~Thalia's P.O.V.~
Walking through the deserted hallways, I'm practically skipping in glee. The CD gripped tightly in hand as I hurriedly make my way to the black box theater. Last I texted, they were all still there. Finally reaching the doors, I push them open and run at where Robbie and Ana are clearing up some of the costumes and wigs.
"Ana! Robbie!" I yell at them, "Guess what, guess what?!"
"What? What's going on?" Ana straightens up and looks at me with raised eyebrows.
Grinning widely, I slowly hold the CD up, "Feast your eyes, for the first time ever in public, right here in front of you, my very first album!" I flip it around to show them the cover.
"No way!" Robbie exclaims, snatching it from me to get a better look.
"Hey, hey, hey, be careful with it!" I scold him immediately, my eyes not leaving the CD, "That's the first original copy."
"Okay, this is awesome." Ana grins at me.
"Yeah, you look hot." Robbie states bluntly.
"You can barely see me." I scoff, shaking my head in amusement as they turn the case back and forth, switching between looking at the picture and reading the song list on the back.
"Still." He shrugs in return.
"Okay, but now that I have that one, do you know what this means?!" I ask rhetorically.
"That you'll be paying for dinner?" Ana asks with a smug smile.
"Who's paying for dinner?" Chad's voice surprises me. He suddenly shows up with Beck and Trey, backpacks in hand, "I'm starving."
"It's still five p.m." Trey informs bim in confusion.
"Exactly. Pre-dinner." Chad scoffs obviously.
"Hey, you're done at the studio?" Beck smiles at me when he stops right at my side.
"Yeah, I wasn't really doing anything today." I smile back at him, "Gustavo just wanted to-"
"Her album's all done and this is the first copy!" Robbie cuts me off, showing the guys the CD.
"Hey, that's awesome!" "That's a surprisingly good pic of you." "Congratulations!" Beck, Trey, and Chad share their amusements, pulling me into hugs as they take turns looking at the case.
"Oh! And as I was saying," I grab their attention again, "in less than twenty hours," I look down at my watch and estimate, "that face will be in almost every record store in LA!"
"They're releasing it?!" Trey exclaims in the same excitement as mine.
"Yep! I'm posting it on TheSlap and ScuttleButter in two hours, and then tomorrow morning everyone can buy it!" I cheer.
"Looks like you're the one buying milkshakes today." Beck smirks at me, throwing an arm around my shoulders and kissing the side of my head.
"That's what I said!" Ana tells him happily, raising her hand for a high-five.
"Well, Tori works there. So why not?" I shrug.
"Actually, Tori, Jade, and Cat all left to Nozu. They wanted to try and be blonde for the day." Chad informs her, "You just missed them. Guess you gotta treat us."
"Well, at least they're not here. It's just the six of us. Although, where's André?"
"He's chasing after his bird." Trey states casually.
"Oh okay?" I furrow my eyebrows in confusion but decide to ignore it, "Let's go then. Anyway, how'd filming go?" I ask as we all walk to the door, "Wig-master." I tease Robbie, hiding my laughter.
"Hey, I am the wig-master, all right?" He argues.
"Yeah, no one but the wig-master is allowed to touch all the wigs." Beck mimics his voice mockingly, making us all laugh louder.
"That's just logic!" Robbie yells after us, "It makes sense."
❤️
"Okay, but you are definitely gonna be there, right?" I repeat the question to Chad on the phone as I let out a yawn.
"Yes." I hear him sigh, "I promise, I'll be there. Relax, it's just a normal party."
"Right." I scoff, walking out my room and down the hall, "A party with red carpets, reporters, paparazzi, and is filled to the brink with famous celebrities."
"Which, by now has included you." He states, "You'll be fine. And even if you're not, I'll be there the whole time. We can just hang out at one of the tables, just the two of us, surrounded by food."
"That actually sounds great." I chuckle weakly, taking slow steps one-by-one, "Guess I'll see you at school later."
"Bye." He replies before I hear the clicking sound, signaling the end of the call.
Taking the last few steps of the stairs, I look up to see dad leaning against the counter. He's wearing his usual workout clothes which he uses to jog in the morning while I am still in sweatpants and T-Shirt.
"Morning," I smile tightly.
"Good morning, superstar." He greets cheerily. When he receives a scrunch of my face, he chuckles in amusement, "Not good?"
"Not at all." I shake my head, "Tori might like it though." I joke, "So, what's the emergency talk?"
"Well... not so much a talk as it is an information." Dad grins sheepishly.
"And this information couldn't have waited twenty more minutes? When my alarm actually rings for me to truly wake up."
"It could." He nods, "But I figured you'd want to know first."
"Okay." I sigh tiredly and lean against the back of the couch in front of him, "What's up? And why are you up so early?"
"I went for a run." He shrugs.
I raise an eyebrow at him in disbelief, "In your car?" I question, moving my eyes to where the car keys are sitting beside him.
"You know, if you weren't a singer, you'd make a great detective." Dad compliments.
Usually I'd return with some witty, boastful response to that. But at the time, all I can muster is, "Oh, you have no idea." I scoff lightly, thinking about my own current, secret investigation. Though, more of a stalking situation. Shaking my head, I tune back to the conversation, "So, what's going on?"
I watch his face light up again in excitement and he straightens up, pushing himself off the counter. "Well, cutting my jog a little short this morning, I took a drive and ended up on the shops a few blocks from here."
"And you found the mystery of where my beauty sleep is?" I joke, smirking at him.
Rolling his eyes, he shakes his head light-heartedly, "Yeah, but then somebody got hold of the last of it and they ran off." He jokes back, "But I did found a record shop that opens early in the morning. And guess what I got?"
"A copy of Lesley Gore's All About Love album?"
"Well, yes. But- Wait, how do you know that?" He cuts himself off and looks at me in complete confusion and bewilderment.
"Like you said, I'd make a great detective." I repeat his words with a smirk.
