ISSUE № 

03

a literary journal in multiple timezones

Mar. 2024

ISSUE № 

03

a literary journal in multiple timezones

Mar. 2024

The Hills

The West
Illustration by:

The Hills

Close up shot of office building on Wilshire Boulevard. The sky is blue behind the gray building. Interior shot of office. A woman stands with her back to the camera. She is wearing a black cotton empire waist dress and a necklace with large gold balls. Her hair is long and blonde. The caption reads: “Whitney.” She is looking at a bookcase, which wraps around the entire frame. The bookcase contains issues of Teen Vogue and Vogue US, coffee table fashion books, and modern vases in white, pink, and olive green. Above the bookcase are posters of Teen Vogue covers, including the first issue of Teen Vogue with Gwen Stefani on the cover. Whitney Port turns around and sits down at a metallic, lightweight desk with no drawers and a large Mac desktop computer. Switch to doorway. A woman steps into the room. The caption says “Lauren.” She is wearing a black and red floral print halter dress. Her hair is long and shiny and brown. She is holding a Blackberry in one hand and a red canvas satchel in the other. She is smiling. “Hey,” says Lauren. “Hey,” says Whitney. Whitney half-smiles and looks down at her desk. “Look at you with your own desk,” says Lauren. “I know, so official,” says Whitney. She looks at her desk and tugs at her bra. “Oh my god they moved everything around in here,” says Lauren, walking across the white carpeted floor. Her legs are long and tan and she is wearing black high-heeled Christian Louboutin pumps. “I know,” says Whitney. She looks Lauren up and down while Lauren’s back is turned. Lauren looks at a shelf of colorful cashmere sweaters. A microphone pack is visible in the back of her dress. To her right is a garment rack of designer dresses. To her left are two large screen computers and an inspiration board with fashion photos pinned to it. “It looks good though,” Lauren says. “And all the clothes are more organized and everything too,” says Whitney. “Like all of the sweaters and the shoes back there.” Lauren is sitting at one of the intern computers. She sets down her Blackberry after looking at a text message. “I’m so proud of you in your new job,” she says, smiling at Whitney and resting her chin in her hand. “Thank you,” says Whitney. She is smiling at the CDs she is stacking. “You’re gonna be my bossman?” Lauren asks, turning her head from Whitney and flipping her hair over her shoulder. She moves items around on her desk. “Supposedly,” says Whitney. “How are you doing?” Whitney purses her lips and continues stacking items on her desk. “I didn’t tell you what happened?” Lauren is no longer smiling. She threads her finger through her hair. There is a pause. “No,” says Whitney. She is looking at Lauren. Lauren taps a pencil’s eraser on the desk and says, “I started having my friends come up to me and just telling me like really like rude horrible rumors and like the next thing I know…” Camera switches to Whitney, who shakes her head in disbelief, then purses her lips to blot her lipgloss. “All the exact things they were telling me like ended up like on the internet,” finishes Lauren. “Horrible,” says Whitney. “And,” says Lauren, gesturing with her hand. Her fingernails are short and painted black. The black paint is chipped. “It got back to like Laguna and my parents,” Lauren says. “What were the rumors?” asks Whitney. “They basically were saying that like me and Jason made like inappropriate videotapes,” says Lauren. “Oi,” says Whitney. Lauren sighs. “Who does that?” asks Whitney. Lauren shakes her head. Whitney shakes her head. Lauren looks at the inspiration board. “I just could never understand hating someone so much that you wanna do something like that to them,” says Lauren. Whitney looks at her desk. She clicks the mouse next to her computer. She swallows. “Have you heard from Heidi lately?” she asks, clicking her mouse again and blotting her lips again. She looks from her computer screen to Lauren. Lauren looks at Whitney and shakes her head slowly.






