Breathless | Colby Brock ✔️

4

We giggled over outfits while eating lunch, talking makeup and hair. Gwen loved hair, obviously, so naturally she would be doing something to mine. I had gone through a makeup phase in high school that I'd never quite gotten over, so I was excited to do something 'bomb' for our first real LA party. 

I was never an angel, I'll admit. I went to my fair share of parties in college, but from what I'd heard and seen, parties in California were of a completely different caliber. To say I was excited was an understatement. 

With a few hours to kill, we sat down and started binge watching Netflix. We started The Umbrella Academy, which I had already seen, but I was more than happy to re-watch it with Gwen. After a few episodes, we made dinner, ate, and decided to get started on hair and makeup. 

"What do you want for your hair?" Gwen asked, standing behind me in the mirror. She played with it, pulling back random sections of the shoulder length tresses. I'd been letting her cut and dye my hair since we were fourteen, and right now it was a beautiful bubblegum pink for the bottom 3/4ths, with my natural dark brown starting at the roots and ending about a quarter of the way down, melting into the pink. I loved it. She'd done my hair red before, as well as a stunning lilac, but the pink fit my personality so well.

"Maybe some loose curls? Like wavy?" I suggested, not sure of what she could do with my relatively short hair. Gwen nodded, smiling at me in the mirror. 

"That'll be really cute," She confirmed, moving to grab a wand curler and plugging it in. 

While we waited for it to heat up, we both moisturized our faces and put on an eyeshadow base. I started working on my eyeshadow while Gwen sectioned my hair, beginning to use the curler to set my hair in loose, bouncy waves. 

"Should I do smoky?" I asked, working a light shade into my crease. 

Gwen shook her head. "Do pink, match your hair and your outfit," She decided for me. I started to do what she told me, smoking out the edges a bit and putting a glittery pink on my lid. I finished the look with a sharp winged eyeliner just as she completed curling my hair, running her fingers through it so it looked messily sexy. 

I started on my foundation as Gwen began doing her makeup, a sultry dark blue that made her brown eyes look deeper than the sea. My pink eyeshadow, on the other hand, made my eyes look like honey. 

We finished our makeup a while later, and I completed the look with a sparkly gloss. I looked at myself in the mirror, actually feeling pretty damn good about the way I looked. Gwen and I alternated between looking younger than our age or older – it depended on whether we were wearing makeup. 

We both had naturally clear skin, so we didn't use much face makeup. Our freckles peeked through our base, our heart-shaped faces made to look older with the use of contour and highlight. We both loved going ham on the blush, so a luminous peach decorated our cheeks and tips of our noses heavily, giving the look of ethereal fairies. Gwen's nose was slightly more upturned than mine, which was short and small but straight. 

Gwen had straightened her hair. The top portion fell over top of her shaved sides, giving her an edgy but very fashion-forward look. The dark purple only intensified her eyes even more. 

With only a half hour until Colby came to pick us up, we slipped on our outfits and shoes. 

Gwen wore a tight black skirt and a dark blue sparkly crop top, which showed off her belly ring. She slipped on a choker and black boots, keeping her edgy appearance up and accentuating her legs. We were both short – about 5'1", but the heels of her boots made her look almost like a model. 

I got into my dress, a short, tight pink velvet thing that Gwen made me buy my Freshman year of college. It hugged my curves just the right way, accentuating my tiny waist and wide hips. The spaghetti straps ensured that my half-sleeve showed, a beautiful linework piece of a mountain scene. I paired the dress with the matching pink velvet heels, which had a tuft of pink fur on the open toed-portion, and tightened the strap around my ankle. 

"I wish I had an ass like yours," Gwen sighed, and I looked at myself thoughtfully. 

"I wish I had boobs like yours," I replied, eyeing her full chest enviously. I wasn't flat chested, but my twin had breasts that would make a plastic surgeon jealous. 

"Well, God couldn't make one perfect person or the world would lose their shit. So instead, he split us into two." Gwen winked, her rationing ever since we were teenagers. I laughed at that. We were pretty good looking, which I'm sure helped us grow our following. I liked to think it was because we were funny or brave, but I think our looks played a part as well. I wasn't complaining. 

Gwen grabbed a set of dangly silver necklaces, clasping them around my neck so they hung across my chest and into the deep V of my dress. 

"You know what would look badass?" She asked, walking to my jewelry box. 

"What?" I rolled my eyes. 

She pulled a pair of silver earrings out. "Hoops!" She handed them to me excitedly, and I put them in. She was right – I looked like a total baddie. 

"Damn," I whistled, eyeing myself in the mirror. "We look hot." 

"I know, right?" Gwen smirked, taking off her boots to pull on a pair of black fishnets. She re-fastened her heels, standing up and smoothing out her leather skirt. "When's lover boy getting here?" 

I almost choked. "Lover boy?" 

"Oh my God, don't pretend to be stupid. We both know you're the smart one. How could you not notice the way he was drooling all over you last night?" 

I laughed, a full-bellied chortle. "Are you kidding me? He's an uber-famous YouTuber, with girls fawning over him wherever he goes." 

"And you're an uber-hot YouTuber with a nice ass and brains to boot. What's not to like? Plus, he's the one who DM'ed you and asked you to a party tonight." 

I shook my head. "It's not like that. He just felt bad about everything that happened." I touched the bandage on my wrist subconsciously. 

Gwen shook her head. "Nora, you're hopeless." 

As if on cue, my phone buzzed. I checked it, seeing a message from Colby. 

Im outside! 

I quickly replied that we would be out in a minute, grabbing a cute cross body bag and putting my phone into it. "Ready?" 

"Let's go party, chica," Gwen winked, leading me out of the apartment and down the stairs. We came out the front entrance, seeing Colby leaning against his red car. He grinned when he saw me, giving us both a half-hug. 

"Looking great, ladies," He said, his gaze lingering on me for a beat longer than it should've. I tried to keep a blush from spreading across my face. Colby opened the passenger seat, and Gwen pushed me forward. I got in quietly as he closed the door, opening the back seat for Gwen and then making his way to the driver's side. He got in, started the engine and drove us to the party. 

"So where is this party?" Gwen asked, leaning forward. 

"It's actually across the street from my new place," Colby said, his eyes focused on the road. 

"Wait. You came all this way to pick us up when it's only across the street from you?" I raised my eyebrows. 

Colby glanced over at me sheepishly. "Well, yeah. I didn't want you guys to get lost, since you're new to LA and it's nighttime." 

Gwen raised her eyebrows at me with a knowing smirk. "How sweet of you."