Just Like Me

by Dani Hall

  “See you later, Ms. Delaney.” He winked again. That stupid arrogant grin never left his face. He quickly slipped out the door, shutting it behind him. I swore I heard him chuckling.

  Damn it.

  Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!

  So this was no big freaking deal to him. He didn’t give a damn whether or not I was pretty, oh, just look me up and down and see if I’m good enough to be seen on a fake date with you.

  I threw my book-bag off angrily, letting it slam to the floor with the weight of the books. I wanted to stomp around like a child.

  Why did I have to practice my speech today? Why couldn’t I have just sucked it up and gone back to my dorm room? Why did I have to be selfish and choose number five? Why?! Why was the celebrity a guy my best friend was in love with?

  Oh no.

  Lisa.

  I pulled out my phone; I had ten missed calls from Lisa and forty five texts.

  I sighed, walking over to the chair Taylor had been parked in and sunk down into it.

  What was going to happen when Mom saw that I won the date with him? What would people on campus do to me? If the girls found out my identity, that I won, they’d string me up by my toenails. And it was only a matter of time before my location was released. I should sue. That’s endangerment.

  I finally got the courage to look through my texts.

  Umm, you better text me.

  RIGHT NOW!!!

  KALE DELANEY TEXT ME RIGHT NOW!

  WTF???

  Did you really win???

  Kale answer me????

  Wait, are you with him right now?

  Is he hot?

  Kale?

  HOW DID YOU FIND HIM????

  Were you even looking for him???

  I stopped looking at my texts after that, and I didn’t have the guts to reply. All of the ones I looked at were sent seconds apart, all from Lisa.

  Finally the door opened, a stout man with black hair and blue eyes stepped into the room, key in his hand to the room. Multiple body guards came in after him, some business looking people. Also my Chancellor came in. He beamed at me like I had made Dean’s list. Like I was the top student of the school or something. I’d never seen him before in my life, and now suddenly I was worthy of his presence.

  The stout man made his way over to me, an all-business expression on his face.

  “Hi, I’m Jerry Nolan.” He extended his hand toward me. I took it, not because I necessarily wanted to. “I’m representing Taylor Jett; I expect he told you that we’d provide you with body guards back to your dorm room?”

  “No. He failed to mention that.” I snapped. I was staring at the wall behind everything. I couldn’t look anyone in the eye.

  “Well, I just did then.” He was holding a clipboard in one hand and a phone in the other. All business. “Anyways, congratulations on winning the contest. You’ll probably be all they talk about on the T.V. tonight, if you weren’t already aware.” He really looked like he’d rather be anywhere else than right here. “There are some stipulations that come with winning. Of course you’ll have to sign a few things saying you won’t go to media afterwards spreading negative feedback about Taylor being anything but a gentleman…”

  “So lie?” I cut in, watching his expression. He looked up, startled. He wasn’t expecting that.

  “We…would actually like you to sign a contract saying that no comments will be made to media without Mr. Jett or one of his representatives with you. You are not allowed to give any negative feedback, things like that. If you breach contract, we will sue. And I don’t care how much the media offers you; it won’t be able to cover a lawsuit.”

  He flipped through some papers on his clipboard, considering a few items that must be written on the pages.

  “Since this is such a big deal,” He continued. “Your Chancellor has agreed to excuse you from the rest of your classes today. You will be counted present.”

  My Chancellor nodded excitedly in the corner, still beaming.

  “We also need to discuss the idea of where this whole shebang is taking place.”

  He pulled a chair out from a side of the table and moved it a comfortable distance across from me. He settled down, sighed, and pulled out a pen.

  “I hope you’re willing to do this date thing tomorrow night, will that be an inconvenience for you?”

  “Yea, I work.”

  He looked up, surprised.

  “Work? Don’t you think they’ll make an exception?”

  “I don’t think-“

  He was whipping his phone out.

  “Where do you work?”

  “I work at a local movie theatre, I’m a manager I just can’t-“

  “You work at Later Theatres?”

