Hidden Gem (22 page)

“No, no – how about ‘Got officially knighted.
 
I provided the sword,’” Penelope rolled on the bed, cracking up.
 
“Gross. We’re totally going to hell, Armand.”

“I’ll bet he didn’t even say anything,” Gemma said as she changed into a pair of Egyptian cotton pajama pants.

“‘
Insane night.
 
Inspired talk.
 
Interrupted moment.
 
In love?
’” Penelope read.

“What was that?” Gemma asked.

“That’s Tyler Chase’s latest tweet.
 
About two hours after the concert.”

“God, what a teenager,” Armand scoffed.
 
“He thinks he’s in love because he got to put his hands down your catsuit.”

“If you got to put your hands in say,
Ewan
McGregor’s leather catsuit, you’d be saying the same thing,” Penelope said. “Except less poetically.”
 
Armand shrugged and smiled.

“Either way,” he reached for his bottle of wine.
 
“Seems like our Bee has become a mankiller of the highest degree, yes? I think we should toast to that.”

“No,” Gemma laughed.
 
“I doubt he even tweeted that, it was probably his PR people.”
 
Gemma said as she pulled the sheets back and got under the covers.
 
However, she knew there was nothing to doubt.
 
She had an effect on Tyler and it was obvious.
 
Even in the dark, she could feel her impact on him.
 
Gemma imagined this type of unwavering confidence was what gave girls like Madison the ability to walk, talk and live the way they did.
 
Maybe it wasn’t just a matter of luck and perfect hair.

“Ready to go home, missy?” Penelope suddenly asked.

The thought of home jolted Gemma.
 
She had done such a good job of forgetting about it for the past few weeks.
 
Somehow, she dreaded seeing Lucas more than she did Madison.
 
On the topic of going home, her mind began to imagine Lucas figuring out her entire secret identity as Queen Bee, based solely on the bit of conversation she let slip during the autograph signing.
 
A part of her hoped this would happen.

Her heart desperately hoped that upon returning to Beauford, she would be able to readjust to her high school life without hearing a word about Queen Bee.
 
Her mind, of course, knew that that would be impossible.

When Gemma arrived at home the Sunday before her first day back, she found the Balenciaga gown back on the dress form in front of her closet door.
 
She had no idea how everyone worked so quickly that the dress managed to beat her back home.
 
Hanging above the dress was the Venetian mask she had worn during the Los Angeles fan meet.
 
Stuck to it was a Post-it that read,
Back
undercover again, Bee! We’ll miss you. – Pen & Armand.

Gemma sighed, peeling off the note and sticking it in her drawer.
 
She began to cover the dress with the old sheets only to drop to the floor, cross-legged.
 
She played with the hem of the dress and the hand-sewn pearls.
 
She had hoped that her body would naturally adjust to Beauford upon returning home, and perhaps even be excited for high school and suburbia.
 
It hadn’t though, and she couldn’t be less unenthused about becoming Gemma again.
 
Aside from seeing Leah, Kate and Jillian, she couldn’t think of anything to look forward to.

Though lost in her thoughts, she was able to hear her name being called from a distance.
 
Gemma stood up quickly and looked outside to see Lucas leaning out his window.
 
She blushed and in her surprise, knocked over the dress form.
 
She scurried to it, standing it back up and pushing it out of view.

“Hey!” Gemma said, brushing her hair back as she opened the window.
 
“How are you? How have you been?”

“Pretty good.
 
How’s your grandma?” Lucas asked.
 
Gemma flinched.

“Um,” she stammered.
 
She realized it had been a long time since she had even spoken to her parents. “She’s fine.
 
I think she’s going to move in with us soon.”

“I have something for you,” Lucas said as he ducked out of view.
 
He popped back up with a Queen Bee CD.
 
“Leah said to give this to you when you got back.”
 
Gemma frowned.
 
Why wouldn’t Leah just give it to me herself? And of all people, why would she give it to Lucas to give to me?
“So?” Lucas called when Gemma didn’t answer.
 
“Can I come over?” Gemma shook herself from her thoughts.

“Oh. Sure! I’ll be right down!”

Gemma hurried to her mirror and tossed her hair a few times in hopes of creating more volume.
 
She grabbed her makeup bag, wondering if she had enough time to put on mascara and lip-gloss.
 
She decided against it.
 
The last thing she wanted was to look done up for Lucas with what people were saying about her.
 
She rubbed her hands quickly over her cheeks and blinked the sleepiness out of her eyes before rushing down to the front door.
 
When she opened it, Lucas was already there.

“Hey,” he smiled.
 
Gemma did all she could not to swoon immediately.
 
Leave it to boys to help me switch between lives.
 
Just a week ago, she was kissing Tyler Chase and now a suburban high school boy was making her knees weak.

“It’s so nice to see you.
 
I’m kind of surprised you’re okay coming here, you know, with everything…” Gemma trailed off.
 
She wasn’t sure if it was a mistake to bring it up.

“It’s okay,” Lucas shrugged.
 
