Dreams Or How I Live My Life in Daydreams

Make Believe

Autumn applied her makeup meticulously.

The trap set, all she had to do was wait for Maddox to take the bait. Her foundation evenly applied, she next applied winged eyeliner occasionally, glancing over at her phone playing a YouTube tutorial to make sure she did it correctly.

She slathered on bright pink fluorescent lipstick. Not her style, but Nara insisted that it'll look good on her. 

The last thing left was styling her hair. It wouldn't cooperate when she tried to pull it up into a bun no matter how much styling spray she used to keep the strands in place.

While placing the bobby pins, she bent a fingernail backward. 

Ow! 

She checked her fingers. The nail art chipped. Great. No time to worry over things she couldn't control; she had to finish getting dressed. Maddox would arrive within the hour.

Little did the prankster know what was in store for him. She almost felt bad for him.  Almost.  She grabbed her dress from the closet. The Swarovski crystals bounced off the light. 

Delicately removing it from its hanger, she slipped it on. It fit just right. Ace outdid himself. The dress was a work of art. Autumn felt like a princess.

Her phone buzzed with a FaceTime call. She swiped to answer it.

"Autumn," Nara squealed. "You look great."

"Thanks," Autumn replied, giggling.

"Turn around," the redhead said, rotating her index finger. Autumn did as instructed. "That dress is going to turn heads," Nara said. 

 "You can thank Ace for that," Autumn replied. "He designed it." 

"He did an awesome job," Nara said, nodding her approval.

Autumn gestured. "I see you decided on the blue dress." 

"It called out my name," the redhead quipped. 

Autumn snorted.

A silver lining that came out of learning about the devious plan Maddox and Dante concocted was the best friends mending their friendship, resuming their usual routine and banter.

Hanging out with Nara gave Autumn an excuse to keep the amorous prankster at arm's length. The boy bought it hook, line, and sinker, the idiot.

She tried to zip up the back but couldn't reach it, pulling a muscle. She winced.  "Shit."

"You okay?" Nara said.

"I pulled a muscle, that's all," Autumn replied.

She threw her head back, gazing up at the ceiling. Today was going to be one of those days. "Mom!" she yelled.

A minute later, with a knock on the door, her mother entered, out of breath. "What's wrong, honey?" she said, huffing.

Grimacing against the pain while twisting herself, Autumn gestured to her back. "Can you help me zip up the back, please?"  Dutifully, her mother crossed the short distance and zipped the dress.

Holding her daughter's shoulder, she gently turned her around for a better look. Tears rimmed her eyes. "You look beautiful," she said. "Ace outdid himself."

"That's what I just told Nara," Autumn said, tickled the two shared the same train of thought.

"Hi, Mrs. Fleetwood," Nara's voice rang out.

The woman scanned the room, her eyes landing on the phone lying on the bed, the redhead waving animatedly. She chuckled. "Hi, Nara. I thought you were here in the room, your voice is so clear."