La Vie En Rose

Richie calling.

I starred at my phone as it vibrated along in sync with the ringtone. I was lying down on my bed, my hands resting behind my head and my legs propped up with my phone leaning against my thigh. I made no move to pick up that phone. This was his fourth attempt to talk to me in the past hour. I’m surprised he hasn’t realized yet that I was screening his calls.

“Are you gonna answer that?” I heard Lola’s voice ask. I turned my head to look at her and shook my head slowly.

“It’s Richie.” I replied, “This is his fourth time calling me. I’m hoping he’ll get the hint after the fifth or sixth attempt.”

Lola hopped up on the bed next to me and smiled, “That bad, huh?”

“Horrific.” I corrected before lazily pushing my phone off my stomach and sitting up.

“Hey, about last night...” Lola drifted, “Sorry about my outburst. I know I went a little crazy last night.”

“A little crazy?” I repeated, “Saying you were ‘a little crazy’ is an understatement. Lola, you were threatening to shave your head.”

Lola laughed, “Ok, well obviously I was kidding-”

“I’m not so sure if I can believe that.”

“-Regardless, I’m sorry for freaking you out.” She sighed, “I’m just...so done with dealing with people at high school you know? Last night just sent me over the edge.”

“What happened, exactly?” I questioned, “I didn’t get the chance to ask you last night since you were too occupied punching your pillow on the floor to answer my question.”

“Just high school drama.” She groaned, “I overheard some cheerleaders, whom I thought previously were friends of mine, talking shit about me. They were speculating that I was lying about having a ‘college boyfriend’ since I never bring him to the football games.”

“That’s so dumb.” My eyebrows pressed together with confusion, “Why do they even care so much?”

“Who knows, G.” Lola sighed, “I’m over high school drama. It’s petty and mindless.”

“You only have a couple more months, Lola.” I reminded her, “They’ll fly by, I promise.”

“I know. I’m not worried about it.” She looked at me, “But I am worried about you.”

I gave her a confused look, “What? Why? I’m fine!”

She narrowed her eyes and tilted her chin up to look at me, “Don’t think I didn’t noticed you and John while I was on my warpath. You had the words ‘GUILTY’ written all over your faces.”

“Oh.” My voice cracked, “That...”

“Tell all, please!”

I started to recall last night’s events carefully, making sure I wasn’t leaving anything out. I explained everything, from the dreadful dinner date to the twirling John lead as they danced. It felt odd when the words left my mouth. Thinking about last night gave me a sudden rush of butterflies in my stomach. I still couldn’t believe it happened.

Apparently, Lola couldn’t believe it either.

“WHAT!?” She exclaimed, “G, thats...so romantic! Talk about turning your night around.”

I smiled, remembering how nice it felt to have John’s hand on my waist. He was so gentle. So soft. I shivered, thinking about it.

“You like him, don’t you?” Lola smirked.

I didn’t realize that I was biting my nails and twirling a lock of my hair while my thoughts drifted. To be honest, I forgot Lola was still sitting on my bed. A hot minute, may I add.

“I-yeah. Yep. I guess I do.” I didn’t even want to bother trying to tip-toe around my real feelings. I was crushing on John. Hard.

Lola grinned, clapping her hands with excitement, “This is great! Fantastic! I’ll call Ross and we can go on a double date! How cute would that be, the King siblings dating the O’Callaghan siblin-”

“Lola, no.” I grabbed her arm, hoping that would bring her back down to earth, “Listen to me, no. I have a crush on him, but I’m not going to date him!”

She gave me a shocked look, “Why not?”

“Because, imagine how many problems that would cause.” I stated, “I live in New York and he’s a musician who mostly lives in a...I don’t know, a van? A bus? Besides, we don’t even know if he likes me! It takes two to tango, Lola, remember?

“Are you a nutcase?” Lola opened her mouth hanging with bewilderment, “The man asked you to dance in the damn living room....to a freakin’ Michael Buble song. Not to mention, GIGI, it wasn’t grinding on your ass-dancing, it was the romantic, state of the art, sophisticated-dancing. Do you know how rare that is in the twenty-first century? It’s rare.”

“He was just being nice!” I defended. The last thing I wanted Lola to do, was to put crazy ideas in my head and getting my hopes up. It’s happened way too many times, “I complained about how awful my date was and he wanted to cheer me up...which he did!”

“Gigi,” Lola sighed, placing both hands on my shoulders, “I admire your modesty but I don’t admire the pessimism. Don’t try to play this down as nothing. It’s something. It’s the start of something beautiful.”

“Yeah, a friendship.” I mimicked her move by putting my hands on her shoulders, “So let’s drop it.”

Lola make a ‘tsk’ noise and shook her head, “Denial, I’m telling you.”

I rolled my eyes and let go of her shoulders, “Come on, let’s go to the mall. I need to start on my Christmas shopping.”

As Lola and I dallied on through the shops at the mall, I couldn’t help but think about John again. He plagued my mind like no other. It really killed me, not knowing what he thought about me. Did he see me as a friend or was he feeling the same way about me? It was so difficult to read him. I should stop getting my hopes up. This crush I had on him, after all, was just a crush. Nothing could happen. It would be an impossible situation. I’ll be across the country, eating, sleeping, breathing fashion-related work while he’ll be living in a van with his band, playing shows for his devoted fans. We were both busy people so there would be no room for a relationship. What a depressing thought, but at least I’ll see him when I’m home on the holidays? If he’s home from tour, that is.

