Chapter 4: The Gala

Warning! There is language that some might not be comfortable with, ahead! It is nothing too bad (to me), and show's up very briefly.

The sun was shining and there was a light crisp breeze coming into the empty apartment. It was a beautiful day but Star felt like absolute crap. Today was the day of the big gala. What for? Some endangered species fund. It was a great cause, but Star didn't belong there with the rich elite of society. She saw herself helping the cause on the ground, rather than at a distance with people dishing out money to maintain their reputation. Tim had no interest in what his money was getting put towards. Glen made the plans and Tim made the appearance...and now apparently, Star had to show face too.

Star's phone had rung for the fifteenth time in the past hour. She had turned her phone off last night to avoid having to talk to Harper. Tim had warned her not to speak about the ordeal to anyone including her best friend who practically worshiped the ground that he walked on. 

"Hello?" She had to deal with it eventually. It was better to sort this out with Harper now than to have it on her mind later.

"Jeez Star, are you alright!? I thought you died, you haven't been answering any of my calls!" Harper practically shouted.

"I know, I know. Things have been extremely hectic. I don't know if you saw Morning on the Shores but..."

"OH. I SAW IT ALRIGHT. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ALL ABOUT. FIRST OF ALL,YOU DIDN'T EVEN TELL ME YOU WERE GOING TO BE ON THE SHOW. I WAS WATCHING FOR TIM AND MY SURPRISE WHEN I SEE HIS ARMS AROUND YOU!" Star could just imagine Harper stomping around her room, arms flailing. 

"I understand that you're mad but..."

"Mad? Who's mad? This is amazing!" Harper gushed. "My best friend's picture is all over the internet! Do you know how many people started to follow you on Tweeter? Over 2,000 in the first few minutes of the announcement!" 

"Really?" She was shocked. Tim was really that powerful? Her popularity, according to Harper, had skyrocketed!

"Yes! So tell me, are you and Tim really dating? How did you guys meet? Is he a good kisser!?"

"Breathe Harper. I'll tell you from the beginning." It was time to put her A+ in Creative Writing to good use. "Do you remember how I told you that I worked in a salon?" She had kept in contact with Harper on a daily basis but never mentioned anything about Tim because she didn't want her behavior to change. She was Star's lifeline, her only friend.

"Yeah, Barney's Salon right?"

"Yupp,well Tim came in one day for a quick trim. You know split ends and all that. I was the one who swept up his blonde locks. Later on we bumped into each other at Flying V's Coffee House and he paid for my drink. After that, we just kept seeing each other everywhere. I told him about my dream and he could relate because of how he started as an up and coming actor. We fell in love, and he got me this opportunity." It felt so weird for her to say that she loved him. "He's going to make it out to be much more glamorous on TV, but I couldn't lie to you." Sorry Harper. I hope you'll understand.

"Wow, Tim sounds like such an incredible guy!" Don't make me laugh. "Can you get me his autograph? You know how much I love him!"

"Of course I will. I've told him about you, he's glad to have such a dedicated fan." Star felt terrible. Harper was so genuine and truth be told, she doubted Tim would even care about singling out a fan.

"Oh my gosh! I love you forever Star. I hope I get to meet him one day! What about Caleb Gray!? Did you meet him again?"

"No. He's really busy all the time so we've yet to cross paths. I haven't even told Tim about my semi-obsession with Caleb." Ding Ding Ding. She hasn't lost her ability to tell the truth! "I have to go get ready for this party tonight. Tim wants me to get my hair done."

"Aww alright. Call me later! I want to hear all about it!"

They said their goodbyes and Star collapsed onto the bed. "That was exhausting. I don't know how long I can keep this up."

"Is this really necessary?" This was the fifth dress Star had tried on."The party is tonight.I'll wear whatever you give me."

"No, don't be silly. My girlfriend will be the most gorgeous girl at this entire event. I won't settle for anything less. Marcela, bring these to the front. We're getting all of them."

"All of them!?" Star's eyes widened. "It's one party!"

"Trust me, there will be more parties."

"Let him spoil you Sweetheart. It's not often Tim flaunts his arm candy. He never did that for the last girl," Marcela interjected. 

"Mya?" Star said absentmindedly. Upon realization, she instantly covered her mouth. 

"Wow, Tim you're that into this girl that you told her about Mya?" 

Tim tensed up. "Uh, yeah. Hurry up and pay for that so we can get her hair and makeup done." Once Marcela was gone, Tim shot Star an angry look. "Don't overstep your boundary. Mya is a topic thats off limits. Don't get too comfortable, or I'll expose you." He whispered the last part.

"Uh, sorry! You're right. I appreciate what you're doing." She knew he was protecting his reputation first and foremost but it was benefiting her immensely. He could have been treating her much worse. Or, she was just trying to convince herself that what was going on was right.

