Jade flashed a grin. “She does. She’s meeting up with someone.”
Stephanie elbowed Jade and Chris frowned. “Meeting up? Like a date? I thought you weren’t wanting to date right now.”
“I don’t. It’s not a date.” Heat crept up Stephanie’s neck. Her phone chimed and she pulled it out of her pocket, glad for the interruption. She didn’t really want to explain all that to Chris. A text from Brandon sat on her screen. Her heart jumped.
Did you just get out of school?
“It’s just Brandon Travers,” Jade said, a sarcastic tone in her voice.
“Wait, what?” Chris stepped back. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope. Not kidding.” Jade rocked back on her heels, obviously pleased to report this information to Chris.
“Did you win a contest or something?”
“No,” Stephanie said as she texted Brandon back.
Yes. How did you know? Are you texting me from your plane??
“She and Brandon know each other. And he’s coming here to heal from his accident.” Jade grinned. “Isn’t that sweet?”
Chris just stared at Jade. Stephanie got another text.
No. I’m at your school. Where’s your locker?
The hallway grew hot, and Stephanie frantically looked around, but she didn’t see Brandon.
“What are you looking for?” Jade asked, having noticed Stephanie’s reaction.
“He’s here.”
“Wait. You’re telling me Brandon Travers is here? In Rockford? Right now?” Chris looked incredulous.
“Yep.”
Jade squealed and bounced on her toes. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know. He wants to know where my locker is.”
“Well, tell him!” Jade waved, fanning her face like she was going to faint.
“Chill.” Stephanie texted him back, her fingers shaking. Why was she this nervous? She already knew Brandon from talking with him on the phone. He was a friend. That was all.
Fourth floor. Where are you?
At the office. I just registered.
“Holy crap.” Stephanie didn’t realize she’d said anything out loud until she saw Chris and Jade staring at her. Her face heated. “Sorry. Just got shocked by what he said.”
“What did he say?” Jade asked, her smile widening. Chris, on the other hand, looked like he had eaten some rotten chicken for lunch, and it was coming back to bite him.
“He registered. Here. For classes.”
“What?” Jade practically screamed. “He’s going to go to our school?”
“That’s great,” Chris muttered, folding his arms.
“He’s at the office.”
“Come on, then. Let’s go meet him.” Jade grabbed Stephanie’s hand and pulled her down the hallway before she could resist. Chris followed after them.
The office was on the second floor. The school was mostly empty now, all the students eager to get their weekend started. As they approached, she saw him leaning against the wall, one arm in a sling. He was wearing a baseball cap and gray long-sleeved shirt, and he was staring at his phone. A pair of sunglasses hung from the front of his shirt. He glanced up, and his gaze connected with hers.
She’d seen him on the movie screen, and on television. She knew he was good-looking. But nothing prepared her for what it was like to look into his stunning blue eyes and watch a smile creep onto his lips. She’d heard people talk about getting weak in the knees. To her it had been a dumb exaggeration. Until now. She felt like her legs were going to buckle as her mouth dried out.
“Hey,” he said, pocketing his phone and pushing off the wall.
“Hey,” Stephanie said, all intelligent thought jumping ship. Nice. She knew he would be intimidating, but this was ridiculous. Couldn’t she think of one thing to say, other than repeating what he’d just said to her?
Jade made a few mewing noises beside her, like she was trying to talk but forgot to open her mouth. Stephanie snapped out of her own stupor and motioned. “Brandon, this is Jade. And Chris.” She turned back to him. “They obviously know who you are.” She felt immensely stupid.
Brandon stuck out his hand to Jade. “Hi. Nice to meet you.”
Jade giggled and then blushed. “Nice to meet you too.”
Chris just said, “Hey,” and shoved his hands in his pockets.
Brandon’s gaze traveled over Chris. “So, are you two, uh…” He motioned between Chris and Jade. “Together?”
“Us?” Jade giggled again. “Oh, no. Chris is Stephanie’s match. From my app.” She grinned and rocked back on her heels. Stephanie had never seen her act so starstruck. “But they’re just friends.”
