And the Winner Is...#18

by Melissa J Morgan

  “Okay, then. We’ll see you there in a while,” Nat told Tori.

  “Have fun with the fishies,” Tori called as she and Michael started toward the rides. Her tone made it clear that she wasn’t entirely sure fun and fish could actually be had together.

  “I think Tori’s only interested in fish when it’s stuffed into a sushi roll,” Reed commented.

  Natalie laughed as they took the stairs leading to the beach. Tori was right. Reed was cool.

  “So where first?” she asked when they walked into the aquarium.

  “I usually start with the shark and stingray tank,” Reed said. “Just so you know, touching them is not allowed.”

  “But I wanted to pet a shark,” Natalie protested playfully. She stopped in front of the low tank and stared into the water.

  “They get scared really easily,” Reed explained.

  Natalie stepped back as a mottled purple head broke free of the water. Its eyes looked demonic. They were this freaky shade of yellow-brown. “Seriously? I know that thing is small. But it looks like it wants to eat my face off with its million tiny little teeth.”

  “It’s dangerous to smaller fish—that’s what it eats. But it’s definitely not a threat to people. It’s a swell shark. It’s called that because it can pump water into its stomach and make its body swell up,” Reed told her.

  “Why would it want to do that?” Natalie asked. “Doesn’t it know it lives in LA? Everybody wants to be thin here.”

  Reed laughed. “It makes it harder to pull it out from between rocks. Also, it makes it tougher for bigger fish to swallow it.”

  “You really do like this stuff, don’t you?” Natalie asked.

  “Yeah. I started coming here a lot around the time my parents decided to split. My mom really hated it in LA. And my dad was starting to get a lot of directing jobs out here. They were always screaming at each other.” Reed shrugged. “This place is always quiet. And it’s educational, so my parents were always okay with me coming here.”

  “I could have used a place like this when my parents were getting a divorce,” Natalie admitted. There was something so calm about the life going on in the tanks. Hanging in the aquarium with Reed was a great way to spend time. Since her dad’s schedule was too crazed to fit her in.

  “Do you want me to eat this whole banana split by myself?” Jordan asked Brynn. “Because I have the stomach capacity, and I’m not afraid to use it.”

  Brynn took a spoonful of the strawberry side of the split. Her favorite. But she didn’t even register tasting it before she swallowed. She pushed the glass dish closer to Jordan. “Go for it,” she told him.

  “You’re really upset about forgetting your lines, aren’t you?” His green eyes were locked on her face.

  Duh, you think? Brynn thought. Immediately, she felt bad. Jordan was being sympathetic. It wasn’t his fault she’d messed up so badly at rehearsal. She could have stopped IMing him any time she wanted to last night. He would have understood that she needed time to work on her part.

  “You heard what Ms. Milligan said to me,” Brynn answered. “And Vern…” She shook her head.

  “Who’s Vern?” Jordan asked.

  “He’s the guy who plays Ferdinand,” she explained.

  “The one you’re supposed to be in love with.” Jordan gave the ice cream a stir with his spoon. It was getting soupy because they’d been taking so long to eat it.

  “Miranda, not me, but yeah,” Brynn said. “He said that I was going to humiliate everyone in the show if I didn’t get it together. I don’t know how I’m even going to be able to look at him when we rehearse our next scene together.”

  “Do you like him or something?” Jordan asked, his voice harsh.

  “What? No,” Brynn answered. She started to tear her napkin into little pieces.

  “You care an awful lot about what he thinks of you,” Jordan commented.

  “Because…because I care about what everyone in the cast thinks. If I mess up during a performance, the way I just did at rehearsal, I’ll wreck the whole play for all of them,” Brynn explained.

  Jordan nodded. Then he grabbed a straw, stuck it into the melting ice cream split, and sucked some up with a loud slurp.

  Brynn giggled. Jordan could almost always make her laugh. He was the best.

  “It will be okay,” she said. “I’m just going to practice my lines every second of every day. I’m going to have my part down ice cold before the weekend.”

