Behind the Scenes

by Dahlia Adler

  “From me, there’s no praise higher,” Liam replied with a smile. “Actually looking forward to going to work because I know you’ll be there? Having someone talk to me about things that have nothing to do with TV or whether I should say ‘guys’ or ‘bros’ in the cafeteria scene? Being able to say I want to prepare myself for the possibility of going to college one day and not having someone respond ‘ugh, why?’ These things are totally priceless.”

  He freed his hand to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, lingering for a brief, delicate moment on the thin silver hoop that pierced my cartilage. “And I like that you try to push me to be my best self,” he added, his voice softening. “You can be maddening, but at the same time, it’s really…sweet.”

  I still couldn’t process the fact that Liam actually liked me. “This is ridiculous, you know. You could get any girl you want.”

  “And so I did,” he pointed out firmly, kissing me hard on the lips in a “stop talking like that” gesture. And I vowed I would stop. If he said he liked me—and he sure as hell kissed me like he did—he liked me, and that was that, impossible as it may have been to believe. After all, Liam had nothing to gain from being with me; what possible ulterior motives could he have?

  We kissed for a little while longer, but eventually, guilt at making my parents worry crept up on me and I informed him that I had to get home.

  “Fair enough,” he said, nodding and pulling away. “Any chance you’re free tomorrow for a French lesson?”

  “French lesson. I get it. Funny.” I tapped the end of his nose. “And yes, I’m free.”

  He smiled and kissed me one more time before standing up. “Good. I’ll call you in the morning.”

  * * * * *

  He didn’t, though. I hadn’t been able to fall asleep that night with both my mind and heart racing, so when I finally passed out around 4:00 a.m. or so, I made sure to keep my phone at my side. It didn’t ring, and when I finally stirred at almost noon, I anxiously checked it only to see that I had no missed calls.

  Okay, not a big deal, I told myself as I slid out of bed and began my morning routine with my cell phone at my side. It’s still basically morning, and anyway, just because he said “morning” doesn’t mean it actually has to be morning. Stop being a freak. I even forced myself to take a shower, despite knowing I could potentially miss his call.

  I didn’t, but I did have a rather scary text waiting from him when I emerged from the steam.

  We really need to talk. Call you later.

  Ugh. Not only were those the worst words in the English language, but this was probably the fastest breakup in history. I almost wished he’d just done it over text so I wouldn’t sit around waiting for him to call and do it.

  What had changed since last night? Had he gone out after I’d left? Gotten a phone call from someone he was more interested in? Gotten a fan letter with a naked picture that made him realize there were hotter peons out there?

  I had no idea what to do now. Sit around and wait? Or come up with something to get my mind the hell off of the horrible impending phone call? Before I could decide, my phone rang, and I grabbed it like a wild animal. I took a breath before I picked up, not wanting to sound too crazed, and saw that it wasn’t Liam calling, but Vanessa.

  “Hey, Van,” I said, hoping the disappointment wasn’t obvious in my voice.

  “A, listen to this craziness. I can only talk for a minute—I totally just ducked out of a meeting so I could call you.”

  “You have a meeting on a Saturday morning?”

  “Jade had a brilliant idea and you know how she is—the second she says jump, everyone in her world says ‘how high?’ She’s terrifying.”

  “So what’s the brilliant idea?”

  I could hear Van being called back to the meeting, so I knew she’d have to be quick. Jade did not like to be kept waiting. “Jade wants me and Liam to pretend to date to drum up some press for the show before it airs. How funny is that?”

  Hilarious. Hy-freaking-sterical, Vanessa. It was obvious from her tone that she had no idea anything was going on between me and Liam, and how could she? I’d envisioned filling her in tonight over a cup of Pinkberry after I saw Liam again and confirmed there was something to tell, but there was obviously no way I could do that now.

  “Liam’s there too?” I asked lamely.

  “Yeah, there are a whole bunch of people here, and everyone’s on board. Anyway, I really have to run, but you know I always like to run my moves by you so you can keep me grounded if I’m being completely crazy. Is this so incredibly stupid? I mean, we’re both single, and it might even help us become friends, so, whatever, right?”

