A week after the Marcella incident, I was mailed a copy of the September issue of FFM. Our silhouette picture was glowing in the cover. Some of the text on the cover included:
This Month! EXCLUSIVE Interview With Style Squad!
Justin Palmer Tells All!
ALL NEW Posters Of Princess Precious!
Roxanne: The Rise To Fame!
I take a pic of the cover and post it to Style Squad's Insta, with the caption: So exciting! Style Squad featured in @FashionForwardMagazine! Thanks for having us! 😆🤗😜
I look at my calendar. Oh my gosh! It's September 20th. My 14th birthday is in three days!
I decided to have a little get together with Lexi, Vera, and Sandra a while ago. Now that Style Squad is officially a thing, I don't know what will happen.
And then, the phone call.
"Hiya, cutie! It's Sonja!"
"Hello, Sonja," I said sarcastically.
"Don't give me an attitude, Elisa! Now, let's get to the reason I'm calling."
"Yeah, I know you only call if you absolutely need to," I say. "Not to check up on me or anything."
"Wow, we're sassy today, aren't we?" Sonja exclaims. Hard to believe she's only in her 30s. She acts like a 60 year old high school teacher who's trying to dress code you.
"Is this about Marcella's brattiness? She's not usually like that, I've met her before, so I'd know."
"Just tell me why you're bothering me right now!" I nearly scream.
"So, your birthday's in three days!"
"I'm pretty sure that I know that!"
"No back talking! Anywho, I know that you want to keep it quiet, but you're a celebrity now! Time to show the world how lit a Style Squad party can be!"
Ew! Did she just say lit?!
"Um, sure, Sonja! What'd you have in mind?" I ask. I'm a little skeptical about this, but I tried not to let my voice give it away.
"There's the Elisa I know! So, I've decided that we're going to Key Largo! The Style Squad limo will pick you and your friends up from your houses tomorrow. Get packing, girl! Paparazzi will be everywhere. I say pack your cutest bikinis!"
Sonja hung up after that. "Mami! Daddy!" I shout down the stairs. "We're going to Key Largo! Tomorrow!"
***
The next day, September 21st, my family and I were waiting outside our house with our bags packed to the max. Sonja had called my parents to let them know we were staying for four days. Today, tomorrow, my birthday, and the day after.
The Style Squad limo pulls up. My parents had never been inside. I stepped inside, taking immediate notice that there were only four seats. Mine, Vera's, Lexi's, and Sandra's.
"Umm..." I mumbled.
"You okay, baby?" Mami said from behind me.
Sonja hopped out of the front seat. She was dressed in bright orange and pink beach wear. You could probably see her coming from a mile away in that getup.
"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Lopez!" Sonja giggled, quickly shaking their hands. My parents exchanged disturbed glances. I shrugged.
"I'm so sorry to burst your bubble, but you two are going in a separate car!" Sonja said.
"Pardon me?" Daddy yelped.
Sonja nodded, her shiny platinum hair glowing in the sun, nearly blinding me. "That's right! There's a different limo picking up the parents and siblings."
"My friends' families are coming, too?!" I was excited. I hadn't seen Sandra's family in a while.
At that moment, a shiny, black limo pulled up behind the white Style Squad limo. A chauffeur opened the door for my parents. I hugged them really quickly and ran into the Style Squad limo.
***
And so we picked up my friends' families. Vera's parents and her little sister, Via; Sandra's parents and her little brother, Sam; and Lexi's parents, along with her other brother, Jordan, and her two little brothers, Evan and Joey.
"I just discovered that this limo has wifi!" Vera said, reclining in her blue seat.
"Ugh, great! I'm almost out of data!" Sandra replied.
It's not a long drive to Key Largo. Only about 15 minutes. I was staring out the window, watching the buildings go by. I'm not sure if I should be excited for this trip or not.
"Elisa?" Lexi broke my thoughts.
I looked at her. Her hair was tied up into a bouncy high ponytail. "Are you okay? You seem distracted."
I pause. "Yeah, I'm... fine."
"Okay..." Lexi says, disbelief in her voice. She pulls out her phone and starts typing.
"Elisa, when I girl says they're 'fine', that usually means that they're not." Sandra looked up from her phone. Vera took out her earbuds and Lexi stared at me.
"Heh, umm..." I stared out the window again. It looked like we were going to the mall, not Key Largo.
"Doesn't it look like we're going to the mall?" I said, quickly changing the subject.
"Yeah!" Vera said, noticing that I didn't want to talk about me.
"I've been to Key Largo before, and this is not the way there," Lexi added.
We sit in silence for a minute.
"Ugh, Elisa, what's wrong?!" Sandra exclaims, nearly jumping out of her lavender seat.
I feel my cheeks turn red. "I, um, I don't really want to be famous!"
Lexi's eyes widen. "Why not?! We weren't really popular before, and now we're the talk of the state!"