  “Yeah, you should be working on your lines the rest of the vacation, whenever we’re not doing something.” Jordan slurped up some more ice cream.

  But Brynn needed every second, every single second that she wasn’t onstage at a rehearsal, to practice her part. She was going to brush her teeth with the script in one hand. She was going to eat with it propped in front of her. She’d even sleep with it under her pillow, so it could get into her dreams.

  How was she supposed to find time to do anything with Jordan?

  Disappointment flooded through her as she answered her own question. She wasn’t going to get any more Jordan time until the play was over. Even when she had her lines down and there were no more rehearsals, she’d be performing six nights a week, plus doing a matinee on Saturday. She’d have to use every free second just to get her homework done. Every single teacher she had gave a ton.

  That meant it would be months before she and Jordan could get together.

  “I think I see Reed and Nat,” Tori said to Michael as she peered out at the beach from their Ferris wheel car.

  “Yep, that’s them,” Michael agreed.

  “Good call asking Reed to come with us.” Tori pulled a strand of hair off her mouth. It had gotten stuck in her lip gloss as the Ferris wheel spun through the sky. “Natalie just broke up with this guy from camp. She was really bummed about it. I think Reed’s making her feel better.”

  And Tori was happy about that. She was. She just wished…she couldn’t help wishing she and Natalie had been able to spend more of the day together. It was cool when Reed and Nat went off to the aquarium together. Tori had wanted them to do that. Seeing them together, she could tell Reed was helping with the Logan sitch.

  But then they’d ended up eating lunch separately, too. Michael had decided he had to have clams, and Reed and Nat weren’t in the mood after staring at all the sea creatures in the aquarium. They’d gone to the pizza place.

  Then Michael had wanted to go on the Ferris wheel, and Natalie had really wanted to get some beach time in, which made sense, because she didn’t live practically on top of the beach the way the rest of them did. And Tori hadn’t felt like she could say no to Michael since he’d gone on her favorite ride with her a bunch of times. The way the day had turned out, Natalie and Tori might as well still have been three thousand miles apart.

  “And this way we got to do some stuff together,” Michael commented. “Even though you’re still going to ditch me for the rest of the week.”

  “Come on, Michael. You know I’m just trying to get in my Nat time while I can. I’ll make it up to you.” She snuggled closer to him. “It was fun today. Thanks for helping me break my record for consecutive rides on the Plunge,” Tori said.

  “I can’t believe you actually like that ride. It’s one step up from the plane ride in Kiddie Cove,” Michael teased.

  “Not true,” Tori protested. “The Plunge—”

  She was interrupted by a meow coming from inside her purse. “I’m getting a text message,” she told Michael. She pulled out her cell and checked the screen.

  How did Tori-Nat day go? Tons o’ fun? Wish I was with. Val

  How was she supposed to answer Valerie? It was almost time to head home, and Tori and Natalie had hardly spent any time together. Tori did some quick mental math. Since they’d arrived at the pier, she and Natalie had spent a total of approximately sixteen minutes together.

  Sixteen minutes wasn’t a ton o’ anything. Definitely not tons o’ Natalie and Tori having fu
n together.

  chapter

  FIVE

  Gr8 time yest. Can I C U some more? Reed

  Natalie grinned as she read Reed’s message a second time. Then she snapped her cell closed, stuck it in her pocket, and trotted downstairs. She smelled what she was pretty sure were blueberry pancakes. Her dad knew they were her favorite. He was probably already at the kitchen table, waiting to have breakfast with her.

  Wrong. He was at the dining room table. And he wasn’t waiting to have breakfast with her. He was in the middle of having breakfast with Su, Heath, Allis, Sunny, and Lee. The only missing member of his team was Mary, but it would be hard for him to work out with his trainer while strategizing about his career with the others.

  “Hey, babe,” her dad called. “I had Ms. Davis make your favorite pancakes.”

  “None for your breakfast meeting?” Natalie asked, scanning the table. It looked like everyone was doing fruit juice and coffee only.