After noticing a couple of ideal presents for our mother, Tim and Cole, we decided to call it a day and go home. I was the absolute worst at buying presents for my family. I feel like I buy my mom perfume every year. I needed to change it up this year.

“Maybe we should get Cole more dvds” Lola suggested as we turned into the neighborhood. The heat was blasting from the air-vents, making me unbutton my peacoat. Lola was never a fan of cold weather, “Or more coloring books? I don’t know, it’s hard to buy for little boys.”

Just as I was going to respond, my eyes latched onto several figures skateboarding up and down the sidewalk. I sat up straight, noticing it was Ross, John and the rest of the guys.

Hehe.

Lola laid her hand down on the horn and smirked at them as we drove past them and parked in our driveway. I laughed as they all gave her the middle finger.

“Hey G.” Lola said as she turned off the engine, “I think I saw your friend on the sidewalk.”

“One more word about John, and consider yourself bald when you wake up tomorrow morning.” I warned her before unbuckling my seatbelt, “I’ll make your dream come true, trust me.”

Lola only laughed.

“Well!” I heard Garrett call as we both got out of the car, “If it isn’t the King Mings!”

“Really, Garrett?” I asked, giving him a disappointed look, “Is that really all you could come up with?”

I walked over to the curb, stuffing my hands into the pockets of my black Peacoat. Lola was already frolicking across the street to kiss Ross. I rolled my eyes at her.

“Yeah and I think it was very clever!” He exclaimed as he slung his arm around my neck before pushing my head down and messing up my hair with his fist.

“Hey! Quit that!” I laughed as I tried pushing him away, “You’re messing up my hair!”

“Oh! ‘You’re messing up my beautiful hair’ she says!” Garrett mimicked me in a high pitched voice as I finally detached him from my neck. I quickly fixed my hair before punching him in the arm as hard as I could.

“You’re such a jerk!” I laughed as I pushed him away and walked over to the rest of the group. My eyes instantly searched for John, who was sitting on the curb next to Kennedy and Halvo. Our eyes instantly fixed on each other, making my legs suddenly feel like jelly. God, one look and he’s got me feeling like I ran twenty miles at once.

“G-spot!” Kennedy gave me a friendly smile, “Just the person we were looking for!”

“Oh really?” My eyes darted to John, who suddenly found his white lace-up shoes very interesting. I wonder if John told them about our little thing last night, “Why?”

“We have a little proposition for you.” Garrett cut in, leaning his elbow on my shoulder.

“A proposition?” I questioned suspiciously, “What kind of proposition?”

“Well, we’re going to California for a couple of days to film a music video and we thought ‘Hey! Why don’t we bring Gigi along? She’s a loner and she’ll have no one when we’re gone!’ so we all decided that we, The Maine, want to bring you, Gigi King, with us.” Kennedy said proudly.

“What? No way.” I shook my head, “I can’t just go to California!”

“Why not? Come on, it’ll be fun!” Garrett poked my side, “Think of it as a road trip!”

“Yeah! It’s only gonna be four days anyways.” Pat chimed in while he pushed his skateboard back and forth with his left foot.

I bit my lip, weighing the pros and cons of their offer. A road trip with all the guys did sound amazing and I’ve never been to California. I’ve always wanted to go there and nothing was stopping me. It’s not like I had plans this week anyways. If all the guys went to California without me, I’d only have Lola, who wouldn’t even be able to hang out since it’s exam week at school.

“Please oh please, Gigi!” Kennedy begged, shaking his clasped hands at me, “We want you to come with us!”

“Alright, how about I sleep on it?” I asked, “I need to think about it.”

“Fine.” Garrett sighed, “But if you say no, be prepared to be kidnapped Wednesday morning, ready or not.”

Later that night, after I took a shower and changed into my pajamas, I hopped into bed with my laptop. I fully intended to respond to some well-overdue emails, when I noticed an email from NYLON Magazine. The editor, to be exact. I clicked on it with suspicion:

Dear Ms. King,

I apologize for making this short, as I am already late for an important meeting but I would like to let you know a NYLON employee has brought you and your clothing line to my attention. I must say, Gigi King, I am very impressed with your recent achievements. Your line of dresses and skirts are absolutely remarkable. I couldn’t believe it when my employee told me you were only nineteen years old!

Anyways, let me get to the point. I’d like to have an interview with you for next month’s NYLON issue. You are exactly the kind of person we like to feature in our magazine. Young, hard-working and passionate. All you.

I noticed you are currently enrolled at Parsons in New York City, so coming over to California for an interview would be a little bit of a stretch. Luckily, we have several NYLON offices in the city so if you wish to take up the offer, we can happily set something up there.

I’m looking forward from hearing from you, Ms. King. Trust me when I say, it’s rare to come by such an astounding, young individual like yourself.

Marvin Scott Jarret
Editor-In-Chief
NYLON Magazine
Hollywood, California

I starred at the email with complete shock. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. If this isn’t a sign from the Gods, I don’t know what is. I quickly pressed the reply button and started typing ferociously:

Marvin,

My jaw is literally dropped to the floor. It would be an honor to do an interview for your magazine. I have been an avid reader for years now!

Actually, funnily enough, I’m heading to California for a couple of days this week with a couple of friends. I’m currently in Arizona for the holidays and we’re driving up to Los Angeles on Wednesday. Perhaps we can work something out?

Again, thank you for this unbelievable offer. I couldn’t thank you enough!

-Gigi King.

I read over it once before hitting send. This was actually happening. I was finally getting my name out there. I clapped my hands with excitement.

I quickly made a grab for my Blackberry on the side table and texted Garrett.

Yo, what time are we leaving on Wednesday again?