Diamond in the Rough (12 page)

“Do you understand,” Mira spoke slowly, her livid eyes unblinking as she stared at Gemma.  “That it doesn’t matter what anyone said to defend you? There were pictures.  There were witnesses that know
some
thing happened between you and Emilia.  This incident is not going to be
erased
from people’s memories just because Tyler Chase came to your defense.”

“They
all
came to my defense, because everyone there knew that I did nothing wrong!” Gemma said urgently.  She wanted to shake Mira into believing her, but that wouldn’t come across well considering the topic of discussion. 

“Gemma, you are not getting this!” Mira raised her voice.  She had called Gemma to meet her at her parents’ Upper East Side townhouse.  It was where Gemma lived the longest, having grown up there.  Despite the fracas, it looked peacefully familiar with Malcolm sitting at the kitchen counter behind Mira.  He remained silent, head hung over an open newspaper, either trying to read or pretending to.  “This is not just the business that is Queen Bee but
you.
  This is who you are and what mark you will leave on the world.  This is you not thinking ahead and understanding the concept of consequences!” Mira looked at Malcolm, willing him to make eye contact and perhaps join in.  Gemma knew her father felt the same way but didn’t have the heart to express himself the way Mira did.

“Malcolm,” Mira said sternly when he failed to look up on his own.  Malcolm sighed, removing his glasses from his face and placing them gently atop his papers.

“I’m sorry, Mira.”  Malcolm stood and rested a hand on his sister’s shoulder.  “Why don’t you go rest, I think I can take over from here.”  Mira crossed her arms, staring over her shoulder at Malcolm then looking back to Gemma.

She sighed, leaving the room without another word.  Malcolm waited until Mira was out of earshot before clearing his throat and directing a serious gaze at Gemma.  She had grown accustomed to never discussing her life as Queen Bee with her parents.  Malcolm and Gemma’s mother, Emily, were always extremely supportive, but Malcolm’s strong opinion on striking a balance between celebrity and “normal” in his daughter’s life caused a great deal of anxiety among the family when the topic was ever approached.  As a result, Gemma’s parents supported her the way parents would a teenage entrepreneur whose business was in an industry that they had no grasp on.  In a sense, that was the case with Malcolm working in commercial real estate and Emily in medicine.

“I’ve known Mira all her life,” Malcolm started.  Gemma felt a chill at the sound of broken silence.  “She has always been passionate and feisty and a go-getter.  She sees talent from a mile away and everything she invests in grows faster than anyone could ever ask for.  This is why I was terrified when she told me that you were going to be her next big thing.”

“Why would you be terrified?”

“Because you are entirely too young to understand all that comes with this.  I didn’t want you to become the cliché of fallen teen star with no future and no purpose.  When you get things too quickly, you fail to appreciate it the way you should and things get out of hand.”

“Dad,” Gemma sighed.  “If this is about money, I know.  You raised me better.  I understand I’m lucky and I’ll be responsible.”

“Money is not the only thing you need to be responsible about.  Your reputation and your future are two very huge things that matter more than you can fully get right now.  Who you hang out with reflects upon you.  People will assume you’re another Zoe or Harper.  I’ve met Harper’s father and I just don’t want to deal with the heartbreak he’s going through.  Your mother and I agreed to let you get into all this because you were in the care of your very loving aunt, and also because you’re more mature than most kids I know.”  Malcolm pulled Gemma in for a hug.  “I’m not just saying this because I’m your dad.  I can tell you now I’d never say this to Gavin and I don’t even care if you tell him, since he probably would agree.”  Gemma smiled in response though she stood in the middle of the kitchen, lost in thought and in a bit of a daze.  There was more than a hint of disapproval from Malcolm and Mira over
who
she was hanging out, perhaps more than
what
had actually transpired.

She wished Malcolm a good night as she made her way towards her old bedroom.  Mira and her parents were the ones who didn’t get it.  More than anything, Gemma needed real friends and real friends were supposed to be people who were similar to you, who understood you.  People who
stood up
for you.  As far as she could see, Zoe and Harper were the closest things she had to that.

- Chapter 7 -

“So how much longer before you go back to school?” Zoe asked, snorting.  “I don’t think I’ve ever asked anyone that question before.  I forget you’re like a
real
high schooler.  It’s kind of fun.”

