𝓕𝓔𝓐𝓡𝓢 ||𝚌. 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒...

stray rays of late-morning sunshine infiltrate the edges of my vision. i roll over in my bed, pulling the corners of my blanket up to my chin. i hear my phone vibrate on the nightstand. ignore it. try to fall back asleep.

a minute later, my phone buzzes again.

and again.

after the fourth annoying buzz, i stick my hand out of the warm blankets and snatch my phone, intending on setting it to do-not-disturb mode so that it'll quit bothering me.

before i can do this however, a text from my best friend, georgia, catches my attention.

georgie 💕: hey bree! i'll be at your apartment in five minutes and if you're still asleep i'll kill you 😊

my heart punches me in the chest and i fling myself upright in bed, rapidly reading the other three texts.

georgie 💕

hey bree! i'll be at your apartment in
five minutes and if you're still asleep i'll
kill you 😊

bree?

the fact you're not answering is scaring me.

you're done for.

i scramble out of bed, stumbling over my sheets, which have decided to tangle themselves around my legs to slow me down. my heartrate is way too quick for this early in the morning. less than five minutes ago i was pleasantly dreaming in my warm bed. the cardiac arrest might kill me before georgia does!

i yank a sweater from my closet and rifle through some drawers for a pair of jeans. as i gather my clothes together, i quickly respond to georgia's text, assuring her that i've been awake. nothing to worry about!

i throw my clothes on in a hurry, and right as i'm finishing, i hear a knock on my front door. georgia's here. i jog over to the door and open it.

"hey!" i say.

"hey—"

before she can finish, i'm running back to the bathroom.

"sorry!" i call from the sink. i spritz myself with some perfume, then grab a pair of earrings from a tray. "just finishing getting ready. lost track of time a little." my voice comes out breathy.

georgia has made her way to the doorway of the bathroom and stands there with her arms crossed. "seriously, bree? you were sleeping when i texted you, weren't you?" her voice is accusatory.

"who, me?" i say, acting surprised. i keep my eyes locked on the mirror, keeping my hands busy with a bottle of mascara. i glance over and see the unimpressed look on my friend's face. clearly she isn't buying it.

"i'm sorry, georgia." i set down the mascara. "please forgive me? i don't know what happened. i think my alarm shut off or something."

georgia picks up the mascara and hands it back to me. "just finish quickly. i'll be in the car."

i want to say more, but i don't have time, so i finish with my makeup and then grab my phone. instead of putting my shoes on, i carry them in my arms and run out to her car in my socks.

when i get into the car, she starts backing up before i've even put my seatbelt on.

i turn to her and sigh. "i'm really, really sorry about that. i didn't mean to sleep in."

she keeps her eyes locked on the road. i fumble with my shoelaces. "i've been stressing about this for weeks, bree. i did not need to be anxious about this, too. you're lucky i decided to leave early, because this definitely would have made us late."

guilt clenches my heart. she's right; me being irresponsible caused her even more stress than she needed.

"i'm so sorry."

finally, my friend gives me a small smile. "it's okay. we're going to be on time. and i know you won't do this to me ever again." she gives me a pointed look, and i feel immense relief when she laughs. she's so quick to forgive.

"i won't, seriously. i've learned my lesson. having you mad at me for more than five seconds was way too unsettling." i look at her again. "but mostly because you don't deserve that. i'm so, so sorry."

"i wasn't mad," georgia says, waving it off. "just a little panicked." excitement lights up her face. "i can't believe we're doing this!"

i grin, shoving the last shoe onto my foot. "you mean you're doing this. i'm just emotional support."

gorgeous georgia, the most stunning person i know, has been modelling for about a year now. L.A is competitive, especially in the modelling industry, but as far as i know, she's been doing pretty well for her first year. today, she has a shoot that she's been looking forward to for weeks, and she's bringing me along with her. for emotional support, like i said. yikes . . . already doing a crappy job of that, nearly giving her a heart attack.

"what's this dude's name again?" i ask. "i feel like i should know this before we meet him."

