LONG TIME NO SEE!!! HAPPY FAMOUX FRIDAY!!
I'm so sorry for disappearing last week. I had THE most overwhelming amount of deadlines. I also got a new cat! His name is Will Hunting, after the film Good Will Hunting. So basically, for the past two weeks I've been house-sitting and taking care of Will and trying to complete all my work before their deadlines and drive back and forth to school and do my assignments well, and to be honest, I put this story on the back burner, which is unfair to you!!
Every time I write this story, I feel so happy and excited to share it with you. It's truly a form of self care for me to write and post on Wattpad. So thank you for being here and being patient with me! Now, let's get into it:
PREVIOUSLY ON THE CLASSIX: Emeray and Cartney met the new members! Emeray has not one, but TWO new members: A girl named Lex, and THE BOY WHO LOOKS LIKE DALTON! Shall we get to know this boy? Learn his name? Let's see!
emeray
The crowds and cameras gathered in Ace go wild when the new members and I emerge. Even though I assumed there'd be, there is no real formal announcement that these people are in fact The Fanatix, however, the way they stay stationed around me for the rest of the night like a pack of bodyguards makes everyone in the room intrigued and delighted. Who are these mysterious people? Where did they come from?
Carstan and Norax decided that this approachââthe silence, the curiosity, the wondermentââwas the best direction to take when introducing the Fanatix. Some of these new members are fairly well known in terms of "mega fans," so their inclusion at the party will make our fan bases excited, not to mention make news outlets praise us for seeming down to earth. The endless angles, Carstan said, are all great. All preferred.
The parade of new members at my party is a short one. We enter, we dance, and then, as quickly as the match is struck, it's snuffed out as we part in our limos and big black cars. Looking out the window on the way back to the Metropolix, I can't help but feel relief, above everything else, that this monstrously long day has come to an end.
My car drives around the Metropolix five times before finally stopping in front of it, which Gerald explains is a plan to make sure I don't run into the other members, who are obviously confused. When I enter in the mudroom, sure enough, Norax tells me that everybody has already retreated to their rooms, and that I should do the sameââthe questions and explanations can wait for tomorrow.
Any relief I felt about the end of the day dissipates the moment I close my door. It's then when things solidifyââthe members, my new two members. I rake a hand through my hair, moving through my room quickly. I can only imagine the kind of overwhelment going on in the other members' heads right now, they know so little. I wish I did too.
Retreating into my closet, I sit down on the floor next to my shoes. I squeeze my eyes shut, hoping for a quiet void. Much to my dismay, I'm not greeted with any pleasant, empty darkness. Instead, about a dozen visions of what's just happened flash like a slideshow. I see their faces again, one by one.
Sam, Elle, Lex, Sarah, Lacey, and him.
Dalton. But not Dalton.
His name is Currer. Currer Crane. He's from Eldae, like I suspected. He's Dalton's age, like I also expected. It's the only way to make sense of how similar they look.
Not like I look too much at Currer, though. It's hard to. Throughout our meeting and the rest of the night, I could barely keep my gaze on him for more than a split second before a thunderous eruption evaded my brain. Not only did I think about how Dalton has been reported missing for the past few months, but I also couldn't help but think about how him being missing is my fault. I don't know why or how he's gone, but it might now have happened had I returned to my family that Darkening day. But I didn't. I left them behind without a word, swooped under Norax's wing like a wounded bird.
I left them. Dalton, Brandyce, my father. I left them all. And every time Currer enters my line of sight, I am reminded of this fact. Saying hello to him, the only thing I could think about was how I never said goodbye to Dalton.
Raking in a deep breath, I open my eyes into the fabric of a dress I've never worn. It's satin, soft against the tip of my nose. When I breathe in I can smell flowers, like perfume. I try hard to concentrate on itââwhat color it is, where it might stop on my body if I tried it onââbut those little details do nothing to calm the sporadic beating in my chest. How am I supposed to concentrate now?
The vision of Currer standing in front of me comes to mind once more, and pauses there for my consideration. I dissect it like a detective.
His hair, his eyes, his skin. All my brother's.
But not my brother.
His voice as he said, "So pleased to meet you." It was so quiet, so faint, so nervous. Who could blame him for being nervous?
Not my brother's voice. His was a firm, deep one. The voice of someone assured of themselves and their volume and timbre.
When I met Currer, I was afraid the room would burst. Into flames, into tears, into something.
But the windows didn't shatter.
The furniture didn't topple and sizzle like velvet purple embers.
Norax, Carstan, and the other Fanatix members didn't stumble and brace themselves against the wall for cover.
Somehow, everything was perfectly still as Currer Crane and I met. The room stayed put. The bomb was a dud. No flames, no tears, no movement, save for a handshake.
I shut my eyes again, pressing my face into the satiny dress. I push into the fabric, but I can't erase the vision of him. Like a natural disaster it persists, it evades, it destroys.
"Emeray?"
At once, my eyes snap open. Vision blurred, it takes a good few seconds before I make her out, leaning slant against the closet doorframe.
There she is: Till Amaris in her pajamas. Somehow it still looks like she could wear it down a runway.
"Till," I say. I get up from the floor, maladroit.
She moves forward and helps me up. "I'm sorry, did I bother you?"
"No." I smooth out the front of my dress. "I was just..."
It fades off. But Till doesn't mind, nor pry. "Just about change, right?"
"Right," I say.