"Oh! So gorgeous!" Marcela gushed.

"Thanks..." Star blushed. Looking in the mirror exposed a stranger. Rather than her usually lax clothing, Star was wearing a gorgeous gown, diamond necklace and expensive heels, all totalling to over $1,000. Star would have never been able to produce this look for herself. Having MArcela poke and prod at her body wasn't something she'd ever think she'd be able to get used to. She looked like a Star, but she didn't feel like one. She would have been fine with a cheaper dress and less makeup. Alas, she wasn't dressing up for her. Star was dressing up for Tim. A lot was riding on her appearance alone and it disgusted her.

"What's wrong? You actually look decent for once," Tim remarked, once Marcela was out of earshot.

"Gee, thanks?" 

"Seriously though, is it the hair? Marcela can come and re-do it..."

"How important is it that I look like this?" She motioned towards her outfit.

"Extremely. You don't get gigs off of talent alone. You have to have the look."

"But...can't you change that? You have such big influence on people. If you showed up in casual clothes once and a while wouldn't people follow your lead?"

"If I did that, I'd be out of a job. No job means no fans." Tim shrugged as if it was that obvious. "This is what it's like being a star. There are so many of you newcomers who think they're cut out for the business that eventually just quit because it's too demanding. You have to keep up appearances and EVERYTHING gets critiqued."

Star sighed unhappily at her reflection. When she had first tried on the dress, she felt beautiful. Now, standing next to Tim, it felt unnatural.

Tim held up his phone and shook it in. "He's here, let's go."

"Who's here?" A bewildered Star asked.

"Caleb, he's coming with."

"Caleb Gray!?" Star began to mentally panic. The pressure of the entire event was enough on it's own. This made it ten times worse. She just couldn't look him in the eyes and she would be fine.

"Yeah, he's just as famous as I am. Let's go."

There he was in all his glory, Caleb Gray. Star took a deep breath and followed Tim's lead into the limo.

"What's up man?" Tim grinned, punching his arm playfully.

"Not much has happened in a few hours," Caleb smirked.

Star watched the two banter, in amazement. Tim was acting like a human being for once. It was weird. Suddenly she felt a gaze on her.

"So you're not going to introduce me to your date?" Caleb asked.

"You saw Morning on the Shores," Tim shrugged. False alarm. He was still a jerkazoid.

"Don't be so rude." He extended his hand out. "I'm Caleb, what can I call you?"

Tim rolled his eyes at the unnecessary politeness. He didn't understand Caleb. He already knew her name from all of the hype.

"Oh, um...I'm Star Upton," She said sheepishly.

Caleb was deep in thought for a moment. "I feel like I've seen you somewhere before..."

"Oh, um...maybe it was someone else?" Yeah right, like Star would let Tim know she was at Caleb's concert.

"Yeah, maybe." He shrugged. The rest of the car ride consisted of small talk. Caleb was really nice, deflecting all of Tim's negativity. She saw him as a human being and not some celebrity machine. It felt more natural for her to be laughing with Caleb than "shopping" with Tim.

When they arrived at the gala, Tim had taken over the job of gentleman. he treated her like a complete princess when he saw a camera nearby. When there wasn't, he'd loosen his grip on her waist and opt out for something with much less contact. The entirety of the event felt so forced. She smiled sweetly at all of Tim's friends and spoke highly to all of them. They were certainly impressed with Star. It had all been going well (for Tim at least) until a certain woman called Tim over.

Tim, Star and Caleb ventured towards the seated female.

"Oh my gosh, you guys clean up well. And is this your girlfriend?" Her voice was sickly sweet.

"Mhmm. I'm the luckiest guy of the evening," He laced his fingers with Star's. She forced a polite smile. "Star is amazing." For some reason he was laying on the flirting really thick.

"Caleb, no date for you?"

"Yeah, after what happened last time? No way." 

She let out a melodious laugh. "It wasn't that bad!"

Star had felt so out of place. They all seemed to know each other for a while.

"My name is Mya. Has this knucklehead talked about me?" Tim shot her a glance and Star laughed nervously. She didn't know what to do. A yes would prompt questions, but a no would look bad for Tim. All she knew was that Mya was strictly off limits to her, yet here she was."It's alright, Tim never really liked showing me off to the world anyway," She sighed.

Star wondered why that was. Mya was stunning. She was the exact opposite of what she was picturing. In her small golden dress, she was the picture perfect hollywood starlet. She was the definition of trophy wife. She was a conversation piece and she knew it.

"Let's not talk about that here," Tim said calmly.

She jumped from her seat and pointed at star accusingly. "What gives her the right to be paraded around?"

