"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" Carter asked, putting Bowser in his travel tank. "We can leave Bowser at Duke's house and I can be your plus one," he offered, sounding equal parts horrified by going to a red carpet event and equal parts brave. 

Where spotlights had never scared me, Carter was like a shadow, the more light that shined, the more he seemed to vanish under its attention. I adjusted my lavish long flowing dress and shook my head, my rainbow hair back to it's vibrant shine as I pushed several curls over my shoulder until the strands fell across my back. 

The long gown felt like silk across my skin, the pink swirling into baby blue as it reached my ankles, the a line material cinching in at my waist before blooming out. My cherry blossom tattoo was on full display across my shoulder and arm now that I was no longer shooting the movie and seeing the flash of color in my hair, the pink inked across my skin, the bright dress color on my body, I finally felt like myself after months of playing someone else. 

"No. You don't want to be there for this one," I said to my reflection in answer to Carter. 

"I never want to be at those things," he said with a shudder. "Those camera people are crazy. The things they find fun to take pictures of are dumb," he said placing a piece of lettuce in Bowser's tank before settling on the couch in his ninja turtle pajamas. "Why would anyone want pictures of people who look mad at having their pictures taken. It's a weird hobby."

He smiled as Bowser began to chew on the lettuce leaf with slow, deliberate chomps. "I'm glad you don't write those things anymore." 

I gave a mock shocked expression back at Carter over my shoulder. "What? You DON'T like me writing lies for a living? I'm shocked."

Carter snorted. "Okay neon queen." Plucking up a piece of pizza from the coffee table, Carter took a large bite, chasing the cheese that glooped off the side before getting the entire thing in his mouth. "When do you leave?" 

A knock at the door symbolizing Duke's arrival came as answer. 

Clutching my clutch purse, a fancy glittery looking thing with a silhouette of a unicorn on it, I pulled on my converse with one hand while hoping towards the door. "Now. Lavender said she'd be here in five minutes... five minutes ago. She'll start calling me every thirty seconds if I don't get downstairs now-ish." 

Duke smiled widely at me, taking in my outfit with a long whistle. "Holy smokes kid, you are gonna knock em dead." He walked in and slumped down on the couch next to Carter, helping himself to a slice of pizza. 

"When is that movie of yours comin' out? Will it be on a streaming service? Watching movies at home has ruined me for theaters." 

"I don't decide those things," I said with a laugh. 

Both boys began to scroll through Netflix, trying to decide what movie to watch, only half listening to me now. "I can't believe you know Delle Falls," Duke said as he hovered over the reality tv show she had been on, 'Hearts Don't Lie.' "Is she really as terrifying as she is in person?"

Duke had been a fan of Delle for a while, having watched her reality tv show several times since it first came out. I had been tempted to invite her over several times when Duke was going to be around mostly to watch him fall into an excited panic. But Delle would kill me. 

"You got this Em," Carter said as I made my way for the door. "Just be brave. Be honest, and show them why you are awesome."

Duke looked over at me with a raised brow. "No idea why you need a pep talk before a fancy event, but... what the kid said," he added before holding up a second piece of pizza with a cheers gesture.

"Thanks boys," I said with a laugh before closing the door and heading out into the night, trying to mentally prepare to out a blackmailer while surrounded by cameras. 

...

Looking pretty doesn't encourage the badass in me. It makes me want to be pretty and do pretty things. It made me wonder if others were the same way. If putting on armor made someone itch to fight. If putting on running shoes made someone itch to run. Did clothes inspire the inner fighter, or did wishing to fight make you want to put on something to fight in.

"So at what point are you going to let the inner drama queen out," Lavender asked, smiling at me from the seat next to mine in the back of the limo. 

"I'm not sure," probably when I have the largest audience I guess," I replied, distracted. 

It had been a total of four months since I had seen Luke Walker, and I was more nervous about that interaction, than everything else that was going to come after that. 

"He misses you too," Delle said, reading my face with her intuitive detective eye. 

Swallowing, I looked out the window, tackling all the butterflies that were currently attempting an overthrow of all logic and replied, voice strangely even. "How is he?"

There was a long pause. And I hated how that pause told me so much more than what either Lavender or Delle could possibly come up with to put me at ease. 

"His mom is in hiding. So... probably not the best," Lavender admitted. 

"But on a positive note,  he hasn't said a bad thing about you to the press?" Delle said sounding unsure of her own attempt something kind. 

Lavender scoffed. "You are THE WORST at positivity!"

Delle threw up her hands, irritated. "Well, I'm sorry! No one comes to me for pep talks. You should have done the positive stuff. Leave negative stuff to me! It's like making me good cop!"

Rolling my eyes I turned to take in my two friends. "I appreciate your attempts to calm me, but no matter how he is, I am still going to do this. I owe this to him and myself."

Lavender was a vision in a long purple gown with a slit that went up to her thigh showing a flash of skin as she crossed her legs, showing off her black pumps. Delle wore a black suit with a deep green blouse, her long red hair like fire burning along black satin. 

