Georgetown Academy 1 and 2

by Jessica Etting

  “We have to seriously sell this thing tonight,” Luke said to Evan, as he carefully curled her hair in her tiny pink- and white-tiled bathroom. Evan had told him she was worried Samantha hadn’t totally bought the story. “We need photos, we need people to be talking about it, we need to make it feel real.”

  “I know,” Evan replied shortly, not meeting eyes with her reflection in the mirror. “I get it.” Luke was silent for a beat.

  “Evs, please don’t be mad at me,” he pleaded. Not only had Evan lost Samantha’s good favor, but she had also filled Luke in on her amazing kiss with Hunter…and the not-so-amazing conversation they ended up having after. “I feel really bad about the whole Hunter thing.”

  “I’m not mad.” Evan paused for a beat, then added, truthfully, “I’m just frustrated with everything.”

  “Well, you know what I was thinking…” Luke said, “This doesn’t have to be forever.” Evan caught his eye in the mirror.

  “We can just do it for a month. We’ll ride it out, become Georgetown Academy’s hottest couple, get your crazy boss off my back, deflate any rumors and then we can pretend to break up amicably.” Luke grabbed another section of hair and wrapped it around the iron as Evan contemplated this. It might work, especially if they could preemptively squash the buzz around the story in case another news outlet was planning on broadcasting it.

  “If anything, being forced to wait for you is going to make McKnightus want you more,” he said authoritatively. “If he likes you now, he’ll like you a month from now.” Evan found that hard to believe, but then again, Luke was usually right about these kinds of guy things, whereas Evan had no clue. Though how she would reconcile all that with Ellie was another story.

  “Maybe…” Evan replied. She caught his eye, as he released a curl, sending it bouncing down to her shoulder. “This is looking great, by the way,” she said.

  “Yeah, well, this is the gayest thing I’ve ever done. I think it’s even gayer than actually kissing a guy,” Luke said with a smile.

  “You’re a natural at it, though.”

  “And those right-wing conservatives say it’s not genetic.”

  Luke put down the curling iron and looked over her hair, satisfied.

  “Let’s let that fall out a little, we’ve got to move on to wardrobe.”

  He walked out of the bathroom to the tiny closet in the corner of Evan’s room, swinging open the doors and sifting through the paltry collection.

  “This is the one I was thinking,” Luke said, as he grabbed a black and fuchsia sequined dress off the rack. “It’s sequined and sparkly. Totally in theme.”

  Evan shook her head. “No way. That was my flapper costume from seventh grade Halloween. It’s going to be way too short now.”

  Luke raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t say being my girlfriend was going to be easy.”

  Evan took a deep breath, then grabbed the dress from him.

  As she shut herself in the bathroom to slip it on, she couldn’t help but wonder what Hunter would think if he saw her in a dress like this. Would he like it? Not that it mattered, but still…

  Evan zipped up the dress and glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She looked like a completely different person. A kind of hot person. She opened the door and Luke whistled. “You look shamazing.”

  “Shamazing?” Evan laughed.

  “Yeah, it’s new. I’m just trying it out.” Luke then pulled out a pair of five inch Louboutins from his backpack.

  “Cross dressing now, too?” Evan teased.

  “I’m not that gay.”

  “You just said shamazing.”

  “Touché. Consider that word officially retired.” He held up the Louboutins. “And I stole these bad boys from my mom’s closet. You’re wearing them tonight.”

  Evan’s eyes widened. “I won’t be able to walk.”

  Luke smirked. “Well, think about it this way. If you trip, at least you’ll look sexy falling into my arms. Hopefully someone will take a picture of it.”

  Moments later, Luke, now outfitted in a stylish Hugo Boss navy tuxedo, and Evan, hobbling in her new heels, made their way down the narrow staircase of Evan’s townhouse. Her parents waited at the base of the steps, cameras in hand.

  “You guys look stunning!” her mom exclaimed, already clicking pictures, her frizzy hair springing up from behind the lens.

  “It was all Luke,” Evan said generously.

  Since her parents were well aware of the fact that Luke was gay, they also knew the truth behind Luke and Evan’s recent pairing. But that didn’t stop them from being excited and taking what seemed like a million photos of Evan’s big date night out. So pathetic, Evan realized. Her first time ever attending an event like this and she was going with her gay best friend turned fake boyfriend.

  “Don’t worry,” Luke said to Evan’s father. “I’ll take good care of her.” He was clearly enjoying getting into his role.

  “Let’s go,” Evan said. Her feet were already killing her and they hadn’t even left the house.

  Luke took a moment to check all the photos on her mother’s camera and delete the ones she had taken from his “bad side” before finally turning to Evan with an outstretched arm.

  “All right, sweets. Time to really sell this.”

  Evan took a deep breath.

  “Let’s do it, babe.”

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  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Friday, 5:46pm.