"nick sturniolo? are you serious, bree? how isolated is that rock you're living under?"

"nick! right, i knew that. it was on the tip of my tongue." i ignore her last statement. "and he's a triplet," i continue, flexing my knowledge, "and he has a lipstick brand."

"lip balm," she corrects.

"lip balm. that's what i said."

georgia laughs and rolls her eyes. "i can't believe you'd never heard of the sturniolos before i told you about them." she slaps her hands against the steering wheel. "ahh! i'm so nervous i'm going to explode!"

"don't be," i reassure her. "you're going to nail it."

georgia will be modelling for nick's lip balm brand today. she showed me some of the past shoots the brand has done, and they look really creative and exactly her style. they couldn't have picked a better model, in my humble, not-at-all biased opinion.

"thanks. i hope so."

the drive is long and mostly quiet. i imagine georgia is too nervous to say much, so i try to distract her every once in a while. she doesn't usually bring me to any of her shoots, but today she wanted to have someone with her. there isn't much i can do, as i'm sure there'll be hair, makeup, and costume teams to make the magic happen, but she assures me that my presence will be appreciated nonetheless. for her, at least.

"are you sure they're okay with me coming along?"

"i talked to nick's manager and they said it's fine. you might have to sign an NDA, though."

i scoff. "what for?"

"so you don't talk about what flavours will be released."

"oh, of course," i say sarcastically. "heaven forbid i spill that the next lip balm flavour will be cherry. the whole world will erupt!"

"it won't be cherry, he's already done cherry," georgia says, somewhat distractedly. i wonder whether or not she even picked up on the sarcasm. i decide to leave her alone for the rest of the ride.

-

the inside of the building is noisy with directors and other models hurrying around the set. from where i'm standing in the front entrance, i can see huge studio lights and massive backdrops and green screens. i smile at georgia, my excitement for her rising.

after just a few seconds of standing there, a man with a clipboard walks up to us. his eyes lock on georgia. "you're one of the models, right?"

"yes, i am," georgia replies. "this is my friend bree. is it okay that she's with me?"

the man looks me up and down, as if checking for hidden cameras or spy weapons. i guess these lip balm people mean serious business. "you can stay in the waiting area, if that's all right with you."

i give the man a nod. "no problem."

georgia hugs me quickly before she goes. i squeeze her back. "don't be nervous. you'll be great," i whisper.

"thanks bree," she replies, mustering a tight smile. "i'll see you after."

"good luck!"

the waiting room is right next to the door we just walked in through. plain white walls, a big window into the parking lot, a few chairs. i take the seat closest to the door. it's comfortable; not a bad place to have to wait for who knows how much longer.

all i can do is hope that georgia is okay. this is the most nervous i've ever seen her before a shoot. even though i've never really heard of this nick guy, he must be a big deal.

ten minutes pass, then twenty. i start to wonder how long this is going to take. i pull out my phone, play a few rounds of brawl stars, lose, then shove it back into my pocket. stare at the wall for thirty seconds. open instagram to find nothing new or interesting. i sigh and set my phone down again. this is going to be harder than i thought.

just as i'm ready to start looking for a bathroom—just for something to do—the front doors swing open.

i look up to see who it is, wondering if it's another model. my eyes land on not a model, but a boy who looks like he could be one.

a second later, an identical face appears next to his. my eyes widen in disbelief.

triplets, i remember.

"hey!" i call to them. they look up, noticing me for the first time. "you must be nick's brothers."

"uhm, yeah," one of them says. i realize too late that maybe they would find it weird that i'm talking to them. i can't find it in me to care, though. this is the first conversation i'm having in what feels like way too long.

"are you one of the models?" the other twin—triplet, i remind myself—asks.

"no, but thanks for thinking that," i joke.

"who are you then?" he asks.

"dude, don't be rude."

"what do you mean, matt? i'm just asking who she is."

"that's a rude question."

"no it's not."

"i'm bree," i offer. "i'm friends with one of the models."

