by India Lee
Gemma felt him close in on her. As she felt his arms around her waist and his lips on her forehead, she silently made a resolution. There was something she would have to do before letting herself be with him. All she had to do was get it over with and stop giving herself excuses. Tyler could know and understand her the same way that Lucas did if she would simply let him.
“I didn’t know I was putting up a wall,” Gemma said, her hands on his chest. “But there won’t be one anymore. Soon. I promise.”
TEENS BEHAVING BADLY!
Queen Bee, Zoe Mercury and Tyler Chase caught drinking during tropical vacation
Celeb-o-Matic
August 31
While on vacation this weekend, pop icons Queen Bee, Zoe Mercury, and Tyler Chase were caught drinking on the beaches of Turks and Caicos. Accompanied by socialite Harper Gunn, the young celebs were photographed laughing it up while holding beers and margaritas. Though Mercury and Gunn, both 18, just meet the drinking age in Turks and Caicos, the wholesome Chase and Bee, both 17, are a year away from legal consumption in the Caribbean.
This incident comes as no surprise considering the same foursome were recently caught in a nightclub fiasco that resulted in a lawsuit by socialite Emilia Platt, who alleged that a drunken Bee assaulted her. Though the case has been put on hold due to lack of evidence, no one can deny that the teenaged Bee has developed a taste for scandal. The young singer has recently raised eyebrows by sneaking out of events and behaving unpredictably.
Since the leak of the pictures, some angry fans have begun mourning their beloved Tyler Chase’s reputation. Could it be that Bee is dragging down the squeaky clean Chase with her? For the sake of her career and safety, let’s hope that the answer is no.
THE FAB FOUR ARE AT IT AGAIN!
8/31 1:43PM
Celebstan
Posted by Justin, the Bee Chasing Alien who carries a Gunn
Unless you are shamelessly uncultured and uneducated, you’ve noticed that Hollywood has recently spawned a new BFF foursome for us to internet-stalk! I’m of course talking about the flawless Queen Bee, Zoe Mercury, Tyler Chase and Harper Gunn. You may remember this fierce and fabulous foursome from the Green Room incident with the highly desperate Emilia Platt (summary: Emilia sucker punched my princess Harper, but eventually got chased out of the club like a little bitch. Then she sued my Queen for assaulting her, but whoops! Lawsuits can be tricky when you A) are up against American royalty and B) are a complete liar).
Well if you thought these sexy beasts were gonna cool it with the scandal for a little bit, you were dead wrong! The Fab Four were caught partying it up on a private island in Turks and Caicos this weekend, and you bet they were drinking their foxy little asses off! The ladies stuck to margaritas while Tyler drank a local beer like the flaw-free, when-in-Rome angel that he is. If you look at the pictures, you’ll realize that you’ve actually never seen four individuals looking more flawless while completely shitfaced.
But OMG, what about the underage drinking and all that!?!
Listen, these gorgeous and talented bitches deserve a drink way more than any of their useless teenaged counterparts who get drunk every school night anyway. If you’re uneducated and need specific reasons why, they are listed below:
1. Tyler Chase has the craziest fans on the face of the planet. He is constantly flying people to big cities on his dime and giving them free concert tickets just because they cried hysterically about their love for him in a YouTube video. Do you know how much stress that is for one 17-year-old boy to bear? He knows for a fact that he makes millions of girls weep on a nightly basis because he isn’t making out with them at that very moment. If you carried that guilt, you’d need a brewski or two.
2. I shouldn’t even have to explain this to anyone. Queen Bee is in disguise pretty much all the time. And she does it so you won’t murder her in her sleep. Isn’t that sad? She’s so flawless that she can’t show her real face, or people will strangle her out of envy. So don’t you dare tell her that she can’t drink her nightmares away every once in awhile.
