#literally the only makeup i own is a tube of black lipstick i bought last halloween so thats what im working with here

[theygotlost]

MY EMO DEAN TRIBUTE 💯

[lilwenney]

looking for affection in all the wrong places (ii)

pairing: will x female!reader warning(s): alcohol, swearing, general banter, kissin’ boys, oh and stephen tries is drunk word count: 4k  a/n: part two of five, part one can be found here / things!! get!! interesting!! so we have finally began the rising action part of the story and things get a bit heated in more ways than one ;) this was one of my favorite parts of the entire story for the longest time. anyways i hope you guys enjoy x 

London, England December 2019

“I don’t know what I’m gonna wear!” 

“A dress! A skirt! Those denim shorts you bought last week-”

“It’s December, Cleo,” 

“And you were the one who bought them in December!” She called out with an eye roll. “And you know, a hoe never gets cold,” Cleo said, mimicking the video that plagued the girls’ group-chat every Friday night from October until May. 

(Y/N) groaned at the infamous quote and pulled out the first article of clothing she spotted on her wardrobe rack - a black bodysuit, bought months ago while lounging on her sofa with a hangover, but that didn’t stop her from planning her next party outfit. It came in handy during the times she had no idea what to wear, just like this night. 

Sliding on the black bodysuit and into a pair of denim jeans, she looked at herself in the mirror, spinning around, looking over her shoulder, posing, trying to catch herself from all angles to deem it worthy. 

“Have you seen my- oh, you look hot,” Cleo cut her own self off when she barged into (Y/N)’s room, welding a tube of mascara in one hand and an eyelash curler in the other. Panic written across her face as their eyes met. “Have you seen my mascara primer?” 

She nodded and pointed to the vanity across the room. “Had to borrow it. It should be with mine.” She said and Cleo slid over, searching through the makeup bags on the counter.

“Ah, found it,” Cleo said before looking back at her best friend who was posing in the mirror while tugging the shoulder-less top down to reveal more of her chest. She rolled her eyes. “If that top gets any lower for Adrian tonight-” 

“Oh shut it. I’m not wearing it for him.” 

“Who’s it for then?” 

“For myself, thank you,” she said, turning and grabbing a tube of lipstick off the small table, applying the finishing coat. “It’s my first night out since we split and I plan on looking good for no one else other than myself. So,” she paused, raising a brow, ���hurry up so we can go.” 

“You can't rush mascara or perfection, love,” Cleo groaned before swiftly leaving the bedroom to her own.

The girls met in the living room fifteen minutes later, five minutes after they originally planned to leave. After sliding into heels, throwing lipstick, their own drinks, and IDs into their bags, they left their flat, whisking down to catch the Uber that had been waiting for them. They were usually good with driving to James’ flat, taking turns with drinking each week, but this Friday both girls planned to drink more than they could handle. It was supposed to be Cleo’s week to drink and (Y/N)’s turn to drive, but after a bit of heartbreak no less than 72 hours ago, Cleo gave her some slack and they split a drive across the city. How they would get home later was just up to the party gods. 

The vibrating bass of an Oliver Tree song led the girls right to the front door of James’ flat. 

The door was open, people popping in and out from the hallway, and they found themselves among those heading inside. They dodged the unfamiliar people that littered the space in the foyer, pushing inwards until they reached the center of everything and everyone in the living room - the multicolored lights revolving around the room, the drinks pouring behind them, dancing bodies filled the space between the sofas and next to the foosball table. Most house-parties didn’t truly start until 11 o’clock, but the height of these parties hit at 10 p.m. - better drinks, people not yet on the verge of blacking out, and better music. It beat going to a nightclub and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with people you didn’t know while downing an eight pound drink and dancing to yet another Rihanna remix. 

Like she was trained, her eyes instantly scanned the familiar space for Adrian, only for her mission to be cut short when James found her first, breaking away from his own girlfriend to greet them both. 

“Heyy!” She could tell he was already tipsy, borderline drunk, just like how the host of a party should be when everyone started to arrive. Laughing, she threw her arms around him and pulled him close, rocking from side-to-side before pulling apart and allowing him to hug Cleo, who stepped around from behind her. 

It was when she pulled back that she spotted him, but not because she was looking for him, but because he was looking for her. Adrian saw her come in, a light shine down onto her like she was the only person in the room, and he couldn’t help but wonder if she wore that off-the-shoulder top for him. 

Taking a step back while Cleo and James clashed in laughter and hugs, she looked at him, and her eyes followed his head as he looked down while a petite brunette leaned up to whisper in his ear. She felt her heart drop into her stomach and felt dumb for talking herself into believing he would come alone. Hell, the first time she met him at a party he had brought a date.

It was just a glance, tenths of a second, but it felt like an eternity. She needed something to distract her. Standing there, she decided that the pre-game bottle of rum wasn’t enough. She needed something a lot stronger in her system - she needed something that would make her dance, make her forget. 

When Cleo and James pulled apart, she grabbed Cleo’s hand and their eyes met through the flashing lights. “Come on, let’s go get a drink.” 

