Competing With the Star (Star #2) (3 page)

Chapter Four

The next day at school, I sat down at my usual table in the cafeteria with Charlotte, Simone, and Asia.

“So how was your big date with Nick?” Asia asked.

“Perfect. He was so sweet and we went for a walk down—”

“Did anybody get the page numbers we’re supposed to read for English lit?” Simone said.

Asia frowned at her. “I’ll tell you later. I want to hear this. So where’d you guys go, Hadley?”

“I’ll tell you,” Simone said. “Long story short, they had ice cream with us and then ditched us to go pick up something for Nick’s mom and that was the gist of it. Not exactly anything
Life and Style
magazine would put in its pages. Anyway, back to English—”

“Since when do
you
care about English class?” Asia asked her. “Now shut up and let her finish.”

I had no idea what Simone’s issue was and why she kept cutting me off. Was she mad we left them at Scoops?

“It was no big deal. We just went for a walk on the pier and talked,” I said.

“Sounds romantic,” Charlotte said.

“What did you guys talk about?” Asia asked.

“Geez, nosy much?” Simone asked.

Asia looked at me, her big brown eyes wide. “Am I being nosy? Morgan tells me I have boundary issues, but I always want to know everything going on with my friends.”

I shook my head. “You’re fine. We just got to know each other better and talked about family stuff. That sort of thing.”

I didn’t want to reveal everything he told me about his grandfather. That was personal and I could tell it took a lot for him to open up about that, so I was not about to blab it all to my friends. However, I could show them the picture we took.

“Check out the photo,” I said, holding out my phone.

“Already saw on it on your page,” Simone said, and she crammed a french fry in her mouth.

Asia reached over to take my phone.

“Dude, what gives? Talk about boundary issues. You are all up in my personal space,” Simone said, pushing Asia’s arm away.

“What’s your deal today? Are you PMSing? You’re being super annoying,” Asia said.

“Whatever. Anyway, you already saw the photo. She posted it last night.”

“Yeah, the cropped one. This is the full shot.”

Charlotte and I exchanged nervous glances. Was Simone mad at Asia, or was she annoyed I was talking about Nick too much? I never wanted to be the girl who just went on and on about the guy she liked—that did get super annoying. But I didn’t think I was doing that…was I?

“So what did you guys think of the biology quiz?” Charlotte asked. “I think I bombed it.”

Simone went on about how “bombing it” for Charlotte probably meant a regular A instead of an A+. The three of them laughed, but I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

After lunch, I stopped by my locker to get a book when I heard Asia ask Simone if she was mad at her.

“Not even,” Simone said, and hugged her. “So what do you want to do this weekend? I’m thinking girls’ night out.”

I wondered who this girls’ night would involve. Would it be Simone’s usual crew with Morgan, Pilar, Reagan, and Asia, or would Charlotte and I factor in at all?

I walked into class and Simone was all smiles. “Hadley, hurry up.”

She moved her stuff over so I could put my bag down.

“So I was thinking this Friday a bunch of us could go to the movies and get pizza after. They’re showing the new Josh Haven movie,” she said. “Gotta support our Joshie.”

“Sounds great. I’ll ask Charlotte. Is she invited?”

“Of course.”

After school, Nick was waiting for me at my locker.

“Hey, you up for a movie Friday night?” he asked.

“Sounds great, but I just made plans to go to the movies with the girls on Friday.”

“What girls?”

“Simone asked me in bio.”

“You’re kidding me. I told her I was going to ask you to see a film this weekend,” he said, narrowing his eyes.

“Oh, maybe she thought it was like a group date or something?”

“Yeah, probably. Well, what are you guys going to see?”

“The new Josh Haven one,” I said.

He made a face. “Seriously? Okay, I’ll see if any of the guys want to go, but do you want to hang out this weekend—just the two of us?”

I nodded. “Do you mind if we wait for Charlotte now though?”

He smiled. “I know you guys always walk home together. I’m not trying to come between that.”

Charlotte came up then and we started to head out when I heard Morgan’s voice.

“You guys, wait up!”

No, no, no. Not today. That girl had
never
come around me before. I was invisible to her for months and now that Nick and I were a couple she wanted to hang out? What was her deal? I turned to look at Nick, but he was smiling at her.

