Hidden Gem (13 page)

“Just tell me if I’m moving too fast,” he joked with a look of feigned seriousness.
 
“We can always take it back to holding hands.
 
Just let me know.”

“Oh, I will,”
Gemma
laughed.

She turned away from Damian to see that Lucas had remained standing in front of them, still gazing at her.
 
Her eyes fluttered in surprise.
 

“Are you okay?” she asked quietly, timidly.
 
She was unsure if it was the right thing to say.
 
He nodded.
 
A breeze blew a strand of hair across her face.
 
Without thinking, Lucas reached over and brushed it away, his hand lingering for a second behind her ear.
 
She smiled, brushing her fingers lightly over his.

“What’s going on over here, kiddies?” Madison glided over.
 
There was a smile on her lips but not a hint of it in her voice.
 
She slipped one arm around Lucas’s waist and placed the other possessively over his chest.

Upon hearing Madison’s voice, Damian turned back to face Gemma.
 
“What? Did
we
get caught?” he asked playfully, letting go of Gemma’s waist and putting his hands in the air with exaggerated innocence.

“Someone definitely got caught,” Madison said, looking Gemma in the eye.

“I…I…” Gemma stuttered.

Damian examined Gemma’s face of panic and then looked up at Lucas, who watched Gemma with worried eyes before shifting them to the ground.
 
He nodded briefly to himself as if he suddenly understood what they were thinking.
 
He moved his hands up from Gemma’s waist to her shoulders, giving them a squeeze to get her attention.

“We got caught red-handed, Gem,” Damian said.
 
She looked at him, confused. “No point in trying to hide it now.”

“What are you talking about?” Madison scowled.

“Gemma and I have been dating for awhile but we didn’t want Gavin to know.
 
We were just trying to lay low so we wouldn’t get him upset,” Damian replied.

Madison’s expression softened though her brows remained furrowed.
 
“You two are dating?”

Gemma and Damian nodded.
 
Yes, we’re dating,
Gemma told herself sternly.
 
No reason to be looking at Lucas when you have a boyfriend.

“Lucas,” Madison broke the brief silence.
 
Her eyes were still locked on Gemma, who stood frozen in anxiety. “I was thinking maybe we should get dinner just the two of us? What do you think, babe?”

The four stood awkwardly for a beat.

“Okay,” Lucas replied.
 
He took her hand from his chest and held it by his side, leading her away.
 
“Bye guys.
 
Good game,” he said with a faint smile.
 
Madison glanced over her shoulder, once more at Gemma.
 
It gave her a chill as she watched them walk away.
 
Damian ran his hands up and down her back to soothe her.

“I think there’s something big that you’re not telling me,” he said.
 
He looked contemplative but offered a smile as he draped an arm around her shoulder.
 
“Hey.
 
If I can’t be anything more than a listener, I’ll still be happy to be
something
for you.”

Gemma sighed, burying her head into the crook of Damian’s neck.
 
She felt her heart wrench with emotion.
 
It was a longing for Lucas’s attention, guilt over Damian’s compassion, but most of all, fear of Madison’s wrath.

QUEEN BEE INTERVIEWED BY PEOPLE MAGAZINE

Celebomatic

11/28
  
2:24AM

Gracing the cover of this week’s People magazine is Queen Bee, the American pop megastar whom ironically, Americans have only recently caught onto.
 
Bee, who found her fame overseas, addresses her new American following in a phone interview with People and gets down and
dirty
with rumors tying her to heartthrob Tyler Chase.
 
Here’s a snippet from the issue, which hits newsstands on Monday!

PM
: You have a very devoted
fanbase
throughout the world, especially in Europe and Asia.
 
How does it feel to finally tap into the U.S, where you’re from?

QB
:
 
It feels incredible.
 
I do live in the states, and to go out eating or shopping and hear my own music – it’s so rewarding.

PM:
How many people know your real name?

QB
: I’d say less than ten.

PM:
Is it difficult for you to keep such a big secret under wraps?

QB:
I do get moments where I just want to tell my friends, but I really treasure the privacy I have in my life outside of Queen Bee.
 
I’m at a place right now where I need the time to get to know my life off stage.

PM
: Your name has been in the news a great deal lately, especially with Tyler Chase’s tweet about his crush on you.
 
Is it difficult to continue keeping such a big secret?

QB
: It’s certainly
work
, but it’s not too bad.
 
