Next Door To A Star

by Krysten Lindsay Hager

  “Can I get a cup of water?” I asked.

  “Yeah, but it’s a dollar-fifty,” he said.

  I gave him the money even though I didn’t see a price for teeny-tiny paper cups of water listed on the menu. Simone grabbed my arm and pulled me out of there.

  “Let’s go in here. They have the cutest accessories,” she said, walking into a boutique. “Look at these palm tree earrings. So cute and they have two pairs if you want one too.”

  I told her my ears weren’t pierced and she offered to pierce them for me.

  “All you need is an ice cube, a bunch of towels, and—”

  “It’s okay,” I said. “I’ll think about it.”

  “Whatever. I’m getting a pair for Lauren. Oh, let’s go to the drugstore next,” she said. She walked in and headed straight for the magazine rack. I mentioned I had read about what makeup Valeria liked and her eyes got big.

  “I love her,” she said. “I did a commercial with her when I was ten and she was so sweet. I never miss Charmed Lives.”

  “I bought some of the stuff she said she uses, but I can’t get the shimmery look she has,” I said.

  “Follow me,” she said. She went to the makeup aisle, picked up a sample tube, and squeezed a tiny bit of shimmer stuff onto her hand. “I love this stuff. You can put it on your cheeks, eyes, and lips. Oh, you need to get some bronzer too.”

  “What’s it for?”

  “It makes you look tan.”

  I let her pick out some shimmer cream and bronzer for me. We were going up to the counter when we ran into Charlotte and her grandpa. My stomach dropped. Simone went to get some gum, leaving us alone. Charlotte stared at the floor.

  “I forgot I said I’d do something with Simone today,” I said, talking way too fast. I sounded so guilty and slimy. “Can you come over on Saturday? I really want to hang out with you.”

  “Whatever.” Charlotte shrugged.

  “Hadley? C’mon.” Simone was standing by the counter.

  “So…see ya soon?” I asked and Charlotte nodded without looking at me.

  I felt like the worst person ever, but Simone talked all the way back to her house. As I sat on her bed, I realized all I had wanted this summer was to make new friends, and I had finally stepped out of my comfort zone and done that, but I had also made a friend feel like crap and I didn’t know if she believed my weak response. Life was so much easier when it was only me and Lexi…the same Lexi who swore we’d text every day and had messaged me a total of eight times since she moved. Could anyone be counted on?

  “Hadley, you’re not even paying attention,” Simone said, tapping the shimmer tube against her palm. “See? You have to mix it all up and there are certain parts of your face which are supposed to be bronze, like your forehead, and other parts meant to be lighter and shimmery, like the tops of your cheekbones.”

  She pulled out a pink egg shaped sponge and started to apply it.

  “The pink shimmer stuff goes on your cheeks and on the crease of your eye, but the white shimmer goes on your forehead, part of your nose, and the brow bone. Got it?” she asked.

  I nodded, but was totally confused. Did some girls instinctively know how to do stuff like this, or was it something you learned? And if so, where were they all learning this? I felt like there was some class I missed, like the time I was home sick when my class learned how to tell time on a clock. I swear ever since then, I have to mentally count to know what time it is—I can’t automatically figure it out like the rest of the world can.

  “Okay, bronzer is next,” Simone said, taking a little brush and lining my eyes with dark plum eye shadow. “I always wear dark eyeliner to make myself look older. It makes my eyes look super blue. Now go like this,” she said, sucking in her cheeks. “If you shade this part underneath your cheeks, it looks like you have noticeable cheekbones.”

  “Did you learn that from a makeup artist?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “Don’t remember. Do you want me to curl your eyelashes or do you want to do it yourself?”

  I let her do it since I wasn’t even sure what to do with the eyelash curler. I’d probably poke my eye out.

  “I can’t leave the house without curling my lashes,” she said. She pinched my lid a little bit and my eyes started to water. “Okay, what do ya think?”

  I picked up the mirror and I didn’t look like Valeria’s twin, but Simone had given me noticeable cheekbones and my eyes were bigger somehow.

