by Emma Rose
I rolled onto my back and looked up at the ceiling. I wasn't quite ready to get up yet; I wanted to enjoy and savor the moment. Then, thoughts started to swirl in my mind.
"Will wants to make me into a pop star," I thought. "I'm the least likely candidate for becoming a popular musician. I don't have the talent. I don't have the status or personality. I've never performed in front of an audience before. I just don't have what it takes."
I didn't believe I could do it, but Will certainly did. That much was obvious. So, I thought, "Why not give it a try? As long as I am trying to do what Will wants me to do, he'll probably provide a roof over my head."
I glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. 10:06 a.m. "Wow," I thought. That was the longest I slept in since I can remember.
I reluctantly got up from under the cozy comforter and started examining the clothes Skylar had given me the night before. They looked brand new. I almost felt like I shouldn't be touching them.
After admiring the options for quite some time, I decided on a modest pair of skinny blue jeans and a black v-neck tee. I went to the bathroom and got ready quickly. For the first time in my life, I felt kind of cute.
I stepped cautiously out of the guest room. I felt a little nervous wandering around their house. I didn't know where they were or if they were awake. I slowly made my way to the kitchen.
"Good morning, Jemma," Skylar greeted me cheerfully. She was sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and was skimming through Vogue magazine. "What can I get you to eat?" she asked getting up to open the cupboards. "I'm not much of a cook," she laughed, "so it's going to have to be cereal or toast."
"Cereal's fine, thank you," I replied timidly.
"Of course," Skylar smiled, setting a box of Cheerios, a bowl, a spoon, and a half-gallon of milk down on the table. "Help yourself, I can get you some coffee if you want."
"Yeah, sure," I answered. I had never tried coffee before but I didn't want to be rude by declining her offer.
Skylar went over to the coffee pot and poured me a cup.
"How do you like it?" she asked.
I didn't know what to say. "Ummm... just like that is fine," I stuttered.
"Okay," she shrugged and placed the baby blue mug in front of me.
"So, guess what we're going to do today!" Skylar said excitedly as I began to spoon some cereal into my mouth.
I smiled back. Maybe this girl was more genuine than I thought. Her enthusiasm was contagious.
"What?" I asked excitedly.
"We are going to go on a... shopping spree! Will has to spend the whole day at the office so you and I are going to hit the streets with his credit card and shop till we drop. How does that sound? Will left me his credit card. He said it's all on him because it's part of making you into a star."
"That does sound fun," I admitted taking a sip of the bitter coffee. I wondered why people liked it so much. It didn't taste good to me at all.
"Awesome! As soon as you're done with that, we can get ready to head out. We are going to have the best day," Skylar said.
I smiled shyly. I'd never been on a shopping spree before and I knew absolutely nothing about clothes, but when I was a little girl I loved to window shop at Christmastime and I used to fantasize about one day being able to go into those stores and be able to buy all of the dolls and dresses I wanted. Finally, that dream was about to come true.
After I finished my bowl of cereal, Skylar grabbed her purse and the two of us took the elevator down to the lobby. I didn't say much. I was still trying to process everything that had happened to me in the last twenty-four hours.
"You know what I think you need first before we go shopping?" Skylar asked with excitement in her voice.
"What?" I asked as Skylar picked up a strand of my hair and looked at it adoringly.
"A new haircut! Come on, I'll take you to my favorite salon," Skylar announced as we walked down the Manhattan streets.
I hadn't ever had my hair cut in a salon before and I was a little bit nervous. The salon was on the first floor of a new, big building in the ritzy part of town. When we walked in, Skylar was immediately recognized and greeted by the receptionist.
"Oh my God! Skylar darling is that you? Looking fab as always," the thirty-something women with a petite figure and a Gucci suit said. She sounded like a gay man to me.
"Aww... thanks, Kayla! You're too kind and by the way, you're looking pretty hot yourself," Skylar said reciprocating Kayla's over the top compliments.
"Thank you. Thank you so much! Now, tell me. Who is this you've brought with you?" Kayla said looking at me. I felt uncomfortable. I didn't know how to interact with someone as fashionable and bubbly as Kayla. I assumed the two of us had very little in common.
"Kayla, I'd like you to meet my new friend, Jemma. She's going to become one of Will's clients and we're here to help her redesign her
image," Skylar explained.
I wondered what exactly Skylar met by 'redesign my image'. It hurt my feelings a little bit even though I didn't know exactly what she meant and even though I knew I looked the opposite of a stylish person.
"Well, isn't that fun?" Kayla said, turning to look at the computer on her desk. "It looks like we can squeeze you in around fifteen minutes from now. How does that sound? Can you wait?"
Skylar nodded her head. "Perfect! Yes, we'll wait."
"Awesome," Kayla said before returning to typing at record speed on her computer. I had no idea what she was typing that could require her to type so quickly and loudly, but it must have been very important.
