Queen of Nothing

9. Homecoming Part 1

I sat cross legged in front of Zara's makeup, as I winged out my liner, bringing it into the corner of my eye. Zara, meanwhile, primped herself out in the bathroom mirror, taking puffs of her vape every few minutes or so, in a silvery dress that fitted her in all the right places. 

She said it focused her mind, helped her control the anxiety for even a few moments. I thought that it was one of her many habits that I didn't understand entirely. But as long as she did it far from me, I had no issue with her habits or how deeply I disapproved of them. 

Katie, meanwhile, was on a mission tonight. She'd found a deep green dress that complemented her frame beautifully, her curly hair done up in butterfly braids. She was in the process of lining her lips with a brown liner before smudging it out with gloss, humming the songs that blared on Zara's speaker. 

I leaned back from the mirror, satisfied with how the look came out before turning to Katie, 

"Okay, I'm done. What do you think?" 

"Stunning," she smiled, "fucking fabulous." 

"Amazing," Zara called out, her back to me as she applied mascara. I rolled my eyes, checking my phone again. 

"Guys?" Katie called out, "There's been a change of plans." 

"What now?" I grumbled, smoothing out the wrinkles in my dress. My hair itself had taken an hour to perfect, and was staunchly refusing to cooperate. 

"Dean's saying the limousine's pulling up to Zara's place, we're not going over there anymore." 

"What?" Zara exclaimed, "what do you mean the limo's coming here?" 

"Um, I meant that it's already here," Katie made a face and tried to turn away. 

"Katie!" Zara and I shouted at the same time. 

"What the hell man," Zara hit her puffbar again, disappearing into a cloud of smoke.

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I forgot, I swear. So we have like thirty seconds to get out basically." She grappled for her heels and I shot straight up. 

"What the hell, we're not gonna have time for pictures?" I groaned. 

"Blame the BOYS," Katie hollered, "they're the ones that moved the plans up." 

I groaned, "This is so ridiculous-" 

Then a loud honk sounded in the distance, and the three of us exclaimed in unison, 

"FUCK!" 

"SHIT!" 

"FUCK ME, I CAN'T FIND MY VAPE-" Zara started tearing up her bathroom as I lept over her bed to reach for my heels. Katie started hopping around on one foot, trying to pull the strap over her ankle. I still couldn't find my purse, dammnit-

"Zara, you just had it-" Katie started, before equally losing herself in the fray.  

"Guys, I can't find my purse!" I tore through the pile of clothes on Zara's floor, desperate. 

Then it came sailing at me, socking me in the shoulder, "OW!" 

"Sorry!" Zara yelped, still tearing up the contents of her shelves, "Fuck me, I can't find it." 

"Will they even allow it inside?" I started, before stuffing a lip gloss and a powder compact into the the tiny little vintage purse I'd pilfered from my mother's closet. 

"Will someone turn that racket OFF?" Katie exclaimed, pointing at the boombox that had flipped over with a staticky sound blaring. 

Zara kicked the speaker, hard, effectively turning it off. The silence cleared space in my mind to think as suddenly the chaos paused, the three of us standing still and evaluating the mess we'd made. And then Zara let out a whoop,