High Life

Chapter 10: The Razzies & A Super Huge Blowout

Chapter 10

"Hello?" I asked frowning. Why would Elizabeth be calling me?
"Hey, so I thought maybe- Wait... Rose?" she asked abruptly on the other end after hearing my voice.
"Um, yeah," I answered awkwardly. Maybe she'd called me by accident? I wondered.
"Oh. Sorry. I didn't... I mean, I didn't mean to call you. Dialled the wrong number," she backpedaled.
"Okay, thought so," I said light heartedly, laughing it off. Be polite, I reminded myself.
"Why are you laughing," she deadpanned. "When you know I'm gonna kick your sorry-" and she cursed a word that sounded a lot like grass, "at the awards shows in a couple weeks?"
I rolled my eyes. I wasn't taking any of this right now. Any of it. "Go ahead, Ellie," I said, stressing out her stupid nickname. "I guess I'll just wait till the Academy Awards when I win an Oscar or two, and then again at the Golden Globes. But don't worry- I'll send you a congratulations card once you win a Razzie," I said smirking, referring to the spin off of the Globes where people are instead awarded Golden Raspberries for worst categories.
I could practically feel the venom spitting from her voice as she answered, "Okay, Blissica. We'll see about that."
"Okay, Brown. I'd love to see how it goes down too," I replied, all the while grinning satisfactorily.
I waited for her to say something else, but a distant buzzing noise signaled that the call had ended. She'd hung up on me.
"What was that all about?" Alex asked, throwing a few cookies onto a china plate, crossing the room, and sliding in next to me on the sofa.
"Ellie called the wrong number apparently," I answered, reaching over and helping myself to one of the M&M sugar cookies. I took a huge bite out of it, the dough still warm and fresh, the chocolate still gooey from the oven. Heavenly.
"Elizabeth? What'd she say? You sounded pretty ticked off," Mira said, finally finishing up in the kitchen and walking across the room to sit in one of the poof chairs next to the TV.
"You mean besides the fact that she's a loathsome, insufferable hater, and vengefully downgraded every fiber of my existence?" I asked, after swallowing the huge chunk of melted cookie in my mouth.
"Oh," Mira said, digging a spoon into her cookies and cream. "I say, just get her back for the next film you do. She obviously can't wait to win a Razzie," she advised from the corner.

I frowned at her. "But there is no next film. I'm going on break, remember? The forever kind. There is no next time for me."
Dylan looked confused. "Wait, you're going on break? The forever kind? You never told me any of this."
I stared at him. "Everyone knew. Yesterday at the after party, when-"
"When you totally owned Elizabeth?" Alex interjected.
I scowled. "That's not the point."
"Yeah, that was totally the point."
I glared at her. "Well, yeah, I'm going on break, and telling Elizabeth didn't help matters... I just got so angry at her."
"Yes, we all did," Dylan said, looking at me again. He searched through my eyes. "You're hiding something else."
"Am not," I said, licking off crumbs from my fingers.
"Are too. Say, what happened when you ran out of the party? Elizabeth said you were with someone."
My cheeks brightened. Why? There's nothing to hide from Dylan about Ed. Nothing.
Still, why did I feel so uncomfortable then?
I hesitated, before saying, "I met Ed. Ed Sheeran. We just talked and exchanged autographs. Then he left when you guys all came out."
Dylan raised his eyebrows. "That's it?"
Now I was getting mad. Why did he care? He was supposed to be Mira's big brother, not mine. "Yes, Dylan, that's all I got to do with him. What did you think I did?"
He looked away. "Nothing."
I stood up from the sofa, startling Sirius. I just realized he had been sitting there this whole time.
"Oh, nothing? Why'd you bother asking me, then? You know, I appreciate the fact that you care, but please don't overdo it. It gets annoying sometimes. And you're Mira's big brother, not mine. Don't carry the same protective attitude around me."
Mira and Alex looked alarmed. They looked back and forth between us, like they were watching some sort of tennis match.
My cheeks were probably flaming red, like they always did whenever my temper rose or I was beginning to get angry.
Dylan on the other hand, looked as if I'd slapped at him.
"Rose, I'm sorry if I made you feel that way, but I to need what you're doing, it's-"
"It's what?" I asked, unable to control myself. "What, like, do you think I'm one of those brain twisted celebrities? The ones who can't seem to even take care of themselves anymore? What? Is that it?"
"Will you let me finish?!" Dylan exploded. He huffed heavily, then said slowly, "Look, I care about you, just like any of us do. And nowadays, you just seem, you know... you seem a little unbalanced."
Now I felt as if I'd been slapped. What did he just say?
"You think I'm-"
"Don't cut me off. Just hear me out. It's just... The Nespresso incident. First you take off without telling anyone, and we're searching for you for more than an hour. Then we find you with some guy in an alley, and you go ahead and tell him to join us for lunch.
"Then the whole thing with Elizabeth. She spills margarita down your shirt, and you run out crying like a kid. I mean, normally, you would have just dragged her over to the chocolate fountain and shoved her in! You can't blame me for being concerned. See what I mean?"
My eyes brimmed with tears. I could barely see. I turned away, and covered my face, inhaling deeply. A small tear rolled down my cheek, and I snatched for the tissue box on the coffee table.
"Yeah. I see that you think I'm a baby. I get it. You think I'm freaking messing with drugs, as if, and the fact that I'm going on break scared you because 'normally' I'd never do that. Get used to a little change, will you?" I threw out the tissue I'd just used and really looked at him. "You want me to stay as the same Roselyn Blissica you knew when we were eleven."
I gave a small laugh. "Well, that's not happening. Sixteen, Dylan, sixteen! Things just tend to happen, you know?.
"And Christopher? He saved my life Dylan, my life. You should be happy! But instead you're mad that I invited him over for lunch with us. I think it's right if I ask you the same thing. What's going on with you?"
He stared at me blankly, expecting an explanation. His blue eyes, normally light and playful, were now stormy and dark.
"Overprotective, much?" I started. "I mean, there are other people I'm going to meet, and it isn't wrong to decide if you want to know them better, is it? Well, that's what it's like for me. Christopher's different. I just want...... a chance to get to know him."
He still just sat there, looking at me in a strange manner, taking in every inch of me, my clenched fists, my messed up hair, my raging equally stormy eyes, as if trying to predict what I would say next.
"You know, I really don't know what's wrong with you. You're acting as if meeting another guy is like a crime. Dylan Monroe isn't the only guy I'll ever want to be best friends with. Change your attitude, Dyl, or I'll seriously consider changing that status."
His eyes widened. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, speechless. He studied me, trying to tell if I meant it.
And I did. I did mean that if stubborn Dylan didn't change his attitude, I would break off our friendship. Didn't I?
Alex stood up. "You know, I think I'll go check on the muffins." Mira stood up and followed her too, glancing back at us cautiously every few steps.
Finally, sighing, I walked past Dylan and down the hall to my room. I needed a nap to clear my mind before I said anything else I'd regret. Dylan probably had the same idea, because he watched me leave, a sad expression on his face, then crashed onto the sofa. His head rested on the armrest. His eyes stayed fixed on the burning fireplace on the other side of the room, staring into the deep embers and smouldering coals.
Sirius paused, staring after me. Then he jumped up onto the sofa, to cuddle with Dylan.
Traitor, I thought, before shutting the door.