*This is part 1 of a double update! Keep scrolling for part 2, Bridge!!*

Airplanes // B.o.B. ft. Haley Williams of Paramore

EMERSON

I jump out of my Audi, cringing as I set the alarm because the horn startles me every damn time, and untie my tie as I walk up to the door. I wrap the tie in a ball and shove it in my pocket.

Won't be needing this anymore.

I ring the bell and hear, "Hang on, handsome!" yelled from inside the house. A half a second later the door flies open and a hand flies out, grabbing me by the lapel and dragging me inside.

"Um, no." Chelsea looks me up and down then slams the door shut. "Not appropriate, Em. Where'd the tie go? There had to have been a tie." She doesn't wait for me to answer before her hands are digging into pockets left and right. Chelsea finds it on the second try.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down, Blondie." I pull my tie out of her hands. I've walked into sheer Chelsea madness. "What the hell? I thought we were going Sid Vicious tonight?"

Nodding her head as her grabby hands go back in for the tie, she snatches it again, the little she-witch with her quick reflexes. Before I can react, she leans forward on her tip toes and throws it around my neck.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry. As soon as we take this selfie you can dump the tie and we'll head to Zoe's." And the whole time she is talking she is not giving me a chance to say no. Instead her quick as lightning fingers wrangle the tie into the perfect knot before I can get a word in.

I finally find my voice. "What selfie? Chelsea, I really don't have the patience for your language disorder tonight." Also known as her inability to explain anything. Ever. "I'm already tied up in knots and my nerves on edge about this gig." She reaches up to adjust the tie again and I slap her hands back. "I can't translate crazy on top of you freaking the fuck out." I put my hands-on Chelsea's shoulders in an attempt to keep her still. It's effective in getting her to stop the perpetual motion and she seems to finally process what I was saying.

Oh, she's processed it all right. But what I said did not go down well. Her eyes get that sad look and her mouth curves down into a pout. Apparently, I've hurt her feelings. Sheesh, the drama with this one.

But Chelsea is never capable of holding onto one emotion for too long. She gives me a cheeky grin and says, "Awww, is little Emerson scared? It will be just fine," she pats my cheek, "I promise. Just put your arm around me and smile for the camera and we will be on our merry little way."

Chelsea pulls up her phone and opens the camera app. That's when I notice how dressed up she is. And I am talking not dressed up in a costume like I figured. Chelsea has gone all out. She's in an all black lace dress, her hair is pulled up in a curly do, and she's got sparkles all over her face. I look closer, yep that's glitter all over her face making her sparkly like some dark fairy princess.

"Whaaa-" I can't finish my confused outburst because she grabs my arm and throws it over her shoulder. Then next thing I know, she's got her arm extended making an attempt to get us into the photo frame.

"No! Wait! WTF is going on, Chelsea?" I step away and grab her phone.

She gives a long sigh. "Ok, it's obvious your family has communication issues."

"What?" I have no idea what this chick is on. Oh, right we have been over that before, Chelsea isn't on anything, the girl is just nuts.

Chelsea shakes her head and reaches for the phone, but I'm holding it up over my head, way out of reach for a smurf in a black lace dress and Doc Martins. Who wears Doc martins with a lacy dress?

"Your mom texted me this afternoon and begged me to send her a picture of us all dressed up for my cousin's wedding. She said you would never send her one so she was desperate and asked me. I don't disappoint moms. So," she gestures to her outfit, "I got wedding ready, as did you so our rouse would be convincing before we deck you out for the Halloween Bash. Now we'll take a selfie, I'll send it to her, and voila. Happy mom."

I stare at Chelsea in...shock? Disbelief? I guess its confusion because I have no idea what to say. Chelsea doesn't give me a chance to say anything, instead she uses my wavering status as an opportunity to take a jump shot for the phone, snagging it as my arm goes slack.

I am still trying to process the fact my Mom wants Chelsea to send her a couples pic. How far am I willing to go with this whole phony life I have going on? I got dressed up to go on a fake date with my fake girlfriend, and now we're taking a staged selfie and sending it to my very real mom. I realize that I am in too deep at this point. What choice do I have but to take the pic, so I take a deep breath and prep for the photo.

But I make myself a promise. This is the last one. The last time I pose and pretend. After tonight's gig, I'm coming clean...about everything.

Telling the truth will not be easy. I feel sick with nerves over the whole idea of coming clean with my parents. They will be disappointed since Chelsea is the kind of girl they would love me to date. When I tell them, I'm sure there will be plenty of drama and shouting. But I've been avoiding the truth for too long and it's time to man up. This really isn't fair to Zoe. God, Zoe. What kind of drama and shouting will be going on when I tell her? I can't deal with even thinking about that at the moment. 

"Yeah, let's get this over with. Zoe's waiting." I put my arm around Chelsea while she extends hers for the photo. Her arm is too short to get us both in the shot, so I grab the phone. "I've got it." I aim and shoot just as Chelsea gets up on her toes to kiss my cheek.