"Okay, well I did get that." He laughs, showing me the CD, "But, that wasn't what I wanted to show you." He tells me and walks closer to me, "What I wanted to say, was that I also bought this album that was displayed at the front of the shop." He lifts up the all too familiar CD for me to see, "It looked interesting. The title's nice, cool autograph, awesome cover, and the singer seems like she knows what she's doing. So, I figured, why not give it a try?" He smirks.
"No way." I gape, calmly taking the CD from him, even though my hand is practically shaking. "You bought this? I told you that Gustavo gave me one already."
"You did. But I wanted to be the very first person to buy your first album." He smiles at me, "Your very first sale."
I look up to him in awe and hand him back the CD, "That's so sweet."
"Honestly, it's the least I could do." He brushes me off, "I'm proud of you, you know? Even way before this, or the record deal, or the play. Or even getting into Hollywood Arts. I have always been completely and absolutely proud of you. I should've told you that more often, that was my fault. Now, it is okay if I want to flaunt this to everyone I know, right?"
"It's okay." I laugh out a sob, feeling like I'm about to cry. Blinking furiously, I stomp closer to him and throw my arms around him, "Thank you, thank you!" I say over and over again. I'm not sure if I'm thanking him for buying the album or for the words or because I'm happy to finally get here with him.
Sniffling a bit, I pull away from him, "Oh, this is too much emotions for me this early in the morning." I joke, "Especially in an empty stomach."
"Well, then you better get dressed." He pushes me to the stairs, "I'm making waffles." He declares, pointing behind him at where the batter is all ready.
Smiling at him, I think back to what I'm gonna do about mom. I mean, so far, not that much evidence. But, if I'm being truly honest, it's enough to proof. I mean, it'll still be far-fetched but it's a start.
I walk up to him again and put a hand on his shoulder. Getting on my tip-toes, I kiss him on the cheek and smile gratefully, "Thanks, dad."
"No problem, sweetheart." He smiles back, "Now hurry up and go get changed. If you end up late, it is not my fault." He tells me, nodding towards the stairs as he goes back to the kitchen.
❤️
"So it's a fancy-ass party with lots of famous people, so what?" Trey shrugs at my rants as we walk together to class.
"So what?" I scoff at his question, harshly swinging the door open, "So, I don't want to walk around all night with a smile stuck on my face, conversing with strangers."
"At least you'll have Chad." He reminds me.
"Wanna bet he'd find someone to hit on twenty minutes into the party?" I raise an eyebrow at him.
"No. No way." He scoffs loudly, "Why don't you take someone as your plus-one? I don't know, at the top of my head, maybe Beck?"
"I would love to, but apparently since the whole, me and James thing, got me to the cover of Pop Tiger, he believes that showing up with someone else will "tarnish" it all." I tell him with a roll of my eyes.
"And what does Gustavo think?" He asks, turning around the corner.
"Gustavo thinks that I should listen to Griffin."
"Well, that's not helpful."
"Tell me about it."
Our conversation stops there when we hear Tori exclaiming, "You've been blowing your nose in my underwear?!"
"Yeah, they're like a giant, soft hanky." Trina's reply comes soon after and we see them talking near Tori's locker.
"Giant?!" Tori gapes in offense.
"Okay, that is just gross." I comment, scrunching my nose at them.
Snapping her neck to see me, Trina's eyes widen and I see her shove the underwear to her back pocket. "Hey, Trey..." She says flirtatiously, fluttering her eyelashes at him.
"Hi, Trina." Trey chuckles in amusement, smiling at her.
"Well, if it isn't the Vega girls." I turn around and see Robbie walking confidently with a guitar in hand, "And the North boy." He adds when he sees Trey.
"Gross." Trina shakes her head at him.
Shaking her head at Trina, Tori comments, "You're in a good mood."
"Yep." Robbie grins, "Because I finished the song I've been writing."
"Another song about worms?" I raise an eyebrow at him.
"Oh, that song gave me chills." Trey shudders.
"Nope, not this time." Robbie shakes his head reassuringly.
"Hate this guy." Trina continues to comment randomly.
"This song's about a girl." Robbie continues, already used to just ignoring Trina.
"Ugh, Robbie. I've told you, I'm not interested in you." Trina pushes herself off the lockers and look at him sympathetically.
Staring at her awkwardly, he stutters, "Uh, I didn't mean you-"
"Listen, you know when sometimes girls say, "I just like you as a friend"?" Trina cuts him off with a rhetorical question.
"Yeah." Robbie answers surely, knowing exactly what she's saying.
"I don't even like you that way." She tells him bluntly. I slap her arm at that but she just tosses the underwear back to Tori and walk away, "Bye, Trey." She gives him a small wave.
Grunting in disgust, Tori crumples it up and looks at Trey, "Are you sure you're talking about her?" She asks and points at Trina's retreating form.
Robbie and I turn to him too expectantly. He didn't answer or give us anything but he just rolls his eyes and shake his head with a chuckle. And not a disagreeing head-shake, just a casual, normal one.
"Free hugs! Who wants a free hug?!" Cat squeals as she skips down the hallway. Reaching us, she throws her arms around me and pulls me in tight, "I'm hugging you!"
"Oh, wow." I wheeze out, practically getting my life squeezed out. Pulling away, she goes to hug Tori, Trey, and then Robbie, spinning them around.
"Someone's a happy Cat." Robbie notes with a chuckle.
"Yeah, me!" Cat giggles.
"Wait, is this because of that guy you met last night?" Tori gasps in realization.
"Uh-huh." Cat nods happily.
"Oh, you, uh..." I turn my head to watch Robbie's face fall and he stumbles over his words, "You met a fella?"
"Yeah." Cat sighs dreamily, not noticing the change, "His name is Evan. Oh, and I invited him here tonight to watch Beck's movie."
"Oh yeah, the screening's tonight." Tori says with a smile.
"I hear the movie came out pretty good." Trey chimes in.
"I was the wig-master." Robbie reminds us proudly.