"Is Dustin still mad?" I asked. 

Lavender scoffed. "People say I'm the drama queen in the family, but do you see me wining about you?" She shrugged, glancing at her fingernails in the moonlight coming in through the window. "Yes. He's mad. And he'll be even more angry with the stunt you are going to pull." She smiled a slow, vibrant smile that had made her famous. A million dollar smile that brightened up the limo. 

"But I can't wait to see how this goes."

"You thrive on drama," Delle said with an eye roll. 

"Says my fellow drama queen," Lavender replied. 

"Are all movie premieres this..." I waved my hand, at a loss for words for a moment. "this dramatic."

"Welcome to the show," Lavender said with a smile. "Where drama queens reign, everyone wants to undercut everyone else and there are quite a few spotlights to steal." 

The limo arrived in front of a large amphitheater, the beginning of a dangerous obstacle course of chaos and the potential for twisted word games.

Spotlights turned the red carpet bright— living lava that each actor had to cross, while attempting to stay away from cameras wielded by wild piranha. Once past the first obstacle, you were inside the destination. But instead of offering sanctuary, it offered more camera piranha, who instead of having no power to stop you, were gifted microphones, were encouraged to ask questions, and pushed until they got the sound bite they wanted. 

Then once that was over, the real entertainment began. The whole reason why the movie was being played in an amphitheater instead of a classic movie theater. Because why would you showcase a movie filled with music inside of a theater when you could put on a live show with the actors reprising their roles?

Cameras flashed wildly, people shouted, and I nearly fell over from going blind as I climbed out of the limo as everything exploded into white light. But Lavender tugged on my arm, pulling me through the first few steps until she paused, posing for a set of cameras, her long dark hair falling over her shoulder. 

Glancing back at me, she encouraged me to do the same, posing and smiling for the cameras that were all held by people behind red velvet ropes. The cameras flashed wildly, drinking in the girl with rainbow hair, the girl who had hidden herself away from their attention over the last few months, the girl who had once been among them on the other side of that rope. The girl who had fallen into stardom and had erupted everything with a few written words.

Delle ignored them all, walking down the red carpet like a lion that couldn't be bothered to stop and care about a bunch of paparazzi sheep. I suddenly envied Delle, but knew that playing nice needed to happen. I needed to control the story that they told that night. 

Lavender pulled me in for several pictures with her, shooting me a cooky grin away from the camera's gaze, getting a surprised laugh out of me. The cameras flashed again, but just as quickly as they came, the cameras shifted focus, looking towards someone behind me. 

Luke had arrived, stepping out of his limo with silent confidence that left me breathless. Midnight black suit, black tie, black shirt. A shadow that was impossible to extinguish even under the flashing lights. An inked tattoo that had etched itself permanently upon my soul. 

He glanced at the cameras, pausing briefly to let them capture him, but making no move to smile, to show off his million dollar smile. Instead, his eyes snapped to mine and I suddenly felt swallowed in a tunnel of black. The world vanished as the vision in black approached. He walked towards me and my heart stopped. I stopped breathing. 

But then his gaze left mine as he walked past, and the world restarted again, my breath slamming back into my body, the world flashing back to life, the cameras following him the rest of the way until the entrance of the amphitheater swallowed him whole. 

Lavender gave my hand a squeeze as we followed in his wake, the strength and warmth in her touch seeming to say, courage.

More paparazzi greeted us inside, and I had to keep reminding myself to smile, to speak to breathe. To play the game. My mind wasn't focusing. A part of me following the blackmailer with my gazes, while another part of me was trying not to be fully aware of every place Luke stepped, every breath he took. 

I don't know what I would have done without Lavender or Delle. Lavender playing off of me whenever I was asked a hard question, offering witty banter, flirting with the interviewers to disarm them, shining under their attempt at scrutiny. It was masterful. An art form that I don't think I would ever master. She spun their questions around like a fidget spinner, giving them answers that delighted them, as if they were in on a secret, part of the story themselves.

Delle had the opposite approach, scaring off anyone who pissed her off. Offering a withering look, a bodyguard that didn't even need to flash muscle or throw weight around to prove her point. Everyone knew what she was capable of.

I saw Dustin talking to several interviewers brightly, his hair slicked back out of his face, charming them all with his smile. Turning away to avoid his scolding look, I ducked around a pillar, out of sight of the paparazzi and bumped right into Allie. 

She stumbled back, and I managed to wrap my hand around her wrist before she could topple over, her bright red dress restricting her ability to regain her balance faster than I could. 

"Sorry," I managed after she was steady, letting her go. "Didn't see you." 

She ignored my apology, and instead took in my dress. "Like the dress," she asked. 

I nodded. Lavender had picked it out, swearing it would do wonders with my complexion. Something that I would have never considered, but she swore was important with so many people taking pictures with flash, something that tended to wash people out. 

But after watching Allie analyze the way the material sat along my skin, my mouth fell open in shock. "You?" 