“What?” Gemma giggled, spooning a concoction of frozen yogurt, fruit, cereal and candy bits into her mouth.  Zoe had surprised her on her last day at the hotel with two oversized cups of slightly melted frozen yogurt covered in what looked like literally every topping 16 Handles had to offer.  The yogurt shop was well across town but the location wasn’t about to deter Zoe from going for exactly what she wanted.

“Are you like… applying to
colleges
?” Zoe asked, wrinkling her nose.

“I think I have to.”

“Are you a good student? Do you actually study or do you just like, flirt with all your teachers?” Zoe asked seriously.  Gemma guffawed.

“Uh, no, I don’t flirt with my teachers.  I’ve had a really strict private tutor for like, ever, so school’s easy compared to her.”

Zoe nodded, lost in thought.  “It would be fun to go to high school and just flirt with all the teachers.  I’d probably be a straight-A student.”  She winked.  “You know my touch with older men.”  Gemma rolled her eyes playfully, pretty used to Zoe’s antics at this point.

“Okay, let’s stop talking about school now,” she said.  “I don’t even want to go back.”

“Then don’t! Who cares?” Zoe asked.  “You already have a job so why do you need to keep going to school? Plus, you’ll be leaving me behind, which is not cool.”

“Well it’s not like I’m going to be completely gone,” Gemma said.  “I do get to come out of hiding once in awhile.  And you can call me whenever you want.”

“But if I don’t know when the next time I’ll see you is then we
have
to end this summer with a bang.”

“How?” Gemma laughed.  She wasn’t sure how much crazier things could get.  “Pretty sure we painted the town as red as it’s gonna get.”

“So let’s leave town,” Zoe said mischievously, raising an eyebrow.  “A mutual friend of ours has access to a pretty incredible ocean-side villa.”

~

“You must be completely out of your mind,” Mira said.  “And don’t even try asking your parents after this.  You know they don’t know the full story and would just leave it up to me anyway.” 

Gemma’s shoulders slumped.  She had prepared and delivered a lengthy speech in preparation of asking Mira for permission to go on vacation with Zoe, Harper and Tyler.  Mira’s face twisted at the mention of each name.  Gemma wasn’t sure whom she disapproved of the most.  After hearing Andro recount the Green Room incident, Mira seemed to blame all three equally for the pending lawsuit with Emilia Platt.  Zoe for provoking Emilia, Harper for charging at her, and Tyler for letting Harper loose. 

“Andro can come too! To keep an eye on me,” Gemma pleaded.  “He’ll report everything back to you.  I know you trust him.”  Mira furrowed her brows, as if she hadn’t thought of the option.

“Gemma, honey… I don’t know…” Mira sighed.  “I want to let you have fun because I know you’ve had quite a challenging year.  If anyone thinks you should get a true vacation, it’s me.  But aside from the fact that you need to stay out of the headlines for awhile, you’re also two weeks away from starting school and you need to get back into that mindset.”

“Okay,” Gemma nodded.  “So is that a yes or a no?”

“It’s an I-Have-To-Sleep-On-It bordering on ‘Probably Not,’” Mira replied.  “While I trust you, I can’t say that I trust the three you’ve been hanging out with.  Seems like all they can do is get into is trouble.  And what would Lucas think if he knew you were hanging out so much with Tyler Chase? Would he really be okay with you going on vacation with him to some romantic tropical island?”

~

The smell of chocolate chip cookies wafted out towards her as Gemma pushed through the back door of Lucas’s house.  Within seconds, Lucas’s border collie Leo was circling her feet.  Leo barked once as if to greet her and then ran off into the kitchen.  Gemma followed.

“Oh, you were right, Elisa,” Lucas said with a smile.  He sat on the kitchen counter eating chocolate chip cookies that Elisa was lifting one by one off a cookie sheet.  “We do have a guest.”

“Hi Gemma!” Elisa said excitedly.  “My cookies came out awesome, do you want to try?”

“Um, yes?” Gemma answered.  Elisa giggled as Gemma made a beeline for the cookie sheet.

“Welcome back to Beauford.  Elisa and I missed you,” Lucas said.  His hazel eyes gazed warmly at her.

“Well, yeah I missed you,” Elisa said.  “But Lucas
missed
you.”  She giggled.  Lucas blushed as he hopped off the counter and scooped Gemma into his arms.

