Diamond in the Rough (23 page)

Since Lucas had finally revealed his post-graduation plans, the two had fallen into a relationship very unlike any that they had shared in the past.  It was as if with each passing day, a brick was laid between them and now two months later, they were suddenly talking to one another over a wall.  With the new distance, they were that much more aware of how different they were.  It would be denial to say that the wall was built by forces other than their own hands.

Gemma knew why she was doing it.  It had been incredibly difficult to let go of Damian just the year before, and being inexperienced in love, she had underestimated the hurt that came along with it.  Gemma knew now how to protect herself.  She had taken gradual steps away from Lucas that were so small, she had barely noticed the distance it created until that moment.  Her vision began to grow foggy as tears clouded her eyes.  Through them, she could see Lucas straining to hold back his own emotions.

“I love you,” she blurted out.

“I love you too.”

“Please don’t forget me,” Gemma breathed the words into his neck as he held her.

“I would never,” he said.

“And please promise to send me a picture of you riding an elephant.”

“Okay,” Lucas laughed.  “I promise.”

~

Queen Bee’s video shoot was a perfect post-breakup distraction. Despite the emotional preparation she had done before breaking up, Gemma still went through various stages of grief to mourn her failed relationship with Lucas.  One of the stages included throwing out anything that reminded her of him – everything except the apple charm bracelet, which she couldn’t bring herself to get rid of.  She had mixed feelings about it.  She loved it and hated it and while she wanted to honor it as promised, she also never wanted to see it ever again.

She ultimately decided on wearing it in the music video.  Afterwards, she would hide it away forever.  And though it would be stuffed in a dark storage space somewhere, she would take comfort in knowing that somewhere down the line, Lucas might watch her video and spot the bracelet that she had sworn to wear as Queen Bee someday.

The rest of her attention was reserved for the video and her return to music.  She was beyond excited for it – not only because of what the song meant to her, but because she would be seeing Zoe for the first time in nearly eight months.  They had been in contact briefly during points of Mira’s sporadic leniency, but they hadn’t spent any true time with one another.  It was wild to think of how long it had last been since they had shared a conversation in person.

“Oh.  My.  Fucking. 
God
!” Zoe shrieked upon seeing Gemma walk through the doors of the studio.  She proceeded to scream as loudly as she could for as long as she could while running to Gemma with open arms.  “Bee, I missed the shit out of you!”

Gemma laughed, letting Zoe literally jump on her.  “I missed you too!”

“It’s been a really sad eight months without you, girl,” Zoe pouted when she pulled away.  “I’m making a silly face right now but it really was.  I just can’t make a proper sad face because I am
so
effin’ happy! And honored, by the way, to be in this epic video.  Seriously.  Gonna be no acting involved.”

Gemma had told Zoe that she would be playing the part of a fan, but hadn’t given her details regarding anything else.

“So…” Zoe eyed Gemma curiously.  “What’s the name of the song? When do I get to hear it?”

Gemma grinned.  “Well.  It’s for the fans.  Kind of for them to understand me a little better, despite, you know…”

“The disguise.”  Zoe gestured towards Gemma’s look for the day, which consisted of a pink wig and bejeweled eyes.  She nodded, rubbing her chin.  “I get it, I get it.  I’m liking it, girl!”

“I’m just hoping they connect to it the way I do,” Gemma murmured, looking down at the page of sketchbook paper that she had first written the lyrics on.  She handed it to Zoe, watching her tensely as she read it.  When Zoe finally finished, she looked up at Gemma with a broad smile.

“I’m so proud of you, Bee,” she gushed, pulling Gemma towards her to kiss her on the forehead.  “They will love this.  There’s no way they won’t.”

“Thank you,” Gemma grinned.  “I’m excited about the costume too.  I designed it and Armand’s supposed to be putting the last touches on it before we – oh! Speak of the devil.”  Gemma waved across the room.

“Hello, loves!” Armand called, striding over with a black garment bag in his arms.  After introducing himself to Zoe, he excitedly began to unzip the bag.  “I’ve got a surprise for you, Bee,” he gushed. 

“Is that it? My design?” Gemma asked, bouncing on her toes.

“I can’t wait to see,” Zoe squealed.

Armand gingerly removed the pieces from the bag, pulling out a clear raincoat and a delicate, nude bodysuit with shimmering red and blue threads woven throughout it.  Zoe squinted, stepping closer to examine the garment.  She touched the blue threads that ran vertically down both sleeves. 