  “It’s amazing. I don’t even look like myself.”

  She nodded. “Yeah, isn’t it great?”

  Later, Grandma noticed my new look as soon as I walked in the house.

  “What’s on your face?” she asked. I told her Simone did my makeup. “Her mother’s got her hands full with her,” she said.

  Chapter Eight

  I was trying to copy the makeup techniques Simone used on me when Charlotte came over the next day.

  “You have a smudge on your face,” Charlotte said, squinting at me.

  “It’s bronzer. It’s supposed to make me look tan,” I said.

  “It makes you look dirty.”

  “Well, Simone wears it all the time.” I rubbed my cheek.

  “She’s so tan she’s almost orange. She’s probably fake-baking to keep up with Morgan and Pilar. You know they’re all going to get wrinkles and sun damage.”

  “Do you know that Nick guy she hangs out with?”

  “Yeah, he’s really sweet and cute,” she said. “He went out with Morgan for a little bit. Like, for two days, or something. He’s not like those two jerks he hangs out with—Connor and Lucas.”

  I filled her in on what Simone said.

  “Hadley, it sounds like he was asking her to bring you to the party, but she used you for an alibi instead.” Charlotte bit her lip.

  “Well, I had already promised I’d cover for her before he asked, so…you know…no biggie.”

  “I dunno, I’d be sort of mad myself,” she said. I thought it was weird that she wouldn’t look at me.

  Charlotte was right though—it might have been my only chance for Nick to ask me to hang out. He’d probably meet someone else at the party and forget all about me.

  “Well, anyway, you probably wouldn’t like him once you got to know him if he hangs out with that crowd, right? I mean, any guy who goes out with Morgan…” She shrugged and cleared her throat. “Anyway, look what I brought over for you. Remember when we were talking about books we loved back in the day? Well, I found my copy of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.”

  She handed it to me and she started looking through my books when an article I had printed out about Valeria fell out of one of my magazines.

  “What’s this? Are you getting your hair cut?” she asked.

  “No. There’s an interview of the actress who plays Chandler in it.”

  She glanced at the interview. “It’s all about makeup and hair stuff. I didn’t know she dyed her hair.”

  I got up. “She does? Where does it say she dyes it?”

  “It says, ‘Valeria goes for touchups every six weeks for her base color.’”

  I felt dumb admitting I hadn’t paid attention to that. I told Char how Simone had done a commercial with Valeria once.

  “Was she nice?” she asked.

  “Yeah, Simone liked her, but don’t you think it’s weird Simone never talks about being on TV?”

  “I dunno. Never thought about it. She told you about the commercial though,” she said.

  “Yeah, I guess. Hey, have you ever wanted to get your ears pierced?”

  “No way. Why would I want to put holes in my body?” She stuck her tongue out.

  “I don’t know. It’s kind of pretty.” I shrugged. “I might let Simone pierce mine.”

  Charlotte almost fell off the bed laughing. “I hope you have a blood donor nearby,” she said. “I wouldn’t let her sharpen my pencil, much less poke a hole in my body.”

  “Whatever, I might do it.”

/>   “Well, good luck with that. Hey, do you want to go to the nature center with me and my grandpa tomorrow?”

  I wasn’t into science, and to be honest, it sounded boring, but Char said the place had a pretty view of the lake and she mentioned Conner, the guy Simone liked, had an older brother, Sam, who worked there.

  “Is the brother cute?”

  Charlotte made a face. “Please don’t turn into one of them.”

  “One of who?”

  “Never mind. Anyway, you’d probably think so. Sam’s the kind of guy who knows he’s cute, but he’s always super nice to me when I go in there,” she said. “I know it’s not your kind of thing, but will you come?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  ***

  Simone called me the next morning. She wanted to come over to tell me about the party, but I had to tell her I was busy because I couldn’t cancel with Charlotte again.

  “Fine, whatever. Nick asked about you again. Anyway, call me when you get back,” she said, hanging up before I could respond.

