#hod9

Most of the girls were already waiting at the front door when Holly and I strolled in, maybe about half of them. There were groups nestled closely on all sides. Some were in fours, fives and others were in pair, like Holly and me. Everyone was dressed up accordingly, trying to look their best. And for the first time since this morning, I didn't feel overdressed. Holly made me threw over a navy long sleeved shirt and a white cashmere short vest over it. For whatever it was worth, she insisted that I tucked in the shirt in the grey jeans she ordered me to pull on. I was madly irritated on how bossy she got earlier but it died out the moment I saw the others girls. I was just waiting for Holly to drop the 'I told you so' line. Heels clicked everywhere on the tiled floor as girls paced about while waiting for the time. It was twenty minutes to six am and everyone was supposed to be here at six sharp.  Looking around, there were different expressions to take in. A red head who had pulled up her curls on a ponytail looked anxious as she kept on rubbing her hands together as though seeking for warmth. The brunette who was leaning on the door looked like she didn't bother a bit about anything going on around her. But the girl with the strawberry blond hair sitting on a stair exuded confidence--a lot of it. It was like she lived her life to show that she could do it, she could do anything. Being surrounded by twenty eight girls all fairly unacquainted to me was a big deal on my part. I was used to only being with Holly all this time. I hadn't exactly tried interacting with other people more than a couple of exchanges of words about school stuffs. Maybe it was the way I was brought up or maybe that was just how I was. I wasn't a fan of large crowds anyways. A red top down Audi pulled in in front of the bus, getting all of the girls' attentions. Rita emerged from the passenger seat after giving a peck to the guy seated next to her. She waved him goodbye as she made her way to us, looking stunning in her yellow floral tube short overall. Flipping her blond hair to let the curls bounce just above her shoulders, she beamed at us and stood right at the door of the bus. "Good morning girls," she greeted. Everyone answered back simultaneously making us sound like children answering their teacher. "Wow. I wasn't wrong that I dressed up today. You all look gorgeous! Are you trying to impress someone?" She teased, wiggling her brows. The girls giggled like maniacs and I didn't bother restraining myself not to roll my eyes. Could I really take being with these giggling machines for three months? It was really irritating hearing them screech like mandrakes.  "Okay okay," Rita said, settling us down. "Grab your things now and sit wherever your heart desires. We purposely chose a big one in case some of you want to sit alone or hoard the window seats. And keep in mind that the first two rows are reserved. Now, tata." She moved away from the door and girls started to get in one by one, claiming the seat they wanted. Most of them wanted the front seat since they thought Dylan and the rest would be occupying the front rows. Maybe they would. Who else would take those anyways? The staffs and crews had a a van of their own so the bus was to ourselves alone. Holy and I sat at the back, the five seater one, since we came in last. But it was also good, at least we get to have a large space that was enough for us and our things. Two large varsity bags did really take up too much space. I didn't even know why we needed to bring so many things. Giggles and murmurs filled the bus when all the girls had settled. We still had ten minutes before we the scheduled time to leave. To kill time, Holly and I decided to play Fruit Ninja and tried to be the hell out of each other. Though I must admit I was good at it, I never knew Holly was better. The bitch never got a score lower than five hundred while I tend to hit the bomb a couple of times. We were busy arguing over who was better though it was clear it wad Holly that we didn't notice the surrounding got quiet. The girls seated on the left side were all standing, looking over the right window. My best friend and I exchanged curious looks. "What's happening?" She raised an eyebrow as her eyes travelled along the row of girls lined up on the bus isle. "No clue." I shrugged. But as though it answered our question, the girls quickly dispersed to their seats as a brunette climbed the bus. Wearing a fitted white shirt with the words I want to be alone printed across his chest and a red line beneath it, Dylan stood lazily in front. Rita gestured that he take the seat at the front but he ruffled his hair and went walking towards the back. The girls gasped, they were probably expecting that Dylan would sit beside one of them. Too bad none of their wishes came true. But so did mine.  