Maybe complicated wouldn’t be so bad...
Chapter Three
Rock Valley High had never looked so exciting. We’d gone from a dinky little town to the hottest locale for a brand-new movie shoot. The film crew had taken over the soccer field in back, with cameras and stage pieces set up everywhere. According to my dad, they were going to shoot some scenes inside the school as well and maybe even use some of the kids as extras.
It was all the buzz during the school day and still was as I made my way to the makeshift entrance to the alleyway behind the football stadium. A few trailers littered the concrete drive and there were a bunch of metal storage containers that had been placed there over the summer. People darted back and forth beyond the entrance, all with purpose and places to be. I joined the line of kids who’d come to catch a peek after the last bell.
“Think we’ll get to be in the movie?” a freshman girl asked on my right.
Her friend giggled into her hands. “I hope so. I heard it’s going to be the biggest film of the year.”
My lips pulled into a smug smile. Yep, this movie was going to rock and I was getting more excited about it with every passing hour.
I’d survived English lit this morning with Mr. Garret, and then all of my other classes. If the homework load didn’t kill me by the end of the semester, boredom would. So now, I was more than keyed up to go and find a way to sneak onto set. Joining that makeup crew was the only bright shining star in this dull night sky of a year.
That, and possibly one boy by the name of Zane.
First, I needed to find Alanis Nori. When I’d done some online stalking and found out she was the top makeup artist for this film, I about fainted. She’d been in charge of the makeup for some of my favorite movies over the last decade. And even better—she’d gone to the L Makeup Institute in Los Angeles. That was where I had my heart set on attending after graduation. One good word from her and they’d let me in—no problem. All I had to do was impress her with my infinite charm and skills, and I was set. Easy!
The only thing that stood in my way was a bald six-foot-five bouncer with arms the size of tree trunks and a neck bigger than my thigh.
“Get back,” he grunted at the kids pushing forward to get a look at some of the actors.
He stood just behind the gate with his gorilla arms crossed tightly over a black t-shirt. His beady little brown eyes darted across the growing crowd of people, as if daring any of us to try and make a break for it. I wasn’t prepared to risk my life to see how fast this giant could run. With a shake of my head, I dropped out of the crowd and began walking toward the other side of the school.
There had to be another way inside. A way that didn’t leave me looking so out of place. A way that said I belong here.
As I turned a corner of the school building, the bushes beside me began to rustle. I slowed to a stop, listening to the giggles of what sounded like a boy and a girl having too good of a time. And when the bush began to rustle some more, two people popped out in front of me.
Sure enough, it was a couple. They both had bright red cheeks and wore athletic clothing with tennis shoes. The girl had a few inches on me, with a long, slender neck and shining blonde hair. The boy had an athletic body, with red hair and dimples that could’ve disarmed even the toughest of our cafeteria ladies.
“Oh, hi there,” the boy said as he nearly bumped into me. There wasn’t an ounce of shame in his expression. He adjusted his t-shirt with a laugh and then shot me a teasing grin. “You caught us.”
“Hmmm.” I raised an eyebrow as the blonde smacked her lips together and then looked right through me, as if I didn’t even exist. They weren’t Rock Valley High kids, that was for sure. “That’s a good bush for hiding.”
The boy nodded, then wagged his eyebrows. “Sure is. Wanna take it for a spin, sometime?”
The blonde hit him on the chest with a huff as I giggled behind my hand. “Geez, Freddy, can’t you at least have the decency not to hit on another girl when the one you just got done making out with is still within earshot?”
His dimpled grin only grew bigger and he shrugged. “Guess not.”
She rolled her eyes, but I could tell she wasn’t fazed. She carried herself with the confidence of nobility. Striding past me, she practically embalmed me with the heavy scent of her perfume. I held my breath, holding in a cough until she was several yards away, and then expelled the scent from my lungs.
“So...about that bush?” Freddy was still watching me with teasing eyes. He gestured with his thumb over his shoulder.