  Ellie was lying on her bed in her favorite tattered Washington Redskins T-shirt and comfy gray sweatpants, stress eating her favorite combo of salted popcorn and peanut M&M’s. The Thakoon silver sequined dress she had bought for Follow the Stars months ago hung on her closet door uselessly. After the guilt-inducing conversation with her mother and the stinging rejection from Gabe, she had lost all desire to go to the event stag with Brinley.

  Now safely enmeshed in the cocoon of her bedroom, it was obvious how stupid it was of her to think she could get what she needed from Gabe. She had gone there in a moment of pure weakness, hoping to shut everything out, but he had refused, and in the process, made everything worse. He was the opposite of Hunter, who always used to make her feel better when she had a problem. Hunter, who had never returned her email. Who she had just tossed aside like a complete idiot.

  Her eyes settled on a framed picture on her desk of the two of them from last year’s Follow the Stars. Ellie, in a long midnight blue, shimmery backless dress, was laughing as Hunter kissed her neck.

  Ellie stared at the girl in the photo, barely recognizing her. The carefree look on her face, her biggest worry being whether she measured up to the ridiculously hot and sweet guy standing at her side. She wondered if Hunter was planning to go to Follow the Stars with anyone tonight and felt an instant and deep pang of jealousy. Of course he probably was. There were three hundred girls at school probably all fighting for his attention at this very moment. For all she knew, Nora and Liesel were right and he was taking G.A’s new favorite person, Jenny Lim. Another reason not to go tonight. Why force herself to watch that? It would be pure torture.

  Just then, she heard the familiar Skype ringtone coming from her laptop at the foot of the bed. A quick glance revealed it was her father, calling her from the West Coast. Though they had briefly touched base right after the scandal hit, with Ellie assuring him that she was fine, she had been avoiding his calls ever since. She just hadn’t wanted to get into it all. But now, at this point, what else was she doing that was so important?

  She clicked the
green video camera button and seconds later, her dad’s face filled the screen. His green eyes were mirrors of Ellie’s though his skin tone was paler, his face more drawn.

  “Ellie, I’m glad I finally caught you,” he said, in that slightly distracted voice Ellie had grown accustomed to.

  “Yup,” Ellie responded. There was beat of silence, the same awkwardness that had permeated their relationship since he decided to move to Palo Alto two years ago hanging between them. Though Ellie and her father used to be closest allies, sharing in the unique pain and suffering that came with being family members of an extremely busy member of Congress, their bond had dissipated through distance and the sting of bitter words they had exchanged when her father had decided to move away. Ellie had understood her father’s desire to get out of Marilyn’s shadow following the divorce, she just didn’t understand why he needed to move across the country to do it. Two years later, things were slowly improving between them, but it was difficult when they didn’t see each other as much.

  “How is everything going with your mom?”

  Ellie sighed. “Not great. I don’t even blame her, though. It’s completely my fault.”

  “You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself, Elle. I’m worried about you.”

  She suddenly had an intense desire to be in the same room as him so he could hug her and tell her it was all going to be okay.

  Instead, her father sighed. “That’s why I got out of there. I couldn’t stand all that ‘every day is a new scandal’ b.s. Used to drive me crazy.” Ever since the divorce, her father had a habit of turning everything Ellie said into a conversation about himself. Too many years living under the thumb of her mother, Ellie supposed, but that didn’t make it any less frustrating.

  “You know, Elle, you could always move out here if you want to get away from it all,” her dad suddenly offered. “I guarantee you, no one out here cares about ninety-nine percent of the stuff that floats around that school of yours.” Moving to Palo Alto. Escaping from everyone. Ellie had never considered it before, but now it almost sounded like a dream come true.

  “That’s not the worst idea I’ve ever heard,” Ellie said slowly, already wondering how easy it would be to transfer mid-semester. Her mom would be mad, but it’s not like that would be much of a change from how it was right now anyway.

  “Really?” her dad said, his voice excited and hesitant all at the same time. Ellie stopped and wondered how good of an idea this really was.

  “Maybe,” Ellie replied, a little more tentative herself. What would it even be like to live with her dad now? Would they revert back to the easy relationship they used to have? Or was her father permanently changed?

  “Well, you don’t need to decide anything today. See you how you feel in a week or two.”

  Ellie nodded.

  “Love you, kid. Talk to you soon,” her dad said before signing off.

  The clock on Ellie’s computer clicked to 5:55pm. Make a wish, Ellie thought unconsciously, an ingrained habit after all the years in which she and Evan used to make wishes anytime all the numbers on the clock aligned. Ellie hadn’t actually done it in ages. But now, she couldn’t help but indulge herself. If she could wish for anything right now, it would be for everything to go back to the way it was, back when Hunter still loved her and Gabe didn’t live within two thousand miles of her.

  That’s when the doorbell rang.

  Ellie was inclined to ignore it, assuming it was one of the UPS delivery guys who stopped by her house numerous times a day to drop off packages for her mother (who had recently developed a bit of an online shopping habit), but the bell rang again seconds later, more insistently this time. She sighed and heaved herself out of bed.

