... not in love with Kale Eddison

by Joanne McClean

  Kale looked at her with a distressed look, “Izzie I’m really sorry. I didn’t know they’d be waiting to ambush but I should’ve figured they’d be waiting for the opportune moment.”

  Izzie looked at him sympathetically, “Hey, you didn’t know. Anyway, they’ve got their story so they’ll leave you alone for another bit.”

  Kale laughed, “Yeah, I sure hope so. Thanks for being so cool about this. I just want to warn you that your picture will probably be in the paper, as will some ridiculous story no doubt.”

  Izzie laughed, “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it. Now, where are we going for dinner?”

  Kale smiled, “Jeez, after all that I’m shocked you haven’t changed your mind.”

  Izzie rolled her eyes, “Um, I’m not about to pass up a free meal, that’s for sure.”

  Kale chuckled, “Ok, you wanna go now? I know it’s a little early but I’m kind of hungry.”

  Izzie nodded, “Ok, I could eat too; how about ‘Soda Joe’s’ – it’s usually quiet around this time and it’s an American diner; it’ll make you feel at home, yeah?”

  Kale raised his eyebrows, “You know I am British really, my parents just moved to America when I was two. But hey, it sounds great … you wanna take my car?”

  Izzie debated with herself and decided to take him up on his offer; it would be nice not to drive for once. “Sure, as long as you leave me back here so I can get home.”

  Kale nodded, “No problem, come on then.”

  The waitress had just served them their dessert and Izzie found that she was actually quite enjoying herself. Kale was really nothing like she had pictured him; the more she got to know him, the more he surprised her; in a good way.

  “So,” Izzie began, licking some chocolate off her spoon, “why did you really decide to finish your last year at Hartside? I mean, not that Hartside’s a bad school – ‘cause it isn’t – but why not just finish getting tutored? Come on, making films can’t be that bad.”

  Kale sighed, “No, they’re not; I love making movies but I was just fed up of not having a normal day where I did normal things. I mean, most days I’d be on the set for hours and if I wasn’t, I was studying with my tutor and then there are the press conferences, paparazzi, award shows … I think you see where I’m going with this – I just wanted that all to stop for a second and just be me; normal high school student.”

  Izzie nodded, “Yeah, I get all that but you seem to forget something; you’re not normal! Come on, you’re Kale Eddison … you’re a big famous film star! Your life will never be normal so you should just enjoy it. Believe me, having a normal life like mine is not that exciting; I’d kill for a bit of disruption in my everyday boring life.”

  She shook her head at Kale; she really couldn’t believe he’d want a normal life – it certainly wasn’t much fun.

  Kale laughed at her over-the-top reaction, “Izzie, you really make me laugh. You do make a fair point; most people would kill to be in my shoes but they’ve never experienced it firsthand. Yes there are good things but there are not so good things about it too.”

  Izzie shrugged, “Guess nobody’s ever really happy then; the famous want to be unknown and the unknown want to be famous … it really is a mad world.” She laughed and finished off the last piece of her chocolate fudge cake. “Phew,” she added, “good thing I’m not an actress otherwise I shouldn’t have eaten that!”

  Kale smiled at her fondly, “You don’t know how rare it is for me to see a girl eat some chocolate – I find it quite nice; there’s nothing worse than sitting through a date where the girl picks through a salad.”

  Izzie grinned, “Guess you date a lot of stick models then? I tell you one thing … I couldn’t cut it as an actress or model; I’m in the minority that believe it’s actually vital that you eat!” She laughed and Kale chuckled also.

  “Seriously though,” Kale began, his face turning quite sincere-looking, “I’ve only dated the one model and she wasn’t very sociable and as for co-stars – don’t get me started!”

  Izzie half-smiled at him; by the look on his face, it was quite clear that he was telling the truth and, to be honest, she was quite shocked. “You mean to say that you’ve only dated a few people? I thought it was nearly the entire female population!” She chuckled and saw Kale was laughing too.

  Kale smiled at her surprised expression, “Yeah, you shouldn’t believe everything in the papers. They all make me out to be some sort of play-boy but I’m not – sure, I like to have a good time but there’s a difference between enjoying yourself and being a player – they just neglect to mention that part.”