Allie looked away, expression hard. "I don't know what you mean."

"You gave this to Lavender for me to wear?" It sounded accusatory, my shock making me sound slightly unhinged. 

She waved me off. "Can't have you looking like a deranged person."

I blinked at her. "But you could though... no one would think it was your fault." I fell silent for a moment, finally understanding her attempt to play nice. Delle had once told me her sister was a woman of actions. 

Anyone could say something sweat, but acting kind... that took actual effort. 

"Thank you," I said quietly, touched. "For always making me look... well not deranged."

Allie's lips twitched slightly, the only hint that she found my word choice to be the correct one. I shuffled my feet back and forth, and earned a narrowed eyed glare. "ARE THOSE... CONVERSE WITH MY DRESS?!?" She hissed angrily. 

I held up my hands, taking a step back. "I... well... yes, but hear me out. I did want to talk to you about something non clothes related. Then if you still want to hurt me, then you can when I finish." 

She clamped down on her protests with visible effort and nodded. "I... I'm sorry about how the articles came out," I said staring into her eyes. "I'm sorry that my attempt to write something about how much you... inspire, how much you fight to have clothes out there that no only make people feel beautiful, but how you live what you preach." 

I looked down when her eyebrow went up, and I forced myself to continue. "I did write about how you aren't the most... approachable person, but I never viewed that as a flaw. Just... a part of who you are. You are strong and don't apologize for it. It's admirable." 

Taking a step back, I finally looked up at Allie. "But those words got kinda mixed up in a knot of lies when my boss got a hold of it so... I'm sorry that I inadvertently put a target on your back." 

Allie was quiet for a long painful moment. Then she sighed, swearing softly. "I hate that you are so hard to hate. You and Laliana both are irritatingly charming." She leveled me with a stare. "Tate told me all this a few days ago. Said something along the lines of 'I hate it when people take their time to say nice things!'" Allie said in a scary good impression of her boyfriend. 

I fought a laugh. "Oh... so I didn't need to—"

Shaking her head Allie smiled. "Oh you did. You very much did. You needed to confess. But I had fun watching you sweat, and yeah, I'm mad, but I have spent too much of my life being mad so... I gave you that dress because I hated the idea of you showing up here in some unicorn tutu—"

I wrinkled my nose at that image. "Okay, even I know that would be inappropriate." 

She gestured to my clutch purse where there was in fact a unicorn and shot me another raised brow. 

"Fine. You were right about there being some... unicorn aspects," I said, finally breaking under her gaze. "Nothing wrong with a little magic to brighten things."

"Aaaaanyway," she said pulling the conversation away from unicorns. "I won't hurt you for your terrible accessories choices. I wanted to apologize for assuming you were out tear me apart. I should have known Delle wouldn't team up with someone with bad intentions..." She sighed, closing her eyes for a beat. "I was just so angry about those articles." 

"I know. They were awful." 

"But when more and more articles kept coming out about you... and they started to involve your little brother..." her eyes flashed with dark fury. "I knew you weren't the one behind those articles about me. They had the same bite. And you are too... sparkly nice." 

She paused, stiffening when an interviewer walked by, too close for comfort. Only relaxing again when the interviewer moved out of sight. "Delle told me what you are doing today..." She smiled. "And as someone who has embarrassed herself in public before to make things right with... someone she cares about," Allie blushed at a memory, making her look soft and gentle for the first time.

"...I just wanted to offer you one suggestion. Give it all that you have. Say everything you need to say, and ignore every camera while you do. Just talk right to the person who needs to hear it most, even if it scares you." 

She cracked her knuckles with a casual gesture, her eyes betraying the motion with how calculating they looked down at her hands. "And do it soon. I can only pretend not to know who this terrible person hanging out at the studio is for so long before I lean back into old habits and take things into my somewhat violent hands..."

Allie turned and smiled with amusement over her shoulder back at me as she walked away. "Oh, and don't worry about talking to Aiden. Laliana and Tate have already told him about your lack of involvement over what happened to Laliana in Canada. So... just focus on not throwing up when you make a scene. Good luck Em Springs. Use some of that unicorn magic you are so fond of and get this done." 

Dustin found me a few moments later, his face all smiles due to how much paparazzi there was around us. "There you are!" he said grabbing my arm in a tight grip and leading me towards a side exit, the smile disappearing the moment no cameras were around. 

"Get back stage. Show's about to start." 

---

Thank you for reading chapter forty! I hope you are enjoying the story! Or are at least curious to see where it goes!

UPDATE DAYS - A NEW CHAPTER EVERY FRIDAY!

Allie as somewhat forgiven Em. Now Em is free to cause some chaos. How will she do it? What will she say? 

How will Em reveal the culprit?

Who is trying to sabotage Luke and Em?

Which Walker is the one behind things?

Will Luke forgive Em?

What do you think will happen next?

CHAPTER QUESTION - Have you ever patched things up with someone who hurt you? Are you still friends now?