  “Right,” I said, feeling myself choke on the word. The truth was, it was a good idea, as much as I hated to admit it. Fans adored when love interests had relationships both on and off the set; it made them see good chemistry between the stars whether it existed or not, and that made them think they were watching great performances.

  Of course, the only problem was that Liam wasn’t single, or at least, I hadn’t thought he wanted to be. But he was in the meeting and he’d obviously agreed to go along with it and date Van instead, so where did that leave me?

  The same place you were yesterday, an annoying little voice in my head pointed out. How could I have been so stupid as to think I was capable of being more than a hired hand and fashion consultant? Or naïve enough to believe a guy like Liam would want an actual relationship with me? Obviously it was all fun and games until it was time for the stars to shine.

  No matter. I was at Daylight Falls because I needed the money and because I wanted to hang out with Vanessa. Even if there was something real between me and Liam, there was no way I would jeopardize either my job or her career for some guy, no matter how incredible a kisser he was or how sexily he said my name or how good it felt when he gently stroked my jawline with his fingers—

  “A? Earth to Ally.”

  “Go for it,” I replied weakly. “It sounds like a great idea.”

  “Okay, cool. And I’ll totally need your help, because you are definitely better friends with him and I still have zero idea how to talk to him about anything other than the show.” There was a muffled sound as she covered the phone and yelled, “I’m coming, dammit!” Then, “I gotta go, A.” She hung up.

  I stared at my phone for a good five minutes afterward, wondering if that had seriously just happened.

  * * * * *

  I was out of my room and deep into a Ben & Jerry’s bender when my phone rang again, and this time, it was Liam. My stomach clenched, but I knew I had to deal with it.

  “Hey,” I greeted him, peeling myself off the couch in the den and walking into the kitchen to put the ice cream away.

  “Can we meet up?” he asked without preamble.

  I was tempted to stop him there, but I wanted to see him one last time before I had to deal with his face being mashed next to Van’s in every single tabloid imaginable. I agreed, and we made a date to meet at the Lunchbox in half an hour. I figured that sitting in Van’s and my favorite lunch spot would help strengthen my resolve to do what was best for her.

  I searched frantically through my closet for something that screamed, “Remember how much you like me, even though the entire country will soon think you’re dating my gorgeous best friend.” Sadly, that wasn’t something they sold at The Grove, so I settled for a cute jean miniskirt and the funky polka-dot top Van had given me last Christmas.

  Judging by the appreciative way he looked me over when I strolled up, my outfit was just fine. He looked so annoyingly good in jeans and a button-down—even with a Lakers cap and sunglasses obscuring his handsome face—that I almost lost my resolve, but I reminded myself that I was at the home of the world’s best peach pie sundae, so if it came to a second round of ice cream therapy, at least I was in the right place.

  He started to stand when I approached, but I motioned for him to sit down. If he so much as touched me, I wasn’t sure any
amount of ice cream would make things better. I decided the best thing to do was just get down to business. I slid into the seat across from him, and when he opened his mouth to greet me, I held up my hand.

  “Listen, Liam. I already know. Van called me. It’s fine.”

  “It’s not fine, Ally,” he said, surprising me with his tone. “I don’t want to follow through with this stupid plan, but I couldn’t say anything because I didn’t want to be the one to tell Vanessa about us. So are you gonna tell her so I can get us out of this mess?”

  I nibbled on my lip while I got my bearings and the busboy came over with water. At no point in the hour since I’d spoken to Van did it even occur to me that Liam would rather be with me than follow Jade’s orders. And I knew I couldn’t let him—not if I wanted what was best for them, and not if I wanted to keep my job. I’d always kept my distance from Jade whenever possible, but if she found out I was behind the destruction of her publicity plan, she’d make sure even the Lunchbox wouldn’t hire me.

  “I’ll tell Vanessa,” I said slowly, “but you need to go through with Jade’s plan.”