"So, what'd Evan do when you told him your blonde hair was really a wig?" Tori averts back to Cat.
Cat stops jumping in place and frowns at her, "What?"
"I said, what'd Evan do when you told him your blonde hair was really a wig?" Tori repeats with a nervous laugh.
"That did not come up." Cat admits with a pout.
"Wait, you never told him you were wearing a wig?" I ask her.
"One of my wigs." Robbie corrects me.
"One of Robbie's wigs." I restate.
"I guess not."
"Or the blue contacts?" Trey continues.
"Also did not come up." She states.
"So, you spent like five hours with this guy and he still doesn't know what you really look like?" Tori questions.
"No." Cat's eyes widen at this and she starts to panic, "Oh my God! What if he hates red-headed girls with brown eyes?!"
"Don't worry, he won't." I assure her softly.
"And if he does, then shame on him." Trey adds.
"Are you crying?" Robbie questions when Cat starts sniffling, putting a hand on her arm.
"Yeah, I can't help it." Cat slaps his hand away sadly, "I cry when I'm scared." She tells us as she grabs something from Tori's hand.
"Oh, no." "Kit-Cat, don't." "Not that." We all try to stop her but she's already using it.
Blowing her nose, she used it to wipe her tears afterwards. Hiccuping a few times, she holds it away and looks at it, "What is this?" Cat mutters in confusion.
"Underwear." Tori mumbles in embarrassment.
"They're so big!" Cat says, crying again.
"That's what she said." I comment quickly but quietly, smirking proudly.
"You know what?!" Tori on the other hand gets offended and snatches the underwear back from Cat. She walks away from us and turn the corner, but not before tossing it down the trash.
"Do you want another hug, Cat?" Trey offers, putting his arms out.
Cat nods sadly and walks right to him, wrapping her arms around his torso. Compared to us, she is already small, but with Trey she looks even smaller. The top of her head barely even reaches his shoulder. With his arms around her, she might as well be completely covered and disappear.
"You're so tall!" Cat cries again, burying her face into his shirt and sobbing there.
"Okay." Trey rubs her back comfortingly, "Let it all out."
"And then we can go get ice cream." Robbie suggests in an attempt to cheer her up.
"Or milkshakes." I continue, "My treat."
Cat lifts her head and looks at us with teary eyes, "You're so nice!" She cries out and turns to pull us into the hug.
"There there." "We're here." Robbie and I hug her back, patting her head.
❤️
"But why do I have to tell him?" Cat continues to complain as we all shuffle around the theater, trying to get the place ready for the screening tonight.
"Because you can't keep this up forever." Tori tells her.
"Yeah, Kit-Cat, what else are you going to do?" I turn ask her.
"I can dye my hair blond!" Cat exclaims with a gasp.
Ana raises an eyebrow at her and asks skeptically, "You're willing to change your red hair?"
"No..." Cat pouts sadly, looking down. "But I can just wear the wig."
"Cat, you can't keep wearing a wig 24/7." Trey sighs, shaking his head.
"Sure, I can." Cat argues, "Robbie will help, right?" She points at Robbie, looking at him pleadingly.
"Um... Well-"
"Don't answer that!" Jade snaps at him with a quick glare.
"Larry! Where's Larry?!" André suddenly runs in, frantically looking around, "Have y'all seen Larry?!"
"No." "Not yet." "Nope." "Nuh-uh." Everyone answers casually, shaking their heads.
"Damn it!" André curses, "Larry, where are you?! Come out, come out, wherever you are!" He proceeds to shout and run back out.
"He a mess." Chad comments, shaking his head at André.
"Yeah, like you aren't." I joke, scoffing at him.
"Okay, is everything good?" Beck asks, walking to the middle of the theater, "How do I look? Does this say, "serious movie director slash writer"?" He spins in place to show us his outfit.
"Lose the tie, you look like a manager." Jade orders with only a small glance.
I look him up and down before adding, "And maybe change the shirt with your blue one in the locker." I suggest, "It fits you better."
"Okay, great." He nods in understanding, taking off his tie and rolling it up in his hand. "Wait," He stops walking away and faces the stage, "Where's the screen? And how are people gonna walk, with the seats so close together?" He rambles on.
"Is he okay?" Tori questions carefully.
"Does he look okay?" Ana raises an eyebrow.
"He looks like he's lost it." Chad mutters.
"And where is Sinjin," Beck still runs off at the mouth, "are the lights working? I saw a cable dangling backstage, something's wrong there!"
"Someone should talk to him." Cat whispers, looking around at us.
"Yeah, Lia, you go." Robbie agrees with her, looking at me.
"Okay." I roll my eyes at them and slowly walk over to where Beck is still ranting and pacing. "Hey, Beck." I call him, "Beck, cariño. Hey, hi!" I say clearer, standing right in front of him
"Yeah, hi, what?" He looks down at me.
"All right, cariño, we need you to calm down." I tell him, gesturing at everyone's who's halted working and is now staring at him, "Don't worry, everything's gonna go great."
"You don't know that." He shakes his head, "A lot of things can go wrong."
"He's not wrong." Jade teases with a smirk, "I can list it alphabetically and chronologically."
"That's not helping." Ana chuckles, shaking her head.
"I didn't say I was gonna be helpful." Jade shrugs nonchalantly, going back to grab a few more chairs.
"Don't worry, Beck," Cat gives him a smile, "at least Lia doesn't think you're blond."
"And it's not like there's a little girl suspended from the ceiling right now." Tori adds with a laugh.
"Or a main character with a zombie mask." Robbie continues.
"No one's puppet got chopped to pieces." Trey points out with a scoff, "What? A puppet getting driven to the hospital and delaying a play? Words like that travel fast." He explains when we look at him in confusion, since at the time, he had just got into HA.
"Oh, also, there's no one here to take the whole credit." Chad points at us knowingly, "Squires, if you remember."
"Yeah, he got humiliated on national TV, I think we can all remember." I laugh loudly.