Skylar sat down on one of the pristine white couches in the waiting area, so I sat down next to her. I couldn't help but notice the tray of complimentary bite-sized pastries and the coffee bar in the corner. My first instinct was to run up and shove as much of it as I could into my mouth and pockets, but I had to suppress that instinct for fear of appearing trashy. I told myself that I didn't have to worry about having enough to eat anymore, at least for the time being.
It amazed me that they would just be giving away food for free to customers. In fact, it made me a little angry actually. If a place like this could afford to give their high-paying customers access to gourmet coffee, why couldn't a place like this donate food to the homeless or at least support some sort of charity? I didn't really know if this business used their money to help others or not, but to me, it was a blatant demonstration of the disparity of wealth in New York City right before my very eyes and it pissed me off.
"You have beautiful hair, you know," Skylar said interrupting the flurry of frustrating and confusing thoughts swirling through my head.
"Thanks," I said even though I knew she was lying.
"It's long which is good, but I just think it's going to need to look more wow. Don't you agree? Like we need something that is going to make people's heads turn and have them thinking, 'who is she, that girl is killing it’. Right?"
I nodded my head, "Sure."
"So, here's what I'm thinking. We add some highlights to lighten things up. Your hair is blonde, but it's not blonde enough for the music industry. Then we chop off all this dead stuff and give you a trendy, angled, bob. How does that sound?" Skylar explained enthusiastically. Clearly, she had been putting some thought into this probably since the moment I met her.
"Okay," I agreed apprehensively. I wasn't in the position to disagree with Skylar and I trusted her fashion sense over mine, but I knew I was going to be sad to see my long locks go. I wasn't sure what to think about the color change either. It seemed a little inauthentic to me to change the hair color I was born with. I hoped it wouldn't look too fake.
Before I knew it, an overly cheerful middle-aged lady with purple hair and rings on every finger entered the waiting room. "Jemma?" she asked in a high-pitched voice.
"Hi," I said standing up shakily.
"Hey, darling, it's nice to meet you. I'm Claire and I'm going to be taking care of you today. Giving you the princess treatment and all th
at jazz," she said before bursting out in a big belly laugh. She wasn't making fun of me. She was just one of those people who were so happy they could make themselves crack up.
"Thank you," I blushed.
"Of course, of course. So, what are we going to be doing with your hair today?" Claire asked.
"Ummm... well-" I started before Skylar saved me. She quickly explained to the stylist what she had previously explained to me. I felt kind of like a little kid going to get her haircut with her mom.
Claire gave the thumbs-up sign. "Oh, that is just going to look perfect, on you, darling. Yes, I can do that and you're going to be looking like a superstar. Come on follow me, let's get started, Jemma," she said waving at me to follow her.
I looked back at Skylar and she gave me a reassuring smile before I followed Claire to her chair.
"Have a seat, have a seat," Claire set twisting the spinny chair toward me. I sat down gently. It was a rather comfortable chair I thought.
I looked around the salon while Claire draped a cape over my front and clipped it in the back. Everything in the salon looked like it was very expensive from the chandelier on the ceiling to the ornate mosaic tile on the wall.
Claire combed my hair through, then she reached for a bowl with some light pink gel in it. She grabbed a piece of my hair near the part and painted it with the gel from the bowl. Then, she wrapped the piece of hair in tin foil. It was a strange feeling, but I didn't mind it. It was just unusual.
Claire tried to make small talk with me while she worked on my hair, but I didn't have much to say. There was little we could relate about. So instead, Claire chatted most of the time and I listened. She went on and on about the cutest guys in Hollywood at the moment, who was the best dressed at the Met Gala this year, and her favorite new hair trends. Everything she said went over my head. I didn't know anything about movies, actors, or fashion, but it was interesting. I felt like I was just finding out about the world for the first time.
I was surprised at how long it took for her to highlight my hair. Who knew it would take this long just to get dirty blonde hair a little more blonde? When she finally finished my whole head looked like a giant ball of tin foil with a face. Claire informed me that the lightner would need to sit for twenty minutes before she could wash it out. She handed me a People magazine and told me to sit tight in my chair, she would back in a few.
I crossed my legs and skimmed through the magazine. I recognized some of the people in it, but not many. Everyone looked so beautiful and perfect. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I didn't think I would ever be able to look as good as the people in the magazine. I didn't have the personality either. Why was everyone smiling in this magazine? Did fame make people automatically happy all the time?
Will had told me he wanted to make me into a pop star. I wasn't anything like the pop stars in this magazine. A wave of dread and feeling of inadequacy washed over me. What had I gotten myself into? I felt like I had been thrust into a parallel universe, a more privileged parallel universe for sure, but one that didn't feel natural to me whatsoever.
I looked over at the other ladies in the salon. The girl to my right looked like Skylar. She was thin, with clear skin, and a stylish pink swing dress.
