After the hug, Zack left the room and the judges commented once more about how handsome he was, how well he could sing. How he was going to take America by storm and how music needed a face like Zack’s. A quick camera cut showed Zack rushing through the doors to the lobby where Kip Barker waited. Zack clutched the red ticket to New York, both hands raised over his head as he whooped and hollered.
Then before Kip could speak, Zack dropped to the floor in the Tebow pose—one knee to the floor, elbow anchored on the other, head in his hands.
Reese felt sick to her stomach. What was happening? Zack would never do this.
“I’m confused.” Dara stood and paced a few steps toward the TV. “Why’s he doing that?”
“No idea.” Zack’s dad looked concerned, his eyes on the images playing out on the screen.
“This is ridiculous. Completely staged.” Grandpa Dan waved his hand at the television in disgust.
AJ and Duke squirmed on the sofa. “That isn’t Zack,” Duke whispered.
Reese said nothing, waiting, watching as Kip joked about Zack being the first contestant to Tebow. Zack popped up and grinned, and the music changed to Taylor Swift’s song “Love Story.” At the same time the shot cut to Zack entering the room of contestants and holding up his red ticket. Everyone shouted and screamed and ran toward him. “And so the heartthrob who looks like Elvis and sings like a dream is through,” Kip’s voice-over confirmed. “Of course . . . some people were more excited than others.”
While Taylor Swift sang on, the shot switched one more time. This time Zack was in the hallway as the blond cheerleader spotted him and his red ticket. Her face lit up and they slowed the footage as she ran to Zack and threw her arms around his neck. “Who knows?” Kip’s voice continued. “We might have our own Fifteen Minutes love story this season. We’ll keep you posted.”
The show cut to a commercial, and Zack’s father muted the sound. His sigh filled the room. “Reese . . . I’m sorry. None of us knew what was coming.”
“It’s okay.” She smiled even as tears gathered in her eyes. “He probably didn’t know they were going to play it like that.” She was trying, but her voice sounded shaky. She wanted to run in the worst way. “It’s all for the ratings. That’s what Zack told me.”
Everyone was quiet except AJ. “He had to know about the Tebow thing.” She looked at Reese. “Did he tell you?”
Her question was valid. He would’ve known about that and about singing to the cheerleaders in line and about Kelly Morgan hugging him. Certainly he would’ve known that they’d show the hug between him and the blonde. So why hadn’t he said anything? Why hadn’t he warned her?
“I’d like to know why he didn’t give credit to God.” Grandpa Dan took his baseball cap from his head and slapped it on his knee. “I thought that was the whole point.”
“He may have.” Zack’s father sounded tired, not exactly anxious to defend Zack but not sure they should gang up against him either. “They’ll use what they want to use.”
Reese’s phone was in the pocket of her jean shorts. She felt it vibrate and in a hurry she pulled it out. “It’s Zack.” She held up her finger and the room fell silent. “Hello?”
It sounded like a party in the background, but after a second or two she heard his voice. “Reese? I can barely hear you.”
“Hi.” Her heart pounded so loudly she could barely hear her own voice let alone his.
“I have to explain.” He was shouting and still the background noise made it almost impossible to understand him. “They . . . everything . . . God.”
“What?”
“You’re breaking up.” She pressed her finger into her free ear, desperate to hear what he was saying, how he felt about the episode.
“. . . sorry. I’ll . . . back in a few hours.”
“You’ll call me back?”
The phone went dead.
Everyone was looking at her. “He . . . It was loud wherever he was. They must’ve had a party for the debut.”
“What did he say?” Zack’s mother sat back down, her eyes concerned.
“Something about explaining things. He mentioned God and the girl. But it was too loud. I couldn’t really understand him.”
The commercial break ended. The blond cheerleader was up next. A montage of footage showed her with Zack in line and then sitting together in the stadium before their tent audition. “Eighteen-year-old cheerleader Zoey Davis came to Atlanta looking for a shot at Fifteen Minutes,” Kip’s voice explained. “She didn’t expect to find the perfect guy.”
