Superstar Calling

Chapter 7

I took a deep breath. It was 7:00pm and I was in front of the doors that would let me in to the party room. I had spent the last twenty minutes being pampered by Amy and I was told that I now look like a princess. I didn’t think so. I had on a blue floral summer dress with spaghetti straps. Over that, Amy had insisted I wear a cute white shrug she found in my closet. My head had been pinned up in a beautiful braid bun. It twisted and twirled down the back of my head. I, personally, thought I looked like one of those weeping angels from Doctor Who, but Amy had made it so tight she couldn’t exactly get it out. I put the worry that my hear might look like this forever and pushed the huge doors open. Venus’s event room had been decked out in beautiful colored paper lanterns and little twinkle lights. I stood there, taking in the beauty of the place when I heard a voice say my name.

“There she is! That’s Quinn!”

I spun around to find the source and saw two girls start to walk toward me. They looked younger than me by a few years. When they got closer, I realized they were twins!

“I’m Heather, and this Maggie. We’re Venus’s second cousins.” 

The second girl piped up. “Can we have your autograph? We’re huge fans of your work. We were actually the ones who found you and told Venus about you!”

I smiled, never had been asked that before.

“Really? Well, thank you! It’s been good to be here. Sure, you can have my autograph. I’ve never been asked that before!”

They squealed and held up their notepads and a pan. I noticed that there were several other signatures that they had collected. I took the pen and wrote my name as swoopy as possible. The girls giggled and thanked me. They walked away, comparing each others books. I grinned at the sudden burst of popularity that had briefly surrounded me. I spotted Venus with some other friends and started to walk toward them, assuming they were the friends she was talking about. When she saw me, she said,  “And here’s the little devil now!”

Venus said it playfully but it still stung a bit. Her friends laughed and I pretended to chuckle too. Venus introduced me the four women that were crowded around her, holding orange glasses. They were all just a rude as Venus, as I had expected. I allowed them to talk freely about how small I was and insult me left and right. I knew I would be in big trouble if I fought back in front of Venus. Tanya, the brown haired one on the left, offered me one of the orange glasses. I took it and thanked her, not knowing what was in it. I took a sip and my mouth felt like it was on fire. I almost gagged on the taste but managed to keep my cool. I lowered the cup and tried not to look grossed out. The flavor lingered in my mouth and I realized that I kind of liked it. It was tangy and sweet. I took another small sip and the fire sensation was less this time. I drank more and more until the whole cup was empty. Then everything went black.

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I woke up to a bright light shining in my eyes. I closed them quickly and tried to remember what had happened. I was at the party, I was talking to Venus’s friends, I drank a juice thingy, and… nothing. The rest of the night was blank. 

“Ah, you’re awake. Good. How do you feel?”

I turned my head to see a man in a white coat leaning over me. I groaned and shut my eyes again. 

“I see.” The man said flatly.  “The usual symptoms. Open your eyes Quinn, you’ll get used to the light.”

I did as he commanded and attempted to keep them open. It started to get better. As everything came into focus, I realized that I was in a doctor’s office. I wearily propped myself up on my elbow. The doctor smiled at me and asked me what I remembered from last night and I told him.
“Well then, it’s confirmed.”

“What’s confirmed?” I asked with great difficulty. He placed his hand gingerly on my shoulder and looked into my eyes.

“You fainted. At the party last night. One of Venus’s friends wasn’t thinking straight and gave you some vodka. She feels very bad and wants to apologize as soon as possible. When you fell over, none of them realized it was because of the drink. They sent you in here for me to examine you. I think all you need is a good day of rest.”

I fell back onto the pillow and muttered,  “I can do that.”

The doctor gave me a small smiled and turned away to write on his clipboard. I closed my eyes and tried to fall sleep. 

“Oh, no you don’t.” The doctor said. “ You can’t sleep in here. I’ve got another girl that just broke her arm. I need this room. I’ll have someone take you back to your room.”

I groaned at the prospect of getting up. I felt his hand lightly grasp my arm and help me up. A lady come into the room and led me back to my room. I collapsed onto the bed with a plop and immediately regretted it. My head went berserk with pain. It started throbbing and I barely even felt the lady lift the covers over me. I fell instantly into a deep sleep and didn’t wake up until the next day. 

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“Quinn! Quinn! Wake up before you die of starvation!”

I opened my eyes to see Amy staring at me. I closed them again and tried to roll over, but Amy yanked the covers off of me. It was really cold in my room! 

“What?”  I mumbled, blinking frequently.  “I’ve only been asleep for, like, two hours!”

She rolled her eyes.  “No, Quinn. Rose took you back to your room yesterday at noon and it’s a whole day later!” 

I sat up quickly. “A whole day? “

Amy put her hand on my chest and forced me to kay back down again.  

“Yes. But the doctor said you shouldn’t do anything to strain yourself. I brought you some food. Watch Netflix or something for the remainder of the day while you rest.”

I sighed and stared at the turkey sandwich Amy was putting in front of me. I realize that I was very hungry. I tore into the sandwich and took a big gulp of milk. Amy turned to leave and I mumbled a ‘thank you’ through the bread. I reached to my night table and grabbed the remote for the big TV that was positioned in front of my bed. I took Amy’s advice and watched a few episodes of Doctor Who. I was kind of obsessed with the show. A few minutes after I had finished my third episode, I fell into a deep sleep.