  “No time,” Su said. “Plus none of us have the metabolism for pancakes anymore.” She smiled at Natalie. “Enjoy your youth!”

  “No time?” Natalie repeated. She managed to stop herself from adding the word “again.”

  “Your dad has a rehearsal in less than an hour,” Heath explained. “He’s one of the presenters at the show, so he has to practice his witty introduction to the movies nominated for Best Sound Editing.”

  “Sorry, Nat,” her father said. “I thought it was tomorrow. I’m having a hard time keeping my schedule straight.”

  “Speaking of your schedule,” Lee said, “we need to leave.”

  “We can go over your new contract in the car,” said Allis.

  “And remember, you’re doing Oprah’s Live in LA show,” Su chimed in.

  “Sorry,” her father said to Natalie again. “I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”

  “It’s okay. I knew you’d be busy this week,” she answered, trying to mean it. “I guess I better get to my pancakes before they get cold.”

  “Bingley’s around if you want to go anywhere. I gave him some cash for you,” her father called after her. “Have a great day!”

  Reed’s text message popped into her head as Natalie sat down at the kitchen table. He’d said he had a great time with her yesterday. Maybe he’d be up for getting together today. He probably knew what it was like to visit one of your parents and have them totally tied up with work.

  Natalie pulled out her cell and found his number, then hit Send. Ms. Davis set a plate full of pancakes and a pitcher of warm blueberry syrup in front of her.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “For what?” Reed asked in her ear. “And who is this?”

  Natalie laughed. “It’s me. Nat. I didn’t think you’d picked up yet. I was saying thanks to someone else.”

  “So what’s up?” Reed said.

  “Um, you wanted to know if we could get together again. And I wanted to know if today would—” Natalie began.

  “Absolutely,” Reed interrupted.

  “Great. My dad is busy for pretty much ever,” she told him. “I know everything he’s doing is important, but when I’m in LA—”

  “You want to hang with him,” Reed interrupted again. “I get that. When I’m in New York, I think my mom should be available 24/7. Unless I have plans with my friends.”

  “Exactly!” Natalie exclaimed. Reed really got the divorced parent thing. Her father only got to see her in person a few times a year. It hurt that he hadn’t made her his absolute top priority. Even though she understood how important his Oscar nomination was and how many responsibilities he had this week.

  “I know exactly where we should go,” Reed said. “Do you have your driver again today?”

  “Uh-huh,” Natalie answered.

  “Tell him to take you to Hollywood and Ivar. I’ll meet you at the subway station on the corner,” Reed told her.

  “We can pick you up,” Natalie said.

  “No, I like the subway. It makes me feel like I’m in Manhattan,” Reed answered. “I’m leaving in five. See you there.”

  Natalie tried to leave in five, but guys didn’t have as much to do before they went out. No makeup. Hardly any hair care. Still, even with all her girl activities, she and Bingley were on the road eleven minutes after she hung up with Reed.

  She thought she might beat him to their meeting place anyway, since she was going by car and he was going by subway. But Reed was leaning against the bright red car statue when Bingley stopped at the corner.

  “I’ll take the car into that lot,” Bingley said. “Just call on my cell when you want me.”

  “Thanks, Bing!” Natalie called as she climbed out onto the sidewalk. Reed headed over to meet her. “So where are we going?” she asked him.

  “It’s a surprise,” he said.

  “Do we need the car?” Natalie asked. “Bing’s parking it right over there.”

  “No, we’re going to do something that most Los Angelinos never do—walk,” Reed told her. “Come on.” He started down the sidewalk, Natalie by his side. “It’s just about a block away.”

  Natalie scanned the souvenir shops that ran on both sides of the street, trying to figure out where Reed was taking her. This stretch of Hollywood Boulevard was pretty touristy—probably because it was the section where all the stars had their stars on the sidewalk.

  “Why do I feel like I’m missing something?” Natalie asked as they walked.

  “I don’t know. Why?” Reed asked.

  “My cell. That’s it,” Natalie realized. “I always have it.”

