Halfway Perfect (7 page)

God. I'm such a bitch sometimes. He was probably trying to be nice. It's just so hard knowing who's putting all those words in Alex's mouth and getting him jobs like this one, and to not lump him together with lying agents like Wes and arrogant models like…well, almost all of the ones I've met.

Not that Alex isn't arrogant. He totally is, and it's the first thing I noticed about him at the last shoot, but today he seems subdued, like he's not in his own skin.

And holy shit. I never expected him to admit to the fake relationship thing. I wasn't even 100 percent sure until I saw his face. He needs to do a little better if he plans to keep up the story for more than a few days.

“Eve?” Janessa calls.

I scramble to my feet and head over to where Alex and Elana will be shot together for the first time today. Elana looks stunning getting out of the safari jeep parked smack dab in the middle of Columbus Circle in her slim cheetah-print minidress and a green linen safari jacket. Elana was made for these clothes. There's no denying that a part of me was happy being in the spotlight. It's intoxicating.

“I'm having trouble getting the positions I want and still have all the clothes showing,” Janessa says to me once I'm beside her. “I'm not used to that being an important factor.”

I scan the set, looking Alex and Elana over, head to toe. “Do we need shoes in the shot?”

“Apparently it's a must.” Janessa nods toward Jacqueline, the stylist.

I almost laugh at Janessa's reaction. I'm sure she thinks that the concept and the angles should be most important. But this is fashion. Shoes
are
essential.

“I have an idea?” I say like a question because I don't want to overstep my boundaries.

She holds her hand out as if to tell me to go ahead. I walk closer to the costars and take Alex's hands, pulling his arms around Elana's waist. When he stiffens, I lift my eyebrows subtly to remind him that everyone is watching, and he really needs to be on. “Elana, put your arms here.” I wrap her arms around Alex's neck. “Now, lift her up.”

After Alex does as he's told and Elana is off the ground, I grab her fancy boots and lift them up toward her butt so we can see the shoes.

“Don't move,” I order. Then I walk back beside Janessa and look them over. “What do you think? We can't see the front of her. That might be a problem.”

Janessa lifts her camera and looks through the lens. “It is a problem.”

My stomach drops, and I feel like a complete idiot for even opening my mouth.

“But,” Janessa continues, “you gave me an idea. We can do three different shots. Back this one up two steps and do a strip of three pictures, like we're getting her walking into his arms.”

“Then we've got the outfit, the shoes, and the chemistry between the happy couple,” I add.

Janessa nods, her lens still glued to her face. “Not bad, Eve.”

I catch Alex listening to Janessa's praise. He smiles at me. I feel guilty all over again and make a promise to apologize later for snapping at him.

While bringing this new vision to life, Janessa quizzes me on the correct ISO, lens use, and sun position. Some of it I answer easily, but most of it, I'm listening intently to her answers. I really do have a lot to learn.

After we're finished for the day, Janessa and I are walking up the steps to the RV when I hear Hugo's loud voice project to New Jersey and back.

“Come on, you have to remember her?” Hugo says. “You mean Wes has never once mentioned her?”

I freeze on the top step, my heart pounding. Janessa sighs and throws me a look that's either angry or sympathetic. I can't tell. But I can tell that she knows. She must have heard Alex at the
Seventeen
shoot. She was right behind me when he made his very loud proclamation,
you're E
ve Castle!

“Look at how tall she is,” someone else says. “And gorgeous.”

“I think she's put on a few pounds. That's why I didn't recognize her right away. Plus size might be her best option now,” another person says, and group laughter follows.

“Are you sure Wes has never brought up the subject?” Hugo says, probably asking Alex.

Great. Just great.

“Wes's former clients are none of my concern,” Alex says. “Just so long as he keeps booking jobs like this for me, I don't give a shit who else he's worked with.”

“Spoken like a true diva,” Hugo says. “You know, I might have done her makeup once, now that I think about it.”

Oh God. I'm so not going in there now. No way.

I turn my back to Janessa. “I forgot one of the bags. I'll just go grab it.”

Janessa catches my arm before I have a chance to run away. “Come on. Let's get this over with. You can't hide out all week, and frankly, I'm going to get sick of hearing them whisper about you for the next four days.”

My eyes must be huge right now, but my feet move in the direction Janessa's tugging me. As soon as we enter the RV, Hugo's voice cuts off. He's standing in the middle of the nearly packed room. Alex and Elana are standing together on the far side of the room, and the producer, Russ, is near the door.

Janessa's hands land on my shoulders, pointing me toward the center of the room before releasing me. “I'd like all of you to meet Eve Nowakowski. My assistant. She's a student at Columbia. She takes decent photos, though her approach is a bit unconventional. She has a lot of technique problems to work out, but I'd say she has potential as a photographer. So whatever else you've heard about her, let's focus on the present, understood?”

Nobody moves or says anything for what feels like ten minutes but is probably only three seconds. My face is so hot it must be red as a tomato.

Finally, Alex claps his hands together. “Sounds like a plan to me. And being the diva that we all know I am…” He crosses the small space, moving toward me. “I'm going to remind you that my contract states the photographer or the photographer's assistant is required to get my approval on the shots for today before you send them on to the designer.” He turns me around to face the door. I seem to have lost my ability to move without direction. “I'd like to do that now, if you don't mind.”

The air outside of the RV feels so good on my hot face. Alex's hands drop from my shoulders and I spin around to face him. “Nobody's contract allows for that kind of clause.”

