As Seen On TV

8. Bad-LY

"What?!" I said, turning towards Jazmin and bringing my other leg up onto the couch. "You've got to be kidding me."

She shook her head, eyes wide and confused. 

"I'm not joking. We were exchanging pleasantries, just the normal stuff, and he pulled out his phone and messed with it, and then said afterwards that he had an emergency."

I lowered my head and looked up at her through my lashes. 

"What. On Earth. Why would he do that? Does he think he's smooth or something? Is it a test?"

She laughed. "I wonder in what world texting in front of someone you just met- on national TV- is considered polite. What do we do, should we expose him about it?"

I played out possible scenarios in my head, and none of them ended in a picture of grace. Much as I liked getting answers, I didn't particularly like confronting people, especially not two in one day. Patrick was quite enough for this afternoon, and we all know how that ended up. Perhaps this was just stupid Lyra throwing herself at situations with circumstances she didn't quite understand yet.

I shifted uncomfortably. "No, I think maybe we should wait. I mean, honestly, did he not think we might figure out his little game?" I shook my head in dismay.

"To think I thought he was better than this," I muttered, more to myself than to her.

"I hear you, honey."

Veronica emerged on the top tier of the porch once again, clapping her hands and signaling for all the crews to finish rolling. After a minute, she yelled out that it was time for everyone to come inside. Meet-and-greet time was over.

I searched around for Camryn and Jared, but they were nowhere to be seen. After thanking us all for our cooperation, Veronica had virtually thrown us out into the streets to find something to eat. I would've thought that they would keep everything contained to the mansion, and I had hoped that they would provide us with meals at least occasionally, if not always. Apparently, this was too much to ask.

Before informing us that the rest of the night was ours and having attendants show us our rooms, Veronica had warned us that our official show pictures had been released on the website, so potential paparazzi could be out. The show was allegedly already causing more buzz in the pop culture world than anyone had anticipated. 

After doing another lap across the wide front landscaping, I gave up on my search for my stylists. If I had a run-in with any photographers, they would just have to deal with my oily foundation and my slightly smudged lip gloss. As I dug my phone out of my purse to find a nearby pizza place, I heard a group of people walking down the driveway, away from the house.

"Lyra, my girl!" I heard Uriah shout, and saw him waving me down to come talk to them.

"Join us for some fine dining!"