A Risk I'm Willing to Take

Five

I stood next to the rental the school had gotten to drive me to the airport. My suitcase was already in the trunk and my carryon backpack was on my back. I hugged Lauren one last time and took a deep breath.

"You've. Got. This." She looked me straight in the eyes.

I looked into her blue eyes trying to accept that I did have this. That I was ready and it was going to be great.

Lauren held my hands. "Don't sell yourself short, Gemma."

She let go and stepped back so I could get into the car.

I held whatever she had placed in my left hand while I got into the small sedan.

Once I was seated and the driver had begun to start our journey to the airport I looked to see what Lauren had given me.

In my hand was a pair of enamel lily earrings. They were delicate and elegant. Soft pink accented the white petals.

Lilies were my signature flower. My logo is one and it's a big part of my persona as a celebrity.

I guess she wanted me to let myself be someone with a following. To let myself be big.

I always try to keep my career as a singer and influencer separate from the life I live on campus. I tried so hard to keep them two separate people but the truth was I was both of those girls.

The rest of the drive went by quickly. I spent most of it interacting with people on my social media profiles.

A controversial bill had just passed the House and I had posted my support for it on Twitter. Of course as with any time I weigh in on politics I have a wave of response.

I make sure to reply to commenters who both agree with me and disagree with me. I liked discussion.

We finally arrived at the airport. I stepped out of the car and looked around in awe. I've seen a couple airports in my life but this one definitely looked different from all of those.

For one it was a big airport. I had seen one other large airport but I had only been in it in the middle of the night so I wasn't able to fully take in its size.

I walked in and got my boarding pass. I took one look at the security line and wondered what I had actually signed up for.

A line of people snaked around metal guardrails leading to five security check stations.

The people shuffled along so slowly.

I checked my watch. I still had two hours until I had to board but still I felt a lump in my throat. I hated the thought of not being on schedule.

An hour and four selfie sessions later I finally made it to my gate.

I slumped down in a chair and tried to catch my breath. I looked at the guy sitting next to me. He had short brown hair and long eyelashes.

He reminded me of someone back home.

He looked up from his phone.

I quickly looked forward. I didn't want him to catch me looking at him.

I felt him look at me.

"Hey, I hope you don't mind if I say this but you're really pretty."

I looked back at him. He was smiling at me. His goofy grin just added to the beauty of him. His eyes were a rich coffee brown.

"No, I don't mind at all." I chuckled. "You're not too bad looking yourself."

He held his hand out. "I'm Parker."

I shook it lightly. "I'm Gemma."

"So what are you going to Nevada for?" I studied him. He was really attractive.

I interrupted myself. He was cute but we are not allowed to be boy crazy anymore. Our bio is no longer a fan of writing, music, and cute boys. We are mature. We are a college student who is serious about her future career as a journalist.

"I'm going back to school. I took a few days off to see a concert but I have to go back."

I smiled. He was into music. "That's so cool. Who'd you see?"

"Niall Horan." He said shyly.

"Oh my gosh I love Niall...'s music." I felt my cheeks flush. I could not let this random college boy in the airport know that I knew Niall Horan.

"You don't think it's weird that I went to a concert for a guy who used to be in a boy band?"

"Not at all!" I swatted my hand playfully at Parker. "His sound is so much mature now."

"So what are you going to Nevada for?"

Thoughts raced in my head. What do I say? Do I tell him the whole truth? Do I just say I'm a journalist?

I took a quick breath and relaxed. My heart stopped racing.

"I'm a journalist and I'm going to cover a story." I said confidently.

"That's so dope!"

Ten minutes later just as we were starting to debate football teams the speaker announced that group A was boarding.

I didn't like being hooked up with nice seating because of my status but I couldn't change it now.

I sent a quick text to Lauren as I settled into my seat.

"Thank you for the earrings, they're beautiful. I'm on the plane now but I'll talk to you when I land."

I clicked the power button and my screen turned black.

I sat back and tried to relax. It was going to be a long flight and a whirlwind of a week. This could be my big break or this could tank my career.

I tried to remember what Dr. Williams had said to me.

"Gemma, have fun, write a good story. Don't pressure yourself."

I hoped I could fulfill that. Right now I was feeling almost every emotion at once.

Fear. Excitement. Joy. Pride. Sadness.

I pulled out my rhinestone phone and snapped a quick picture of the view out of the plane window. I quickly cleaned it up and applied a filter.

I prepared it for my Instagram story with the caption: "Something big is coming!" Finally I geotagged it.

With one click all 1.3 million of my fans could now see that I was traveling somewhere.

I smiled. I'm ready for adventure.