Competing With the Star (Star #2)

by Krysten Lindsay Hager

  “Hadley?”

  I looked up and Nick was standing there. Glancing back to his grandpa, I saw he was done drinking.

  “Here,” I said, handing Nick the cup, and I sat back down.

  “Thanks for taking care of my grandpa,” Nick said.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “It means a lot to me,” he said.

  “Sure, whatever,” I said. “Pilar, what movie are they showing?”

  She held back a smile. “Sabrina.”

  Then I noticed there were, like, fifty fliers around the room saying Sabrina, and it was also on the giant screen at the front.

  “Right. Audrey Hepburn.”

  Nick pulled up a chair. “Is it okay if I sit with you guys?”

  I was about to say no, but as I looked over, I saw Mr. Jenkins smiling at me.

  “What a nice little girl,” he said, and patted me on the hand.

  I sighed. “It’s fine.”

  Pilar handed me a brownie. She leaned over and whispered, “Be strong. Show no weakness. Oh, and make sure you don’t get frosting on your lip. You have a tendency to do that.”

  Nick kept looking at me during the movie and it was making me self-conscious. I kept sipping my soda to give me something to do and all of a sudden all the liquid caught up with me and I had to go to the bathroom.

  “Be right back,” I whispered to Pilar. “About to wet my pants.”

  When I came out of the rest room, Nick was leaning against the wall, waiting for me.

  “We need to talk,” he said.

  “Are you just going to leave your grandpa unattended like that?”

  “Seeing as how he lives here full-time, I think the nurses have this covered,” he said. “Seriously, we have to discuss this. Hadley, I would never risk our relationship over something so stupid like kissing Simone. I love you.”

  “Well, you did risk it and now it’s over. I don’t know what else you want me to say,” I said, refusing to meet his eyes.

  “Why would I even consider going after Simone when I love you?”

  “Stop saying that. You keep saying that. You don’t even know what it means.”

  “Of course I do. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t,” he said.

  “No, you don’t. Because if you did you wouldn’t have kissed one of my friends.”

  “How can you still call her your friend when she did that to you? A friend doesn’t go around kissing someone you like.”

  I didn’t know how to respond to that.

  “Hadley, I love you.”

  “Stop it! They’re just words to you and you think they will be enough to get me to forgive you, but they’re just words.”

  “Not to me they aren’t.”

  “Really? Because you sure have a crappy way of treating people you claim to love.”

  “I’ve never said those words to another girl before. You’re the first.”

  “Right, so all those times you were with Reagan…oh, maybe you are telling the truth since it’s obvious you two didn’t talk much,” I said.

  “No, I never said it to her or anyone else. I love you, only you. I swear I never kissed Simone.”

  “She said you kissed her back.”

  “So she admits she kissed me, then? That I didn’t initiate it?”

  I looked away.

  “Why do you believe her over me? She admits she kissed me—what kind of friend does that?” he asked.

  “A crappy one. Yes, I know, but who tells someone they love them and then kisses their dream crush?”

  “I don’t know, but I didn’t. I swear I did not kiss her back. And you know what happened after she kissed me? She was embarrassed. I think she was humiliated that I didn’t react and that’s why she’s saying that I kissed her back.”

  “What? To hurt me?” I asked.

  “No, she doesn’t care enough about you or your feelings. She’s saying it to save face. She doesn’t want to admit I wasn’t into her. It’s for her own stupid ego and she doesn’t care who she hurts in the process—not me and not you.”

  My body felt cold and I had this weird feeling like I was eerily calm—almost numb. What he said made sense, but did Simone care so little about me that she’d continue lying to make herself look less pathetic? But how could that be the case when she was Simone Hendrickson—former TV star and Nick’s former crush?

  I couldn’t handle any more and started to walk away. I got three feet away and realized he hadn’t bothered to come after me. Turning around I saw he was sitting on the bench and he looked completely defeated. His shoulders were slumped and he was staring at his hands. He looked up at me with his eyes watering.

