Gemma suspected that Mira had given Malcolm and Emily a brief on her personal life because for once, her parents spared her from the subject of college.
Her father especially, was surprisingly silent on the topic of applications.
Gemma was grateful for the room to breathe.
“Oh, is that Damian?” Emily chirped.
“Yes, Mom.
That’s Damian,” Gemma smiled.
Emily patted Gemma lightly on the knee.
She took a good long look as Damian crossed the stage and accepted his diploma.
“Good job, honey,” Emily winked.
“I can see why he would be hard to let go.”
Gemma laughed.
She lay her head on her mother’s shoulder and put on her sunglasses as tears began to well in her eyes.
~
Later that night as Gemma cleaned her bedroom, she noticed Lucas’s dog circling the patio, barking happily.
Leo had grown four times the size he was when Gemma first saw him at her lake house.
He finally settled by the wicker table with Elisa, where she sat with two friends.
Gemma could hear the faint sounds of their giggles and Tyler Chase’s latest single playing on their iPod dock.
She suddenly remembered Lucas’s request to take a picture of her prom dress for Elisa.
Her eyes trailed from out the window to her closet, where the dress peeked out of a garment bag.
Gemma carried the garment bag downstairs and out the backdoor.
Fireflies lit up around her as she pushed her way through the shrubbery that separated her backyard from Lucas and Elisa’s.
She could hear Leo barking at her, noticing her before anyone else did.
“Elisa?” she called out.
“Oh! It’s my neighbor,” Elisa she stood up with a polite smile and waved at Gemma before turning back to her friends.
“Danielle, Hillary – this is Gemma.
She’s Lucas’s friend, she lives next door.”
The two girls waved.
Danielle was cute but lanky with frizzy hair and braces.
Gemma smiled, remembering how she looked similarly at that age.
Hillary, on the other hand, was decked out head to toe in designer garments and accessories, all of which bore large logos in case anyone was unaware that they were expensive items.
She hadn’t quite figured out the meaning of overkill.
She forced a tight-lipped smile as if trying to tell Gemma that she was intruding on their time.
“Nice to meet you girls,” Gemma said.
“Are you celebrating being done with school?”
“God, yes,” Hillary said hastily before directing her conversation away from Gemma.
“So yeah, can’t wait for the summer.
I’m going to be an apprentice for my family friend who’s a designer in New York.
His
company’s
in talks with Queen Bee’s team about making something for her, so it’s going to be amazing.”
Gemma watched Danielle and Elisa’s faces glow in awe.
“Oh my God,
Hil
, you’re so lucky,” Elisa said, her lower lip protruding.
“Are you interested in fashion design, Elisa?” Gemma asked.
“Maybe.
I don’t know.
I just really love Queen Bee’s clothes,” Elisa shrugged.
“Lucas told me you wore a replica of Queen Bee’s Balenciaga gown.”
“I did,” Gemma giggled.
She held the garment bag in front of her.
“I actually came to show you.”
“You did?” Elisa jumped to her feet and shrieked once she noticed the feathers and pearls peeking out from the bag.
Danielle clapped happily while Hillary observed with skeptical eyes.
Gemma helped Elisa take the gown out, draping it into her arms.
“Oh my God! It’s so heavy! It’s so
gorgeous
– it looks exactly like the real thing, except shorter.
Can I take a picture of it?” Elisa squealed.
“Why don’t you try it on?” Gemma suggested.
Elisa’s eyes widened.
“But it was probably so expensive, I don’t want to hurt it.”
“Hurt it?” Hillary snorted.
“I mean ruin it. You know.” Elisa shrugged sheepishly.
“It seriously looks
just
like the actual gown,” Danielle breathed.
“It is a really close replica, but not as close as the one I bought,” Hillary said as she examined the dress, which Elisa held to her torso.
“Besides, I don’t know how you’re going to fill out the
bust.”
“True.” Elisa frowned.
“Well,” Gemma pressed her lips together, amazed that she was allowing a thirteen-year-old to irritate her.
“Queen Bee’s bra size isn’t exactly big either.
Also, this dress is actually the only replica that used the same Mikimoto pearls
and
it managed to get the same exact silk that they used from a small boutique in China.”
“That’s not possible,” Hillary scoffed.
“I would’ve read about it.”
“It’s true,” Gemma snapped.
She laughed quickly at herself to hide her annoyance and Elisa joined, overwhelmed in joy as she hugged the dress and twirled around.
“Lucas, look!” Elisa squealed.
Gemma snapped her head over to see movement at the screen door.
Lucas stepped out.
“Oh hey, Gemma,” he smiled so big that Gemma knew he was truly happy to see her.
“How was your post-prom? I wanted to hang out with the team but Madison had other plans.”
“Yeah, I know.
It was great!” she said cheerily. “And yours sounded like a good time too.”
