Here, Here, and Here

“Ava where are you?” is what I woke up to. I knew it was Reaghan calling me because she’s the only one that still calls me Ava.

“I know you’re here” she continues, “I see your stuff on the couch.”

I hear her footsteps coming closer and I snap the curtain shut around the bathtub. My iPod shut off long ago so the room was silent except for the whisper of moving water. I try to keep still so the water doesn’t make so much noise. I hope she will just peek in because I was rather enjoying my nap and wouldn’t mind getting back to it.

“Come on get out of the tub” Reaghan sighs as she opens the door.

“I don’t want to” I shine lowering myself further under the water making my knees breach the warm surface.

“I have to get you ready and picking out your outfits may take a while.”

“Outfits?” Why would I need more than one?

“Yes outfits. You need one for dinner and one for the club.”

I give an audible huff and I know she heard me because she chuckles a bit. I can tell she’s rolling her eyes in the process, “Just hurry up and get out. She says and I hear the door start to creak shut when she snaps it back open, “Oh and I hope there’s nothing to private in your bags because while I wait for you I’m gonna go through them.”

She quickly shuts the door all the way this time. I give another audible huff and begin to let the water out of the tub. I grab the towel that I had set aside and wrapped it around my body. I was surprised by how soft it was, but then I remembered that Tom loves his creature comforts.

I walk into Tom’s bedroom to find it cleaner than I had thought it would be. I notice two guitars laid within their stands. One guitar was pretty beat up. I walk over to it and my hand floats around the neck. I run my hand down the back of the neck and fell the words carved into it.

“Yo, Ava!?!” Reaghan breaks me out of my trance.

“Huh?” I say at last. I remove my hand from the guitar and wander over to the bed. When I walked in I did not really notice it only it’s existence. I also didn’t notice all of the clothes laid out on top of it.

“What the hell?!” I ask Reaghan, “What’s with my entire suitcase being laid out on the bed?”

“I had to visualize what each outfit would look like” she responds as she straightens out a top the lays over the waist band of a pair of black dress pants.

She studies the clothes for a moment or two before picking up three outfits, “Put these on” she instructs and shoves me toward the bathroom. The first one I look at I automatically discard. The shirt is way too tight and even if I’m not showing yet the shirt would make me very self conscious. As I’m about to walk out with second outfit on Reaghan opens the door and shoves a dress at me.

“I’ve changed my mind” she shouts through the closed door, “This dress will be easier to change out of.”

“And what will I be changing into?” I ask as I slip the dress over my head.

“That’s for me to know-” she starts but I butt in.

“And me to find out” I adjust the dress and walk out of the bathroom. “Fine as long as the top’s not skin tight and the skirt isn’t a bandana wrapped around my butt.”

“Oh don’t be so dramatic, you’re not wearing a mini skirt” she says picking up her over sized purse and placing it on the bed. I see a colorful piece of clothing stick up and I know she’s got the club outfit in the bag. “Besides why should it matter if the top is tight, you’re such a skinny mini.”

“Not for long” I mumble under my breath.

“What?” she asks, digging into my make up bag.

“I want a song” I think fast, “You know, some music to jam to while we get ready?”

“Well here” she says tossing my ipod at me form the other side of Tom’s bed, “Plug it into his speakers.”

I look around the room, spinning in a full circle. “Where are they?” I ask not finding them.

“Right there” Rea points behind me, her tone suggesting that I’m an idiot. I spin once more, this time only enough to face backwards and see the speakers on Tom’s night stand.

“Found them!” I say like I had never asked for her help. I turn everything on and plugged my ipod in. I pick a random song and press play. When I hear the song start to play I walk over to the mirror and look at the dress Reaghan had forced me into.

It was black and had different silver and brown designs on it. It was spaghetti strapped and that had me a little nervous because it December and cold. It was actually a nice chose, modern but elegant with a young feel to it. It was just loose enough that I was comfortable but I didn’t look like I was trying to hide something. The skirt part of the dress flowed out slightly. I played with the hemline not really thinking of anything other than the dress.

“Ooh!” I hear Reaghan squeal behind me. I look at her in the mirror and see her back turned to me but I could see a box in her hands. “You have to wear these!” she squeals again and comes over to me.

She opens the box to reveal a pair of Chanel earrings that went perfectly with the dress. I smile to myself when I see the note written on the inside of the lid. ‘Liebe dich meine Avy’

“Liebe dich auch Tom” I whisper.