COACHELLA AIRBNB
indio, california
april 15, 2024
monday
8:15

i was awoken to the airbnb bed shaking. "wake up sleepyhead!" anaya practically yelled as she jumped up and down on the bed.

being that i was still half asleep, i blinked a couple of times in attempt to adjust my eyes to the room around me. "god it's so early." i muttered as i sat up.

"mhm, it's 8am, and we have to be out of this airbnb at like..." anaya stopped jumping and looked up at the ceiling, like she was thinking. "8:15." she continued.

"anaya! that's in fifteen minutes!" i yelled.

"i know, so we've gotta move it," she replied as she jumped off of the bed and ran out of the room.

i let out a long moan. "god this is too much." i sighed as i swung my feet over the side of the bed, slowly and carefully getting up from the bed and letting out a long, stretched yawn. my body was aching from the amount of and standing i had done this weekend.

i took a glance at my phone on my bedside table and it hit me, in fifteen minutes we had to evacuate this airbnb...that's when all of a sudden, i got a burst of energy. i rushed to the desk where all of my makeup and other items were laid out, picking them up and quickly putting them away.

quickly after, i made my way to the bathroom where i proceeded to get ready for the day. i took a shower, brushed my teeth, and combed my hair. it wasn't long before i was ready to get out of this airbnb. with my hair down and my outfit on, i walked out into the main area to find my friends.

shay was seated on the couch, her hand over her forehead, raelynn was on her phone smiling while texting someone, anaya was in the middle of a conversation with zoë.

"hey guys i'm ready." i said to them all.

they all looked over at me, they all had tired and exhausted looks on their faces. i couldn't help but grin as i took a look at them. they all seemed so done with everything that happened over the course of the weekend, but i couldn't blame them, it was really eventful and tiring for all of us.

"lets get going guys." zoë said as she grabbed her bags and started to walk towards the front door, with all of us following.

soon after loading zoë's 4runner, she began driving. the entire drive back was quite uncomfortable. i don't know if it was the fact that raelynn was still texting, anaya had fallen asleep which caused her to let out snores, or shay's annoyed groans as she was hungover.

but, my mind was literally only focused on one thing at that moment. i couldn't help but think of dominic, and what the next time we'll be able to see each other again. for some reason, i couldn't stop thinking of him and how perfect he was. i just needed to see him one more time, and that's when my phone buzzed.

~~

MESSAGES

solana

solana
hey girlll 💓 not sure if
you're back in town, but my
management is informed about
you coming on the deluxe and they're
encouraging me to start recording
asap. so when you're back in
down lmk!!

elaine
hey solana!
in the car right now, coming back.
i'll be back in town in about
two-ish hours. i can stop by your
studio today if you want.

solana
if you can, that'd be
great. 👏🏾 i don't mean to
rush youuu. my management just
really wants this deluxe released like
by the end of this week.

elaine
no it's fine!! i'll be there
by 12. 🫶

solana
you're the best elaine. see
you soon 💙💙

~~

immediately after texting her, i couldn't help but giggle with excitement. the fact that i would be featured in her upcoming deluxe of her album really had me feeling special. i was finally going to be a part of something that was not only historic, but was also something that i was passionate about.

~~

after the somewhat quiet two hour drive, we arrived at our venice home. finally back in la, i let out a sigh of relief as the car pulled up outside of our shared home. the entire car ride to la felt so long due to the fact that my mind was all over the place. at one time, i was thinking about dominic, at the other, i was thinking about this upcoming project that solana had decided to invite me to. as soon as the car stopped, my legs were eager for me to get out and make my way inside, which is exactly what i did.

as the girls and i all settled back into our home, i remembered something dominic said to me before we parted ways.

"text me when you get home. home, as in your la home."

i could feel my smile grow as i remembered he wanted me to text him whenever i made it back home. my eyes glanced at my phone, and after a couple of seconds, i texted him.

~~

MESSAGES

dom

elaine
hey dom.
i'm back home safely,
are you back in la yet?

dom
nope, still on the road.
should be back in about 30
minutes.

elaine
okayyy
drive safely.