This guy was too much, but in a funny, harmless sort of way. I chuckled and then shook my head. Not that I was against using the bush for private matters, but I had better things to do today. “Not a chance.”
He shrugged again and then flashed his straight teeth in a smile. “Can’t say I didn’t try. Are you one of the extras?”
“No...” A light bulb moment went on inside my head. My lips curled into a smile and I cocked my hip, placing my hand on my waist. “Actually, I’m Alanis Nori’s assistant. I’ve been looking for her. Any chance you know where she is?”
He nodded and came up to drape his arm across my shoulders. Compared to the blonde chick, he smelled much better. Like sweat and citrus mixed together. It was a friendly maneuver that didn’t feel at all like a come-on, which was impressive considering the scandalous offer he’d just made to me.
“Come on, gorgeous. I’ll lead you right to her. And maybe then, I’ll earn a phone number?” I pressed my lips together and smiled up at him as he groaned. “Again, can’t say I didn’t try.”
As we walked toward the set, he chatted easily about his home in LA and how this movie part was his big break. Most of the other kids had gone home by now. It hadn’t taken them long to get bored. The big, burly body guard didn’t even bat an eye at me. We walked on through, Freddy’s arm still draped over my shoulder.
It wasn’t until we made our way through the line of storage containers and trailers did the site open up into a real mess of people bustling around. Massive camera sets and lights were pointed at the soccer field, where several kids ran drills with black and white balls, kicking them between bright orange cones. My eyes did a quick skim over the crowd for Zane, but he was nowhere to be seen. And when Freddy finally led me to a trailer with the word Makeup in bold letters printed on the door, I gave up the search to focus all my attention on the battle at hand.
“The next scene is coming up soon, so I’ll bet Alanis is in there,” Freddy said, taking his arm off my shoulders. He eyed me, doubt flashing in his eyes. “Are you sure you want to face that? She’ll eat you up alive.”
I chuckled, the first bit of nerves hitting me. “I’m her assistant, remember? I deal with this kind of stuff all the time.”
A knowing smile flashed on his face. “Uh huh. Assistant. And why haven’t I seen you before? I’d definitely remember a girl like you.”
I returned his grin. Okay, so this Freddy guy was smarter than I’d originally given him credit for. But he didn’t ask me any more questions. He tweaked my chin and then winked at me.
“Don’t ask, don’t tell. I’m about to go on, so I’d better run. Feel free to DM me if you ever change your mind about that bush, gorgeous.”
I laughed as he jogged in the direction of the soccer field. If my heart hadn’t totally gone bonkers over Zane, I could’ve looked twice at a guy like Freddy. He was totally the type of boy I would’ve dated. A guaranteed good time. Nothing too serious. And over before it began. But the old ticker in my chest was giving me a solid thumbs-down.
That one little kiss had seriously messed with me.
Shaking my head, I took a deep, cleansing breath to clear all of the boy issues out of my head. If anyone had asked my older sister, Aubrey, she’d tell them that boys were all I thought about. But she was wrong. If there was one thing I wanted most in this lifetime, it was to be a world famous makeup artist. And the woman standing inside this trailer could
build or bury that dream faster than a flick of a mascara wand.
With a steady hand, I pulled the trailer door open. My feet took the three steps up to the floor with a confidence I hoped would snag me the job. And when I turned at the top of the stairs, the first thing that struck me was the bright, white interior. I wasn’t sure if I was expecting it to look like the inside of my Uncle Matt’s RV, but everything about the interior of this trailer had been built for a makeup artist of Alanis Nori’s capabilities.
The floor was covered in a beautiful deep gray wood laminate. The walls were so white they almost hurt my eyes. At the far end, four black leather swivel chairs sat in front of a wall of mirrors. Bubble lights over the mirrors flooded the entire space with light so bright I was pretty sure it cast every single crater along the surface of my face into view. For the first time today, I felt a brush of nerves as I self-consciously patted my cheeks, hoping against hope that the concealer I’d spent over fifty bucks on last week was doing its job.