Cleo, the friend who was known to always be down for a good time, followed behind with no hesitation. She allowed (Y/N) to guide her through the bodies and straight to the table. They grabbed cups and made a concoction out of vodka and fizzy drinks, more vodka than anything else, and then downed them in just a few gulps. 

They poured another, this time to the rim, and carried the drinks to the floor while finding the rest of their friends with the intentions of working the room. Cleo spotted Becky in the hallway and nearly jumped over everyone to get to her and say hi, while leaving (Y/N) to sit on the kitchen island and talk to whoever came by. She chatted with Tobi and Josh and eventually Callum, and then Stephen stumbled (literally) around - it was Stephen who had his fair share of tequila shots, his eyes wild and laughter heightened, which made him much more ten times more fun than normal. 

“We just got back like two days ago!” Stephen called out as they talked about his trip to New York. “I’m still fuckin’ jet lagged but there’s no better time to get smashed then, aye?” 

She shook her head and his girlfriend, Zoe, leaned into her to speak over the music. “He won’t admit it but he threw up in the bathroom of a Broadway show after betting me he could eat an entire pizza by himself in half an hour.” 

While laughing, she raised her head and looked over everyone to see yet another familiar face, not uncommon in the flat, but this was one she hadn’t seen all night.

“William!” (Y/N) called out above the music, her face brightening, mostly due to the alcohol in her system, half due to the fact that she hadn’t talked to him since yesterday. The friend group was so close they often never went over 12 hours without talking to each other, barely 72 hours without being in the same room. 

She watched him, hovering above everyone else, push past circled groups and stop straight between her knees. He was tall enough to just be a few inches shorter even while she was perched on a tall kitchen stationary. 

“I didn’t know if you were coming or not.” She said, an arm sliding over his shoulders while he placed himself between her knees. His arm slipped around her torso, innocently letting his hand rest on the band of her jeans. 

“Ah, couldn’t resist it in the end. Had to come.” 

“Because you knew I would be here.” She teased with the biggest smile, digging a finger into his dimple, drawing a cheeky smile from him before he swatted her hand away. “Seriously glad you’re here though.” 

He leaned against her for support, “yeah, I was too,”

“And then Hanna walked in.” Stephen piped up, taking another sip from his drink, and Zoe slapped him on the arm. 

(Y/N) brow scrunched as the cup of vodka fell from her lips, glancing from Stephen and then back to Will. “She’s here?” 

Will let out a deep breath, using his hand to motion to the floor, but shrugged it off a second later. “With some bloke.” 

Using the height of the stationary to her advantage, she scanned the party, over each head, every face, until she finally spotted Hanna and her date. They were standing next to the coffee table, his arm around her waist while they talked closely, sharing a drink between them among the others who were dancing. 

“Well that’s a bit fucked,” she said under the music. 

Will nodded and looked up at her, pulling her apart from the conversation with Stephen and Zoe. “I saw Adrian too,” he said and she looked down at him, noting the way his hat shifted on his head, “now that’s a bit fucked.” 

She snorted at his repeated words. “Tell me about it,” 

“So how about we,” he paused, grinning, “go get some tequila shots?” 

It was normal for Will to pretend that things didn’t bother him, that he never let things get to him. Even though this time it was obvious he wanted to avoid all talk of his ex-girlfriend, they let it slide. The question wasn’t even really a question for her. Drinking and drinking and taking shots was the only thing in her agenda that night. 

“That’s a hard bargain you drive, William..”

“Stop talking like that and come on,” he said through small laughs.

He grabbed her hand and helped her hop down off the island, leaving her cup and the couple behind as they pushed through the throngs of people back to the drink table. It was actually a dining table, but tonight it served one purpose and one purpose only - the insane abundance of alcohol brought in to be stored and mixed. While allowing him to guide her, the effects of all of her drinks were starting to hit once and for all. The music was suddenly louder, the lights became blurry, her steps were a bit lighter.

It was the time in the night when it truly felt like a party scene from a movie - everyone dancing and laughing in slow motion, drinks spilling, the music becoming overpowering and propelling them forward. It was the moments that (Y/N) cherished the most. 

In the back of the room, she shouldered her bag and watched Will pour tequila into two small shot glasses that looked like cacti. He sat the bottle down and handed her a glass, keeping the other for himself. 

“To fuck all,” he finally said and she laughed, raising her arm. 

“To fuck all,” she repeated, clinking her glass with his. 

Bringing the small glass to her lips, she turned the bottom up, allowing the rich alcohol to slide down her throat, burning all the way down to her stomach. Her face twisted at the taste and so did Will’s, both laughing at their reactions seconds later. 

“Okay,” she said sitting the glass down and wiping the corner of her mouth with her sleeve, “again,” 

“Again?” His voice was heightened, face still scrunched from the taste. 

“I need something that will get me to dance here. And no amount of beer is going to give me the courage.” 

He smiled, popping the top off the bottle again, “okay, okay, one more, and then we’ll dance, yeah?” He poured the shots, handing her the same glass. “Here’s to… dancing?” 

“To dancing until someone plays Aitch?” 

“We’ll be dead asleep on a floor way before then.” 

