Competing With the Star (Star #2)

by Krysten Lindsay Hager

  Charlotte returned with the snacks just as the previews started.

  I was opening up my gummi bears and then it hit me—were these a kid snack? Did I look like an immature child in front of him with my tiny bears?

  “Hey, can I have a bear?” Nick asked. “Red, not the clear ones. Those disgust me. I can only eat clear gummi if it’s part of a gummi cola bottle.”

  I smiled. “I hate those too. Here,” I said, handing him the bag.

  “Thanks.”

  The movie started and I was beginning to relax when Lucas’ arm went up in front of me and around Reagan’s shoulders. I didn’t think anything of it, even though her head was kind of blocking my view when she moved it to lean on his shoulder. But then she turned her head and she and Lucas began making out—right in front of me and right in front of Nick. So awkward on so many levels. I mean, yay for her dating a guy other than Nick to show he was out of her system, but it was also super cringe-worthy because it made me wonder if that was the kind of thing all of them did on group dates to the movies. Did Nick expect me to do that?

  I elbowed Charlotte and whispered to her how uncomfortable I was.

  “Huh?” And then I realized she was actually watching the movie and was oblivious to everything going on around her. I started to feel nervous, and when I got nervous I got clammy and gross. I excused myself to go to the bathroom. As soon as I walked into the restroom I noticed my forehead was already shiny. Great, not even an hour into the date and my oil-absorbing mattifying gel had failed me and I was becoming a sweaty, greasy mess of anxiety. Awesome.

  “You okay?” Asia asked, coming into the restroom.

  “Yeah, just need to use the bathroom.”

  “So how obvious is Reagan?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Putting herself right in Nick’s line of sight and then making out with one of his friends? Hello? Way to make him jealous,” she said as she finger combed her long dark hair.

  It hadn’t even occurred to me how that was exactly the type of thing that made someone jealous. I was so naïve sometimes. But was he jealous?

  “Do you think he noticed?” I asked.

  “Well, I didn’t see him walk in with a seeing eye dog, so I’m gonna guess, yeah.”

  My stomach flip-flopped.

  “But I’m sure it’s just like a fleeting feeling. After all, he did break up with her.”

  “Yeah, he said she was kind of shallow,” I said, biting my lip.

  “Exactly. He told me she was so obsessed with how pretty she was and everything was all about her looks. See? I’m sure he’s much happier with you.”

  I knew she was trying to reassure me, but all I heard was, “His ex was too pretty and her hotness made it difficult for him, so he decided to find a much plainer girl he could focus on to have conversations with. Once again, his former girlfriend’s beauty proved much too distracting.”

  We walked back into the theater and Char asked if I was okay.

  I whispered back, “Not really, given the circumstances.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure the FBI will stop the terrorist before they can get the suitcase.”

  I stared at her, wondering how she could focus solely on the movie and miss the real show right in front of her seat.

  “You okay?” Nick asked, holding out the popcorn bag. I nodded as I took a handful.

  I tried to watch the movie, but all I could see were Lucas’ hands in Reagan’s wavy brown hair while simultaneously trying to sneak glances at Nick to see if his eyes were on the screen or his girlfriend. This night sucked.

  As soon as the movie was over, Morgan leaned over to Nick. “How did you like the show?” she asked with her hand on his upper arm.

  “It was okay, I guess,” he said. “A little predictable.”

  “Oh, were you bored? I bet you get bored easily,” she said, looking straight at me.

  “Let’s hit the pizza place before it fills up,” Simone said.

  We all walked out and I noticed Connor was flirting with Simone like crazy. He put his arm around her and kept playing with her hair. Meanwhile, Nick was walking so fast, he was in front of me instead of walking next to me. He got to the pizza parlor door first and went in and asked for a table.

  They seated us and Pilar ended up sitting across from me, next to Reagan.

  “You didn’t get ice in your water,” Pilar said to me. “Would you mind trading with me? I always get a sore throat if I drink super cold water.”

  I passed her my glass and heard a loud sigh.