But there was no time to linger on my flaws. Only one chair in the makeup trailer was currently occupied and there was Alanis Nori herself kneeling in front of it, dabbing a lip gloss wand across the mouth of a girl with jet black hair and pink highlights. My body froze and my mind exploded with admiration for the artful way she applied the nude color. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.
Just standing in her presence, I could feel her awesomeness rubbing off on me.
“Yeeeees?” Alanis asked, before glancing up expectantly at me. “Are they calling us to set?”
She’d changed her hair to a deep golden blonde color since I spotted her at my dad’s work party last weekend. It fell into two long braids down her back with a shortly trimmed row of bangs that were meticulously combed over her forehead. She wore bright green eyeshadow and her high cheekbones were accentuated with just a hint of blush. I bit my bottom lip in excitement, taking a step toward her.
It was now or never.
“Hi, I’m Lexi Black.” I stuck out my hand and beamed brightly at her. My dad had always said, if you’re going to ask for something, there was no point in acting ashamed about it. Own it. People appreciated candor. I hope that included Alanis Nori. “I’m actually here for a job, Ms. Nori. Anything you want, I’ll do it. I just want to gain some experience in the makeup artistry world and I know that with you as a reference, I could go anywhere. Please hire me and I promise I’ll make you proud.”
A little wrinkle appeared between her eyebrows. She stood up slowly, until she towered over me with her six-inch platform sandals, lime green parachute pants, and white turtleneck tank top. Her dark brown eyes scanned me over, devoid of any emotion. Somehow, I managed to maintain my smile, even as I slowly dropped the hand that she’d refused to shake.
“I do not need help,” she said curtly, lifting her chin. “There is no job.”
Failure wasn’t in my vocabulary. At least not today. I scrambled forward as she went to put the lip gloss on the vanity top behind her.
“What about eyeshadow? I’m really good at putting on eyeshadow. I could totally help.”
“Nope.” She snagged a blush compact and squinted at the girl in the chair, totally ignoring me as I circled behind.
“What about to grab your coffee?” I tried and failed to make eye contact with her. “Surely, you need someone to be in charge of your liquid intake for these long shoots.”
She squinted as she applied blush to the girl’s cheeks. “I have craft service for that.”
“What about your brushes? Can’t I be in charge of keeping your brushes clean? You don’t even have to pay me anything, I swear. I just want the experience.”
It was a last pitch, something that I’d only thrown out there because I was desperate.
She shrugged and then turned to put the blush away. “No need. No job.”
All the confidence I’d carried until now seemed to fade away as my shoulders drooped. Alanis was as unmovable as Mount Rushmore. I knew a lost cause when I saw one. Ninety-nine point nine percent of people couldn’t resist the Lexi Black charm.
Apparently, I’d found the point one percent.
“Okay...” I looked up at the ceiling, trying not to let my emotions get the best of me. The last thing Alanis needed to see was my mascara running. “Well, if you change your mind, my dad’s Ray Black. He’s the lawyer for Rock Valley High. He can get in contact with me. I promise, Ms. Nori, I would work extra hard for you.”
Alanis pressed her lips into a thin line while smudging a bit of blush with the pad of her thumb. “I won’t change my mind. Thank you and please depart from my trailer before I call security. I need total silence to work.”
“Um...okay. I’m sorry.”
I took a step backwards, feeling the blow from her words. Never, in all of my daydreaming and planning, had I pictured Alanis Nori shutting me down so firmly. My mind scrambled to keep up with this new reality, but it couldn’t come up with anything new to say that would change her mind. With defeat pulsing through my veins, I turned and headed back for the stairs. The trailer was crushing in on me and if I stayed a moment longer, I was going to lose all control.
Just as I was about to reach for the door, it flew open. I blinked in shock for a few moments as a pair of bright blue eyes widened in surprise. Zane stood before me, wearing a simple gray t-shirt and athletic shorts, but somehow still managing to look absolutely delicious. Freddy stood not far behind, his brown eyes dancing with the familiar flirtatious grin as my gaze flicked to him and then back to the boy standing before me.
