Unforeseen | H.S.

Chapter 7

He did believe in rules of proper dating, but only with her.

The day after Harry left a half asleep Elise in her bed, he called to ask her out on a proper date before she'd be off to somewhere for yet another show. Hearing her quick words of agreement eased his mind; but the peace was short lived when thoughts about how to give her a perfect day flooded his head.

Harry only had a few days to draw up a plan for Friday evening.

Meanwhile, Elise was a ball of beams and bubbles; clearly not half as anxious as the boy who had recently found home in every fold of her brain. Abstractedly, she handled her manager's shitty attitude better, wrote songs that were lyrically stronger, and smiled more. It came as quite a surprise even to herself when she went to bed earlier the night before her date.

Nights are safe. Elise stayed up all night when she felt the need to pity herself in the darkness with no one around to shame her for it; but she also had those days when she craved to be a new person, someone who was optimistic enough to believe that starting your day early would enrich your life.

However, it brought much more contentment when her body naturally welcomed the orange hues behind a white curtain and the sound of chirping wrens sitting on her window sill. There was something about the mornings when happy voices in her head cooed her out of sleep rather than a digital ring. It only happened on days that she knew her family had something big planned for her. Eversince she'd moved to Los Angeles, the only time Elise was tingling with excitement to get out of her bed was the morning of her very first gig as a member of the Ardennas.

On Friday morning, the thrill of what the day had in store roused her from slumber before the alarm had a chance to go off. The only person she intended to see, besides Harry, was Shay who had accepted full responsibility of picking Elise's outfits for special occasions.

She walked for ten minutes; head high and steps steadfast because she was just confident like that. She slumped down on the couch as soon as she walked through the front door and looked around before smiling up at her friend.

Shay's home was messy more often than not. Sometimes, a pair of scissors would be found on the kitchen counter, some pieces of cotton cloth on the couch and a sheet of paper filled with colorful designs laying on her nightstand. The natural waves of her hair were pinned up with few strands in her face and her cheeks were a gorgeous shade of pink.

"Niall was here, wasn't he?" Elise wiggled her eyebrows playfully. "You look freshly fucked."

Shay didn't say anything, only flipping her off before going to her bedroom and coming back carrying the items Elise had come for. Her fingers were gracefully wrapped around the hook of a velvet hanger from which a smooth dress was dangling. Her other hand was bearing the weight of some black boots while a handbag hung from her forearm.

Elise's lips puckered, taking in Shay's choice of clothing for her date with Harry. "Orange is not my color."

"It's not even orange." Shay scoffed. "Look, it's actually yellow with orange and green mandalas on it."

"Still , orange is the dominant color. And what's with that bag? There are fucking pearls on it. These are way too soft for me."

"Would you just shut up and trust me? I don't intend to send you off to a date looking like a clown, I promise." Shay said in a firm tone that turned down the stupid whines and protests she knew were coming. Elise fell quiet, mainly because somewhere deep inside, she believed that Shay was never wrong when it came to apparel. After all she was the one with an innately strong sense of fashion whereas Elise had no idea what she was wearing half the time. "You could also straighten you hair, you know?"