by Raziel Reid
A reporter from E! News interviews them. “It’s so good to see you two together!” she exclaims into her microphone. “Does that mean that the rumors are true and there’s a Hailey and Joel romance brewing this season?”
“Well, we did do a cast trip to the Bahamas,” Hailey says. She looks directly into the camera. “It’s hot over there…”
The reporter laughs.
“Just how hot?” she asks. “And how did Lily Rhode react? Are the rumors true about you and Hailey’s cousin?” The mic is thrust in Joel’s face.
Joel scratches his cheek. He doesn’t know how to respond.
“I guess you’ll have to watch,” he says.
The paparazzi go wild as another car pulls up to the red carpet. The Leons show up as a family. Luis is with them. Valeria looks beautiful and her smile is effortless.
“Looks like the Leons have just arrived,” the reporter says. She turns back to Hailey. “Is it true that you’re replacing Valeria on the new sitcom Almost Everything?”
“I love Valeria,” Hailey says. “She knows I’d literally do anything for her. But I’ve been thinking about acting and this opportunity came my way. I think the producers just wanted to go with a fresher look…”
Joel stops listening. He’s distracted by the next arrival. The Paleys light up as they step out of a limo. Patrick and Whitney appear first, followed by Lily.
The roar of the crowd is so undeniable that even Hailey has to pause her interview. She looks down the red carpet and sees Lily’s flashing arrival.
“Lily!” the paparazzi are screaming. “Over here! To your left!”
Lily’s pink sequin dress sparkles in the lights. She puts one hand on her hip and looks directly in Joel’s eyes as she strikes a pose.
lillianrhode
107k followers
chelciesandersx hailey stans: i dont care about joel or lily. also hailey stans: *spends their time hating on them every chance they get*
marcowilliams5 Strom could do so much better
katlyn04xo dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee b
The screaming of the crowd and frenzied clicking of the camera lenses go mute for Lily. The lights are flashing so rapidly that she sees a crown of white spots surrounding Joel’s head as he stands on the red carpet next to Hailey.
Lily can hear her heart beating in her ears. A flashing light shines into her eyes and she blinks, the sound suddenly turning back on. The paparazzi are calling her name.
She looks back over at Joel and sees his profile as he talks to a reporter, a microphone suspended in front of his lips. The camera lights shine through his eyelashes and his eyes are brimming with something—it’s like they’re bugged out in a way, like he’s high. It’s a state that Lily finds herself experiencing for the first time. After Greta told her that Joel was threatening to quit the show if her wardrobe malfunction made the air, Lily was convinced that the warnings she’s heard about him weren’t true. But maybe Valeria wasn’t totally wrong when she said you can’t get over it. Once you’re infected, you’re a fame junkie for life. Few ever manage to escape the pull that keeps them coming back for more of their favorite substitute for love.
The cheers from the fans suddenly stop and are replaced by gasps when a fight breaks out. Lily loses her pose as Christoph Johnson lunges for Sean and throws him against the step-and-repeat. Christoph gets Sean in a chokehold.
“You betrayed your own father? Your own blood?”
Sean manages to break free. He punches Christoph in the nose and Christoph goes flying back, crashing into the press line.
The lights flash even more rapidly. It’s chaos, and everyone looks stunned as they watch Sean wring out his fist, prepared to hit his father again as Christoph rises to a stand, blood dripping from his nose. Shondra Johnson is pretending to hide her face from the cameras.
“It ends now,” Sean says. “It ends tonight!”
Lily doesn’t know what Sean’s talking about. She looks over at Valeria, who looks just as shocked and confused.
Sean storms into the hotel. Christoph tries to go after him but security holds him back. The flashing lights are making Lily dizzy. She can’t see anything. But she can hear.
“Joel! Any comment?” The reporters and paparazzi are all asking at once. “Is it really you in the video?”
paleyhailey
1m followers
glowingrselle Stop insulting Lily. She’s as pretty as Hailey. This is not what Hailey wants. They both deserves love and happiness. Nothing will change from your meaningless comments. Remember when Hailey said “ kill people with kindness , and respect women.” why so many hate? You - Stop hate! More love! Be kind, please.
“Joel, what are you—” Hailey stops mid-sentence as she watches Joel offer Lily his hand. Hailey just stands there, with cameras flashing, as Lily accepts it. They escape the cameras and head into the hotel, leaving Hailey alone on the red carpet. Suddenly each flash feels like it’s cutting into her.
“What is happening?” Hailey rushes up to Fortune in the hotel lobby, away from the mayhem outside.
“Like I know,” he says. “Sean’s dad just went, like, legit crazy.”
“The video of Joel at the dogfight—you didn’t send it to anyone but me, did you?”
Fortune looks at Hailey guiltily. “Sean asked to see it. I didn’t think that he would—”
“No, you didn’t think,” Hailey says. “And now the photographers have a shot of Joel running away from the drama with Lily and not me. Say goodbye to ever being a permanent cast member! By the time I’m through with you, my housekeeper will have a bigger role on my show.”
Hailey turns and struts away, leaving Fortune in the lobby. She joins the cast and crew in the reception room for the party and goes right up to Joel standing in a group with Lily, Sean, and Valeria.
“I had to do it,” Sean is saying as Hailey approaches. “I just couldn’t live with the secret anymore.”
“You did the right thing, bro,” Joel says. “I’m proud of you.”
“It was so brave, Sean,” Valeria adds. “I’m proud of you, too.”
Joel and Sean hug.
“I’ll tell everyone that I dragged you into it,” Sean says. “That I couldn’t face it alone and you were a true friend. You stood by me. I’ll tell them you encouraged me to leak it, to stop it. Because that’s who you are. You care more about doing the right thing than about your own image.”