  “You know how much you mean to me,” he said.

  My heart hurt for him. He looked so sad and I walked over and sat down next to him.

  “She was your dream girl. I could see how you would be tempted—even if you weren’t thinking about it, I can see how on instinct you’d react and kiss her back.”

  “But that’s not what happened.”

  It hit me then that Nick had never once asked me for forgiveness. Simone had begged me to forgive her and apologized a million times, but Nick hadn’t done either. Was he thinking it would be better for him to admit nothing? Did he think he didn’t do anything wrong, or was he telling me the truth this whole time? I wanted to run back in the room and ask Pilar for advice.

  “I just don’t want to be lied to,” I said. “I’d rather you were just honest with me about what happened. If you just got caught up in a moment with her, tell me. I can forgive you if that’s what happened.”

  “I didn’t kiss back because…I was stunned. Here was this TV star I had a crush on and she knows I’m dating her friend and she just threw herself at me. It seemed desperate and pathetic and I didn’t react because, well, basically I was like, what the hell is this?”

  “So you weren’t thinking about me either?”

  “No, I was. But I was also thinking, what kind of friend does that? Honestly, there’s part of this I’m not proud of too.”

  Hello, sinking feeling. “What?”

  “I didn’t call you that night because I was taking the chance she’d feel so dumb about the whole thing that she’d never tell you and then I could pretend it never happened.”

  I stared at him.

  “I kept thinking if you told me some dude kissed you—even if it was, like, Connor, or some other guy I knew you weren’t into at all—I’d be mad. And I thought, hey, maybe if she doesn’t find out then I don’t have to say anything and things can stay the way they were because things were pretty great.”

  My body felt so calm; I couldn’t tell if it was because I was in some sort of shock or because what he said made sense to me. I didn’t trust my senses right now.

  “This is a lot to take in. I need some time, okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah, sure. Time. I want you to say we’re okay, but I want to know you believe me one hundred percent. There’s part of me that is mad you can’t take my word for it, but I know I’d be hurt too so I will, I dunno, wait it out or whatever.”

  I got up and walked back to the room.

  “You okay?” Pilar asked.

  I nodded.

  After the movie, Pilar told her mom we were going to the bathroom and I told her what happened.

  “It does make sense,” she said.

  “But do I just want it to be true so badly that I’m willing to believe him?”

  “Don’t get mad, but…that also makes sense to me as well. My mom always says when you have a big decision to make you should sleep on it.”

  “For how long?” I asked.

  “As long as it takes to not feel like puking when you see either one of them.”

  “Oh, so eternity, then,” I said.

  “Are you inviting him to your birthday party next week?”

  “No, I didn’t. It’s just a few friends though.”

  “Is Simone coming?” she asked.

  “I didn’t ask her, but she
thinks she’s included.”

  Pilar nodded. “Are any guys coming?”

  “I was going to ask Lucas, Will, Connor, and your brother, but maybe if I don’t ask guys then I won’t have to deal with whether or not to ask Nick.”

  “Yeah, that would solve it.”

  “I can’t handle talking to him anymore today. It will just confuse me. And I don’t want to ruin Asia’s Saturday by making her wait around for us to call them about going to Saugatuck, but I am not in the mood to be around Simone either,” I said.

  “Me neither. Oh crap.”

  “What?”

  “Simone’s standing outside the doors. Can we pretend we don’t see her? They have an alarm so that you have to be buzzed into this place. If we can shimmy away from the door, she’ll never see us and she can’t get in…and nope, she saw us and she’s waving.”

  “Why is she here?” I asked.

  “This is what she does when she thinks you’re mad at her. She pushes herself on you and tries to act like nothing’s wrong so either you go along with it or she acts like you’re crazy. I should have seen this coming.”

  Pilar buzzed Simone and Asia in.

  “Hi, guys,” Simone said, giving Pilar a hug. “I called the nurses’ station and asked what time the movie was over.”