Lucas shrugged.
“Did you bring the dress to show Elisa?”
“She’s letting me try it on!” Elisa exclaimed.
“Actually,” Gemma interjected.
“My family’s moving back into the house for the summer and I want to make room for them by doing a little spring cleaning.”
Gemma surveyed the group.
Everyone stared in silence.
“Gemma, if you’re suggesting what I think you’re suggesting…” A smile of disbelief curled on Lucas’s lips.
“I mean, I’m not going to wear it again so I don’t see why I shouldn’t give it to someone who’ll appreciate it,” Gemma smiled at Elisa’s wide-eyed stare.
“Oh my God, I don’t know if I can.
This must have cost like… more money than I’ll ever have in my life
,
” Elisa shoved the gown back into Gemma’s arms.
“I feel like I’m looking at the real thing.
I know everything about that gown.”
“It’s true,” Lucas laughed.
“She talks about it so much my parents and I know the exact number of pearls and feathers sewn on.”
“Three hundred eighty-seven pearls,” Elisa blurted.
“Fourteen hundred feathers.
That’s the number it said on the website, but I feel like it couldn’t have been fourteen hundred exactly.”
“So it sounds like you deserve this dress more than I do!” Gemma exclaimed.
Elisa looked to Lucas, as if for permission to accept.
“Well now you owe Gemma big time,” Lucas relented.
“But anyway, Elisa, I just came out here to tell you the cookies you’re baking were burning.
By now they’re probably ashes.”
“Oh shoot!” Elisa darted back into the house in a flash.
“We’ll have Gemma bring the dress to your room,” Lucas called after her, gesturing for Gemma to follow him.
Gemma bit her lip.
She stayed a step behind Lucas as she walked into the house.
Nothing good ever came of her being alone with him.
Upstairs in Elisa’s room, Lucas handed a satin-covered hanger to Gemma.
“She bought a set of these after her first babysitting job,” Lucas said.
“It’s for her ‘nice clothes,’ though she doesn’t really have any.
It means a lot that you would give her something like this. Our family can’t exactly keep up with the rest of the town.”
Gemma nodded as she hung the gown on the pink satin hangers.
She spotted Elisa’s autographed Queen Bee CD on her desk.
It was propped up next to a collage of Queen Bee’s outfits that Elisa had no doubt pasted together herself.
“Well I’m even happier to then,” Gemma said genuinely as she handed the gown to Lucas and watched as he hung it in Elisa’s modest closet.
Gemma thought about what a sweet and nurturing brother he was, especially compared to Gavin when she was growing up.
But she surprised herself by looking at him and otherwise feeling a calm.
Once upon a time, she would nearly hyperventilate around him.
“Anyway, I should get going.
I’m waking up early to say goodbye to Damian and his family.”
“I can’t believe they’re
driving
to California,” Lucas crossed his arms.
“Probably his mom’s idea, she loves road trips,” Gemma laughed.
“So are you guys doing the long distance thing?” Lucas asked.
Gemma shifted her feet, feeling awkward.
As awkward as she felt, she didn’t look away when Lucas gazed straight into her eyes, waiting for her answer.
“No,” she shook her head.
“After tomorrow, we’re on our own again.
It’s easier that way.”
“Probably,” he nodded.
“Madison keeps wanting to talk about it and she’s only going to school thirty minutes away.”
Gemma nodded, mentally congratulating herself for not shuddering at the mention of Madison’s name.
“Yeah… well, anyway.
I’m going to go,” she said, backing out of Elisa’s bedroom door.
“Oh.
I’ll walk you out,” Lucas offered.
“No, no, I’m fine.”
She was already halfway down the hall.
“Good night!” she yelled as she ran down the stairs and out of his house.
“Good night.”
~
Mira set an arrangement of two-dozen lavender roses on the lake house coffee table.
“These came to my office yesterday,” she said with a bold smile.
Gavin and Gemma had been staying at the lake house since Malcolm and Emily were remodeling Gavin’s room for their grandmother.
Gemma was happy for a change in location now that Damian was gone.
“Who are they from?” Gavin asked.
“From Tyler, for Queen Bee,” Mira winked.
“Man, he’s persistent,” Gavin shook his head.
“There’s a note attached,” Mira said as she put on her tan Burberry
trenchcoat
.
“Let me know what it says later, I have to head to work.
I just wanted to drop that off.”
As Mira head out the door, Gemma opened the small envelope on the flowers and pulled out the card.
Dear Queen Bee, I hope this finds its way to you and I hope we’ll find our way to each other.
All my heart, Tyler.
Gemma smiled to herself, holding the card to her heart.
She couldn’t believe how much she had captivated the world’s biggest heartthrob.
“Is it supposed to rain later?” Gavin asked through a mouthful of popcorn, shaking Gemma from her thoughts.