I hadn’t seen the boys’ reactions, but Hayley’s description made me smile. Something inside me warmed at the fact that Cole didn’t appear to have been into Laurie’s display. The way she was always throwing herself at him, I would have thought her marshmallow-eating skills were right up his alley.
“The film club did a good job,” Hayley continued. “I thought it was just going to be all romance, but they caught so much more than that. I nearly died with laughter when they showed Brooke and Laurie talking after you’d fallen in the pool.”
“Why, what did they say?” I asked.
“Laurie said she wished she’d thought of falling into the pool and Brooke muttered that she’d be more than willing to push her in.”
I laughed. I was tempted to watch the episode after hearing that. “I always thought Brooke just agreed with everything Laurie said.”
“Ha! You’ve clearly never seen the two of them at cheerleading practice,” Hayley replied.
“Clearly.”
The sound of my mom calling my name drifted up the stairs and into my room. I let out a sigh. “Mom’s calling me, I better go.”
“You think she watched the episode?” Hayley asked.
“It’s all she’s talked about all weekend. There’s no way she missed it,” I replied. “She probably wants to analyze every minute of it.” My nose crinkled at the thought. Could this whole experience get any worse?
“Good luck,” Hayley chimed.
“Thanks. I’ll need it.”
I took my time walking down the stairs, trying to put off dealing with my mom’s reaction as long as possible. When I got to the kitchen and Mom was grinning broadly, I wished we had a bigger house.
“Oh, it was fabulous, sweetie,” she said, pulling me into a hug.
“You thought it was good?” I replied with a frown, as I stepped back from her embrace.
“I’ve already emailed the school for a copy of the recording,” she smiled.
“Mom!”
“What?”
“Anything containing any evidence of that date needs burning.”
“Don’t be silly,” Mom replied. “I thought it was charming.”
“Charming?”
“That Cole is such a sweetheart.”
I blinked, unable to comprehend what my mom was saying. “He was rude to me.”
She shot me a knowing smile. “That’s called flirting, Madison.”
“One: ew. And two: if that were true, it would mean Cole and I have been flirting with each other for years,” I replied. “Which we most certainly haven’t,” I added. The idea I could be accused of flirting with Cole was just added motivation not to speak to him for the foreseeable future.
“I think he likes you,” Mom said.
I shook my head at her. My mom was clearly just seeing what she wanted to see.
“And I think you might like him too,” she added.
“I like Jake,” I shot back instantly. What was wrong with her?
“There’s my little superstar,” Dad’s voice came from the doorway.
My cheeks warmed as I turned to him. He had a big goofy grin on his face and my mortification tripled.
“Dad, you did not just watch that!”
“What?” he shrugged. “Your mom made popcorn. We had our own little viewing party. I tweeted my reactions the whole way through. You want to see?”
He turned his phone toward me before I could object. All I could see was the hashtag Dad had used: #MADIANDCOLE4EVA
I pointed at my parents. “You guys are banned from viewing any more of the show,” I said. “And why didn’t you tell me there was popcorn going?”
They both laughed at me.
“I’ll make another batch,” Mom replied.
I settled into one of the seats at the kitchen bench as Mom microwaved another bag of popcorn. The embarrassment I felt at the thought of other people watching the show proved to me that I was not a good fit for the competition. At least Angus had already agreed to let me go at the first selection ceremony on Monday evening. Just one more night and I would be free of the True Love contest and everything would go back to normal.
When I walked into school on Monday morning, I froze instantly. My heart felt like it stopped beating for a few seconds, and Jake swore loudly at my side. They were the first words I’d heard from him all morning, but right now I didn’t care. I was freaking out.
“Vote for Cadi?” I murmured, my eyes wide as I took in the posters that papered the walls. They were large, gaudy things with huge hearts drawn around the words and the True Love website link at the bottom of each one. It didn’t take a genius to know the phrase referred to Cole and me. There were only a few of the hideous signs, but a few were far too many when you wanted none.
“You have a couple name with him now?” Jake growled.
I shook my head, still at a loss. “I didn’t do this,” I said. “I would never dream of it.”
“Whatever,” Jake replied, stalking away from me.
I rushed to catch up with him. “Jake, please don’t be angry. I don’t know why anyone would put these up.”
He stopped and turned to me. “It’s a bit convenient don’t you think? I don’t see any posters for Laurie or any of the other contestants. They picked you for a reason.”
There was so much anger in his eyes it took my breath away. I’d never seen Jake like this before, and I had no idea how to deal with him.
“You know it’s going to be over tonight. These posters don’t matter,” I said, keeping my voice low so I wouldn’t be overheard.
“Yeah? And what then? I’m supposed to forget about how you flirted with the guy for the whole episode too?”
I frowned. “I didn’t flirt with Cole.”
“That’s not what it looked like to me. And clearly everyone else agrees.”
I let out a sigh and ran my fingers through my hair. “Look, I’m sorry if the show upset you and I’ll see what I can do about the posters. Just give me a chance to make this right. After tonight, everything will be back to normal.”