Brandon raised his eyebrows. “Ah. You’re Spotted Cow guy.”
“I’m what?” Chris stepped back, like he’d been slapped.
Brandon smirked; a look that somehow made him even more handsome. Oh, man, what was wrong with her?
A woman came out of the office. Her blonde hair matched the same shade as Brandon’s. She had a stack of papers in one hand and a leather jacket in the other. She approached them. “Okay, you’re all set to start on Monday.” She stopped, noticing the group. “Oh, I see you’ve met some kids your age already.”
“Aunt Monica, this is Stephanie, Jade, and…Chris.”
His aunt smiled, her eyes kind. “Nice to meet you.”
“Can I hang with them tonight?”
His aunt paused for a second, like she wasn’t sure that was a good idea, but after assessing them, she slowly nodded. “Yes, if you’re careful. The doctor still wants you to take it easy.”
Brandon lifted his good arm. “I swear. Taking it easy. I just want to get to know some kids my age,” he said, repeating her words.
Monica smiled. “Okay. I don’t see how it can hurt.” She held out the jacket. “Let me help you put this on.”
Brandon shrugged into the jacket, not putting his injured arm through. “Thanks, Aunt Monica. I’ll get a ride home later tonight.”
She hesitated before nodding. “All right. See you.”
After she left, Brandon grinned and turned to the group. “What do we have planned for tonight?”
The look on Jade’s face was priceless. Like she’d just won the lottery. “You want to hang with all of us?”
“Sure. Why not?” Brandon took a step closer to Stephanie. “You can show me all that Rockford has to offer.”
Stephanie couldn’t help her smirk. “You mean we get to show you the two-mile strip the kids drive up and down on Friday nights? Gee, I can’t wait.”
Jade gave Stephanie a small kick. “There’s more here than the strip. Let’s go to Grind it Up. We can get something to eat and show off that we’re friends with Brandon Travers.”
Embarrassment shot through Stephanie. “Jade!”
Brandon chuckled. Why was it that he could look so adorable, no matter what he did? “I kind of want to keep a low profile. But getting something to eat sounds good to me.”
Stephanie suddenly felt self-conscious, standing so close to Brandon. She could smell his cologne, or aftershave. Whatever it was, it smelled amazing, and didn’t help her wobbly knee thing she had going on.
“Yeah. Let’s do it.” Jade nudged Christopher. “You in?”
Chris didn’t look happy at all, but he nodded and hefted his backpack strap up. “I’m in.”
“Great. I’ll ride with Stephanie.” Brandon flashed a smile at her, and she knew right then and there she was in trouble.
Chris took a step toward them. “Steph, can I talk to you for a sec?”
“Sure.”
Everyone stared at Christopher. He cleared his throat, looking quite uncomfortable. “Alone?”
Brandon looked like he wasn’t too pleased with that, his lips pulling down into a frown. Jade stepped back. “Come on, Brandon. I’ll show you where we always park.”
He hesitated a moment, then nodded. “All right.”
After they left, Stephanie turned to Chris. “What
is it?”
He fiddled with his backpack strap, not looking at her. “I don’t know if you should trust that guy. I’m worried.”
“Why?”
Christopher raised his gaze. “He’s a big shot actor. Did you hear about his car accident? That’s why his arm is in a sling. He was drinking and driving, and got in a police chase.”
Some of that was wrong, but Stephanie didn’t feel like correcting him. “I heard. But it wasn’t exactly like that. We’ve talked about it. Brandon is here because he wants to turn his life around.”
“How long have you known him?”
How long had it been? Two weeks? That seemed lame, so she just said, “We’ve been chatting online for a while now.”
“I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
That was super sweet of Chris, but he didn’t understand. “There’s nothing going on between us.”
Chris gave her a look like she was a child to be pitied. Or maybe she was just reading more into it than was there. “Okay.”
“Come on. Let’s go.” Stephanie started toward the stairs. This wasn’t going to be anything other than a few friends hanging out together. Right? What bad could come of it?