“Yes, I
missed
you so much,” Lucas said he brushed Gemma’s hair from her face and kissed her.

“Thank you for waiting until I left the room,” Elisa quipped.

“Sorry,” Lucas laughed.  “We’ll go upstairs.”

Gemma had every intention of filling Lucas in on all that had gone on while she was staying at The Standard.  But the moment she was alone with him in his room, all she wanted to do was lie in his strong arms and take comfort in his familiar scent.  They reclined there together in silence, doing nothing more than relaxing in each other’s embrace.  It was quiet and peaceful, relaxing in a way that she hadn’t felt since she last left his arms.

“So you had a wild week, huh?” Lucas said.  Gemma frowned.  She had been enjoying the quiet between them and felt bad that Lucas was the first to bring up her time away.

“It just looked that way on all the gossip blogs.  Which I thought you would
never
take part in,” Gemma teased.  She looked up at Lucas.  His eyes were closed as he cracked a smile.

“You know I don’t.  I get all my news from Elisa.”

“Yeah and what did she tell you?”

“That you punched some hotel heiress in the face and ran off to a hotel room with Tyler Chase,” Lucas replied.  “She says she doesn’t believe the first rumor but hopes the second one is true.”

“Aw,” Gemma laughed.  “I don’t think she means to actively root against you.”

“Honestly, even if she knew who Queen Bee was actually dating, she might still think Tyler was better for her.”  They laughed.  “Though I’m sure she’d be torn because she’d love the idea of easy access to Queen Bee.”

Gemma squeezed his hand.  “There’s nothing going on between me and Tyler, you know that right?” She propped herself up on her elbows, looking into Lucas’s face.  Lucas opened his eyes, squinting at her.

“I trust you,” he said.

“So if I were to tell you I might go on vacation with Zoe and Harper and Tyler might be there, would that bother you?”

“You’re leaving again before school?” Lucas frowned.  “I was hoping to get some more time in with you before classes start again.”

“It’s only for a few days,” Gemma said.  “And that is if I’m even allowed to go.  Aunt Mira and my parents are hell-bent on me ‘getting back into school mode.’”

“I mean…” Lucas sat up, pulling his long legs into his chest.  “I know you’re not after Tyler but I’m pretty sure he’s after you.”

“Why’s that?”

“I’m sure there’s some truth to all the rumors.  And I mean, among Zoe, Harper and you… you’re the most appealing.”

“Only you think that, Lucas.”

“There’s no way it’s just me.  You’re undeniably the most beautiful,” Lucas said softly.

“You’re crazy.”  Gemma sat up next to Lucas, planting a kiss on his lips.

“I must be,” Lucas whispered, pulling slightly away from her face.  “Because I’m letting my girlfriend go on vacation with Tyler Chase.”  Gemma leaned her forehead against his, looking down to catch the flicker of his sweet smile.

~

Gemma sat in front of her laptop, curtains drawn and door shut so she’d have no distractions.  Her first year at an actual high school had proven to be nothing compared to the rigid training administered by her on-tour tutor, Irina.  Irina was clearly chosen by Mira and her parents for her cold, strict approach to education.  She was the type of educator who thought taking sample PSATs was a “nice break” from regular work.  Though Gemma struggled and at times even suffered under Irina’s demanding ways, she recognized its benefits the moment she coasted through her first semester at Beauford.

Irina often had Gemma channel the focus and diligence she had as Queen Bee during rehearsals into her schoolwork.  But when Gemma did find herself distracted by the hustle of an upcoming performance, Irina would create what she called “The Sanctuary.”  Windows were covered, doors were shut and soundproofed (Irina always came armed with heavy wool sweaters to line the crack between the door and the floor).  A portable fan would be turned on to create a breeze and a soothing white noise.  There was something about that environment coupled with Irina’s stern but genuinely compassionate gaze that made Gemma a powerhouse of productivity.

In her own bedroom, Gemma missed the presence of her tutor and the faint scent of chamomile that had always wafted from her wool sweaters.  She did all she could to recreate The Sanctuary, even brewing a cup of chamomile tea just for the scent. 
You can do this
, Gemma thought as she breathed evenly through her nose, remembering something Irina once said about getting enough oxygen to the brain.