Long Live the Queen

|The Ultimate Act|

May 31

The feeling of blood rushing to one's head is not enjoyable. Of course, what would be expected if you were leaning over the side of a bed. That was the exact position I was in at quarter 'til eleven pm.

"I'm going to be gone for the next couple of weeks. . so, yeah" There were times when I stated something but didn't know how to properly finish, so excess words were just tacked on.

"Where to?" The masculine voice on the other line questioned.

"You remember that reality show thing at school? Well, I was selected so I must go to this two week preliminary shooting thing in Los Angeles."

"Mhmm. Do you know anyone else going?"

"Not yet. Melody is suppose to email me all of the information sometime before my flight at two." Were typical best girlfriend relationships so similar to a celebrity-publicist relationship or was it just a Mel and me thing? The two of us had been talking for a sufficient length of time --forty-two minutes-- and other things needed to be done. So, I said goodbye and dropped my phone on the plush white carpet at the foot of my bed.

June 1

My parents were out of town for business so there was no problem leaving the house around ten for brunch. The soft leather seats of my dark gray Mazda felt great along with the blaring air conditioning. During the summer, the temperature would rise into the 110s in Brentwood.

My wooden espadrilles pushed the acceleration, zooming out of my four-car garage. Right after I had slipped on dark sunglasses, my speakers started buzzing. Joey's face flashed on the screen as an incoming call.

"Morning! Do you wanna come over before you fly out later?" The whirring background noise on his end was indicative of exactly where he was. The picture flashed in my mind: Joey in boxers and an old tee, standing inside his stainless steel kitchen, using the blender to make one of those gross protein shakes, his phone tucked in the crook between his neck and shoulder.

"I'm actually heading to brunch with Melody and some other acquaintances right now. And, I haven't finished packing because Melody wants to go through everything blah blah blah. I'm sorry, hun"

"OKay. that's cool. Just call me when you're at the airport." the whirring stopped and the other line was silent. Probably Joey drinking. "Text me if you need a ride or anything."

"Will do. Later, love."

"Love you too." The line died.

The local coffee shop grew larger as my car turned into the parking lot. Cafe au Lait was a mid-sized stand alone building. The infrastructure was something to be noted; the whole north wall was made of glass. Although there weren't any booths, clusters of wired chairs were positioned throughout the spacey room giving each table a pseudo-private air to itself.

Three girls from school and Melody were already seated at a table facing the glass wall when I returned with my drink. The only open seat was on the far left. Just sip your coffee, Victoria, it's not that big of a deal. Natalie sat right next to me. She was sitting criss cross with her wavy chocolate brown hair piled in the center.

"Hey, Victoria!" The girl sitting across from me, next to Melody, spoke; the voice coming from a red velvet haired, olive toned girl named Chloe.

Excluding Melody, the three girls sitting at this table would be classified as my unintentional 'popular' friends--Natalie, Chloe, and Meredith. (with some lenience towards Natalie because her ego was normal sized) As a reference point, Meredith was someone who I personally hung out with a lot to keep the amount of gossip about me at bay. As president of the Pep club and captain of the cheerleading team, she had full access to every aspect of the upper social class's behavior at Brentwood Academy. But don't be fooled, she didn't carry a light in comparison to Melody.