We agreed on meeting at my apartment. I wondered if we could ditch the party and just talk all night. We had so much to catch up on. How much must she have changed? And have I changed at all? What if I don't know how to talk to her anymore? All these things passed through my head while I brewed some coffee, waiting for Lils. Then the doorbell rang.

"Bibiiiii!" She jumped at me, dropping her stuff on the ground. "Oh my god, it's been so long. And you look..." She examined me for a second or two, "The same. Maybe a bit more exhausted."

"Ouch. Is it that noticeable?" I asked, letting go of her. And noticing the enormous bag she had with her. "What's all that?" I pointed.

"Oh, you know. The basic needs of a girl. Makeup, a couple of clothes, moisturizer, shampoo..." She kept the list going for a while. But she stopped, and her eyes widened as if seeing a corpse behind me. "Oh my god! What did you do to my baby?" She ran behind me, grabbing my hair, "He was so big and shiny..." She cradled it, like it was her actual lost son.

Admittedly, I hadn't been taking as much care of my hair as she did. Back then, we would waste hours as she slathered it with oils and creams. She would kill me if she knew how much I've flat-ironed her 'baby' in these past few years.

"I missed you." I said, laughing.

"I missed you too, Bibi, but you need to take care of yourself. Look at those bags under your eyes. There are products for that, but some black tea and a cold compress also work like a charm." She always has a beauty hack for everything, and I can't say it doesn't work. Her skin is unblemished. Her red hair, which was shorter than before, was so shiny.

"I think I just need some sleep, but I'll give it a try..." she was already disassembling everything in her case. It didn't seem particularly organized, but she seemed to know where everything was. "How's that party going to be anyway?" in a couple of minutes, it looked like I had a little salon in my living room.

"Oh, don't worry, it's chill. It's going to be in a house near campus. There won't be a lot of people." I learned all I could about the party while she took care of my hair. She started separating it into locks as she went on about the owner of the house. She was a friend of a friend, apparently.

The more she talked about it, the less it sounded like a small, chill party. One of the girl's friend was a DJ, and he would play at the party. Another friend was a bar owner, and she had plans to make an open bar.

At some point, we veered to talking about relationships, while Lily left a cream on my hair. She was finishing painting my nails when she told me about a guy who cheated on her with one of her friends.

"I don't get these people. If you're going to see someone else, why stay in a relationship at all?" I said.

"Tell me about it." She agreed, "What about you, Bibi? What have you been doing?"

"Y'know... Just" I had difficulty coming up with something that didn't relate to the office, "...living."

"Wow! We need to go out more." She started rinsing my hair. "So, you haven't met anyone special?" I shook my head. "Not even a rebound? To forget about Ty-"

"We don't say that name in this household!"

"Okay, okay..." She started blow-drying my hair, "But seriously, which side are you on after that? Are you still?" I shook my head again. "Okay, just wondering."

We stayed in silence while she finished the touches on my makeup. Then she took me to the mirror, and I had to admit, I looked pretty good. She looked pretty pleased with her work, too.

"What do you think?"

"I think it's good, maybe a bit too much for me..." I usually don't use this much makeup so, I would probably get rid of the eyelashes. The lipstick was a bit much too, "I like the eyeliner though."

"It looks perfect on you. Trust me. But anyway, what are you wearing?" she said, ignoring that I was already in a white dress. One that hadn't seen the light of day since I took it out of the store.

"I was thinking. This." I pointed at myself, completing the look with my universal black purse I took everywhere I could. It was already crumbling at the seams. But, I thought that was the charm of it.

"A white dress? You're literally paler than that dress Bibi. You need some color, some pop! Don't you have anything pink or green? Emerald is totally in right now."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. Let me see your closet. You got to have something better than that." She rushed to my closet without waiting for my confirmation. Her face turned. "Holy shit! This is a gray hell. Do you not buy any clothes?"I didn't. All my outfits were either formal suits to go to work, or comfortable clothes to wear at home... While I worked. "Let's see if I can salvage something from this."

She picked up a bunch of outfits, threw them on my bed, and started going through them while mumbling to herself. It was impressive to see her so focused like that, also a bit scary, too. When she finished, she had a bright smile and a mountain of clothes for me to wear.

I picked some of them and went to the bathroom.

"Just change here." She said.

"I can't"

"We used to take baths together, Bibi. There's nothing I haven't seen there."

"I'd rather not."

It took me three trips to the bathroom while trying combinations I would've never thought of myself, but in the end, she seemed happy with what she had created. Putting me in front of the mirror, she messed with my hair a bit more before going behind me. I had a light pink blouse tucked into my favorite black pencil skirt, and surprisingly, the brown shoes went perfectly with everything. She sat behind me, admiring her work.

"I need you to dress me up more, I guess," I posed, pulling my skirt down. It was the first time I wore that skirt without pantyhose. My legs felt uncomfortably naked.

"I'm happy you liked it..." her eyes narrowed down, running through my body, "It's still missing something though." Then she dashed to her purse and grabbed an overcoat.

"Y'know I'm not your size, right?" I was definitely... Bigger than her.

"I know, I know. Just stop flailing." She said, pushing my arms down and putting the coat over my shoulder, "Give me a turn."

I spun around, and the coat turned with me, following my hair. She smiled, giving me a thumbs up.

"Perfect." she approved. I don't know what changed, but she seemed happy about it.

I spent a little time looking at myself all dressed up in the mirror while she got ready herself.

"Look!" She pointed at me with her mascara. "You're probably going to meet the crew today."

"The crew?" I lifted my eyebrow.

"They're cool. Just act naturally."

"Okay..."

"Don't mess this up."

"Okay."

She was ready in a couple of minutes, sporting black shorts, flaunting her legs, a red shirt that matched well with her hair, and her classic black beret. It was simple, but she was stunning.

She posed in front of the mirror, "Let's go?"

"Let's go."