A Murder in Malibu

Gemma

 "Gurrllll you know I was visiting family in the Hamptons!" Edwin said as he pulled out a chair and flopped into it dramatically. 

I gave him the once over; a fedora pulled down jauntily over one eye, a short-sleeved pink button-down shirt, and a pink and green striped tie with white Bermuda shorts and knee socks.

The entire ensemble ended with new shoes that I guessed were Gucci. Edwin had been on a Gucci kick lately, although today he was more East Coast prep school.

"Even though you're dressed like Chuck Bass, we missed you, boo! I have to fill you in on the Shayla drama going on!" Lily whispered as a server dropped menus on our table. We were trying out a new hotspot in Beverly Hills, a brunch fusion place where starlets and wannabes came to be seen.

A few paparazzo's clotted the sidewalk with their oversized telephoto lenses and attitudes. The buzz was that a teenage celebrity from a vampire film was dining inside, but I hadn't bothered to scan the room before being seated, though I saw Lily's eyes flitter around the tables.

As far as I was concerned, we were celebs in our right thanks to Bel-Air High and people should look out for us.

It had been a while since I was approached to do a fashion spread. There had been a handful of fashion blogs a Teen Vogue and a little one-page article about Lily and my fashion in a weekly magazine, then a few odds and ends in various magazines.

But everything paled compared to the invite to New York Fashion Week during the next season to model a hot junior designer's clothes. I wondered if that was still happening.

I couldn't wait for September although right now I wondered if I'd be too afraid to travel outside of the area when the time came. Lily and I had been on the receiving end of two more heavy-breathing prank phone calls over the last twelve hours and she was scared and jumpy. 

I clammed up, not wanting to speak or utter one word about the blackmail. We drove from Malibu to Beverly Hills together, each too frightened to drive alone. We barely spoke. With a Starbucks napkin, I dabbed the sweat from my hairline. My sweat glands had opened up and every second my body grew hot, then cold.

We had to wait ten minutes for Edwin to join us so I used my time wisely, checking emails and texting Jason with shaky hands. Lily and I debated what the text about Sebastian could mean.

Was Sebastian now in danger? I wondered if he too was getting strange phone calls.

"Wasn't the fifty grand enough? Now they are playing!" I exclaimed when I viewed the text. The heat rose to my face and I remembered how I deliberated that all of this was Lily's plan. Surely she wouldn't go through such extreme measures as to now involve Sebastian, would she?

I narrowed my eyes and watched my friend's reaction a little more carefully. Lily appeared carefree about it. She gently tossed the phone to me and rolled her eyes. "Try to get more money from us, right? Greedy."

"It might be time to run this by Officer Paul."

"Ugh, your mom's boyfriend? Not likely Gemma." Lily's lips curled. "Remember, prison? Orange jumpsuits and girls named Rat Face? Drinking pruno from the toilet bowl and pooping in a steel toilet while the guards watch?"

"I say we ignore them from here on out." I began to say something else but my phone rang: Jason. I downloaded a special ringtone so even Lily knew when he called. "Gotta take this!" I sang, running out so I could talk privately.

Jason proceeded to tell me about how exhausted he was from his heavy workload. I noticed he didn't ask how I was doing.

I inadvertently tuned him out to stare off into the alley where expensive cars were valet parked and ponder that last call. I hated to say it, but I was almost growing accustomed to being on edge all the time.