CHAPTER ONE

 

 

“Hey, all you gorgeous Glammers out there! Surprise! It’s your girl, Sutton, here for an impromptu chat with you,” I announce giddily from my place on the plush peony pink couch in our home studio once my live recording starts on Instagram.

In an attempt not to look like I’m obsessing over the insane amount of comments already flying in from the thousands of viewers who immediately hopped online to watch me, I wink at the camera of my phone. When I catch sight of my lopsided, dark ponytail bobbing against my cheek, I giggle bashfully and pretend to swipe my hair away from my face. I definitely made the perfect choice when it came to my ‘do. My hair conveys exactly the right vibe of messy chic, which is perfect for this spontaneous live video I decided a few days ago that I’d host. Every second the video keeps going, thousands of more Glossed & Glammed followers eagerly join in. None of them need to know I spent at least an hour trying to look as cutely casual as possible. And that’s just the way I like it.

Glossed & Glammed means the world to me—and to my two amazing BFFs, Kali and Liv. Together, we’re a beauty influencing, fashion enhancing, makeup styling power trio.

Since we founded G&G together while we were still undergrads at the University of Southern California a few years ago, we’ve managed to go wildly viral. We recently celebrated two million followers on Insta and our numbers only keep soaring. Sometimes, I still can’t believe we’re so popular.

I remember the moment I met Kali and Liv like it was yesterday. We struck social media gold and didn't even know it.

A few months into our freshman year at USC, the senior performing theater class put on a play. As chance would have it, Kali, Liv, and I volunteered to help out in any way we could. Kali was covered from head to toe in paint—both for makeup and stage backdrops—and Liv was scuttling along behind the main costume designer like a cute baby duckling, while I was desperately trying to convince the director to let the background character I was playing have at least one speaking line. Freshmen that we were, I think we were all in a little over our heads. Okay, maybe way over our heads.

One by one, we ended up slouching next to each other in three front row seats near the stage after a particularly crazy rehearsal, too tired to even talk. It wasn’t until we’d each individually dragged our tired butts to the juice bar across campus afterward that we decided to grab a table together and chat over green tea matcha smoothies. From that moment on, we were all inseparable.

The next year, we launched G&G from our shared dorm room.

Between Kali’s love of makeup, Liv’s love of fashion, and my love of the camera, we’re a social media match made in heaven. In college, we spent endless nights coming up with as many bright ideas and tips and tricks about life, beauty, and fashion that we could think of. We couldn’t wait to film video after video on our YouTube channel.

Back then, we never would’ve guessed what the future held.

One of our earliest goals was a thousand subscribers, if we were lucky—and man, did we end up being lucky. Now we’ve moved into a fabulous beachfront home outside of LA and we’re rolling in cash, collabs, and sponsorships. It’s not all fun and games and hanging out under umbrellas on the golden sands of SoCal, though. We have a rigorous schedule of pics, posts, and videos that we have to stick to. If we don’t, we’ll sink under the tide of other rising influencers. And there are a lot of them. It’s a competitive market, one saturated with wannabes and one-video-wonders. It’s a lot of pressure to remain at the top of the social media pinnacle, but we do the best we can. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t extremely proud of how hard we all work and how far we’ve come.

It helps a lot that we each have our strengths and try to help one another with our weaknesses. Kali, our business boss babe, handles not only the makeup tutorials but also most of our corporate affairs and collabs. Liv hates being in front of the camera, but she loves being behind it when she’s not working on her fashion designs. She’s as talented with our cameras as she is with her designs. Then there’s me. I spent months teaching myself how to masterfully edit our pics and vids before I upload them to our social media channels, YouTube, and our brand’s website that I also personally maintain. Our work is never done and our followers always expect more.

I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

“All right, Glammers, I’ve got to run. I’ve got some serious editing to do. Love ya! Mwah!” I smack my glossy lips and end the video before setting my phone down and falling sideways on the cushy couch.

The entire time I’d been talking, I’d totally been running on autopilot. I’d basically just filled our fans in on what exhilarating things Kali, Liv, and I had been up to lately. Okay, most of my stories might have been a teensy bit exaggerated, but our fans gobbled it up all the same. Every time I do one of these live sessions, our social media engagement gets a huge spike. And huge engagement means huge business opportunities.

In the kitchen, my two roommates are giggling and nibbling at some vegan chocolate from a box sitting on the granite-topped island between them. Liv absently caresses Chanel, the adorable fuzzy lop-eared bunny in her lap, while George, the cutest black Labrador-mix puppy I’ve ever seen, runs in clumsy circles around Kali’s barstool, begging for a bite of what she’s munching on—even though he knows he’s not allowed to eat chocolate. As usual, Kali’s makeup is impeccably done and Liv’s clothes are flawlessly on point. I wish beauty came as naturally to me as it does to my two gorgeous girlfriends. I’ve definitely developed my own flair when it comes to makeup and fashion, but I always end up looking to them for help.

Sensing my faint flair of envy, Coco, my sleek calico cat, rouses from her spot on the back of the couch in the living room where she’d been sitting and jumps onto the floor, then gracefully hops onto the island. She slinks closer to grace me with her presence and generously allows me to scratch her favorite spot beneath her chin. I smile at her and boop her pink nose with mine. I adopted Coco right after graduating from USC at a local shelter in LA and immediately fell in love. Coco might be a bit prissy, but who can blame a girl for that, right? Like owner, like kitty.

“How’d the video go?” Liv asks, dark eyes curious as she sips her collagen water.