“It better be,” Jake said before turning and marching away, leaving me standing alone in the hallway.
I stared after him in a state of shock. The posters were surprising, but I was in total disbelief over Jake’s reaction. Where the hell was my kind and caring boyfriend, and who was the jerk that had taken his place?
“Great show last night,” Angus said, appearing at my side.
I nodded, but couldn’t find the strength to say anything in response. I felt like I’d just been punched in the gut and wasn’t in the mood to talk about True Love. My eyes were still focused on Jake, who had stopped further down the corridor to open his locker.
“We had way more viewers than we expected,” Angus continued. “Almost a thousand people tuned in, and we’ve already had more than 200 votes.”
The number was startling enough to tear my attention away from Jake, and Angus was ginning broadly when I turned to look at him.
“That’s like half the school,” I said.
“I know,” he gushed, not quite realizing my reaction was more mortified than impressed. “It looks like we’re going to have to start thinking bigger. Just wait, we’re going to do great things with this.”
I gave him a smile, but it didn’t reach my eyes. “Well, I’m sure you will. But I’m gone come tomorrow, remember?”
“Yeah, about that,” Angus started. “Are you sure you won’t reconsider?”
I folded my arms over my chest and stared him down. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“No, I’m not. Haven’t you seen all the posters? Everyone loves you and Cole together.”
“But I have a boyfriend. There is no Cole and me.”
“Alright, alright,” Angus said, failing to keep his annoyance with me out of his voice. “I get it. I’m just trying to do the best for this charity fundraiser.”
“I know, but you’ll just have to do it without putting my relationship at r
isk.”
“Okay,” Angus finally agreed. “I understand.”
“Thanks, Angus.” The bell rang and I glanced over my shoulder toward my locker. I was going to be late to class. “I’ve got to go,” I said, touching Angus’ wrist in farewell before starting down the corridor.
“See you tonight, Madi,” Angus called after me. I gave him a nod and a wave. His words troubled me though. They sounded too confident and too happy. He’d just agreed that I would be gone tonight, but his enthusiasm had placed a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Why did I feel like getting out of this competition wasn’t going to be so simple?
Hayley gave me a ride home after school. Jake had refused to talk to me since our argument in the morning, so I really didn’t relish the idea of another awkwardly silent drive home with him. It helped that Hayley’s car smelt like vanilla and she had great taste in music.
“Jake is such a jerk,” Hayley said, as we walked up the steps to my house. I’d been worrying about his reaction to the posters the whole car trip home. I was so upset over the entire thing that a part of me didn’t even want to go to the selection ceremony that night.
“I know he’s upset you, but that boy has done enough damage for one day,” Hayley continued. “This competition is supposed to be fun, and it’s your last night as a contestant, so I think you should enjoy yourself. Tonight should be a Jake-free night.”
I smiled at her support. I felt so lucky that I had such a good friend who looked out for me. “But what if he sees me enjoying myself on the live episode. Isn’t it selfish of me to even go tonight?”
“I think he’s selfish for making you feel bad for things that are beyond your control.”
I opened the front door and Hayley walked past me and into the house. She immediately started heading up the stairs to my room. She had spent so much time at our house that it was almost as much hers as it was mine.
“So, no worrying about Jake tonight, huh?” I said.
“No worrying about Jake tonight,” she replied with a smile.
I followed her up the stairs, feeling a sense of relief at the decision. I wasn’t sure if I could really push Jake from my mind for the entire evening, but I was ready to try my best to distract myself from him. He said he understood when I told him I was doing my best to get out of the competition. I shouldn’t be punishing myself when he turned around and got angry with me for it.
Hayley let herself into my room and threw herself onto my bed. “Man, school was hectic today,” she said.
“Yeah,” I agreed, sitting next to her.
“Everyone was going crazy about the episode last night. They loved it.”
The idea that hundreds of people had watched the episode and were still talking about it made me desperately want to hide myself under the bed covers. The posters were bad enough, but people had also wanted to speak to me about the show all day. I’d tried to avoid it as much as I could, but it was hard to ignore questions when some of them came from your teachers.
“You should have seen Laurie’s face when she got to school and saw the Cadi posters this morning,” Hayley said. “It was pretty much the highlight of my year. People are totally shipping you and Cole together.”
“I don’t know about that,” I replied.
“Well, I do. I told you; you guys have chemistry.”
I shook my head at her. “And I told you; we hate each other.”
“Whatever,” Hayley replied. “Deny it all you want.”
“I will.”
Hayley lifted her eyes to the ceiling but smiled. “So, what time do you have to be at Cole’s for the selection ceremony tonight?”
“At seven,” I replied.
Hayley bolted off the bed and went straight to my closet. “That doesn’t give us much time,” she said, a hint of panic in her voice.
“We have three hours!”
“Like I said, not much time!”
I laughed and took her spot on the bed.
