twelve seconds of christmas

i. twelve days of christmas

i. the twelve days of christmas

His warm brown eyes jarred me as he leaned toward me. I felt his breath, sweet and insistent brushing against my face. My heart beat as loud as a drum, and I was sure he could hear it. His eyes fluttered closed as his plump, pink lips slowly-

"SIENA!"

My eyes refocused as I realized I was leaning in to kiss a box of cereal. Flustered, I dropped the box and looked up. My lifetime best friend, Dori, was laden with enough suitcases to knock over a water buffalo, struggling to unlock our apartment door.

"I could use some help."

I bolted from my seat and quickly unlocked the door, apologizing profusely. "You should pack lighter, it's only twelve days!" I called as she stumbled down the stairs to the car. Dori was one of the brightest woman I knew, but could be a bit of an airhead when it came to common sense.

"What are you talking about?! It's actually winter in New York! We're gonna freeze!"

"Wimp."

"You won't be calling me that when you're begging me for a sweater when the bitter cold swallows you up, valley girl."

"We've lived in the same city for the past nineteen years!" I said indignantly.

"Yeah, so I know exactly how cold you get when it's sixty degrees out," she smiled triumphantly as she bounded up the stairs past me to retrieve more bags. "Are you going to help, or just sit there and look pretty? We won't leave for another two days if you don't pick up your butt and load the car."

Dori and I were roommates for two years now, and living in downtown Los Angeles was no walk in the park with such a sarcastic freak. However, we knew each other better than we knew ourselves. And thus, we could easily pack up the car with a million things in twelve minutes, racing to see who could carry the most bags down the stairs and into the car the fastest.

We were total dorks.

It wasn't long before we were seated in a packed car blasting Michael's Taylor Swift albums into the air and singing along (badly) to 22 when Dori lowered the volume and glanced at me with a knowing smirk.

"Who were you daydreaming about this time, Siena?"

I sat up, willing my face to stop reddening. "What makes you think it was a 'someone?'"

"Honey, I've seen you fall in love. I know how you get. Was it Calum?"

I slunk back into my seat, my face a violent crimson. "Uh..."

"It was!" she exclaimed triumphantly. "Well you're very lucky then, tomorrow you'll get to see all of the boys and make your move." She dramatically emphasized "move" with a shove.

Dori and I became Internet best friends with Luke Hemmings back in 2010, bonding through social media and finally in person a few years later when he and his band, 5 Seconds of Summer came to America. We don't see each other very often due to their busy schedule and our college studies, but today was Christmas Eve, and we were going to spend the days leading up to Dori's birthday, January 6, in New York with the boys.

"I swear, it's been years since we saw them last," Dori mused as she turned Taylor back up.

"It's been four months, chill."

"That's exactly what you'll be in New York."

"Not this again."

"You'll freeze! I can't believe you didn't even bring a substantial coat."

"I'll be fine!"

"You really won't."

And so it continued all the way to the airport.