by Kelly Oram
“I was a little busy.”
“You were busy,” I repeated. “Your best friend has a song written about her, gets asked out by Isaac Warren, ends up on prime time news, gets completely dissed in a blog written by the best friend of your new boyfriend, which spawns hundreds of hate comments from angry fan girls worldwide, and gets three interviews to start her very own line of jewelry, but you can’t stop making out for five seconds to answer me?”
“Hey! That’s not fair! You know that Shane is—wait, what?”
“You should have called me back,” I spat and then turned around in my seat as if I were going to pay attention in homeroom for once.
The minute I turned my back on Cara, Olivia Lewis was there and she looked very determined in a pissed off kind of way. I wondered what I’d done to deserve the wrath of Olivia this time, but, surprisingly, she wasn’t there to be snotty to me. She was there to vent to me. “I’m sorry, Val,” she said. “You were so right about Kyle.”
“V!” Cara hissed, poking me in the shoulder. “V!”
“Talking!” I snapped at her.
Blowing Cara off for Olivia was a bit harsh, but I was pretty irked that she hadn’t returned a single one of my calls. Not even a text. She just stomped off to the concert and then came in this morning thinking that I owed her all my attention.
“What happened, Olivia? I thought you guys were going out on Saturday.”
“V!” Cara hissed again, this time with a little more attitude. I ignored her.
“He stood me up,” Olivia said incredulously. “Me!”
I could have guessed he would, considering that he was probably too busy writing blogs about how much I suck. Still, I gasped in fake surprise. “How could anyone ever want to stand up you?”
As always, Olivia was much too involved in her self to pick up on my sarcasm. “I know!” she said. “Yeah, he’s a famous singer and all, but he’s not that famous.”
“I’m sorry, Olivia. I was really pulling for you guys.” I really was too. If Olivia and Kyle hooked up, I might have been free of them both.
“VALERIE JENSEN!” Cara exploded. “You quit ignoring me this instant! I’m sorry, okay? You know I have an obsession! I couldn’t help it!”
I forgot all about Olivia. “Not an excuse!” I yelled back at Cara. “You’re not allowed to blow off the best friend for the boyfriend, ever. That’s rule number one. And you should know because you’re the one who made it!”
Cara and I stared each other down until she relented her anger. Since we fight as much as we get along, we both knew the moment I’d forgiven her. “If you remember correctly,” she teased when it was safe to do so again, “the rule I made was that you were never allowed to blow off the best friend for the boyfriend. It had nothing to do with me.”
“Only because you didn’t have a boyfriend at the time.”
“So? Technically, I didn’t break any rules. You’re not allowed to be mad at me.”
“Fine, but from now on, rule number one applies to you too, and since your boyfriend is also your life-long obsession, it goes double.”
“Never again, I promise.”
I just looked at her.
“I swear on my life. You are allowed to break me up with Shane if it happens again.”
“Don’t think I won’t,” I warned, but I was laughing now.
The bell rang, freeing us from homeroom but sending us toward a class that we wouldn’t be able to talk in. Cara looked at me in total panic and said, “Talk fast and walk slow.”
“Ok, so where do you want me to start?”
Cara opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Stephanie and Lacy and a few of the other cheerleaders saw me. “Hey, Val,” Lacy called. She and Stephanie were both wearing their virgin necklaces. They’d managed to coordinate their outfits to match them.
Cara was startled by Lacy’s greeting, but went into full shock when I fell into conversation with her. “Hi guys,” I said. “How was Ruby’s?”
“Oh, you should have come! Devon paid Jeff five bucks to try and get the waitress’s phone number, and she was like forty. It was hilarious.”
“Next time,” I said echoing the words Isaac had said before.
“Definitely,” Stephanie agreed. “So how did the rest of the festival go? Did you sell any more after we left?”
“Actually, I sold out.”
“You sold out?” Cara gasped at the same time Stephanie said, “Wow that’s great!”
