Exposed (Book 1)

1. Lindsay & Lorraine

By now, the entire world is aware of Jason Flamel and Marquilla Guzman's relationship. For the past couple of years, they've been captured as this "ideal, young Hollywood couple" in the eyes of the media and their beloved fans. There's nothing wrong with two teen stars pictured together kissing and frolicking around the beach for vacation, or hanging out with their mutual group of friends. But there is something wrong with the way the relationship isn't documented for the world to see—behind closed doors.

Behind closed doors is a troubled teenager desperately in love with a girl with whom a relationship started as a public relation (PR) stunt. Nobody knew what was happening except for the stars' teams and close friends. Nobody knew until Lorraine and I saw firsthand how vicious and controlling Marquilla can be.

Lorraine and I have a couple of sources from Marquilla's inner circle. Little does Marquilla know, the sisters about to run a blog about her monstrosity also are involved in her inner circle. Let's just say that Lorraine and I are about five degrees away from personally knowing Queen M. One of the closest connections we have with her is a cousin in the modeling industry who is best friends with Hungarian model Alida Pnaliv. Marquilla hates her solely because Jason hung out with her at a fashion event; we'll get into that another time since we're just scratching the surface of Marquilla's exposure.

The blog, aptly named Exposing MG, is about to go live after I figure out the layout. I've talked to Lorraine about mood and colors. We're going for a broody, mysterious vibe that's sure to keep readers on their toes and wanting more. It also has to be simplistic enough for readers to navigate and catch up on previous blog posts as time moves on and we expand our "empire," as Lorraine likes to say.

"Go with colors that work together," Lorraine shouts over my shoulder. "Don't do black and white, though. It's classy, but I think it'd hurt people's eyes."

"Yeah, that's totally helpful!" I groan as I furiously click on the color palette on the side of the screen to find the perfect shade of whatever color looks good for the font. "Lorraine, you're not doing anything! If you have a great idea for the blog, why don't you find colors for the layout? You seem to have a broader palette than me. Go on!"

Lorraine sighs and stomps over to my desk with a bowl of turtle Chex Mix in hand. I hop off of my black office chair and allow her to take the seat while snatching a handful of the snack. The cereal, caramel popcorn, bite sized circular chocolate, and other types of edible snacks whose names I don't know, explode in my mouth as the extremely sweet and indulgent flavor tingles my taste bud with each chew.

"You know, I could concentrate, but you're chewing in my ear," Lorraine complains. "Seriously, Linds, sit on your bed or something if you want to eat! I don't want to hear your nasty chewing all up in my ear canal!"

"I'll gladly take the bowl if you're done eating," I propose, grabbing another handful and popping a caramel and cinnamon Chex square in my mouth.

"Um, no. Just because I don't like the loud ass noises you make whenever you eat something crunchy doesn't mean I'm done eating. I brought the bowl up here, Lindsay! I have a right to eat the Chex Mix if I want. Just step out of my ear, okay!"

I scoff and roll my eyes as I grab another handful of Chex Mix. I trudge over to my bed, which is way more comfortable than my desk chair, and pop pieces of the snack into my mouth while Lorraine works. The sound of my laptop's keyboard is the only thing preventing the atmosphere around us from complete silence; I hate silence because it's eerie. I decide to turn on the radio, instantly regretting it the moment the first word sung is heard.