You set your alarm at 5:30 A.M. and at that time you woke up, you were glad you set your alarm so early since you hated getting up in the morning. You turned on music on your phone, hoping you'd be able to hear it from the kitchen. The coffee brewer gave off little exhales of vapor, filling your kitchen with the lovely smell of morning coffee. As it brewed, you took a shower, you closed your eyes as the warm water hit your face and cascaded down your body. You lathered on Dove soap on your shoulders, appreciating the blossom smell it left on your skin. Your hair was bubbly with Pantene Curl Perfection conditioner. After shutting off the water and wrapping the towel around your body, you poured coffee into a cup, and took it to your room. The time was 6:03 A.M., you'd do your makeup, choose an outfit. You got your Morphe 35W palette and mixed the orange with one of the light browns on your crease, cleaning your eyelid with your concealer to add a lighter shade in the middle, as well as some glitter. You squinted your eyes, took a deep inhale, and carefully drew a slightly diagonal line from the outer corner of your eye moving away from your eye. You examined the line, exhaled and drew another line connecting at the end of the previous line, this time moving towards your eye again. You filled in the spaces with black liquid, and continued to fix and tweak your first wing. When you finished, you let out a heavy sigh, making the other wing match was near impossible. You held your breath while you drew a line from the outer corner towards your eyebrow, you looked at both of your eyes, close enough. You repeated the cycle from earlier, your left eye always looked slightly off as it was just smaller and more hooded than your right eye. After the tedious process of drawing on your winged eyeliner, you curled your lashes and applied a very thin layer of Elf 3-in-1 mascara. You dabbed a little bit of a tan glimmery shade on your inner corners and smiled at your reflection. Your makeup looked presentable at least. You took a swig of coffee, savoring the bitter milkiness of it all. You looked at the half-full cup tentatively, “why not?” You grinned and chugged what was left. Little misbehaviours made your life a little sweeter. You repeated your little dressing ritual, staring into the mortal eyes of your clothes to decide what was appropriate. "Hey Everett, this is Alegría Herrera. Is there a dress code I'm supposed to follow?" you hit send, crossing your fingers that he would reply soon. You picked out some outfits that included black jeans ripped at the knee with an yellow off the shoulder shirt, a high waisted denim shirt with a flowy pink shirt, and a pair of mom jeans and a large blue shirt that would go tucked in. "No dress code, but maybe save the swimsuit for a beach outing," he replied. You smiled a little, "oh that sucks! I couldn't wait any longer to wear my bright pink bikini!!!!" you hit send and threw your phone on the bed. You settled with the black jeans and yellow shirt combo, you'd put on some trendy pink high heels. You checked the time, 6: 36 A.M., you figured you better be on your way.
In the car you listened to the first Shawn Mendes album, Handwritten, mouthing the words to every single song that came on. Your fingers gripped onto the steering wheel, while your index finger tapped to the beat. You kept an eye on the clock, it'd be a real red flag if you were late on your first day. You parked in the same spot you had the day before, you sat in your car, taking short but deep inhales to calm your nerves. You checked your makeup and hair in the rearview mirror, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear. You were a few minutes early, so you took the time you had to refresh emails in case of any incoming inboxes. You jumped when two taps made a clink noise on the window beside your face. Everett was waving with a big innocent smile plastered on his tanned face, you gave him a furrow-browed look and then returned the smile as you stuffed your phone into your bag along with your car keys. He opened the door for you and sneered at you, you assumed for your reaction to a tiny tap. "Very funny Everett, very funny," you held back from sticking your tongue at him, thinking it was too soon to open with such infantile behaviors. "Where's the bright pink bikini I was promised?" he joked and walked beside you. "Out of luck, put it in the wash and it turned blue," you joked back. It was almost ridiculous how this random 21 year old was quickly turning into your best friend. "Are you ready for a day of fun Herrera?" he led you into the building. "Absolutely, I'm actually very excited for my first day," you smiled, hiding small amounts of panic. "You will be tending Tom for the first part of the day, he'll be here in about an hour or so. Before he gets here though," he wiggled his brows suggestively, eliciting a giggle from you. He handed you a binder, it wasn't huge like your old Chemistry binder, but it also wasn't a small