I open my mouth to answer when my cell chimes. I put my words on hold and reach over to scoop the phone up. I’m always obsessing over our socials. It’s what I do best when it comes to G&G. I make sure our feeds are curated, our comments are answered, and our pics are flattering. The minute my phone chimes with a notification, you can bet I’m picking that baby up to read it.

I stare at the screen, then blink, and for a moment, I’m speechless. Which is kind of remarkable since I’m never at a loss for words.

Finally, I let out a squee. The sudden sound scares Coco and she retreats back to the back of the sofa with a reprimanding mewl.

“You guys aren’t going to believe this!” I say excitedly.

More notifications are coming in so fast that I can hardly keep up.

Liv scoops her bunny into her arms and slides off the stool to come around the island and stand beside me, popping one more chocolate between her lips as she does so. “What’s up?” she asks, mouth full.

I wave my phone. “Which one of you posted on Twitter without telling me? We’re trending!”

Kali laughs and tosses her long, blond hair over her shoulder. “That was me! Grayson was playing with Georgie on the beach earlier and it was so stinkin’ adorable. I had to share.”

Smiling, she reaches down to ruffle her puppy’s floppy ears and he adoringly licks her hand.

“Grayson and George?” I echo in surprise. “You posted your boyfriend and your dog on the G&G page? You weren’t in the shot?”

At my questions, George lets out a cheerful bark and perks his silky black ears. It’s like he knows it’s impossible to be annoyed at him when his sweet brown eyes are pouring right into your soul. I’d always been strictly a cat person before Kali brought George home from the beach a few months ago. Now, I can’t imagine the house without his big puppy paws racing around it at all hours of the day and night.

“Should I not have done that?” Kali asks worriedly. “You posted Coco the other day, so I didn’t think to mention it to you.”

I bite my lip and then shake my head. I know I can be a little bit of a control freak when it comes to our social media pages. That’s why I do all the editing myself even though we could definitely afford to hire a little—or a lot—of help. I might know our brand best, but I definitely don’t want Kali to feel like I’m dissing her or her posts.

“It’s totally fine, Kali,” I say. “Of course, it’s cool. It’s just that I thought we decided we were going to keep the focus on the three of us. We don’t want our fans to get jealous that you landed a smoking hot lawyer,” I add playfully.

Kali laughs and nods. “Cool,” she says, but her expression is still a little clouded.

Liv, who can’t stand an ounce of tension between any of us, clears her throat, cuddling Chanel closer and moving back and forth from side to side like she was rocking a baby. “What are your plans tonight, girls?”

Kali reaches for another chocolate and nibbles on it slowly, not looking at either of us. “Um…actually, Grayson has a work event so I’m going with him.”

Her sky-blue eyes meet mine before immediately shifting away again and a pang jolts through me.

Ugh.

I hadn't meant to make Kali feel like she couldn’t share anything about her beautiful boy toy. It’s only been the three of us for so long that getting used to sharing Kali lately has been tough. I know it’s selfish and I’m not proud of it.

I love Kali like she’s family. Which is why I need to chill out and be more careful about how I act about Grayson. I don’t want my BFF to ever feel like she can’t talk to me or anyone else about her boyfriend. Besides, even I have to admit that not only is Grayson cute and charming—and treats Kali like a princess—but he’s been super helpful for the G&G brand.

I walk around the island and wrap my arms around Kali’s slender shoulders.

“Well, I bet you two will have a blast, babe,” I gush. “You should take a pic of both of you all dressed up and post it on the feed. Our followers will go wild!”

She turns slightly in my embrace and a hopeful smile brightens her face. “Seriously?”

I nod. “Definitely! I'm sorry I got snippy before. It’s just sitting in front of that computer all day makes me moody. I had a ton of editing to do.”

Kali giggles. “I get that. The only reason I’m not stress baking up a storm right now before Grayson’s work thing is because I just got my nails done. I’m probably being a little snippy, too. It’s the first time he’s showing me off to his colleagues and they’re just so…”

I imagine the other people Grayson works with at his law firm and lift a brow. “Stuffy?”

“I was going to say professional,” she insists.

The three of us burst into laughter that’s interrupted when my phone starts chiming again.

I glance at the screen, assuming it’s going to be more comments about how admittedly adorable Kali and Grayson are together, but what I see makes my jaw practically drop to the floor.

“O. M. G!” I squeal. “Babes, we just got invited to THE party in LA. It’s being held at that trendy rooftop bar that’s always booked solid. And Mila and Ashton are going to be there! This is it! I totally thought we got snubbed this year, but I must’ve missed the invite. We only have an hour to get ready!”

I start for the stairs, stopping when I realize Kali and Liv aren’t right behind me. I turn to give them a questioning look.

“I can’t go,” Kali says. “Grayson’s work thing, remember? He needs me to come through for him. I can’t bail for a party.”

Ugh. I already forgot. And she told me like five minutes ago.

I turn helplessly toward Liv, but she shakes her head, her long, auburn hair bouncing around her shoulders. “I’m out, too. Someone’s got to look after the pets if both of you are going wild tonight. Besides, I’m working on some more fashion designs for that collab we’re doing with Franco.”

I bite my lip hard and stare down at the invite on my phone. I can’t not go to this party. Too many celebs and socialites will be there for G&G not to make an appearance. But it’ll be my first big bash without my girls at my side and I’m not sure I’m ready for that.

Well, ready or not, I’m going to this party anyway.