Cocaine| c.g. [UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

30°

"I'm slumped." Mariana groaned, grasping onto the sheets of the mattress. Light started shining through the white satin curtains.

The room was decorated in monochrome colors. Black and white. Pia had decorated it for Mariana since she'd sleep over so often. Pia would always insist that Mariana should sleep at her place instead of her school dorm. All Pia wanted was some company since her family lived miles away on the tiny island of Guam.

Mariana was like a sister to her, and Pia was the sister Mariana never had. Both of them were in California with nobody to look out for them. But now they had a bond so special.

"Nana, Carl, breakfast!" Pia shouted from outside of the room. The smell of bacon wafted from under the door.

"Nana?" Carl chuckled, propping himself up against the black wooden headboard.

"It's her nickname for me." Mariana yawned as she stretched and got up. She rubbed her face as she opened the door. "Come on, before Michael and Joe eat all of the food."

Carl trailed behind, stopping once in a while to look at the framed pictures strung along the walls. Many of them were of Pia and Mariana. One depicted them with their large group of friends, with Mariana sitting on Luke's lap.

He continued to browse, occasionally scowling when he saw pictures with Luke in them. Carl reached the end of the hallway and saw Mariana sitting down, a plate of bacon and hash browns in front of her.

She sat at a booth, next to Michael. Carl took the remaining stool next to Joe. Pia set a large plate of food in front of him.

"So you're famous too?" Carl asked Joe.

"I don't want to be cocky, but yeah. I guess. I star in Stranger Things."

"A movie?" Carl was embarrassed that he didn't know what the hell a stranger thing was. He'd been locked up for so long he didn't know what was popular nowadays.

"No, a tv series. Sci-fi."

"Cool, I'll check it out. So, what's the deal with everyone else?" He was curious about these unfamiliar faces.  He wasn't one to be intimidated, but these kids were his age, richer than he'll ever be.

"Pia, rising star. Sang a song with Chris brown and Tyga. Michael, in the band five seconds of summer. Mariana, designs clothing for young celebrities and is the leading lady in Netflix's new miniseries, Drive."

"She's gonna be in a miniseries? She's never told me." Carl was a little upset that his own girlfriend wouldn't tell him about her newfound career.

"That's because it's not out yet. The only reason I know is because I work for Netflix too. It's basically about a girl and her friends who crash a car, accidentally murder some people, and flee their city." Joe spoke, out of breath from his run on sentence. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm just Mariana's plus one. I'm not famous whatsoever."

"You could be. Maybe a model, have the jawline for it. Minor character in a show, if you can recite lines. Hollywood's a hard place to get into, but if you have the right connections, then it's a welcoming place."

"Never really thought about that. I used to live with a couple of gay foster parents, and they taught me how to read a script and remember lines. Maybe I could start as an extra or a minor?"

While in foster care, his foster parents decided it would be a good idea to have a 'well-rounded' child. Part of that was a talent in the performing arts. Twenty acting classes later, and Carl could act full scenes, with a little bribe.

"Gay foster parents, huh?"

"My life was different than yours." Carl smiled, mumbling his words.

"I can help you prep. Netflix is always holding open auditions and they're having one a week from now."

"You know, you're a real cool guy." Carl didn't really have any friends in Hollywood, and he decided it was time to make some.

"Sorry, but I don't swing that way."

"I—"

"I know, I'm kidding." Joe chuckled. He got up, placing his dishes on the left side of the sink. He sat back down and started to casually play Pocket Mortys on his phone.

"Agenda for today?" Michael spoke, some gravy dribbling down his chin. Pia looked at him with disgust, stabbing the wet greens in her ceramic bowl.

"We could show Carl around. Maybe have him meet some new people, get him familiar with the Hollywood scene." Joe suggested, eyes still glued on his phone. He was determined to capture greaser morty, who he claimed had a resemblance to Steve, the character he played on Stranger Things.

"Sounds good." Michael spewed as he chewed on his biscuits and gravy.

"Feels good." Mariana snorted. She twisted around in the metal swivel chair.

Michael looked at her with a blank face, "Please. I'm dying."