  Izzie didn’t say anything; she actually felt quite guilty because that’s what she had believed about him. Although, she couldn’t help but think that, as an actor; he could be acting right now. Izzie wasn’t sure what to think so she thought it best to proceed with caution; she decided to change the subject, “So, looking forward to the play? I have no idea how I’m going to cope playing such a prominent character; I mean, the dislike I’ll have to show towards you should be no problem since it won’t be acting but everything else, I don’t know …” she trailed off and flashed him a wicked grin.

  Kale smiled, “You’re a very funny girl; you know that? I’m sure you’ll do brilliantly.”

  “Aw thanks, I’m sure you will too – you know – for an actor!” she smiled at him again and he had to laugh; she really was great to be around.

  “Right,” Kale said, pushing his messy sandy hair out of his baby blue eyes as he checked his watch, “it’s almost six … I’d better leave you to get your car; we both have homework to do.”

  Izzie nodded and grabbed her bag, “Ready when you are.” She stood up as Kale went over to pay the bill and they walked out of the diner together, laughing about poor old Ms Belson’s obvious obsession with Kale. Kale drove back to the school car park and Izzie got out to go over to her car.

  “Hey!” Kale called after her, “I had a really nice time tonight; I’ll see you in school tomorrow … talk to you later.”

  Izzie nodded and waved him off as she started her car and then drove home. Overall, dinner hadn’t been too terrible but one thing was for sure; Kale was definitely a charmer but Izzie was determined she would be one girl that wouldn’t succumb to his friendly advances – film star or not, he was still an ordinary bloke to her.

  Chapter Eight

  Izzie woke up the following morning and smiled to herself when she realised it was Friday; the start of the weekend – total bliss! She felt today was going to be a good one and she was feeling extremely happy but she didn’t really know why. She got dressed and made her way to the kitchen; her mother was in the kitchen with her grandmother and they were both looking at a newspaper.

  “Hey guys, what’s up? Did something interesting happen?” Izzie eyed them both curiously; they were both wearing very sombre expressions.

  Her mother glanced up and quickly hitched a smile on her face; “Hey honey, nothing’s up. Do you want some coffee? I’ll make some coffee.” Izzie watched puzzled, as her mother frantically flitted about the kitchen and her grandmother tried to shove the paper hastily out of sight. Izzie was no fool; they were both hiding something.

  “Why are you both acting weird? What’s in the paper that you don’t want me to see?” she frowned at them and then held her hand out for the newspaper.

  Her grandmother reluctantly passed it to her and sighed, “You’ll find out sooner or later.”

  Izzie opened out the newspaper to the front page and was shocked to find her own face there, “What the hell is going on?” She stared at the picture and then noticed the headline, ‘Kale’s Mystery Girl Revealed!’ Furious, she frantically turned to page 5 and began to read.

  ‘Teenage girls all over the world will be devastated! It is with great sadness that our reporter must announce to the world that the one and only, Hollywood Golden Boy, Kale Eddison has found himself a girlfriend. Yes girls, it appears our Kale has finally settle
d down and with the daughter of a book shop owner no less! Last night, our reporter followed young Mr Eddison and our mystery girl and can exclusively reveal that the young pair dined together at the local ‘Soda Joe’s’ – an American-inspired diner – and eyewitnesses told our reporter that the couple looked very cosy indeed! One eyewitness, a Mr Brady, informed our reporter that “that famous young bloke and red-headed girl” enjoyed a rather romantic meal and that they “seemed to be having a good time since they were laughing and joking” throughout their meal. Indeed, another – known only as Ms C – confirmed Mr Brady’s observations and added that Kale was a “proper gent” in that he “paid for the bill and everything!” So, after further investigation, our reporter found out the identity of this young red-haired female and can reveal it is Isobel – Izzie – Frank, daughter of Isaac Frank, owner of local bookshop, ‘Page-Turner’. This rather ordinary girl has appeared to capture the heart of Kale and doesn’t seem to realise it. An interview with a reliable source – a close personal friend of Miss Frank’s – revealed that Kale seems besotted with Isobel but Miss Frank is rumoured to be less than fond of our Kale. In fact, the source exclusively revealed that Miss Frank once called Kale “egotistic” and believes that he’s “not that great of an actor” – an opinion that may or may not have changed. Furthermore, this source revealed that Miss Frank may be only using our Kale to help ensnare another young lad – Jake Greenberg. It has been confirmed that these three are involved in a school production of Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ and it is rumoured that young Isobel believes her close relationship with Kale will help her capture the heart of her true target – Mr Greenberg. However, the date these two shared last night and the eyewitness accounts from the other diners seem to suggest otherwise – as do our reporter’s photographs included in this article. Perhaps Miss Frank is playing with Kale’s heart in this rumoured love triangle – one sure to be even more complicated after today – or maybe our young hero has indeed succeeded in winning over Miss Frank. Whatever the truth is and whether our young lovers are involved with each other or not – the question on everyone’s lips is sure to be “What does Kale Eddison see in a girl like Isobel Frank?”’

