the model

fifty five

ALEXIS' POV

I woke up to the blurting sounds of my alarm. Instantly, my eyes shot open. My hand slamming onto my phone, swiping the alarm away. It was eight in the morning and I was already wide awake. Mostly because I was excited; today was Louis' birthday.

I looked over at my bed, expecting Louis to be there. However, he wasn't. I was at my own apartment. Natalie woke me up at an awful hour, begging me to take her home because she didn't want to sleep in Louis' house. I eventually gave in to her whining, not only because it was annoying me, but because it was annoying Louis as well. Lately, I've been spending my nights at Louis' house. So, this was about the third time I've slept in my own apartment within the past three weeks.

It's crazy, if you think about it, Louis and I do everything together as if we are a couple. We eat meals together, cooked meals, we go shopping for groceries, sleep in the same bed, occasionally shower together. But we're not a couple. We're not even an item. We're... friends. Close friends. Really close friends.

I stretched for a good minute, focusing on my shoulder since it's always sore. Then, I laid back down on the bed being the lazy bum I am. I stared up at the ceiling my eyes wandering up and down the lines. I thought of Louis' ceiling. Even though it was a ceiling, Louis picked it out the way he wanted it to look.

The trim was black and the ceiling, in his bedroom, was sponge-painted dark red. Ever heard of that? Neither have I. I didn't know a lot of things involving interior design and architecture until I met Louis. He was very fond of that type of things. For example, the house he lives in now, he designed that. He drew out how big and wide each room would be, how high the ceilings are, the shape of the windows and door frames. He also picked out the floor tiles and wood, he picked the paint, picked the countertops, he even picked what kind of caulking he wanted. But it all turned out to be so beautiful.

I sat back up, a 'humph' escaped my lips as I stared at my boring apartment. Nothing about it was unique or fascinating. "I need to change things up." I mumbled to myself.

Getting out of bed, I pulled my hair into a bun and took a quick shower. Once I was done, I threw on a sweatshirt and my favorite pair of jeans and headed out the door to meet Natalie at the venue for Louis' party.

Louis is 25 today and I thought that deserved a celebration. Because it's half of fifty years old and a quarter of a century. Everyone deserves a birthday party. Plus, he said he didn't want one because he didn't like the whole concept of celebrating someone's birth. I wanted to change his mind and make him see that it is actually something great! I'm just hoping he'll like it.

I rented out a small ballroom at the Hyatt hotel in the city. I got it for a pretty decent price considering the fact that Hyatt is a somewhat fancy hotel. Once I walked into the lobby, feelings of excitement raised throughout my body. My smile was wide and bright, head held high, eyes wide with anticipation.

As I reached the double doors that led to my ballroom, I saw Natalie. She was sitting on the window sill adjacent to the door scrolling through her phone. She looked up as she heard my footsteps. "Hey." She spoke, her voice raspy. She looked like she was having a rough morning.

"Are you hungover?" I asked as I walked past her and through the doors.

I heard her stomp after me. "Hell yeah, I am." She spoke before a low thud was heard. I quickly turned around. My eyes focused on the body on the floor. Natalie's body. "I am so tired." She whined.

I laughed at her. "Why aren't you acting like me right now?" She asked.

"I'm not hungover." I shrugged before continuing further into the ballroom.