midnight rain - walker scobell

chapter sixteen; us.

"do you miss mine? do you miss us, us?" us. by gracie abrams (ft taylor swift)

"HI, MY NAME IS GWEN COLLINS, and this is my morning routine."

The lines the director gave me roll quickly off my tongue. I smile into the camera before someone calls 'cut'.

I let out a breath. Right now, I stand in the center of my hotel room. I'm dressed in light pink, silk pajamas. My hair is washed and combed through. Around me, three cameras, a microphone,  and at least ten crew members apart of Vogue.

Today is my big interview. I've been stressing about it since a week ago when it hit me this was happening sooner than later. I talked to my girls about it, but none of them have worked with this big of a company.

Yes, I'm stoked about this. And, yes, it pays a ton. But I'm not used to this big of a project. Especially doing it alone.

"That was great," Allison, one of the directors, says. "Now, you're just going to walk us through your normal morning routine. Like going to the bathroom to do makeup or getting dressed. Maybe getting room service for coffee?"

"Normally I do skincare and makeup," I reply.

"Okay, go ahead and state that when we film." Allison cues the cameraman.

"So the first thing I do when I get up in the morning is head to the bathroom for skincare and makeup." I start to walk toward my small hotel bathroom. I glance over my shoulder and give the camera a flirtatious smile I know will be included in the thousands of edits of me.

The camera stops and they explain to do my hygiene stuff without talking for a montage clip. While they film, I'll jokingly show the camera the toothpaste or face wash I'm using. Allison digs it up and is grinning the entire time.

"Okay, now that I've washed my face, we're going to start with my skincare," I explain to the camera. "My skin is super dry and sensitive so I try not to use anything that is scented."

"First, I use the hydrolonic acid from the ordinary. It helps my skin feel ten times more hydrated so if you have dry skin, I would 100% recommend." I slowly rub and pat the sticky serum in. The silence around is loud. "Next step in my skincare routine is my Nivea face lotion. This is also for dry skin. It's very thick but I believe it's the perfect consistency for me. Finally, I use Vaseline on my lips."

I rub the vaseline on my lips in a pleasing way, no where near how I normally would. I do admit, I'm a little afraid of being my true self because this is the Vogue. They've interviewed Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, and Taylor freaking Swift. All of them are my idols. Last night, before I went to bed, I studied their interviews. I could probably recite to you Taylor Swift's whole video if you asked.

"Cut!"

I let out a sigh and look at Allison. She looks happy, which is a good sign. "Great job, Gwen. Next, go ahead and do your makeup routine. But be sure to show us the product."

"Oh, crap." I bite my lip. "I'm so sorry. I should've done that."

"No, that was perfect!" Allison cries out. "People just tend to want to know the makeup products."

I nod and they hit record. "Okay, so I always start with concealer. That probably sounds weird cause you may have been expecting foundation or even a face tint, but since I'm only fifteen using too much base product causes me to break out. Plus, I want to keep my young features."

"I use the Tarte creaseless concealer." I show the camera. "It doesn't crease as it says."

I let out a giggle and start to apply it. "I put a small line near the inner corner of my eye and then the outer corner. Like so." I look at the camera and bat my eyelashes.