... not in love with Kale Eddison
Joanne McClean
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
Published by Joanne McClean at Smashwords
Copyright © Joanne McClean 2010
Discover other titles by Joanne McClean at Smashwords.com
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Ok, before I get to all the thanks for those important people, I just want to say that this book is dedicated to my Granny Dunn … she inspired one of the characters in this book and even though she is gone, she is not forgotten and is still missed … everyday of my life.
Ok, where to start? Thank you Mum and Dad … I got my creativity from somewhere in the genes, so thanks for being the reason that my head is constantly buzzing with new ideas.
Thanks Paula, without you to correct the grammar and punctuation etc. etc. I’d be totally lost! Also, for a being a pain in the ass and always asking me how my next idea is coming along … it makes me even more determined to see it through!
Caroline, thanks for all the encouragement and support you have given me when I have been ready to give up … and also for continuing to want to read my drivel!
Allison, thanks for being you … I find a lot of my characters’ traits being based on you! Also, thanks for having an influence on my sense of humour … I do try my best when writing!
A few other mentions … Rylee my adorable wee nephew, Richard – my great brother-in-law and Barry – my future brother-in-law … you probably don’t realise it but you have the power to give me a little ego-boost when I need it most! Ok, and last but not least … all those family and friends that have supported me from my first novel … you all inspire me to keep going.
And finally, again, thanks to you for choosing this book … I hope you like it!
Foreword
Meet Izzie Frank; seventeen years old, typical high school pupil who juggles schoolwork with a part-time job and detests people who get it too easy in life, daughter to housewife Maggie and shop-owner Isaac Frank and granddaughter to Charlotte Frank – Granny Frank; who to quote is ‘Frank by name, Frank by nature’.
Now meet Kale Eddison; eighteen years old, actor who has never been to high school in his life, son to singer Olivia Benson and director Victor Eddison and has been earning millions since he was three years old; he has everything he ever wanted … and at the same time, he doesn’t.
What do you think happens when these two meet and their worlds collide?
Chapter One
“Dad, how can you expect me to get good A-Level grades when you want me to work practically every hour in the day?” Izzie Frank was pissed off; her shoulder-length red hair was sticking up all over the place – no doubt from all the frustrated tugging – and her normally pale face was very red; her green eyes narrowed in a bad temper.
“Honey, I just need an extra hand ‘cause Seth called in sick – that too much to ask?” Isaac shook his head at his daughter; he really did admire her fiery temper at times – just not now.
Izzie stormed off and began stacking the shelves with the new order of books that had just arrived. She was in a really bad mood; she knew she shouldn’t take it out on her father but she felt like if she didn’t vent her anger, she’d explode. Izzie just couldn’t believe the nerve Stacey Johnson had at school today; how dare she say that Izzie’s ideas on the upcoming Formal were useless – and especially in front of Jake Greenberg! She was furious when Stacey had announced this at the Committee meeting earlier this afternoon; she had made her look really stupid in front of Jake – the school hottie, of all people! Izzie shook her head to clear her thoughts and resumed stacking the shelf marked ‘K – M’.
After all the new books had been put in their rightful place, Izzie took over at the till. She looked at her watch 5.30pm, another half hour and then she would be free to do whatever she wanted. She smiled to herself and grinned even more broadly when the bell above the door tinkled announcing the arrival of a new costumer … in the form of Jake. Izzie wiped the loony smile off her face and tried to look like she actually was sane. Jake meandered around the stacks of books and Izzie watched him make his way to the ‘Teenage’ section – she was very shocked at this; surely a guy who had turned eighteen over the summer didn’t read those childish books? There were all aimed at readers whose average age was fourteen.
Jake selected one and made his way up to Izzie, his wallet in hand. Izzie smiled at him politely while she noticed the juvenile comic book in his hand; she didn’t know if she should think that was sweet or really worrying. She settled for an uninterested look and scanned the book through the till.
“That’ll be five pounds please.”
Jake riffled through the wad of notes, extracted a ten pound note and handed it to Izzie with a look of recognition on his face.
“Hey, you’re Isobel aren’t you?” he smiled at her briefly as she nodded.
“Yeah, it’s Izzie. Um, here’s your change.” she handed him the money and he looked at her intently again.
“You were at the meeting today weren’t you? You had all those ideas, right?”
“Yeah but Stacey wasn’t shy about letting me know she hated them. Why, what did you think?” she smiled at him and he looked taken aback.
“Oh well, we all have to agree in the end, don’t we?” he avoided her eye and looked uncomfortable.
Izzie was confused, he really was very hard to understand; one minute he was interested and the next he couldn’t get away fast enough. “Yeah, I suppose so …”
“Well, I gotta go, see ya.” Jake hurriedly left the shop, leaving Izzie feeling really puzzled.