"You do that." She nods to my bedroom. "And when you're done, can we talk for a bit? Maybe have some tea?"
She walks out. I change quickly, throwing on the first comfy pieces of clothing I can find. When I emerge, Till has somehow conjured up a kettle and two cups.
"Do you like camomile?" she asks.
"I don't know," I say.
"You'll like it," she says, decisively. "It's calming."
As it appears, I do like camomile, and it is calming. Not calming enough to settle my tumultuous mind, but enough to make my hands warm around the cup.
For a few sips, we're silent, But then:
"What a day," Till reflects.
"I know," I say. "It's been the longest day of my life."
"Who were those people you were with?" she asks. "At the end of the night? I thought I saw one of the..."
I nod. "You did see Sarah. Your new member."
She sits back into her chair. "So they already picked them."
"They picked two for me."
"Two?"
"Apparently one wasn't enough."
"That's ridiculous."
"One of them looks like my brother," I say, voice small. "He was the one option I was wishing I wouldn't get."
Till's eyes widen. "Has Carstan met your brother?"
"We all went to school together."
Till absorbs this. I stare into my cup. The yellow-orange glow of the tea is faint in this black mug. I can barely make out the color.
"He has to know it's me," I say. "He's taunting me. He tortured me back then and he wants to torture me here too."
My eyes water I speak. Instantly, Till puts her hand on top of mine. She doesn't say anything. Perhaps she can't figure out the right words. But even so, just feeling the warmth of her hand is enough. Like camomile, I feel a rush of calm spread through me, even if just for a fleeting moment.
Till doesn't have to say it out loud for me to know that things are different this time around. If Carstan really does know who I am, and is trying to torture me, I'm not alone anymore. I have her. I have Chapter. I have Cartney, Race, even Kaytee. No matter how it all plays out, I won't be playing it out alone.
"You didn't get any messages from DEFED today, did you?" she asks.
"Nothing," I say.
"Not even a birthday gift? Seems unlike them." She sets her cup down, finished. "I think we need to tell the other members about our DEFED notes before these new ones come in. I doubt we'll have many chances for our group to be alone after that."
"When do we have any chance to be alone now?" I point out.
Till grins, wryly. "How about we break the news tomorrow?"
It's decided. We plan to get up early and get the members out of their rooms before Norax or anyone else can wake. And then Till leaves, taking her kettle and cups with her.
Sleep doesn't greet me as graciously as I hoped it would. For the rest of the night I toss and turn, unable to get the kaleidoscopic images of my birthday out my head. The media blitz, the party, Currer. It's a never-ending slideshow on repeat.
I'm thankful when a small rap on the door breaks through the silence at sunrise. I nearly barrel out of my bed, flinging the door open.
But much to my horror, it's not Till who I see.
Carstan smiles, fake and diplomatic.
"Miss Essence, good, you're awake."
My entire body seizes up. In the glow of dawn from my window, he looks something like a phantom. I have to force myself to speak.
"What... What is it?" I ask.
"We're so sorry to interrupt everyone's slumber, but we have a new exciting shipment that's just now come in," he says, voice like a wink. From behind him, I see Race and Kaytee groggily passing on their way down the stairs, guided by their personal guards.
Just then, Till walks by. I meet her gaze for a split second, and her eyes are full of alarm. Suddenly, it clicks.
"Wait, is the shipment...?"
"Yes it is, Emeray," he says. "It's time for the Famoux to meet the Fanatix."
xxx
There is is!!! Tell me your thoughts.
What do you think of Currer Crane? His name has meaning. It combines two things I enjoy in both literature and film history. As you know, a lot of names in this story are inspired by literature and film: "Marlon" as in Marlon Brando, "Buchan Records" as in the Buchanan's from Gatsby, and so, so many more. So give me your guesses for Currer!!!
I know a lot of people were wondering who the new members are named after, and I forgot to indicate it in the last chapter! So here it is:
1. Race's new member Sam: Named after one of my oldest friends. We've known each other since we were on Tumblr with Hunger Games fan accounts!
2. Kaytee's new member Lacey: Named after the incredible Laceinabox! Her children in the story are also her children IRL, and getting to watch them as they grow via Lacey's Instagram has been such a wonderful constant in my life!
3. Till's new member Sarah: Named after SarahxCraik, who I love so so much. She is a ray of sunshine on all my social media feeds.
4. Chapter's new member Ellison: Who else but the amazing ElleRoseBooks! One of the best people I know! The best friend a person could as for!!! Kasselle forever!!!!!
5. Emeray's first member Lex: Named after one of my best friends, Lexi. She's been reading drafts of Famoux for me before I ever posted a word.
Currer is the only member not named after someone. I won't be coming up with random names again, though. All other characters will be named after YOU! If you've been commenting on chapters, I can basically guarantee to you that you have a character queued up to debut soon.
HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND! This weekend I'm planning on completing my outline of my miniseries and getting the bulk of my pilot episode written. I also need to fully outline a feature adaptation of a really fun YA book I read as a teenager. I also need to write a short film, and edit another short film. Busy busy busy!
What are your plans? Anything fun? Anything boring? Anything I'll totally be jealous of? Let me know!
Also, how have you been? Fill me in! What's been exciting for you? I want the details!!!
I love you so much, and I can't wait to post more for you. Remember:
Sticks and Stones may break your bones, but haters make you famoux. Stay classy, stay classix.