The girl to my left was older in her mid-forties, probably. She was getting her eyebrows done. I admired her diamond earrings and designer handbag. There was another woman across the room getting her nails painted. I overheard her talking about her upcoming wedding. She was marrying a professional baseball player. The bride-to-be discussed her honeymoon travel plans: first, they were going to Paris, but later they were planning a separate romantic getaway to the Bahamas.
I hoped one day I would get to travel like that. I had never been anywhere outside New York City. In fact, I hadn't even been to all of New York City. I had yet to visit Staten Island.
I glanced over to the television in the corner of the room. It was a large flatscreen. A channel called, HGTV, was playing. I hadn't heard of it before. There was a woman on the show decorating a large farmhouse in the countryside of Texas. As the camera panned to show the yard outside of the home, my jaw dropped. I couldn't believe one family could own that much land on their own. There was a flower garden, a swimming pool, a swing set for the kids, and acres of empty land to roam around on. I wondered if that was like how all of Texas was.
Claire returned with a bigger smile than she had before. "Alright, hon, let's get that hair washed out!" she exclaimed. She removed the tin foil piece by piece from my hair and threw it in the trash can. Then she led me over to a big, black leather chair that was attached to a shiny sink for hair washing. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes as Claire rinsed the lightner from my hair. The warm water felt good. Claire pumped some sweet-smelling shampoo onto her hands and massaged it through my hair. Then, she sprayed water all over my scalp to get the shampoo out. Finally, she rubbed a thick, creamy conditioner into my hair. She let it sit for a minute and like magic, my hair became silky and smooth. After one last rinse-out, Claire had me sit up and wrapped a warm, fuzzy white towel around my head before walking me back to her cutting and styling station.
I shut my eyes tightly as she made the first cut. It didn't hurt, obviously, but it was weird to see seven inches of my hair fall to the ground. She went around and around until my once long hair only barely reached my shoulders. I felt her cold hand against my head as she cut a deep side bang.
Claire started drying my hair with what seemed to be the world's largest hairdryer. She used a round brush to bring volume to my hair as she dried piece by piece. Finally, she gave my hair a quick spritz of hairspray and she was finished.
"Alright, Jemma. What do you think?" she asked, turning my chair around so I could see myself in the mirror.
"It's-it's beautiful," I stuttered. Happy tears watered up in my eyes. I had no idea I could look so pretty. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
"Oh, hon, come here. Gimme a hug," Claire said with her arms open.
I let myself be hugged by a stranger. It wasn't something I would usually do, but it felt okay with Claire.
"You look gorgeous. Now go show your friend. She's going to be amazed," Claire instructed.
I nodded and wiped the tears from my face. "Thank you," I said as I walked back to the waiting room to show my new 'friend'.
Skylar looked up from her phone as she saw me enter the waiting area. "Jemma! You look stunning. See, I told you that was going to be the perfect look for you."
I smiled, "Thanks. I appreciate it a lot, really."
Skylar nodded, "You're welcome. Now, let's go. We've still got lots
to do today, Jemma."
Skylar and I spent the rest of the day galivanting around Manhattan's most expensive shops and boutiques. She chose an entire new wardrobe for me, a new phone, and a complete set of high-quality makeup supplies. It felt like she was creating a new life for me and I was just along for the ride.
I can't complain though, it was exciting to get new things. I don't consider myself a materialistic person, but I'm human and I enjoy getting fun stuff that makes me feel pretty.
I thanked Skyler profusely for her generosity throughout the day until she finally said, "Jemma, please, you don't have to thank me anymore. I know you're grateful. Now let's just have a fun day as girlfriends. Forget about me buying everything for you."
It was difficult for me to simply forget about Skylar buying everything for me, but as the day went on I warmed up to her and even began joking around a little bit. I couldn't understand exactly why she was taking such an interest in me, but I guess it didn't really matter. She was giving me things I couldn't have even imagined having a week before.
After seven hours of shopping, Skylar finally decided that we had purchased enough and it was time to head home. I was glad. I was exhausted by the whole experience.
When we arrived back at Skylar and Will's apartment that evening, Will was waiting for us in the living room.
"Good
news, guys," he said excitedly as Skylar and I plopped down on the couch.
"What is it, babe?" Skylar asked.
"I made some phone calls today and tomorrow, Jemma, you are going to go sing for some of my friends over at Universal Music Group and we're going to see if we can get you a record deal. That is only if you want to," Will said emphasizing the word you.
I couldn't believe Will had gotten an audition for me so quickly. He must have more influence than I thought. I didn't know if I was emotionally ready to sing for some of the most powerful people in the music industry, but I also knew I couldn't miss this opportunity. This could change my life forever.
"Okay, but you're going to have to tell me what to do. I don't want to embarrass myself," I replied.
Will flashed a huge smile. "Don't worry about a thing. I'll be right there beside you the entire time. We'll do it together. Plus, with your impressive vocals and new Hollywood look there's no way they're going to turn you down."
