The weekend sunlight spilled across the bedroom floor like it had nowhere else to be — warm, golden, lazy.
Emily stood in front of the mirror, one earring already in, the other held between her fingers as she studied her reflection.
Her room smelled faintly of vanilla and citrus, soft and familiar.
She adjusted the strap of her top, glanced at her phone screen.
11:07 AM Lina: "Don't rush. I'm running fashionably late. Again."
Emily smiled.
Of course she was.
Still, Emily didn't mind the wait. That was kind of the magic with Lina — she made time stretch in a good way. A little unpredictable, a little slow-burn, but worth every second.
She finished her other earring, then moved to the dresser, spritzing a little perfume onto her wrist.
She hesitated before picking a lip gloss, smirking at her own reflection.
"Not too much," she murmured to herself. "This isn't prom."
Still, her hands were slightly too careful, her lip gloss just a little too glossy.