“Nicky,” she said, and leaned over to hug him.

Seriously? If I had asked a guy she was seeing for a piece of gum, she would have pushed me down a flight of stairs. She probably would have forbid me to look directly at any guy she liked, but no, please, go ahead and hug my boyfriend in front of me like I’m not even there.

“Hey, I didn’t get a hug,” Simone said, pouting.

What? What was this?

Nick gave me a surprised look as Simone went to hug him. I noticed he only used one arm when he hugged her back.

Pilar and Asia exchanged a look, but I had no clue what they were thinking. Knowing Pilar, she probably wasn’t worried about my feelings, but more concerned that Morgan and Simone were flirting with the same guy. I’m sure she was wondering whose side to be on in case of an all-out war.

“You guys, let’s get going. Are you all done groping Nick now?” Asia asked.

Simone gave an overdramatic laugh and Charlotte poked me in the side and mouthed, “What’s with her?”

I shrugged. I didn’t even know why Pilar and Morgan were walking with us. They lived on the other side of the town and it was out of their way to come with us. At least Reagan hadn’t joined. That would have been super awkward having his ex tag along.

“So, Charlotte, how’s that science project coming along?” Nick asked. “Hadley told me you’re working on something for the next big fair.”

Charlotte opened her mouth to answer when Morgan interrupted to talk about this guy who hit on her yesterday at the Burger Barn. I tried to tune her out as we walked down the sidewalk. Nick slid his hand in mine and I wondered if anyone noticed we were holding hands.

Pilar and Morgan stopped at the intersection to head to their street. We started down the street Charlotte, Asia, and Simone lived on and I thought Simone would stop talking and Nick and I could chat—and he could finish his conversation with Charlotte. I wanted the two of them to get along and thought it was sweet he was showing interest in her science project. We reached Charlotte’s driveway and she said she’d call me later. Asia lived right across the street and I thought Simone was planning to go over to her house today, but apparently Simone had other ideas.

“I’ll walk you guys home,” she said to Nick and me. “I’ve got nothing going on anyway.”

Nick raised his eyebrows, but didn’t say anything. We got to my driveway and Nick started to walk me up the steps. Simone followed right behind us.

“I’ll text you later,” he said to me, and then looked over at Simone. Realizing she wasn’t going to budge and there would be no quiet romantic moment, he gave me a quick hug and the two of them walked down the driveway together.

Simone had said before that Nick was a sweet guy, but she didn’t have a thing for him, did she? No, she would have mentioned it. Right?

Chapter Five

I got in the house and Charlotte texted me to call her.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Did Simone seriously walk you guys home?”

“Yup,” I said, taking a bottle of Pepsi out of the fridge. “She even came all the way up the steps and stood there waiting for him.”

“What is that about?”

“No clue. Do you know if she ever liked him?”

“Hadley, I know it’s a small school, but until you moved here, Simone and I didn’t exactly hang out in the same circles. No idea. I know Morgan always kept him around as her fallback guy, so I get what that’s about, but I have no clue if Simone liked him.”

I took a sip. “I doubt it. I mean, why would she have been so into the fact that he and I were going out, you know?”

“True,” Charlotte said, but there was a weird, disbelieving sound in her voice.

“What?”

“Nothing. It just seems odd she came with you guys.”

“Maybe she just likes one of his friends.”

“Yeah, that would make sense. And as far as I’ve seen, she’s never acted interested in him before.”

“So how’s your science project coming along?”

I got out all the stuff to make a peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwich as Charlotte filled me in on all the details of the upcoming fair. I was halfway through my sandwich when she said she had to go and help her grandpa get dinner ready.

“Do you want to come over tomorrow after school?” she asked. “We can catch up on
Charmed Lives
.”

Charmed Lives
was our favorite soap opera and her grandfather had gotten mine into watching it as well. My grandpa had to watch it in secret though because my grandmother didn’t approve of those types of shows. “Trash TV rots the brain,” she’d say.

I got off the phone with Char and started my homework when Nick called.

“Hey, are we still on for this weekend?” he asked.

“Yup. What do you want to do on Saturday?”

“Could we make it either Saturday night or Sunday? Saturday afternoon is movie day at my grandpa’s nursing home and I always go watch with him.”

