Office Hours |h.s|

sixty

Maude

"'96 Juliet Capulet or 'Baby One More Time' Brit?" I ask Cassidy, holding up hangers that display pieces of both costumes.

She looks over at me from her place sitting in front of the mirror, taking a second to stop doing her makeup. Her eyes take in both options before she smirks.

"The girl who falls in love with the man her family hates, or the sexy schoolgirl?" Cassidy smirks, obviously trying to push me to confess that I'm with Harry but I'm not giving in. She can't know the truth, not even if she still suspects it. Hopefully she's just teasing and she still doesn't really think we're together.

"More like the female lead of my favorite movie, or my favorite Britney music video! Come on, I can't decide!" I pout, leaning against her door frame.

She rolls her eyes, turning back to the mirror to continue doing her makeup. "Go with Brit. And hurry up please, we're already running behind schedule. Noah's gonna be here any minute."

"Relax, my makeup's already done. I'm gonna go get dressed and do my hair. You hurry up though!" Walking back to my room, I pull out my phone and see if Harry's available to talk. Once my text is sent, my phone gets tossed to the bed as I start stripping to get dressed.

Cassidy wasn't exactly wrong in her assessment of my costumes for the party. Subconscious or not, both tie back to Harry in some way. It's part of the reason I didn't mention to him that this was a costume party, because I didn't want to have to tell him the options I was deciding between.

But despite all that, it's true that the 1996 Romeo + Juliet movie is one of my all time favorites. H already knows how much I love it and we've watched it together quite a few times, especially during our last vacation in Maine. Between young Leonardo DiCaprio and the stunning visuals of the film, I could watch that movie over and over for the rest of my life. Harry hates the story of Romeo and Juliet, always harping on the fact that they barely knew each other and that pretending to die is so extreme and stupid, but he still watches it with me.

As I get dressed in my Britney costume, I can't help but feel giddy. ...Baby One More Time is a staple in my life. I spent hours up in my room when I was little, watching the music video and learning the dance. Britney really was my escape growing up, as were many other artists in the early 2000s, but that music video will forever be engraved in my mind as the ultimate Britney video. Oops! ... I Did It Again is a close second. I also spent a good chunk of my time learning that music video's dance sequences. I'm sure H would love seeing me in a red catsuit.

It sucks that he can't come tonight, but it's too risky. And even if he was planning on coming, after what Cass just said about my options, I'd be telling him to stay home. Things need to cool off with my friends before we take risks like that. Honestly, I don't see Harry taking a risk again like that. The next time he's around my friends I'll most likely be introducing him as my boyfriend. That will go over well I'm sure.

But introducing Harry as my boyfriend isn't happening tonight so I have to push it from my mind.

There will be no drunk slip ups, mainly because I'm just not in the mood to drink. The other night Cass, Noah, and I did tequila shots in the apartment and I threw it up almost immediately. Usually I handle my liquor like a champ and it takes me a long time before I'm hugging the toilet, but ever since that night I kind of just want to steer clear from anything alcoholic. The last thing I want to do at my birthday party is vomit all over the place two drinks in. Even the thought of drinking makes me want to throw up as I remember how bad it was the other night. Gross.

The sound of the front door opening tells me that we need to hurry it along, especially when Noah calls out that we have to get going. Quickly I call out to him that I need a few more minutes, knowing Cass is gonna need some more time too since she's probably freaking out that we're starting to run late. Grabbing my phone off the bed, I hurry into the bathroom, closing the door behind me for the added layer of protection.