Finding Laila: Some Changes Are Necessary Part 31

Cole turns down a street lined with car after car, leaving very little for something of his car's size to get through. A truck pulls out in front of us and Cole maneuvers the SUV into the vacated spot and throws the car in park.

"Let's go," he says and everyone opens their doors and Haden helps me out.

He takes my hand in his and the five of us walk together down the street until we come to a stop in front of what looks to be a large painted canvas or something. Joey's huge smile leaves me confused, especially when he stretches out his arms as if he's Vanna White.

"Welcome to Baylor," he laughs before adding, "Street."

"You have got to be kidding me," I huff out in annoyance before laughing. "You guys suck. I hate you."

"You didn't really think we were going to drive two hours in the wrong direction to get you home, did you?" Brax asks, hugging me tight.

"I should know better," I agree.

"And yet you don't," Cole adds teasingly.

Some people would call it graffiti, others would call it art. To me, it's awesome and fits Austin perfectly. In between houses, there is a large area that has a tiered wall that has been spray-painted with words, drawings, abstracts-nothing is out of place. I wonder if people can paint on it anytime the mood strikes? That's what it looks like, anyway. There is no pattern or theme, as things appear to catch my eye at random. Vibrant colors set against the blue Texas sky-it's really beautiful and I've never heard of it. Then again, Haden is the artsy one of the bunch.

This was all Haden's idea.

His hands are stuffed into his pockets as he tries to hide his own laughter over the joke, but when I shake my head, he loses it and laughs outright. I flip them off playfully, and run up to the middle of the area and wait for the guys to follow. My arms are outstretched, reaching for the sky, and I feel so small. Haden joins me and lifts me up in the air and I let my head fall back and enjoy the ride.

"All right, you two, be still so I can take a picture," Braxton orders. We oblige and hold the pose until we're given the all clear and he sets me down.

"I want one of all five of us," I say to the groans I know so well when such a picture is requested. Still, they come over and we squeeze together and Joey takes the phone in his hand to snap the ultimate selfie of me with my best friends.

Chapter 26 ~ Finding Prom.

"Mom, can you send Ree and Bailey up when they get here? I need some serious help," I shout downstairs.

I run back to my vanity and look at my reflection.

My hair is a mess.

I have yet to do the makeup thing and all I've managed to do is shower. My dress is still hanging in the bag on the back of the closet door, and at this point I'm thinking I was insane to ever be excited about this. Mom tried to get me to do a manicure, but I hate people touching my nails so she gave up that fight and pushed to have me get my hair done instead. I fought that one too, because I thought I'd be able to do it myself.

"Bet you're wis.h.i.+ng you listened to me, huh?" Mom asks when she walks into the room and sits at the edge of my bed.

I turn to face her and throw my arms at my sides in defeat. There is nothing about getting dressed up for this that's working out for me.

"Mom," I whine, "this is crazy, I have no idea what I'm doing."

I sit down next to her and throw myself back and stare at my ceiling and she mimics the movement.

Her hand reaches out for mine and she pats it, trying to calm me. "You're fine. It's prom-every girl looks forward to it, and then freaks out when it finally gets here. Would you like for me to help?"

"Yes."

"You realize you could wear your gym clothes and Haden would still look at you like he always has."

"Maybe so, but I'd rather not test that one out."

"Then I suppose we better get moving," she says as she sits up and drags me with her. "Show me the look you wanted to go for and we'll see what we can do."

I show her the image of what I found on Pinterest and she studies it for a few moments and sets my phone down before righting me in the mirror.

"You need to sit down, this could take a while," she laughs. I'm a couple of inches taller than her, and seeing how much is going into the style, I do as instructed. She brushes my hair and starts to comb and part sections, pinning and curling when appropriate.

"Do you think you can do it?" I ask since she has my back to the mirror.

"Believe it or not, Laila, I've done your hair before. Granted, you were younger and didn't sa.s.s me so much, but yeah, I got this."

"I don't want it too poufy or perfect," I tell her. "I mean, I want it to look nice, but I don't want to look like a princess."

"Will you just relax and let me do this? And what's wrong with looking like a princess every once in a while? It wasn't too long ago that you got dressed up for Haden's gallery opening, so something tells me you like this a lot more than you're willing to admit."

I can feel my neck getting hot and my face flushes. No I don't, but I did it for my friend.

"Whatever," I mutter, trying to change the subject. "Anything special going on?"

She doesn't answer right away as she continues to piece the style together. Her hands stop moving and she moves in front of me and squats so that she's at my level and looks at the progress before standing up to resume working.

"I'm taking Luka to Grandma's house after you leave, and then your dad and I are going to set up for your after-party. I think the Jamesons' are going to come over for a little, but that's about it."

"I still can't believe y'all are letting everyone come over here and stay the night."

"Why? I love those boys. Besides, if you're not here, then there's a chance for trouble. Dad and I will stay out of your way, and I think he's heating the pool, so go wild."

"Yeah, you know us," I wave my hands around wildly, "we're crazy!"

She tugs at my hair and I wince from the slight pain, but she only laughs.

"Are you nervous?" she asks.

"I'd lie and say no, but I think you already know the answer-this just isn't my thing, but at the same time, I've always dreamed about prom."