“Apparently Kyle’s song made people want them,” I said in response to both of them.
We reached the end of the hallway then and Stephanie and Lacy had to head the opposite direction. Cara waited until they were out of earshot and then grabbed my shirtsleeve. “What was that about?”
“Oh, by the way, I think I might be an A-lister now.”
“Not possible,” Cara argued.
“Why not? It’s not like I was a geek or anything. I was already semi-popular.”
“Yeah, but you weren’t on the A-list. Nobody is just adopted into Stephanie DeWitt’s click. You have to be born into it.”
I tried not to take too much offense at Cara’s comments, but I still sounded defensive as I said, “Well, I was inducted. I don’t even think it had anything to do with the song and the news reports, because they talked to me before the show. Isaac even ditched the concert to keep me company.”
“He didn’t!”
“Yup. Stayed with me through the entire show and then offered to buy me a shake at Ruby’s after.”
“V! That’s basically a date! Wait, Isaac Warren asked you out and you didn’t go?”
“I would have. Except somebody never came back to the booth after the concert, so I had to stay.”
“I’m the worst best friend ever,” Cara chided herself as she plopped into her seat.
“You couldn’t have known,” I said sympathetically. “Still, if it had been anyone besides Shane…”
“So you forgive me?” Cara asked.
I pretended to think about it. “I forgive you.”
Class started then and Cara and I didn’t get the chance to talk again all day. Well, not the way we wanted to anyway because there were always people around us. The moment school was over we decided that we needed to go out somewhere where we could have one giant, uninterrupted gossip fest.
We started out window-shopping in downtown Huntington Beach. After standing in the doorway of a store for so long that we were asked to leave, because we were too wrapped up in our conversation to notice we were in the way, we ended up just sitting on the nearest bench.
Cara was good about ignoring the constant texts she was getting from Shane. I had to give her some credit because Shane is to her what Tom Cruise is to my mom, and I could tell it was killing her not to respond.
Finally, she’d ignored the texts long enough that he called. She looked at me with her big, desperate, puppy dog eyes, and I gave in. “Oh, fine. Answer it. I’ll go in search of some Coke. My voice is dry from all the talking anyway.”
“Diet for me,” she called out to me.
Even though I knew Shane was her boyfriend now, it still sounded weird to hear her saying, “Sorry baby, I’m just hanging with my girl, V,” as I walked away.
When I got back I was surprised to find her already off the phone. “Wow, I thought I’d have to listen to ten minutes of ‘No, I love you more,’ before you hung up,” I teased. Then I noticed her guilty look. “You didn’t,” I accused, already guessing what she was up to.
“I had to invite him. He was already almost here. He drove all the way down from L.A. hoping to take me to dinner.”
“Fine.” I sighed. “Ditch me. Again.”
“No, V. Just come with us.”
“I am not going to sit around and be the third wheel of a two day old couple. Gross.”
“We won’t be like that, I promise.”
“Yes, you will.”
“V,” she whined. “You have to. I want to y
ou meet him.”
“I met him, remember?”
“For like two seconds. You were too busy flirting with Kyle then to even notice him. He’s such a sweet guy V. You’ll love him. He’s not like a rock star at all.”
“He is a rock star.”
“I know how you feel about rock stars, Val, and about me dating them.”
“Because I know how you get around them. You have some sort of weird chemical reaction that stops your brain from having any logical thoughts at all. You go insane. You can’t be trusted to see them for the hounds that they always are.”
“Look,” Cara said in a huff. “I knew we would have to have this conversation at least once, but I don’t want to keep having it. That’s why you have to stay and have dinner with us. You’re right, I’m completely biased, but I know this time, Val. I know. Shane may be a rock star, but he’s not like a rock star. I know you’ll never take my word for it, so you have to see it for yourself. He’s a really good guy.”
