Found- Crygi

Chapter 1

Gigi POV-
    This costume fits me perfectly and in my head, it's the exactly as it should be. A bold, campy, look. It should make a good first impression in the werkroom. I'm proud of it too, and glad that I have some of my mother's work with me here as I already miss her so much. Hopefully, once we're totally started I'll have bigger things to worry about.
    The men behind me are dressed in all black, miked up with little headsets so they can tell me when to go in. The nerves are building up in my stomach and I hope they tell me to go in soon. I don't want to lose my confidence. "Alright. You're up" One of them says to me. I put a smile on and go through the curtains. Though I'm nervous I can feel myself go into autopilot, putting on a bitchy face, showing them I'm the shit they need to worry about. I'm their toughest competition.
    After the signal that I'm done showing off for the camera, I join the other girls at the table. We're all giddy with excitement, practically jumping up and down. After me, we wait a little while, and I realize they definitely cut out quite a bit of time in editing so we don't see any other queens before we get into the werkroom. A few minutes pass of us chatting and we hear the signal to come in before a queen dressed like a green clown jumps through the curtain. "Who's ready to party and play?" She yells, showing off a gorgeous smile. I notice myself giving side eye for a moment. This isn't what I would typically call drag.
    All the other girls are totally excited about her and gather in a circle, looking at her outfit, pointing out the parts they like the best. "Did you make that yourself?" Niki says, grabbing at the sleeve.
    "Of course!" Crystal replies, laughing. "I make most of my own stuff."
    "That's really cool." Widow chimes in and I can tell Crystal is already winning them all over. I just can't decide how I feel about her yet.
    "She already done had herses!" The TV chirps.
    We whip around, all confused. There's only 7 queens here, there are supposed to be way more.
    I look around to see if they made a mistake in timing but it doesn't appear they have as nobody comes to say anything to us or turn it off. "What's going on?" I ask.
    Widow shrugs. "I have no clue."
    "There's only 7 of us." Heidi questions. "That can't be right."
    "Wild." I mutter to myself. This is going to be one hell of a season.

After the second day of shooting we still don't know any of the other queens. It's crazy that we won't get to see them until tomorrow even though we just finished our premiere episode. It wasn't that long of a day, given that it was just the first episode, but we're all still a little tired from it. "Anyone want to go to the hotel bar?" Brita asks. "Get to know each other a little more?"
"Yesss!" Widow and Niki start in unison. "How about everyone else?"
The rest of us look at each other and nod, and excitement rises in my chest. I finally have 6 sisters to hang around. "Okay, but sis I NEED to untuck." I reply. "This hurts like a bitch."
"Me too!" Widow agrees. "12 hours of tucking is not the move."
Brita does her signature wheezy laugh in return and we all go to take off our makeup and wigs.
Even though I've already seen it, Crystals mullet surprises me. How the hell does someone look good in a mullet? There is not a single boy I can think of, and that includes El Debarge. Nobody besides Crystal Methyd looks good with a curly mullet. I find myself feeling self conscious taking off my drag. It's always made me feel more comfortable, and it feels like I'm naked without it on around other queens. I just breathe and remind myself that the rest of them are also taking off their drag. We'll all look different, it's expected. The makeup is the last thing I get rid of and I always hate to see it go. I can never quite recreate a makeup look and this was one I really liked. Even so, my face feels about 10 pounds lighter without it on and my skin can finally breathe.
When we all step outside of the recording studio the wind hits my face and I feel a hundred times better. Everyone else looks like they're enjoying the breeze too.
Lucky for us, the hotel is right across the street, and because it's getting a little late the bar is pretty much empty. We sit at the biggest table they have in the lobby and go up to order drinks. I decide against it, not being much of a drinker myself, and Crystal doesn't go to the bar either. "Looks like it's just us." He says, laughing a little.
"Yeah. I don't like social drinking if I'm being honest." I mention.
"Me neither." He replies. "Guess if we ever have to go somewhere we're the designated drivers."
I can feel myself smile even though I don't really want to. "I guess so."
Just then Heidi shows up at the table, holding a glass of wine. "What are ya'll chatting about?"
"Nothing." Crystal responds. "What's up in Heidi's world."
"Oh not much, just on my way to win drag race." He announced, getting a laugh out of me and Crystal.
The other queens join one by one, but the other half of the table is still empty. Unsurprisingly, Widow, Niki, and Brita are all chatting away in a conversation that makes no sense to me, and Jackie immediately hits it off with Heidi. Crystal and I sit there, not knowing what conversation to join. I feel really young and inexperienced seeing everyone else, but I don't want to let them see that. I can't tell how Crystal feels, all I know is he's a little odd and maybe that's why he doesn't immediately jump into the big conversations. He turns to me, curly hair bouncing on his shoulders. "How are you doing?" He asks. "First episode down, quite a few to go."
"Good." I reply, not wanting to share any weaknesses yet. "A little tired but I think we all are. How about you?"
"Same." He answers. "I'm going to sleep so hard tonight."
Again, I feel myself smiling though I don't really know why. I don't really know how to keep the conversation going.
"I really liked your looks today." Crystal says, breaking the silence.
My face lights up. "Thanks! I loved yours, how did you come up with your makeup?"
He ponders the question for a moment. "I just made everything big until I felt like a whole new person. You know, it's nice to have that, to just be a different person sometimes."
I'm surprised that she has pretty much the same reasons as me and it compels me to tell her more. "I've always felt the same way. I just feel so much more myself if drag. It's never made sense why, all I know is it makes me feel better."
"That's a good sign that you've found where you should be in life then." She tells me, but in my head I disagree. I guess I just want to feel that cool all the time, not just when I'm dressed like someone else.
We all talk for a while more until we look at the time. It's almost midnight and though we have a day off tomorrow, it's still been a long day and we all need sleep. Jackie is the first to suggest we wrap it up, and we all agree and finish our conversations before throwing trash away and piling in the tiny elevator. We're all in a block of rooms on the third floor and walk together the whole way before separating and saying our goodbyes.
After tonight, Crystal is starting to grow on me and already she's proving more than just an odd duck with a funny name. I think we might become friends.