After Dylan went to our house the other day, I really didn't know how to act around him. It was crazy, I know. It was obvious that I should just act myself since that was how it was really supposed to be. But there was something that was keeping me from being normal. Just by merely seeing him, like now, my mind starts to think of words to say to him which was so unsettling. I was like a machine that needed to process things first before they do it. "Prince charming's coming this way," Holly cooed, giggling. I jostled her and pretended to be so engrossed on my phone. "Are these yours-" It seemed like he was to say more but was cut off by someone, which was no one since neither Holly nor I responded. "Hey. Mind if I take this seat?" I could hear the smile in his voice. My brows creased. Weird. Since when did I hear smiles? "Sure." Holly shuffled to his feet and grabbed the bags when Dylan stopped her. "It's fine. I'll just move them," he said a little too politely that I almost doubted it was him who had talked. "Uhm. Okay then. You sure?" "Positive." I puffed my cheeks in frustration as I kept hearing smiles on his voice. Seriously. Smiles shouldn't be heard! But why do I keep hearing them when he talked? I took a deep breath and let it out. I jumped to my seat when Holly dropped beside me. She chortled but soon coughed to hide her laughter when she felt me shooting her daggers. "Hey Cera." I stiffened. "I'll be over again next week. I received a challenge from Chuck." My head snapped at him, "Chuck? But he won't be home 'til next month." "Really? Weird. He said they'll all be there though." I raised an eyebrow. Why would Chuck invite Dylan over when they wanted to scare him away when he they learned that he was my "boyfriend". Chuck challenged him, get that right. It was the same thing. He still invited him over to challenge him and it would still mean that Dylan would be at our house. I wondered what happened when I left them and went to my room. Dylan wasn't too nerve-wracked anymore when I came and he was beating the crap out of the twins on Xbox. Maybe that earned him plus points to the boys? "Never mind. It's highly they'd show up out of nowhere again." "See you then." I squeezed my eyes and pursed my lips. When I opened them, I expected myself to be a little calmer but no, not really, "Y-yeah." "Wooooah! This is huge!" Both Holly and I looked around the place with wide eyes. We had arrived at our destination which was a couple of hours out of the city. It was a large field, or maybe it was a meadow, that could probably be thousands of hectares in size. A large tent about five stories tall was sitting meters away from us. "Let's bet. What do you think is in there?" Holly said, pointing at the tent across from us. I shrugged. "No clue. I can barely see what's inside." "That's why we'll guess, silly." I rolled my eyes. "What's your guess then?" "A circus!" I stared at her like saying, no shit Holly. "I'm serious! I saw large tents like that when mom took me to circuses before." I shook my head. "Fine. Then I'll bet it's something makeshift." "No fair. You should be specific." "Makeshift is specific." "A makeshift stage is common. It's obvious. Give a certain thing." "Then something with water. A waterfall or whatever. Just with water." She laid her hands for me to shake on it. I chuckled and took her hand. "You're crazy." "You just knew?" She responded playfully. Myra and the guys stood in front of us, their backs facing the tent. "Hello again ladies. We are here today for your first ever photo shoot. Can anyone guess what you'll be doing?" A girl clad in a pink and white ruffled dress raised her hand and shouted, "Circus?" Holly jostled me and I rolled my eyes. "Nope. Nice try though, dear. Anyone else?" It was my turn to elbow my best friend and she scoffed. No one else answered after that. So I raised my hand, "Will there be water?" Myra grinned at me, "Wow. So close. Yes, there'll be water but you won't be dipping in. You'd be on a boat." I was left in awe as we stepped in. A large makeshift lake was made inside the tent together with the fake trees, which didn't look so fake to me, to make it appear we were on an actual lake or maybe they were aiming for a forest. Hell it could even be mistaken as the real one! A row boat was floating beside the dock while the paddles were lying at the wooden deck. A green background cupped half of the oval-shaped makeshift body of water, making the whole scene looked awkward. Yeah. Awkward. Because while the whole lake thing felt so serene, the background gave off a futuristic feel. "Ladies," Rita called out. "You may now proceed to the dressing