"Yeah, thanks. I feel better now." Beck smiles sarcastically, still pacing around.
"But he was not as bad as Macy." Chad still laughs.
We all stop laughing for a moment and turn to him in confusion. His laughter slowly turns to small chuckles as he returns the confused look.
"Who?" Tori asks, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Missy." Chad says again, "Maddy? Minnie? The bitch from that movie?" He keeps saying.
"Melinda!" I gasp, "Her name is Melinda." I correct him with a scoff, making everyone else "ooh"ed in realization.
"Yeah, what did I say?" He raises an eyebrow at him.
"Every other name that isn't hers." Ana tells him in bewilderment.
"Whatever." Chad scoffs, waving us off.
"You really still hate her that much, huh?" I laugh at him.
"And you're telling me you don't?" Chad argues as he crosses his arms.
"Oh, we do." Beck nods furiously, "No doubt of that. This isn't helping me though."
"But why Macy?" Tori continues to question.
"Or Missy and Maddy?" Robbie adds.
"And even Minnie?" Cat frowns, "That is so far away."
"You should've heard the other names," I tell them, chuckling, "Mavis, Marley, Mindy, Milly."
"Well, I'm sorry for not remembering the name of someone I don't like." Chad rolls his eyes in annoyance.
"Oh, don't get upset now." Jade mockingly pouts.
"I'm not upset." Chad grumbles, stomping away from us.
"Chad, we're just joking!" I laugh loudly, "Don't walk away."
"I'm going to get more.... Things." He says vaguely.
"You might wanna be careful before you hit something!" Ana calls after him, still chuckling.
"I'll be fine!" Chad yells back, "I can see where I'm going. I'm not gonna hit anyth-"
His words got cut off by a loud bang and some stuff crashing onto the ground. We gasp loudly as we watch him stagger back and fall onto some of the chairs.
On his way out, he had somehow walked right into a prop that was left on the way. It was from an old play about some murder investigation with some sort of Alice in Wonderland theme kind of thing. And, by some coincidence, the prop is one that is supposed to just stay at the side, untouched, which means it is made of metal.
"Holy shit." I cover my mouth as I hold back a laugh.
"Oh my God, are you okay?" Ana was the first one to break out of the trance and ask him.
"You're bleeding." Cat gasps, helping Chad up and kneeling down beside him.
"See? Something going wrong, oh, like that!" Beck points at the prop, "Who the hell puts a metal prop in the middle of the hall?!" He asks loudly, looking around at everyone here.
"I'm sorry, but who the hell doesn't see a metal prop in the middle of the hall?" Trey questions, laughing a bit in an attempt to keep the mood light.
"That's Melinda's spirit sending you karma." I add, snickering along.
"Dude, timing." Jade snickers and shakes her head.
"Who the hell wants to hear me pass out?!" Chad cries, whimpering at us and holding onto his head.
"Aww, sweetie." Cat pouts and carefully pulls him into a hug.
"Can you hear us?" Robbie slowly walks over to him.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" Tori continues to pester, holding up two fingers.
"Four?" Chad cries.
"If you had said two, you would've been fine." Tori frowns, looking back at us.
"Okay, I'll take him to a hospital." I announce, helping him up.
"Okay, yeah." "Great idea." "Sounds good." They all nod in agreement.
"I'll come with you." Cat declares, putting one of Chad's arms around her shoulders.
"That's a great idea!" Ana nod at me and mumble, "It might help distract and probably help her forget the wig."
"Yeah, sure." I nod, grabbing some of our stuff from one of the chairs. Walking past Beck, I lean up to give him a kiss, "I'll be back for the showing."
"Promise?"
"Definitely." I smile comfortingly. Giving him another quick kiss, I go to help Cat and make my way out of the theater with Chad who seems like he's about to faint.
"This is why I have stunt doubles." Chad tells us, whimpering as we walk out the school, his face scrunched up in pain.
❤️
"All right, so I am ordering a CAT scan." The doctor informs us.
"Oooh, a CAT scan." Cat giggles to herself, "My name is Cat, and they're doing a scan of me."
"Actually, we're doing the scan on him." The doctor tells Cat with a polite smile.
"Wait, wouldn't that be called a Chad scan then?" Cat asks in confusion, staring at the doctor.
"Um, Cat, why don't we go to the café and get something?" I offer her with a smile, directing the attention from the doctor who looks like he's getting tired from all the questions.
"I'll prep everything needed and a nurse will call you when we're ready." The doctor tells Chad, taking this as his chance to run off.
"Kay kay!" Cat exclaims to me in excitement as she jumps down from her seat on the bed beside Chad, "Do you want me to get you anything?"
"Can I have a blueberry muffin, please?" Chad pouts at her.
"What if they don't have blueberry?" Cat frowns.
"Then surprise me, Valentine." He forces a smile for her, ignoring the pain.
"Okay. Let's go!" Cat giggles and skips away from the place, tugging me in signal.
Smirking slowly, I turn to Chad with my arms crossed in front of my chest, "You know she's technically seeing someone, right?"
"I know that." He nods at me, "I'm not doing anything."
"Sure you aren't." I nod sarcastically.
"Oh, Lia, also, can you call my agent and tell him that I won't make it to the party."
"Wait, you're not going?" I stop moving and walk back to him.
"Kinda can't." He states blankly, pointing at his head.
Letting out a loud sigh in defeat, I nod, "Fine, I'll call. He is going to throw a fit."
"Him or you?" He calls after me teasingly and I let out a fake laugh.
❤️
"Kelly, are you sure I really can't go to the party with Beck?" I ask her through the phone while watching Cat who got distracted by the various ice-cream flavors. A trip to the café at the lobby ended up at the coffee shop in front of the hospital.
"Even if he agrees to it, you still need to talk it over with Griffin." Kelly reminds me.
"Okay, but doesn't he love drama?" I shrug, even though she can't see it, "That was what he said."
"I know that, Lia. But-"
"Vega, you either go with James or you go alone." Gustavo's voice cuts through Kelly's and I wince at the strictness of it.