She had a point there. I did need to get to know him a little, so that I could see for myself just how big of a scumbag he could be, and hopefully stop, or at least lessen, the inevitable heartbreak for Cara. “All right, but if you guys get all new-couple-shmoopy-kissy-face on me I am so out of here.”
“I will be on my best behavior. I swear.”
I had ten more minutes of best friend time, and then Shane showed up.
With Kyle.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my favorite pair of legs. Isn’t this a surprise?”
Obviously he was being sarcastic, so I replied, “Actually, it is,” and glared as evilly at Cara as I could.
“Val,” she whispered. “I swear I didn’t know.”
If it weren’t for the fact that Cara was one hundred percent serious, without a hint of defiance, amusement or sarcasm in her voice, I’d have killed her. The sympathy she displayed—which she is barely ever capable of—made it impossible to not believe her. I couldn’t be mad at her.
I was still not a very happy camper. “I’ll call you later,” I grumbled, and for once Cara didn’t argue.
A hand shot out in front of me, blocking the path I was about to take. “Going somewhere?” Kyle asked.
“What do you think?”
“You are not about to leave me here alone with them.” Kyle jerked his thumb at Cara and Shane, who were kissing their sweet hellos in an extremely new-couple-shmoopy-kissy-face kind of way. “I had to hang with them all night Saturday because you stood me up. You owe me now.”
“I didn’t stand anyone up. Your plans were with Olivia Saturday night.”
“Who?”
“The girl you asked out? Tall fake blonde from my school,” I prompted. “Biggest skank in Orange County?”
Recognition dawned in his eyes. “Oh, yeah,” he said with a bit of a grimace. “Oops.” He felt bad for his lapse in memory for half a second. Then he shrugged it off and shook his head at me. “Whatever. You knew I had big plans for you Saturday night.”
“You mean with me?”
Kyle tried to swallow back a smile. “Right.”
I didn’t even bother to respond. I pushed him out of my way, but I only got two steps before he jumped in my path again. “Lighten up, Legs.” He laughed. “I’m just messing with you.”
“You wrote an entire blog about how much I suck!”
“You do suck,” he argued. “You said you would come watch me sing.”
“I lied so that you would go away.”
“Hence the blog.”
“Okay, fine. You’re right. I suck. So, then why are you here?”
Kyle shrugged. “Thrill of the chase?”
“Does that mean that if I give in right now and agree to a date you’ll leave me alone in the future?”
“It’s quite possible,” Kyle mused. “That’s usually what happens.”
I would not have given in to this except that Kyle was completely serious, and the odds were, once I stopped being difficult he’d lose interest fast. “Fine. You win. I’ll stay. What do you want to do?” Kyle started to smile so I quickly added, “Anything besides me.”
And that’s how I ended up on a date with Kyle Hamilton.
An hour later I was failing to eat my lunch in a fairly deserted Mexican restaurant as I watched Shane and Cara giggle and whisper sweet nothings to each other. It was downright nauseating.
The only thing surprising about the situation was the fact that Cara was right about Shane. If I didn’t already know that Shane was in a band, I never would have believed it. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and Cara had him wrapped around her finger. He was already too whipped to be, well, like Kyle.
After watching Cara and Shane kiss each other again, Kyle finally had enough of my silence. “You’re not much for words today, Legs,” he said, dropping his arm over my shoulder.
I shrugged out from under him. “I didn’t realize you were interested in talking.”
“That depends on whether the conversation is stimulating or not.”
“And what do you consider stimulating conversation?”
“Well pretty much anything that’s ever come out of your mouth has stimulated me on multiple levels.”
He put his arm around me again, and again I shook it off. “Why is everything always sexual with you?”
“It’s not. For instance, that—” he pointed at Cara and Shane “—is doing nothing for me. Lets ditch ‘em.”
His offer was a total catch-22. The idea of getting away from the lovebirds was more than appealing, but was it worth having to be alone with Kyle?
“She won’t even notice,” Kyle said, misunderstanding my hesitancy.