folder. You paged through it, taking in all the numbers, letters, @ symbols, and more. "I'm guessing this is going to be my saving grace?" your eyes dashed up to meet his face. "Pretty much a Bible," he nodded. "Is there anything I need to know about Mr. Holland? Should I be open to conversation, should I be a little more reserved?" you analyzed Everett's expressions for hints. "He's a pretty okay dude, he'll open polite conversation, and he'll respect your work. I haven't actually worked with him before, but I have heard from others that have. You'll be in good hands," he explained, his words calmed your nerves a bit. "That's great, I mean, really great," you bit your bottom lip in relief as you paged through the binder. Everett's phone beeped, and he huffed reading whatever notification he had gotten. "I need to be on my way now, we'll catch up later though," he smiled and walked out of the building. You felt the knot in your stomach tighten, you grew intensely self aware. You remained standing, aware of how awkward you must look in your focused stance. You balanced the binder on your right arm while paging with your left hand, trying to remember some of the basics at least. After a few more awkward moments, you took a look around and sat on a stiff white couch, crossing your right leg over your left. You straightened your back as you read over page one, adding every number, email, and reminder that was suggested to your phone. There was no specific instructions that followed a schedule, except for when to get there, there was no clocking out time either. Everyday would be something new, as everybody does different things every single day, that made sense. You snuck into a deserted office and took a highlighter, then you sat back on the couch. You highlighted important dates, emergency phone numbers, and names of people you had to remember. You must've lost track of time because you jumped and gasped when you heard someone call out for you. "So sorry!" you apologized as you raced to close then binder and stand up. "It's okay Alegría," Tom Holland's smiling face met your gaze. "I should've kept an eye out on the time, Everett said you'd be here soon. What can I help you with Mr. Holland?" you held yourself back from hitting yourself on the head from how borderline pathetic you sounded. "Tom, please. First off I'd like to thank you for taking on this job, I'll try to make it as not tedious as I can," his accent shone through the most in a few words, but you tried not to pay much attention to it. "Mr. Holland, my job is to do everything and anything you ask me to, I'm very excited to be working for you," you smiled politely, your fingers fidgeting with the cover of the binder. "That's great, but please call me Tom," his lips formed into a tiny pout, and you offered a genuine smile, dipping your head a little. "I can't make any promises Mr. Holland, I'm here to work for you," you gave him a small nod, "we should get started, yeah?" He gave you an understanding nod, "first we have to go and run my schedule with Harrison- have you met Haz?" the name sounded familiar, but you shook your head. "I'll introduce you to him, he's my best friend," he motioned his hand in the direction you were meant to start moving in. There was another outside area you didn't even know about, even after the lengthy tour you had taken the day before. There were trailers clustered everywhere, this was probably what Everett meant when he said he'd try to get you a trailer, it did seem more convenient. "That's my trailer over there, that's Hemsworth's, and that's Pratt's, Harrison's usually in my trailer," you followed his lead, trying to take in all the information he was so excitedly blabbering out. He opened the door, taking you by surprise since he didn't knock, but you remembered it was his trailer after all. "Come on in," he smiled holding the door open for you. "I'll wait out here," you declined, hoping not to seem too standoffish, but it did make you particularly nervous to go into the trailer with a guy you had just met yesterday. There was nothing about him that gave off a dangerous vibe, but you figured it'd be better if you just waited. "Sure," he looked at your eyes for a speed second before disappearing behind the metal door of the enclosure. You took a long around, it was still early, 9:15 to be exact, so the morning chirping of birds filled the air accompanied with the angry honks of cars in the distance. You shifted your weight from your heels to your toes in an anxious pattern, waiting patiently for Tom and his best friend to come out of the trailer. Maybe 3 minutes later the door flung open, and you prepared your best courteous smile for the new faces. "This is Harrison Osterfield, we just call him Haz, or at least I do," Tom motioned for the slightly blonder boy to come forward. They were both nowhere near not cute, but this was a professional setting, you had to keep yourself in line. "I'm Harrison, otherwise known as Haz or to some