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

by M. L. Collins

  And finally… Thank you for being you, Bernie. Having you as my daughter is one of the greatest joys of my life. Enjoy your life. Don’t rush it, baby girl. I will be waiting.

  All my love, always,

  Mama

  Oh, my soul had needed this more than I’d known. I don’t know how long I sat there with tears falling down my cheeks and my heart breaking for Mama…and me…and Lolli. Oh, my poor grandma Lolli.

  Was Lolli feeling as lost as I felt right now? I’d spent so many years trying to be strong so no one had to worry about me—but I’d failed to see what was right in front of me. That Grandma Lolli was hurting. Was her obsession about the pageant simply her way to stay connected to Mama? The only way she knew to reach out to me?

  I dried my face, stored Mama’s letter safely in the glove compartment and went in the house to find Grandma Lolli.

  “Lolli, can we talk?”

  My grandma went still for a moment, then set down her cup of tea with a sigh.

  “You’re pulling out of the pageant,” she said.

  “No, I—”

  “I understand, Bernie. I’ve been thinking it over, and it was wrong of me to force you to do it. I’m sorry, sweetie.”

  “I agree. It was wrong of you to force me. But I don’t want to pull out. Actually, I came to ask you for help.”

  “What? Help?” Lolli sat up in her wingback chair. “You need my help?’

  “Big time. My dress is all wrong. And my interview outfit, too. I could really use your help. Would you…go shopping with me?”

  Grandma Lolli’s face lit up with a wide, wobbly smile. “I’d love to. If you’re free tomorrow, we can head into the city. There are some adorable boutiques your mama and I used to love.”

  “Perfect.”

  22

  She Doesn’t Know She’s Dating a Movie Star?

  Grant

  “King! You’re finally back!” Frank, my agent, sat at the top of the conference table. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

  What did I have to say? I looked around the table at my team—the team my parents and I had gathered together and had been carefully guiding my career for years and guilt twisted my stomach. Yeah, I owed them an explanation.

  “First off, I apologize. I try not to make your jobs harder and definitely try not to act like a prima donna… But it looks like I went and did it anyway.” I ran a hand around the back of my neck. “I was just trying to live a normal life for the first time ever. Obviously, I didn’t think it through. It was selfish of me to think I could have my career and a taste of normalcy too. I’m truly sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was attract bad press.

  “Now that the tabloids are in a frenzy over this story, you all know I’ve been a student at Jackson High School for the past three weeks. I played goalie, very badly. I entered an auto shop competition, and I lost that also. Stu, I’m sorry to say I ate junk food the whole time. Not one vegetable in three weeks. I forgot how good sugar and carbs taste.” My gaze landed on Alison who wore a knowing smile. “Alison…”

  “I already know.” She lifted her hand in the air with a stop motion. “You didn’t do a single work out. I figured it out by the third day, but I was enjoying your creativity. Except the day I worried someone might have a heart attack. Some of those workouts were pretty hilarious and a few were even impressive.”

  Right. Dax and TJ were better athletes than I was.

  “It’s not that I’m not grateful for everything all of you do for me. I am. In fact, I thank God every day that I have you guys on my team.” I looked down at my shoes, thinking of just the right words to express what I’d been trying to do. “I just wanted to be a normal kid. That’s all.”

  When I looked back up, I didn’t see the expressions of frustration and anger that I was expecting. In fact, the closer I looked the more I realized everyone was pretty darn happy.

  “Why don’t you guys seem mad at me?”

  “Maybe because you’re one of the nicest, least ego-fueled actors we work with. Some actors trash hotel rooms, crash million dollar sports cars, or run up hundreds of thousands in gambling debts when they need a break.” Frank leaned back in his chair, his arms behind his head with his elbows splayed out to the side and grinned. “You? You sign up for high school classes, join the varsity lacrosse team, and enter a statewide competition. Every one of us would be proud to have you as our own son.”

  “He’s right.” Donna nodded. “But we’re also not mad because of all the free publicity.”

