ᴛʜᴇʏ Sᴀʏ Sʜᴇ'ꜱ Fʀᴏᴍ ᴄᴏʀᴏɴᴀ ! 【Ryan Atwood】

3

IT WASN'T LONG BEFORE THE FASHION SHOW'S END, but Hazel had stopped paying attention altogether. She quickly excused herself, telling Ryan that she'd find him later before heading backstage in search of her friend.

The teen tried not to frown or show any signs that she was at all bothered when really she wanted to grit her teeth in frustration. Hazel doubted she was the only one; she had seen the bemused turned aggravated expression coat Luke's features from across the room. If he weren't already notorious for cheating, the girl would feel bad that his girlfriend was checking out another guy. Nonetheless, she still felt crappy because Marissa Cooper was involved and anything that has to do with her ultimately blows up.

Hazel's year at Harbor, had been more than enough time for her to pick up on the preppy girl's patterns. Marissa was like a magnet for drama. No matter where she went, she attracted it, acting as the instigator much of the time, the way a match does when it finds gasoline. Everything always had to involve her somehow and if it didn't, it would eventually.

Though, Hazel didn't think of her as a mean girl, but rather someone who wasn't getting attention in the categories that mattered. Based on Summer's description, the Cooper girl could pretty much do whatever she wanted; her mother was laid back and her father never said no to a purchase. She could get away with anything.

Because they probably wouldn't even notice.

Hazel wondered how often the massive spaces of Marissa's mansion were actually used and if her family ever spent time together.

Backstage was hectic as half-dressed girls of all shades of, well...fake tanner dashed around. There were whines of zippers being stuck and garments being misplaced, along with virulent, braggadocious chatter pertaining to how long the girls had gone without eating in order to fit into a dress. Hazel unintentionally felt her confidence diminish more and more with each stride she took into the dressing room area. She crossed her arms over her midsection and kept her head low.

Despite her short stature, the Roberts girl was almost never hard to find. Her voice pierced the air with ease and traveled far distances; Hazel always heard her before seeing her.

The brunette girl yelled something to another before looking back at the vanity mirror, staring intently, with one eye open, as she removed the brightly pigmented makeup from around her eyes. A smile graced the face of the Michaels girl as she made her way over to Summer. "You know, when I really squinted, you looked just like Cindy Crawford out there."

"Aww, Haze!" Summer quickly moved from being hunched over the vanity to wrapping the curly-haired girl into an embrace. "That's totally what I was going for!"

"Maybe go easy on your face next time," Hazel suggested, noticing the pile of makeup remover wipes stacked to the side.

"What? Too much? Coop did it for me."

"Oh."

"Help me take it off."

The Michaels girl leaned over her friend to grab a wipe then gently started cleaning her heavily blushed cheeks. By the time Summer's right cheek was naked, Hazel had used both the front and back of the towelette. Summer gasped suddenly, as if she'd just been reminded of something.

"And who exactly was that hottie mchottie we saw you talking to by the pool?" she questioned.

Hazel guffawed at the nickname, "That's the best you could come up with?"