Paper Thin

• 96: BTS •

Melody

The gown that the wardrobe team had me wear required two people to get me into it. It was massive, like the designer had decided to take as many yardsticks as they could and that was the length. The fabric was a deep red like finely aged wine. It clung to my body and cut off above my elbow. The hair team loosely curled my brown locks giving some life to it, before setting a flower crown on my head that matched the dress with hues of red and pink.

When I looked in the mirror, I hardly recognized the dark-haired girl staring back at me. She actually looked decent, like someone worth taking a picture of. I gave my reflection a half smile and turned to Gavin, who always hung around to make sure I was okay.

"Ready," I said.

"Good!" He held up his phone to take some pictures of my make up. He said having some 'behind-the-scenes' photos were always good to make sure my followers were excited for what was to come. He also explained that it was good to tag the different people that worked on me, like the hair and makeup teams. All I was worried about was what people from school would say when they saw all of the pictures posted. However, I let him do whatever social media stuff he needed to do. He was the manager after all.

As soon as he was done, three of the crewmembers helped me down the hallway and into an elevator. When we got to the main floor, they carried the dress as we walked outside and into the park where the camera crew and photographer were set up. There was a massive ladder that went up into a tree and I tried to keep my eyes from widening too much at the thought of getting up there. The photographer smiled as he saw me and walked over to greet me.

"Melody!" he said. He had a slight accent, which I pegged as French. "Nice to finally meet you. I am Raphael!"

"You as well," I said. Raphael took his hat off, revealing his bleach blond hair, before he adjusted it to what he wanted and slipped it back on.

"Okay, I know it's cold out, so we'll be quick. We'll help you up into that tree there and take some beautiful pictures! Think Red Riding Hood got lost on her way to the ball!"

"Sounds good," I replied with a smile, though I was sure he had mixed up some fairy tales there.

With the help of the crew, I was up in the tree, seated as if it were my throne. I posed pretty for some and tried to be fierce in others. All the while, Raphael called out directions on where to shift my arm, tilt my head, or hold what I was doing.

"Magnifique!" He exclaimed after many different shots. "Thank you, Melody, I think we've got some great shots here."

"Thank you," I replied.

The crew helped me out of the tree, back inside, and into the dressing room. I was the helped out of the dress, and I put on my robe as soon as possible. The magic of the dress and makeup was beginning to wear off and I didn't feel comfortable to walk around in my underwear like some of the other girls did. I quickly found my jeans and sweater and slipped into them, hoping no one was seeing me although I knew no one was looking.

Gavin went to get the car and picked me up downstairs. When I slid into his car, he held up his phone with a grin on his face.

"I posted a behind-the-scenes picture and your followers are loving it!" he said, passing me the phone. He began the drive back to Greenwich as I looked at the photo he had posted. I was looking down so the makeup on my eyes was visible and my curled hair could be seen. There were sixty likes on the photo, and it had only been posted a few minutes ago. Even some comments were there from girls from my school. A few hearts from Julia, and a 'cute!' from Veronica really confused me.