Note: Lovely edit today by exposures! I love seeing the new sayings in edits nowadays. There have been some edits for Chemeray's new movie Onward Train, and even some for Wes Tegg's after my "ALL WE EVER DO IN THIS BOOK IS GET COFFEE" existential crisis. I love you.
PREVIOUSLY ON THE CLASSIX: Norax has announced that there will be new Famoux members for all of the Famoux members. Does that mean replacements? Back up plans? That's what I've been seeing in the comments. Let's find out, shall we?
emeray
Before any of us can say a word, Kaytee pushes back her chair, rising so quick and panicked it's like she's been set on fire. Her hair swoops up from the movement before landing wild on her shoulders, matching her expression twofold.
At this, Norax's eyes widen like saucers, startled––as if any part of what she just said wasn't worthy of such a reaction.
"What's the matter?" she poses.
I expect a roar, an animalistic discharge from such a hysterical rise from the table, but Kaytee only hesitates, wringing her hands in front of her coat. The heat coming off her in this moment reaches me from my seat. She can't figure out what to say; none of us can. What Norax has just announced could mean anything and everything and the biggest thing we've been dreading:
Change.
Our leader and manager takes the silent moment to smooth out a wrinkle on her shirt, gaining more composure. Just witnessing the way she disregards our alarm like it somehow shouldn't exist makes me want to throw up that awful vanilla latte Cartney ordered for me this afternoon.
"Dear," she starts. "You seem troubled. What's the mat––"
But she doesn't have enough time to finish her question before Kaytee McKarrington fractures like a bone.
"Yes, I'm troubled," she says. Shouts. "What the hell does this mean? Getting these people to come in so we can train them––what, so they can take our place when DEFED decides to kill the rest of us?"
"Kaytee––"
"Or is it because everyone hates us and you want to just replace us before the world stops talking about the Famoux at all? Is that it?"
"Kaytee, dear––" Norax reaches out to her, but Kaytee steps back from her reach. "Kaytee, please, hear me."
"I hear you. You're getting rid of us."
"Please, dear I would never simply get rid of you."
"Then what is this? What would we be mentoring them for if it's not ultimately to take our places?"
"It's not about taking your place, it's about joining you." Norax picks up her folder again, flipping to a page with plans. "It's about breaking a few of those barriers people have put up around the Famoux. We've been placed on pedestals since we started, and I think that's begun to create a disconnect between you and your audience."
"I thought we liked the disconnect. Being superior. That's what you said we'd get before we went into the Fissarex, remember?"
"You're still superior, of course, but we need to remind people that we're human and we're welcoming. If we were to step down from our higher place and let others into the Famoux, well, I feel like that could reap many benefits."
"So not just a single replacement for Foster," Chapter says, "but five?"
"That's if we only make you choose one of your options," she replies. "We're still deciding what's the best number. There's also the option of choosing some fans for Foster, out of respect and remembrance. A few of you would have to pull double duty in the mentoring, however, if we were to do that."
"It's difficult enough bringing only one person in," Race says. He takes Kaytee's hand as she sits back down, barely relaxing even one muscle in her body. "But come on––flooding the damn Metropolix with a bunch of fanatics? Letting them see all of the chaos going on behind the scenes that they don't know about? That's just crazy."
"It is far from crazy, Calsifer. Consider the tabloids. No matter how much we tell people how things are, they never fully believe us so long as there are lies being told out in the world from so-called 'reputable' sources. If a regular person can come into our world, see the inner workings, and concur . . . that's something the people listen to. That's one of their own claiming what we've been trying to claim this whole time."
"But they're out biggest fans, you said. People aren't going to believe them––they'll think we brainwashed them."
On the other end of the table, I catch Till muttering something from under her breath: "Who's to say we haven't already?"
Fair point.
Looking at Race, Norax's expression contorts into confusion––all raised eyebrows and a scrunched up nose.
"These are the people who talk about you the most," she states. "For some of them, sure, that means they could qualify as your biggest fans. But some of them . . . well, some of them aren't necessarily praising the ground you walk on. Some like to talk profusely and constantly about everything you've ever done wrong. Some like to believe the accusations or doubt your authenticity."
"Wait." My mouth drops. "Some of them hate us?"
Norax puts her hands together. "If you can prove it to them that you in fact are what you've claimed, then we can prove it to anybody."