  “You are so paranoid, Pilar. You can’t get sick from cold water. This girl, she must have room temperature water or she acts like she’s going to die.”

  Pilar looked embarrassed.

  “Maybe she hates cold water. What the eff?” Lucas said.

  Morgan narrowed her eyes at him, but she shut up. Lucas had just become my new hero.

  “So are we getting one big pizza to share or what? What toppings does everyone like?” Asia asked. “Or should I ask what does everyone hate?”

  “No pineapple,” Charlotte said, making a face.

  “I’m with Charlotte,” Nick said.

  “And no green pepper,” Asia said, nodding at me. “I hate onion too.”

  “You guys hate everything good. How about we get three mediums with different toppings?” Simone said. “One with just pepperoni, one Hawaiian lover’s with pineapple and ham, and another with whatever crap you losers like.”

  Nick laughed. “I’m good with just pepperoni. What do you want, Hadley?”

  “That’s fine,” I said, even though I loved olives and mushrooms.

  “Nick, do you like olives?” Asia asked.

  He nodded and she went up to order the pizzas with Simone. They came back with four pitchers.

  “Okay, this one has diet cola,” Simone said, placing it between her and Morgan. “One iced tea pitcher for Reagan and Lucas, a regular cola for Char, Asia, and Hadley, and root beer for Nick and Connor. Did I get everybody’s favorite?”

  “Yeah. How did you remember I liked root beer?” Nick asked.

  “I’m just observant,” she said with a smile.

  My stomach felt queasy as she held his gaze. What was her problem? My thoughts were interrupted as Pilar got up and scraped the floor loudly with her chair. She returned with an insulated to-go cup.

  “Been friends for years and can’t remember I like hot tea with my pizza, but whatever,” she said under her breath.

  The waitress brought our food over and I wondered how to eat the pizza in front of Nick. There weren’t any knives and forks at the table and I was a messy eater—like a toddler type messy eater. My mom used to joke how she wanted to serve me nothing but clear foods to avoid dry cleaning bills. I stared at the greasy slice in front of me that seemed to have more sauce on it than usual and a ton of orange oil on the top.

  “Anyone else want utensils?” Pilar asked, getting up.

  “Okay, Miss Priss,” Morgan said. “Kidding.”

  I said I wanted a knife and fork, but Pilar walked away without acknowledging me. Great, I just got ignored in front of a crowd. Soon Nick would see how invisible the rest of the gang saw me—or didn’t see me. But when she returned, she had two rolled up sets of plastic silverware and she tossed one in front of me.

  I watched as Simone and Morgan both tore their slices into little bite-size pieces. It was so cute and flirty how they did it—I had no clue how they made eating adorable, but they did. Then there was me acting like I had never used a knife and fork before. Was the knife completely useless? Did I get a defective one?

  “Char, sauce,” Asia said, miming wiping her chin.

  Charlotte grabbed her napkin and I wondered how she didn’t feel the enormous splash of marinara on her face. At least Asia had pointed it out in a tactful way.

  “Eat much?” Morgan asked her. “Just kidding.”

  I wish someone would just call her out once on her passive-aggressive “kid
ding” remarks. Did the guys even pick up on them? Or were they all too taken in by her curly blonde hair, perfect tan, and cheekbones you could grate cheese on?

  “So, how did everyone like the movie?” Nick asked.

  Reagan giggled. “I didn’t see much of it.”

  Nick’s face started to get red. Fabulous.

  “Asia, did you like the movie?” I asked.

  “Honestly, I didn’t understand, like, half of it. Who were the guys in black?”

  “I think they were aliens or something,” Connor said.

  Nick said that was what he thought as well and that was when Reagan spoke up.

  “Oh, you actually watched the movie, Nick? Must be a new thing for you,” she said.

  My face got warm and adrenaline shot through my body. Nick looked surprised and tried to change the subject by offering me some more soda, which he managed to pour onto my lap.

  “Oh crap, I’m sorry,” he said, grabbing a handful of napkins. Then he realized it would be awkward to help me mop up my lap.