  Then she threw her arms around me just as Nick walked out of the media room. He met my eyes and gave me a look, as if he were asking what was going on. I looked away.

  “You guys ready to go? My mom’s waiting in the parking lot,” Simone said.

  Pilar went to tell her mom we were leaving. I tried to come up with an excuse to go home, but the best I could come up with was saying I had cramps.

  “Here, I have some Midol in my purse,” Simone said, pulling out a bottle.

  “I think I’ll hold off until they get worse,” I said.

  “Great, let’s go.”

  Since I was the smallest, I got stuck sitting between Asia and Simone in the back. Simone never stopped running her mouth the entire time. There were no worries about awkward silences between us because she jumped from one topic to another.

  “Asia, did you want to check out the store where Hadley got that dress? You looked so pretty in that, Hadley. Honestly, you never looked hotter. Didn’t you think she looked pretty, Pilar?”

  “I was straight until I saw Hadley in that dress,” Pilar said in a bored tone, and even Mrs. Hendrickson laughed.

  “Oh, you’re so funny, P. You are, like, the funniest person I know. You should so do, like, a humor blog or something,” Simone said.

  “Okay, girls. I’m going to park here by the gazebo so it’ll be easy to spot the car. I’ll have my cell on me if you need to reach me. Have fun,” Mrs. Hendrickson said.

  “You sure you don’t want to come with us, Mom?” Simone asked. She looked anxious and I wondered if the only reason she invited me was to push me into staying friends with her. I couldn’t suddenly tell her off in a strange place because her mom was my ride home. She knew I was on foreign ground and she had the upper hand. Plus, with Pilar and me right there in front of her, she knew we couldn’t talk behind her back. Was this really what she was up to? Could she be this manipulative?

  “So, Hadley, what do you want for your birthday?” Asia asked as we walked into a boutique.

  Friends I could actually count on, a boyfriend who wasn’t a slut, truth serum, and world peace.

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe jewelry or something,” I said.

  “Honey, if you see anything you like, just let me know and I’ll buy it for your birthday,” Simone said, smiling.

  Did she think she could buy me off? Her super eager tone was irritating me and now I was starting to get mad. Did she think I was too stupid to realize how manipulative she was?

  “Do they have anything for a broken heart?” I asked.

  “We need to set you up with someone. How about Will?” Simone said.

  “Will and I weren’t compatible,” I said.

  “Yeah, she doesn’t just want to settle,” Pilar said. “I mean, once you’ve found your soulmate, it’s hard to just date anyone.”

  Simone’s eyes widened. “Oh, look at this cute top. Hads, you’d look so pretty in this. You should try it on.”

  I didn’t even care for it, but I realized going into the dressing room would be an escape. I pulled the curtain shut and stared at myself in the full length mirror.

  “Do you like it?” she asked through the curtain.

  I hadn’t even put it on yet. “It’s okay.” I looked sad. My eyes looked like they had no life in them. Had my skin always been this pale and dull-looking?

  “I’ll buy it for you if you want,” she said.

  Was she so desperate because she wanted things to go back to normal or to cover her tracks? Maybe it had to do with how she felt abandoned by her dad after her parents’ divorce. And now her dad’s new wife was pregnant and I knew Simone was feeling left out there as well. Or did she truly feel bad and didn’t know how to make it up to me? All I knew was that I looked and felt dead inside. It almost wasn’t worth being as happy as I was before if it meant I had to feel this bad when it all fell apart.

  “Come out so we can see it,” Asia said.

  I put on the top and walked out.

  “Love it. Love everything about it. She can wear anything though, because she’s so pretty,” Simone said.

  “Oh, shut up,” I said.

  The girls looked shocked.

  “Sorry, I have a headache and I just want to go and sit down for a while.”

  “Oh right, you said you had PMS,” Simone said. “Totally explains it.”

  Except I lied about that. I went back into the dressing room and saw I had a text from Pilar that just had a little cheerleader on it with the message:

  Way to go! Stand up for yourself.