I lean back in my chair. Bringing fans and haters alike into the Metropolix, into the thick of our private lives. That means change everywhere. No more dropping my guard the moment I kiss Cartney goodbye at the door. No more going out of my way to find Chapter when the guards aren't looking. No more discussing DEFED, or the Fissarex, or anything the general public can't find out about. We'll have to start living our lies full-time, just to prove to these people that anything can look good and true when you dip your world in a thick coat of farce.
"What does that mean for the, um, liabilities?" Kaytee asks. She looks over at Chapter, whose gaze is hardened on a random spot on the table. He's probably thinking the same thing.
I feel my stomach twist into a knot. The liabilities came into the Metropolix right after DEFED began their threats, so we could keep the mementos of our past lives close and in sight. But bringing in fans who might be looking for things to leak to the public––I can only imagine what that entails for Callan.
"The team is working through those details as we speak," says Norax.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asks Chapter.
She repeats herself without any sort of elaboration. "It means we're working through details, dear."
It doesn't even begin to answer his question, but Chapter chooses to only exhale, not prodding any further. I can almost feel his frustration, like a tangible gust of wind in the air, and he's on the direct opposite end of the table.
"As of now," Norax continues, "we haven't figured out much of the specifics with the living conditions. We've only succeeded so far in narrowing our search to these individuals. I wanted to let you all know about it and let you choose who you'd like to welcome in before we move any further. I'm not going to hold out on informing you about things that change the whole dynamic of this group."
I hold back my snort at that last bit. She looks over at me, mouth contorting into a deep frown immediately.
"Lumerpa," she says.
"What?" I ask. "It's just funny to me."
"There is nothing to laugh about. We weren't planning on Cartney finding out about Kaytee and Calsifer like he did. Your dating contract was fairly spur of the moment, and you know that. Can you say the same about Foster's death––about the threats you were receiving for a whole month without letting me know or do anything to prevent?"
My throat constructs. Shuts me right up.
"Come on, Norax, knock it off," Chapter says, terse. He leans forward in his seat, looking Norax up and down with a scowl. "Don't put all that on her. We've been through this a million times since the Darkening: We weren't allowed to say anything about it. Telling you would've had worse repercussions."
"We can't possibly know that for sure."
"Do they seem like the kind of group to be bluffing to you?"
She purses her lips. "You ought to stop immediately jumping to Emeray's defense any time someone reprimands her, Chapter. I know for a fact that there will be a few new members who will say such things just to observe the reactions––to survey whether or not we might've been holding out on more than one relationship in this group."
"That's ridiculous. There's nothing about defending a fellow Famoux member that screams secret relationship. That contract you gave me didn't regulate who I can and can't stand up for––this is just you trying to suppress something because you didn't think it up in your office."
"Chapter. You know how things would fall out if the world found out about you being in a relationship with Emeray."
"If you didn't force almost every female in the Famoux to date Cartney Kirk, maybe the world would react different for a change."
Her nose scrunches up. "I don't appreciate the way you're acting like I'm a dictator. I'm not being tyrannical, I'm being a manager."
"Giving me scripts for interviews so I don't say anything you haven't approved of, putting me in the furthest seat from my girlfriend at this table, moving my son in and out of this apartment whenever you feel the need to welcome people in––" He taps his chin, eyes squinted with disdain. "Just being a manager, huh?"
Beside me, Kaytee's mouth is dropped open. Out of all of us, Chapter Stones has to be the only one who can say things like that to Norax and get away with it. In fact, he's been getting away with it for months now. Ever since we left the Fishbowl, Norax and Chapter have been at each other's throats about nearly everything. I wasn't sure why this side was coming out of him so suddenly, but as it turns out, it's always been there, lying dormant just beneath the surface of his Fissarex-perfected features.
He told me about it on Onward Train's set. "This isn't even my skin," he said, picking at the tanned back of his hand. "Mine used to be darker than this, olive, like Callan's skin. Race and Till had darker skin as well. But she changed that."
"She was trying to protect us," I said. I almost wanted to bite my tongue. No matter how many things she makes me do, and no matter how many moments I feel nothing but anger towards her, I find myself reverting back to a grateful state––like there are somehow enough positives to outweigh everything she's taken away from me in exchange for "freedom." But there aren't. I've counted a million times, and there aren't.
