of Karlie's  once more. "Hey!! Are you excited?" She asks enthusiastically, jumping up and down. My eyes trail down her body and take in the lack of clothing she has on, my god she's perfect...why does my mouth feel dry? "Ummm... Yeah super excited" I try to reply with as much enthusiasm as she had approached me with. "Well you look like your going to puke so I'm guessing the nerves have kicked in" she smiles warmly at me, rubbing my shoulder, leaving tingles along my skin. I nodded shakily, as her responding giggle filled my ears, bringing a smile to my own face. "don't be nervous, seriously, you'll do amazing and you look incredible" she says with a wink, her smile as large as always. My cheeks warmed again as I moved towards her and gave her bare form a small hug. "So will you, miss beautiful angel sunshine lady" I say back, giving her a wink of my own. "sunshine lady?" She giggles, "yep, sunshine lady" I say back with a confident smile. "Taylor your on in 2 minutes" the stage person calls from the wings, my stomach filled with butterflies once more as I began to fix my hair and dress, putting one of my earplugs in. "You'll crush it Tay, I know you will" Karlie says once more, my cheeks burning at her nickname. "Oh crap I have to go put my wings on, I'll see you out there Taylor, good luck" she says, pulling my frame against hers once more. My heart raced as she walked away, suddenly feeling more nervous now that she was gone and I was faced with rows of fashion critics. "30 seconds Taylor" they whispered as I placed my other earplug in, closing my eyes to take a deep breath. You can do this Taylor, you can do this. "Please welcome to the Victoria secret fashion show stage, TAYLOR SWIFT" the presenter roared as I forced my legs to move, focusing my eyes on the runway.
*                   *                  *
The crowd stood to their feet, clapping and cheering as the Angels made their final entrance. Lilly, Cara and the rest of the girls waved to me as they walked into stage, Karlie coming just after them and sending a smile that one can only describe as pure sunshine my way. "Your up guys" the stage hand said as he gestured for the special guests to make their way onto the stage for the finale. Feeling more confident I made my way onto the stage, strutting down the runway in my jewelled silver dress. Reaching the end of the runway where the models stood posing for photos while the crowd went nuts I spotted the familiar figures of Lilly, Cara and Karlie. Final waves and bows were taken by the Angels as they began to retreat off stage, I made my way off stage, feeling more elated than I had in years. "Nice strutting miss model" someone whispered in my ear, turning around I saw Karlie walk away giggling as she left me with a smile that I couldn't get off my face.
Finally the show was over and all of the models were in one huge crowd posing for the annual photo, I awkwardly stood to the side smiling watching Lilly and my new friends pose. "Swift get your butt in here!" Cara yelled from across the room, I hesitated... Did they really want me to intrude on such an important photo? The rest of the Angels began to yell similar encouragements and with a incredulous smile I made my way over to them. I walked over to Lilly, Cara and Karlie, feeling Karlies arm snake around my waist pulling me into her.
"PLEASE tell me your going to the afterparty swift!" Cara said as we all made our way back to the dressing rooms, Karlie and Lilly stood behind her, their smiles indicating they wanted me there too. My eyes lingered on karlies...."of course I am, wouldn't miss it for the world" I replied with a goofy smile.
Somehow as soon as we stepped into the afterparty I had become part of the Angels squad, Lilly, Cara and Karlie dragging me with them everywhere we went. I couldn't deny that I was intrigued by Karlie, we seemed so alike in so many ways and there was something about her smile that left me feeling like the most loved person in the room.
"So swift, what are we drinking?" Cara says with a devious smirk, "surprise me" I said back, feeling utterly fearless.
*                      *                     *
It was early in the next morning that our goodbyes, loud and enthusiastic hugs took place. Each girl wrapping their arms around me as if saying goodbye to an old friend. "We have to do this again soon Tay I missed you so much!" Lilly said, her regular loving nature much more pronounced in her drunken state. "I fucking love you Taylor Swift" Cara yelled, pulling me into her arms as I laughed at her drunk happiness. Leaving Karlie for last I went to say goodbye to the one I felt the most connected to, she stopped me before I could get a word out. "I'll walk you to your ride Taylor" she slurred slightly, her smile larger than usual and cheeks rosy. Taking my hand in her own she led the way to the door, the cool air sobering both of us up instantly. "It was so good to meet you Karlie, we need to stay in contact!!!" I said to her as we simultaneously swapped phones, placing numbers in each other's contact list. "Lilly kept going on and on all these years about how I needed to meet you because we would get along but I never knew how right she was" she gushed as I pulled her tall frame into a close hug, holding onto her for a lot longer than necessary. Her arms resisted letting go as I went to pull away, "you better text me Taylor, don't make me stalk you" she says with a wink and a giggle. "I promise Karlie" returning her smile. "Goodbye for now sunshine" I said as I slid into the back seat of the black SUV.  Her smile beamed at me as she waved goodbye, my heart seemed to lift unusually at her own beam.
Rolling the window down to catch the warm night breeze I rested my head against the leather seat, what a night.
My thoughts were a drunken tumble of loud music and colours, with one particular smile sticking in my mind as I drifted off to sleep.