  “Yea, but-“

  He punched buttons on his phone and then put it up to his ear, holding a finger out to me. What is he magic? How does he know the number? I could barely make out an employee picking up the phone and spraying our custom greeting into Mr. Nolan’s ear. Did he have my theater number already programmed into his phone?

  “Yes, is your general manager in?....thank-you.”

  He cupped a hand over the mouth piece.

  “What’s your general manager’s name?”

  “Mike. Mike Bolt.”

  He nodded, listening intently to the silence of the phone. I heard Mr. Bolt pick up.

  “Mr. Bolt?...Hi, Jerry Nolan speaking here, sir. I’m calling representing one of your employees…yes…yes, I’m happy to inform you that your employee Kale has won the national Just Like Me competition. Yes sir, we would like for the date to take place tomorrow night, but Kale expressed some concerns about her work obligations.”

  I heard Mr. Bolt’s voice rise in excitement as he happily excused me from work tomorrow night. Ugh, back-stabber. He’s never let me off for any other event since I’ve been there. I could see him now, sitting at his desk and scrolling through his employee’s social networking pages. Not trying to incriminate anyone, but just being the nosiest man you’ve ever met in your life.

  “Great, thank-you so much sir…yes, she can still come in tonight. When she does, we believe it would be in her best interest to be accompanied by a couple of body guards. It would….yes, thank-you. Her next scheduled day to work is Tuesday at 6? I’ll let her know, thank you so much...mhmm, goodbye.”

  He hung up the conversation, scrawling on his clipboard.

  “It’s settled then.” He finally spoke. “Tomorrow night you will be on your date with Mr. Jett. You still have to report to work tonight, which I don’t see being a problem. We’ll have body guards there just in case, though. We will fly you out to your destination tomorrow afternoon and you will spend the evening enjoying the company of Mr. Jett.”

  “Enjoying?”

  He glanced up at me again; it looked like he couldn’t quite make out my behavior.

  “Or pretending to be enjoying, if that be the case.” He capped his pen, finally focusing his full attention on me. “Ms. Duh-lah-ney…”

  “It’s Deh-Lay-Nee.”

  “Right, Ms. Delaney…something tells me that you didn’t find Mr. Jett on purpose.”

  I shook my head, feeling my face cringe in frustration. He nodded.

  “I thought not, well, I can warn you there will be cameras following your activities tomorrow night. Myself and Mr. Jett would very highly appreciate it if you would at least…pretend…that you were enjoying the festivities planned.”

  “You mean make a fool of myself? He’s getting publicity for all of this, and I’m missing a night’s pay. You can see I’m not kissing the ground he walks on; I’m not even a fan of his, Mr. Nolan. I didn’t even know who he was until recently. You couldn’t pick another girl to go on the date? Someone who would enjoy his presence? It would look a lot better if you got a girl who ogled and climbed all over him all night. You could say I took ill…or that I got hit by a bus. You could easily replace me. No one would bat an eye.”

  He cons
idered me for a moment; I could see the gears turning in his head.

  “Well, you may think so, Ms. Delaney. But the more I think about it…the better this works.”

  “What?” I stuttered in surprise.

  “Well, Harry Marsh, the creator of this competition, intended for celebrities and people to get along as if they were just two regular people. For the celebrity to not be seen as anything more than ordinary.” He stopped to smile at me. “And something tells me, Ms. Delaney, that you will be treating him with a very normal persona tomorrow.”

  Oh come on! I’m not a fan girl, I don’t like him, and this is working to their advantage? Man! I can’t get a freaking break!

  “So, if you would, please exchange your contact information with me, I’ll text you later on in the day and let you know when you can expect a car to pick you up and take you to the airport.” He waved this off as unimportant. “Nothing you’re allergic to, no criminal record or anything like that right?”

  “Allergic to high altitudes and I killed a celebrity last year. Sound good?”

  He slit his eyes at me, shoving a contract across the table to me. He uncapped his pen and held it out. I took it, staring down at the multiple-page, small-print contract.