  “What publicity?”

  “I guess you haven’t been following the papers for the last three weeks,” Frank said.

  “Other than a few tabloid rumors, but those are always crazy.” I shrugged. “I wanted four King-free weeks. I’ve been busy with teenager stuff. Why? What did I miss?”

  “Only the biggest free publicity campaign that every director and movie studio dreams of.” Donna opened her laptop, brought up a few pages and passed the computer down to me.

  I sat at the other end of the table to look.

  “It started with the first ‘Where’s King?’ headline in The Tattler. Other tabloids jumped in. Then your fan club started the “Where in the world is King?” contest and it exploded from there. Radio stations, Entertainment Tonight, and Variety all ran stories. It’s gone global.”

  “That would explain some of the gossip going around school.”

  “The studio wanted to capitalize on it, so they brought Talia in on it. A few interviews of your worried girlfriend with close-ups of her beautiful tear-filled brown eyes really ratcheted up the air time we got.”

  “Wait, wait. Talia did an interview saying she was my girlfriend?”

  “She was great. We figured you wouldn’t mind since you two are such great friends. She’s got a movie coming out next month, so the publicity helped her too.”

  I sat back and closed my eyes wondering how long that would take to get to Bernie.

  “What’s wrong, King? We thought you’d love the publicity—especially since you didn’t have to do anything.”

  “What’s wrong is I sort of have a real girlfriend.” Have. Had. It was yet to be determined as I hadn’t talked to Bernie yet. I had called and texted her more than a few times since Saturday with no response. Today was Monday and I felt like I was going to lose it. If I didn’t hear from her today, I’d call Grady to make sure everything was okay.

  “Congratulations!” Alison said.

  “Well, it isn’t official. Yet. I hadn’t asked her, but we’d been on three dates and spent the past three weeks together. I was going to ask her. After I told her who I was.”

  “What? She doesn’t know she’s dating Kingsly Grant, the movie star?”

  “She didn’t. She found out on Saturday.”

  “And now she might think you’re dating Talia? Oh, boy.” Donna bit her lip. “That’s not good. The poor girl.”

  “She’ll think you’re a liar and a two-timing cheating movie star,” Stu said, adding to the twenty pound weight on my chest. “Like you were just playing with her.”

  “I know. She was already mad when she found out I was King.”

  “What kind of girl would be mad to find out the guy she’s dating is a world-famous actor?”

  “My kind of girl,” I said. I pulled out my phone and brought up the video clip of the first time I’d seen Bernie. The one where the reporter was interviewing her in shop class. “You guys have actually seen her.”

  I hit play and turned my phone around for them to watch.

  “So, I guess you’re excited about the news.” The reporter shifted the microphone back in front of Bernie.

  “What news?” Bernie brushed a loose curl of chestnut hair from her cheek, leaving a streak of grease behind. “If you’re about to tell me the school board is finally going to fund more vocational training in schools, then yes. Very excited.”

  “Oh, no. I was referring to the news about Kingsly Grant.” Ms. Reed flashed Bernie
a wide smile.

  “Who’s Kingsly Grant?”

  “Uh… He’s the hottest young actor in Hollywood right now.”

  “Oh, right. I think my friend Lacey made me go see one of his movies,” Bernie said, not looking very excited about me or my movie.

  The reporter frowned but plowed on. “Is it exciting to think he may choose your school to film his next movie?”

  “Exciting?” Bernie shrugged, her gaze shifting to the undercarriage of the car. I grinned, now that I knew she really would rather be under her car working than talking about some movie star. “Why? Pretty sure he puts his perfectly faded, over-priced designer jeans on the same as everyone else.”

  The clip ended and everyone sat back, understanding my problem.

  “Trust me when I say, Bernie is the last girl who would be impressed by a celebrity.”

  “Your Bernie is kick-ass,” Donna said. “I thought so the first time I saw that clip.”