She puts a few more pins into my hair, and then pulls out the hairspray and puts an unG.o.dly amount into my hair. I start coughing from the fumes and try to fan it out of my face, but she keeps spraying.

"Enough!" I cough-laugh. "I think you may have just clogged my lungs or something."

"All right," she smiles, "turn around."

My eyes widen in awe when I see the look she created. It's better than I expected and I turn to give her a hug but stop when I see the tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I ask, pulling her to me and hugging her firmly.

"Nothing," she lies, wiping a tear away.

"It's just prom, Mom," I remind her.

"Yeah, but then it's graduation, then your road trip, college, marriage and kids," she adds. I know the road trip is the one that worries her the most right now.

"Whoa, hold up! Now you're marrying me off? Can I get through tonight first?"

She nods and laughs, but our time is interrupted when the doorbell rings.

"Okay, well, call me if you need me, I'll be downstairs." She kisses my cheek and disappears before the girls get to my room. It's strange that all this time, the guys have been my only friends and the girls they've dated have been fleeting, yet that's not the case with Bailey or Ree.

They come laughing into my room but both are frozen the moment they see me.

"Wow!" I gasp. "You both look amazing! Ree, I had no idea you were such a fas.h.i.+onista and Bailey -"

"Why aren't you dressed yet?" Bailey interrupts my compliment and drops her overnight bag on the floor with a thud.

What the h.e.l.l? It's not something I do very often and she's totally ruining the moment.

"This is me. Dressed," I look down at my b.u.t.ton-down s.h.i.+rt and give her a turn.

"You realize they're going to be here in like thirty minutes, right?" She rolls her eyes to make sure I know how annoyed she is with me.

"Back off." I try for nonchalance, but I don't think it's working. "Mom just finished my hair. All I have left is my dress."

"And makeup," Ree adds.

Yep, forgot that part.

"I got it," Bailey says walking over to me. "Get her dress out of that bag, will ya?"

Ree nods and sets to doing her task while Bailey makes me her project-now.

"I can do my own makeup," I remind her.

"Yeah, well apparently you can't because it's still not done so sit still and shut up," she orders.

"d.a.m.n, you're bossy. No wonder Joey's so hung up on you-you're just like his mom," I tease with a straight face, and I'm rewarded with a finger to my side.

"I will cut you," she says with eyelash curlers in hand.

"Not with that you won't," Ree tells her.

She figures that she's not getting anywhere so she starts to apply my makeup, and once again I don't get to see a d.a.m.n thing-except Ree in a dress I didn't think was her style. It's a purple and blue strapless flowing gown with a bedazzled empire waist. Her hair is curled in long flowing pieces and her rich olive complexion has only a small hint of makeup. The dress was gorgeous at the store, but on her with full hair and makeup, she looks amazing.

"Has Cole seen you, yet?" I ask her.

"He saw the dress, and said he'd find something to match, so we'll see."

"You left it in his hands?" I laugh but stop and turn serious. "Good thing I like you. He called and asked me to help him pick something that matched purple. That's it-all the details he gave me."

"Great," she groans, and sits on the end of my bed.

"I took a picture of your dress, remember? I got you covered," I laugh.

"Can you stop talking and shut your eyes?" Bailey orders.

"Fine," I mutter, not liking her much at the moment.

"Has Haden seen your dress?" Bailey asks.

I drop my shoulders and exhale before opening my eyes and staring at her.

"Talk. Don't talk. Make up your mind already," I say, standing up to look in the mirror. I don't care that she's not finished-I never asked her to do it anyway.

"You're nervous," she teases, joining me to look in the mirror.

"Yeah, well, so what?"

"I think it's cute." She grins. "C'mon, sit down, I'm almost done."

I sit back in the chair because she's done a good job so far. Considering that she hasn't actually seen the dress yet, she's done my makeup perfectly. She adds some blush to my cheeks and hands me a tube of mascara.

"Here: eyes. Lips. Then dress."

I do a single nod and finish up the look, and then take in my appearance.

Aside from the s.h.i.+rt, I look really nice. Ree silently holds the dress up, telling me to get a move on, and I disappear into the bathroom. When Mom helped me pick the dress out a few weeks back, she said it was the one for me. The off-the-shoulder pinkish-nude chiffon number gathers over my chest and is supposed to be secured with a sash around the waist. I do my best to zip and tie it up before stepping out. I love how it flows freely to my feet and I guess the girls must like the dress, because neither says a thing, but their beaming smiles speak volumes.

"Can someone make sure I got it zipped all the way and tie this d.a.m.n thing?" I laugh nervously.

Ree walks over and secures everything before grinning appreciatively. "Looks great."

"Thanks," I answer and then look to Bailey. "And thanks for the makeup."

Bailey walks over with her phone in hand and holds it out. "Prom selfie, girls. Let's do it."

We squish our faces together, smile, and wait for the click before relaxing.

"All right, let's get downstairs," I tell them as I grab my clutch and turn off the lights after they leave.

It's still amazing how much everything has changed this last year-just like Joey said it should.

We're downstairs all of two seconds before Mom comes in with her own camera, snapping pictures of each of us alone and together-and of course I can't take a serious picture, so she's not too thrilled with me. I can tell she's about to give me the mom-stare, but she isn't able to shoot the look because Dad opens the door to let the guys in.