It was only 12:30 a.m. to be fair. But more hours of drinking like this until someone played Taste would surely have them landed in a hospital. 

“Alright, to just dancing then, you knob,” she cursed back at him and he chuckled. 

They clinked their glasses together and slammed them back with no problem. On top of the drinks already in them, it didn’t take long for the effects of the tequila to take over. In the midst of the bodies, they were on the makeshift dance floor, dancing to the beat of every song as the alcohol coursed through their veins, as their heads spun. 

James had regained control of his own speaker from Alex and played from his playlist, which at the moment was filled with nothing but The 1975. He had saved all of their songs again in preparation for the upcoming show they were all attending, and this would have been good to practice to learn their songs if everyone going to the show wasn’t already pissed out of their minds.

The bass of She’s American thumped against the walls, surely granting them a noise complaint in the future, but the party carried on. (Y/N) danced among everyone, her hips rocking to the beat while she sang loudly. On the floor between the sofas, she could feel Adrian’s eyes on her. To be fair, his eyes hadn’t left her longer for three minutes the entire night - he was watching how she laughed with her friends, how easily she downed shots, and how she danced with the people she always told him were “just friends” for months.

She was well aware Adrian was looking when she turned to Will - Will’s hands shooting out to take hers as her body teetered and they laughed while she steadied her stance. Over Will’s shoulder when he stepped in closer, she could make out Hanna standing by the patio door, her eyes trained on them while they moved freely together.

“They’re watching us.” She thought out loud when the song changed to Give Yourself A Try. Gasps and shouts of excitement filled the room before more bodies filled the space between the two sofas, pushing everyone closer together. 

Will stood back to his normal height, eyebrow raised. “You want to give them something to watch?” He asked and she nodded innocently, not clear of exactly what his intentions were until he touched her waist. 

She followed his lead, allowing him to turn her around and step behind her, hands gripping her hips, guiding her back against his lap. The heavy beat of the song replaced the lyrics in her brain, and she rocked her hips against him to the fast tempo, the lights moving rapidly across their bodies. The idea of both of their exes watching drove them to make irrational decisions, and that included allowing them to dance this closely.

Leaning back against his chest, her arm snaked around his neck. Every move was a bad decision that night, so she was going to make all of them if it meant a little bit of revenge. 

“They made us jealous,” she whispered, head tilting back against his chest. Their breath was hot, mouths close. His eyes focused down on her, and her eyes flickered between his and his lips, then back up, “so let’s make them jealous.” 

His hand raised from her hip and grabbed her face, her hand on the back of his head, and they allowed their mouths to meet in the middle. He tasted like lime and she tasted like cherry chapstick and the tequila they had downed fifteen minutes ago, their heads were swirling. 

It was a harmless kiss, it wasn’t the first time they kissed after all. Another time, almost two years ago on a trip to Barcelona, they had too many drinks and spent the entire night after the club making out on the chaise lounge of their Airbnb while everyone else was asleep. It didn’t lead to anything and it actually became a running joke between them, because whatever attraction they had to each other, was only brought out through alcohol.

This night included. 

Because (Y/N) wasn’t sure if she would have turned around and pressed herself harder against him to deepen the kiss if there wasn’t a bit of something in her system. When she began to taste the alcohol on his tongue, the threads of her own sobriety started to weave together, and she knew this was a bad idea - kissing him like this, in a fit of petty revenge on their own exes who couldn’t help but watch on, their own anger boiling inside of them. But she didn’t care, in fact, she liked it.

When she stumbled back into the coffee table and their lips broke apart, it’s less than a second later that Will grabbed her arm and pulled her to the outskirts of the room, and her back was against the wall and his lips on hers again. That’s when she realized that maybe, just maybe, he liked it too.

***

When her eyes flutter open no less than five hours after she and Cleo stumbled back into their flat, the sun was already flooding her room through her sheer curtains. She closed her eyes again, shoving her head under the white duvet in an attempt to shield herself and her hangover from the world. No amount of painkillers or blue raspberry sports drinks was enough to fight off more or less than a dozen shots and a few drinks over the span of a few hours. 

From under the layers on her bed, she could hear Cleo down the hallway in the kitchen, flipping knobs on the stove, getting out plates. Cleo had always been an early riser no matter what the last night consisted of, and frankly, it was the worst part of being flatmates with her. She was just thankful that she made it to her bedroom and wasn’t on the sofa again, waking up to the sound of cupboards slamming at the ungodly hours of 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning. 

Cleo had found her under the covers an hour later - pushing her way into the bedroom with a plate of food in one hand and a bottle of Advil in the other. She laughed at the small ball bundled under the covers that was nursing a hangover and an upset stomach. 

“Hate yourself?” 

“What’s new,” she huffed, throwing her arms out and throwing the blanket off her. She squinted at the lights again, but her eyes adjusted quickly soon after. “What time is it?” 

“Almost ten,” Cleo said with a mouth full of toast, sitting down on the edge of her friend’s bed, holding out a plate of food. “Take a piece. I know you don’t want it, but you need it.” 