“Speaking of your image,” Hailey butts in. “Joel, don’t you think you should make some kind of statement to the press? I’ll go with you.” She tries to take Joel’s arm but he pulls away.
“Don’t act like you care,” Sean tells Hailey. “You were using the video against him. That’s the only reason he’s here with you tonight.”
“Is that true?” Lily asks, looking at Joel.
Joel’s about to answer when a photographer gets past security and bursts into the party, lighting them up in the flash of his camera and taking a succession of photos. They’re trapped.
lillianrhode
107k followers
bella.moccia @odettepeters9 i saw this on the explore page & literally thought it was u
Lily and Joel run hand in hand through the hotel kitchen. They come flying out the back door, spilling into the alley. One of the hotel staff is outside smoking a cigarette, leaning against the wall. His eyes widen when he recognizes them and he asks for a selfie.
“You can’t live your whole life on your phone, man!” Joel yells back at him as they run down the alleyway.
They come around the side of the hotel, approaching the parked limo that Lily arrived in with Patrick and Whitney.
“A limo?” Joel laughs. “This is your getaway car?”
“The driver’s nowhere in sight and the keys are in the ignition,” Lily says, pointing through the partially lowered window. “You have a better idea?”
“If by ‘nowhere in sight’ you mean on his way back with some street meat, then…” Joel looks at Lily. �
�Get in!”
Lily hops into the back and Joel gets behind the wheel. The driver sees and drops his food on the sidewalk. He chases after them as they pull away from the hotel. Lily sticks her head out of the sunroof and waves.
“My first stan!” She laughs.
Some of the paparazzi notice them driving off and join the chase down the street. Joel makes a turn and they lose their followers. The last shot the paparazzi get is of Lily blowing them a kiss.
paleyhailey
1m followers
paleyhailey I hate her!
paleyhailey She ruins everything!
paleyhailey That backstabbing bitch is after my life!
princepaley Omg!!! Who??
princepaley What’s wrong Queen???
paleyhailey BRING ME HER HEAD.
lillianrhode
108k followers
wearemily4 Make your story and love live forever
They go to Malibu.
Joel parks the limo on the PCH and they get out, running onto the beach.
“Lily, there’s so much I want to say—”
“Save it for the confessionals,” Lily says. “I don’t want to think about the past. I don’t want to think about the future. I just want to be now. Here. With you.”
Lily drops her swan clutch into the sand and slips out of her heels, looking out at the water and smiling back at Joel as she lets the straps of her dress slide off her shoulders. Her dress drops to her ankles in the sand.
Joel’s already kicking off his shoes. “How soon is now?” he asks. Joel whips off his tuxedo jacket and throws it behind him. Lily helps him unbutton his dress shirt, her hands shaking. She runs into the water as Joel hops out of his pants.
Lily dives under and when she breaks the surface, Joel is running into the water in his white Calvin Klein briefs. He swims over to her.
As they kiss, Lily remembers Joel standing on the street outside the Paleys’ house, meeting her eyes through the window as the Platinum Triangle production SUV slowly drove past. She didn’t know then what was going to happen to her, but she knew there was no going back. And from that first moment when she locked eyes with Joel Strom, she hasn’t wanted to.
The facade of the house isn’t real. A part of her must’ve known then, when Joel walked up to her on the driveway and saw her staring up at the Paleys’ glass cage, that glass walls promoting transparency can become a labyrinth of mirrors.
Life on a reality show can make everything feel like a reality show, like the world is going to separate, as if it’s an elaborately designed stage set, and you’ll learn that everyone was acting and you were the only one who didn’t know.
When they get back to the beach, Lily’s phone is going off in her clutch. She pulls it out and looks up at Joel standing at the edge of the water and letting the waves break over his feet.
“I’ve been Verified,” she tells him.
“Welcome to the club,” Joel says, water dripping from his hair down his face.
Lily drops her phone back in the clutch. She’s shivering, and it’s not just from the cold. Joel comes over and retrieves his jacket, dusting off the sand, and he wraps it around Lily’s shoulders.
“My dad’s place is close to here,” he says. “Why don’t we go there? She’ll probably still be at the Sofitel.” He rubs Lily’s shoulder. “We’ll start a fire. Get warmed up.”
Lily kisses him one more time.
“Last one to the limo has to perform an LOML number,” she whispers in his ear, bending over to grab her shoes and dress. She makes a run for it across the beach toward the highway.
The sand kicks up around her as she runs. She can hear Joel running behind her and turns around to look at him as she reaches the PCH. Joel’s not far behind, a big smile on his face. He stops running just as Lily turns and starts to cross, feeling the pavement beneath her feet.
“Lily!” Joel screams.
There’s a car barreling down the highway straight toward her. Lily freezes mid-pose. The headlights are like the camera lights and she’s nothing but a cover girl.
paleyhailey
1.1m followers
kate_sara_ I’m gonna have nightmares after seeing this lol
Hailey is asleep on her bed and doesn’t hear the window sliding open, or the person climbing on her roof slipping inside so quietly it’s like he’s not really there. But he’s always watching.
She looks so beautiful, sleeping peacefully with her hair fanned out across her pillow. The ends twist to make perfect heart shapes. It’s exactly how he always imagined she’d sleep. Like she’s the most Liked photo in the world.
His face is distorted in her mirrored bedpost. He’s a blurry image, not quite a whole person but more solid than a ghost—and certainly more influential.
If only he could touch her. He reaches out his hand…her skin! It looks so soft. He wants to wear it. But he won’t. Not yet. It isn’t time to wake her from her dream within a dream.
He knows she hears it all the time but he’s her biggest fan!
She stirs and rolls to her side, breaking hearts as he takes a selfie with her sleeping behind him.
princepaley Queen Hailey Forever