The Tomboy & The Movie Star: A Sweet YA Romance (Jackson High Series Book 3)

by M. L. Collins

  So yeah, no matter how bad I was at goalie, my parents were going to love watching me play.

  Since we didn’t have shop class today, Bernie and I met in the cafeteria to eat lunch while we discussed how we’d approach studying for the competition. As soon as we stepped inside, Ro and Shani called across the large noisy room to me while Lacey waved Bernie over, but we shrugged them off and sat across from each other at an empty table in the back corner.

  “Before we get started”—Bernie dumped her lunch bag out on the table in front of her—“I want to thank you for agreeing to be on my team.”

  “I’ve only been here at Jackson for two weeks, and I want to beat Todd. Even more, I want you to beat Todd.” I dumped my lunch onto the table, and then reached across, raking her pile into mine before mixing them together. “I just hope I don’t lose it for you. I will work my butt off over the next two weeks to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  “I’m going to owe you big.” Her gaze caught on our food pile. “Wh-what are you doing?”

  “It’s like a picnic,” I said. “We can count this as a first date.”

  “No, we can’t.” She shook her head, flicked her eyes toward me before picking her sandwich out from the pile. “Teenagers don’t even go on ‘dates’ anymore.”

  “Or not.” I reached out, snagging my double chocolate Pop-tarts. “Why don’t you fill me in on how the competition works?”

  “Sure. It’s an all-day event divided into two sections. The morning session is the Workstation Challenge which accounts for sixty percent of our team’s score. It’s three hours of testing our knowledge of tools, measuring instruments, vehicle components, and job interview skills.”

  I placed the second Pop-tart down and moved on to my bag of kettle chips. “Pretty sure I can ace the job interview.”

  “Agreed. You’re very outgoing and likable. And weirdly persuasive.” Her gaze avoided mine.

  “Are you saying you like me? As in like me-like me?” Part of me wanted to know and part of me was just teasing. But mostly I wanted to know.

  “Moving on… The afternoon session is three hours of “hands on” challenge. Each team must diagnose and repair pre-staged problems under the car’s hood.” She took a chip when I offered her the bag, but instead of eating it, she slid it inside her ham sandwich and then took a bite. “The on-car session is timed and worth forty percent of our score.”

  “Timed. Worth forty percent. Got it.” Darn, that ham and potato chip sandwich looked good. “Are you going to eat your whole sandwich?”

  She shrugged, sliding over the plastic sandwich bag with the other half. “The good news is there are things we can focus on to gain points so we don’t have to be perfect.”

  “Like?” I took a bite of the ham with potato chips and let me say it was as good as it looked. I hadn’t had bread in four years and I couldn’t get enough of this sweet, sweet miracle.

  “Lots of teams lose points for not documenting everything onto the RO as they go. Time goes fast and there’s never time to fill it out at the end.”

  “What’s an ‘RO’?”

  “Repair order. If we forget to list a repair part on the RO—no points.”

  “That won’t be us,” I said. “I’m good with details and remembering things, so I can definitely help there.”

  “We can also score points by properly referencing the manuals during diagnostics. Some teams get flustered or cocky and skip steps.”

  “I’m all for proper referencing.” I leaned forward, catching her eyes. “So, why can’t we count this as a first date?”

  “Because”—she blinked her green streaked eyes and her cheeks went pink—“um, because, you never asked me out.”

  “You’re right. That’s part of the process, isn’t it? So it’s a practice date while I gather my courage to ask you out.” I opened the bag with my sandwich, handing half to Bernie. “You’ve got to try this. It’s amazing.”

  She took a tentative bite and chewed, looked at the sandwich and then back at me as she swallowed.

  “Well?”

  “It’s a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

  “Right? Darn good.”

  “I hope you won’t take this the wrong way…but sometimes you seem a lot like an alien newly landed on earth.”

  “No offense taken.” I grinned at her because, honestly, that was exactly how I felt navigating high school. And carbs. “Are you going to eat that fruit roll up?”

  She handed it across carefully like you’d feed a hungry snake.