"By giving us the same blonde hair and blue eyes? What gives with that? It's not even like the last generation had an identical look like this."
My mind flashed back to something I read. At the top of the hierarchy. It had been too long to remember where it'd come from.
He shook his head. "I don't know––I used to be able to forget about everything that rubbed me the wrong way, but she's hasn't exactly been redeeming herself lately. Her son controlled your past life, and now she's controlling this one."
"That's just a horrible coincidence."
"Is it?"
An unshakable feeling of dread formed in the pit of my stomach. "Norax doesn't know it was him. She's only mentioned about the Famoux meeting Carstan once, and that was to scold you after he told her you were rude to him."
"Sticks, I've never seen you look more terrified than the moment you saw him. What was I going to do, shake his hand and tell him a joke? Hell no."
I reached out to him, tracing the side of his face with a finger. Chapter didn't exist to protect me, or to take away every wicked shade in the world's palette. He existed to share my pain. He existed to remind me that existing isn't too bad. That meant that when I saw Carstan van Horne, he wasn't going to make a scene and punch him like one would think a hero should do––he was going to tell him everything I couldn't say before I had Chapter Stones in my life to help me get the words out.
Sitting here in this meeting, I examine his face like I did on set. Because he puts his concern in each of us, all of us, he chooses to questions Norax when nobody else is brave enough to speak out. He calls her out on things we would've otherwise stayed quiet about, all the while complaining about it in the safety of our minds.
She can't stay mad him for long. She's like any mother––playing favorites, despite any claim of loving equally. My mother's favorite had always been Dalton. And Norax's favorite isn't Carstan, it's Chapter.
"Please hear me," she pleads with him. "Nothing's going to change if we don't change a little too. You have to understand that."
"I don't want to live a lie everywhere I go."
"You can make any lie a truth."
I pipe up. "So you want me to start dating Cartney like I mean it?"
Chapter can't stop himself from laughing. Surprisingly, my retort gets a chuckle out of Kaytee too. I imagine she must've had a conversation like this with Norax once or twice before I ever joined the Famoux.
"You don't seem to completely detest his company," Norax replies. "I don't see why you have to treat your time with him like a prison sentence."
Because that's what it is, I want to say. But I refrain.
Till shakes her head, putting her hands on the table. "I just feel like it's too early to do any of this. It could take months to prepare us for living the way you propose we do. It's not going to be like it was with Emeray. This is completely different."
"I don't think there's enough time to keep waiting for everyone to be ready," says Norax. "Our public likability is going down everyday, no matter what we do. Doing this could breathe a whole new life into the Famoux."
I look down at my pictures. The hazel I never see, the prominent cheekbones, the almond shaped eyes, the boy who looks like my brother.
I look over at Kaytee's pictures, and Race's, and Till's, and Chapter's. They each have four options too––four people who could either love or hate them, waiting to join our ranks and sleep in our own, once-secret haven.
Twenty potential new Famoux members.
Who knew it would take an army to replace Foster Farrand.
xxx
So, MANY new members. How many do you think there will be? How do you think that's going to affect the Famoux?
Tell me your thoughts.
Remember: every new character in this book is going to be named after readers. That means you might be JOINING THE FAMOUX!!
For some of you who've been with me longer, I've been daydreaming about your the character with your name's impact on the story for a while now, and you have no idea because I might not follow you and am quite horrible at replying to things. For some of you, I'm going to throw you right in because you've made me happy.
But of course, whomever becomes a member isn't automatically "better" than whomever I give a passing role, or whomever doesn't make it into the story at all. I saw a couple comments from people saying that they really don't want a "useless" role and would rather be a recurring character, and it really discouraged me. I'm putting names into this because I want to appreciate you, and if more people start getting mad that they might not get an "important" role, I'm going to start wondering why I'm doing this at all, you know?
Like--if this ever gets the wonderful and improbably opportunity if getting published, I wrote your character in with you in mind. I don't want you to be pointing at the page and grumbling about how it's not fair that you're not a Famoux member or something like that. THIS IS ABOUT LOVE AND I LOVE YOU.
I hope you're doing well and that you have an absolutely lovely weekend, Wattpad! Remember:
Sticks and Stones may break your bones, but haters make you famoux. Stay classy, stay classix.