The Artist / Billie Eilish

Chapter 19

... Coachella.

What a whole other world.

We'd only been here for a couple of hours, and I'd already seen more weird shit than I ever have before.

I've noticed that barely wearing clothes is a trend. The second we got here, the twins were in crop tops and Claudia was wearing some kind of stringy see-through vest.

"It's called fashion," Ethan flipped his non-existent long hair over his shoulder and skipped off into the crowd, leaving me alone.

Billie had instantly been whisked off the second we got here, along with Finneas, which left me awkwardly wandering around.

I eventually got to a less busy area around the back of all the stages, and I pulled out my phone as I stepped over all of the wires and plugs.

Billie had posted a photo on Instagram with me last night, and so my notifications hadn't stopped blowing up since.

It was a photo in her room that she'd gotten Finneas to take before we left for tour. I thought I'd try and be more comfy for the bus ride, so I changed into some of Billie's LV sweatpants... but they were insanely large, and I had to hold them around my waist like a kid. Billie couldn't stop laughing, and changed into the same outfit which she could pull off amazingly, leaving me in my weirdly baggy sweats and my tiny crop top. She did her classic Billie face whilst I just pulled an awkward expression, and I think her caption of "when mami tries to flex" flew over the heads of most people.

Everyone was so conditioned to think Billie was straight - even me until a few days ago - that it wasn't even a possibility in most people's minds that she meant that as anything other than friendly.

Pulling up my own Instagram, I saw that some Billie fan accounts had gone back far enough to see posts of me and my ex-girlfriend. That definitely made them start to question.

Chuckling as I opened the comments on one of those old posts, I heard a someone clear their throat in front of me.

"It's only musical acts past here cutie, sorry."

A tall, blonde girl stood from where she was sat on a large speaker, and wandered over to me, dragging her dirty-blonde hair into a messy bun on top of her head. She smirked as she glanced at my outfit - I'd put one of Billie's huge t-shirts on to disguise the fact her sweats were nearly falling off of me.

"Not a Coachella fan, huh?" She leaned back against some scaffolding to watch me, smiling as I grimaced at my outfit.

"Uh, no. Not really. I definitely didn't bring the right clothes for the whole naked vibe everyone has going on here," I mumbled as she laughed, sliding her hands into her pockets.

From black Dr Marteins to black suit pants and a simple black t-shirt, I could see that this girl didn't really conform to the Coachella style either. She had dark tattoos scattered along her arms and some of her fingers, and I could see one behind her ear, too.

She smiled warmly as she stuck her hand out for me to shake. "Lyndsey."

"Rose."

•

I spent the rest of the day with Lyndsey.

Finding anyone I knew turned out to be impossible in the sea of sweaty, high people, and Lyndsey turned out to actually be really sweet and funny.

She was currently telling me about her last couple of shows on her band's tour that she was in with two of her friends from school.

"Anyways," she smiled as our laugher died down at her previous story, looking at me through her sunglasses. "I love your accent, just so you know. Did you move out here, or..?"

"I mean, I guess so. Temporarily, anyway. I'm part of a world tour that's starting today," I gushed, reminding myself to check my phone in case Billie had been wondering where I was.

She hadn't.

Lyndsey smiled, biting her lip slightly as we wandered through the crowd. "That sounds crazy fun. What do you do for the tour? Are you a manager?"

I laughed, shaking my head and looking up at the blue sky. "No way, I could never do anything like that. I'm an artist. I think they're trying out some new thing, but basically I'm designing an exclusive print for every show and merch that fits the vibe of the tour as it progresses," I explained as Lyndsey whistled lowly.

"That sounds like the coolest job in the world, Rose. Damn... I wanna do that," she grinned when I laughed, and then some girl who looked about Billie's she ran over to us. She squealed and hugged Lyndsey, who laughed and hugged her back.

They chatted about the band and stuff as Lyndsey signed her rainbow flag, and I took a couple of steps back, pulling out my phone again.

I thought Billie would text to at least see if I had managed to find anyone, or if I was lost.

Which I totally would be if I didn't make friends with Lyndsey.

I know she'd be busy and she probably didn't have time to message me through all the soundchecks and stuff, but... I don't know. I felt disappointed for some reason.

I heard Lyndsey say goodbye to the girl and I quickly put my phone back in my pocket, looking up at her warm smile.

"I should probably head back to the stage now, I'm on in an hour," she explained, pulling out her own phone and handing it to me. "But, you should give me your number. I had a really nice day today, we could do something after the show."

I took her phone, typing in my number without even thinking.

My mind was still on Billie.

Did she not even realise I had no idea what stage she was on? Where the stage was? When?

I smiled at Lyndsey, handing her phone back. "I had a lovely time as well, Lyndsey. Thank you for keeping me company in the big hoard of sweaty, naked people."

She laughed, looking around us. "Not usually the kind of sweaty nakedness I'd be expecting with a girl as gorgeous as you, but I'll take it," she winked at me as she giggled, sliding her phone into her pocket and grimacing. "Okay no, that was gross. I was totally kidding."

We both laughed and hugged goodbye, and it wasn't until she pressed a kiss to my cheek before she walked away that I realised.

I'd pretty much gone on a date with some blonde chick in a band by accident.

And now I'm lost in Coachella.

Great.