Chapter 16
Bandon slid on his sunglasses as they walked into Grind it Up. From the looks of it, this was the teen hangout on Friday nights. The place looked like it was trying to be trendy, but with a low budget. None of the tables matched. Each had a small potted plant on them. Two of them had benches instead of individual chairs. An area off to the side had bean bag chairs, which were filled with teens roughhousing with each other.
“We’re inside. You can take off your sunglasses,” Chris said.
Why did that make Brandon want to punch the guy? He opened his mouth to explain, but Stephanie beat him to it.
“He doesn’t want to get recognized.”
Chris looked like he was going to speak but changed his mind and just ended up frowning. The guy was a barrel of fun. Why was he hanging around Vlogger girl? He was about as friendly as a pair of wet socks. And he was standing quite close to her, which bugged Brandon as well.
Jade pointed to the counter. “Let’s go order. I’m starved.” She was shorter than Stephanie, with dark, straight hair. If Brandon had to guess, he’d say she had some Asian ancestry.
His baseball cap and sunglasses did the trick, and not one person came up to him and asked for an autograph. Which was good, because he only had one hand, and he didn’t want to awkwardly sign stuff for people.
They ordered sandwiches and found a table in the back. Brandon waited to see where Stephanie would sit before he sat next to her. Unfortunately, Chris sat on the other side of her. Brandon wanted to put his arm around her, stake his claim, but he knew Stephanie wouldn’t like that, so he just curled his good hand into a fist and sat back in his chair.
“So,” Jade said, curling a strand of hair behind her ear. “What’s it like being a movie star?” She grinned at him.
Brandon chuckled to himself as he watched Stephanie blush and then whack Jade’s side. He liked Vlogger girl’s spunk. And she was even cuter in person, if that was possible. “Don’t ask that,” she hissed.
“I don’t mind.” Brandon sipped the coffee he’d ordered. “I’ll tell you what it’s like. Everyone knows who you are and wants to talk to you. You can’t go anywhere without being mobbed, unless you disguise yourself.” He motioned to his hat. “You have people telling you what to do every minute of every day. You can’t go do something by yourself. And you’re never by yourself. You don’t know who your real friends are, because everyone wants something from you, so you don’t let anyone get close.”
Jade’s smile faded as she listened to him. “Oh. That doesn’t sound like much fun.”
Stephanie nodded, her hands wrapped around her drink. “I can only imagine.”
“But there are perks, too. You get to meet famous people. You get paid a lot.” Like, a crazy amount. He’d made his first million before he was twelve.
“You get all the girls,” Chris said under his breath before he picked up his sandwich and took a bite.
Jade laughed and poked Chris in the side. Brandon raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, girls like Alisha Waterstone.” He hadn’t meant for it to sound so bitter.
“What’s wrong with Alisha Waterstone? She’s gorgeous,” Chris said, still chewing.
Brandon groaned. “Don’t get me started. She’s horrible. Just think of someone flicking your ear, over and over, until you want to punch them in the face. That’s Alisha.”
Jade threw her head back and laughed. “Sounds annoying.”
“She’s more than annoying. She’s stupid, too. But her father’s super important, so I can’t tell her off.” His phone chimed and he pulled it out to look at the screen, not thinking for a second that the person he was hoping had texted him was sitting next to him. Duh. He slumped when he saw the name on the screen. “Oh, speaking of stupid. Here she is now.”
Where are you?
Chris stopped chewing. “Alisha Waterstone is texting you?”
“Yeah,” he said while he typed his response with one hand.
Recovering from surgery.
“Dude. I can’t believe you’re complaining about her. She’s freak’n Alisha Waterstone.”
Brandon reached over to Chris with his good hand and flicked his ear. “See?” Brandon said. “Annoying. Only take that and times it by a thousand.”
Chris scoffed and Stephanie hid a smile behind her drink. His phone chimed again and he looked at the screen.
You’re still taking me to the gala tomorrow night, right?