***

Opening shot pans over Los Angeles. The buildings sparkle in the sunlight. Episode title appears in white font. “YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID” it reads. “Oh My God I Can’t Believe It” by Lilly Allen is playing. Shot of houses and swimming pools from above. Shot of four freeways intersecting and cars and trucks zipping over them. Shot of Sunset Boulevard sign, man in grey shirt going over crosswalk, palm trees, Broadway building. Shot of Beverly Hills hillside mansions through palm tree fronds. Shot of cream-colored Spanish-style apartment building. Caption reads: “Heidi and Spencer’s Apartment Hollywood, CA.” Shot shows a woman’s knees and torso, on a brown couch, writing on a piece of paper. Her legs are tan and she has a French manicure. She is wearing white shorts and a blue-grey cashmere cardigan, with white pearls around the cuffs, which are pushed up on her arms. Shot of her face looking down. Caption reads: “Heidi.” Her hair is shoulder length and blond. The shot widens. A door opens. Heidi turns to the door. “Delivery,” says a man, walking in the door holding a box. “Hey,” says Heidi, moving the piece of paper she was writing on to her side. “You got the TVs? What is that?” she asks, laughing. She stands up, tugging at her white shorts. Her cashmere cardigan has a white anchor on the front. She turns around. A mic pack is visible on the back of her shorts. There is another, bigger anchor on the back of her cardigan. A cameraman is visible inside the kitchen. “A jelly aquarium,” says the man. Heidi laughs. “What?” Shot of the aquarium being installed. It’s large and dark wood and with a large glass circle rimmed in brass. “I didn’t even know you were looking for a fish tank,” she says to the man. The man and Heidi are standing in front of the fish tank with their backs to the camera. One older balding white man in a dark blue shirt and a black younger man in the same type of blue shirt put the fish tank against the wall. The camera pans to the man. The caption reads: “Spencer, Heidi’s Boyfriend.” Spencer is wearing an aqua polo shirt. “Are you working on invites?” he asks, smiling at Heidi. Heidi is watching the fish tank be installed. “Yeah, I was,” she says. Spencer says, “Look at you,” and puts his arm around Heidi’s shoulder. Wide-angle shot of the room. The men are working on the fish tank. Spencer and Heidi stand next to the couch, which is covered in boxes. Behind them is a large TV. “I made the guest list of who’s coming for the housewarming party,” says Heidi, touching Spencer’s arm and pointing with one manicured nail. Spencer is very tan. He is holding a silver I-phone in one hand. Heidi runs her fingers through her hair. “The guests? I don’t think we have a guest list cuz I invite friends and tell friends to invite friends so I don’t know what—” He gestures with his arm. Heidi is still touching his arm with her manicured nails. She is looking up at him with her head tilted. She interrupts him, “So how many people are coming?” Shot cuts to beefy man with a ponytail in a blue tank top pouring water from a plastic jug into the top of the aquarium. The shot scrolls down to the water pouring into the tank and filling it up through the round glass hole. Over the sound of water splashing in the tank Spencer’s says, “I invited Brody, Franky…” Shot cuts to side view of Spencer’s face. He appears to be sitting. “I invited Yerbi, I invited Gino…” Shot cuts to Heidi’s face. She is standing. She parts her lips. Her teeth are white. “Panero,” says Spencer. “What about you? Who are you going to invite?” he asks. “I’ll invite Lauren and Audrina and then um Whitney,” says Heidi. Shot cuts to Spencer, who nods. “I already invited,” says Heidi. “But that’s pretty much it.” “We’ll see if we can get ‘em on the list,” says Spencer, smiling. Shot cuts to Heidi, whose head is tilted. She sighs. Spencer chuckles and his adam’s apple bobs. He looks down. Heidi is not smiling. She looks down.






