realvalerialeon

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constant.kermit I post the same picture of Kermit the frog. Every damn day.

Valeria has no choice but to board the RV for the drive back to L.A. Her car is missing. And so is Greta. She must’ve woken up in the middle of the night and slipped away without anyone noticing. Bea took two Ambien and didn’t hear her leave. Everyone’s worried, especially Valeria. She doesn’t tell anyone how much she’s freaking out—her mom stopped paying insurance on the BMW months ago; if Greta totals it like she totaled Idris’s Lambo, Valeria can’t just go out and buy a Rolls-Royce as a replacement. Valeria had been planning on selling the car. Before the Panthère de Cartier earrings, it was the one thing she wouldn’t let her mother touch. She kept holding on to the belief that she would need it to take her to auditions.

On the ride home Valeria sits next to Lily and goes over her script for Almost Everything. She’s going to wear the Cartier earrings to her audition this week for a good-luck charm. Valeria gets her old confidence back when she’s wearing the earrings. She remembers she’s a star.

Lily is staring out the window. Joel and Hailey are across from them. Joel went quiet when he learned Greta was missing. Hailey has been trying to comfort him but keeps going off on tangents about the Dress for Success show at the Beverly Hilton.

“What’s the script for?” Sean asks Valeria when he sees her practicing her lines. He’s sitting with Idris and Fortune at the table playing cards.

“A sitcom. The audition’s Friday.”

“That’s the night of the fashion show!” Hailey says.

“Don’t worry; I’ll be there,” Valeria promises.

“Good.” Hailey’s eyes land on Lily. “It’ll be a night to remember.”

“Runway models and drag races,” Brandon yells back at them from the driver’s seat. “End of summer’s gonna be lit as fuck.”

A ping comes into Valeria’s phone. It’s a message from her mom. Patrick wants to see her at the Montage tonight.

“It’s the worst drug out there,” Valeria hears Hailey telling Joel. Hailey holds up her phone. “This is what Greta is really addicted to. The more time you spend reading the comments the more you start to feel like there’s only one mind, like everyone thinks the same and there’s this single idea of who you are.” Valeria knows Hailey’s sudden philosophizing is as fake as her tan. She’s just trying to impress Joel.

“Then why do we keep coming back for more?” Joel asks.

“People say that you can manipulate your image on social media but really you can only feed your image,” Hailey says. “At least once it’s been established, once people think they have you figured out. You’re trapped by their idea of who you are, and if you’re not careful…you become it.”