She knocked a couple tablets out of the bottle and handed them to (Y/N), allowing her to take them with the sports drink leftover on her nightstand. “Why are you up early this time?” 

“Because I didn’t drink as much as you did,” she said, taking the bottle back, holding it in her hand while she watched her shovel bread into her mouth. “And I think you are still drunk.” 

“Feel like hell,” 

“Yeah you’re still drunk.” Cleo laughed. They sat in silence for a moment, listening to the traffic on the street outside their flat, to the crunching of the toast that made them laugh together a few seconds after. “So are you going to talk to me about it?” 

She raised a brow, knocking the crumbs off her hands off the side of her bed and placing the plate on the nightstand. “About what?” She asked, her mouth still full of bread. 

Cleo deadpanned, not believing the way she was playing off the events that happened just a mere few hours ago. The entire party was talking about it, or those who were stone-cold sober anyways, and on the nightstand her phone had been blowing up for at least an hour with texts and calls about it.

“Whatever happened between you and Will last night.” Cleo continued, remembering how she found them making-out against the wall in the living room. “Because I, for one, would like to know because… what the fuck, love?” 

Moments from last night flashed in the back of her mind - the burn of the tequila, the beat of the song, Will’s hands on her hips, her tongue in his mouth - and she slid down further into the bed, hands raising up to cover her face.

“No, no,” Cleo laughed, hopping up on the bed, straddling her friend’s waist. “You have to tell me. All of us are so confused because we all saw it and we have no idea what happened. One second I was banging back a shot and another second you were banging Will.” Cleo tried to pull her hands away from her face but only received a slap to her own hands and they both laughed. 

“Because I’m not sure either,” she said as Cleo dropped her hands. “It just… happened, you know?” 

“No, love, I don’t know. I don’t know how one goes from being a strong, independent single lady to making out with one of their best friends within well… an hour?” 

“It was the tequila shots, I tell you. They never did me well.” 

Cleo shook her head and rolled off the bed, her slippers hitting the carpeted floors. “Whatever, I’ll just tell everyone you did it to make Adrian jealous.” She said walking to the door. “And come eat breakfast, I didn’t bloody slave over a stove for you to not eat.” 

Her body stilled in the bed listening to Cleo’s explanation because in truth, that’s exactly what it was. A harmless kiss to make their exes jealous did turn into much more than that, but they were successful in the attempt. 

After seeing his ex-girlfriend kiss the friend she had always been closest too, Adrian and his date stormed out to the patio, and Hanna tried mimicking them, throwing herself onto her date in a desperate attempt to get Will to notice, but he was too busy with his own agenda to even give her a glance. 

When she closed her eyes, she could still feel his hands flat against her lower back, the way his mouth slid against hers. It reminded her of the trip to Barcelona, but it felt different. It felt like this time they were more than just two drunk friends making out on a whim. And now that she was (slightly) sobered up, she didn’t know exactly how to feel about it. Her already fucked up emotions were thrown in a loop of denial, repressed heartbreak, and confusion. 

When the door clicked shut, she grabbed her phone from the nightstand and pressed the button to see the screen light up with notifications - texts, phone calls, tweets, anything and everything from those trying to reach her. 

Cleo Gallagher hi hi are you awake if you are come eat also what the fuck happened last night

Jorge Why the heck is will saying you snogged him 

James + epals alright who stole the inflatable penis from the bathroom 

She also woke up to a hefty Instagram block from Hanna, which made her double-check Adrian’s Instagram too, but his private profile (that she unfollowed in a petty fit three days ago) came up like normal. She had unblocked his number last night too in fear that he would text her after the party and she wouldn’t know, but as of that hour, nothing had come from him either. 

And in an odd sense, she was okay with that. 

Tossing the phone down on the bed, her hands met her face again and she let out a deep breath. 

[lauradoeslipstick]

New Makeup Routine

Instead of rambling on, I’m just going to dive into my almost-entirely new makeup routine and products: 

Priming: I’ve really been enjoying the Glossier priming moisturizer, which hydrates but also slightly mattifies the skin and creates an even, smooth base. 

Foundation: I’ve been consistently using a new base product that’s sort of a foundation and sort of not, the Dior Forever perfect skin foundation. It has a medium amount of coverage and SPF 35, but it also blurs the skin and lasts literally forever. This is the only base product I’ve tried that doesn’t separate, gather, rub off or fade for an entire day, even when I don’t set it with powder. And the fact that it’s lightweight and has SPF makes it as great for daytime excursions as it is for nights out. 

Concealing: I’ve gone back to the very first high-end concealer I ever bought, which also happens to be the most high-coverage and long-lasting one out there- Makeup Forever waterproof concealer. It’s perfect for hiding breakouts or redness. 

Bronzing: A year ago I would have literally laughed if anyone suggested I try cream bronzer. Cream products with oily skin? GTFO. That is, until I found the MILK makeup matte bronzing stick. The tube is chubby enough that i just quickly draw a short line in the hollows of my cheeks, blend a little with my fingers and have sun-kissed contours. The color is flattering and it lasts all day, plus is easily blended and buildable. The only downside (if you consider it one) is that it smells a lot like play-doh. 