"Hey, Gustavo..." I trail off awkwardly, "Look, what if I just walk the carpet alone but still go with Beck?"
"No." He replies simply, "Someone can see you in there and blow the whole thing up."
"I know that." I sigh, "But what if we-"
"Shh, shh!" "Wait, wait, stay quiet!" They cut me off quickly and I shut up, hearing their door open.
"Lia, they have cookie dough here!" Cat's loud giggling grabs my attention and I smile at her.
"That's cool, Cat." I chuckle at her, waving back.
"Actually, Boss-" "It's not really a big deal. Just a-"
"Thalia, I thought I had made myself clear." Griffin's voice suddenly becomes clear on the other side of the phone.
Chuckling nervously, I try to come up with something, "Actually, Grif, I'm honestly just thinking over the head here, but maybe, possibly, showing up with someone barely known by the press might be something we need."
"It can ruin the whole thing." He argues with me, "As far as everything's concerned, you and James either have or had a thing. Showing up with someone completely random, can bring it all down."
"Or can it make things more interesting?" I ask.
"What are you on to?" He frowns.
"Hear me out," I start, walking closer to the door to avoid everyone else eavesdropping, "technically, James and I have never clarified anything. According to some gossip blogs, James is currently, pursuing Lucy Stone. Which obviously makes me look bad and absolutely irrelevant."
"She's not wrong, it's only a matter of time. We can get a reporter to start it up." "She does make a good point. Why not announce it in one of the biggest party?" Gustavo and Kelly agree with me.
"Woah wait, I thought this was gonna be a small, get-to-know party, not a huge, holy hell party?" I say loudly.
"That might make sense." Griffin addresses the two and ignoring me. "How do you suggest we go with it?"
"We can just throw the whole James thing away." I suggest casually, "Just direct everything to the now."
"No, that won't work." Griffin waves me off, "That'll ruin everything we've built so far."
I gape at him and say in bewilderment, "We've built nothing! It's just some spare rumors that aren't even talked about that much."
"You were on E!" Griffin reminds me, "That is big news."
"But it's not news, it's just a rumor." I argue.
"I think she can go with her boyfriend if she wants to." I hear Kelly back me up, "Everyone will know she has a boyfriend, James and her are friends, and let them figure out the rest. Keep her in the magazines for longer since no matter what she says, they won't completely believe her, a lot of people are definitely gonna want to take a guess. Especially since she had the breakup song in the album, and also the love songs."
"Yeah, and then those two can be disgustingly cute together while also getting the good attention from everybody else, and not just be in my studio!" Gustavo adds, yelling into the phone.
"Gee, thanks, Gustavo. I didn't realize you thought we were cute." I comment, grinning to myself.
"Then it is settled, you will go with him and get that attention for your album and get me my money." Griffin tells me.
"Wait, so I can go with Beck? Really?" I ask him again for clarification.
"I don't care for his name. Just go to the party, get the good press, sell those albums, and get me my money." He tells me.
"Okay then. Great, thanks- And he hung up." I sigh loudly, looking down at my phone, "Of course he hung up."
"Lia, stop talking on the phone and choose your ice-cream!" Cat yells at me from the counter.
Pocketing the phone, I nod and chuckle at her, "Okay, all right. I'm choosing it now."
❤️
"You sure you're feeling okay?" I ask Chad slowly as he sits beside me with an ice-pack in hand.
"Well, the room is spinning and there are three of you, so you tell me." He mumbles sleepily, slumping further down in his seat.
"The doctor said you only have a mild concussion, so that's not so bad." Ana tells him slowly, "It's only mild."
"I'd like to see you deal with a "mild concussion"." He grumbles, mimicking her voice.
"Good evening everyone." Beck says into the mic when he walks to the front, halting the chatter in the room, "Thank you for coming to see my semester project. A funny, short film called, The Blonde Squad." He introduces.
"All right, Beck!" "Yay!" "We love you, Beck!" Screaming from the people behind me brought my attention and I roll my eyes in annoyance. These three girls really have not shut up since they walked in.
"Where's André?" Chad asks us, "I can hear his birds screeching." He mutters, indicating at the girls behind us.
Beck raises an eyebrow at them and guesses, "Northridge, right?"
"Uh-huh." I turn around to see them nodding frantically with an awestruck look on their faces.
"Yep." Beck nods curtly before looking back to the whole crowd, "Anyway, hang out, get some popcorn, we're gonna start in a few-" He stopped talking when we hear a loud crunching and munching noise. Following his eyesight, I see Sinjin on top of the catwalk, eating something.
"Is that Sinjin?" I ask Beck in confusion.
"Yeah." He sighs, "Sinjin! Please stop eating bird seed."
"Don't you think I would if I could?" Sinjin retorts, continuing to eat.
Shaking his head, Beck ignores him, "All right. Uh..."
"Real quick, real quick." André cuts him off, taking the mic away, "I'm sure most of you have heard by now, I'm looking for a bird. Name's Larry." He says emotionally, "If you happen to see him, please alert me by something like, "Hey, André, there's your bird."" He tells us before handing it back to Beck and proceeding to run.
"Thanks." Beck states blankly, "Thanks for that." He waves at us nervously and walks off stage. I give him a thumbs-up before he disappears behind the curtains.
"You seen Cat's boy-toy, yet?" Jade questions, standing in front of us.
"Sorry, I've been busy with the whiny baby here." I tell her, nodding at Chad.
"I'm not whiny, I'm in pain." He cries out, pouting.
"Of course." Ana pouts mockingly at him and rubs his arm. Looking up at Jade, she gestures at the door, "Yeah, I think I saw him walk in but I don't know where he is. Haven't seen Cat either since she came back from the hospital."
"Guys, guys, guys!" Tori whisper-yells and she runs up to us, "He's right over there." She whispers, pointing somewhere behind me.
"Where?" Since Ana, Chad, and I are facing the stage, we all instinctively whip our heads back to see.