3. Poor Zoe Mercury had been oppressed by the machine that is D Network for long enough! I literally wept every day that Z was under D Network contract, because I knew she wasn’t living as freely as she should, being the reincarnate of an extremely sexy and voluptuous hummingbird. Her body requires flying from flower to flower (by flower I mean older man) and getting her fill of sweet nectar (I’m not going to explain that one if you don’t get it). Zoe drinks to stick it to the man, and to be honest, you should be proud of her.
4. And Harper Gunn… yeah Harper should probably stop drinking soon. Girl needs AA and Jesus on her side. (luv u tho Harpie!)
- Chapter 9 -
The certainty in Gemma’s heart after returning from Turks and Caicos was liberating.
After enjoying her last few hours on the island, she made a confident decision on the jet to just let herself go and fully enjoy her life of fame. That, however, meant breaking up with Lucas in order to be with Tyler. It had been a tough decision to accept, but she eventually did and even felt a peaceful calm about it.
That calm, however, was short-lived. Upon stepping foot in her house, Gemma saw Mira standing in front of the doorway, her arms crossed.
“Hi?” she frowned.
“We need to talk, Gemma. About several things.” Mira’s voice was devoid of any playfulness as she gestured towards the couches. Gemma felt a quick pang of dread. She had broken far too many of their rules in the past few days to even suspect what Mira might know of and want to talk about. Her heart pounded as she took a seat.
“What is it?”
Mira ignored Gemma as she retrieved her iPad from the foyer and began typing as she sat down. Her silence made Gemma all the more anxious.
“Aunt Mira, can you just tell me what you’re –”
“This.” She turned her screen around to face Gemma. “This is one of the things I’m talking about.”
Gemma’s heart sank at the paparazzi photos she saw. She didn’t have to look at it for very long, because she had seen it as early as that morning. Or rather, lived it.
“I’m not an idiot,” Mira said. “I knew you would be drinking a little. But after seeing these pictures, I suspect that that was probably all you did in the past three days. I don’t even know what other poor decisions accompanied that. All I can hope is that there were no suspicious boats or helicopters lingering around when you were making them, since you were probably too drunk to notice.”
Gemma clutched her stomach, feeling as if Mira’s words had knocked the wind out of her.
“I would probably know better how to deal with that situation if it weren’t accompanied by this one,” Mira said, tapping away on the screen again. The sound of her nails on the glass was beginning to gnaw at Gemma. “I got an email from Fleur Magazine this morning.”
Gemma looked up. She wasn’t expecting the second issue to be about her magazine shoot. She didn’t remember doing anything wrong that day.
“What did they say?”
“They sent me a preview of the cover,” Mira said. When she turned the screen around, Gemma’s jaw dropped.
“What?” She grabbed the iPad from Mira’s hands, staring into the image in disbelief. There she was, on the cover of Fleur, opening her blazer to show off the black satin and crème lace bra underneath. The diamond straps weren’t even visible. Rather shamelessly, the focus of the cover were her barely covered breasts. Gemma burst into tears. “I didn’t do this for the cover!” she protested.
“You did it, and that’s all that matters,” Mira said, taking no sympathy in her crying. “Are you going to tell me that you didn’t say this either?” Mira took the iPad back and began reading the preview article. “‘Bee laughs, blasé as she tells me about a close male school friend whom she shares a mutual attraction with. ‘Pretty sure he has a girlfriend,’ she says indifferently, rolling her eyes. It has become obvious that Bee’s professional tenacity has bled i
nto her high school happenings. Any teenaged suburbanite with a boyfriend should keep a watchful eye out, considering the irresistibly charismatic Bee could be roaming any of their school hallways.’”
Gemma was sure her jaw was touching the floor. It certainly felt like it. She had never felt such fury or unfairness. “I did not say that!” she seethed. “That was taken completely out of context!”
Mira shrugged nonchalantly, as if to drive home the point. “They don’t care,” she said. “They will spin anything you give them out of context. You’re the one that needs to make sure that you don’t give them anything risky to spin. That was why I said no comments about Tyler. I was sure that if you knew that, it also meant no comments about say, Lucas.” Mira shook her head. “You may think the bad party girl image is a cute look, but I can guarantee you that it only hurts your career. You’re one headline away from being another celebrity trainwreck.”