The moment the pic is taken Chelsea grabs the phone. "You can thank me later, when your mom is gushing about what a cute couple we are." Chelsea says as she adds a filter and crops the photo artistically.

I can't believe I've gotten myself into this mess. I hate lying and pretending. The sooner I come clean the better for everyone.

I wipe her lipstick from my cheek and grab her bags from the floor. All four of them. Holy hell how much luggage does one girl need?  "Is this all, your highness? Any more bags?"

"Nope. I travel light." She bounces out the door and hops into my car.

I throw everything in the trunk and hurry to get going, still feeling a little off kilter. That couple pic really threw me.

"You okay, handsome? You look a little green, just like the first day of school." Chelsea gives me the same pouty face from earlier.

I just wave her off. I don't really want to voice my worries because that will make them that much more real.

"No worries. It will make my twist on Vicious even better." Chelsea starts to laugh maniacally.

This girl is a trip!

ZOE

I watch in horror as Chelsea pulls one pack of green tint out of her bag after another. She's made a little pile on my bed and it keeps getting bigger.

"Just how much green are you planning to use, Chels?" My head is whipping back and forth like a tennis match seeing more of the little packs appear.

"Well, they're really little. I got them as samples and I don't know how far they will go, so..." She shrugs and continues piling.

Emerson is sitting at my desk staring off into nothingness. He looks really nervous. I am too. This is our first actual gig. Of course we are all nervous, but I swear there is something else going on with Em. He just doesn't seem like himself. It makes me wonder if everything is okay at home and I want to talk to him about it, but Chelsea is here so I decide to wait until we have a moment without her supersonic hearing and enormously inappropriate butting-in.

"Okay, I think that should be enough." Chelsea declares while standing with her hands on her hips. Without looking at Emerson, she points to him. "Get all Vicioused up and I'll work on the hair and make up. I'd do the green before you get dressed but I need to be strategic about how much I use."

Chelsea starts mumbling to herself about ounces and square inches and wishing she'd paid more attention in geometry. I look over as Emerson gathers his costume, seeming still lost in thought.

"Hey, Em," I say. He turns to look at me and his expression is that of a lost little boy. "Breathe. It's going to be fine, you'll see. We've got this." I smile and walk over to him, wrap my arms around his waist and look up into his eyes. Emerson looks down at me and I see a little sparkle in his eyes. Then he takes a silent deep breath and nods his head. He kisses me briefly.

Which makes me wish Chelsea would leave the room for a moment and give us some time together. But no way she is leaving, not now that she has given us our marching orders.

I give Em a smile and he looks Chelsea's way and laughs and gives a shake of his head before he heads off out of the room to go change into his costume.

"Alright, Zoe, get into your Nancy look and we can work on you, too." Chelsea shoves the red top and black leather pants at me while I pull off my t-shirt.

"What exactly do you have planned? I thought we were going incognito. This outfit doesn't hide much so I'm pretty sure I'll be easily picked out of a line up if this thing goes south." I slip into the pants just as Emerson walks back into the room. We catch each other's eye and my damn blush rises from my neck all the way to my forehead. I feel the burn.

Emerson just smirks. Such a guy.

"Okay, here's the plan." Chelsea holds up a little pack of green colored face paint. "Zombies."

Silence. Emerson and I exchange a look but I'm the one who speaks up. "Isn't that kind of...literal?" I mean that's the name of the band. Do we want to go down that road? We might never be able to come back from something like that. Man, I'll be forced to wear green zombie paint on stage for the rest of my life.

She shrugs. "Yeah, but its Halloween. This is your introduction to the world and everyone will wonder who are the faces behind the sound. Then we have this big reveal at your next live gig and bam!" Chelsea throws both hands into the air. "Instant fame."

"One problem," Emerson says.

"Just one!" I can't contain myself. The reply flies out of my mouth because there is way more than one problem with this plan.

He waves me off before continuing. "This is just our introduction to the Country Club elite, not the World. Let's keep our heads out of the clouds, Chelsea."

Chelsea crosses her arms. "Details, my friend. And we know how good at details I am." She winks then returns to the green paint. "Now sit in my chair so I can work my magic. Cause you know I can."

Emerson sighs but complies, sitting in the chair at my desk again. I get to work on my hair and try to stop second guessing everything. I can't help but worry about all the things that can go wrong, it's how I am made up, but tonight I need to let that all go and just let the music take over.

Music is what we need right now anyway. I don't want to over listen to our set so I pull up something completely different. "Airplanes are wishes, right. We can have a wish for our success," I say as I get the song rolling.

I close my eyes and listen as Haley sings about pretending airplanes are shooting stars. Yeah, I could really use a wish right now, too.

We are headed for the bash next week! It should be very enlightening for everyone... Are you nervous? Emerson certainly is, for more reasons than one. Don't forget to keep scrolling for part 2 of our double update!!

I am so digging this song right now. Sometimes a song hits you with new feels, and this one certainly has.

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