Famous By Association

The next day Lacey awoke to Amanda’s voice.
“Rise and shine, Lacey!”
“What time is it?” she moaned, covering her face with the covers to shield herself from the sun streaming in through the window what Amanda had just opened.
“It’s already seven.”
“Seven?!”
“Yeah and if you don’t hurry we’ll be late to the fashion show.”
“At what time does it start?”
“At ten. But it takes about an hour to get there, an hour for us to leave and another hour to get ready to model at the fashion show.”
“Wait, aren’t you grounded?”
“Yes, I am, but since it’s my career, the punishment doesn’t affect it. It’s like not letting you go to school for a week.”
“Yeah, exactly the same thing.”
“Anyways, what are you going to wear?” Amanda asked, sitting on the end of her bed.
“Hmm, I’m not sure yet.”
“Need help?”
“Sure.”
She rushed to her closet and started shuffling through it.
“You won’t guess who’s going to the fashion show.”
“Who?” Lacey asked wearily.
“Kyle Jones.”
“Kyle Jones?”
“Yup.”
Kyle Jones was a model (what else would he be doing at a fashion show?) and also an actor. He had starred in a chick flick as “the cute guy” and from then on it had been full-on fame for him. He naturally blonde hair and striking blue eyes were amazing, but he had always seemed a bit arrogant to Lacey. But arrogance wasn’t a problem to her sister. I mean how can you hate your own kind?
“Here you go,” Amanda said, handing her a pile of clothes.
Lacey examined it. There was a girly yellow top, a denim vest, brown shorts and matching brown sandals. It looked like something she would have picked out.
“Thanks…”
What had happened to her normal sister?
“Hurry up and put it on before I change my mind.”
There she was.

The car ride was long and tedious, but after the aforementioned hour, they arrived. The outside of the building didn’t say much but the inside, wow. That was all that came to Lacey’s mind when she saw the elegant curtains, the comfortable seats, the astounding catwalk.
A woman with bleach blonde hair and a Bluetooth in her ear led them backstage, where the rest of the models were. Amanda was assigned a rack of clothes and a vanity table, complete with a huge mirror, a padded chair and as much makeup as in all the Rite Aids in California put together.
Lacey stood behind, looking around. They didn’t usually go to fashion shows, so it was a special occasion.
“Amanda, my dear!” a man said, approaching her with arms open.
“Jean!” she replied, walking towards him, ready to receive his hug.
He was the designer of all the apparently beautiful designs. He had cropped black hair and brown eyes which hid behind round glasses. His clothes weren’t exactly fashionable, well truthfully, they were hideous. How could anyone think orange stripes matched with purple corduroy? How could anyone invent purple corduroy?
“It’s such a pleasure to have you modeling here.”
“No. The pleasure is all mine. It’s an honor to show the world your designs.”
He smiled at that. Stuck up much?
His eyes traveled around, until they landed on Lacey.
“And who are you?”
“I’m-”
“I hope they didn’t hire you. Anyone who is going to be wearing the genius I’ve made can’t look like… like she just stepped out of a Kmart catalog.”
Lacey felt her face redden. She didn’t dress that bad. I mean, it wasn’t like she had on a pair of flannel pants or anything.
Amanda’s eyes were opened wide, but she didn’t say anything.
“Mr. Lafayette, she isn’t one of our models,” an assistant leaned in and whispered to him.
Lacey swallowed, and turned to go.
“Lacey,” Amanda said.
“I’m going to the bathroom.”
She needed to splash some cold water on her face and get rid of the tears that were threatening to surface.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Don’t worry.”
She resumed her chat with Jean (that idiot) like if nothing had happened. Amanda wasn’t helping much either. I mean, she could defend her just a little, couldn’t she? Lacey would have done that for her.
Where were the bathrooms? Between all the hustle and bustle of the models getting ready for the show, Lacey had no idea where to head. She neared a blonde leaning against a clothes rack. She looked like an exact replica of a Barbie doll.
“Excuse me, where are the bathrooms?”
The model looked her up and down and gave her a what-are-you-doing-here look. She pointed a slender finger to where the restrooms were and went back to whatever she was doing.
She walked the way Barbie had pointed and found herself in a hallway with what must have been thirty doors. Now, which one was the bathroom?
She wasn’t going to start opening doors because that would be just silly but then what else was she to do? She didn’t want to be standing in a hallway crying. That was just pathetic.
“Hey, aren’t you Amanda’s sister?” someone from behind her said.
She turned to find Kyle Jones grinning back at her. Kyle Jones. With that cute smile of his.
“Yeah.”
She didn’t know how she managed to say that because her throat was completely dry.
“So I suppose she’s her?”
“Yup.”
“I heard you’re going out with Ryan?”
Lacey instantly felt her cheeks grow hot.
“What?”
He laughed.
“Don’t be shy. I’m sure a pretty girl like you has had better boyfriends.”
He said it in a teasing manner, like if he were friends with Ryan and was trying to tease him. Except he wasn’t there.
“Well, actually-”
“He should be around here if you’re looking for him.”
“I’m not-”
“Oh, look, here he is.”
Ryan looked just as surprised.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi.”
“Well I’ll just leave you two alone.”
“No!” they yelled at the same time.
“Well aren’t you two a strange couple?” he said mockingly before walking off.
“I’m sorry,” Lacey found herself saying, “I didn’t mean him to think we were a couple. Really.”
“Don’t worry. I know you didn’t tell him anything. He’s just dumb enough to listen to the media.”
“Yeah.”
Lacey’s heart was beating so hard, she was sure he could hear it. He, on the other hand, looked calm as can be.
Ryan’s phone started beeping. He pulled it out, read the text message, and pulled it back into his pants.
“Look, Lacey, I think we need to talk but right now I really can’t. Maybe after the fashion show we can go somewhere?”
Lacey swallowed. She could just say no. She should just say no. He was a jerk. An idiot. A waste of time.
“Okay.”
Why? Why? Why was her mouth betraying her. She didn’t like him, much less want to be around him.
“See you later then?”
“Yeah.”
Great now she sounded like an idiot. She could barely say more than yeah or okay.
“Bye,” he said, smiling slightly, and walking off.
“Bye,” she called out, to no one in particular; Ryan was already gone.
Lacey sighed and looked around. Her mouth was dry and she had a knot in her throat. She wasn’t sure if it was because of Jean’s earlier comment or Ryan. The comment had hurt her but she wasn’t dumb enough to be depressed by a bizarre guy’s comment. And then there was Ryan. He seemed a nice guy, beneath all that modeling garbage. But, then again, she barely knew him. He wasn’t like any other guy she had met, but she needed to face the facts. He was a celebrity, a model and she would only ever be at the sidelines of stardom, watching without ever being seen. A guy like him had so many other choices: models, singers, actresses…and if he chose her for one moment, one single wonderful moment, he would eventually snap out of it and realize she wasn’t the one he needed. And without wanting to, he would break her heart, her silly little heart, who actually believed he really cared and would never hurt her like that.
She couldn’t let that happen. It was just a thought, you may say, but that’s the thing with thoughts, since they’re done by your brain, they're usually right.
Lacey wasn’t going to let him get close. At all. Everything would go back to the way it used to be. It would be just her lonesome self once again.