"nice to meet you," the one whose name is not matt says.

they wave politely before continuing into the main part of the building. my spirits deflate a little as i watch them leave. in the past twenty minutes, they're the only company i've had. i sigh and sink deeper in my chair, pulling my phone back out to pass the time.

only a few minutes later, i hear the two boys return. to my surprise, they enter the waiting room and sit in the empty chairs across from me. they look defeated.

"what are you guys up to?" i ask. "here to help you brother with the shoot?"

i can't tell the boys apart from their faces, but i think the one with the hat called the other boy matt. hat and matt, then. matt says: "nick kicked us out."

"that quickly?"

"the models were getting distracted because i was in the room," hat brags.

"chris, don't be an idiot." okay, scratch 'hat' then. their names are chris and matt. i try to forge this into my memory, but i'm not too good with names. "they were distracted because you knocked over a giant studio lamp."

a laugh bursts out of me. "you did?"

"i didn't see it there! dumb place to put a lamp anyway."

"so nick kicked us both out for some reason."

suddenly, a third boy pops his head into the doorway. he looks similar to his brothers, yet i can already pick up on differences that separate their looks. unique clothing style, mullet-like haircut, nose ring. this brother looks annoyed.

"stay in this room. both of you." he points at each of his brothers.

hat/chris throws up his hands. "what are we supposed to do, then? we drove all the way out here to help. you want us to just turn around and go back home?"

"i don't care if you stay here or drive home or skip your way down to the circus, but i don't want you anywhere near the shoot!"

i hold back a laugh at nick's quick-witted response.

"we came here to help," matt repeats in protest.

"i never asked you to." nick claps between words to emphasize his point.

i continue to watch the conversation play out like a drama film on tv.

"you're so ungrateful," chris says.

"you're an idiot," nick quips.

"fine, we're going." matt gets up and takes his car keys out of his pocket.

"good, bye." and with that, nick is gone.

i let out a breath. "that was intense."

the brothers look at me with a funny expression, probably confused as to why i'm even weighing in on their private argument. well, excuse me. it's not exactly 'private' when you're having it in the middle of a waiting room. 

"come on chris, we're going to six flags."

"dude, we're not going to six flags."

"yes we are. there's one right down the street."

chris stares at his brother for a moment, and then suddenly his gaze is on me.

"wanna come?" he asks.

i blink at him.

"me?"

"yeah. you look bored. do you wanna come to six flags with us?"

this random boy is seriously asking me to go to six flags with him.

"uh . . ."

while i have desperately been wanting something to save me from my boredom, riding roller coasters is not an activity i associate with. not that i've ever ridden one . . . but one look at those death machines and i already know my limits.

"thanks for the offer, but i'm not a fan of roller coasters."

"why not?" chris asks.

"i'm terrified of them."

he cocks his head and smiles. "really?" i notice for the first time just how attractive of a smile it is.

"leave it, chris. she said she doesn't want to."

chris shrugs. "fine, suit yourself. but i think you should face your fears."

"yeah, yeah." i wave him off.

"and just so you know," he adds as he takes another step towards the door, "they're gonna be at least another three hours."

my head snaps in his direction. "what? did you say three hours?"

"oh, at least." he smirks.

i consider the offer again. just because i go with them doesn't mean that i'll have to actually get on any of the rides. maybe it'll just be a short break from sitting in this room. maybe there'll be churros and popcorn stands.

but no. i can't just leave georgia.

"i can't leave my friend here," i say.

"you'll be back long before they're finished the shoot," chris points out.

three hours of sitting in this chair, or a quick churro break? georgia won't even notice i'm gone, because i won't be able to see her at all until all of this is finished. and anyways, i bet she didn't realize it would go on for so long. otherwise, i'm sure she would have told me to go drive around the area until she's finished.

and i didn't bring a lunch . . .

"okay, i'm coming."

author's note:

i'll be popping in here every once in a while cuz i think that's fun.

first chapter done BOOM! what do we think so far??

hope you're all having a very wonderful day <3