  Smiling, I texted back a boxer with his arms in the air. I put my own shirt back on and came out of the dressing room.

  “Do you need aspirin or something?” Asia asked.

  “Maybe a soda.”

  “Ooh, let’s get one at the drugstore where we first saw Jack,” she said.

  I smiled. “Okay, that sounds good.”

  We headed out and Simone said she needed to use the restroom and would meet us there. Normally, I’d offer to wait, but I couldn’t get away from her fast enough.

  “So this is awkward,” Pilar said.

  “She’s trying,” Asia said. “She doesn’t want to lose you as a friend.”

  Then maybe she should have kept her stupid mouth off my boyfriend.

  “Anyway, what do you have planned for your party next weekend?” Asia asked.

  I shrugged. “It’s not a big thing. Just Italian food and some movies at the house. I put, like, zero thought into it. I don’t want to go out and run into anyone.”

  “She means like Nick on a date or something,” Pilar said.

  Asia rolled her eyes. “Obviously. A low key birthday sounds fine. Do you have a cake ordered? You could get cupcakes from Cuppy Cake. That would be fun.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good. Originally I was going to see about going back to Detroit to see a basketball game. I was going to ask my parents if Nick could come.”

  Asia bit her lip. “Oh man, that would have been nice. Shh, here comes Simone.”

  Yeah, let’s all protect her feelings. Heaven forbid she overhears us talking about how she had helped uproot my life.

  “Hey, guys, did you order?” Simone asked, sitting on one of the stools.

  “Yeah, we’re all getting hot dogs, fries, and a soda,” Asia said. “I ordered for you.”

  “Cool. Hey, which one of these stools did Jack sit on?” she asked.

  “The one I’m sitting on,” I said.

  Our orders came and the guy behind the counter leaned across from me.

  “You have such a pretty smile,” he said. “What can I do to make you smile? Would a cherry phosphate do it? A malted?”

&
nbsp; If you pour it over the head of a certain blonde, sure.

  “I’m fine, thanks.”

  “You sure? I make a great cherry phosphate,” he said, smiling. He looked just a little older than us, but like he was still in high school.

  Asia elbowed me, so I said, “Um, okay.”

  He made a big production out of making it and I glanced over and saw Simone frowning. It was probably bugging her because she was always the center of attention, and heaven forbid someone show me any.

  “Here you go, sweetheart. On the house. All I ask for is one smile,” he said. “And if you are so inclined, here’s a napkin to write down your phone number.”

  He winked at me as he put the napkin in front of me and then walked away.

  “Holy crap, he’s cute,” Pilar said.

  “You should give him your number,” Simone said.

  Was she being sincere or did she think me going out with someone new would erase everything in the past? Maybe she even wanted me to move on so Nick would be completely free.

  “I think I will,” I said. “Anyone got a pen?”

  Asia handed me one and I wrote my first name and cell number. I was planning to leave it behind, but Simone grabbed it as I tossed it down on the counter and she handed it to the guy.

  “Hey,” he said, smiling as he took the number from her. “Let me put this into my phone now, so you’ll know when it’s me texting you.”

  My phone buzzed and he had sent a smiley face. “I’m Dylan, by the way.”

  We got up to pay and when it came to my bill, Dylan said it was on the house. I felt a little weird about that, but said thank you.

  “Her birthday is this week,” Simone said.

  “Oh yeah? Happy birthday,” he said.

  Simone giggled and said, “You should take her out for her birthday.”

  “Sounds good to me. You up for it?” he asked me.

  I glared at her. “Maybe, but I just broke up with someone.”

  “Oh, that’s rough,” Dylan said. “Been there.”

  “Yeah, well, he cheated on me.”

  Simone looked stung and Pilar and Asia were giving each other a shocked look.

  “Thanks for dinner, Dylan. It was nice meeting you,” I said.

  “Have a happy birthday. Oh, and, his loss,” he said.

  “It is,” Pilar said. “He will never find anyone like her again.”