“It’s gorgeous.  But are these
supposed
to look like…” she looked at both Gemma and Armand.  “Veins? And blood?”

Gemma nodded with a smile.  “Yes.  It’s me, Zoe.  Trying to be as naked for my fans as I can be without being like… actually naked.”

“But Tyler would’ve loved that.”

“Zoe!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Zoe laughed, turning back to the costume.  “Bee, I don’t even know what to say.  Everything about this video is perfect.  The song, the lyrics, this outfit.  You’re kind of brilliant.”

“Aww, isn’t this sweet? It’s very sweet,” Armand said hastily, guiding both girls across the room.  “But both of you should have been in hair and makeup ten minutes ago, so move it because we plan to make history here, yes? Okay? Okay.  Let’s shoot!”

QUEEN BEE RELEASES LYRICS TO NEW SONG!

The Pop Source

June 19

Looks like the whispers of a comeback have proven true! TPS has received confirmation that Queen Bee is in fact recording a video this week for a new single to be released this month! From the looks of it, the popstar’s brief sabbatical from the music world was well worth the wait.  Enjoy this snippet of lyrics from her new song, ‘Makeup’!

There is so much of you I've yet to know

Our time is short, our smiles are fleeting

Behind a veil, from head to toe

But I see more each time, each meeting

And all the things that I keep hidden

You see behind this smokescreen glass

You and I, completely smitten

We fell for one another fast

Just a girl without your love

But you’re always there

Push comes to shove

You are my makeup, what makes me

Everything I aim to be

“I have a feeling that the world is going to go crazier than before once this video comes out,” Zoe said, taking a bite of a chocolate-filled macaron from La Maison Du Chocolat.  “I feel the chaos already!”  She kicked her feet excitedly on her king-sized bed, which was littered with junk food and Vosges chocolate wrappers.

Mira had allowed Gemma to sleep over Zoe’s apartment that night after the video shoot.  It was clear that Zoe had calmed down a bit, though it may have been the cause of a slight depression.  She hadn’t seen Gemma in nearly a year, and earlier that month, Harper had been sent to rehab.  Gemma suspected that the loneliness made her all the more aware of her unemployment.  She smiled at Zoe. 

“I hope it’s good chaos.  I could use some of that.”

“It will be, you don’t even have to worry about that,” Zoe said.  She suddenly cocked her head, gazing at Gemma for a few silent moments. 

“What?” Gemma laughed nervously. 

“I dunno,” Zoe said with a grin.  “Something’s different about you.”

“Well you haven’t seen me in forever.  I think I lost weight.”

“Not that,” Zoe said quickly.  “Definitely not… I think it’s… a glow? A…”  Zoe’s eyes suddenly widened with delight, her fingers practically crushing her macaron as she realized with excitement, “You had sex with Tyler!”

Gemma rolled her eyes.  “Wrong.”

“Well you had sex with
some
one special, because you look… I don’t know.  There’s a glow to your face.  Are you still with that boyfriend? Did he give you like, the best orgasm of your life or something?”

Gemma tried to suppress her big fat grin, but it was too late.  Zoe had caught her expression to confirm the theory. 

“Omigod, I was right!” she squealed, jabbing a finger at Gemma’s smiling face.  “Was it your first orgasm or something?”

First everything
, Gemma thought, still opting to remain silent.  She wanted to tell Zoe all about her first time.  It was probably a teenaged rite of passage to have that conversation.  But aside from the fact that Zoe was unaware of her having even
been
a virgin, she and Lucas were broken up.  No matter how great the story, it would have a sad ending.

“Are you really not going to give me details? I’m offended!” Zoe gasped, clutching her heart dramatically.  “Bee,” she whined.  “It’s bad enough that you ditched me for eight months.  Now you’re keeping secrets.”

“Zoe! Please don’t play the ‘you ditched me’ card, you
know
I feel horrible.  I couldn’t do anything about it.”

“I know, silly,” Zoe giggled.  “I told you, I know what it’s like to have your life controlled by other people.  I understand.”

Gemma sighed.  It was true.  “Fine, I’ll tell you,” she groaned, looking up at Zoe who braced herself excitedly for the story.  “But I should start by saying that it was my first time.”