  “You probably just left it in the car. I have mine if you need one,” Reed said. “Okay, we’re here.” Reed stopped next to a Blimpies sandwich place.

  “I just scarfed down a protein bar,” Natalie told him, feeling a little confused. “But if you’re hungry…”

  “Not that place. Look down,” Reed instructed.

  Natalie did—and realized she was standing on her father’s star. The name TAD MAXWELL was written in gold letters in the center of a pale pink star.

  “It sounded like you were really wishing you could spend some time with your dad, so—” Reed pointed at the star.

  “You’re a goofball,” Natalie said. But how sweet was it of Reed to bring her here? So sweet. They’d only been together for about five minutes, but he’d already made her feel so much better.

  Brynn thought doing a private practice session with Vern would make her feel better. More confident. But she kept messing up. Probably because she was trying so hard to prove to Vern that he had nothing to worry about. And it was totally clear that Vern was getting more and more worried. And frustrated. And angry. And Brynn-hating.

  “Can we stop and go back to the beginning of the scene?” Brynn asked after she’d gotten the same line wrong four times in a row.

  “Is that what you’re going to do in a performance?” Vern asked, reminding Brynn of Ms. Milligan. “Are you going to ask the audience if it’s okay if we stop and go back to the beginning of the scene?”

  “Of course not,” Brynn answered.

  “I wish I was as sure of that as you seem to be,” Vern said. His eyes were definitely looking gray right now. He was in all-out serious mode. “Today is Wednesday, Brynn. We’re going to be doing this scene for real on Saturday. This Saturday.”

  “I know that,” Brynn said. She felt like throwing her head back and howling the words, but that definitely wouldn’t reassure Vern. “And I’m going to be running lines every spare second I have. Rosemary’s working with me tonight. And when no one is around to work with me, I’m going to use a tape recorder to check myself.”

  Vern nodded. “Okay, let’s go back to the beginning of the scene. But no stopping this time.” He cleared his throat and began. “There be some sports are painful, and their labour—”

  He was interrupted by the opening song from Hairspray blasting out of Brynn’s cell phone.

  “Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Brynn muttered as she dug
through her backpack for the phone. She saw the name Jordan on the screen.

  “You’re not going to answer that, are you?” Vern demanded.

  Brynn hesitated. “It will just take one second, I swear,” she answered. She couldn’t pretend Jordan wasn’t on the phone. That just wasn’t right.

  “Hi, Jordan. I can’t talk right now,” she said breathlessly.

  “Why not?” he asked.

  “I’m at Vern’s. We’re getting in a little extra rehearsal,” she explained.

  “Extra rehearsal? Come on, Brynn. You’re at rehearsal practically all the time. I thought we could ride our bikes to the park.”

  Vern stared at her so hard it felt like her skin was being lasered off. “I can’t, okay? Vern’s waiting for me.”

  “Well, we don’t want Vern to have to wait.” The next sound Brynn heard was a click. Jordan had hung up on her!

  Tori checked her cell—for the seventh time that day. No little message icon on the screen. Where was Nat? What was her deal?

  On the way home from the pier yesterday, she and Natalie had decided to get together if Nat’s dad had plans. And he did. Anyone with a TV set knew that. There’d been about a million commercials for Oprah’s Live in LA show, and every commercial showed Tad Maxwell. Oh, and did Tori mention the live part?

  Maybe Natalie had sent her an e-mail. Although everyone knew that if you had something important to say, you called or texted. Tori headed into her bedroom and logged on to her e-mail account. An e-mail from Betsey Johnson—the store was having a sale. An e-mail from Bliss—sale. And one from Fornarina— big sale.

  Tori wouldn’t mind checking out the goods at any of the places. She could always use some more lemon butter from Bliss or another pair of shoes from Fornarina. But she didn’t want to go by herself. Shopping was meant to be a social activity.

  It’s not as if Natalie was her only friend. That would be pretty pathetic. Nat didn’t even live in the same state. But Char was skiing. Eva was in Texas with her parents visiting relatives. And Zandra was in Paris.