More footage of Zack and Zoey talking, laughing, making their way into the tent audition, hugging as their names were called and they were sent through. The shot cut to an interview with Zoey. “Zack’s amazing. I don’t think I would’ve gotten this far without him. He doesn’t know how good he is.”
“Now,” Kip continued, “the question remains. How good is Zoey Davis?”
The camera cut to Zoey walking into the room with the judges. This time it was Cullen’s turn to act goofy over the looks of a contestant. “You’re a pretty little Sheila, aren’t you?” He grinned at Zoey. “And I hear you and young Elvis have a thing going on, is that right?” Cullen raised his eyebrows at her, grinning. “Or do I still have a chance?”
Zoey giggled. “I’m single.”
Kelly rolled her eyes and quickly brought matters back to the audition. After a few seconds, the girl sang “Wind Beneath My Wings.” The song was beautiful, her voice like that of any top pop singer. She made it through and again there was a commercial break.
“It’s okay.” Reese blinked back tears. This wasn’t the place to break down. Besides, she hated how everyone in the room was looking at her, feeling sorry for her. Even if they didn’t say so, their expressions did. She stood and hugged Grandpa Dan. “Zack will explain everything. As soon as he has a good signal.”
But she was struggling with the truth. He was at a party and by the sounds in the background, he was having a great time. The connection was bad, but he was in Manhattan, right? Couldn’t he move somewhere across a hallway or into another room? Couldn’t he step outside if it meant talking to her?
Grandpa Dan excused himself, but Reese and the others watched the rest of the episode. The whole time Reese held her phone, watching for his call, waiting for it. When the show was nearly over a thought occurred to her. She called up Twitter and found Zack’s profile. What she saw made her quietly gasp out loud.
“What is it?” Dara was in tune with Reese. “Is it Zack?”
“He has a new Twitter account. He told me about it yesterday.” Reese stared at the screen, shocked. “He already has over a hundred thousand followers.”
His dad looked confused. “Is that a lot?”
“Yes.” Dara kept her eyes on Reese, the two of them more aware than the others. “He had just a couple hundred before the show aired.”
And like that Reese felt the earth shift, felt her reality changing. She tapped the screen a few times and checked the things people were saying to him. After a minute she changed the screen back to Zack’s profile. The girls were relentless, offering themselves in every possible way. Totally shameless. She checked his recent tweets. His latest tweet read, How bout season 10 #FifteenMinutes? Best season ever, right? The beautiful @songleader just killed it! Follow us! The ride’s just begun.
“Beautiful”? “The ride’s just begun”? That didn’t sound like Zack. The tweet sent Reese over the edge. She clicked out of Twitter, stood and grabbed a deep breath. “I have to go. The stalls at home need cleaning.”
“Want help?” Duke was on his feet. “I’m finished here.”
“That’s okay.” She smiled at the boy. He was growing up, so much like Zack. No, that was wrong. So much like Zack a month ago. The way he’d been before he auditioned.
Dara came to Reese and hugged her. “We’ll figure everything out. I’m sure there’s an explanation.”
“Yes.” She smiled again. Anything to
keep the tears at bay. “I’ll call you if I hear from him.”
“I’ll do the same. He may only have a few minutes to talk.”
Her smile felt sad. “Usually.”
Reese hugged AJ and the rest of the family and thanked them for having her over. She was halfway to the car when it occurred to her that the show had been over for ten minutes and Zack hadn’t called. By the time she was behind the wheel and heading down the driveway, she realized that she wasn’t thinking so much about his phone call as the one she’d gotten earlier that day.
The one inviting her to London for a year.
chapter 15
Zack was furious. His Twitter account had been hacked. He had no idea who had sent out the last tweet, but he’d had nothing to do with it. He slipped his phone in his back pocket and found William Gaines near the bowl of punch in the party room they’d rented for the season opener.
