lillianrhode

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_lavish_bohemia_ Who the hell do u think you are?

Lily comes down the trail to the campsite after waiting nearly an hour for Joel at the stream where they planned to meet. She stops when she sees Hailey standing in Joel’s arms by the fire.

The stars had been so bright and felt so close that Lily couldn’t help but lift her hand up as if she could pluck one out of the sky. She sat on a rock listening to the water flowing in the stream and waiting. She sent Joel a pin drop in case he was having trouble finding her spot, but she was close to the opening of the trail so she didn’t think he could miss her. It was creepy sitting in the dark by herself. She heard the echo of a scream ringing through the mountains.

When Joel didn’t show up, she walked down the dark trail by herself back to the campsite, using the flashlight on her phone to guide her, telling herself there must be a good reason for him to have not shown up or even texted. Another fight with Brandon? Not exactly a good reason but a probable one. The more beer Brandon drank the more he was taunting Joel around the campfire about their drag race.

Now Lily turns and runs away from Joel and Hailey before they see her standing there. She doesn’t stop until she reaches the safari tent she’s sharing with Valeria. Valeria’s sitting up in bed reading a script when Lily enters.

“You okay?” she asks. “Lily?”

Valeria puts down her script when Lily just stands there.

“Where were you?”

“Stargazing,” Lily says. She blinks and shakes it off. “New script?” she asks.

“A sitcom.” Valeria flips through the pages.

Lily kicks off her shoes and sits on the edge of the bed, staring across the tent.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Valeria asks.

“Fine.” Lily nods. “Just tired.”

“The extended trailer for Platinum Triangle dropped tonight,” Valeria says, reaching for her phone. “You made the cut.”

Valeria shows Lily the trailer. Lily’s really in it. Just for, like, half a second, along with audio of Whitney telling Hailey that her cousin is coming to stay with them after her arrest. The trailer cuts to Lily’s mugshot.

“Get used to it,” Valeria says. “They’ll probably cut to your mugshot ten thousand times this season.”

There’s another scene that’s like a kick in the gut. It’s during the cast trip to the Bahamas. Joel and Hailey are lying in a hammock together on the beach…and then the trailer cuts to the next scene: Hailey’s milli party. Joel and Hailey kiss, and then the screen smashes to black. End of trailer.

“Joel knows what he’s doing.” Valeria looks up from her phone and meets Lily’s eyes.

“What do you mean?” Lily asks.

“Well…” Valeria pulls out a licorice from a bag open on the bed next to her script, one of the many things they bought during their supermarket stop. “Maybe I’m wrong and Joel really is over the show,” she says, pulling the licorice between her teeth, “but I don’t really believe it. Maybe that’s because I don’t believe you can be over it. Once you’re infected, it’s for life. With Joel, it’s, like, okay, so maybe the YouTube account got tired. Maybe he’s not as obvious about it anymore. But Joel likes the attention. He lives for it. Just like we all do. Joel runs the game almost as well as Hailey does. And you being Hailey’s cousin? It practically played itself.”