  “But Vanessa’s your best friend,” he replied, obviously confused. And hurt. “You want me to publicly date your best friend? Publicly kiss her?”

  “Better someone I can trust than someone like Zoe, right?” I said with a cheerfulness I didn’t remotely feel. We paused our conversation while a waiter came to take our orders (cheeseburgers with fries for both of us) and then I made sure the waiter was a safe distance away before I spoke again, taking care to keep my voice low. “Whether we like it or not, this is a good career move for both of you, and if I get in your way, not only will I feel awful about it, but Jade will probably make sure I don’t get within a thousand feet of the Daylight set. Then I’ll never get to see you and it’s goodbye, Columbia.”

  He was silent for a full minute, and I was beginning to worry that he was going to get up and walk out when he said, “If I agree to the publicity stuff, do I still get to date and kiss you? Even if that confines us to takeout and movies in my apartment?”

  My eyebrows shot up of their own volition. “Would you still want to date me if all that meant was getting takeout and watching movies in your apartment?” I returned. “And kissing, of course. There would definitely still be kissing.”

  He smiled softly, giving my sandaled foot a gentle nudge under the table with his sneakered one. “How could I not?”

  I paused. “You are really, really good, Liam Holloway.”

  “No script or anything.”

  I put my elbow up on the table and balanced my chin in my palm. “I would really, really like to kiss you now.”

  “I would really, really like you to kiss me now,” he replied, his voice husky.

  “Should we get those burgers to go?”

  He jumped up. “I’m on it.”

  * * * * *

  The next few hours passed by in a lazy make-out haze, although I did make Liam run his lines with me once we eventually got down to eating.

  “You’re such a slave driver,” he complained as he dragged one of his fries through our shared plate of ketchup.

  “Isn’t that what you like about me?” I asked innocently.

  “Really, I just like the way you say bonjour,” said Liam, eyes twinkling as he watched me watch him swipe a bit of ketchup off his lip with his tongue. “Something about the way you say it tells me I’m going to have a very good day.”

  I laughed and whacked him on the arm. “You’ve been spending too much time with Josh.”

  “I’m not kidding. Your French accent is super-hot.”

  I could feel myself blushing. “Super-hot” was not a description I was blessed with very often, but hell, I would gladly take it. “Merci,” I mumbled, taking a sip of water.

  “Mon dieu, you are cute,” Liam said in an amazed voice that made me want to sink into the floor. “You would think no one’s ever flirted with you before.”

  I shrugged meekly, unable to meet his gaze. “Maybe they haven’t.”

  “Ally, that’s not possible. You’re hot and you’re female. I guarantee you that guys have flirted with you; maybe you just haven’t noticed.”

  I opened my mouth to respond that if he’d noticed who my best friend was, he might realize why I didn’t get much attention from guys, but I really had no interest in making myself sound less desirable to Liam. Besides, maybe I’d grown up in Van’s shadow, but I was out of it now. Judging by my “date” for the afternoon, I was doing just fine on my own.

  “Maybe I just haven’t been interested in responding to it until now,” I replied instead, leaning across his little round table for a kiss.

  I’d just been going in for a brief peck, but Liam immediately took the opportunity to bury his hands in my hair and kiss me so deeply it had my toes tingling. The burgers were instantly forgotten as we made our way back to the couch, but as soon as we hit the cushions, we were interrupted by the ringing of Liam’s cell.

  “Ugh.” He sat up, smiling apologetically, and grabbed his phone from the coffee table. “What?” he grunted. Then he grew silent, apparently getting an earful from whoever was on the other end.

  I decided to give him some privacy and went to the bathroom to swish some mouthwash and make sure there was no food in my teeth. When I returned, Liam was off the phone and clearly not a happy camper.

  “Please don’t kill me” was not the opening line I was expecting.

  I narrowed my eyes. “What?”

  He sighed. “That was one of Jade’s people. They want me and Vanessa to go out and be seen. Tonight.”