Blush: I’m completely addicted to a new blush that is also a cream product, so the world is probably ending. Glossier’s cloud paint in beam is.... heaven in a tube. The formula is so easy to apply and unlike other cream or liquid blushes I’ve tried it lasts forever and totally wakes up my face. The coral-orange color is so bright and flattering, seriously everyone should own it. 

Highlighting: Now that I’ve gone into more cream products I thought I should at least try out a cream highlight, and I’m angry to say that I’ve also fallen in love with this product. As someone who owns at least a dozen expensive and gorgeous powder highlights, I’m ashamed to say that the humble Glossier Haloscope might replace them all. I got the shade Quartz which is a sort of pale pinkish color in the tube but more like a glossy shimmer on the face. It’s a very sticky product, which actually makes it last longer than my powder highlights and it adds a more subtle radiance. Next up I’ll probably try the palest shade, Moonstone or something. 

[I’m still using the same brow gel from MAC and mascara from Maybelline. I also haven’t been wearing much eyeshadow]

Eyeliner: I usually buy myself a luxury makeup item for my birthday. Last year was the YSL tint in balm coral thing that I still wear constantly. This year I decided to take the plunge and finally buy the dual-ended Tom Ford eyeliner pen of my dreams. I’ve tried pretty much every drugstore and high-end liquid eyeliner pen, and this one has been hailed as the queen of them all. I love the smaller end for getting extremely close to the lash line and making a tiny, subtle wing, and I use the larger paintbrush end on days when I want a bold cat eye. The formula is smudge-proof, lasts forever and is jet black. Plus the packaging is so luxe I could die. 

So there we have it, an almost completely new face of makeup to head into fall with. I’ve been almost completely off liquid lipsticks and other matte/drying formulas, so if you know of any tinted balms that you’re all about, please let me know! 

xo

[theleftoverurl]

Hahaha this is so post-event and so late, but I have actually been so busy with med I haven’t had time to type this up because I have always crawled into bed and had to get up early the next morning for the next day – what hell. Luckily tomorrow I can roll out of bed at like 11:30 because I don’t have class till midday.

On Saturday was the Skin Conference and I hardcore struggled to get out of bed because I was so exhausted. I was already running late but I allowed myself to be 5 minutes later because I wanted to play with Lolie. She loves me now she’s used to me, she put her little paws on my legs and I gave her and Charlie a pat before leaving.

When I got to Colombo Theatres, I was a little bit freaked out because I didn’t recognize a single person that I knew, but I saw Nicole had already checked in with a couple of her Malaysian friends and I had come all this way, so I joined the line for registration. The girl at the registration, Joanne (Joanna?) was like “OMG are you Georgia?! Daniel talks about you, he’s all like, I have to go make lunch for Georgia,” referencing the lunch bet we made ages ago, but the way she was saying it made me uncomfortable. Also, the fact that I’d never met her before and so am still unsure about who she is and the connection to Daniel? She must live in Terraces too or something. She chirpily assigned me to rotation A, because that was her rotation, and luckily, Nicole’s too.

I said hi to Nicole and she sent me to collect all the skincare freebies the sponsors had set up. There was a tote bag with a couple of facial masks, two tubes of some sort of moisturizing cream I haven’t looked at properly and a copy of the program. You could also go in to win some beauty hampers in 3 draws which were drawn throughout the day, but as usual, I didn’t win anything.

The first lecture was on Deadly Dermatological Diseases and it was actually very interesting. I’ve decided that dermatology is not for me, because all the most visually disgusting cases are all dermatology, and to be honest, they make me feel uncomfortable in my own skin (which is selfish to say, but true). Think about it: rashes, boils, blisters, infectious diseases… The whole lot. It did can the stigma of dermatology being a soft specialty, however, which I thought was an excellent start to the conference. Kuheli came halfway through – she attended the whole conference just for the half-hour suturing workshop included and for some free samples (only if they were sensitive). Crazy stuff.

The second talk was by a medical researcher who was growing mice that she’d inserted a YAP gene into which she discovered could replicate at a rapid rate into eczema or skin cancer. I am very vague on this talk because it was too technical and went completely over my head, and I am not particularly interested in research, or purposely growing mice with genetic deficits.

Morning tea was a salami wrap, juice because there was no hot water for the tea, and Arnott’s biscuits. Kuheli left to get pads because she got a surprise visit from Aunt Flo, and so I sat with Nicole and her friend. Nicole introduced her friend to me, but I honestly can’t remember her name, because we didn’t talk much and I got the impression that she wasn’t too interested in getting to know me at all (to be fair, I hardly made an effort either, honestly) and she ditched Nicole and I halfway through the breakout sessions. Nicole doesn’t eat any vegetables (except lettuce and broccoli, like a child) so she was unimpressed with her wrap, picking out tomato, rocket and mayo and just eating ham and wrap-bread, then deeming it “too salty.” What a silly-billy.