  Izzie glanced at the next page to look at the photographs; she didn’t even notice a reporter or photographer last night – and she sure as hell didn’t think Kale did either. One picture was of her and Kale laughing over dinner and the other was a class group photograph (she was ringed with a circle) from last year; every pupil had received one – that meant that someone from Hartside had leaked it to the press but Izzie didn’t know who. When she had finished looking at the article she raised her eyes to meet her mother’s and grandmother’s; they had been looking at her anxiously throughout.

  “Well, whoever this ‘close, personal friend’ of mine is had better watch out. I can’t believe this is happening … school’s gonna be fun today!” Izzie sighed and rubbed her face wearily; maybe she’d wake up and find it was all a dream! Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed her grandmother was patiently waiting to ask her something.

  “Shoot Gran, I know you’re dying to ask something.”

  Her grandmother smiled guiltily, “Oh alright dear, are you really dating young Kale or not?”

  Izzie shook her head in disbelief, “Gran, did you not listen to me in the cinema the other night? I’m not dating him; I can barely stand him at times! And before you ask, I was out for dinner with him because we both bet on something and he lost; the condition was that loser bought dinner … that’s it.”

  Her grandmother raised an eyebrow at her but didn’t say anything and Izzie noticed her mother remained quiet too. She needed to get out of the house; she grabbed her car keys and made her way to the front door where she was bombarded by around thirty reporters – she hadn’t even heard the commotion whilst inside the house!

  Izzie pushed her way through them and managed to get inside her car; she saw her mother shout at them to leave and motion for Izzie to quickly escape. She did so and saw the reporters all get in their vans and cars and start to follow her. She felt like cursing Kale up and down; this was all his fault and it was all over nothing!

  Izzie pulled up to the school and noticed Kale was surrounded by reporters too; the ones that were following Izzie had also started to get out of their cars and run over to Kale while a few encircled her car.

  She took out her phone and was about to text Maddie for help when Kale made a run for it; he sprinted across the car park towards her car and quickly motioned for her to open the passenger side door. Izzie did and as soon as Kale had bolted inside, she locked the doors again.

  “What the hell Kale? What was the point in that? Now the both of us are just going to be stuck here instead of just me! You know, next time, a little heads up would be nice! I had to push through dozens of reporters at my own house just to get to my car, I mean what the hell are we gonna do now?” Izzie was furious and breathed heavily after she had finished her rant. Kale had decided to let her blow off some steam before he spoke; good thing he did – it looked like Izzie was ready to hit him!

  “Izzie,” he began apologetically, “I’m really, really sorry. To be fair I did warn you that something like this would happen but I didn’t know there was a reporter following us last night and I had no clue that they’d turn up at your house – I don’t know what to do. My assistant, Alicia, is going to try and do some damage control but there’s not much else we can do I’m afraid.”

  Izzie glared at him furiously, “What do you mean ‘not much else’? How are we going to get into school? I’m telling you now, you see if I find out that this was all some elaborate plot to get your name in the papers so you would get more attention for your upcoming film – I swear to God, I will kill you.”

