Dreams Of Fame
1.15 - Devastated
Even after Travis’s and Zoe’s parents had left, the whole family continued celebrating. No one did any work for a week, Jo and Beatrice came round on the daily, and Summer got progressively bitter as she watched Travis’s advances towards Liberty and not towards her.
In the living room, Zoe sat with Giovanna on the couch and listened to her stories.
“One time, I was like woosh! And then, hahahaha moo moo!” Giovanna laughed.
Zoe laughed with her and scribbled that onto her paper. “You’re a genius, Giovanna, I don’t know what any of us would do without you!”
All that was written in Zoe’s notebook was a crude drawing of a cow and a cloud. It was a miracle she managed to translate that into actual words that sold millions of copies.
Summer, who’d taken to watching instead of action recently, shook her head slowly. It was times like this when she wondered if sending Zoe to Melody had been the wrong idea. Sure, she wasn’t locking people in basements or moving people into her house to leech off them anymore, but at the same time, she was someone… completely new.
Occasionally, there was a rare moment where the old Zoe would shine through in a moment of stress, but usually, she was replaced by someone sickeningly kind. She’d even taken to lecturing Summer on the bottle of wine she downed whenever she walked in on Liberty making moves on Travis, recommending a nice, warm cup of coffee instead. Coffee, if anything, makes stress worse! Summer just added it to the long list of regrets in her head. Moving in with Zoe? Check. Destroying her relationship with her parents just so she could lust over Travis? Check. Allowing that bitch Liberty to move in with her and Travis? Check. Going upstairs to chill with that José dude instead of yelling at Liberty at the club? Check. If Zoe thought coffee would be enough to deal with this, she was tripping.
Summer vividly remembered the peppy cheerleader type she’d been before deciding to room with Travis and Liberty. So much had changed in such a short time.
Summer shook her head, and headed into Zoe’s room because she heard someone yelling. She walked in on Jo. “YOU DID NOT JUST-“
“Ssshhh! Get out Summer! We’re having a private discussion!” Jo said quickly, hurrying towards the door.
Summer nodded slowly and left the room, shutting the door behind her.
Inside the room, Jo took a deep breath. “So you’re a what?”
“An alien,” Beatrice smiled. She turned very rapidly, and Jo was shocked to discover a massive blue woman standing in front of her.
“I can't believe this!” Jo breathed. “In all my years…”
Beatrice grinned. “Doesn’t this planet have other strange beings?”
Jo shrugged. “Not that I’ve met.”
Beatrice slipped back into her human disguise and smiled at Jo.
“No one would ever know…” she breathed. “This is incredible.”
Over the last month or so, Beatrice and Jo had begun to associate at the Presley’s various events. They’d built a fast friendship thanks to Jo’s natural charm and Beatrice’s mysterious past. If there was one thing Jo couldn’t resist, it was someone who had an insane backstory or if they kept it secret.
“The only people that know are Liberty, Travis, and maybe Zoe,” Beatrice said. “Summer was… what is it you call it… drink? when Liberty tried to tell her. She, uh, didn’t remember me in the morning.”
Jo sighed deeply. “I worry about that girl.”
Outside, Summer gave up on trying to hear anything through the door. That freak Zoe had soundproofed all the bedrooms when she'd even forced to remodel the basement into a livable environment. Sure, it blocked out the excessive snoring of Giovanna, but it wasn’t good when she wanted to listen in on people’s conversations. She’d just gotten lucky Jo was being so loud initially, as the soundproofing of the rooms that had already existed was questionable at best. Whoever Zoe had hired wasn’t the greatest at the whole house construction business.
Summer sighed and headed outside, to where the bar had been relocated. Jo had convinced Zoe to move it out there in an effort to discourage her drinking problem. All that it had really done was result in a wonderful tan thanks to all the time Summer had started spending outside.
“Hey, Liberty…” came Travis’s voice.
Summer froze in the doorway. She didn’t want Travis and Liberty to see her lurking.
“…I’ve been thinking… Do you want to… er… go out?” Travis muttered.
“Oh, jeez, yes, finally! Yes, Travis, yes!” came Liberty’s reply. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for you to say that…”
Summer stepped out onto the porch shrieking.
“HOW DARE YOU!” she shouted.
She was so loud that the Browns down the street closed their windows.
“S-Summer!” Travis stammered, jumping to his feet.
Liberty quickly followed. “W-We didn’t mean-“
Summer stormed over to the bar, swiped several bottles of wine out from under it, and stormed off to her room. She slammed the door so loudly that it echoed across the whole house. No one was fearless enough or cared enough to knock on her door and ask her what was wrong.
Feeling a sudden wave of sadness, Summer reached for her phone and dialed a number she hadn’t dialed in a long time.
“Mom?” she asked in a quiet voice.
“Summer? Is that you?” a voice responded.
“Yes, mom, it’s me,” Summer sobbed.
“Since when did you start calling me mom again? I thought it was just ‘Terra’, like you said when you left us.”
“I-I made a mistake, mom,” Summer admitted. “I did all that just so you could disown me and I’d be free to move in with Travis.”
“Travis, sweetie? That’s why you did all that? Come on, Summer, darling. Your father and I always told you you’re better than him, he was your friend for years and was always blind to your charm.”
“I didn’t call for a lecture, mom,” Summer snapped.
“And I didn’t pick up to have the woman who used to be my daughter bitch and moan about how bad her life has gotten because of her poor choices,” Terra snapped back.
She hung up, and Summer was left crying on her bed, the wine on her nightstand her only company.