Linger

S I X T E E N

"Where'd my flat iron go?" Sasha hollered from the bathroom that connected to the bedroom.

"Hold on a sec, I'm using it!" Chelsea replied from right next to me.

My ears perked up at the music faintly playing in the background and I gasped. "I love this song!" I went over to Sasha's phone, raising the volume and Taylor Swift's voice filled the room. We were all gathered at Alice's house, excitedly getting ready for tonight's game - a plan we made immediately after finding out we'd be attending the game.

"So, what do you guys think?" Alice asked as she appeared in the doorway, wearing a short white skirt and a baby blue top. Her wavy brown hair was braided to the side & her platform sandals let her stand a few inches taller. "Is it too much for a football game?"

"Ditch the sandals. Now you're towering over us even more than usual," Sasha said casually, not taking her eyes off of her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

"Simply stunning," Chelsea told her with a smile and I nodded in agreement. "Ignore her." She rolled her eyes at Sasha & returned to applying her eyeliner.

Alice gave us an appreciative smile before taking a seat on her bed, across from me at the vanity seat. "Are you feeling alright about this, Mads?" she asked me as she reached for her mascara, carefully applied it.

"I'm excited for this!" I eagerly nodded at her as I reached in my makeup bag for my lipgloss. "We all look amazing and we're going to have the most amazing time."

"Do you think they'll win?" Chelsea asked.

"Who cares?" Sasha shrugged. "It's not like we're really going there for the game . . ." she trailed off, meeting my gaze through the mirror.

I shook my head, applying my lip gloss. "I don't know. I've kinda been looking forward to it all week." I gave her a playful glance.

"Me too!" she gushed, causing me to laugh even more.

"We're, like, the biggest football fans ever," I exaggerated with a wave of my hand.

Chelsea rolled her eyes at us with a laugh while Sasha and I giggled amongst ourselves. "Can you help me put this on?" I held up my necklace and walked over to Sasha in the bathroom.

"Yeah, hold on." She placed her flat iron down, tossing her perfect blonde curls over her shoulder before taking the necklace. "I can not wait to see Tom when he sees you. He's going to lose his mind."

"He better not!!" I laughed, holding my hair up as she clasped the necklace around my neck. "He needs to win the game."

"Yeah, but, like, do we really care if they win the game?" Sasha raised an eyebrow at me after securing the necklace in place.

I turned to face her, giving her a confused look.

"Hey, they have us. They already won," she concluded with a casual shrug.

A smile grew on my face. "Is that really the same as winning a game though?"

"It's better." She gave me a wink before turning back to the mirror and inspecting her makeup.

"They better know that though," Chelsea added.

"Oh, they will. Especially when Tom sees you tonight, Maddie," Sasha said, keeping her eyes on her reflection in the mirror as she applied some lashes. "Let's just say that if he spots in you the bleachers, the game would be looooong forgotten."

"Okay, I seriously don't want him to lose," I laughed as I walked back to my makeup bag. "He'll probably never invite me to another game again."

"He won't lose because of you." Chelsea assured me, shaking her head. "He's a much better player than that. He knows what he's doing."