Page 87 of Holly Jolly July

Mariah nudges me. “Jax—er, Matt. She means Matt.”

“Oh!” Jeez, I’d pretty much forgotten all about him. I put a hand on my hip and act nonchalant, like he isn’t some fuckboy who played me for a fool and convinced me to have feelings for him when I didn’t even know who he was. “Yeah. Just one of my many admirers.”

“Well, he’s a babe,” she continues. “You should invite him out to the bar with us tonight. We can interrogate him for you.”

I grip my coffee cup tighter. As if I’d bring a guy I was interested in around this model with a perfect smile. And even if I wasn’t interested, I wouldn’t sic Matt on Julia to break her heart next. Plus, they’ve never invited me out to the bar with them, but now they’re suddenly interested so long as I bring some eye candy with me?Not likely.“Yeah. Sure thing.”

“You should come, too, Maria.” Julia gives Mariah a quick once-over, then walks away to her side of the hair and makeup department.

Moods considerably deflated from when we woke up, Mariah and I go to our side of the room. I sit down, the plastic chair squeaking. “Your mom called you Maria,” I recall. “I didn’t think anything of it at the time.”

She shrugs, tying my hair up into its usual messy bun. “I started going by Mariah when I moved out. Seemed moreme. Got the idea from a drag queen I was staying with.”

I nod. “It does suit you more. Wait, you were staying with a drag queen? Like, living with one? How’d that come about?”

“After high school when I cut my hair and changed my clothes, my mom lost it on me. She didn’t understand at all. She told me I could either ‘be an upstanding member of society,’ or leave her house... so I left.”

“She really said that?” I couldn’t imagine.

Mariah nods. “All I had was my car. I drove into Vancouver, and I parked. I lived in it for almost a month. I had nowhere to stay. No job. No friends.”

“That must have been so scary.” I fight back a shiver.

Mariah focuses on my hair as she talks, tucking strands into place. “I landed a job at a gay bar as a server, working the evening shift. The pay was shit but the people were amazing, and I actually felt like I belonged. Every week they had a drag show, and one of the queens, Alotta Dix, took me under her wing. She let me help with her makeup, taught me a lot, and when she found out I was living in my car she let me stay with her and sleep on her couch until I got my feet under me.”

“I’m so glad they were there for you.”

Mariah finishes my hair, meeting my gaze in the mirror. “That’s when I got into cosmetology school.”

I give her a smile through the mirror. “And here you are.”

Mariah’s gaze softens as she regards me through the mirror. Then her countenance shifts abruptly and she clears her throat. “We don’t have much time. We need to focus on our next pranks for Jax.”

I let her change the conversation, understanding how hard it must have been for her to share that with me. “Yes! Matt. What are you thinking?”

Mariah’s countenance changes immediately. “Silly pranks aren’t enough for a guy like Jax. The games he’s playing, stringing women along to make them catch feelings for him? Totally unnecessary and cruel. This needs to go further than petty revenge.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“We need to teach him a real lesson so he learns the error of his ways and stops playing with women’s hearts. He should know what it’s like to be led on like we were. I have a few ideas, but they’re more involved than before.”

I lean in, making eye contact through the mirror, and give her a mischievous grin. “Sounds diabolical. I’m in.”

By the time my makeup is done we’ve come up with a plan and send a text to Matt from Mariah’s phone, asking if she can go over to his place tonight. He doesn’t reply before it’s time for me to go on set. I almost expect him to be there waiting for me on the other side of the blue fence. Thank god thereisa fence and security guards, so I don’t have to worry about him popping up somewhere during filming.

Julia and Oscar are already situated in the café, and they give me enthusiastic smiles and nods. I grin back.

“I hear you had a visitor yesterday,” Oscar says.

My stomach tightens. I thought they were smiling at me because they were happy to work with me, not because they were trying to get some juicy gossip about my sex life. “Oh, yeah... he’s a friend I made recently.”

“He bought you flowers! That’s a nicefriend.” Julia titters.

“Yeah. Sorry you don’t have any friends buyingyouflowers,” I say with a bit more sarcasm than intended. Oscar’s and Julia’s eyes widen at my snippy retort. I catch myself, not sure what came over me, and add, “They probably have to keep all your admirers far away from the set so they don’t break down the fence!”

I force my smile wider to make up for my sour mood, which seems to work, and everyone goes back to their blocking and reviewing minor changes in the script. My quick recovery worked and their smiles are back, albeit a bit guarded. I don’t know what came over me, but I have to be more careful; I don’t want a bad reputation on set.

I’m easygoing Ellie. I’m the chillest, happiest person you’ll work with. I’m a friggin’delight.

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