One Time

Girl talk: Part 3

I rang the hotel room doorbell and tried to peek through the peephole. Obviously it doesn't work that way but it was worth the try. Lazy footsteps could be heard and I was sure it was Bailey, followed by her usual loud, yawn.

"Morning!" I cheered happily as she swung the door open.

"Heey." She looked at me, then the bags.

"What's in there?"

"Guess."

"Your boyfriend?"

I looked down at the bags, "I don't think a boyfriend would fit in here."

She chuckled.

"...and stop teasing me for not having a boyfriend. Just because you all have one, doesn't mean you get the rights to tease other people."

"Had and 'in the process of getting a boyfriend'." She corrected me.

I gave her one of my many confused looks.

"Austin broke up with Kesha. And I still haven't told Dan my feelings for him so.."

"Okay.." I said slowly.

"B-but what? Kesha and Austin broke up? When? H-how come I don't know all of this?"

She shrugged and slopped down on the hotel bed while it bounced below.

"Yeah. Austin's a really nice guy but apparently his parents aren't nice people."

"What do you mean?" I glanced over at Kesha, who was sleeping soundly under the covers.

Bailey sat straight up and talked more softly,
"His parents found out that he was dating with Kesha, and by right he wasn't supposed to date. So his mom demanded they break up in front of them. Gosh you should've seen Kesha afterwards. She was crying like hell. Her mascara was all ruined and stuff. So anyway, they "broke up"," She gave me the hand gesture.

"...Both Kesha and Austin couldn't help it, I mean, breaking up. So they're basically dating behind his parents' backs again."

I nodded knowingly. "Uh huh...which means I'm right at the first place. That she still has a boyfriend?"

"Yeah." said Bailey.

"They why'd you..?"

"Nah, I just wanted to see you get proven wrong for once."

I laughed and pushed her arm, causing her to flop back onto the bed.

"I brought food." I said as I moved towards the bags and rummaged thought the food items I bought.

"Care for some peaches?" I asked while handing her one, in which she grabbed immediately.

"Wooh you're one hungry hyena." She tried to speak with her mouth full of peaches, "Sarah said Jake would bring us some food, until he fell asleep and let us starve to death here!"

"Didn't you guys go out for food? Or call for some room service, at least?"

"We did, eventually. But we didn't eat much. Sarah was lecturing on how eating too much for supper would cause gastric problems and an increase in calories. Gosh, can you believe this girl? We're starving and instead of more food, we get a lecture."

I chuckled softly and said, "WELL THERE'S MORE FOOD HERE SO EAT AS MUCH AS YOU WANT!" Bailey finished her peaches and shuffled through the bags of groceries. She looked up with a handful of Oreos.

"And uh..thanks!"

It was 1pm and we were in the middle of getting ready. Kesha was putting on her makeup and Sarah was choosing her outfit. Bailey and I were combing through our hair. They'd try to get me to put on some makeup-tons of makeup, but the farthest they could get me to do was put on some eyeliner. I've had nightmares since I was 5. And it wasn't just any typical kind of nightmare. Mom once brought me to the amusement park, where we watched a show dedicated to clowns. It was the freakiest shit I've ever seen in my life. And I guess you can tell where the fear for putting on too much makeup came from. These clowns had their faces powdered white and their lips coloured red to the point where it looked scary. From that day onwards, I've never fancied putting on makeup nor will I ever attend a clown show. Bailey was helping me with the eyeliner when my phone buzzed to life.

"Oh, Heather you've got a text message from...Mr. Jose?" Bailey's voice faded as she mentioned his name and I felt like fainting on the spot by the sound of his name.

"What did he say?!" I sprang up from the chair immediately and grabbed my phone off the table.

"Heather, calm down!" said Sarah as she was checking herself out in the mirror.

My eyes scanned through the words on the screen and I tried to focus on what I was reading.

"Ms. Martin, I'm not quite impressed by the presentation of your project. I'll give you 2 days' time to do your final touch-up. Better luck next time."

My heart sank deep, almost like an anchor that has caught onto something big and is unable to let go. My hands froze grabbing hold onto my phone and I swallowed hard as I tried to digest what I had just read. That terrible comment from Mr. Jose. Terrible. Jose. Is that even legal to put those two words together?

"Hey." Sarah just finished checking herself out and has just walked over to check ME out. She tapped my shoulder lightly.

Without responding, she squinted at the text message and gave both Kesha and Bailey 'the face'. The look that goes 'Yikes!'

Bailey snatched my phone off my frozen hands and slammed it facedown on the table.

"Heather, it's nothing. He's probably just having a bad day."

"Oh you mean like he's not moody every other day?" I stood up saying.

Kesha was sitting across the room, she slammed the compact mirror shut and looked at the three of us, well mainly just me.

"Who cares what he thinks? He's just trying to ruin students' lives and make them feel like they're not good enough."

"Yeah, Kesha's right." Sarah said behind me, hands still on my shoulder.

Then there was a moment of silence. Everything was quiet and no one was talking. Finally Bailey's eyes widened and I think she knows what I was thinking.

"No way..." She looked at me.

I looked back.

"...omg no fucking way, Heather!"

Sarah and Kesha were both blanked out. They didn't even know what Bailey was so pissed about. But of course, I knew what she was talking about. And the reason why I didn't want to say it out, was because I was afraid I would get my ass kicked. Right now.

"Heather Martin you are NOT going back there." She finally said.

Sarah's hand left my shoulder and I knew she was raking through her hair.

"Heather...we've planned this. We came here to meet the MAGCON boys. Thousands of people will be here and heck, I'm not gonna wait any longer. It's not your fault it's not good enough. You know that don't you?"

I was speechless. "The school informed you at the last minute. This project is a last minute project, so they can't blame you if it didn't work out because the time is simply not enough."

I sighed and said, "Yeah but now I'm given 2 days extension."

"And they think that's enough? We planned this 3 months ago. This project was planned, what? 3 days ago? And they managed to inform you just the day before yesterday? Girl, just leave it. Leave it for now and enjoy the MAGCON. After today you're free to do your project. I promise."

Bailey looked at me seriously after finishing what she said. I bit my lip and considered it for a moment. She's right, what friend am I if I were to bail them right now and go ahead with my stupid project? A shitty, worthless friend. That's right.

"Okay. Let's just enjoy today." I breathed out heavily.

Sarah's face lit up and she winked at me through the mirror. "That's Heather Martin alright."

I giggled and went straight to the wardrobe.