It was far too much information for Gemma to process at once. She stared numbly into the space of the living room, tears still streaking her face. “I’m embarrassed,” she finally said.
Mira nodded. “For good reason.”
“I don’t even want to do my interviews this week,” Gemma muttered, realizing that she sounded a bit irrational. She was sure that mortification was not a legitimate reason to skip out on appearances. But the response from Mira surprised her.
“You won’t have to.”
Gemma frowned. “What?”
Mira shut off the iPad and stood up, smoothing out her navy chiffon blouse. “You won’t have to,” she repeated. “You’re now officially Gemma Hunter and no one else until I tell you otherwise.”
~
“Oh my God, what is that?” Leah laughed, pointing at Gemma’s cell phone. Gemma’s new cell phone could hardly be called new with its rudimentary screen and keypad. She wasn’t even sure where Mira had found it. All it could do was call a limited amount of contacts that Mira had pre-programmed. Text messages were received by chance thanks to a low capacity for holding any sort of information. After the fiftieth text, Gemma’s inbox would be full and nothing more would come through. With friends like Leah and Kate, this practically happened on an hourly basis.
“How have you not seen it yet?” Kate asked. “She’s had it since school started.”
“What happened to your iPhone? Is this why I can never reach you?” Leah asked. Gemma shrugged, picking at her salad as she looked out the window of the café. She felt numb and imprisoned in this new lifestyle that Mira had forced on her since the vacation and magazine debacle. Her regular phone as well as the phone she used as Queen Bee had been taken from her along with the car keys. Lucas had been driving her to and from school in his father’s truck on a daily basis.
“Honestly,” Kate said. “I think it’s a great idea to lessen the distractions in our lives so we can all just concentrate on college apps and SATs and stuff. I think I’m going to try it too.”
“Like you’d last a day,” Leah snorted. Kate considered Leah’s statement before nodding in agreement.
“You’re right. I wouldn’t last an hour.”
Gemma remained silent as she focused on the road outside, waiting for Lucas’s car to come around. Her senior year classes were far from challenging and the girls could only ever talk about college applications and SAT prep courses. Gemma felt an unfamiliar sense of monotony in her life and it was beginning to show. Leah and Kate may not have noticed with their self-absorption but there was no doubt that Lucas was feeling the brunt of Gemma’s misplaced bitterness. She would feel bad had she not felt so without sensation.
“Your boy toy is here!” Leah announced before sipping her smoothie and wrapping an arm around Gemma’s neck. “Bye, girl!” Gemma smiled stiffly in response before waving a quick goodbye and ducking out of the café.
~
“Where are we going?” Gemma asked. Lucas had been driving for nearly an hour without mentioning their destination. Lost in thought and barely paying attention, Gemma hadn’t realized how long she’d been sitting in the truck. He had mentioned at some point that he was taking her to a surprise location but didn’t say much else.
“We’re almost there,” Lucas said, smiling.
“What’re we doing?” Gemma said, unsatisfied with his initial response.
“My favorite October tradition. It’s usually my whole family but everyone’s doing their own thing this year. I don’t know about them but I can’t handle the idea of my house not smelling like apples the entire month.”
“We’re going apple-picking?” Gemma’s eyes widened.
“Yep.”
“Oh, wow!” Gemma said with genuine delight. Her mood perked up despite herself and she sat up in the passenger’s seat to get a good look out the window. A mélange of vibrant autumnal hues greeted her. The hills boasted trees with bright red, orange and yellow leaves. “I’ve never been apple-picking before! I don’t even think I’ve ever seen an apple tree before!”
“Well, City Girl,” Lucas laughed. “With the way I pick apples, you might not want to see another apple tree for awhile.”
Shortly after, Lucas pulled the truck onto a dirt path in front of a big red barn. Haystacks lined the walkway towards the entrance and orange pumpkins were festively scattered across the lawn.