“Hey, man, listen.” Zack tried to control his anger. “Someone just sent out a tweet under my name. But it wasn’t me.”
William leaned against the wall and laughed. “What are you trying to say, Zack? You think I did that? Hardly.” He nodded to Zoey, surrounded by four other girls at the center of the room. “Did you ask her?”
“Zoey?” He shook his head. “She didn’t have my—”
That was when it hit him. Gaines might be right. Five minutes before the show started, Zoey had squeezed into the spot beside him. The room had been packed with cameras and cozy, overstuffed leather sofas. Pillows were everywhere. Not until the show was over did Zack find his phone between the cracks of the sofa. He figured it had fallen out of his pocket during the show, with all the bodies packed onto the cushions. But maybe Zoey—
Gaines laughed at him. “The girl has it bad for you. Don’t put anything past her.” He raised an eyebrow in Zoey’s direction. “She’s got her mind made up. Whether you like it or not.”
Zack’s anger doubled. He gritted his teeth and headed over to Zoey. She looked up when she saw him coming her way. He had to yell over the music. “Can we talk?”
“Sure!” She gave the girls around her a look that said maybe this was her lucky day. The others giggled and Zoey bounced up, ready to follow him. “Where are we going?”
“Out in the hall.” He could feel the cameras on him, so he kept his smile in place. Everything they did was fair game for future shows. “Hurry, okay?”
She stayed close as they darted out of sight of the cameras. The hallway was dark and finally the two of them were alone. Only then did Zack let his frustration show. “Did you tweet from my phone?”
Her flirty expression became indignant. “Someone had to. You added a hundred thousand followers tonight.” She grinned. “Which, by the way, so did I.”
Zack was stuck back at her first response. “You really did that? You tweeted like you were me?” Zack wanted to shout at her. He raked his fingers through his hair. “I can’t believe this.”
“I didn’t think you’d be mad.” She lowered her chin, pressing her shoulder to the wall, defeated. Her eyes met his. “I’m sorry, okay?”
“Zoey. Never do that again.” He exhaled, struggling for control. “That’s not your place.”
“I said I was sorry.” She blinked a few times, and in the silence between them he watched tears fill her eyes. “Nothing ever goes the way I plan.”
Zack’s anger dissolved. “What do you mean?”
“You don’t think I’m pretty, do you?”
“Oh, man.” He slumped against the wall, facing her. She was easily the most beautiful girl this season. It was way after ten o’clock, and the hallway was mostly dark. Just a thin stream of light from the city flooded in from the windows at the far end of the building. Zack felt his guard slip. All this time he had looked at her with disdain, frustrated by her advances, certain of his convictions. But right now, with her crying and questioning her beauty, for the first time he could feel himself responding to her. He swallowed, praying for his world to right itself. “You’re . . . very beautiful, Zoey. You know that.”
“But not to you.” She ran her fingertips beneath her eyes. “I annoy you, right? That’s how it seems.”
“I have a girlfriend.”
“You should at least be open to new things. New people.” She sniffed and lifted her pretty face to him. “You told me we’d talk that night after group auditions. But we didn’t.” She put her hand on his shoulder. “How come?”
He could smell her perfume and a faint bit of mint from her breath. They needed to get back in the room with the others. This was crazy, being out here in the dark hallway with her so close, so emotional. With him suddenly racked by uncertainty. He swallowed discreetly, searching for control. “I . . . I still want to talk.”
“It doesn’t seem like it.”
His heart went out to her. She had been at his side for nearly two weeks and here, against all reason, Zack could admit the reality of the situation only now. He liked her spunk and her energy. He really did. Maybe his frustration with her was only his way of protecting himself from feeling something more.
Zack drew a deep breath and tried to make sense of it all.
She seemed to melt, her tears coming harder than before. She closed the gap between them and slowly her arms came up around his neck. She seemed weary, exhausted as she pressed her face against his chest. “Hold me, Zack. Please. Just hold me.”
