“Mal, slow down! You’ll twist your other ankle!” Zhen demanded as the two tore their way towards the baggage claim. Mallory had been on edge since the second that Suga recognized her, and it was starting to freak Zhen out. “Mal!”

She came to a stop next to their assigned baggage claim and turned to her friend. “He recognized me Zhen!” Zhen nodded and opened to speak. “How?” Mallory asked, before Zhen could get a word in. “How did he recognize me? For years we’ve fooled people, wearing face masks and not talking, and all the sudden some rapper from a common boy band realizes that we disguise ourselves. It’s insanely impossible.”

Zhen shrugged. “I guess not. I mean, he didn’t even hesitate, or think twice about it before saying that you were Shadow and I was Midnight.”

“Thank god for this,” Mallory said, pointing to her left eye. She rolled her eyes, shifting from one foot, wincing, and then to the next as the bags poured onto the conveyor belt. The two immediately walked up to the belt and grabbed their bags. “How did he recognize me?” Mallory murmured under her breath.

Zhen returned to the back of the stage and began to shuck off the frilly, puffed out dress the designer had forced her to wear. She, and one of the backstage help, had to force the dress off before she could run to the other side of the room and pull on another dress.

As she came into the room, she spotted Mallory getting her dress zippered, make-up fixed and hair curled. She was on her phone, shouting in French. She threw the phone down, and shooed the workers before turning and finding Zhen. “Why does everyone get crazy whenever we’re at a fashion show?”

Zhen smirked. “Because the world is out to get you, Mallie.”

Mallory groaned and rolled her eyes. “Seriously. Thank goodness this is the last dress.” She said, leaning towards the vanity and grabbing her lip gloss. “That was mon responsable. He has decided that it would be good to really publicize the relationship, la fausse relation, with Cale here, to make it look like he wouldn’t have been okay with being away from me for the month.”

Zhen laughed at this as the stylists helped her into her new dress. “It’s too bad you find him attractive.”

Mallory shook her head. “That’s not funny.”

It was because it was true. Mallory had a sort of “Mail Order Boyfriend”. Caleb’s manager knew Mallory’s manager, and Caleb mentioned needing a girlfriend for publicity. Enter Mallory’s manager, telling her he would cut her pay if she didn’t. If he cut her pay, she couldn’t remain emancipated due to nonideal conditions. So Mallory was dating Caleb Thomas, from the American band 18 Days. Mallory pretended like she did it for the money, which for the most part she did, but Caleb wasn’t homely. In fact, he was very attractive.

“Straight to the hotel tonight?” Zhen asked as she was zipped into her next dress.

Mallory nodded. “There’s no need to be out tonight. I’ll blow off Cale if need be.” Zhen nodded and she and Mallory started back towards the stage for their last walk. “It’s been a long month. I just want to go home.”

Mallory and Zhen were both wearing hats and sunglasses as they made their way towards the back door of the venue. Both were finished modeling and were ready to go back to the hotel to rest before their flight the next morning.

They opened the back door and camera’s started flashing. Even though they were only models, they were constantly in the limelight for their age. It was a huge ordeal. The car was not too far away from the crowds, and the two pushed towards the car. The door opened and Caleb Thomas stepped out, arms spread wide and a fake smile plastered to his face. “Hey babe, how was your show?”

Immediately, Mallory smiled and hopped towards him in a very girly manner. “Baby! I missed you today!” She said, leaping into his arms and kissing him quickly before hugging him and turning to Zhen. “The show was great! Let’s get going, though.” She rushed, and Zhen knew immediately that she wasn’t feeling like faking a relationship that night.

“Okay.” Caleb said, moving to the side so the two could climb in. “Hey Zhen. How are you?”

She shrugged. “Fine, I guess.” She answered, following Mallory into the car. Caleb followed, closing the door and sitting on the other side of the limo, away from the two girls. Mallory watched as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. For the rest of the ride, his dull blue eyes were fixed to his phone. Caleb was handsome, but his personality put a damper on it. His curly brown hair, boyish grin and single dimple on his right cheek gave him a sort of attractive look. But he was a drunk, he didn’t really treat Mallory like a human aside from in the eyes of the public, and he constantly hit on Zhen, in Mallory’s presence. Zhen could say, without any form of remorse, that she hated him.

“We need to be at the airport by seven tomorrow morning,” Mallory started. “Do you think you’ll be around then, Cale?”

Caleb shrugged. “Depends. Am I going out tonight?”

“Dom said he wanted to go to the club down the street.” Mallory informed him.

He laughed. “Then obviously not, Mallory.” He said this in a spiteful sort of way. “Sometimes you can be so dumb.”

“And sometimes you can be a complete , but you don’t see me saying anything.” Mallory retorted, turning to Zhen. “I’ll wake you up a little before so you can get ready. The flight should only be three hours. Will you be moving in with your new family tomorrow?”

Before Zhen could say anything, Caleb perked up. “Do need any help, Zhenie?”

“Don’t call me that.” Zhen hissed and turned to Mallory. “I think I meet them tomorrow. Do you mind if I stay in your apartment for another few days, just until things get settled over the