"Is it about the Instagram thing?" Domino said, confused.
"Did you tell anyone?" Zoey asked. "Who did you tell?"
Domino looked as though Zoey had slapped her across the face. "No one. Only Sabrina knows."
"Did she tell someone?" Zoey said.
Domino's eyes narrowed. "No," she said firmly.
"Ugh, I'm sorry, that was bitchy," Zoey said, shaking her head.
"I know, but I forgive you," Domino said, rolling her eyes.
Zoey's phone lit up with another call. Micah again. She took a deep breath and pressed the green button.
"Hey Mikey," Zoey said in a forced casual tone.
"Hey Zoey. Full disclosure, I have Sam from PR with me and you're on speaker," Micah said, sounding exhausted.
"What's up?" Zoey said as Domino sat on the edge of her bed, listening in.
"I'm just going to come out with it and ask. Are you dating Pia Marino?" Micah asked.
Domino's eyes went wide. "I didn't!" She mouthed, holding up her hands in defense.
Zoey reached and took Domino's hand in hers, squeezing it. "Can you give me some context for this question?"
"A blind item came out about two people who we think could fit your description. There's rumors of accompanying photos, but we haven't gotten those yet. We're working with Pia's PR team, as well," Sam said, his voice commanding.
She shrank back from his tone. It wasn't accusing, per se, but he wasn't happy with her.
Domino squeezed her hand, nodding.
"Okay, well, I'll give you the overview and then we can figure out how to approach it," Zoey began.
Three hours later, the band sat in their van outside of a small studio, set up for the Live Q&A on Instagram. Micah had run inside to get everything sorted before their entrance.
Zoey had been coached on what to say if the question came up — because undoubtedly the question would come up — and ran over the buzzwords in her head. Collaboration, just good friends, Pia was a positive mentor to the band.
She hated the last one. It made Pia feel decades older than her.
They could have told the producers not to use any personal questions, but instead, her PR agency thought that being casual and up-front about it might head the whole rumor-mill off and avoid any type of scandal. Pia's PR team was massively against either of them telling the truth. They had claimed something about a big interview she had coming up and public image. Bad timing.
Zoey’s team just seemed concerned with getting both Zoey and Pia out of the headlines as quickly and easily as possible.
She had given Billie and Meg the short story on the way over so they'd hear it directly from her and not some internet article.
"Our decade-long recruitment tactics have finally paid off," Meg said, giggling as though she'd just been told fantastic news.
Billie had hugged her. "We love and support you no matter what. Don't feel pressured to label whatever is going on. Look at Vero. She is totally fine without the gay or lesbian or bisexual or pansexual label," she said. "You're just Zoey. Our keyboard-playing, bossy—"
"Hey!" Zoey said.
"Yeah, that's true," Domino said flatly.
"Celesbian-kissing Zoey," Billie continued.
"I'm sorry to tell you guys like this right before a thing," Zoey said.
"Remember when we all came out to you within like two months of one another?" Billie said, rolling her eyes.
"Fondly," Zoey said, laughing.
Billie laughed, too. "I came out to you crying over pitchers of beer. Domino came out to you by trying to kiss you—"
"—Really cemented our bond," Domino interjected.
Zoey laughed, rolling her eyes.
"Meg, how did you do it?" Billie asked, turning to Meg in the far backseat of the van.
"I think I just told her," Meg said. "Like any other normal, well-adjusted 19-year-old."
Zoey smirked. "No, you asked—"
Meg shook her head quickly. "Nope."
Zoey nodded. "Fine."
Billie and Domino looked back and forth between the two of them. Domino looked as if she was going to press the issue, but Billie shook her head subtly.
"Okay, do you want us to say anything if it gets brought up today?" Billie asked.
Zoey shook her head. "No, Micah and Sam gave me the talking points."
Micah opened the door, popping her head in. "You guys ready?"
Thirty minutes later, they were mic'd up and ready to go.
Zoey blinked into the bright ring lights on them as she shifted in her seat. Maggie, the producer, sat at the end of the table holding a tablet, asking the questions that popped up on the screen.
"What took y'all four years to put out this new album?" She read with a laugh.
Zoey grinned as the band laughed at the question. They had been getting that one non-stop for the past few years.
"We wanted to only put out the best music. That meant growing as humans, as artists, doing our own thing for awhile — Meg toured and recorded in Europe with another band, Billie wrote with other artists, Zoey became a fashion icon, and I drank a lot of whiskey," Domino said as the band laughed again.
"Billie, what's it like dating one of the most famous women in the world?" Maggie asked.
"Hectic," Billie said, grinning.
"What's your favorite song on the album?" Maggie asked.
"Kaleidoscope," Domino said.
"Just Making Sure," Meg said.
"Kaleidoscope," Billie said.
Zoey didn't answer. Nerves twisted in her stomach. Her palms were clammy. She rested them as casually as possible on her knees.
"Zoey, will you be modelling again anytime soon?" Maggie asked.
Zoey nodded. Ah, finally, a softball. "My contract says yes," she joked. "And of course. I love it. But maybe we can save it for after the tour."
"Well, about a million people are asking for tour dates. Any idea when those will be?" Maggie asked.
"We'll be releasing dates soon! Fall and early winter, then again in the spring," Billie said with a diplomatic smile.
"Meg, will you marry me?" Maggie asked.
"Is this a personal question or are you reading off the screen?" Meg deadpanned.
Maggie blushed, giggling. "The screen, of course."
"Then yes, nameless person. Consider us engaged," Meg said with a silly thumbs up.
Okay, it wasn't going terribly so far. They answered about ten more minutes of questions. Zoey stayed pretty quiet, keeping to herself.
"Zoey," Maggie started, watching the screen for a moment.
Zoey braced herself, squaring her shoulders and putting on a pleasant expression.
"Rumors about you and Pia Marino. True or false?" Maggie said. "Sorry, just paraphrasing. Lots of questions about it."
Collaboration.
Mentorship.
Just good friends.
The buzzwords ran through her head.
Domino glanced over at her with a small nod, as if to say, You got this.
"Pia's awesome. We've become good friends while collaborating on a project," Zoey began, but the lie felt ridiculous.