  “Coming!” she called out as she made her way down the stairs, inwardly cursing the delivery guy for not just leaving the package at the door.

  But when she finally reached the foyer and swung open the door, she found it wasn’t a UPS guy at all. It was Hunter McKnight, looking like a young James Bond, in a perfectly tailored tuxedo, his blue eyes meeting hers immediately. And all she could think was…Had her wish actually just come true?

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  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Friday, 6:01pm.

  Ellie was standing at her front door, still reeling from the turn of events. Just moments ago, she had been moping in her room, longing for everything to go back to the way it was when Hunter still loved her and Gabe didn’t live in D.C., and then suddenly, Hunter had appeared at her doorstep, virtually out of nowhere, wearing a classic tuxedo, looking hotter than she could ever remember.

  “Can I come in?” he now asked her, his dirty blond hair falling perfectly above his eyes.

  “Yeah,” Ellie said, a bit breathlessly, wishing she had at least looked in a mirror before opening the door. What was he doing here? Not that she was upset about it, of course.

  Once inside the foyer, they sat at the base of the staircase. Neither one said anything for a moment.

  “I finally read the email you sent me,” he said and Ellie’s heart immediately soared. “I didn’t look at it all week. I just needed some time, you know? Away.”

  Ellie nodded, too nervous to say anything.

  “And then I finally opened it and…it made me miss you, Elle,” he said simply. His voice was confident, but the vulnerability in his eyes suggested otherwise.

  It was exactly what she had been wanting to hear.

  “I miss you, too, Hunter,” she replied. “So much.”

  He looked at her seriously. “Did you mean everything you wrote in there?”

  “What? That I love you? Yes. Everything.” A slow smile played on Hunter’s lips. She was dying to reach out and grab his hand, but waited, nervous to initiate physical contact first.

  “And I’m sorry for everything that’s happened this week, too,” she added. “You’re so perfect, you would’ve never ended up in the middle of a scandal if it wasn’t for me.”

  A strange look crossed his face, but only for a second. “Elle, I’m not perfect.”

  “Well, I think you are,” Ellie said softly. The energy was building between them…their faces moving closer together, when Hunter stopped himself.

  “I have to be honest about something.”

  Ellie looked up at him. It didn’t sound good.

  “Ellie, yesterday…I kissed someone else.” Jealousy Ellie knew she had no right to feel pulsed through her. “Why are you telling me?”

  “Because I want to get back together and I don’t want any secrets between us if we do.” He wanted her back! The jealousy began to subside instantly. Maybe he had just felt like he needed to even the score somehow before he could take Ellie back.

  “Are you sure?” she asked before practically slapping herself for asking such a stupid question. Way to talk him out of it. But Hunter just smiled.

  “I told you, I miss you. You seem like you genuinely regret everything that happened.” Ellie nodded her head vigorously at that one. “I think you’ve paid more than the price for it this week with everything you’ve been through.” He paused for a second. “It’s actually been pretty rough watching it.”

  Ellie felt tears spring to her eyes. This was the comfort she had been seeking all along. No one was as compassionate as Hunter.

  Without warning, Hunter grabbed her and kissed her. She held on to him tightly, kissing him closely, refusing to let go, vowing to never take him for granted again.

  After a moment, he pulled away with a small smile.

  “What d
o you say you go upstairs and put on that dress that I know you bought six months ago? I’m taking you to Follow the Stars.” And in that instant, it sounded perfect to Ellie. She gave him another kiss and immediately jumped up, wondering how quickly she could get herself ready.

  But as she dashed up the stairs, something occurred to her.

  “Hunter, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but…who was the girl?”

  Hunter hesitated, then replied, “Evan Harnett.”

  ***

  Hunter pulled his BMW X5 into the circular valet at the St. Regis. Not only had the classically opulent hotel hosted several presidents, royalty and celebrities during its long tenure in the city, but it also happened to be where the Follow the Stars event was taking place that evening.

  Hunter exited the car, walking smoothly over to the passenger side and easily leading Ellie out the door with his hand. God, she had missed that. Just twenty minutes ago, she had been wishing for her life to go back to normal and now it might be happening. Minus the Evan drama, of course. Ellie understood why Hunter had kissed her, clearly trying to get even with Ellie in some way. And she knew, after what happened last week, she wasn’t one to talk. She had to accept it. But she couldn’t wait to get her hands on Evan tonight, that two-faced little brat. Ellie had thought they were rekindling their friendship when all the while Evan was sabotaging her behind her back.

  Hunter and Ellie walked arm-in-arm into the magnificent lobby, with its raised ceilings, soft gold beams and dark wood accents.

  “I’m going to have to do the press line, Elle,” Hunter told her, as he led her toward the Astor Ballroom directly off the lobby. Being one of the event chairs for Follow the Stars, it was part of Hunter’s duties to talk to the reporters and get as much media coverage as possible both for the event and the charity it supported, the Make-A-Wish foundation. Hunter had a second cousin who had almost died of leukemia when he was little, so this cause touched home for him.