"Nope, that hurt." Chad complains, looking forward again and leaning his head on my shoulder.
"Uh-huh. There there." I sigh out, patting his shoulder.
"The one in the red shirt?" Ana questions.
"Yep." Tori nods.
"Oh, so she's meeting him here?" Jade asks Tori.
"Yup. And I guarantee you, when he sees what she really looks like, he's gonna be even more psyched." Tori smiles surely.
"Uh, you wanna bet on that?" I stop her, gaping when I see Cat walk in with her wig on.
"Whoa, whoa." Ana gapes along, staring at the two.
"No.... Oh, Cat." Tori whines in defeat.
"Bet I know what happened. Heads up." I tell them, nodding at where Robbie just walked through the curtains.
"Hey!" Tori immediately goes to him, "Did you do that to Cat's head?!"
"I couldn't talk her out of it." Robbie sighs.
"You helped her?" Jade questions in disbelief.
"Do you see this belt?" Robbie points down with a raised eyebrow, "I am a wig-master. Helping people with their wig-needs, is my duty."
"Oh, enough with that." Chad snaps at him. When we turn to him in surprise, he says, "Sorry, my head's pounding."
"Are you sure, you don't want to go home? I can drive you." Ana offers in concern.
"Are you kidding me? No way." He scoffs, "I look good in this movie."
"And that's worth it?" I question.
"Always." He declares, "Now, get the birds away from me." He adds, pointing at the girls giggling behind.
"Hey!!" Jade shouts at them, "Shut it or get out." She continues, scaring them into finally being quiet and sitting down.
"Thank you." Chad sighs in relief.
"Now you owe me." Jade states casually, taking a seat on Ana's other side.
❤️
"There's been a burglary." Tori's voice rings through the theater as we all watch the movie.
"They could still be here." Jade's follows in the same panicked tone.
"Bananas!" Cat exclaims and they all pull out they're bananas, making us laugh loudly.
Beck looks around the room with a smile at the positive reaction before leaning back in his seat. Unfortunately, some of the people from the other side of the room are only chuckling a bit. I feel him tense up beside me and start to run his hand through his hair.
Grabbing his hand, I send him a small smile, "Relax, you're doing great." I whisper lowly. He returns it with a smile of his own before we both go back to watching the movie.
"Middle of the room, this are from here to, like, right around here." Jade acts, "This whole section that I'm indicating with these hand gestures, clear."
"Tawny, you're holding your banana backwards." Tori sighs exasperatingly, putting a hand on her hip.
"Are you sure?" Jade questions, "Because it's my understanding that-" She didn't get to finish her sentence before a boom went off and she passes out.
"Stop the film!" I hear André shout, followed by gasps, "Stop the film, stop it!"
Beck and I share a look of confusion as the lights turn on. He signals for Sinjin to pause the movie while we all stand up from our seats. Looking at the back, we see the parrot standing right on top of Cat's head.
"Am I hallucinating or is that a bird?" Chad squints from beside me.
"That's a bird." Ana whispers with a nod.
"Cat, don't move." André calmly tells her.
"I gotta go freshen up!" Cat terrifyingly states, getting up from her seat.
"No, no!" "Cat, stay down!" "Don't move, Cat!" "Cousin Larry, our grandma needs you!" "André!" "Cat!" Some of us shouts after them. Cat ignores our yells and continues to go out of the theater, the bird flapping its wings furiously on top of her. André, Tori, and Robbie disappear out of the theater after her.
"Well that was fun." Jade snickers with a smirk etched on her face.
"Okay..." Beck trails off in confusion, "Shall we continue?" He asks the audience, receiving nods of approval for Sinjin to play the movie again.
❤️
"Aww, Cat." "We're really sorry, Cat." Yeah, he's a dick!" "Screw him!"
The screening ended a few minutes ago and everyone cleared out immediately. After the incident, Cat didn't return to the theater. We all had to look around the school, only to find her hiding at the very corner of the catwalk, in the black box theater.
With some coaxing and candy or ice-cream bribery, she reluctantly got down and is now sitting in one of the seats, the rest of us sitting around her, trying to cheer her up. All except Robbie who said that he had something to do first and André who is still running after the bird.
"I'm really sorry, Cat." Beck frowns at her, rubbing her hand comfortingly.
"I feel like I've done something terrible to you." Tori continues, shaking her head.
"Yeah..." Cat sighs, staring at her.
"You hate me now?" Tori hesitantly asks her.
"Yes." Jade scoffs, only to get a glare from Tori and Ana, making her shut up.
"No..." Cat admits, looking down at her lap, "I just want something bad to happen to you." She admits, "Not like really bad, just... something to ruin your weekend."
Tori forces a smile at the words, "I'll try."
"We'll make sure of it." I assure her with a grin, gesturing at the rest of my friends.
"I'd appreciate it." Cat nods, "Can I just be alone right now?"
"Yeah, sure." "Of course." "We'll be in the parking lot if you need us." "Sure." We all get up from our seats and smile sadly at her.
"Hug?" Tori offers, putting her hands out.
"No." Cat frowns at her, making us snicker at Tori's embarrassed face.
"What about from us?" Trey asks Cat slowly.
Thinking for a moment, Cat nods, "The rest of you can." She giggles as we take turns pulling her into hugs. Pulling away from me last, she looks down at Chad who is still sitting and smiles at him, "You can stay."
Looking up in surprise, Chad furrows his eyebrows, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah." Cat shrugs, "You can barely move anyway."
"Thank you." Chad smiles lazily, holding her hand, "I'm just gonna lean back for a while here." He sighs in relaxation, slumping down.
"Okay." "We'll get going." "See you later." "Bye." "Take care." We wave at them, walking away. We leave comforting rubs to Cat's shoulder and I may or may not have accidentally patted Chad's head.
"Owie!" Chad whines, weakly glaring at me.
"Sorry, sorry. Honest mistake." I apologize to him.