Hayley wasn’t kidding when she told me we didn’t have much time. She somehow managed to fill every minute of the next three hours preparing me for the selection ceremony. She wouldn’t let me look in the mirror as she did my makeup, and she refused to let me argue with her over the dress she chose for me to wear. It was far too clingy for my liking, but she refused to let me wear anything else.
When she was finally finished dolling me up, she looked me over with a satisfied smile.
“You can look in the mirror now,” she said.
“Finally,” I grumbled.
When I went to stand in front of the mirror, I let out a gasp. The dress Hayley had chosen was figure hugging, but it clung to me in all the right places, and I was surprised by how much I liked the way it looked. My makeup was fierce, and she’d slicked my hair back in a low ponytail that somehow managed to make me look elegant.
“Cole’s eyes are going to pop out of his head,” Hayley said, grinning at me.
She must have sensed my discomfort because she stepped next to me and grasped my arm in a reassuring squeeze. “That’s a good thing.”
I sighed. “I just don’t feel sure about this.”
“Madi, you used to love dressing up,” she sighed. “It used to make you so happy when we went shopping together and you found the perfect skirt or the perfect top. You don’t need to keep hiding behind the clothes you wear. There’s nothing wrong with looking beautiful,” she said.
“But if I try too hard, Jake will see it and will be upset,” I whispered.
Hayley lifted a finger at me. “What did we agree about Jake?”
“No worrying about him tonight,” I said, letting out a sigh. It still didn’t stop the niggling feeling in my stomach though as I looked at myself in the mirror.
Hayley grabbed me by the shoulders and turned me to face her. “I think we both know this is about more than just Jake,” she said, looking me in the eyes. “You’ve been different ever since that hot list came out last year.”
“I haven’t,” I murmured.
Hayley lifted one eyebrow at me, not buying my denial one bit. “I think we both know you have. I wouldn’t have been able to stop you from wearing that dress a year ago, but now you look sick at the thought of wearing it.”
“Clothes just aren’t as important to me as they used to be,” I shrugged.
“Perhaps,” Hayley said. “But I know you, and I know that the reason you’re uncertain about wearing that dress is because you’re worried about what people will think of you. But you shouldn’t be. You are the sweetest person I know, and the people at school love you because you are kind to absolutely everyone. You’re not popular because you’re hot; you’re popular because people actually like you.”
“I’m not concerned about that.”
“Really?” Hayley wasn’t convinced.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “Maybe a little, I guess. I just don’t want girls calling me names again.”
“You know perfectly well Laurie started that crap after you were voted top of the hot list, and it was only because she was jealous. You can’t let it worry you.”
I shrugged. Neither of us knew for sure that Laurie was the one who started it. Even if she did, it didn’t matter. Those girls said hurtful things to me all on their own.
“Don’t hide your own light because you’re afraid of outshining others,” Hayley continued. “People say hateful things because of their own insecurities. You can’t let them change who you are.”
“Wow, that was deep, Hayley,” I smiled.
“I think I read it on a bumper sticker. It’s still true.”
I laughed and pulled her in for a hug. “Thanks, Hayles. You’re the best BFF a girl could ask for.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said, with a chuckle. “But, you know I’d still be your BFF if you rocked up in a hessian sack tonight, right?”
I laughed. “Yeah, I know.”
“And everyone else who knows you feels the same. We all love you for who you are. But that
doesn’t mean you can’t add a little extra sparkle to your get up once in a while.”
I pulled back from our hug and I felt tears welling in my eyes.
“Don’t you dare cry on me, Madison!” she said.
I shook my head and took a deep breath to control myself. It was like Hayley’s words had taken some of my self-doubt away. I felt lighter and freer than I had in a long time. I’d spent so long fixated on what other people thought of me that I’d changed who I was for them. She was right, I needed to be myself.
“Okay, I’m good,” I said.
“Great, because you’ve got about two minutes to get across the street. Bonding time is over; you need to hurry!’
My eyes widened slightly. How the hell was it seven already? I didn’t give myself too long to think it over, quickly skipping out of the room and starting down the stairs.
“Good luck!” Hayley called. “I’ll be watching!”
My stomach dipped at her words as I remembered that tonight was going to be aired live. I might have been more nervous, but there was one thing I knew for sure: I was going to be eliminated tonight. And thankfully, tomorrow when I woke up, this disaster I’d been stuck in was all going to be over.
9
Madison
When I arrived at Cole’s house, I was suddenly glad Hayley had forced me to make an effort. All the other contestants were milling about in the backyard, much like they had before the group date, and they were all dressed up. The first person I spotted was Laurie, who was wearing a racy red outfit that had a skirt that reached the floor. It looked like it belonged at formal rather than a school charity event. Her sister was at her side, and Brooke’s outfit was only slightly less extravagant. It was a gorgeous black cocktail dress that thankfully didn’t show nearly as much skin as Laurie’s.
Even Willow had dressed up for the occasion in a pretty summer dress that had flowers all over it. She was probably the most casually dressed of all the girls, and I caught her glancing nervously at her clothing choice more than once.
The Wrong Bachelor Page 8