I sigh. "You don't understand! We are 8th graders! We aren't in school! Instead, we're running a business!"
Vera took her earbuds out again. "Need we remind you that we're expanding across the country? We're halfway to rich!"
I sigh again. "Yes, this is wonderful, but I'm still nervous! I have major anxiety!" I choke. I close my eyes. When I opened them again, however, my friends acted as if nothing happened.
"Elisa? Eliiiiisaaaaa?" Lexi turns to me, her ponytail swinging.
Oh.
Oh!
I imagined everything.
"Are you alright? You totally dozed off for a sec!" Vera said, concerned.
"Guys! We're at the mall!" Sandra shouts before I can respond to Vera. I open the window.
Sure enough, the Dolphin Mall is right outside.
Sonja pokes her head through the window I opened.
"Hi, girls! Before we go to Key Largo, we need to stop at the mall!"
"Um, for what exactly?" I ask.
"To stock up on your merch, obviously!"
Lexi's eyes widen. "Why? We already packed our stuff."
Sonja cocked an eyebrow. "We're going to be surrounded by paparazzi! So we need to wear our brand!"
It's not your brand, Sonja, I thought.
Before we knew it, we were entering Style Squad. There were girls everywhere.
"Hey, everyone out! The ladies of Style Squad need to make clothes! Sorry for this, so all of you will receive your clothes for absolutely free!"
And so everyone left.
Lexi whispered to me, "I don't really want to make this much clothes. This is a personal vacation!"
Oh.
Oh!
She's right!
"Hey, everyone!" I called. All the girls and their parents looked at us. Sonja shot me an evil glance.
"Okay, so you guys must be very confused. First of all, we're not making clothes for ourselves at the moment. So feel free to come back and continue your designs, for free! Sorry for the confusion!"
The girls cheered and ran back into the store.
Sonja came over to me and whispered. "You made a big mistake, Elisa. Don't forget that your friends are hiding something from you. Something about a former friendship."
Um, what?!
"What do you mean?"
Sonja laughed. "Honey, everyone knows. I'm going to let your friends open up to you."
She turned on her heel and sashayed away.
My head was spinning. What the heck are they hiding?! I'm getting more and more suspicious.
Little did I know!
***
We returned to the Style Squad limo (after getting Starbucks, obviously!) to drive to Key Largo.
But even a Strawberries and Crème Frappuccino couldn't make me feel less anxious. Somehow, I had a bad feeling about this trip. I felt like a lot of drama was about to happen.
Remember when I said that I don't skimp on the details?
This is going to be one of those parts of the story.
Because, trust me, a lot of things happened in this trip.
Reader, this trip changed me... for the worse.
I sat back in my seat, pale pink Starbucks treat in my hand. Lexi, Sandra, and Vera were chatting up a storm. I just stayed silent and plugged my phone charger into one of the USB units in my seat. This limo is so high-tech!
I decided to check my IG. Scrolling through photos of Little Mix, Fifth Harmony, my favorite YouTubers and their dogs, and my friend's photos, I came across one of Marcella Diamond's pics.
It was a picture taken from the interview.
Of course, we all looked happy.
Marcella's smile lit up the photo.
Lexi was twirling a lock of hair around her finger, smiling softly.
Sandra was acting a little sassy, with her feet up on the coffee table and a smirk on her face.
Vera was obviously laughing. She has one of those laughs that make you super happy.
And I...
I was grinning at Marcella.
Come to think of it, I never remembered this moment. Was this a picture that was taken before Marcella started acting like a jerk? No, that couldn't be it. She was mean before the photo shoot. When was this picture taken? We looked like lifelong friends, Marcella and I.
This was the caption:
It was so exciting to meet w/ @StyleSquad and get to know them! Check out their feature in the September 2017 edition of FFM! Love y'all! 😜😘💖😉💎
I sighed. Marcella is a fake. That's a fact.
I quickly unfollowed her.
But not before I saved the photo to my Camera Roll.
"You okay, Elisa?" Sandra asked.
I looked up and smiled. "Yeah," I lied.
***
A few minutes later, we arrive at the hotel. Vera's sister, Via, was running around with Sandra's brother, Sam. Evan, Lexi's nine year old brother, was saying, "This isn't really a vacation, we're fifteen minutes from home!" Jordan, Lexi's older brother, was playing with Joey, her three year old brother.
We stepped out of the limo and gasped.
The hotel was gorgeous.
From where we were standing, we could see the crystal clear water on the powdered sugar-like sand beach. Colorful umbrellas and people in bathing suits dotted the shoreline.
The hotel had four buildings, each one six stories tall. They were a beige-tan color, with burnt sienna roofs. Each room seemed to have a balcony.
I could also see that there was a large pool with a water slide!
"OMG, this is going to be great!" Sandra squealed.
I smiled and nodded. Hopefully!