  Kale looked shocked, “What? How can you even think that? A better question would be which one of your ‘close, personal’ friends talked and gave them some juicy ammunition which paints me as some pathetic loser?” He was fuming that Izzie was pinning all the blame on him.

  Izzie couldn’t help but be riled at his accusations, “Really Kale? That’s such a low blow; you’re only really worried about how you are seen? What about me? I’m made out to be some heartless, game-playing bitch! You’re not the one being presented as a scheming and cold-hearted cow, are you?” Izzie took deep breaths to try and calm herself down as she looked around at the reporters taking pictures from outside her car; no doubt they had both given them a follow-up story for tomorrow’s newspaper. She could just see the headline now; ‘Kale and Girlfriend in Lover’s Tiff!’

  Kale noticed her gaze, “Perhaps we should continue this little discussion somewhere else where reporters won’t be able to cook up another completely false story?”

  Izzie had to admit that he was talking sense so she nodded her head, “Ok, hang on, I’ll try and get out of here.” She started the engine and several of the reporters backed off; she put the car in reverse and took them all by surprise when she shot backwards. Before they had time to congregate around the car again, Izzie had put the car in first gear and took off out into the main road.

  Kale looked over at her in disbelief, “I can’t believe you just did that! We’ll not lose them for long though.”

  Izzie nodded, “I know, but it’s a start. So, where were we? Ah yes, I was emphasising how I’m portrayed as the villain in this piece. Anything you’d like to say?” She eyed him meaningfully.

  “Ok, how many times must I apologise? I’m sorry,” Kale let out an exasperated sigh and then turned very serious, “really, I am sorry and I’m sorry about you being made to look bad in this whole mess.”

  “Yeah,” Izzie agreed, “you should be! But for now let’s worry about how we’re gonna get into school undetected. Do you’ve any ideas?”

  Kale shrugged, “Don’t think we’ll be going to school today. I know the media and they’re gonna be chasing us for the rest of the day … trust me!”

  Izzie scoffed, “Funny
that, I did and look how that turned out! So what the hell are we supposed to do then? I certainly don’t wanna be stuck with you for the rest of today.”

  “Do you really detest me that much?” asked Kale incredulously as he gazed at Izzie with a hurt look on his face.

  “Right now … yeah I do but ask me tomorrow and – no, the answer would still be the same.” She frowned at him but couldn’t help but smile a little too.

  Kale smirked, knowing she was half-serious, “Guess I can live with that, now what you wanna do?”

  Izzie glanced at her rear-view mirror, “Well since there are still reporters following us, I suggest we go somewhere where they can’t. You have any ideas?”

  Kale nodded, “Ok, we’ll just have to shake them off first but I think we could maybe head to a private spot near my house; it’s in the country so it’ll take them a while to find us.”

  Izzie was hesitant; the last thing she wanted was to be alone with Kale but she was out of options; she’d just have to grin and bear it no matter how much he irritated her.

  “Fine but you’d better direct me – and fast – because I don’t want my picture to end up in tomorrow’s newspaper.” She sighed at the five or six vans and cars following them and followed Kale’s first instruction.

  Half an hour later and Izzie was reclining back in an armchair in Kale’s secret hideout; they had managed to lose the reporters and ended up near Kale’s house. He had then directed her to a little building that was located near the field beside his house. There was a heavily wooded area at one side of the field and this is where the building was; it was hidden by the mass of trees which was perfect to hide from anyone; the outside the building just looked like an old storage area. Izzie had been unsure when she laid eyes on the building as she didn’t imagine that it would be a comfortable place to spend the rest of the day. She had been pleasantly surprised to then discover that inside it was more of a den; there was a sofa and armchairs, a fridge full of drinks and snacks and shelves lined with books. Izzie had looked around her in amazement but she was even more surprised to find that there weren’t any TV’s or games consoles; she had expected Kale to be one of those guys who could be glued to ‘Halo’ for hours on end. When she had voiced this observation, Kale had simply told her, “I come here to read scripts or to chill out and just relax … oh and FYI I can’t stand computer games hence the books.”