“I’ll get the door for you,” Lucas said as he jumped out the car and made his way around to Gemma’s side. Gemma blushed, noticing for the first time in awhile how handsome Lucas looked in his red plaid shirt and jeans. He opened her door and took her hand as she stepped down from the truck. Lucas leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips. He pulled away, smiling shyly as if he had just done something he wasn’t supposed to do.
For a moment, Gemma suddenly forgot why she had been so sullen for so long. She may not have had contact with Zoe, Harper and Tyler in awhile but who needed them when she had something so incredibly sweet at home?
~
It was a wonder Gemma and Lucas had gotten as many apples as they did when half their time through the orchard was spent tumbling under the trees, sharing kisses in the cool shade. Lucas had spent much of the past months cautious in dealing with Gemma, understanding of her anger with being cut off from her other life. As a result, it had been awhile since they were this affectionate.
“That’s the last one!” Lucas called from beside the truck. He had been lifting wooden bushels of apples to Gemma who was standing in the back of the truck, finding some way to make sense of the dozens of apples now in their possession. “You’re going to get so sick of apples.”
“They smell so amazing I can’t imagine ever being sick of them,” Gemma said, inhaling the aroma of the freshly picked apples with the crisp autumn air. Lucas reached up towards Gemma, grabbing her waist and pulling her down from the truck.
“Come inside with me,” he said, gesturing towards the barn. “I promised Elisa I’d buy her some homemade cider doughnuts.” Gemma could smell them before they reached the entrance. She walked into the barn, immediately charmed by the simple country décor. Needlepoint welcome signs hung at the entrance and the cashier’s counter where a line of old-fashioned glass jars held various baked goods and homemade candies. An elderly woman was behind an adjacent counter, wearing a forest green apron dusted with cinnamon sugar. She packed boxes of doughnuts for the long line of customers.
After Lucas purchased a box and packed it into the car, he emerged from the front seat with a picnic basket. They strolled through the long stretches of green grass to a secluded space under a welcoming tree. Lucas spread out a large, checkered blue blanket and set the basket on top.
“Hungry, gorgeous?” he asked.
“Yes, but if you feed me any more I’m not going to look so gorgeous anymore.”
“Not possible,” Lucas said, smiling. He grabbed Gemma’s hand and pulled her down beside him on the blanket. Gemma giggled as he kissed her neck, his strong body grazing hers. She ran her nails playfully down his muscular back. To her surprise
, he let out a soft moan of pleasure. Without meaning to, Gemma flinched. She hoped Lucas hadn’t noticed, but it was obvious that he had when he stopped kissing her, pulling away and looking embarrassed.
“Sorry,” he laughed, awkwardly. “It just felt good.”
“No,” Gemma said, shaking her head as she sat up. “I mean, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I reacted that way.” Despite what she said, Gemma did know why. While she and Lucas had certainly done more than kissing, it wasn’t a whole lot more. Having him on top of her and knowing that no one they knew could walk in on them, she suddenly felt a little strange. Gemma realized she had yet to tell Lucas why they hadn’t done more than some polite touching.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, kneeling beside her.
“I just want you to know, in case you didn’t figure it out already… that I’m not exactly...” Gemma bit her lip, struggling for a way to put it. “Experienced.”
“It’s okay. Neither am I.”
“No,” Gemma said. “I mean… I’m a virgin.”
“Oh,” Lucas replied. He thought for a second, not knowing how to respond. “So you and Damian never…”
“No!” Gemma exclaimed, laughing nervously. “We almost did but I just couldn’t do it knowing he’d be so far away after.”
“I see. Well, I’ve only ever been with… her. So I’m not too far ahead of you,” Lucas joked. Gemma smiled, pulling him in for a kiss.
“You’re too cute,” she said as she kissed him on the nose. He blinked, smiling at the gesture. “And I’m sorry if I’m ever… awkward or nervous when we get close sometimes.”
