Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Saturday finally showed itself and I couldn't stop thinking about this magazine cover. It was nerve racking because I didn't expect to win the prize. It was important and could change my life for the long haul. If Farah oversaw picking the winner, then I could kiss it goodbye. We all know she's going to pick Jenna. However, if it's anything like when we had to waltz, I may have a chance. But that was very slim as I don't have any experience with this stuff.

That didn't stop me from enjoying getting ready though. Melissa was always a joy to see but sadly, I didn't have anything good to tell her this time. Things were a mess in Autumn's world now and there was no telling when things would go back to how they were. Cyrus and I were still good, but Bradyn and I were not. The girl wouldn't even spare me a glance and Twila was caught in the middle of all of this. Never would hang out with Bradyn, I couldn't be around and vice versa, making it a lot lonelier around here. Not only that, but I missed Bradyn's company. The lies got in the way of our friendship, and it made me feel terrible.

"Now what are you going to do?" She asked me as I explained to her what happened over the past week.

I shrugged my shoulders not having an answer. "I'm not sure. I'm confused and I don't know if she'll ever talk to me again." I say worried.

"When the time comes, she'll hear you out but if I'm being honest, it's nothing to be upset about." She was always honest. "At the end of the day, he chose you to do this with."

She had a point but there was more to it than just Cyrus. It's the fact that I hid it from her to begin with. Knowing that she had true feelings for him and here I was sneaking around to get more time than the rest. This didn't look good on my part, and I wouldn't blame her if she never talked to me again. Things were bound to end this way at some point. I rather it have not been so soon.

There was no time to dwell on it as I needed to be ready and soon. I was going to listen to Melissa. When she wanted to talk to me, she would. At the very least she would hear me out and that was more than I could ask for. To me, she was still my friend, and I would still protect her at all costs. I'm glad she didn't decide to befriend Jenna through all of this. That would have been something I couldn't get behind.

Through all my mad thinking, Melissa got me prettied up with my hair in a half up, half down hairstyle and two strands in the front. My dress was this emerald color, and it was quite short with slits going up both sides. It was cut so high that you could almost see right through it. Farah said sexy but I didn't think she meant this sexy. I felt cute though my emerald necklace and bracelet to match. I couldn't wait to see what everyone else was wearing.

"By next week you should come to me with good news." Melissa said finishing her work.

I laughed getting on board with my look for the day. "You never know. Lately things have been going in a downward spiral." I say not confident that Bradyn and I will patch things up.

She brushed it off not listening to my nonsense. "We manifest positive things around me!" She warned me.

Melissa was always making me laugh but she was right. If I thought negatively then I would get negativity in return. I needed to think positively. Bradyn was going to talk to me again and hopefully understand where I was coming from. It wasn't going to be something we recovered from immediately, but the time it took didn't matter. So long as we were friends again.

Saying goodbye to Melissa, I headed downstairs to meet up with the rest of the girls. We had to drive to get to the photoshoot of course with us all dressed up. The car ride was a little awkward with Twila sitting between Bradyn and me. We didn't say one word to each other and instead stayed silent. Twila didn't know whether to start a conversation or not, so she stayed silent as well. This was not as fun as I wanted it to be, especially because Bradyn and I weren't talking. How was I going to enjoy myself when my friend was practically ignoring me? This was going to be a long day.

Regardless, we got to the place and Farah greeted us outside of the building with a lovely looking male. He had a pearly white smile with gorgeous hair. His face was baby smooth, but he was still adorable. I wouldn't mind him taking pictures of me whenever he wanted. That's how good looking he was with his little camera right beside him.

"Ok, ladies this is Julio and he's the guy who will be choosing he gets the cover and spread of the Young and Restless." She introduced us, making me joyful she wasn't choosing. "Remember what this is for! This is still a competition."

With that, we headed up into the studio where he took us in one by one. Thankfully, I didn't go first because I was freaking nervous. Not only was this delicious looking man taking our pictures, but we were doing all of this in front of Farah. Farah didn't like me and to have her eyes sitting there judging me was a lot to take in. There was no way we were getting through this without a snide remark from her.

Of course, after a few hours of waiting, it was finally my turn, and I was hesitant to go inside the room. It was great we weren't taking pictures in front of each other because that really would have freaked me out. I needed to take a breath and walk in there. Even if I don't win this will still be fun. I was having professional pictures taken of me for free. It couldn't get any better than that.