  “I got it,” I said, trying to soak up the liquid. Charlotte grabbed more napkins off the next table while Reagan sat there with a smirk on her face. I envisioned myself hitting her in the face with the pitcher. Just one big smack…

  “I’m so sorry, Hadley,” Nick said.

  “It’s fine. I’m just going to get some paper towels,” I said, getting up.

  “Oh wow, it looks like she wet her pants,” Morgan said.

  “Except we all watched the Pepsi spill on her, so we know she didn’t,” Asia said.

  I headed into the bathroom and the dark brown stain was so apparent on my jeans. There was no blotting it and going on with my night. And what was worse, I could feel it on my underwear. Ugh. I just wanted to go home and delete this night from everyone’s memory. I could wash my stupid jeans, but I couldn’t erase the picture in my mind that Reagan had planted of how she and Nick had obviously spent every movie date making out. I couldn’t have felt more jealous if I tried. And he hadn’t made any attempts to even hold my hand in the theater. I knew he liked me, but obviously he didn’t like me the way he had liked her. The bathroom door opened and Asia walked in.

  “What was that?” she asked.

  “I know. Could this night get more awkward?”

  “Did you want to hit her with the pitcher or was that just me?”

  “The word bludgeon does come to mind,” I said. “Were they…you know…did they…ugh! I don’t want to know, but…”

  Asia hugged me. “I know, I get it. You don’t want to know, but now it’s out there and you can’t help but wonder what went on. I mean, yeah, Reagan is a little more…well, she was always in Nick’s lap. Like always. But in some ways I think she annoyed him a bit. She was clingy and I don’t think he was into that.”

  “So she was all over him when they were going out?”

  “Kinda.” Asia shifted. “But he’s with you now. Not her.”

  “Was that make out thing with Lucas because she likes him or to get back at Nick?”

  “Probably a little of both. But again, he likes you.”

  “Yeah, it’s obvious by the way he got so flustered by the reminder of their relationship that he tried to drown me.”

  Asia burst out laughing. “You know what I mean. Here, stand under the hand dryer. It’ll get the worst of it.”

  “I hate my life.” Between dealing with Nick’s ex’s little comments and the fact I felt so immature next to her, I also had the fact that Simone was acting odd around him too.

  We walked back out of the bathroom and Nick was standing outside the door.

  “Did I ruin your jeans?” he asked.

  “They’ll be fine.”

  “Asia, your dad’s here,” Simone said when we got to the table.

  Great, I’d be leaving and my maybe-kinda-sorta boyfriend could stay behind with both the beautiful former TV star and his ex to reminisce. Awesome.

  Charlotte got up, and Asia grabbed her purse.

  “I’ll pick you up at two tomorrow, okay?” Nick said to me.

  I nodded and followed the girls out of the restaurant. As we walked to the car, Asia put her arm around my shoulders.

  I got home and threw my jeans into the wash. I kept checking my phone, expecting Nick to text me, but the only one who did was Asia to tell me she hoped my stains came out.

  Chapter Seven

  The next morning I woke up and grabbed my phone to see if I had any messages. There was only one from Asia asking if I was okay and wishing me luck on my date today. Yeah, assuming he didn’t cancel last minute because a make out session with his ex sounded more exciting than hanging out with boring little me at the nursing home. I went downstairs and my mom was making waffles with Aunt Faith.

  “Blueberry or buttermilk?” Mom asked.

  “Buttermilk. Thanks,” I said, pouring myself a glass of juice. “Ew, you didn’t strain this? It’s so thick I could chew it. Gross.”

  Mom laughed. “I thought you’d be on cloud nine today what with your date and all.”

  “Yeah, I’m excited.”

  Aunt Faith looked at me and tilted her head. “Everything okay?”

  I shrugged. “Do we have that berry syrup?”

  Mom went into the pantry to check and Aunt Faith leaned forward. “What’s up?”

  “Nick’s ex was at the movies with us and she kind of implied they used to be a bit…physical.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “She told you that?”

  “She said something like that in front of me.”

  “Did he hear?”

  “She was saying it to him.”