“Shut your mouth!
Really
? No way!”

Gemma covered her face with her hands.  “Can you not? I was kind of embarrassed about that.”

“Oh, Bee, embarrassed? Why?” Zoe cackled.  “Do you wanna hear how
I
lost my virginity? This is like, a sacred, super embarrassing secret that I don’t think even Harper knows every detail of.”

“Oh my God, tell me.”

“Okay.  I was barely sixteen, which was probably too young.  I was dating this friend of Harper’s who was signed to the same agency as her back then, and he was like, the most beautiful person I’d ever laid eyes on.  Because he was a model.  And he was seventeen.  And I was thinking, who better to lose my virginity to than an older guy who’s a model?” Zoe sucked in a deep breath before continuing.  She had a habit of forgetting to breathe sometimes.  “Anyway, I spent a week planning the most perfect night to lose my virginity on.  We went to this romantic dinner and then back to my apartment where I had set up all these candles and like, draped fabric over my lamps.  And then…” She pretended to play a drum roll on her pillow.  “He stuck it in and it hurt so much that I made him take it out right away, and then I told him to go home because I was embarrassed.  And then I didn’t have sex again for a year because I was too scared.  The end.” 

“Oh my God.”  Gemma kept her hands pressed against her mouth, waiting for permission to laugh.

“You may laugh now, asshole.”

Gemma let out a hearty guffaw, burying her face in Zoe’s comforter.  “That is so cute and sad, Zoe,” she said.  “So who did you end up having sex with a year later?”

“Marco effin’ Donovan.”  Zoe rolled her eyes.  “Whom, by the way, I have not made any booty calls to for a full year now, because I sensed your judgment about him.”

“What? I never said anything!”

“You didn’t have to.  Even the first time I told you about him, you were like, ‘um…’”

“No, I was like, ‘um’ because I was trying to hide the fact that I was a virgin, Zoe,” Gemma laughed.  “But fine, there may have been other instances where you brought him up and I was like, ‘um.’”

“And because of that, I don’t see him anymore.  Happy?” Zoe asked, crossing her arms.  She spoke before Gemma could.  “Well,
I’m
happy, so yay! Now continue with your V-card story.”

Gemma did, telling Zoe all the details she was comfortable with sharing, which were actually most of them.  Zoe cooed at every description of the treehouse.

“Too effin’ sweet!” she squealed, bouncing as much as she could on her memory foam mattress.  “I can’t wait to meet him now.”

“Yeah, about that.”  Gemma stared down at her fingernails.  “We broke up last week.”

Zoe’s mouth fell agape, twisting with shock and insult.  “What? Would’ve been nice to know that before I got all invested in the story, Bee!”

“Hey, how do you think I feel?” Gemma asked, though she couldn’t help laughing at Zoe.  “We were just so different.  You were right about that part.”

“I never said you guys were different.  I just said that… you and Tyler are the same.”  Zoe paused.  She scratched her head as if trying to figure out if the two statements had similar meanings.  “I guess I implied it.  I didn’t mean to,” she frowned.

“It’s okay.  It’s for the best anyway,” Gemma said quietly.  “I’ll always consider him a great friend.”

Zoe pouted.  “But I feel guilty now.  Do you want me to make you a drink?”

Gemma laughed.  “No thank you.”

Zoe sighed.  “Yeah, I’ve been drinking less since Harper went in the slammer.”

“That’s what they call jail, Zoe.”

Zoe shrugged.  She glanced at her cell phone.  “Wow, it’s four in the morning.  Aren’t you tired from shooting all day?”

“Aren’t you?” Gemma countered.

“Now that I know what time it is, kind of,” Zoe said.  She hopped off the bed and opened her dresser drawer, pulling out a silk tee shirt and leggings.  “Here.  You probably shouldn’t sleep wearing Valentino.”

“Thanks.”  Gemma changed into the soft pajama set as Zoe continued rummaging through her drawers. 

“Um.  Are you cool sleeping in that wig?” she asked.  “I can give you this really comfortable scarf I have to wrap around your head.  So you don’t have to worry about it coming off? I don’t know, is that stupid? I don’t know how wigs work,” she said apologetically.  “Oh! Or I can fix up the guest room if you want, if you just want to sleep with it off.  Or you can sleep in here and I’ll sleep in the guest room.  I can fall asleep anywhere.”