He had no choice. He wanted to be there for her. That was the right thing to do. But what started as his way of showing concern, of being the big brother she needed, gradually became something Zack struggled to deny. With her body pressed against his, he found himself running his hand along her back. “It’s okay. Zoey, I’m here. It’s okay.”
“I need you.”
Step back . . . you need distance between you, his conscience shouted at him. But all at once the pressures of the competition, the strange feeling of seeing himself on television, the sudden onslaught of Twitter followers, all got in the way. Suddenly it seemed like only Zoey could understand what he was going through, the same way only he could understand her. Kip Barker had called them the Romeo and Juliet of Fifteen Minutes season ten. And right now that was exactly how it felt.
“Zack.” She pulled back just enough so she could see his eyes. “Do you think I’m pretty?”
“Yes.” His mouth was dry. What was he doing? “Everyone knows you’re pretty. I have eyes, Zoey.”
“What if . . . what if we were meant to be? And we met too late?”
This wasn’t happening. Zack needed air, needed to breathe somewhere far away from Zoey Davis. “What if we were meant to be friends?”
She ran her fingers lightly down his arms and pressed in close again. “You want to kiss me,” she whispered. “I know you do.”
Zack shook his head. He didn’t want that. He wanted to get away from her and call Reese before he lost himself in this dark hallway, somewhere in a rented party space in the heart of New York City. He shook his head. “I want—” That was as far as he got.
Her lips were on his and like that her kiss hijacked his senses. His arms were around her and the connection he’d been avoiding since they met was actually happening. But after a few seconds, control found him. He pushed away from her and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “No! I can’t.”
“You did.” For the first time since he’d known her, she looked angry. “Don’t lie to yourself, Zack. You felt something just now.” She took a step back and adjusted her tank top. In the shadows he could see goose bumps on her tan arms. “Remember this . . . when you lie to yourself about your girl back home.”
With that she turned and left him standing alone in the hall. Zack’s heart pounded in his chest. Slowly, he sank to the floor, his back against the wall in every possible way. What had he done?
He pressed his fists to his eyes, furious with himself. She was pretty, yes. But he was in love with Reese. How could he have let that happen? And how could he call Reese now and tell her a
bout his night? Father, I failed her and I failed You. I failed my family and everyone pulling for me back home. How can I even stand after this? The prayer felt strangely foreign and he realized something else. He hadn’t talked to God all night. Not once until now. He thought about his next move. Maybe he should go back in the room, find William Gaines and quit. Tell him the show officially had one less contestant. It wasn’t worth losing himself.
Lord, help me . . . I don’t know what to do.
Fear—pure, unfiltered fear—ran through his veins. They still had more than two months before the winner would be crowned. If this could happen in two weeks, who would he be when the season ended? For ten minutes Zack stayed there, his head pressed against his fists, trying to find the courage to quit.
But gradually an answer took shape in his heart.
He’d messed up, yes. But everyone messed up at one time or another. He couldn’t be so hard on himself. He’d kissed Zoey, but only for a few seconds. It wouldn’t happen again. He would apologize to her the next time they were alone and then he’d do what he should’ve done from the beginning. He would have that talk he’d promised her. The one about Jesus.
And when he talked to Reese in person next, he’d tell her what happened. She deserved to know. He would apologize and explain how the moment had gotten away from him, how he hadn’t kept boundaries in place and how he’d learned from the situation. Yes, that’s what he would do. That way he could stay on the show. He would just be more careful with his heart and emotions. His promise to Reese and Grandpa Dan would remain intact.
Everything would be okay.
CHANDRA OLSON PRIDED herself on watching, studying people. Even trapped by fame, she remained a student of life and love. She saw things other people missed. So when Zack and Zoey slipped into the hallway a few minutes after the season premiere ended, Chandra noticed.
She saw them leave and she saw something else—something neither Zoey nor Zack could have noticed. The cameraman who followed them through a distant door at the back of the room.
Fifteen Minutes: A Novel Page 16