The Fall of Mangiatorvi

18: Unlaced with Lacey

"You're not getting out of this," Jared frowned. "We booked this months ago. We need the visibility to gain more sponsors before the season starts in a couple of weeks."

"You go, the fans prefer you." Daniel crossed his arms.

"We're already here, you're being a toddler."

Daniel groaned, looking up at the skyscraper of news stations. He looked back to Jared's firm stance, upholding his fans' expectations was the only thing the class clown took seriously. Daniel only previously agreed to the talk show because of its proximity to the election date. That was before Jared came barging into his bedroom at 10:00 this morning with that damning photo of him and Gemma splattered across the news. He wanted to talk about sports and politics tonight, not his nonexistent love life. Reporters were like sharks in the water. Daniel would be lucky to get Gemma out in one piece.

"Just tell them it's nothing, it'll be fine."

"You don't even believe me, why would they?"

Jared smirked. "I'm your closest ally, I know when you're lying. They don't."

Daniel shook his head in disbelief. His head spun from the growing migraine. Their picture would definitely be aired tonight on national television tonight. He dialed her number twice on the trip over, but could not bring himself to call. He put her in the public eye, and he needed to get her out. She detested being the center of attention even more than he did. For both their sakes he hoped the reporters would buy the story he was selling tonight.

"Let's go, we're going to be late." Jared gave him a pointed look.

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Gemma and Madison sat on the couch, each donning a clay face mask with their long brown hair each in a cute bun. A small plate of paczki sat on the coffee table, Madison's favorite comfort food. They were like mini doughnuts, but not. Madison organized the spa surprise. Gemma didn't have the heart to turn down such a sweet offer, and now she was practically enjoying herself. The relaxation was welcomed after a long day of outrunning the rumors on campus.

"Hey, how long are we supposed to keep this on?"

"Uh... that's a good question." Madison got up and waddled to the bathroom. She had cotton balls between each of her toes to protect her drying nails.

"Your phone's buzzing."

"What does it say?"

Gemma accepted the text message with just one finger, careful with her manicure. An alert from the Jared Walker fan club flashed on the screen. Gemma snorted, shaking her head at the ridiculousness of her roommate. The alert was a reminder of DJ's appearance on the talk show, Unlaced with Lacey, tonight. She deliberately picked up the remote from the coffee table and changed the channel to the correct programming.

"We're supposed to wash it off in five minutes," Madison said, holding up the clay packaging from her bedroom doorway.

"Your fan club wants you to know that Jared's on TV."

Madison squealed, sprinting to the couch with no regard for her nail polish. A redheaded woman, presumably Lacey, sat in a bright red armchair. In the two-seater beside her on stage sat the boys. Jared wore a white dress shirt with a purple vest and black tie. Daniel's dull grey blazer brought out his grey eyes, which you could see for once because his hair was actually styled. His white dress shirt underneath was only halfway buttoned. They looked good, really good, like real celebrities Gemma saw on television.

"Good evening, Oasi. Please welcome with me to the show tonight, last year's 2v2 championship winning team, DJ," the red-headed women said.

The audience in the studio, and Madison, screamed. Gemma flinched, covering her ears.