  “So that’s about it. We’ve got two weeks. There are seven workstations, so we can cover one per day. That gives us a week to go over wiring diagrams and using measuring tools and diagnostics.” She bit her lower lip before releasing a breath. “If you bailed now, I wouldn’t blame you.”

  “Nope, I’m still in. We’ve got a good plan of attack. I’m busy tonight, but wide open from tomorrow night on.” My mom and I had agreed to work on selecting this year’s recipients for our ABG Foundation tonight. (I’d named my foundation for my parents, April and Brock, to honor them, but also so I could give back without attracting attention.) It was time-sensitive, so it couldn’t be pushed back. “Does seven-thirty work for you?”

  “Tomorrow at seven-thirty?” She nodded and sucked in a loud breath. “Yes. That works.”

  “Hey, what’s the worst that can happen?” I smiled into her worried eyes.

  “The worst? I lose to Todd, never get the job that should have been mine, don’t get a scholarship for tech school which means I’ll have to find a job until I save up enough money. Tech school isn’t cheap and that’s not even including purchasing a set of professional tools.” She shoved a loose curl of sun-streaked brown hair from her face and gathered up the remnants of her lunch, dropping them back into her brown bag. “Other than that, nothing.”

  “Okay. That’s a lot.” I felt like an idiot that I hadn’t understood that this wasn’t just about some trophy. It wasn’t really about Todd either. It was about fighting for what was right and for her future. “So we’ll do everything in our power to win. That’s all there is to it.”

  “You sound so confident and positive,” she said.

  “I’ve attempted things in my life people warned me were impossible. Lots of people.” I reached across the table and took her hand in mine.

  “What did you do?” she whispered, her gaze locked onto our joined hands.

  “I did it anyway.” I grinned. “I worked hard and ignored the people who said I couldn’t.”

  If I had a dollar for every time someone warned me or my parents how many actors try to make it in Hollywood only to fail—well…I’d be a millionaire. Instead, I was a millionaire movie star because I didn’t listen to all the naysayers.

  “Yeah, but—”

  I squeezed her hand gently to stop her. “Hey, have you forgotten the immortal words of Grandma Gigi? ‘You’ve got to live through an experience in order to learn life’s greatest lessons.’”

  “Right,” she said, pulling her hand away. “But I already lived through this once.”

  “Not with me as your partner, you haven’t.” I gave her a wink. “Hey, are you going to eat that Twinkie?”

  She laughed and fished out the Twinkie for me. “Where are you putting it all?”

  “I’ll burn it all off in the lacrosse game today. Did I tell you I’m goalie?” I took a bite of the Twinkie, loving every cream-filled bite. “I’ve never played goalie before, so it might be ugly, but it’ll be fun. You should come to the game.”

  “Lacey’s going to ‘ooh’ and ‘ah’ over Grady, so I might tag along.”

  “Great. Feel free to ‘ooh’ and ‘ah’ over me all you want. Although the way I play it might be more of a ‘boo’ and ‘ow’.”

  11

  Not a Date

  Bernie

  After school that afternoon, Lacey and I sat in the bleachers eating popcorn and watching our Jackson Jackalopes take on the Travis Hi
gh Tornados. We sat up high and got caught up on each other’s lives during the pre-game warm ups.

  Lacey’s update was easy since now that she and Grady were officially a couple, her life was even more sunshine, rainbows, and puppies than usual.

  “Now fill me in on your life.” Lacey turned all her attention to me. “You didn’t call me, so I’m dying to know what happened with work. Did you get the inspection job?”

  “Nope.” I clenched my jaw, still feeling the anger and frustration over the situation. “The manager gave it to Todd.”

  “What? No.” Lacey growled her frustration for me. “Now can we TP his house?”

  “Ha! If I thought it would do any good… Looks like you were right about having to prove myself.” I swallowed down the bitter unfairness of it. “So I entered the auto tech competition.”

  “Yes!” Lacey slapped her hands on her thighs. “Who did you get to partner with you? Steve? Joey?”

  “Grant.”