“That’s fine. What movie are you guys going to watch?”

“They always show old movies there that the residents will be into,” he said.

“I love old movies,” I said.

“What do you mean by old movies?” he asked. “Like black-and-white ones or what? Because I asked Reagan once and she thought
Clueless
was an old movie.”

I laughed. “I meant black-and-white ones or even ones from a couple decades ago.”              

“Oh okay, that’s cool. I don’t know a lot of people our age who are into them like I am. We’re going to see
A Place in the Sun
with Elizabeth Taylor,” he said. “Grandpa loves her.”

“I’ve never seen that one, but I’ve seen a ton of her films. My grandpa likes her too, and he always tells me about how his parents used to take them to matinees on the weekends when they were little. They did drive-ins too. But I’ve heard that movie is super good.”

“Do you…nah, never mind,” he said.

“What?”

“I was going to ask if you wanted to come and watch with us, but I mean, why would you want to spend your Saturday at the nursing home watching a movie in a room full of older people when you could be with your friends at the mall or something.”

“I’d love to go. I mean, if your grandpa would be okay with me coming along. I don’t want to interrupt your time with him.”

“We’re just going to watch the movie, so it’s not like we’d be talking or anything. I bet he’d enjoy the company.”

“Would your parents be cool with it?”

“I’ll check, but I’m sure it’s fine. Just know you can back out anytime. I won’t get mad or anything.”

Mom came in then and motioned for me to help her with dinner.

“I gotta go help my mom, but I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I followed Mom to the counter and she asked if I’d help make the salad.

“So who were you talking to? Mr. Wonderful?” she said, smirking.

I rolled my eyes. “Do you have to call him that?”

“I knew it. Your grandpa said you get the same dopey look your Aunt Faith gets on her face when she likes a guy. You do! You two are so much alike.”

My aunt was my favorite person in the family—next to Grandpa. She was a lot younger than my dad and she never treated me like a kid. She always took my feelings into consideration. I remember when I was six and all the cousins were playing in the pool. I was in the shallow end and I slipped and went under. It was only for a minute, but it was the second time that had happened to me and I was terrified of going under the water. I burst into tears as soon as I came up for air and all the other cousins made fun of me and I could tell the adults were annoyed by the way they all kept saying, “You’re
fine
,”
in that exasperated tone. But she came over and got me out of the pool and took me to sit with her and her friends. She stayed with me all afternoon. She was always looking out for me.

“Is it okay if I go out with Nick on Saturday?” I asked.

Mom stopped chopping the carrot in front of her. “Where were you planning to go?”

“To his grandpa’s nursing home. They’re having a movie thing there in the afternoon and I said I’d go with him.”

“Wow, that’s not at all what I thought you were going to say. Are his parents okay with you going there?”

I nodded. “He’s checking, but said it should be okay. Can I go?”

“Sure, but, hon, you’ve never been to one of those places before and they can be overwhelming. You’re…how to put this…kind of sensitive, and I don’t want you to get freaked out.”

“Why would I get freaked out?”

Mom bit her lip. “Well, for one, some of the patients might have dementia and that can be a little scary. They’re not always aware all the time—well, there are different kinds of dementia, but you’ve never been around any of it. And sometimes those places smell and they can be a bit depressing.”

“Mom, I said nursing home, not a club in New York. I’m aware it’s not a party scene. Nick is super close with his grandpa and he goes to visit him a lot. He gets so sad about how his grandpa has declined. I think it might help if I go along with him.”

She nodded. “Why is his grandpa in there?”

“He had a reaction to anesthesia and it brought on a type of Parkinson’s and dementia. He can’t walk anymore either. He’s only seventy-four years old and Nick said he changed overnight after the surgery.”

Mom turned to face me. “That happened to one of your grandfather’s friends too. He got hurt on the golf course and had surgery. After that they couldn’t figure out why he was confused. It’s tough.”

I nodded just as my phone buzzed with a text.

“Better check that. Might be Mr. Perfect,” Mom said, winking.

I went over to my phone. “He said his parents are cool with it. Can I tell him I can go?”

“Sure, I think it’s sweet you want to go with him. I just hope you’re ready for this.”

“I’m not a kid. I’m almost sixteen.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me—or your father. Now get your butt over here and finish this salad.”