"Mya, please," Tim begged.

"No Tim." She stated sharply. "I saw her routine on TV, she was terrible. Why would you even promote her? I know the real reason you're with her, and let me tell you one thing...I promise she's not better than me in bed."

"Wait a second..." Star tried to speak up.

"You attention stealing ho!" She shouted as she clutched Star's neck tightly. Star could feel the air leaving her lungs. What the heck was going on? This Mya girl was a psycho! Tim had some unresolved problems and now Star was a part of it. Caleb and Tim pulled the girl's apart. Tim took hold of Mya's arm and dragged her to a secluded area of the venue. That left Star and Caleb alone.

"What the hell?" Star said angrily, rubbing her neck.

"I'm so sorry, she was never like that!" Caleb apologized.

"Why are you apologizing? She was Tim's ex-girlfriend."

"Yeah, but I already know that Tim isn't going to apologize, and it's rude to just let you go on thinking that all get togethers will be like this."

"I hope they aren't..." She felt herself frowning. She was having a miserable time.

"Let's go see if Tim handled everything."

"Well, have a good life without me. No more booty calls," Mya said harshly as she strutted away from Tim.

"Tim..." Star said softly.

"What the hell do you want?" He growled. How convenient, the paparazzi disappeared when Tim was a acting like a jerk.

"I just wanted to see if everything was alright..."

"I told you Mya was off limits!"

"I didn't even know that was Mya and you brought us over there!" Star defended.

"You didn't even handle that like a real girlfriend should have!"

"What did you want me to do? Sit there and be your therapist, while you two worked out your problems? I'm your girlfriend, I shouldn't have to witness that." 

"Don't make me laugh," He said bitterly. "You're nothing but a piece of mooching trash. Why don't you go back to your stupid little cleaning job and stay out of my life? Mya is more important to me than you'll ever be and thanks to this little outburst, she hates me!"

Star felt tears form in her eyes. She bit back a sob and ran.

"Why are you being so mean?" Was the last thing she heard as she ran from the reception hall.

She hated herself more than anything right now. She was running again. She couldn't face the gig and she tried to leave. Now, she couldn't even stand up to Tim. She had so much she had wanted to say to him. She wanted to yell at him for being such a selfish monster, but she couldn't find the words. Having Caleb and Tim stare at her was enough to make her nervous. She pushed passed people who watched her in amazement. She was showing an emotion, something those dolls weren't used to. The stress of it all was too much for her. She'd only been "dating" Tim for one day but she was way over her head. Thoughts pounded her head and all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry. Somehow, she thought that Tim and her were actually becoming friends, that maybe, by some twist of fate she meant something to him. But obviously she hadn't.

"Wait up!" She heard faint footsteps and loud panting. "This outfit isn't meant for running!"

Star tried to outrun her pursuer but it was to no avail. She couldn't pick up her speed in heels.

A pair of strung arms wrapped around her torso and held her tightly. "I hope you don't think this is weird, but you looked like you needed a hug."

"Caleb?" Star asked in shock. She held her breath for a moment, afraid to even move.

"I don't know why Tim is being so harsh to you, when none of this is your fault."

"It is my fault. I'm an idiot!" She sobbed into his arms,

"No, you're not." He shook his head. "Tim was out of line. You didn't know that this was going to happen."

"I am an idiot and you'll never understand why!" She shouted, tearing herself away from the singer. She didn't feel like she deserved to be coddled. All of this was ultimately her fault. None of this would have happened if she didn't blackmail Tim.

"Maybe I won't understand, but I can't sit back and let my best friend be a jerk to an amazing girl."

"Stop with your rehearsed speeches!" She said angrily. "You don't even know me! You can't say I'm amazing!"

Caleb grabbed her hand in his. "All of my fans are amazing."

"What?"

"I remember you. You were telling me about how my music had helped you through some tough times in your life.We got cut off last time by my manager. We have some time now, why don't you tell me all about it?" Normally she'd be ecstatic to hear that her favorite singer had remembered meeting her, and even more that he was consoling her. Now, she was just feeling pain and regret, so strong that nothing else mattered.

"Maybe some other time. I just want to go home." She wiped her eyes with the hand that wasn't in Caleb's.

"I can help you with that. Let's go. I'll talk to Tim, we'll get everything sorted out tomorrow." Star sighed. Caleb really was amazing. This moment was playing over in her head for years, but now that it was coming true, she was dreadful. Tim would no doubt tell Caleb all about how she was a despicable person, and he'd hate her for sure. He was the only nice person she had met in Starlight Shores, and probably the last because soon she'd be a public outcast.
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AN: So, this story may seem like it's moving fast but remember, it's a short series lasting only about ten chapters!