  “I’m sorry about the Talia thing, King.” Frank looked heartsick over it. “I’d be happy to talk with her and explain, if you think that would help.”

  “Thanks. I’ll let you know.” I pushed from the table, deciding to ask my mom what she thought. I’d call her when I got home since she was still in Texas packing up the rental house. Once the paparazzi had descended on the tech competition, mom had driven me straight to the airport. Heading back to L.A. was the only way to get the paparazzi to head out too. “I’ll catch you all later.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” This came from Stu. “Let’s talk food before you go. You do have a movie to film soon.”

  “Right.” I grinned and patted my belly. “I’m back on the Stu train as of yesterday.”

  Alison pointed a finger to her chest. “And…?”

  “And we’re back to our regular workout schedule.”

  “Regular?” She lifted an eyebrow. “You’ll need two-a-days for a while.”

  “Already on my schedule. It was totally worth it, by the way.”

  “We know, King.” Frank, Donna, Alison, and Stu all smiled at me. “You deserved that time. We’re happy for you.”

  It took me an hour and a half to drive home through L.A.’s heavy traffic, but I listened to the Motown playlist I’d downloaded onto my phone and thought about something from the auto tech competition that had been bugging me. I was still trying to figure out how we lost.

  Something had happened at the end. I remembered Bernie seemed preoccupied. I recalled the last RO I had run to the parts counter. I’d been distracted at the time watching the paparazzi file in with dread. As soon as I focused my mind on the repair order in my hand, I saw it in my mind. The 3-Cs were listed, but she hadn’t filled them in. And like she’d told me the 3-Cs were worth most of the points. There was no way she forgot them. No way.

  So the question was… Why would Bernie throw the competition?

  After I’d eaten a chicken Caesar salad big enough to satiate a Hobbit, I settled onto my patio overlooking the city and called Mom.

  “Mom, I need your advice.” I cut right to the chase. “Bernie won’t respond to my texts or calls. I need to talk to her.”

  “I’m sure you do. But maybe think about what she needs,” Mom said.

  “An apology.”

  “Yes, but she needs a little time first. Heck, Grant, she thought she was dating some sweet nerd and in the middle of her worst moment—she found out you weren’t who she thought you were.”

  “I know. I know. I didn’t mean for anything to work out that way. And that’s not even the worst. Frank and Donna told me they turned my being missing into a big PR deal and even brought in Talia as the worried girlfriend.”

  “Oh, poor Bernie. I can’t imagine how she’ll feel if she hears that.”

  And she would. Some kid like Todd or some mean girl would be sure to tell her.

  “I didn’t mean to hurt her. I really like her, Mom.”

  “I picked up on that.” I heard the smile in my mom’s voice. “The other thing to think about is how it feels to her. You two lost the competition, then suddenly you’re not Grant, but King—and then you left town. From her perspective it might feel like she never mattered. Like you never really cared.”

  “Shoot. That couldn’t be further from the truth.”

  “Then maybe you should tell her that.”

  “She won’t talk to me.”

  “That’s why you’ll need to show her.”

  Show her. Yes. I needed to show Bernie how I felt. But how?

  23

  Girl Time

  Bernie

  “What do you need the most help with?” Lolly sat across from me at our kitchen table. The soft smile on her face and twinkle in her eyes helped me know I made the right decision.

  “Almost everything.” I took a quick bite of my blueberry pancake and washed it down with some milk. “The dress, makeup, my hair, practicing for the interview. Basically, Lolli, I need a lot of help.”

  “You’ll be fine. We’ll head over to Red Oaks and go to the cute little boutique your mama and I used to go to. You don’t need much makeup, so that’s really not a problem. My beauty parlor is closed on Sundays, but I’ll call LuAnn tomorrow and see if she can fit you in this week.” She slid another pancake onto my plate. “If you want, we can even get your nails done.”

  My nails? My knee-jerk reaction was to turn her down. I’d never had my nails done. It wasn’t something I wanted or needed. It was also totally impractical for a girl who worked on cars.

