Chapter 12

sophia and dani continued the act for the rest of the night, pretending to ignore manon and megan. of course, yoonchae was on their side because she was smart. “stop the violence,” she had proclaimed, and of course, everyone listened to the maknae, especially when she was on sophia’s side, because sunchip? sunchip was THE final boss.

~~~

when the katseye van pulled up to their hotel just shy of 2 am, beck stopped the girls just as manon had prepared to launch herself out. “girls, excellent work today, but sophia, manon, and lara, can you guys stay behind for me?”

megan, yoonchae, and dani jumped out of their seats and ran inside. sophia let out a heavy sigh.

“sophia. manon. i understand that you two have a… relationship, but i hope you know that EYEKONS cannot know about this. your argument was audible from the box office in the back. that cannot happen again, do you understand?” beck’s nose was inches from their faces as she scolded them.

sophia and manon nodded timidly. “i- we’re sorry, beck,” manon whispered.

“next, lara. i don’t care if it was a joke or not, but please don’t instigate drama between the girls like that ever again. EYEKONS are observant. they can always tell when members are pissed at one another. and lara, just to let you know, i want to be home for new year’s, not cooped up here cleaning up your messes and telling bold-faced lies to your fans.”

lara was shaken. “i’m really sorry, beck. i didn’t mean for it to go this far.”

beck nodded. “off you go, girls, and don’t forget to pack. we have to leave for the airport at 8 am.”

the three nodded and ran up to their rooms.

MEANWHILE…

“i just don’t understand, dani. you’re straight. why are you so interested in sophia? she HAS a fucking girlfriend.”

“i- yeah… i’m straight…” dani whispered.

megan was confused. “that’s not an answer, daniela.”

“yeah? it’s answer enough for you, skiendiel.”

megan flinched. dani hadn’t called her that since they had hated each other- wait. when did megan stop hating her?

dani brushed invisible dust from her pants and stood up. “well, skiendiel, since you seem to know what you’re talking about, i’m going to shower first.”

megan stood, too, and started numbly folding away clothes. pajamas, her comfort hoodie, sweatpants, jeans, a couple t-shirts, and finally, her slippers. as she zipped up her suitcase, dani stepped out in a towel.

“you can shower now, skiendiel.” dani said coldly, shoulder brushing against megan’s as she walked over to her own suitcase.

as megan stood under the steaming water, she shut her eyes and her mind drifted back to dream academy, when she and daniela had shared a room. they were best friends.

flashback…

“come on megan, let me do your makeup!”

“pleaseee can i draw on your arm daniiiiii?”

“wake up daniela andrea avanzini llorente before i call

ana and tell her you’re bullying me!”

“i’m up i promise please don’t call her meggie!”

end of flashback…

megan sighed. where had the good times gone?

the chinese girl stepped out and wrestled into an oversized hoodie and pajama pants. as she lay at the edge of the bed, sleep felt unreachable.

“daniela andrea avanzini llorente, what are you doing to me?”

~~~

back in sophia and manon’s hotel room, things weren’t going so well either.

“fifi, can you fold my hoodie for me? you know how bad i am at folding these…”

and of course, she was ignored. “come on fifi, you know you love mee..”

“not sure if i do,” sophia responded coldly.

manon, realizing her girlfriend was not letting down, sighed and shoved all of her clothes into her suitcase, zipped it up, and went straight to bed after showering. when sophia stepped out, she was fully clothed and took her pillow, an extra blanket, and her suitcase outside. confused, manon watched from the doorway as sophia entered lara and yoonchae’s room.

“mine.” she whispered. “not yoonchae’s.“