❤️
"To Beck," Stating it, raising the milkshake glass up, "for the successful screening and for getting an A." I continue with a grin.
"Again." Jade adds grumbling, mockingly glare at him.
"Cheers!" "Hear hear!" "Cheers!" Everyone raise their own glasses snd cheers with Beck.
"Thank you." Beck chuckles, "But I think someone else should also be brought to attention." He tells us, subtly glancing at Cat who is still sulking a bit.
"And of course, to Cat," Ana keeps her glass up, "for telling that guy the truth." She sends Cat a comforting smile.
"Even though it didn't end as well as you had hoped." Robbie continues, "What matters is you did it."
"What if I dye my hair blond?" Cat randomly gasps, ignoring our toasts for her.
"No!" We all snap quickly, glaring at ber warningly.
"Pooey." Cat frowns but sips on her milkshake nonetheless.
"And me, for getting Larry back!" André cheers for himself, pointing at Larry who is back in his cage.
"Yeah!" "Larry!" "All right!" We all shrug it off and cheer along.
"So, great things are happening all around." Trey chuckles in amusement.
We all drink our milkshakes as Tori comes over with the food. She drops off two plates of curly fries, a plate of normal one, and a hamburger. Her hair is a mess and her outfit is stained. She finally got a job and is working!
"Okay, you know, these milkshakes are definitely worth the concussion I have." Chad sighs in enjoyment, staring at his glass in awe.
"Yeah, must be great." Tori mumbles under her breath, giving us a striking stare as we continue to tease her.
"Yo, new girl! Don't chat and linger, you got tables!" I hear Aiden yelling from the kitchen. It's almost late and Abe and Dana aren't in today, which means right now, it's just the two of them.
Snickering giddily, I watch Tori let out a tired groan before yelling back, "Yep, be there in a sec."
"Not a sec, now. Chop chop, foods don't walk by themselves."
We all laugh at Aiden clearly bossing her around while he has the chance. When I was working, I was already here longer than him, which means I was the one with the ability to boss him around. But now, since Tori is the new one, she's the one who gets bossed around. Oh, I miss telling people what to do.
"Oh, hey um, by the way," I go into my own conversation with Beck whe everyone goes to their owns, "I've talked to Griffin again for the party next Friday. And if you're still free, do you think you wanna go with me? As my date?" I ask him with a sheepish smile.
Raising an eyebrow at me, I see the corners of his lips twitching into a smirk, "Your date, huh? Won't that raise some questions?"
"Well, in all honesty, that's what we're counting on." I return the smirk, leaning up to softly kiss him.
"First party as a couple," He mumbles without fully pulling away, "sounds fun."
"Great." I grin widely, kissing him again before pulling away with the smile still plastered. Facing forward again to the rest of my friends, I scooch closer to him and snuggle on his side with his arm going around my shoulders.
❤️
Looking out the tinted windows of the limo, the blinding lights from the paparazzi and the screaming fans. Security guards are already lined up before I can even see the red carpet.
Leaning back in my seat, I turn to face Beck, "Is this a bad idea? This is a bad idea, right? We should turn around. Yeah, I'm not ready for this." I ramble, looking around the road.
"Relax." Beck grabs my hand and holds it, "You were the one who told me to calm down last week, now I'm saying it to you."
"Yeah, well your thing is a movie screening at school and mine is a freaking red carpet!" I snap at him before realizing what I just did when I see his surprised face, "I'm sorry, sorry, I didn't mean that. I'm just panicking, I don't think I can do this." I apologize, feeling guilty almost immediately.
"Yes, you can." He reassures me, "You're Thalia Vega! Rising singer, songwriter who's already sold a thousand copies! You're famous."
"Yeah, that is not helping." I shake my head at him.
"Let's just walk down, you answer some questions, I'll be there the whole time, and once we're in, we can just hide out in a corner with food. Sounds good?"
"We can't skip the whole questions thing, huh?"
Beck chuckles at my question and smiles softly, "Sorry, but that's impossible."
Letting out a defeated sigh, I take a deep breath and nod, "Fine, let's go."
He opens the door and I can hear the loud screaming, my name among some of them. Stepping out the car first, he looks back and offers me his hand. Holding onto it, I carefully get out of the car.
I brush my dress down and fix my jacket, closing the car door behind me as I plaster on a smile. I loop my arm through Beck's and we start walking down the carpet, but not before letting out a subtle sigh and smiling nervously to Beck.
I see a lot of other artists walking down in front of us and a couple behind. Singers, actors, models, reality stars, show hosts, and even some comedians. Reporters turn back and forth at every person that walks past, taking pictures, yelling questions.
When it was my turn, Beck and I stop on the carpet here and there, posing in front of the navy blue and purple backdrop. The cameras are flashing in my face from all direction, my name being called along with questions getting thrown. I can make out some of them, like, what the album is about, who the songs are intended for, are the songs from the beginning and the end of the album for the same person. But most of the ones I hear are, who's the man beside me and others about James, which I should've expected actually.
One of his arms around my waist, we pause for all the pictures along the way, smiling genuinely. Following the directions from Griffin, Gustavo, and Kelly before, we both walk off the carpet and approach some of the reporters, most of which are friends with Kelly.
I answer questions about the newly released album, what I'm planning to do forward, and if I'm already working on a new song. She is gratefully super sweet and fun, steering the conversation anytime it goes remotely close to awkward.
"And, just out of complete, interested curiosity, your bonus track, Love Me Again, could it possibly be for this man right here with you? Maybe a partner?" The reporter, Jessica Olson questions me with a knowing smile.
Looking up at Beck, we share a small grin before I look back to Ms. Olson, "Well, I usually wouldn't want to say who I write my songs for, but in this case, yeah." I answer her with a smile, "I had, like, remnant feelings about it, misplaced all around. So once I wrote a song about it, it all just came out and it definitely made it all better.
"That's so great." Jessica smiles at me before turning to Beck, "And you have definitely heard the song, right?"
