AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That was the last thing a werewolf needed.
Gazelle spun the conversation back to something about the coral reefs off Australia, and various people on the street slowed down to peer inside the glass like we were critters at a pet store, and a few snapped photos. Gazelle ignored them, and I tried to, while Cherise and Hunter practically preened as they primly picked salads and deliberately ignored everyone. I nodded stupidly at what I hoped were appropriate times, but I couldn’t focus on any of the words. The ground shivered under my feet, the glass seemed to hum like it was going to shatter inward, the building seemed too, too small. The only thing holding me in my chair was knowing that if I ran outside, I’d just get hit in the snout with the stench of the city.
Gazelle dragged me close for a few more selfies and complimented my hair. She did not offer selfies with Hunter or Cherise, even though Hunter was directly on her other side. I learned that a selfie was not actually a candid shot, but required about five hundred shots to get the right selfie. But when you’re a supermodel, who can risk a bad photo, casual or not?
“Oh, this was so much fun, Winter. Even with the little weirdo freak show,” Gazelle said cheerfully as we walked out of Fern. She leaned close, laughing, and the paparazzi flickered and sparkled, clicking photos from across the street. We paused on the sidewalk as our cars were all brought around, and Gazelle grabbed my arm playfully before I could flee. “I’ll be back in town next week, let’s do something.”
“Sure,” I replied, utterly frazzled and desperate to get out of there without further drama. “Where are you headed?”
“Oh, I have a shoot in Fiji. Bikinis and body glitter. Want to come?” she asked brightly, and she giggled. “You could use a tan.”
She either was using me to piss off Cherise and Hunter, or she actually meant it. “I wish I could, but I’ve got a few events to go to, and exams.”
“Boo,” she pouted.
“You have lots of friends to ask,” I said, unable to resist jabbing at Cherise and Hunter.
“Phtt. If you change your mind, text me. And I’m going to tell Ronald you’re not that scary.” Gazelle rolled her eyes. She didn’t say anything else except to wave to the crowds as her car pulled up.
If I was going to be hanging out with models who had their faces and flawless perky butts plastered all over 5th, I needed reinforcements. I dashed off one of the selfies to Mint.
Winter [Mint] >> Who am I hanging out with, exactly?
[Mint] >> LOL. The next big thing. How do you know her?
Winter [Mint] >> Our husbands know each other. Tell me my hair looks right.
[Mint] >> Hair on point. Bad earrings for that dress. Shoes?
I snapped a picture of my shoes.
[Mint] >> Passable. We’ll review later to tighten it up if you’re going to be hanging out with supermodels. You’ll need an adjusted look.
Winter [Mint] >> Shoot me.
[Mint] >> Won’t have to. The paparazzi will. Avoidable mistakes.
Camera Shy
The wanderers had not made the tabloids, but unfortunately my face had. Luckily nobody seemed interested in me. The paparazzi had gotten pictures of FryerVats, though, and a few of the lucky ones on the edge had snapped FryerVats’ sequence of drawing on the glass and kissing it. The pictures got captioned with statements like Superfan shows devotion to Gazelle and Creepy! Some enterprising members of the herd had even snuck up to snap pictures of the smear after we’d left, but before the restaurant staff had cleaned it up.
Nobody cared to explain the W, which was clearly visible.
Gazelle could just take all the credit.
I leaned on the bar counter while Cye cooked dinner, skimming through all the news articles, and collecting all the pictures for future reference, just in case I needed some minor detail later. Gazelle had posted one of the selfies with the caption: Lunch at Fern with Winter. She thinks selfies are stupid, so you gotta be quick and ambush her to get one!
The picture had garnered thousands of hearts and hundreds of comments. I scrolled through the comments—mostly spam from sketchy bots or weirdos asking for feet pics or praise for Gazelle’s beauty—but some said how pretty I was (it was a flattering picture), asked what color eye shadow I had been wearing (Gazelle identified brand and shade), or criticized my earrings.
I felt like I’d run a marathon in record time the way everything had drained out of me.
Sterling rested his fingers on the edge of his tumbler of whisky. “So you hit it off with Gazelle. Good.”
I rubbed between my eyes. “By some miracle. There were two other women there. Who were they?”
“I have no idea.”
“Well, I don’t know what I set fire to. They advised me to start requesting raises to my allowance right away and revealed they get bonuses for the kids hitting milestones. I almost stabbed them with a shrimp fork, and I did tell them they were shitty parents and terrible people.”