After that were 3 more talks which I didn’t really pay that much attention to when I should’ve. One was by this French lecturer who had a nice accent, but she was talking about diagnosing melanoma and she got way too specific with the diagnoses – I really couldn’t differentiate between all the spots she was showing on the screen and I tried out of interest because Kate had just gotten her mole cut out to see if it was suspicious. I thought I nailed it when she showed a mole that looked like Kate’s (which was non-cancerous) and said it was clearly benign but then her next slide showed what looked to me like an identical mole which was malignant so clearly, I just had no clue. I busied myself playing Trivia Crack and getting Kuheli into it. Nicole was playing the Egg Inc game she’s currently obsessed with, so nobody was really getting much learning done.

Lunch was tiny bite-sized sushi and Domino’s pizza (and yet more juice). It was uneventful but there was plenty to eat which was nice.

After lunch was the breakout sessions. I learned how to perform excision and punch biopsies and then I had a half-hour introduction to suturing where I learned how to do the most basic stitch. I was surprisingly quite good at it. I am horrific at sewing, so my expectations were very low, but I picked it up quite quickly. Maybe it’s because there’s pretty much no creativity in it and there’s actually very little sewing, because each stitch is pretty much just its own individual knot.

Kuheli was in rotation B, so I didn’t see her, but she did suturing and then biopsies and she left straight after to do her oncology-pall assignment. I arranged to meet her later because she wanted to do my makeup for REXTAB later, and I wanted her to do my makeup too because she’s quite good and I’m pretty darn average (probably below average, to be honest). I literally fell asleep in ultrasound training because I was so tired, and Nicole was surreptitiously fixing her bra strap which had come undone and then amidst that every time the lecturer paced around to stand in front of where I was slumped, she would nudge me awake, so I spent the whole thing dozing blearily in 30second intervals. I got to see some cool instruments, though, apart from the ultrasound he had a Doppler which magnifies your pulse rate, so you can differentiate arteries from veins, and this infrared sensor which inverts infrared light so that all your veins show up on your skin darkened on a background of red light. So useful for cannulation, but probably too expensive to regularly be used for that. He invited all the attendees to attend his skin clinic if we wanted further experience. Personally, I think I’m not interested in dermatology enough to take him up on the offer, but it was very nice, and there were a lot of older students at the conference who seemed seriously considering dermatology, so they will probably benefit a lot from that. He was a phlebologist (person who studies veins), so he was really pushing phlebology as a “super-specialty” but my anatomy is terrible enough without accounting for networks of cords throughout the body which are all slightly unique in each person. Not for me.

We ended an hour later than we were supposed to, at 4, so I legged it to Kuheli’s and jumped into her shower with little preamble. All her soaps and shampoo had tea tree (she says coincidentally) which was interesting. Her mint body wash was way too strong, and it felt like you were lathering up with toothpaste, but her shampoo smelled nice and kept my hair clean pretty long. She did my makeup in rose-gold to match my black dress and I wore red lipstick for the first time – some Korean product she bought (online I think) and the first red lipstick to suit me in my life. She honestly did a fantastic job, and I know she enjoyed doing it, but I owe her and I need to keep remembering this for all the times she annoys me because honestly she is a good friend in the end (we just spend too much time together I think between hospital, class and then out of both, even though the extra time is always better than the compulsory bits).

I made it home a good 10min before Kate said we were set to leave, but typically, she wasn’t very ready. I had time to define my jawline more (because I’m afraid of that double chin) and experiment with tying my hair (it didn’t want to be up, bits were sticking out everywhere). I slipped (struggled) into Kate’s dress and put on the heels and Veronica dropped Kate, Josh and I off at pres down the road. Kate and I brought a bottle of champagne (which we left in Alistair’s fridge), but Alistair and Lugg provided punch, so we didn’t need it.

There wasn’t a lot of people at pres (to be honest, there weren’t a lot of people at REXTAB, which was poor turnout on the non-ex-ressie’s parts, honestly) but there was no one particularly annoying there. Claudia pulled out of REXTAB last minute because she hurt her ankle or something, which was disappointing. I sat with Immi and Kate at first, and Immi pretty much ignored me because she’s too good for me and then Karla and Katie Lynch came which was nice because I got to catch up with Kate (given that I didn’t get to ever do brekky with her because of bad timing). Alistair had made chips and Karla and Kate brought Cobb loaf and I was sitting near the food, so I stuffed myself (chips and Cobb loaf are a fantastic combination) and I ate more than my fair share, but also, I am damn glad, because there was not enough food at REXTAB.

Alistair tried to order Kate, Pidge, Josh, Richie Ryan, himself and I a maxi-Uber but the Uber driver lied to him and said he was 8min away and then took 20min and was still 8min away, and then wouldn’t pick up his phone when Alistair called him to try and cancel (presumably because he knew what the call would be about) so Ali wouldn’t have to pay the cancellation fee. In the end, Kate and I ended up Ubering with Pidge and the other half went separately. Pidge and I split the Uber because Kate’s app was updating the whole night which was annoying.