“Although maybe we shouldn’t just stand in the doorway and let everyone who drives by start new rumors?” They laughed and Gemma invited him in.
 
He sat on the couch as she closed the door.

“Leah was so excited about this when she called me.
 
I kind of thought she’d want to be the one to give it to me,” Gemma said as Lucas handed her the CD.
 
She tried to hide the sadness in her voice, but it was clear that Lucas detected it.

“She did,” he said.
 
“But there was a mob of people grabbing at it when she took it out at the diner that night, so I said I’d get it back to Mira.”
 
Lucas explained.

“Oh. Oh, okay.”

“The show was really fun,” he said.
 
Gemma smiled a stiff smile, unsure of how much she should say on the subject.
 
Lucas nodded at her silence and continued.
 
“I didn’t really feel out of place because there were a lot of other guys there.”

“Really?”

“Well.
 
They were dressed up as Queen Bee and wearing spandex, so I felt a little out of place,” he laughed.
 
“Elisa took forever trying to put together a Queen Bee costume but she just ended up ruining a lot my mom’s clothes.”

Gemma giggled.
 
It always made her smile to hear Lucas talk more than his usual couple of words.
 
She had figured out that he was quiet only because
he was surrounded by people like Gavin and Madison who never shut their mouths
.
 
Her own quiet nature seemed to lend well to whatever Lucas had to say.
 
She was more than happy to be that person for him.

“I really want to thank you for giving up your ticket for Elisa.
 
We got to see Queen Bee really close after the show,” Lucas said as he looked at Gemma.
 
She waited for him to continue with his story but he gazed at her in silence for a second or two.
 
It felt like an eternity.
 
Lucas continued.
 
“It was weird, something about her reminded me of you.”

“Really?” Gemma held her breath nervously.

“Yeah,” Lucas said.
 
Gemma squinted at him, trying to detect signs that he might in fact know her secret.
 
He scratched his chin.
 
“I can’t really explain it though.
 
Hopefully she has another show here soon and you can see for yourself.”

Gemma released her breath and smiled.
 
“Definitely.
 
Sounds like fun,” she replied.
 
Lucas kept his eyes on her for a beat before he smiled.

“Anyway, I’ll let you get back to unpacking or whatever you need to do,” he said as he got to his feet.
 
He paused for a moment before turning towards the door.
 
“And, um, about the rumors,” he waited till he caught her eye before continuing. “I don’t want you to worry.
 
We both know nothing happened.
 
Gavin and I are making sure everyone else knows too.”

“Oh,” Gemma blinked. “Okay. Great.”

“And Madison’s not mad either,” Lucas said.
 
Gemma felt a chill at the mention of her name.
 
“She knows it’s not true, she’s just as angry at whoever started it.”

Gemma managed a weak smile, knowing well that Lucas’s words weren’t true.
 
It disheartened her to know that he believed them, but then again, Madison was quite the actress.

“That’s a relief to hear,” she said.

 
“Why does it feel like it’s been like a year since I’ve seen you?” Leah yelled as she jumped onto Gemma, wrapping her arms around her.
 
Kate and Jillian joined in the hug, all looking tanner than usual.
 
“We missed you so much in the Bahamas! We took like, a million pictures.
 
It’s going to take forever to upload on Facebook.”

Gemma had forgotten she missed spring break.
 
She knew she’d feel jealous looking at their photos.

“Cute guys hit on me!” Kate nodded excitedly.
 
“I mean, not as much as Madison, but you know.”
 
Just then, Gemma noticed Lucas walk out to their usual waiting spot.

“Did you hear that Lucas?” Jillian called to him.
 
“People hit on your girlfriend because you didn’t come with us.”

“I went to the Queen Bee concert with you guys, isn’t that kind of a big deal? Besides, not all of us can just up and go to some exotic place whenever we want.”

“Ew, Debbie Downer,” Leah frowned.
 

Gemma felt anxious.
 
She knew any second now, Madison’s Range Rover would be rolling around the corner and she’d see her for the first time in over a month.
 
Everyone had reassured her that Madison seemed fine and was over the rumors.
 
Gemma wasn’t so sure.
 
Only she saw the side of Madison that was bitter and vengeful.
 
Plus, it made no sense that anyone else would have started the rumors about her and Lucas.

“Shotgun!” Leah shouted as she spotted Madison’s car coming around.

“Doesn’t the boyfriend usually get shotgun?” Lucas asked as he approached the car.

“Not if the boyfriend isn’t a regular of the lunch crew,” Leah said as she got into the front seat.
 
Gemma peered in the car, waving timidly at Madison.

“Hey girl, how’s it going,” Madison said flatly.
 
“How are you all going to fit in the back?” Jillian, Kate, Gemma and Lucas looked at each other.

“Oh yeah,” Kate said, softly.
 
“I forgot we were one up today.”

“Why are we talking like we’ve never shoved a million people in one car before?” Leah asked, her voice squeaking.
 
“Let’s go! We’re not going to have enough time to look through all the pictures.”