  I had done the right thing, but that fear of Simone never calling me back again kept creeping into my mind. Plus, there was the whole fact she had news about Nick. I tried to ignore the feeling as I ate my breakfast and checked my phone for messages.

  “Hadley, must you have that phone by you twenty-four seven?” Grandma asked.

  “I sent a text to my best friend, Lexi, and I’m waiting for her to respond.”

  “Well, you can respond after you’re done eating,” she said, sliding my phone away from me. “The Lidstroms will be here any minute, and you don’t want them waiting for you to finish your cereal.”

  On cue, the doorbell rang. Grandma sighed. “Fine, take a Pop Tart with you. You can’t start the day on an empty stomach.”

  Aunt Faith let Charlotte in. Char took one look at my feet and said, “You better put on your Skechers or some hiking boots. Sandals aren’t a good choice.”

  I changed my shoes and Mr. Lidstrom took us to the nature center, which was a big log cabin with stuff about leaves and animals in it. Charlotte was in heaven as we walked around. The center had a game where you put your hand in a bunch of different boxes with rubber doors over them and tried to figure out what was inside by touch.

  “Are you going to try it?” Mr. Lidstrom asked me.

  “I will put my hand in only after you’ve gotten your hand safely back and tell me what’s inside.”

  He laughed, but Charlotte stuck her hand in each one without worrying she’d end up touching some big slimy thing. There was this kid’s dad there who kept pretending something on the other end had eaten his hand off. It wasn’t funny the first time he did it, and it was super annoying the twenty-third time he did it.

  “Are you up for the hiking trails?” Charlotte asked. “They’re fun because there are these steps built into the hill and we can take leaf and flower samples.”

  We walked over to the stairs and started to climb up. Mr. Lidstrom said he’d wait for us at the bottom.

  I was glad I had changed my shoes because my feet would have been destroyed walking up that hill.

  “Isn’t this gorgeous?” Charlotte asked as she reached over to pick a couple of wildflowers. I nodded out of breath.

  “Come on, we’re almost near the top,” she said. “It’ll all be worth it. Promise.”

  I followed her up the hill, and when we got to the top it was epic—you could see for miles—miles and miles of dark blue water. The lake looked gorgeous as it shimmered under the sunlight.

  “See? Told ya it was worth it.” She smiled.

  I pulled out my phone to take pics and even Charlotte took a few of her own.

  “Are you posting them on your page?” she asked.

  I nodded. “With the hashtag ‘best summer ever.’ Are you ready to go back down?”

  “Can we sit for a while?”

  We sat on a bench crafted out of logs and looked out at the water.

  “It’s so peaceful here. I can’t remember the last time I was someplace so quiet,” I said.

  Charlotte nodded. “I love it here. It’s my favorite place. I came up here a lot after my mom died. You know, Grandpa can’t climb the steps the way he used to and he doesn’t like me coming up here by myself, so I’m really glad you were able to come with me today. It means a lot to me.”

  I smiled. “I’m glad I came too.” It was kind of nice to be someplace where I wasn’t worried about fitting in or how I looked or if I was being judged. It felt comfortable, like when I slipped on my favorite pair of yoga pants fresh from the dryer—the super worn out pair Mom wouldn’t let me wear outside the house, but that I could never throw out.

  We walked back down the hill and Charlotte got a couple of books from the gift shop. Her grandpa bought us both journals that had dried purple flowers on the cover.

  I posted a picture of mine on my page and I got an instant reply from Simone asking if she could come over later. I wrote back:

  Sure!

  “Hadley, do you want to come over?” Charlotte asked.

  “Char, her grandma will probably want her home,” Mr. Lidstrom said. “Do you want to call and ask her?”

  I didn’t think Grandma would care when I got back, but Simone had asked if she could come over, and I really wanted to see her too.

  “I should probably get back,” I said, and they dropped me off at the house. I called Simone as soon as I got inside, but her mother said she was gone. Guess she wasn’t sitting around waiting for me, but as long as she included me when everyone got to meet Lauren, then everything would be perfect and I’d know that I was fitting in with her group.