  From what I gathered, I was signing that I wasn’t an illegal immigrant, wasn’t allergic to anything, wasn’t lying about any of my personal information, wasn’t a criminal, blah blah blah. Like, I’m pretty sure the only thing I didn’t write down was the right to my soul.

  House address, cell phone number, home phone, email, school email, school address, mom’s number, dad’s number (I wrote 1-800-NON-EXISTENT), previous residences, previous and current jobs. The list went on and on. I didn’t feel as if I had enough life to even present on this paper.

  When I had finally signed my life away, I handed it over. He smiled, folding it and clipping back on to his clipboard.

  “Thanks, Ms. Delaney. I’m sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you. I can assure you, you will be compensated for any money loss.” He cocked his head. “I was actually prepared to ward off a fan girl and apologize for not making the date sooner. And her thanking me for the inconvenience.” He took in a breath and shrugged.

  “Are you going to tell me who is going to pick me up? I don’t want to climb in the car with a complete stranger.” I mumbled, crossing my arms, defeated.

  “I assume you have picture messaging? I will text you a picture of the vehicle picking you up and the driver, so you are familiar and not uncomfortable with hopping into an unfamiliar car with a stranger.”

  I sighed, wondering how many more texts and calls I had received from Lisa.

  Mr. Nolan stood up, shaking my hand again.

  “As I said, you will be excused from the remainder of your classes. Body guards will escort you back to your dorm room…anywhere you wish to go on campus you can request our responses. The body guards are not leaving campus for the majority of the evening. As for tonight at work, we will have a couple of body guards on hand that will stick by you during your work hours.”

  “Can I just put on a hoodie and sunglasses, like Mr. Perfect himself?”

  “If you think that will work, sure. But I can see you don’t have those on your person, so I insist our body guards walk you to your dorm room. Also I assume you have a dress code to go by at work, will hoodies and sunglasses be appropriate for your position?” I shook my head, defeated again. “Alright, then they will be near your person at all times tonight at the theatre you work at. At what time should they escort you to your job, Ms. Delaney?”

  “I have to go in at six…I guess they can meet me at the theatre at about five till?”

  “Are you comfortable driving to the theatre tonight without any protection?”

  “I’ll wear a hoodie and sunglasses until I get to the theatre.”

  I was determined not to have them following me around, driving me and acting like I had a reason to get shot. But the look on those girls faces…man, I might just get slammed.

  “Alright, five until the hour of six then.”

  I reluctantly agreed, standing up and reaching for my book bag. One of the guards reached it before I did, and he hoisted it over his shoulder.

  Mr. Nolan walked toward the exit and opened the door a crack. He watched outside and hesitated at the sight of sobbing and disappointed fans.

  “Hector, please assure me of Ms. Delaney’s safety on the way to her dorm and during her work hours tonight?” Mr. Nolan asked, hesitation plastered on his face. The one guard nodded.

  “Absolutely, Jerry.”

  “Very well. It was nice meeting you, Ms. Delaney. I expect we’ll see each other again sometime tomorrow.” He sighed.

  He tucked the clipboard under his arm, telling Hector to hold off a few minutes and allow him and the Chancellor to exit. Hector agreed. The Chancellor bid me ado; acting prouder than if I was the valedictorian of my class.

  Hector was bald with light blue eyes, muscular build; I couldn’t tell how old he was. Maybe late thirties. Maybe early fifties. He seemed focused as he glanced out and around the library.

  “Hey, Mr. Hector?” I asked, striding towards him. He looked up and smiled warmly at me.

  “Yes, Ms. Delaney?”

  “Are you going to be one of the guards tonight, at work?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Will you be escorting me and Mr. Jett tomorrow evening?”

  “Well, yes ma’am, I will be.”

  “So, if he’s being an ass, can you punch him? You know, for safety purposes.” He chuckled.

  “Perhaps if he tries to harm you physically.”

  “So you can’t punch him if he’s an ass?”