It was a relief to see Zane, especially after what had happened with Alanis. I’d needed some good news. I practically launched myself down the stairs at him, jumping to the bottom with a deep inhale.
“I’m so glad to see you again.” I swallowed down the tears that had threatened to flow just moments ago and smiled up at him. “I was hoping we’d run into each other. This has just been the worst day ever. Alanis won’t give me the time of day. I think I’m out of luck with the job.”
The surprise at nearly running into me dissolved from Zane’s face and he pressed his lips together into a thin line. His jaw muscles flexed as he took a step backwards and stared down at the ground. “Oh, hi. It’s uh...Lexi, right?”
“Yeah. Lexi Black.”
A dagger shot through my chest as I stared at the boy I’d been obsessing over for the past twenty-four hours. He had to ask my name? What kind of trick was this? I hadn’t pegged him for the type of manipulative guy who purposely brought down a girl’s confidence before picking her back up. No, that wasn’t him.
In reality, he must’ve been the type of guy who kissed a girl and couldn’t remember her name. The truth of it spilled over my head like a bucket of ice water.
“Dude, I should’ve known something was up when she resisted all of my attempts to snag her number.” Freddy grabbed Zane by the shoulders and squeezed them. “She already fell under the star’s spell. What a relief. I thought my powers of seduction were failing. Glad to know there’s a perfectly logical explanation.”
“No girl needs an explanation to shoot you down, McCray,” Zane said, shooting Freddy an amused look. He didn’t even meet my gaze. “Trust me. And there’s nothing between us. I barely know her.”
Shock hit me like a poisoned dart to the chest. Barely knew me? Is that what he called our kiss. I could hardly breathe, I was so insulted.
“Ouch.” Freddy slapped a hand over his heart and stumbled. “That hurts, dude.”
“Yeah, well, get used to disappointment.” The smile slid from Zane’s face as he looked up at me once again. “I’m sorry, but I’m late for a shoot. It was good to see you again.”
He brushed past me, the contact from his cold shoulder giving me all sorts of electric shocks that ran down my spine, despite the fact that steam was currently spilling out of my ears. I moved aside so that Freddy could wink at me and then follow his fellow star into the trailer.
The Lexi from a week ago would�
��ve shrugged it off and gone on with her life. There was too little time in the day to worry about a boy who obviously wasn’t worth my time. And besides that, there was always another boy eager to be flirted with. They were a dime a dozen.
But for some reason, I couldn’t fight off the disappointment and hurt that clogged my throat, making it impossible to take a breath. I glared at the back of Zane’s head with all the frustration I could muster, hoping he’d feel the hot sting of rejection, too. This was yet another sign of why I didn’t do complicated. And why I never let myself get too attached.
I could thank Zane for the reminder.
And for the worst first day of school ever.
Chapter Four
If I knew anything at all, I knew for sure that the only way to get a bad boy out of my system was a night of extreme exfoliation.
I tossed my backpack onto my bed when I got to my dad’s place and went straight for the face wash and my stepmom’s beauty supplies. If there was one good thing I could say about Marie, she knew her skin maintenance. She had every product in the book. Exfoliating scrubs, Korean facial masks, invigorating creams, skin-tightening lotions. All of it. I scooped it up into my arms and laid it all out on her bathroom vanity, relentlessly examining each and every bottle.
There had to be something here that could scrub Zane right out of my system.
“Uh oh, someone’s had a bad first day of school.”
Marie walked into the bathroom, her high heels clicking on the tile floor. She was curvy and shorter than me, when she wasn’t wearing her five-inch Jimmy Choos. Her skin was the same tone as the honey-golden wood of the bathroom cabinets. She wore her blond wavy hair in a short, a-symmetrical bob that barely brushed the tops of her shoulders.
Her family came from money. I was pretty sure her dad ran some kind of toilet paper company. Either way, the house she and my dad lived in was way more plush than anything my parents could have afforded when they were still together.
Dare You to Chase the Soccer Player (Rock Valley High Book 5) Page 3