  I exhaled sharply. Granted, I’d approved of the whole fake-dating plan, but I sure as hell didn’t feel good about it. I thought I’d at least have a little time to get used to the idea. “Ally?” Liam walked over and cupped my cheek in his palm. “Are you okay?”

  I nodded dumbly. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

  “If you don’t want me to—”

  “Really, it’s fine. I was just disappointed that we didn’t get any French in today,” I joked, interlacing the fingers of his free hand with mine.

  “Oh, I would say—”

  “The language,” I cut him off, refusing to allow him to make that stupid joke again.

  He grinned, and as my stomach did its usual flip-flop in response, I could barely fight the urge to beg him to stay. He must’ve noticed because he squeezed my hand and gave me a gentle kiss. “How do you say, ‘I’ll miss you’?”

  “Tu vas me manque.”

  “God, that sounds hot when you say it.”

  I whacked him on the shoulder again, but he caught my hand and brought it to his lips. “Promise me you’ll stay away from the stupid tabloids and gossip sites.”

  I smiled. “Not to worry. Van’s spent years ruining those for me with the truth behind the stories. I haven’t read a gossip site in months, except for the articles announcing that Van got the part of Bailey.”

  “Good. Now let’s spend the little bit of time we’ve got left doing something a little more fun than studying, because I don’t want to manque you just yet.”

  * * * * *

  I kept my word to Liam and stayed away from the gossip sites, but unfortunately, I couldn’t stop everyone else from looking at them and coming up to me in the halls on Monday to ask questions about Van and her new boy toy, with whom she’d been photographed having a romantic dinner at some Italian restaurant.

  “They’re really cute,” I said for the millionth time that day when Jennifer Chastain and Mia Prager practically chased me down in the hall to demand I tell them everything.

  “So you’ve met Liam?” Mia’s eyes grew wide. “Oh my God, is he as hot in person as he is onscreen?”

  “He’s so hot,” Jennifer gushed. “Remember when I saw him at Fred Segal last year?”

  “Jen, that totes wasn’t him,” said Mia.

  No, it definitely wasn’t, I thought. Talk about a place Liam would never, ever shop for himself.<
br />
  “I’m telling you, he had red hair for a role,” Jennifer whined, which only further cemented the fact that whomever she saw had not been Liam. But, with her and Mia arguing about Liam’s doppelganger, I managed to escape and get myself to lunch. Not that I planned to sit—not unless I wanted to be bombarded by questions with every bite—but there were fish tacos on the menu, and I never, ever missed fish taco day.

  “Exciting news about your friend today, huh?”

  I whirled around, prepared to not-so-politely inform this newest gossip-hound that all I wanted was a damn fish taco, and found myself facing a grinning Nate. I breathed a sigh of relief, and then informed him that all I wanted was a damn fish taco.

  We resumed the walk to the cafeteria. “So, is this why she doesn’t want to date me? She’s already got herself a boyfriend?”

  “Yes, Nate,” I said dryly. “That is the only reason that Vanessa—a girl who hasn’t seen you in almost ten years—does not want to date you.”

  “Pretty impressive get as far as boyfriends go,” he observed.

  “Thank you,” I replied without thinking.

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “On her behalf, obviously,” I said quickly.

  “Are you sure? Because you kind of sound like a lying liar right about now, Duncan.”

  I glanced at him. “You think I’m dating Liam Holloway?” I asked, curious if there was anyone on earth who would find it at all believable that we were together.

  He laughed. “Obviously not. I do think you had something to do with the publicity stunt of their getting together, though.”

  Ouch. I grabbed his arm and pulled him aside. “For your information,” I whispered tightly, “I am dating Liam, so shut the hell up. And if you tell anyone, I will tell the entire school that you still sleep with your baby blanket.”

  Nate’s eyes searched my face, and I could tell he was trying to decide if I was telling the truth. I didn’t so much as blink.

  “No shit,” he whispered.

  “None at all,” I replied. “But seriously, you can’t tell anyone. I shouldn’t have even told you. Hell, I haven’t even told Van yet.”