***

Opening shot of the beach on a blue day. Buildings at skyline. Cars along the beachside highway. Camera pans rapidly along the shoreline. “My Reality” by Jordan Pruitt is playing. Close up shot of palm fronds and blue sky. The adobe-colored corner of a building is barely visible. Wind blows the palm fronds. Wide angle shot of an adobe, round-edged building with palm trees in front of it and intersecting streets. Caption reads: “Epic Records Santa Monica, CA.” Inside shot of a young woman at a desk. The wall behind her is red brick. Bamboo and other plants climb up the wall. The woman is looking down. Her hair is thin, brown with highlights, and shoulder length. Her face and arms are tan. Her cheeks are chubby. She wears pearls in her ears, thick black eyeliner, and nude lipstick on her thin, angular lips. She has on a white spaghetti strap tank top. The desk encloses her four ways with angular, irregular sides. It has a glass top. The caption reads: “Audrina.” Camera shot of front door, glass. Heidi is walking toward the door across a path lined with red flowers in square concrete holders. She is wearing black denim shorts and a white zipped up hoodie with black cursive writing on the sleeves. She is walking quickly. As she walks her blond hair bounces. There is a black hobo purse over her shoulder. Shot of Audrina shuffling something at her desk, below the eyeline of the camera. She looks up. Her mouth twitches. Shot of Heidi opening the glass door. She smiles widely, mouth open. “Hey,” she says, walking energetically forward, smiling. Shot of Audrina, who is slouching. She smiles. “Hi,” she says softly, and looks down. Her eyeshadow is purple. “How are you?” says Heidi. The reflection of her sweatshirted waist and left hand with a fat gold ring on the forefinger can be seen in the desk’s glass side. “Good,” Audrina says softly. She scratches next to her nose. “Haven’t seen you in so long.” She looks up as Heidi moves closer. Audrina’s eyes move back and forth as she continues scratching her nose. The back of Heidi’s sweatshirt and her black purse move into view. Shot of Heidi with her arm on the front of the desk. She is leaning onto the desk. She looks over at something on the desk that is out of view of the shot. She is still smiling. “How’s work going?” asks Heidi, looking back at Audrina. Shot of Audrina. “Good,” Audrina says. She is wearing a gold chain around her neck. “You just sit here by yourself?” asks Heidi, looking up to the ceiling. She laughs. Audrina starts to smile, then purses her lips together. She looks up at the ceiling too, nodding, her lips still pursed. Shot of Heidi looking at Audrina. “Um,” says Heidi. “Spencer and I are having a little housewarming party and wanted to see if you and Lauren wanted to come.” Shot of Audrina. Heidi’s back is to the camera. She is removing her purse from her shoulder. Audrina rubs her lips together. She looks to the side. Shot of Heidi pulling two white envelopes from her bag. She puts them on the glass top of the desk and pushes them toward Audrina. “One for both of you,” she says. Shot of Audrina looking up at Heidi. Shot of Heidi. Audrina’s back is to the camera. She sighs, slouches. “If you want to come I talked to Whitney and I think she should be coming,” says Heidi. Her hands are clasped on the glass tabletop. Shot of Audrina. She looks up at Heidi. “Whitney’s going to go?” she asks softly, then looks down. Shot of Heidi. “Mmmhmm,” Heidi says, smiling with her mouth closed, nodding. She opens her mouth and smiles, stands up straight. Shot of Audrina smiling slightly with her mouth closed, looking up at Heidi. She nods and looks down. “Okay, I’ll give it to Lauren.” Audrina is shuffling some papers on her desk out of sight of the camera. Shot of Heidi’s face close up. “Yeah, so if you guys…” she starts backing up toward the door, still facing Audrina “can come…” Shot of Audrina looking down. “Yeah” says Audrina. Shot of Heidi. “If not, but,” says Heidi. Shot of Audrina. “Um, but it was good seeing you,” says Audrina. “No, yes,” says Heidi. “But I have to go take these to the mailroom,” says Audrina. “Okay, bye,” says Heidi, waving and turning around quickly. She walks to the door. “Bye,” says Audrina. She stands up with a manila envelope in her hand. She is wearing a white empire waist ruched tank top. Shot of Heidi from behind, opening the glass door as Audrina’s face passes in front of the camera. Her face is blurred. Heidi goes out the door. The music begins again. “You got me spinning,” sings Jordan Pruitt. The door closes as Heidi walks rapidly across the courtyard, her blond hair bouncing.

Edited by: Joyland Magazine
Kate Durbin
Kate Durbin is a Los Angeles-based writer and performance artist. She is author of The Ravenous Audience (Akashic Books, 2009), and, with Amaranth Borsuk, Excess Exhibit (Zg Press, forthcoming), as well as the conceptual fashion magazine The Fashion Issue (Zg Press, forthcoming), and four chapbooks: Fragments Found in a 1937 Aviator's Boot (Dancing Girl Press, 2009), FASHIONWHORE (Legacy Pictures, 2010), The Polished You, as part of Vanessa Place's Factory Series (oodpress, 2010), and Kept Women (Insert Press, forthcoming). Her projects have been featured in Spex, Huffington Post, The New Yorker, Specs, Salon.com, AOL, Poets and Writers, VLAK, Lana Turner: A Journal of Poetry and Opinion, Black Warrior Review, SUPERMACHINE, Drunken Boat, NPR, and The American Scholar, among others. She is founding editor of Gaga Stigmata, an online arts and criticism journal about Lady Gaga, which will be published as a book from Zg Press in 2012.