  Aunt Faith cleared her throat. “How did he react?”

  I told her he poured half a pitcher of soda into my lap. She burst out laughing.

  “I fail to see the humor myself,” I said.

  “What’s so funny?” Mom asked, walking up with the syrup.

  “Nothing,” Aunt Faith said. “Hadley just told me a funny story.”

  “Yeah, hilarious.”

  I ate quickly and then went upstairs to get ready. My excited, fluttering feeling over the idea of a sweet date with Nick was gone. Instead I had this anxious, sick feeling over the Reagan thing. It sucked to have to deal with some guy’s past when I didn’t have one myself. How did famous people do it? My favorite actress, Valeria Joseph, dated celebrity guys and not only did she know about their exes, but she could just go online and find tons of pics of her boyfriends with their exes. Plus, she’d run into the girls on sets and stuff. How did she handle it? It was bad enough for me having to go to school with Reagan. However no one was there watching my facial expressions to see if I looked upset when she was around and taking pictures. Not so for Valeria—there were tons of gossip blogs that would say stuff like, “Valeria Joseph throwing shade at Laura Hewson.” So annoying.

  I stared at myself in the mirror. I looked so much younger than Reagan. Did Nick have any idea he was the only guy I had ever kissed?

  I heard my phone getting a text and saw Nick was on his way over to pick me up. I unplugged my curling iron, mad I got so caught up with my anxiety that I didn’t get to fix my hair. Although it wasn’t as if doing my hair was going to suddenly make me look more sophisticated. I put on some lip gloss and mascara and went downstairs to wait for him. I didn’t want him to have to deal with my parents, so I walked outside when I saw him pull up and got into the car.

  “Hey,” I said, avoiding his eyes as I put my seatbelt on.

  “Hi.”

  I turned to face the windshield.

  “Ready to go?” he asked.

  “Yup.”

  He asked me if I liked the movie last night and I shrugged. We had always been able to talk and now there was this awkward silence in the car.

  “Did you like the movie?” I asked.

  “It was okay. I read the book and that was better,” he said. I didn’t know what to say to that and we had another long, silent pause. “Do you want to bo
rrow the book?”

  “Yeah, sure. That’d be great.”

  “Okay, I’ll bring it for you on Monday.”

  “Sounds good,” I said.

  He pulled into the parking lot and I followed him in. Once inside, I understood why my mom was worried I’d freak out at the nursing home. There were a bunch of people in the main hall just going up and down without focusing on anything. I smiled at one lady and said hi to her. Her face brightened up.

  “Hello,” she said, waving to me.

  Nick smiled at me.

  We walked down another hall and the smell of antiseptic was starting to make me feel dizzy.

  “Grandpa’s not in his room,” Nick said. “He sometimes goes by the nurses’ station.”

  I expected to see his grandfather chatting with the nurses, but instead we walked over to a man who was sitting in his wheelchair and just looking down at his hands. Nick squatted down and said hello to him. His grandpa raised his head and a huge smile broke out over his face as he recognized his grandson. Nick was beaming back at him.

  “Hey, it’s movie day. Told you I’d come to spend it with you. I brought someone to meet you too. Grandpa, this is Hadley.”

  “Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” I said.

  His grandpa looked up at me and smiled.

  “Okay, let’s go over to the main room to watch the film,” Nick said, turning his grandfather’s wheelchair around.

  We went down to where the movie was going to be shown. Nick situated his grandpa over by the door, saying it’d be easier if anyone had to go to the bathroom or get a nurse. We sat down and I noticed him opening the paper bag he brought with him.

  “They have some snacks here, but I know you like gummis with your movie, so I brought you some,” he said.

  “Oh thanks.” Okay, so that was thoughtful. But then my stupid mind went wandering to how much money he saved by not having to buy Reagan candy because she was too busy kissing him to eat junk food. I stuffed a handful of gummi bears into my mouth as I tried to erase that image from my brain.

  “Grandpa, what do you want for your snack?” he asked. “They have brownies, popcorn, cookies, and caramel corn.”

  His grandpa stared at him blankly.