Summer Days

Chapter 5, part 1

We'd barely gotten in the car to head to Kota's before Gabriel was snapping off texts to the guys, telling them what he needed.

"Meanie, be nice." I said, earning a chop on the back of my head.

"Hush up Trouble. We don't have time for you to protest." He stated. "They have to help us out and get what I want so that I have time to show you what you'll need to do tomorrow."

I frowned. "Tomorrow?"

He smiled briefly. "Yes Little miss Trouble. You've been claimed for the weekend, I won't be there to help you get ready for what he has planned."

My eyes widened. "Wha... but...."

Kota glanced over his shoulder. "Sweetie relax." He said. "You told him... YOU ..." he said.

Gabriel nodded. "Mr. B has risen to the challenge that you laid down. He's taking his opportunity as offered that you're free for the weekend." He said.

"Oh." I blinked and felt a rush of heat to my cheeks. "Well, then yes, you'll need to show me what to do."

He grinned at me and leaned over to kiss my cheek before tilting his head slightly and capturing my lips. "Best part of being done with school?" he asked, pulling away.

Kota and Nathan both guessed random things about classes or teachers and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Not having to pretend you're Silas' girlfriend all the time and getting to kiss you whenever I want to." He said.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah, I guess. As long as someone else isn't already kissing me." I teased.

"Oy! Trouble, why'd you want to go and say that?" he complained, crossing his arms and pouting as the front seat erupted into laughter."

We arrived at Kota's house and he practically dragged me upstairs to Kota's room. "Bath now, quick, and I'll wash your hair before we get started." He said, swatting me on the butt before shutting me into the bathroom.

"What? You don't want to draw the bath for me?" I asked through the now closed door. "I mean, I might make it too hot."

"No time for that Trouble." He said. "Hurry up, I've only got 2 hours." He said and I heard his feet pounding down the stairs.

I sighed. "Fine." I muttered before starting the bathwater as I undressed, putting my clothes in a neat pile on the counter, tying up my hair so it wouldn't get wet and slipped into the tub to bathe.

Within 20 minutes, I was out of the bath, wrapped in a towel and bending over the sink while Gabriel washed my hair. Less than 10 minutes after that, I was perched on a chair while he dried and combed out my hair, nibbling on a string cheese and a sliced up apple that Kota had brought up. "But..."

"No excuses ten." Kota smiled. "He's picking you up at 5:30 but who knows when dinner will be and you didn't eat much lunch because you were nervous."

"After the fact, like usual." Victor's voice floated into the room from the hall behind Kota.

"Did you bring what I asked?" Gabriel asked as he combed down the back of my hair.

"Of course, got things arranged in Kota's room for when you're done."

"Thanks." Gabriel smiled.

"Thank you Victor." I said, glancing up at the doorway, unsure of what I was thanking him for but knowing that he'd done me a favor.

"You're always welcome, Princess."

My gaze wandered up to what I could see of myself in the mirror as Kota and Victor retreated back downstairs. "Thank you Gabriel."

He smiled. "You're welcome Trouble." He said. "Now... tomorrow. You're okay to not wash your hair, wear it down or pulled into a loose ponytail tomorrow during the day." He said, running his fingers through my hair. "But tomorrow night, pay attention..." He said, reaching for a ponytail elastic and showing me a simple hairstyle that had my mouth dropping open as I studied it.

"It's beautiful." I said, turning my head from side to side.

"And you can do it on your own but if you do need me, call me when you're alone in the bathroom and I'll walk you through everything."

"Okay." I nodded. "But you hate it up." I said.

"But Mr. B likes simple elegance and that is exactly what you are showing right now." He stated before showing me what light makeup I could use, demonstrating on his own eyes how I would put the eyeliner and mascara on. "You don't need a full smoky eye for tomorrow night with what I have planned for you to wear but a little bit of this silvery gray shadow on your entire eye, from just under your brow to the lid will be nice." I nodded and he showed me the deep berry shade of lip gloss that he had. "It's not too shiny or sticky and does go on just easy, just blot once to keep it not too shiny. Tuck it in to your bag and reapply later."

"Okay." I said as he packaged the make-up and the things I needed for my hair into a sandwich baggie.

"Also... for tomorrow night, necklace, clip on earrings and a bracelet." He said, bundling them together and putting both bags into my makeup bag. I wasn't sure exactly why I even had a make-up bag but there was a bag with my name on it under everyone's sink and he insisted that I carry one any time I was not going to be around for a few days. He grinned at me again. "Now... for tonight." He said and I closed my eyes as he got started with making up my face for tonight.

I kept them closed as he kept up an endless stream of chatter, probably to distract me but mostly because My Meanie did actually talk a lot when he was involved in something. I felt his hands at the back of my head again, undoing the hairstyle that he'd shown me to do tomorrow. "Okay Trouble." He said, kissing the top of my head. "Open those beautiful eyes and check it out before I go get everything together so you can get dressed."

"Oh!" my eyes widened. "Wow..." I blinked, studying myself in the mirror. He'd gone ahead and pulled my hair up into a high ponytail, wrapping some of my hair around it in a braid. The tail was completely straight and fell down past my shoulders. "Thank you Meanie." I said, kissing him lightly. My eyes were accented by just a hint of mascara, no liner and just a bit of a light gray across the lid. He hadn't applied the lip gloss yet but helped me off the chair.

"You're very welcome Trouble." He said. "Brush your teeth and come into the bedroom when you're done." I nodded, reaching for the toothpaste and Kota's toothbrush as he hurried out of the room.