I looked at Cara again and decided to risk it. I was probably making a huge mistake, but I felt a little better when Kyle was genuinely surprised that I got up. “Seriously?” he asked when I slung my purse over my shoulder.
“Did you want to stay?”
Kyle scrambled quickly out of the booth. “No. I just didn’t think you’d have the guts to leave your sidekick.”
“Well she’s not being much use to me right now, is she?”
Kyle threw his hands up defensively. “Hey, I’m not complaining.”
Kyle held the door open for me as we left the restaurant. He gave me a questioning look as I walked through it, and I laughed. “You forgot the big, sweeping bow.”
“You’re not swooning then?” he asked, hamming up his disappointment.
“Not even on the inside.”
We started wandering down the street and gravitated toward the beach. It was a little chilly, but we decided to brave it and walk the length of the quiet pier anyway. I tucked my hands into my jacket pockets, and fell into a comfortable silence.
“So, Virgin Val,” Kyle said after a few moments. He sounded as relaxed as I felt. “What does make you swoon?”
I smiled. “That is information a guy is supposed to figure out on his own.”
“Just like a woman.” Kyle sighed. “Then give me something I don’t have to figure out.”
“Okay. Um, well, I play volleyball.”
“Beach or regular?”
“Both.”
“Very hot. That explains the legs.”
I rolled my eyes and moved the conversation along. “I also like to read and draw. I work in a jewelry store in the mall, I’m in student government, and I spend most of my free time studying. I’m hoping I’ll be accepted to Stanford University. My guidance counselor says he thinks I have a good shot.”
“And that explains the virgin status. Mystery solved.”
“Oh, shut up.”
“I’m just kidding. I totally dig the smart girl thing. Brains are hot.”
“What about you? Do you ever think about going back to school?”
Kyle shrugged. “Not really. I already get to do what I love, so I don’t see the point in a college degree.”
“But what about high school? It doesn’t bother you that you dropped out?”
&n
bsp; “Can you keep a secret?” Kyle asked giving me a sly look. When I nodded he grinned. “I didn’t drop out. When the band got the record deal I transferred to an online high school so I could finish my education while I traveled. I’ve even taken a few random college courses in things like accounting and basic entertainment law—stuff that’s helped me keep up with the business end of my industry.”
I stopped walking to stare at Kyle in astonishment. He laughed at my shock then linked his arm through mine and started pulling me forward. “Ignorance is dangerous in my line of work,” he explained.
“Then why do you tell people you’re a high school dropout? Is it really that important to have the bad boy, rebel, rock star image?”
Kyle sighed. “The image is almost as important as the talent, sadly. When ‘Broken Passion’ made the radio, and it looked like Tralse had a real shot at becoming successful, my managers suggested the dropout thing. They made me break up with my girlfriend too.”
“Really?”
Kyle shrugged like it was no big deal.
“That’s appalling.”
“That’s fame. Gotta be sexy. Three point six GPA and faithful devoted boyfriend don’t exactly spell sexy rock star.”
“Well, that explains the manwhore status.” I was only half teasing.
“There are worse roles to have to play, Virgin Val. Besides, it’s not like I’m doing anything wrong. Beautiful girls throw themselves at me every day. They want it. They beg for it. We both get to have some fun, nobody gets hurt, and I sell more records. It’s a win-win.”
I tried to look at it from his perspective. Honestly, how was a guy supposed to resist that kind of temptation when that was what people expected of him anyway?
“If you’re okay with living that kind of lifestyle, then that’s your prerogative,” I said. “I understand, I guess, I just don’t find it appealing. And I definitely don’t have any desire to be the next notch on your bedpost.”
“Who says that’s all you’d be?”
“Oh, I don’t know. The eighty thousand girls who’ve come before me?”
Kyle chuckled. “Eighty thousand?”
“Give or take a few.” I managed a straight face for a whole three seconds and then we both laughed.