Walking in, my mood brightened when I saw Cyrus smiling at me. I forgot that we had to take pictures with him as well, making the nerves subside for a bit. It was obvious that Farah eyes were burning a hole into the back of my head, but I pretended she wasn't even there. Quickly, I walked over to Cyrus who did not stop himself from embracing me tightly. He smelled so good, and I loved the white button up he was wearing. It made him look sexy but in a sophisticated way.

"I'm so happy it's your turn now." He whispered in my ear not letting me go.

I didn't want to cause too many problems with his mom, so I pulled myself away. "Hey, no flirting mister." I whispered back. I was merely joking.

He pouted. "I can't help it; you look so damn good." He said, biting his lip.

Blushing, Julio looked between us with a smirk on his face. "Ah, there seems to be a little connection here." He pointed out much to Farah's dismay. "This is going to be good."

It was great that he was into this, giving me the much-needed confidence that I lacked. I was still scared with Farah staring intently at me. My face went completely pale with the look she was giving me. However, Cyrus grabbed my hand pulling me closer to him. He looked me dead in the eyes with this serious expression on his face.

"Just be with me. Don't even think about it." He said as the camera's flash went off.

"Give me sexy, darling!" Julio called out snapping pictures.

Listening to Cyrus, I decided to go with the flow and just take pictures with him. It would be easy being sexy with him as we've had sex on multiple occasions already. I was going to forget Farah was there and enjoy Cyrus as much as possible. And that's exactly what I did. I enjoyed taking pictures with Cyrus as we were getting creative with our film. He was touchy as well and I certainly didn't mind. His hands being all over me like this made me want him even more. My favorite had to be when he grabbed my leg lifting it up against him. My hand was slightly on his face as our lips were inches apart. His other hand grabbed my waist he held me close. The camera snapped and Julio was elated.

"That's the one!" Julio yelled loving it so much he showed Farah.

Surprisingly, she had no qualms about it. In fact, it looked like she liked the picture herself. If she couldn't say anything bad that must mean it was surprisingly good. I certainly couldn't wait to get a glimpse of it myself but now it was time for my solo pictures. Those were even more nerve racking to do as I didn't have Cyrus with me this time. This was all me and before he walked off to the side, Cyrus left a kiss on my cheek for good luck.

"You'll do great, A." He said before walking off.

I took a deep breath and went right into taking the pictures. I tried to be as sexy as possible on my own, but it was honestly more fun just being myself. We did a lot of cool things. Like some shots on the floor and I even grabbed a chair for a few of them. Julio was very easy-going and having Cyrus there made the experience even better. I felt like a true model getting what Twila must feel all the time. Coming into this, I wasn't excited about it, but now this was great!

He finally finished with me, and I sighed with relief. Even though it was fun who knew simply taking photos would be draining. Regardless it was great and now it was time for him to choose the winner. The girls and I lined up in the studio. All of us patiently waiting for Julio to announce who he thought did the best.

My heart was racing because I felt like I did a fairly decent job. I'm sure the others did as well though and you'd never know what would happen. However, I was pleasantly surprised and overjoyed when he finally said who the winner was.

"You all were lovely, but I have to give it to this one person. She knocked it out of the park." He gushed. "Autumn, you're a winner babe!"

When he said my name, I don't know what came over me, but I cried. I actually cried. This felt like the first time I was being seen as someone more than just some poor girl from Greendale. That wasn't just who I was. I was capable of the same thing the rest of these girls were and it was finally being noticed. My heart wouldn't stop beating so fast. I couldn't contain myself.

Twila didn't hesitate to hug me tightly as everyone else clapped. Jenna was mad of course and Farah didn't look too pleased either. It didn't matter though. This was my moment, and they weren't going to ruin it.

I continued to cry thanking Julio in the process. "Thank you so much." I said, wiping my tears.

"Of course, honey, you're gorgeous!" He complimented. Such a sweet guy. "Give me your contact information. You and I will be working together in the future." He said like it was a sure thing.

That didn't stop me from writing down where he could reach me because this was huge. Everyone congratulated me as we headed back down to the car. I didn't get to say goodbye to Cyrus, but I knew I would see him later. The excitement I felt still coursed through my body making this week not so bad as it first started. Though it would be better if Bradyn and I were talking. Not one word was said to me the whole time we were here and I'm afraid that's how things were going to stay.