~~

with that, i closed my phone and continued settling back into my place, which took me around 45 minutes.

now starving, i took time to myself to get some food. when i made it down to the kitchen, i opened the pantry to get some ramen that i bought the other day. i filled the kettle with a couple of cups of water and started boiling it in the other to make the soup.

after a few minutes, the water started to boil and i then proceeded to follow all directions and make my ramen.
once it was fully made, i walked into the dining room and found zoë seated, her eyes glued to her laptop.

"hey zoë." i said softly, not wanting to disturb her.

she lifted her head from her laptop but didn't break her gaze for a moment. "h- hey..." she replied, she was clearly exhausted.

not wanting to interrupt her anymore, i stayed quiet and ate my food as she was now completely absorbed on her task that was right infront of her.

once i was done eating, i silently stood up, walking into the kitchen and placing my bowl into the dishwasher, from there i drove to solana's studio.

~~

i arrived at the studio around twelve noon, like i said i would. i took a couple of deep breaths and then proceeded to walk to her studio door.

"hey elaine!!" solana exclaimed when she saw me, opening the door widely enough for me to walk in.

"hey solana!" i said with a bright smile as soon as i walked in.

"you made it right on time." she said with a smile as she gestured for me to walk in, i entered the studio and looked around at the environment i was in. i was in the presence of a room decorated fully with different instruments, music-making equipment, sound-proof walls. it was quite magnificent. "the song i chose for us to sing together is this song called, 'catch a wave'." solana explained.

i looked at the sheet that had the lyrics on it, realizing this is the song i wrote about love at first sight, i wrote this because solana had asked me to create five songs with all five different kinds of love. love at first sight being one of them.

"love at first sight, hm?" i muttered, my mind now flashing images of the moment in my head. i could see myself standing in that crowd as dominic began singing, only to immediately feel my heart beating at a pace faster than usual as his powerful, smooth, and enticing voice grasped around it. i still vividly remember that entire moment. "love at first sight." i repeated.

"mhm, love at first sight." solana smiled, i could tell just by the way she was staring at me, that she knew exactly what i was talking about. "i have to ask, did you write that song based off of someone or is it just fictional?" she inquired.

"well when i wrote it, it was fictional, but i think i just recently experienced it..." i answered.

"oh you did? well then you can use all of your passion in this song, yeah?" solana said, i knew she only said this to not pry, and i appreciated that...soon after, a couple other people came into the studio who overlook and help with the recording process.

~~

a couple hours of recording passed, and finally, the song was perfect, flawless. i had put all my emotion and feeling into the song, it was something that you can feel when listening to the recorded version as it was filled with passion and genuine love. i also felt the recording gave me something that i was missing for a long time, closure.

~~

INSTAGRAM
sza

liked by summerwalker and 4,224,321 others
sza guys my deluxe album, 'lana' comes out this friday, april 19. first off, thank you to EVERYONE who played a part in the creation of this beautiful album 💙🥹 can't wait for you all to hear this...

view all 19,432 comments

user1 FINALLY

user2 sza this better be good

elainehooks i love you so ❤️❤️
⤷ sza love you more 🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾

~~

after recording, i made my way to my car, now sitting in my locked car of solana's studio parking lot and scrolling through instagram seeing all of the coachella dumps everyone posted. i let out a sigh, and came to the conclusion to create a post.

~~

INSTAGRAM
elainehooks

👤: anayacaddel, _shayelrod
liked by raelynnkatz and 4,533 others
elainehooks coolchella dump

view all 342 comments

user1 so this is the girl who's gonna be on sza's new deluxe?

anayacaddel me in my all lana gear 😭
⤷ elainehooks loved it btw

~~

5pm

as i headed home with a bag full of italian food for myself and the girls, i noticed everyone seated on the couch, looking at me with wide eyes, as if this was some sort of intervention.

"what's wrong?" i asked them.

"well...there's this post on instagram," shay started to say, still looking hungover. "how do i say this..." she continued.

"someone posted a photo on instagram of you and dominic at coachella, and it's blowing up!" raelynn blurted.