𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 , 𝟖𝟎𝐬

10 = good friends

brandy's point of view

jason dropped me off back at my house and told me to make sure my aunt wasn't dead in our kitchen. i assured him i would never forget about her and then headed inside.

"hey sister!" aunt maggie called out from the living room, averting my attention from where she sat before jason and i left. she was all cozied up on the couch with a cup of coffee in her hands.

"hey." i smiled and walked into the living room, taking a seat on the couch across from where she was at.

"we have a lot of catching up to do."

"i guess that's safe to say." i nodded.

"so tell me about this boy! i've heard all there is to know from other sources but i want it from you."

i cleared my throat, "well, we're really good friends."

"oh, bullshit, honey." she shook her head, "what about the night in his car? it's almost everywhere."

"nothing too extreme ... i don't think ... honestly i can't remember that night very well." i tried to talk slower, like how most people from the 80s seemed to do. it took a lot in me to not talk fast with a use of modern slang that would be sure to throw her off. truthfully, i don't believe people from the 1980s actually talked slower than we do in the 2000s, i think in all the old interviews i watched on youtube, the celebrities were just speaking properly.

i zoned back into the conversation i was having in real life and looked over at aunt maggie, "were you drunk?" her eyes almost popped out of her head.

"no! i just, i don't know. it's almost a blur or something." i laughed it off.

"well i think you and he would make a poised couple. unlike ... what's her name?" she threw her hand around in the air, searching for the name she was looking for.

"jami?"

"yes! her. i read about what she's said about you and jason. i didn't believe her for a second. jason seems too much of a gentleman to do such a foolish thing with a young girl knowing he's in the eye of the public."

now i was confused. and worried. so i just nodded once again so she thought i was agreeing.

"i am very proud of you and what you're doing." she smiled as she got up, "i know your parents would be too." she then placed a kiss on my head before walking straight toward the kitchen.

"does pizza sound alright for tonight? i don't feel like cooking."

"yeah, pizza sounds good." i smiled and then went up to my room and immediately called jason.

i sat on my bed and began curling the phone cord in between my fingers, anxiously waiting for him to pick up.

"hello?"

"jason!" i almost screamed.

"you just can't get enough of me, can you?" i could hear the smirk through the line.

i scoffed, "listen, loverboy, i have a serious question. one of which my aunt just brought up."

"oh she's alive!" he questioned excitedly.

"yes. she is. good news, i know. but! what has jami said about us recently that by what i am inferring is somewhat illegal?"

he sighed, "michael actually just told me about this in the car while we waited for your audition to end. apparently she's told a few people that we've had sexual relations." i could hear the tone of his voice change when he said the words "sexual relations", as if he was putting up air quotes.

"oh shit."

"i know."

my heart started to race because i hated rumors being spread about me. but then i worried, what if they weren't rumors and i just couldn't remember?

"there haven't been ... right?"

"not unless you count second base as sexual relations! she's basically implying we've had sex." i could tell he was getting aggravated as well.

"what is up her ass!"

"all we need to do is clear it up at our cast interviews this week, alright?"

"alright, and how do we do that?"

"just say we are good friends and we care about each other. and that we are aware of the age difference and would never even think of doing something like that."

"okay." i sighed, "so we're good friends?"

"yes."

"and we don't think about fucking each other?"

i heard him laugh, "that mouth of yours, little girl."

"what about my mouth?" i teased.

"i'm trying not to think of it, i guess." he breathed out his words.

"well i don't know why you would. i mean, we're just good friends." i said sarcastically.

"you're absolutely right. and, i don't know why we'd think of fucking each other either ... i mean, we're just good friends."

"i understand clearly."

"this is a great arrangement."

"we work very well together." i smiled.

"yes we do, co-star."

"alright, good friend. i guess i'll talk to you the next time i need help around here."

"i'll be waiting."

and then we hung up.
and i felt attacked. who knew he was such a smooth talker?