Fly With Me | ✓

12

Everleigh was never one to enjoy many luxuries, but by God, getting picked up from the airport in a nice car with a good driver was enough to make her forget how long that flight felt. Los Angeles wasn't her favourite place in the world—that was actually Edinburgh, specifically the old part of the town—but something about the luxury of being able to relax and not worry she was being kidnapped was really, really nice. (It happened a little too often where Everleigh was continuously on edge after work because she had never been to the city she was in and needed to pay attention to where her driver was taking her. Another reason she'd love to stay in London. Or Edinburgh.) (Everleigh would love to be the nurse with the cute accent too many people thought about after they were gone from her clinic. God damn, she needed to settle down in London. Seriously.)

They got to the recording studio in good time, for LA at least. Everleigh still felt like she was late—she hadn't even taken the time to change because they got delayed an hour. A quick makeup wipe in the car for her face and a swipe of deodorant under her arms was all she'd managed to do to clean herself up in the car before she was told they'd arrived.

Everleigh walked in the studio with her suitcase trailing behind her, Stevie and Seira—another member of MARS, but not one she'd met at the concert; Everleigh might've recognized her from behind if her recently turquoise hair hadn't been dyed back to black—turned in her direction at the sound of the door closing. It reassured her a little that they had also just arrived.

Stevie smiled. "Everleigh! Hi! Perfect timing!" Stevie and Seira walked over to her. "Everleigh, this is Seira. This is Mav's friend I was telling you about."

"And the Scream fanatic," Seira said. "Nice to meet you. Sorry I missed you in Vegas."

"Nice to meet you too! There was a lot happening in Vegas, don't sweat it." Everleigh looked around for a moment. "Sorry if I'm late. We had a delay."

"The least surprising part of this is that you got here before Mav and he was already in Los Angeles," Stevie said.

"Seriously?" Everleigh looked down at herself. Pencil skirt, white button up, blazer. Paired with a stupid red ascot and even worse heels, she looked like a cover girl for some dumb flight attendant weekly magazine. "You mean I had time to change?"

Stevie pointed to a door. "Bathroom right there. We can wait for you!"

"I love you," Everleigh said. "Thank you."

Everleigh dragged her suitcase behind her, tucking into the first bathroom stall and getting changed quickly. A pair of leggings, sneakers, and her stupid Christmas shirt—sue her, she needed to do laundry—had never been more comfortable.

As Everleigh walked out, she immediately started apologizing. Pulling at the hem of the there's some Ho's in this house shirt and trying not to drop her math binder. (Homework was a bitch.) "I'm so sorry, I haven't been home since Christmas, so—" Everleigh looked up to Stevie and Seira, wanting to show she was sincere. Then she noticed Stevie had taken her coat off, which revealed her sweater with the same design as Everleigh's. Everleigh laughed. "Never mind, we're good."

Seira slapped her forehead with her hand. "Not you too."

"Twins!" Stevie giggled.

Everleigh looked at Seira. "I'd say this isn't usually how I make first impressions, but it seems to be the only impression I make on members of your band and groupies alike. So sorry."

"Don't worry," Stevie said, "we love it."

"But do we?"

Stevie slapped Seira on the arm. "Yes. We do." She pulled her phone from her pocket and checked the time. "I'd say we could wait down here for Mav but I'm sure he'll be a while so we can head up."