After work, Izzie left the shop with her father and he dropped her off at the local café. She waved him off and ran inside to meet to her best friend, Madison Herring – Maddie. Izzie shook the rain from her hair and sat down opposite her friend.
“You will never guess who was in the shop just now.” Izzie told Maddie very dramatically.
“Who?” Maddie asked, tucking her long, curly black hair behind her ear and listening intently.
“Jake Greenberg.” Izzie beamed but Maddie gave her friend a disapproving look.
“So? You really still hung up on him? He’s the school hottie Iz … and he doesn’t even pay you attention. Why do you waste your time?”
Izzie felt hurt at her words but she couldn’t deny they were true; it was as if she didn’t exist to him – in fact, she had been very surprised he had known her name earlier. She shrugged it off as she noticed the magazine Maddie had been reading, ‘Teen Weekly’. It was Izzie’s turn to give her friend a disapproving look. She lifted the magazine and waved it at Maddie, “Speaking of wasting time … why were you reading this rubbish?”
Maddie rolled her eyes, “It’s not a crime, besides it was already here … I was passing time until you arrived.”
Izzie raised her eyebrows, “Uh huh, so the fact that there’s Kale Eddison on the cover with an exclusive interview has nothing to do with it?”
Maddie blushed and shook her head ferociously, “No! I – there – ok yeah, I was readin
g it because of him.” she admitted reluctantly.
Izzie laughed, “I knew it! Why do you follow this guy obsessively? I mean anything with his face, you buy it! You don’t even know him, he’s a world famous actor … come on, the odds that you would meet him are slim to none.”
Maddie nodded, “I know, I know but come on, how can you resist those baby blues and messy sandy hair, not to mention that tall, tanned and toned physique?” She sighed and there was a dreamy look on her face.
Izzie rolled her eyes, “Yeah, like he’s even like that in reality. He’s probably airbrushed and told what to say … besides, he can’t even act that well.”
Maddie looked scandalised, “Hold your tongue Ms Frank! Let’s just forget the ‘boy talk’ and get down to ‘Mr Rowntree’s English essay talk’, huh?”
Izzie agreed, “Fine, fine. What you got?”
After the girls had traded pointers for their essays, Maddie drove Izzie home; the rain was very heavy now.
“See you at school,” Izzie shouted back at the car as she ran inside the house. She took off her soaking coat and walked by the living room; her parents sat watching T.V. along with her grandmother.
“Hey guys, hey Gran, I’m going for a shower and then bed - so goodnight.” They all nodded their heads in acknowledgement; too engrossed in the programme to say anything. Izzie sighed and made her way upstairs to the bathroom, she thought about what Maddie had said about Jake; she was right, she really needed to get over him. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts and once she had put her damp clothes into the laundry basket, she jumped into the shower.
When she had changed into her pyjamas, Izzie sat at her computer and checked her emails. She shot down a couple of pop-ups after seeing Kale Eddison’s face with a dramatic headline one too many times and wearily clicked open an email from Stacey; it was what she had been dreading.
Stacey had emailed her with a list of demands and tasks for the Formal; they ranged from small ones like - ‘make sure the balloons are delivered on that morning’ - to much bigger ones like; ‘book the band!’
That last one was going to be a bit of a problem; the band that everyone had finally agreed on had set a deadline – because there was such a long waiting list, they needed to have booked them by last Friday … and today was Tuesday! Izzie rubbed her eyes wearily and yawned; she would have to figure something out later, at least she had a good eight months to do something. Sighing, she turned off her computer and got into bed; maybe everything would be solved by the morning.
The next morning, Izzie got up and after getting dressed; she made her way to the kitchen and made some coffee for herself. She yawned and poured out a second cup when she heard the familiar shuffle of her grandmother’s slippers.
“Hey Gran, want some coffee?” Izzie handed her the cup and smiled at Granny Frank; she was dressed in her finery; navy linen trousers and a long-sleeved pale pink blouse and her white hair was curled to perfection.
Her grandmother took the cup gratefully and smiled, “Is that a rhetorical question? You look tired, you ok?”
Izzie stifled a yawn, “Yep, just school and planning the formal and stuff.”
Granny Frank smiled, “Ok, but isn’t that way in May? All I’m saying is don’t push yourself too hard. See you later dear.”
Izzie nodded, “I know, and yeah it is but they like to plan these things way in advance! I’ll see you later.” She made her way to her car and she pulled up outside Hartside High a little while later. Maddie was waiting for her by the locker and she looked very happy about something. Izzie strolled up to her and began to pack her bag.
“What are you looking so chipper about?” Izzie studied her friend’s face carefully.
Maddie grinned widely, “Didn’t you hear? Oh my God it’s so exciting! Kale Eddison wants to finish his final year of education in an actual school … what if it’s ours?”
Izzie rolled her eyes, “Come on Maddie, there’s like hundreds of schools … what makes you think he would come to ours?”