room. There will be make-up artists and wardrobe assistants waiting to assist you." She pointed towards the little curtain draped at the side and we all made our way towards it. Thirty chairs were lined up in two rows across the room, mirrors reflecting each other on both sides. It was a typical setup for a salon but what made it different were the racks of dresses beside each chair. They were all so dreamy like to me, like something from centuries ago would wear. We all scattered about and took our seats to wherever we please. We didn't bother whether the dresses on our rack were decent looking or not. The make-up artist assigned to the seat I chose was a woman in about her early thirties who wore her jet black hair in bob with full bangs. She grinned when I sat down and greeted me with a heavy Spanish accent, "Hello, dear. I'm Mercedes. You are?" "Cera. Nice to meet you, Mercedes." I smiled and laid a hand. She gladly took it and turned her back when she let go. She had a clamp and a red cloth when she faced me. She threw the cloth over me, tied it on my neck and pulled my hair up, clipping it in place. She stood at the back, cupping my face in her hands and looked at me through the mirror, "The theme is fairy tale. You ready to be a princess, dear?" I smiled. "Always." Mercedes started to move and gathered the things she needed and placed it on the top of the table. Once she was settled, she started to daub my face with foundation. She worked on the make-up so cooly like she was just doing some artwork. It was fun seeing her doing her work. It was obvious that she love what she was doing. After almost an hour, I became mute. No, really. I was speechless. I never knew how make-up could do wonders like this. I had only tried putting on blush and lip gloss during the first screening but this was different. The smokey eyes she did was very light that it almost looked natural. My lips were painted a faint pink and a light red gloss over it. She even attached fake lashes on me so that it would noticeable despite the make-up she put me on. While I was still in awe, Mercedes began to blow dry my hair and flattened it afterwards. My brows creased when she took the curling iron and made big curls on my hair. I didn't bother asking why since I knew that she knew what she was doing. She combed my hair with her hands and separated the curls into little strands making my hair look thick and bouncy. Well, this is nice. But my amazement was short-lived. She pulled strands of my hair and overlapped it with the other. She did that for about twenty minutes and I ended up having a braided hair. A very complicated braid at that. When I turned my head to the side, there were thousands of strands going about anywhere on my hair. It was wide and very intricate that I didn't want to think how Mercedes managed to make it with just two hands. "This is lovely," I commented, running my hand lightly on my hair. "Thank you. And you look gorgeous," she said with a smile. I blushed. "Thank you." She held my shoulders and leaned down so that her face was beside mine, "Dress up so that you could go in first. Alexandra is waiting at the back, just look for room number four." She stood straight and tapped my shoulder. I nodded and stood up. Taking one of the lovely dresses on the rack I find suiting for me and went at the back. No one else was done and that made me confident that no one would be able to watch me as I flunk myself on this shoot. When I found the room, I knocked before I turned the knob and saw a very pretty blond sitting on a chair. She immediately stood up when she noticed me and came rushing to get the dress from me. "Oh my, aren't you one lovely girl? Come here. Let's get you done." She took my hand and dragged me behind a curtain. "Call me when your done and I'll tie the back for you." I nodded and went it. As soon as I pulled it up, I called Alexandra and she got in. She quickly tied it up like she had done it a million times, or maybe she had. It was part of her job anyways. When she was done, i turned to her and said my thanks. She clapped her hands together and stared at me dreamily. "You are so pretty." "Uhm. Thanks," I said, averting my gaze to hide my blush. "You're welcome, hun. Now go out there and go get 'em." She winked. I chuckled and waved goodbye. As expected, I was the first one to get dressed up. A staff with a headphone on his head approached me and directed me to go to the dock. Myra was there with Keian and they were chatting lively. They stopped when they felt my presence and turned their attention at me. Myra gasped while Keian gave me a lopsided smirk. "Who do we have here?" Myra gushed. "Cera," I answered sheepishly. They both laughed. "Silly. I know. But you're so pretty. It looks good on