James," he smiled at you, two lines forming by his mouth. "Alegría Herrera," you extended your hand, a blush forming on your cheeks, you felt embarrassed at how brief you were. He shook your hand, his eyes never leaving yours. His eyes were a pale blue, Tom's were a soft brown. You took your hand away, not wanting it to linger for too long. "It's really nice to meet you Mr. Osterfield," you smiled courteously. Harrison and Tom exchanged a quick look, Tom smiled giggling a bit, he looked to the side. "Tom said you were formal, and a bit stubborn," Harrison explained. You felt embarrassed, and felt the need to be defensive. "I'm so sorry," you blushed, "I don't mean to be rude at all, or stubborn. I'm really just not accustomed to treating high position persons with anything other than the utmost respect," you cringed evidently at how pathetic your excuse was. "You're completely fine," Tom smiled empathetically, "it's quite funny, no one talks to us that way though." You gave him a quick nod, shuffling your right foot behind your left, keeping yourself balanced. "How old are you?" Harrison beamed, trying to make light conversation. "I'm 18, I'm starting college in August," you hoped that answer would suffice to break your formality. "You look younger," Tom replied, "only maybe a year. I'm 22, and Harrison is 21." You took a mental note of that information. "I have always been told I look younger, which is fine, I do think I look about 5 years old," you said since you always joked with your friends back home that you looked like a kindergartener. Both Harrison and Tom laughed at the joke you had forgotten was funny, you smiled looking at the ground. "So I heard a rumour, that I get to have you help me the whole day, can you confirm?" Tom asked you. "I believe that's true," you nodded at him, "should we get started with work?" Tom and Harrison exchanged another look. "Today it's mostly orientation, so I tell you what it will be like working with me, and you will tell me what it will be like working with you," he explained, his voice didn't have any edge to it. "Sounds good," you smiled at both of them. "And I will trudge around because I'm Harrison, and there is no one like me," Harrison grinned. Your phone vibrated, "sorry," you apologized and checked over the message you had received. "What time is your lunch break?" Everett was the one who had texted you. "Mr. Holland, do you know when lunch break is?" You looked up from your phone. "12:30," he replied. "12:30, why?" You replied and shut your phone off. "Should we begin orientation then?" you looked at the two young men standing in front of you. "Let's go," Harrison began walking, Tom sneered at him. "It's this way you idiot," he motioned straight ahead, you began walking, suppressing a laugh.
"So you aren't actually from the United States?" Tom questioned, his chin finding its place on his palm. "I'm glad my accent had you fooled," you smiled, hoping your real accent wouldn't shine through too much. "Mexico, that's a long way from here," Harrison broke into the conversation, "do you miss it?" You took a second to answer, "sometimes, well most of the time yes. Everything's different here, especially the people. I'm sure you see it too, being from the UK and all," you smiled at the ground. "Yeah, the people are more open to conversation on the street for sure, but I know what you mean about missing home," Tom nodded. "What do you miss the most?" Harrison was focused on knowing your story. "I think I miss my old life, not that I'm not grateful of everything I have now, but I guess I miss not doing things because of having to represent an entire group of people in the best way possible," you laughed a little to try to make the conversation lighter. Harrison and Tom walked in silence for a few minutes, you swallowed hard hating the fact that you might've made them uncomfortable with your deep response. "Is it hard?" Tom broke the silence. "What?" you glanced at him, he was looking straight ahead. "Having that much responsibility to carry since you were a child?" he stopped to look at you, you inhaled heavily. "I guess a little, but it's not anything I couldn't handle," you assured. "But, it's not really something everyone has to think about, do you ever think about that?" the brown eyed boy chimed. "I do, a lot, and I think about how different that would be. I don't know how much better it would be, since I've become so accustomed to it now, but I do think it would be very different," you looked at Tom's eyes, it was evening now and his eyes shimmered gold from the lighting, he could probably see gold in yours as well. "You think of it as a positive thing in your life?" Harrison looked at you, his brows were furrowed slightly. "I do, at least a mostly positive thing, it's shaped me into who I am today," you looked at your hands. "That's pretty fucking cool," Tom grinned at you. It made the moment feel less serious, you exchanged giggles.
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