Looking back at me, he gives me a smile and answers the question, "Well, I was actually the first person to hear the song."
"Of course, my muse." I scoff jokingly.
"Awww, you two are so adorable." Jessica awes at us, "I guess I should let you go now. Thank you so much for answering my questions.
"Thank you, it's so nice to meet you." I smile back and walk away from her, moving to a couple other reporters.
"I don't think I will ever be used to all that." I sigh loudly the second we are away from the microphone and cameras, being escorted off the red carpet.
"Beck Oliver, the boyfriend and muse. Do you think I should put that in my resume?" Beck grins at me as we make our way into the building.
"Well, I'm sure it'll do wonders, given that I'm kind of a big deal now." I retort with a smirk of my own . I get onto my tip-toes to give him a quick kiss before we push through the doors and walk into the place, completely away from all the press.
The venue is not really extravagant, it's more of a nightclub vibe. The ceilings are lined with dimmed lightbulbs, railings decorated with fairy-lights raining down. Colorful light strobes streaking down along the room and waiters going around with mini food and drinks on trays.
"Quiche?" One of then stops in front of Beck and I, holding the tray for us.
"Yeah, sure." "Thank you." We grab one each and give him a smile as he walks away.
Looking fown at the food, I was about to take a bite before seeing the chill peppers in them. "Oh, can you take mine? I don't want to burn my mouth and embarrass myself at my first party." I turn to Beck with a sheepish smile.
"Not a problem." He nods, taking it from my hand and eating it, "An extra quiche for me, and a personal quiche for you." He jokes, placing a small kiss on my cheek.
I let out a light laugh and smile at him, "Thanks, I appreciate it. Now, let's go over there and see if I can make conversation." I state, pointing at one side of the room where I see a couple of people I've walked past in Rocque Records.
"Sure." Beck nods, "I'll be right by your side, hyping you up." He tells me.
"Well, if I know correctly, the guy over there is starring in New Town High and I hear, they are looking for a new villain." I carefully whisper as we make our way to the group.
"Wait, what?" Beck was about to ask further but stops himself when I greet the people loudly and introduce ourselves.
I ended up spending most of the night walking around and talking, even getting myself a few phone numbers and possible collaboration opportunities. Believe it or not, people have heard my songs. Beck had even left my side a couple of times to talk to some huge actress and hopefully get recommended for a part. Once or twice, we'd meet up and go to a corner to eat, mostly because I needed to get away with everything that's getting so overwhelming.
Not that I'd willingly do this again, every single week. But I wouldn't be opposed to going to another big, Hollywood party. At least, as long as I have someone with me. For now at least. Just until I'm truly used to all this.
❤️
"New singer, Thalia Vega walks down carpet with her inspiration." Guatavo reads aloud, turning the laptop for me to see.
It's only been the day after the party, it was literally last night. The reporter really ran the story exactly how Kelly had said it would go. Of course there are a couple bad ones, mostly from blogs who still thinks I "broke James' heart". So, here I am, sitting in Gustavo's office, surrounded by him, Kelly, Griffin, and some people from PR.
"Sounds a little cheesy for me, but not bad." I comment with a chuckle, scrolling through the article.
"Cheesy, shmeezy, it's good!" Griffin pats a hand on my shoulder, "Here look, even the bad ones are good."
"Thank you?" I say confusedly as I stare at him with furrowed eyebrows.
"Yes, tell her." He points at the two people that are in charge if the marketing.
"The sales of your album are surprisingly high for a first-timer." She informs me, showing a graph on the pad, "But after last night, it skyrocketed up to seventeen percent."
"Our guess is, by the end of the month, your sales will be up to thirty-nine percent and your songs might even make it to the top ten." The guy continues with a giddy smile.
"That sounds incredible." I grin.
"It is!"
"You are cheating on me with some other "muse"?!" James'voice suddenly booms as he slams open the door to Gustavo's office, followed by the other guys who all have their arms crossed and stern looks on their faces.
I jump up from my seat and turn to him in confusion, "Wait, what?"
"No, no, we're not going with that story." Griffin stops him, "And I thought the agreement was to do it outside of the building."
"Oh, good." Carlos cheers, "That is great!"
"What story?" I ask loudly, looking between them, "You guys were gonna create a story to screw me up and I was just supposed to not know?"
"Actually, that's why we barged in here instead." Logan chimes in.
"Yeah, we figured after this, you'd figure it out on your own and we don't go through with it!" Kendall exclaims in revelation.
"Yeah, hi." James' frown drops and he instantly smiles at me, "You looked great last night."
"Hey...." I trail off nervously, "And thanks, I guess. So, wait, backup, you were gonna give me bad PR?"
Sighing loudly, Griffin raises a hand to stop me and explain, "In my defense, I didn't know if your plan was gonna work."
"And you didn't talk it out with us?" Kelly snaps at him before I could.
"No."
"Vega, you can have the rest of the day off." Gustavo suddenly tells me, waving me out.
"Really?" I grin, "Cool, thanks."
"Get out. Now." He repeats, "But I still want you to work on that song!"
"Definitely!" I day back and close the door.
"What?" "We don't get day offs!" "That's unfair!" "I wanna go with her." I hear the guys complain snd argue as I walk away. I've only got on the elevator when I hear Gustavo yelling, them screaming back, and Griffin chiming in here and there. Their voices echoing along the hallway is the last thing I hear before the elevator doors close.
Good thing I don't have to be here.
ヽ(^o^)丿
So, why am I starting to feel like my abilities to write is slowly deteriorating. I feel like the narrative and all are starting to go back to like, the first chapter when I still sucked bad.
At this point it's just mostly fluff tbh, but now that there's no build-up or angst, I really was expecting to be better at this :(
But, I hope you are all having a great day / night! Either have a great summer holiday or good luck with finals? I don't know, but whatever it is, hope you nail it dead! And my chats are always open.
𝒫𝓊𝒷𝓁𝒾𝓈𝒽𝑒𝒹: 05-21-22