Maddie looked at her dazedly, “You never know, it could happen.”
“Yeah, don’t count on it, come on, we’ll be late for class.” Izzie shut her locker and made her way along the corridor.
Chapter Two
“Come on honey, why do you want to go to high school when you can finish out your final year with your private tutor. It won’t interrupt your filming or anything and there won’t be the paparazzi following your every move. Think about it Kale.” Olivia pleaded with her son, trying to make him see sense.
“Mother, I want to do this; I’ve never had a shred of normalcy in my life. Please let me have one year of a normal high school experience. Let me do this.” Kale gave his mother a serious look; he wanted this more than anything in the world. He was fed up of making fluffy films, fed up of being constantly under the watch of photographers; he wanted to go to an actual school.
Olivia gave a defeated sigh, “Ok but I still don’t get why you want you to do this, when the paparazzi find out they’ll be all over this. You know that right?”
Kale nodded, “Yeah but I’ll comply; I’ll even tell them where it is I’m attending. They’ll get their scoop and then they’ll give up eventually; they always do. It’s not like I’ll be doing anything remotely newsworthy other than going to high school – what’s so exciting about that?”
Olivia looked at her son carefully, “Ok, you’re eighteen – an adult – I guess you can do what you want. Now, where have you decided on?”
Kale grinned, “Hartside High, it’s about twenty minutes from the house we have in Ireland and I start on Friday.”
Olivia nearly choked, “What? That gives us today to pack and then we have to travel over there! Are you really sure about this?”
Kale looked at his mother sheepishly, “Yeah, that’s the thing, I want to do this on my own. Besides, I know you and Dad have to stay here in America – your work is here. I was hoping that you’d let me go on my own.”
Olivia was ready to have a coronary now, “What? You, on your own … are you crazy? You’re eighteen years old, you can’t look after yourself.”
Kale scoffed, “Come on, you just said I was an adult … time to start treating me like one.”
Olivia mulled this over, “Ok, one condition though …”
“Name it.” Kale grinned at his mother.
“Your assistant goes with you, when the paparazzi get all over this; you’ll need someone to help, agreed?”
Kale nodded, “Done but as long as she stays at home and doesn’t attend with me.”
Olivia pondered this for a moment, “Fine, I’ll tell Alicia to make arrangements so that you’ll not be hounded by journalists when you arrive at the school but she’s not to attend with you – happy?”
Kale grinned, “Yep, I suppose I better go and pack then.” He smiled to himself and started making plans to pack and arrange his arrival into Ireland.
Chapter Three
Izzie woke up on Thursday morning with a headache; Maddie had called her last night and squealed loudly down the phone until Izzie had pleaded with her to shut up and tell her what was wrong.
“Maddie, what the heck is wrong?” Izzie had asked her, very annoyed at her friend for being so loud.
“Oh my God, Izzie! Oh my God! I can’t believe it … I still can’t take it in. You will never guess what I have just found out?” Maddie had babbled down the phone.
Izzie had yawned; it had been very late and she hadn’t had the time or patience to play games. “What … how to deafen your friend in one-easy step?”
Maddie had sighed, “Very funny … this is no time for your sarcasm Ms Frank – Kale Eddison is coming to our school!”
“What do you mean he’s coming to our school? For what … to make a speech – teach drama … what? Just tell me, even though I don’t really care … as long as it will stop you from squealing again.”
Maddie had gotten very hysterical then, “He’s joining our sch
ool!”
Izzie had snapped out of her sleepy daze at those particular words, “What? Why? Oh for the love of God – ours? Why?”
Maddie had sounded angry, “Izzie, we are so lucky! Out of all the schools in the world … he picked ours. Who knew – Kale Eddison attending Hartside High!”
Izzie had then listened to her friend drone on for ages until she finally told Maddie she needed to sleep.
Today, however, Izzie’s headache was a reminder of the day ahead … and the events that would come to pass. She groaned and seriously considered skipping school altogether but she knew she had to go; she needed to – if she wanted to pass her A-Levels. Izzie got up and headed to the bathroom; she looked at her reflection in the mirror above the sink, she noted the bags under her eyes and made a mental note to kill Maddie later. After she had dressed and ate some breakfast, she made her way to school; she knew it would be mental today – Kale’s arrival tomorrow meant that everyone was going to be going bananas about everything; making sure the school was clean, making sure everybody was welcoming etc. etc. She rolled her eyes as she passed a group of fellow students gossiping madly and wondering if they should take extra care getting ready tomorrow morning in case they were photographed by the paparazzi.
Maddie was waiting by the lockers as usual but Izzie noticed that she seemed more alert than any other morning.
“So, let me guess … you didn’t sleep at all last night, did you? You were so excited you couldn’t fall asleep and you’ve had like eight cups of coffee this morning to stop you from falling asleep during class … am I right?”
... not in love with Kale Eddison Page 1