Serendipity is for Suckers | h.s. *EDITING*

7 // ❀

I stare at my reflection in the mirror and touch up my makeup. I decided to put effort into my outfit tonight considering I'll be hanging out with a hot supermodel.

I threw on a short black corduroy skirt and tuck in a red satin tank top teasing cleavage. I finished accessorizing with some jewelry before tying my brunette curled hair up in a half ponytail when I hear my phone vibrate from the kitchen counter. I pull it up to read Elise's text displayed over the lock screen as I slip on a pair of simple black heels.

"I'm here!" it reads.

I transfer my belongings into a smaller silver clutch before running down to meet Elise in the front of my apartment complex. She has the backseat window of a large black SUV open and she sticks her upper body out to wolf whistle at me, making me laugh a little at her already drunk self.

"Did you pregame without me?" I teasingly ask as I settle myself inside. She holds up a manicured finger in a "wait" gesture and bends down to pull out a basket from the seat in front of her complete with a variety of liquor.

"How old are you?" she asks, twisting open the cap of an unopened bottle of Malibu and bending her upper body down again to retrieve two small shot glasses from the same basket. "If you don't mind me asking," she adds soon after and pours me a shot of rum despite not even knowing if I'm legal or not.

"I'm 35. Don't worry," I say with a small smirk, grabbing the glass from her and we both shoot the gross coconut flavored rum and I cringe at the taste.

"Hey, you're funny!" she drunkenly doubles over in laughter, immediately coughing afterwards. The car slowly accelerates forward and the driver takes off onto the constantly busy streets of Manhattan.

She opens up a compact mirror to retouch her lipstick and I silently curse at the way she one-upped me with her tight, strapless, leather dress and heels that are probably one inch taller than mine for the mere purpose of mocking me. I've never been one to compare myself to others but, for some reason, I feel like I'm in competitive mode. And I think that explains the reason why I even decided to hang out with her tonight because I normally wouldn't do that with strangers.

We didn't have much time to actually talk and get to know each other earlier today so we spent most of the car ride sharing embarrassing high school stories. And we ended up bonding a lot more than I thought we would. I mean we're both college students, obsessed with Broadway musicals, and can both agree that Harry comes off as an egotistical asshole. But once you get to know him, he's less intimidating and quite sweet actually. I personally think it's his permanent furrow of the eyebrows that give off the "I'm judging your broke and unfashionable ass" vibe.

She tells me about a time she totally embarrassed herself on one of her first ever catwalks by tripping and then tripping again as she tried to get up. And when she was near the end, her dress rode up. When she tried to pull it down, her heels failed beneath her, causing her to fall for the third time that night. Her entire family was there for support and her mother even documented the whole thing in which she never fails to share with relatives at family parties.

Our laughter overlaps and fills the entire car, I'm pretty sure the vein sticking out of the driver's neck is a result of how much he wants to tell us to shut up.

"So how long have you been working at Meila Management?" Elise asks, taking a sip from her second drink since I entered the car.

"Only a few days," I answer. "I'm basically Graham's office bitch but it's whatever. It's better than sorting out raw fish at a fish market in Hawaii."

"You've only been there a few days?" she asks perplexed. "I thought you've been there longer. You seem close to Harry, I thought you two knew each other for a while with the way you bickered the entirety of the meeting earlier today." She chuckles.

"Oh that? No, he kept kicking me under the table every time Graham said something that could've been mistaken as a sexual innuendo." Elise nods in understanding. "I eventually got fed up. He's a professional at personal bubble popping, I'll tell you that," I joke and she laughs while agreeing.

"He's nice," she adds quietly, almost to herself. I take advantage of the conversation topic and my nosey self unintentionally blurts out.

"How do you feel about the whole publicity stunt with you and Harry?" I ask, wanting to cover my mouth with my hand before I say something even more stupid. I didn't mean to ask, why did I even ask? Why do I even care? They explained it earlier but why am I so engrossed with the situation?

"I mean... Harry's cute and all. He's very kind, you know, despite his multiple advances to annoying the shit out of you-"

"No, how are you... I don't know... okay with all of this?" Shut up, Ria! "Doesn't it seem kind of low to fake a relationship for attention?" As soon as the words leave my mouth I instantly notice its harshness but, to my luck, Elise doesn't seem to notice or even mind.

"Well, yeah... it is... but no one really knows so where's the harm? All the media and the public sees is that we're together," she explains but for some reason I still look uncertain. "It's just business, Ria. We're actors. We're acting."

In a way it makes sense. I guess. But it hurts my head to wrap around. This hollywood business is too elaborate and crazy. Like, why not just make the music and if people like it then they like it?

The car eventually comes to a stop in front of this boujee, high-end dance club with a large neon sign hanging up above the entrance and a long line of people waiting to get in that stretches around the corner. The colorful pulsing lights shine through the cracks of the door behind the club's bouncer and the bass of the music can be felt on the floor from outside.

There are two security men waiting outside of the car and one of them reaches out to open my car door. Elise grabs a hold of my hand and tugs me with her as the security guard lets us out. As soon as they open, a wave of bright camera flashes blind my vision and I immediately extend my free hand up in an attempt to see where I'm walking. There are so many people crowding around me that I start to feel claustrophobic and a little too warm.

There are yells for people to move out of the way and I'm still being pulled by Elise while a guard behind us is helping guide me to the entrance. So much is going on and I'm confused as fuck. I even hear chants of "Elise!," "Look here!," "How was France?," and "Elise I love you!"

After what felt like hours of trudging through the crowd, my vision finally clears but darkens as I find myself with Elise in the lobby of a club. There are another set of doors we still have to go through but I take a moment to collect myself from what just happened.

We didn't even have to wait in line and we had security protecting us. Man, the perks of hanging out with rich and famous people really pays off.

"I'm sorry about that. The damn paps just wait around popular spots in the city in hopes a celebrity shows up," she tells me while casually pulling out a pack of cigarettes from her purse along with a bright pink and bedazzled lighter.

"It's okay." I locate my clutch to make sure I didn't lose anything in the crowd. I stand there awkwardly as she bounces on her feet and smokes her cigarette, stopping for a second to offer me one but I reject.

As soon as she's finished, we enter, and a second bouncer looks over mine and Elise's I.D.s before stamping both of my wrists with some sort of glow in the dark ink. I almost forgot that I'm underage.