  “Awesome. Is he better than Steve and Joey?”

  “Not exactly. He’s braver than Steve and Joey,” I said.

  “Ah, so he was the only guy in class willing to go against Todd? Good for Grant.” Lacey’s gaze moved over to Grant on the field and she gave him a thumb’s up even though he wasn’t looking. “I like this guy more every day. So, this is great.”

  “That’s the good news…” I glanced at Lacey and away. “The bad news is the only way Lolli would agree to sign my permission slip was if I agreed to enter the Miss Armadillo Pageant. And actually try.”

  Lacey’s head spun my way quicker than a rattlesnake strikes. “You’re kidding!”

  “I wish I was,” I said. “Stop smiling, Lace. This is so not funny.”

  “It’s sort of funny.” She smothered a giggle but her lips were wobbling. “I can’t help you with the tech competition, but I can totally help you with the pageant.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that. I mean, dresses, makeup, high heels and me do not compute. I love my grandma, but her obsession with this Miss Armadillo family tradition is unhealthy and bordering on unhinged.”

  “I’m sorry she’s forcing it on you.” Lacey pulled her planner from her purse and penciled my “pageant” training into her schedule. “I can come by your house in the evenings and we can spend time getting you prepared.”

  “Prepared? That sounds awful.”

  “Stop being a baby.” Lacey poked my arm before grinning. “I’ll be over after dinner tonight for our first session. It’ll be fun.”

  I rolled my eyes before turning back to the field just as the game was ready to start.

  It turned out, Grant was sadly right about his performance as goalie. As the game progressed, the boos and groans over every goal that slid past Grant grew louder.

  “Oh, man,” Lacey said. “To be fair, I don’t know much about lacrosse, but it looks like Grant is having a hard time.”

  “He needs to box out better. And he isn’t swiveling his head fast enough.” It was a fact that I’d played goalie more times than I could count when my brothers and their friends were short enough players. Everyone always wanted to shoot on the goal, so I was always stuck being goalie. As a matter of pride, I worked at it and became darn good. Not many guys could get a ball past me. “The Tornados found his weak side in the second quarter and they’re attacking it. If it weren’t for Grady, Dax, and TJ controlling the ball so well, this would be very, very ugly.”

  “Grady is good, isn’t he?” Lacey sighed.

  “He and Dax are good, but TJ’s got the best stick,” I said, keeping my gaze glued to the breakaway play on the field. “Look at him change hands to avoid the defenders. Oh wow, did you see that?”

  “Did TJ just shoot that goal from behind his back?” Lacey asked with the appropriate amount of awe in her voice, even for someone who didn’t totally understand the game.

  “Yep.” I watched Grady and TJ leave the field as Josh came on for the face-off. Grady was the better face-off man, but he needed a rest. Which meant, I hoped Grant was ready. He shifted from foot-to-foot in front of the goal, like he knew what was coming his way. Sure enough, the Tornados won the face-off and proceeded to run the ball down field, behind the goal, and shoot and score on Grant’s weak side. “Oh, boy.”

  The Jackalopes lost 21-9.

  Lacey pulled me down to the sidelines so she could talk to Grady. Weirdly, Grady wasn’t upset about the loss at all. He had his arm around Grant’s shoulders and was grinning ear-to-ear. Grant, on the other hand, wasn’t grinning. He was apologizing to Grady and whatever other teammate was nearby.

  “I’m sorry about that.” He tugged his helmet off and ran a frustrated hand through his sweat-matted blond hair, making it stick up like a mad scientist. “That loss was all me. I’ll get better. I promise.”

  “Hey, the opponent has to get past nine other guys to get to you,” Grady said. “The blame isn’t all yours.”

  “Mostly mine.” Grant’s lips compressed into a firm line and his jaw clenched. Obviously, he took losing to heart.

  Lacey and Grady wandered off. Dax and TJ each slapped Grant on the back in solidarity before heading inside. There were a few guys on the team who sent Grant frustrated glances. Chad was outright rude with his glare and his passive-aggressive mumbling, “Way to lose the game nerd-nozzle” under his breath as he walked away, but Chad couldn’t play either, so he had some nerve being all judgy McJudge-face.