you," she said. "Oh. Uhm, thanks." I was blushing furiously now. Why was I so stupid? "No worried, dear. Now let's just wait for Dylan to finish dressing up and you're up." "Seriously, that dude dresses like a chick. How could he take this long?" Keian complaint. My eyes widened. Dylan? We woul be doing this with Dylan? "He'll be doing this, too?" I asked innocently. "Yes. Are you surprised?" She said in a teasing tone. Can someone just kill me now? I still didn't know why I was feeling this way. I didn't want to be near him but here we were, going to be stuck on a boat together for God knows how long. I should have thought that he would be involved in this when Mercedes told be it was fairy tale themed. "Uh, ha ha. No. Not really." I walked away from them and stood at the dock. I can do this. After a couple of minutes, footsteps clicked on the wooden dock. I turned around and saw a dashing real life prince. Though we wasn't wearing a prince suit, he still managed to give off the aura that he was a prince. It matched the dress I chose which fell just below my knees. We didn't look a bit like royalties but we did look like someone from a fairy tale. And somehow, it reminded me of one. "It's like Tangled." "Hey. I'm Flynn Ryder." We said simultaneously. We stared at each other before we doubled laughing. "Dude, you watch that?" I teased. "What? Flynn is awesome." "Sorry. I prefer Eugene." I grinned. Myra shouted at us to get on the boat and we immediately complied. Before Dylan could do anything cheesy like assisting me to get on the boat, I quickly jumped and settled myself on it. He went after me, the paddles on both hands. "Give me one," I demanded. "No. Just sit there." He commanded. I pursed my lips and crossed my arms over my chest. He didn't have to be such a jerk about it. It wouldn't crush his ego if he would let me row the boat. When we got at the middle of the makeshift lake, Dylan turned and gestured for the staffs that we were good. "What do we do now?" I asked. "You watched Tangled right?" I nodded. "Then let's do the lantern scene. Imagine there are lanterns everywhere and you were excited about it like it was a dream come true." I scrunched my nose, "I would look stupid." "Aren't we both? Now go." I just stared at him for a while since I didn't know what to do. "You have all the time after this shoot to stare at my perfect face, but now, let's get this damn thing done. Okay?" He smirked. "Jerk. I'm not staring you. I just don't know what to do." "Then follow my lead." He stared down at my hands sitting on my lap and took them. His head slowly lifts up together with our hands. His hazel eyes were intently looking into my green ones like he wanted to say something just by looking at me. As if he had a secret message conveyed behind those eyes. My heart beat started to pick up and my hands involuntarily tightened its grip on him. He flashed me his boyish grin and lifted our hands together as though we were lifting something. After a while, he put our hands down but he still didn't remove his from mine. "Don't think about anything else. I got you," he whispered, he leaned closer and for a moment, I thought he would kiss me so I closed my eyes and waited for his lips to land on mine. But instead, he planted a long kiss on my hair and hugged me. Everything else that surrounded us seemed to have disappeared in my vision. There wasn't anything else I could hear but our ragged breathing and the relentless beating of my heart. I was feeling tingly all over like someone had blown on my nape. It was very knew to me and that made me uncomfortable. I never shift the way I ran things because I wasn't sure how things would work out if i did. And this was exactly what was happening now. Dylan released me from the hug, looked down at me and smiled. "That's awesome!" Someone yelled from the side. It brought me back to reality and the fact that this guy in front of had just introduced me something very unfamiliar and unknown to me. "Man, at least you get carried away easily. It would have been a pain if you hadn't," he shook his head and started to paddle back to the dock. Carried away. He let me get carried away with his act so that he could get done with this shit? How unfeeling! Here I was going on a roller coaster of feeling while all he did was act? The jerk! When we reached the dock, I quickly left the boat, making it sway. "Woah! Easy there!" I brisk-walked away from him and I heard him catching up, calling my name. He had grabbed my arm when he caught up with me and I shot him an ominous look when I turned to face him. With all the force I could muster, I stepped on his foot and walked away when he loosened his grip on my arm as he leaned down to check his foot. Ha! Suits you right asshole!