The venue itself, Crane Bar, was quite nice, but they’d organized the event strangely, because we were right next to another private event and sharing a bar, so REXTAB was a weird mix of ex-ressies and 30-year-olds there for a 30th birthday party. There was also the absence of a lot of customary Baxterian faces, like Amanda and Tash and those groups, and there were no freshies except Kate Lynch’s little sister and only a couple of second years, so that was a bit of a shame. It was still a lot of fun though. Gus lead us to the bar and ordered himself 6 beers, making good use of that bar tab. Kate and I started on the champers but it was incredibly bubbly and a bit disgusting, so we switched to white wine for the rest of the night.

Halfway through the bartender limited everyone to one drink at a time because I think the College kids were starting to freak Crane Bar out, but he also took forever to serve me and told me off for ordering Kate a drink for Kate when she was standing next to me (because she couldn’t reach the bar). I understand the rules, and I get the reasoning behind them and his reaction was fair, I just was irritated because I felt like there was so much other dodgy behaviour going on that really, I was clearly not a danger and small pickings but whatever. Pedantic bartenders can be good to hire, I guess. I was also drunk, so I probably felt more annoyed than was fair at the time.

I hung out a lot with Nicky G, who was super friendly and chatty (like more so towards me than normal, probably because he was completely smashed) and I had a good chat with Cachelin about how she was going and what she was going to do next sem. Hamish arrived and Nicky G and Hamish had a weird argument about whose life sucked more (yes, like in Avenue Q), except it was so stupid because it was just Nicky G doing what he always does and trying to one-up people all the time, and like also why would you want your life to suck more? Just tell it like it is, guys. So Kate and I spectated and laughed and also laughed (a bit nervously) at the conversation next to us where Harry was stirring up trouble by triggering Linley over some issue (probably women’s rights to get her fired up and gesturing like she was – as long as it’s not Max, I’m happy) and then Karla joined in on the argument which was funny and then Alice arrived to kick Harry out because he was expelled from College so probably shouldn’t even be there, let alone misbehaving (I saw him sneak up to the toilets instead, though – bad luck, Alice).

Then Linley, Nicky G and Kate went off to the toilets, as they do, to have a group debrief, and that was fine, except it meant I was stuck with Hamish making semi-awkward conversation. The conversation itself wasn’t awkward, I just didn’t really want to be in it, which made it awkward just for me. Then Karla came up (completely ignoring me as usual, there is a theme with stupid arrogant College kids) and struck up a super friendly chat with Hamish so I took the opportunity to escape and see what Kate L was up to. I met her sister, Em, who is 100x more bubbly and outgoing than Kate which is funny and an interesting dynamic because Em just turned 18, so is a bit younger. They were talking to Jim Nash, who is unpleasant to be around on the best of days, and drunk Jim Nash is never the best of days, so eventually I escaped up the stairs to see what my friends in the toilet were up to.

We all headed back to the small area we had, and Nicky G and I went and had a drunk little boogie in the 30-year-old private section because we thought we were clever and why not? While Kate watched on in horror (she doesn’t like rules being broken). Then Nicky G went home with Hols (they live together) which is probably a good thing because he was very smashed by this point.

Overall throughout the night there was limited food, some delicious karaage chicken that came out at the start (Crane Bar, so Jap-themed) and these boxes of weirdly kind of sweet, not very pleasant noodles. We were also trying to get Kate and Elliot together towards the end of the night (because Kate wanted him) but Lara had her eye on him too, so (as I’ve heard) like last year’s REXTAB, it was a bit of a bun-fight. She kept pulling Elliot away to have what looked like a serious conversation, and then when Kate finally got to talk to Elliot, Richie was just standing there like a super awkward 3rd wheel and we were watching feeling vaguely amused and annoyed/sorry for Kate. Eventually Karla and Linley, like the good friends they are, pulled Richie aside and had a hilariously fake conversation about how he was doing and how med was for him, with various inane commentary like “oh, what year are you in?” which they would know and “oh my god, that’s so funny” when I don’t think Richie has been that kind of funny ever.

They cut us off (alcohol-wise) at 11, and Hamish decided to leave, so Kate and I decided to try to hype people for World Bar, which was just 2 doors down. Unfortunately, people went only to discover that there was a ridiculous cover charge of $20, so that option was out, and we lost some people to that frustration, and the nearby kebab shop, and just generally going home. The next invitation was by Alena to go to her house in Maroubra for afters. We were keen, so we agreed and we all left Crane Bar.

Outside there was an altercation where Riley (who had really fucked-up unfocused drunk eyes) tried to get back into Crane Bar and the bouncer forcibly threw him out, into Gus, who developed a blood nose. Mitch, our resident righteous smooth-talker, went to intervene on his behalf and complain to the bouncer, and they had a full-on lengthy argument which involved the manager and was fun to watch from aside. When that was over, we almost got Elliot into an Uber with us, which would’ve been a win for Kate, but Lara pulled him aside one last time and he ended up going home with her instead (yuck). Linley, Kate, Josh and I split the Uber to Alena’s house.