  Grant let out a heavy breath as he focused his gaze on me. “Well, that went about how I thought it would. Although, it came at me faster than I expected, you know?”

  “I know.” I’d faced down ninety-mile-an-hour shots many times before.

  “It would have been fun to win, but mostly, I feel bad for letting the team down.” He frowned. “I’ve been on a team of sorts before—not a sports team—but, you know, projects that take group effort. I’ve always pulled my weight. Always. This time, not so much, and I don’t like it.”

  “Remember at lunch when I said I would owe you real big for helping me?” I glanced at him as he settled at my side as we walked off the side-lines toward the parking lot. “I can help you with playing the goalie position.”

  “I don’t want to cut into our study time.” Grant shook his head. “There’s no way I want to hurt our chances of winning the auto competition.”

  “It won’t. It’s not that you’re not athletic.” I glanced away, ignoring the heat sneaking into my cheeks. Yeah, I’d watched him practically the whole game. I’d had a hard time pulling my gaze off him even for some of Grady’s or TJ’s stellar plays. “I think you only need a bit of coaching on how to play the position. And more time in front of the goal while someone’s shooting on you. Come over to my house at seven instead of seven-thirty tomorrow and we’ll fit in some practice first.”

  “I’d appreciate it, but if it ends up cutting into our competition prep, then we stop. Deal?”

  “Deal.” I was touched that he was putting my tech competition before his desire to win.

  “And just throwing this out there…if you wanted to extend me a dinner invitation a few evenings—considering the fact that I’ll be at your house for hours and hours for the next two weeks”—he gave me a side-eyed innocent look—“I wouldn’t turn you down.”

  “You wouldn’t, huh?” I turned my face forward, but couldn’t stop my lips from sliding into a grin. “I’ll check with my grandma Lolli, but I’m pretty sure that could be arranged.”

  “Dinner, sports, and car talk. Sounds like a date…”

  “Still not a date.” I knew he was joking. He had to be, didn’t he? Either way, it was smart to keep it simple. We were two friends helping each other. It was smart to draw that line. What would be stupid would be thinking crazy things about Grant…and me.

  “What about a dress rehearsal for a date?”

  “Still no.” But there went the stupid butterflies flitting through my chest and through my veins.

  12

 
I’ll Tell You, But You Can’t Laugh

  Grant

  Friday, the next day at school

  Walking into the cafeteria was one of my favorite things. It had been over ten years since I could walk into a crowded space and not be recognized. I loved my fans—but I was savoring every minute of being a normal teen.

  I found Bernie sitting at “our” table in the far back corner. Lacey sat next to her and they both stared at Lacey’s phone. Lacey looked enthusiastic (normal from the little I’d known her) but the look on Bernie’s face could only be described as…horrified.

  “Everything okay, Bernie?” I slid onto the bench opposite her.

  “Everything is fine,” Lacey responded. Swiping her finger across her phone’s screen. “What about this one?”

  “Nope.”

  Swipe. “This one?”

  “Nope.”

  Swipe. Sigh. “This one?”

  “No way.”

  “What’s going on?” I asked, my gaze moving back and forth between the girls before settling on Bernie.

  “Torture,” Bernie said. “Maybe even grandchild abuse.”

  “Come again?” I arched an eyebrow but Lacey only snickered and bumped her shoulder against Bernie’s.

  “Oh, stop. You’re such a baby.” Lacey rolled her eyes.

  “It’s a dress.” Bernie shot Lacey a narrow-eyed glance. “With ruffles.”

  “It’s adorable is what it is,” Lacey said, glancing back at the phone with a happy smile.

  “Sure it is. On you. Or any other girl,” Bernie grumbled. “Not on me.”

  “A dress? What’s it for?” I leaned forward trying to get a look at the horrible, ruffled dress assaulting Bernie’s dignity.

  Bernie huffed out a breath. “I’ll tell you, but you can’t laugh.”