I have some very dedicated and amazing team members who help keep everything under wraps.
 
They’re everything to me.

PM
:
 
Getting back to Tyler Chase’s tweet.
 
Had you two met before the Barcelona concert?

QB
: No, I’d never met Tyler before the Barcelona concert or the tweet.
 
I’ve actually never met him at all! But he’s a great musician and I’m flattered that he’s a fan of my work.

PM
: Have you experienced any harassment from Tyler’s fans at all? You know they call themselves the Tyler Chasers.

QB
: [Laughs] I haven’t gotten any death threats or anything.
 
Well, not that I know of.
 
I actually have so many things going on in my life outside of Queen Bee that it’s sometimes hard to keep up with what everyone is saying about her.

PM
: And that’s a good thing, isn’t it?

QB
:
 
[Laughs] For the most part.

Between Madison’s college applications and Gemma’s midterms, the two had few interactions after the Turkey Bowl.
 
What little conversation they shared only furthered Gemma’s confusion.
 
Madison was cordial – friendly, but not necessarily as casual as she once was.
 
But before she could even question it, Madison simply told all the girls that she had been stressed with applications and just wanted to be as relaxed as possible for her auditions.

Gemma wasn’t sure what to believe.
 
She wanted to think that she had imagined the awkward incident at the Turkey Bowl, but Damian confirmed the story for her.
 
Since that day, their relationship faded from courtship to friendship.
 
Gemma was grateful for that.
 
She had the comfort of talking openly to him since he was the one person who not only knew her feelings for Lucas, but also noticed Madison’s odd behavior.
 
She tried not to take advantage of Damian’s admiration, though it was so soothing to vent about Lucas while reclining in his arms.
 
She reasoned that Damian knew what the situation was and allowed it anyway.
 
They enjoyed each other’s company and she needed the guise of a relationship to throw Madison off her trail.

Winter break was fast approaching and with Christmas around the corner, Gemma was desperate to come up with a perfect gift to show her appreciation for Damian’s friendship and support.
 
While lounging at his house one day, she noticed a peculiar poster hanging above his couch in the family room.
 
It was a ‘70s-looking black and white photo of a man dressed like Zorro, holding a basketball.

“What’s that?” she asked.
 
Damian switched on the television and looked up at the poster.

“Oh,” he smiled
 
“That’s Walt ‘Clyde’ Frazier.
 
He’s my dad’s all-time favorite Knick.
 
He forced me to watch old videos of his games when I was a kid, which is what inspired me to be a point guard, really.
 
Plus, the man’s got an insane sense of style.”

“Like dressing up as Zorro on the court,” Gemma laughed.

“Well he’s not wearing a cape here,” Damian examined the poster.
 
“Not that I’d put it past him.
 
He just does what he wants without worrying about what other people say.
 
Which is pretty admirable, I’d say.”

Gemma cocked her head at the poster.
 
She didn’t know a thing about basketball but at that moment, she decided she liked the guy too.

~

“I’ve met Walt many times! That man is everywhere,” Mira said, nonchalantly.
 
“He’s
omnipresent
.
 
So autographed basketball, no problem.
 
Maybe I can get him to give up an old fedora or something too.”

Within a week-and-a-half, Mira came through with her promise.
 
By the last day of school before break, an autographed basketball and two game tickets (for Damian and his father) were gift-wrapped and nestled under the grand Christmas tree that Mira had decorated herself.

“You didn’t.
Did you?
Is this – wait a second. Gemma!” To say that Damian was impressed and excited was an understatement.
 
He ran around practice showing his teammates the autographed basketball.
 
Gemma was slightly disappointed that the rest of the team showed no interest for anything but the second game ticket, though ultimately she was just pleased by Damian’s pure joy.

She tried to keep her distance from Lucas.
 
Since the Turkey Bowl, they hadn’t talked once and she had barely even seen him in the halls.
 
Since Madison had stopped rounding everyone up for nights out on the town, she never saw Lucas outside of school either.

But now it was basketball season, and being Damian’s “girlfriend” and Gavin’s sister meant that she would be at almost every game.
 
Coach even let her stick around for practice sometimes, simply because she had impressed him with Damian’s Christmas gift.

Gemma sometimes stole glances at Lucas during practice.
 
He sat away from the team, lacing his sneakers on the bleachers while the rest of them gathered around Coach.
 
Something was wrong and even Gavin noticed.