“Oh, this is ripe. Here she is, wanting me to go with her to some stupid party tomorrow.” He held his phone so Chris could see her message. “This is what it’s like. I hate her, but she doesn’t care. She wants to be seen with me. She doesn’t care that I was in a terrible accident, and that I just had surgery.”
Chris looked down at the table. “Yeah, that’s not cool.”
Stephanie’s cheeks turned pink. “How rude.”
He fired off another text to her.
I can’t. I’m out of town recovering. From surgery. Because I was in a terrible accident.
He tossed his phone on the table and frowned. “She can rot.”
“So, you know Stephanie, how?” Chris asked, leaning forward, his gaze sweeping over Brandon.
The way he stared at him made Brandon feel self-conscious. “We met through her Vlog.”
“Stephanie didn’t believe it was him at first. She kept telling him to buzz off.” Jade laughed as she dabbed at her mouth with a napkin.
Stephanie flushed. “Come on. I had no way of knowing. Who would have thought it was actually you?”
Brandon chuckled. “It was quite funny. But that does bring up something very important.” He held up one finger. “You never apologized for totally trashing me on your Vlog.”
“What?” Stephanie’s mouth dropped. “I am not going to apologize for that. I spoke the truth.”
Before he could refute, his phone rang, vibrating against the wooden tabletop. He huffed and picked it up. “What?”
A flurry of curse words streamed out at him in Alisha’s screechy voice. He held the phone away from his ear while she yelled. When it seemed like she was done, he put the phone back. “What is your problem?”
“You promised, Brandon. We had a deal. You were going to go to the Save the Sea Gala with me. You can’t back out. I don’t care if you’re in a body cast. You are showing up tomorrow to take me to that gala.”
Irritation rose in him. Why wasn’t she giving up on this? It wasn’t like there weren’t other famous guys she could go with. “I can’t. I’m not even in California.”
“You have a private jet which you’ll be on tomorrow. I swear, Brandon, you stand me up for this, and I’ll ruin you.”
“Stand you up? I’m telling you now. I can’t be there. Make other arrangements.”
She screamed int
o the phone, and he hung up on her. Then he blocked her number. “Sheesh, could you hear that?”
Chris nodded. “Yeah, I’m starting to understand. She was pretty loud.”
“Do you think hanging up on her was a good idea?” Stephanie cringed. “She seemed super mad.”
Vlogger girl was right, and he probably shouldn’t have hung up on her. Even though he hated Alisha, she could do some real damage, simply because of her family connections. Still, he was feeling kind of protected now that he was out of Hollywood. “I think I will have everyone’s sympathies if she goes nuts on social media. I am the one who almost got killed in a car crash.”
Chris swirled his drink. “Weren’t you running from the police, though?”
Brandon sat up. “That was all Tony. I told him to pull over. And it’s not like they chased us for hours. Their lights went on, he pressed the gas, and we crashed moments later. But I agree, it was stupid.” He let out a breath. “The whole thing was idiotic.”
“And now you’re here…because?” Chris asked.
“Because my aunt lives here. And my mom is worried I’m going off the deep end. Which I’m totally not. But she thinks I’m on a dangerous path.” He made air quotes with his good hand.
“Hopefully Alisha will calm down,” Jade said. “I wouldn’t want her on my bad side.”
A somber feeling crept over Brandon as he stared at the table, but it was too late. Whatever fallout was going to happen would just happen. He could take bad publicity. He’d rolled with that in the past. It always worked out okay in the end.
Chapter 17
Stephanie shoved her hands in her coat pockets as they walked outside. It was only six thirty, but the sun had gone down and her breath came out in a cloud of steam. Had the temperature dropped that much? It was freezing out. Of course, it was Wisconsin, so November was always freezing.
“Hey, Vlogger girl, where else do teens go on a Friday night?” Brandon lifted his sunglasses, and his blue eyes probed her.
“We can go to the lake. I heard some kids talking about meeting out there,” Jade said.
Stephanie shot a look at Jade. Since when was she into the party scene? “It’s cold.”
Don't Trash the Heartthrob (Rockford High Book 5) Page 8