We arrived first, but thankfully, Josh knew where they hid the spare keys, so we didn’t have to hang around in the cold. He let us in and we did a group pee (minus Josh) and by the time that was over, Alena’s group had arrived, so she did a tour of her house. It’s super nice, big and spacious and cheap, and Hamish and Bri’s master bedroom is amazing. Linley and I had a play on their wooden playground (!!) and Kate L had a go on the swing, but Kate A wasn’t into it. Then when we followed everyone’s voices upstairs, we found ourselves in Bri’s room. Lauren was trying unsuccessfully to set up the keyboard in the room, (not that we would play it anyway, with Thurgs asleep next door) and everyone was just lolling around watching her. It didn’t work out, so eventually she gave up and then a bunch of people left.

Then everyone walked by into the bathroom and were joking about having a spa bath because Alena’s place also has a spa (!!). Alistair made a joke about going in, and Alena must still like him or something, because suddenly she turned the tap on and then he was emptying all the soap into the tub and Linley was adding a Lush snowman bath bomb. We were unsure as to how we were going to fit 9 people in the tub, and at some point, everyone just left with the water still running, leaving Linley, Kate, Lyndsay and I just standing there. So, what the hell? We closed the door, got nakey (I got real nakey because I wasn’t wearing any underwear underneath that dress) and got into the spa. We were using the bubbles to protect ourselves, but it wasn’t bubble bath, so they were dissolving rapidly, and we were just having a good time and giggling, and Lyndsay took a Snapchat to commemorate the moment and it was fun because we’ve never hung out with her before and it was so liberating to all have our boobs out and be in the warm water. Then Alena came in and was obviously shook about seeing us all naked in the tub she kind of went “O” and then went “fair, fair,” and hurriedly closed the door. We laughed a lot, especially about the “fair, fair” bit, but then worried a lot about if she was mad at us, because she did look low-key mad and Alena is annoying and super passive-aggressive.

Now that we’d had our fun, we dried ourselves off (using 4 of their towels, but it was a lucky dip, because we didn’t know if we got Gus, Horse, Thurgs, Alena, Bri’s or Hame’s towel) and headed back downstairs. It was awkward once we got there, Alena was obviously fuming (although we were not sure why, exactly) and that had clearly made everyone very uncomfortable. Even Josh wouldn’t speak to us properly, and he ditched our Uber home to go with Alistair, even though that was inconvenient to everyone, more expensive and just made no sense at all which pissed me off, as I was paying for all the Ubers that night. Anyway, vibes were awkward, so we decided to take our cue and leave. Linley and Tristy went back to college and Lyndsay gave us an I-saw-your-boobs-so-now-we’re-friends hug and then tried to work out where to go, because she was supposed to go stay with Lara, but Lara had taken Elliot home, so she didn’t want to disturb them, and it was funny she was telling us all of this casually because she had no idea that Kate had wanted to take him home instead.

As we got into the Uber, Josh messaged me saying he was waiting at the top of the stairs because he’d forgotten his key which vindicated me slightly (why am I so petty?). I let him in and then we had a quick debrief about how mad Alena was (ludicrously) and then Josh found his keys, which had been residing in the coat pocket he hadn’t checked all along. He went to bed and Kate and I had a second debrief about Lara and Elliot, and I basically told her to just let it go, but now leading up to Cach’s birthday I’m starting to get the inkling it’s more than a silly drunk whim. Anyway, I wanted to be supportive, and cheer her up, but I was drunk and tired (and so was she) and there had been no hint of attraction this year before REXTAB and he was at touch and everything, and she’s a much nicer and better person but objectively she has no claim to him over Lara, so there wasn’t truthfully much I could say. Will was messaging me because he had Wilson and Eric over because his parents are away, and they were fucked up and he needed company while looking after them, but I was too tired to deal with it, so I collapsed into bed instead and let the drunk exhaustion take me over. I did put on my usual podcast (MuggleCast this time, I think) so I didn’t think, but I barely heard a word of it before I was passed out.

So that’s the summary of my stupidly long Saturday, almost a week after it happened, and I’m going to recap the Sunday too, but later, because I really want to take the opportunity of this late start tomorrow to get some decent sleep.

The only thing to add is to add to the Alena-anger part of the story. Since, Linley messaged Kate and I saying she had a chat with Rhi (Alena’s little sister, who is horrible and definitely not actually little) and Rhi said Alena was mad because we stole the bath from Alistair and Tristy and should’ve just turned off the water and left it for them which a) was 100% not what was happening b) Tristy and Ali left the room, so that’s their fault c) we aren’t your bath-maids, why would we turn off the water and leave it for you, so that you can come back to a bath full of cold water at some later time if and when you decide to make a reappearance given it was Alena who found us a good while after we hopped in and not Alistair or Tristy d) none of your business, Rhi, you didn’t even go to REXTAB, nor do you live in Alena’s house and on a related note (but irrelevant to Rhi and her stupidity), e) it’s a fucking bath, Alena, calm your shit and f) Alena is passive-aggressive and low-key hates the 3 of us anyway (she probably doesn’t give a fuck about Lyndsay) so she’s just looking for an excuse to be angry. Boy, oh boy were Kate and I lucky that we had legitimate excuses for not going to touch the Monday after.

Anyway, that’s all I to add and it’s 12:40, so I must get to sleep. Typing this up was fun, because I haven’t for a while and reflecting that far is sort of cathartic. Until next time, folks 😊.