  “I haven’t gone since the last time your mama and I went.” Lolli’s eyes went soft and watery but she blinked a few times, gathering herself together.

  “I’d love to.” I could kick myself for not having figured out how badly Lolli was hurting. Thanks, mama. Thanks for helping me see. I promised myself right then and there that I wouldn’t complain once this week.

  “Anybody home?” Lacey entered through the side kitchen door.

  “Good morning, Lacey. You’re just in time to go dress shopping with us,” Lolli said. “Bernie and I could use your help.”

  I nodded. “Yeah. I could use all the help I can get.”

  “I need to tell you something first.” Lacy bit her lip. “You may not want to talk to me after I tell you this.”

  “Tell me what?”

  “Grady told me this morning that he knew who Grant was the whole time.” Lacey paused and huffed out of breath. “He did say he warned Grant—King—not to get involved with you if he wasn’t serious. I’m just so mad at both of them right now I could scream. I’m sorry. I wish Grady had told me so I could’ve warned you. I will totally understand if you don’t want me to go shopping with you. And you can even be mad at me for a little bit. Just not for too long because you’re my best friend.”

  “I’m not mad at you at all. This isn’t your fault.” I tried to think it over but everything was still too new and too raw. “I doubt I’m mad at Grady either, but I reserve the right to change my mind about that.”

  “Oh, thank goodness because I would hate it if you were mad at me. Especially because you know how much I like dress shopping.” Lacey sat at the table next to me and grabbed my hand. “But that’s not all… I was on one of the online Hollywood gossip sites last night, and they had an interview with King’s girlfriend—Talia West, the actress. That fake adorable nerd is a two-timing, lying Hollywood jerk.”

  Ooookay. That hurt and I didn’t even know who Talia West was. But I guess it cleared everything up, didn’t it? Now I knew everything between us was a lie. What was I? Research? A joke? Was he laughing behind my back the whole time?

  I pictured his face. His wild blond hair and lopsided smile. His dark brown eyes, so warm and sincere.

  “Hey—I know why I didn’t recognize him, but how is it that people who know who Kingsly Grant is, didn’t recognize him?”

  “Contacts,” Lacey growled. “King has the lightest blue eyes. So light they almost glow. And that ratfink nerd wore—”

&nbs
p; “Dark brown contacts.” Right. Those dark brown eyes I fell for were fake.

  I recalled the times we talked about our childhoods and about feeling like we didn’t fit in…about liking each other… And the sad thing was none of it felt fake. All of those moments...all of those conversations—they felt real and honest. It was all so darn confusing.

  “You know what? I’m not gonna worry about it. It’s over. I have better things to do than worry about Grant Stutterfield. And that other guy—Kingsly Grant—I don’t even know him. I refuse to waste my time on him.”

  That sounded braver and more self-assured than I felt, but I could deal with it later. I had something much more important to do.

  “Who’s ready to go shopping?” I cleared our plates to the sink and grabbed my car keys. “If finding the dress doesn’t take too long, Lolli, maybe we can stop at that tea place you and Mama used to go to.”

  Lolli smiled. “That sounds lovely.”

  Between school and working on pageant stuff with Lolli and Lacey it was a week of highs and lows:

  The highs—and I would’ve bet money I never would’ve said this in my entire life—were the shopping trips (it took more than one to find a dress all three of us liked) and the hair appointment and the nail salon visit (I compromised with a clear coat) with Lolli and Lacey.

  The lows—you can imagine the lows at school. (Tomboy gets punked by famous hot movie star and then deserted for his supermodel girlfriend.) Trust me when I say some kids at school enjoyed my situation and were happy to talk about it—to me, in front of me, or behind my back.

  And then the week finally ended and it was Saturday, the night of the pageant.

  Lolli, Gigi, and Lacey drove with me to the pageant. Roll Tide. No, I wasn’t an Alabama fan; it was just something my sport-obsessed brothers always said before a big game. Now that I understood why it was so important to Lolli—it felt like a big game.