  “He’s always an ass, Ms. Delaney. And I had to sign a contract, too.”

  I smiled at his good-nature. I liked this guy.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Thanks, Hector!” I jammed my key into my dorm room door as I waved goodbye to the bodyguards. I hoisted my book bag back over my shoulder. Any place I went tonight I would be wearing a hoodie, even though I really liked Hector.

  I shoved the door open and froze at the sight of Lisa, standing in the middle of the room with her arms crossed.

  “Oh…shi-“

  “What the hell, Kale?” She bellowed. I halfway thought about yelling back down the hallway to the body guards.

  “Let me explain, alright?” She glared. It looked like lasers were about to come shooting out of her eyes. I opened my mouth, hoping something explainable would come out, but then was distracted by the sound of my name on the T.V.

  “Yes! A big congratulations to Kale Duh-lah-ney!”

  “It’s Delaney you jack ass!” I yelled at the T.V. Lisa froze, looking at the T.V. as well. Joe continued, unaware of my outburst.

  “Yes, it appears Kale found Taylor in the library! Now, according to our sources, girls had been crawling all over the library all morning, but were unable to find Taylor. He was apparently hiding in a room used for studying and presentations. In order to access that room, you have to request a presentation room at the front desk and present a student I.D. We’re told this was done so a person on campus without being registered at the college would be unable to find Taylor. Now we go to Harry, president of CAPT. Harry, everyone expected a very high-society college to be picked, why this small town college?”

  “Well, Joe, it wasn’t an easy decision. If we were to have held the competition at a big college where getting accepted is nearly impossible unless you have a 4.5 GPA, it may have dismayed potential college kids with less than 4.0 GPA’s. We decided to promote a college that was more accessible. A small town college to promote that you, yes you, can get a degree if you try hard enough. A college education is possible. It doesn’t have to be Ivy League, Joe, you still have a degree to your name.”

  “Will you be holding another competition soon, Harry?”

  “Yes, Joe. We will. Since this was our first, we wanted it to be our biggest. From here
on out, we will hold small competitions and surprise super fans in different states. We will even be starting our own T.V. show about the…”

  But the rest was drowned out by my thoughts swirling around my head. I glanced at Lisa, who was staring at the T.V., only halfway interested in what Harry was saying.

  “Lisa…”

  “You didn’t go in that room looking for Taylor, did you?” She sighed, still not taking her eyes off the T.V. Her eyes were tired, and she sounded like she was giving up on an argument. “You were looking for a place to rehearse that damn speech you have to give.”

  I nodded, but she didn’t see me. She was now watching Joe’s face as he started moving on to a different story. I scratched the back of my neck, finally dropping my pack from my shoulder. Lisa looked up when it hit the floor with a thunk. She looked to it, then to me.

  “You tell them you weren’t looking for him?”

  “Yea, they didn’t really care, I guess. They even said it was better that I wouldn’t be drooling over him at the date. I’m sorry, Lisa. You know I would never-”

  “They give you any details or anything?”

  “Yea, tomorrow night.” I muttered. Lisa’s eyes widened.

  “Tomorrow?” She said, a hand flying up to her mouth. “Oh man, that’s crazy.” I just nodded again. I flopped down on my bed, staring at the clock. It was 9:30 in the morning.

  “Did anyone notice you coming back to our dorm?” She asked, sitting facing me on her bed.

  “Yea, well, they couldn’t miss me after they showed my picture and announced and I had to walk back with a gaggle of guards.” I shook my head. “I’m supposed to call them if I go anywhere else on campus today.”

  “Whoa, body guards? I bet everyone was freaking.”

  “Yea, they looked at me like I was a bomb or something. Some girls looked like they wanted to throw a bomb at me.” I remembered the look on their faces as I passed them. Angry, depressed, looking to get even. Some girls tried to follow the guards around, but one or two body guards would always step out and ask whoever was following to move along. The girls would glare more, but finally head in an opposite direction. Thank God hardly anyone was in the dorm hallway.