Eddie: So, midnight at The Marriott?
Darcy: Yes. Just tell them Daisy left a key for you.
Eddie: And you promise you're not underage or a dude?
Darcy: Pinky Promise.
Eddie: that doesn't give me much confidence in your age.
Darcy: I solemnly swear. And you have to promise not to try to turn the light on.
Eddie: I don't get it, but you have my word.
Darcy: It will be worth it. I swear.
Eddie: See you then, Daisy.
Darcy: Yep. Bye, Eddie.
No, Eddie doesn't know my real name. He can't. He seems like a good guy, but I can't take a chance on him knowing who I really am. It would be too easy for him, or anyone, to betray a girl he barely knows.
After six years of teenage mega-stardom, six years of rigidly living up to the squeaky clean image an entire team of people have pushed upon me, I'm ready to finally do something naughty.
I've seen all of my friends grinding on random men and finding a place to spread their legs for them for years. Even without the image to uphold, I couldn't do that. I'm a good girl. But I'm also a horny girl, and having just turned twenty, I won't wait anymore.
I could date one of the blazing young stars whose people have repeatedly contacted my people. But it feels so fake and so public. I could date some regular guy, but I'm too famous for that to work. I'm on t-shirts and posters and lunchboxes. My face and name are beloved and ridiculed with equal fervor.
I just want to have sex without any drama.
I dress as ordinarily as I possibly can: jeans and a light hoodie with sunglasses. I also apply dark lipstick since I've never worn anything but clear gloss publicly.
I drive my old Corolla and park at the Marriott half an hour from my home. It's not scary gross, but it's also not suspiciously upscale. I check in and leave explicit directions with the front desk. Rosanna says she'll be there all night. She's about thirty, delightfully plump and busty and she seems ready to do my bidding when I slip her a fifty.
I get there plenty early, leaving myself three hours to mentally prepare myself at the hotel. The room has two queen beds and a television set. It's as generic as it can possibly be.
I wish there was some body part left to exfoliate, moisturize or wax, but those things have been obsessively tended to every day for the last six years. Well, except for the hair, you know, down there. I wonder if I should tackle it in the two hours I have left. I unbutton my pants and reach my hand down into the soft thatch of light brown hair. My finger slips over my excited clit, which seems to know exactly what it's in for. I decide to leave the hair for now.
I flip through the channels nervously, skipping quickly past a rerun of my show. The scene shows me at fourteen with shoulder-length hair and thick bangs. I'm too skinny with elbows and knees everywhere. I'm glad I've filled out some, with hips and a butt and smallish but lovely breasts. I was on All About Allie for six years and the show just wrapped a few weeks ago. The final episode won't even air for another month. After it does, there will be the concert tour featuring my costars and me. And then onto the challenge of my first movie, a starring role in the adaptation of a wildly successful young adult book series. Everything's coming up Darcy, except in my personal life of course.
The time slips by both slowly and quickly somehow. At 11:55, I turn off the lights and sit on the edge of the bed, fully dressed. The man I'm waiting for is twenty-two and in his fourth year at UCLA. Apparently, he's some kind of science geek. And two weeks of chatting online have proven him to be quite witty and charming. I have no idea what he looks like though, or if a single word he's said to me has been true. Part of the excitement, although it's got my stomach in absolute knots.
He knocks on the door. How very considerate. "Come in." My voice shakes. Oh God, what if he recognizes my voice? How did that not occur to me? Okay, Darcy, lose the big head. Not every person in America recognizes your voice.