  Chapter Nine

  Simone didn’t call me back that night or the next day. It rained all day so I couldn’t go to the beach, and Charlotte had a stomachache so she couldn’t come over. I went into the family room to plug the TV in, but Grandpa was already in there watching Charmed Lives.

  “You do watch this show?” I asked.

  “Do not let your grandmother know. She thinks I’m in here taking a nap,” he said, looking nervously behind him. “Charlotte’s grandfather got me into it last year.”

  I found out Grandpa didn’t like Chandler’s sister, and he thought Lance was Chandler and Madison’s half-brother, so neither girl would end up dating him.

  “See, Lance keeps talking about how he came to Orchard Valley to find his long lost sisters,” Grandpa said. “That’s gotta be Madison and Chandler.”

  “Maybe that’s why they’ve never dated. I mean, Chandler’s dated every other guy on the show, but not Lance.”

  “Yup, those writers think they can pull one over on us,” he said, nudging me. “Not likely.”

  We heard Grandma coming and he turned off the TV.

  “What are you two up to?” she asked.

  “Nothing, talking about this rain,” Grandpa said. “Crazy, crazy weather we’re having.”

  “Uh-huh,” she said and walked out of the room.

  As soon as she was gone, he turned the TV on. “Don’t worry, I paused it first,” he said. “We won’t miss a second.”

  I smiled.

  ***

  Simone hadn’t called me by Monday, and Charlotte was still not feeling well, so I stayed inside again. Aunt Faith took me to the library after lunch and we were the only two people in there besides the librarian. There were two beat up chairs in the back, so Aunt Faith and I sat and read old copies of InStyle and Life and Style for a while. There was a whole article on summer jewelry, and it seemed like every teen celeb had dangly earrings on in the magazine.

  “Faith, when did you get your ears pierced?” I asked.

  “I don’t remember. I think I was thirteen. Why?”

  “I want to get mine done,” I said.

  “I’m surprised you don’t have pierced ears already. Most girls your age who want them, have them. Have you asked your parents?”

  “Mom thinks I’ll get some weird infection or something,” I said. “Bu
t I’ll take care of them, and they’re my ears.”

  “What about your dad?” she asked.

  I shrugged. “He doesn’t care, but he thinks it’s kind of stupid.” Actually, what Dad had said was, “What kind of moron puts holes in their head?” Then my mom pointed out she had pierced ears and he shut up pretty quick.

  I asked Grandma if I could get my ears pierced when I got home. I thought she’d freak out, but she was also surprised I didn’t have them pierced already.

  “Would you take me to get them done?” I asked. My parents couldn’t object if Grandma was onboard with the idea.

  “I will if your parents okay it,” she said.

  “They don’t think I’m mature enough though. It’s not fair,” I said to Aunt Faith. “Everybody’s got pierced ears but me. Even Lily has earrings.”

  “That’s true, the little one does have them,” Grandma said, and she and Aunt Faith exchanged a knowing look.

  “So it’s really important to you?” Aunt Faith asked.

  I nodded. “I’m the only girl I know of in high school that doesn’t have her ears pierced.”

  “Well, I was younger than you when I got mine done and it turned out okay for me, but you have to promise to take care of them and get it done by a doctor,” she said.

  She called a couple of doctor’s offices, but none of them pierced ears.

  “What about trying Slater’s Jewelry Store? They’re reputable,” Grandma said. “But I had no part in this if your parents ask.”

  ***

  Aunt Faith took me to the jewelry store the next morning and a woman named Michalina sat me down and showed me how to turn and clean the earring posts. Michalina asked if I had any questions about cleaning them, but all I wanted to know was if it would hurt.

  “It might pinch a little. Some people don’t feel a thing, but others say it feels like a little poke. Nobody’s ever died in my chair,” she said laughing.

  I sort of wanted to leave, but I had come this far and I couldn’t walk out the door a like little kid. Besides, I’d never get this chance again if I left. I got in the chair and said a prayer.