He shrugs. “I'm sure someone's does.”

I'm still in shock, so I don't notice Alex looking slightly nervous until he says, “It wasn't me. I didn't tell them anything.”

“What?” I shake my head, mentally catching up to him. “Oh…yeah, I didn't think it was you. It was only a matter of time, right?”

We've put some distance between us and the RV, and now Alex looks like he's fighting laughter. “It was Elana.”

I glance at him to see if he's serious. “No way.”

“Apparently a handful of models inspired her to leave home and pursue her dream, and one of those people is Eve Castle.”

I start laughing so hard I have to lean against the wall to keep myself from falling over.
Talk
about
ironic
. When Alex and I both stop laughing, I look over at him and hesitate before asking, “Were you lying about Wes? Has he ever mentioned me?”

Any hint of a smile or amusement drops from his face. “No, he hasn't.”

I don't know if I should feel glad or upset, but I end up feeling a little of both.

“We're all business,” Alex says as if sensing that I might take this personally. “We would never sit around and hash out his past clients. We just don't go there, you know?”

“I know.” Needing a change of subject, I point a finger at the RV. “Thanks for getting me out of there. And for what you said earlier. You're not as arrogant and self-involved as I falsely assumed.”

Okay, so I never really thought Alex was self-involved, but I don't think he's going to experience an ego decline anytime soon, and there's no need for me to go out of my way and boost him up even higher.

A smug expression fills his face before he turns his back to me. “See you tomorrow, Eve.”

I stand there for a long time, watching everyone pack up and leave. A long, black car with tinted windows pulls up for Alex, and then another identical yet separate car arrives for Elana. She glances in my direction and gives me a small wave before sliding in the car.

A rush of emotions I can't quite identify floods over me as I think of her looking at my picture in a magazine all the way from France. I remember doing the same thing at her age. And I also remember getting into dozens of black cars, closing the door, and finding Wes seated in the back, usually on his cell phone waving at the driver to pull away before anyone could see him. At first it was hot and exciting, sitting there waiting for him to hang up, knowing we would be all over each other the second he did.

Then later, the walls between us and the rest of the world were so thick, I could sit right beside him in that car and feel more lonely than I'd ever felt in my life.

In the beginning, if I dropped into my seat, exhausted and frustrated, Wes would rub my shoulders and tell me I was beautiful and that he'd make sure I was a huge star by the time eighteen came around. But after the excitement wore off, he'd start listing off all the things I needed to do to improve my stamina…
stay
away
from
carbs
…
why
do
you
think
so
many
models
smoke
…
maybe
if
you
hadn't stayed up so late studying for classes that you don't even nee
d to take.

Wes hated that I wouldn't drop the correspondence courses when I turned sixteen.

“Why do you need to go to college, Evie? You're a professional. You need to focus on you
r career.”

Once, he threw my SAT prep book into the kitchen sink, not knowing it was full of soapy water. I had to buy a new one to replace it. After that, I hid all my books and never studied in front of him. We went a long time without fighting after I made that decision. The break from arguing was such a relief that I almost did drop my classes.

Wes and I were made to do nothing but destroy each other, and love wasn't enough to fix that. Maybe love is never enough. Maybe relationships need to be based on practical matches and common goals.

Or maybe there's something wrong with me. Maybe I'm not compatible with anyone.

I spot Janessa and Russ walking toward me, and I pull myself from the wall. I'm still technically on the unpaid clock.

“Well, that went well,” Janessa says and I don't know if she's talking about the drama from a few minutes ago or the day as a whole.

“Sorry about the gossip session earlier,” Russ says to me. “We're glad to have you here, Eve. You'll bring a unique perspective for sure. And it's great to hear your recovery went well.”

Right. My recovery. From drug addiction.

I suppress a laugh. “Uh…thanks.”

Russ leaves me alone with Janessa. We both stand there in silence for a minute, and then she says, “I suppose you could have started next week. I'm doing a series on statues in New York City.”

I laugh. “Too late now.”

She gives me a hard pat on the arm. “It's good for you. Builds character.”

A few minutes later, I'm back in the bumpy van. As we pull away, I get another text from Alex.

ALEX
: News has spread to
Nebraska.

I have no idea what he's talking about, but I decide to remove his real name from my phone before replying. It takes me a second to label him. Usually, I don't put real names in my phone. Steph is Reese Witherspoon—short, blond, curvy, and outgoing…it fits. The RA for my dorm is Bella Swan because she shakes her head a lot when she talks and she trips over everything.

Alex gets labeled Calvin Klein.

ME
: Nebraska?

CALVIN
KLEIN
: My parents. My
hometown.

Alex is from Nebraska? That might be worse than Indiana.

ME
: Which news has spread? The fake g/f?

CALVIN
KLEIN
: Yep. Except not the fake
part.

ME
: This is
bad?

CALVIN
KLEIN
: Haven't decided
yet.

ME
: Are you going to tell them it's
fake?

CALVIN
KLEIN
: Too risky. Neighborhood gossip has traveled all the way to NYC
before.

ME
: But if you told them not to
tell…?

CALVIN
KLEIN
: Doesn't matter. They won't get that it's important to keep it a
secret.

ME
: You don't have to explain to me. My parents are selfish a-holes
too.

CALVIN
KLEIN
: They aren't assholes. They're normal. Normal people don't get this
world.

ME
: I get it. You shouldn't tell them. You're
right.

CALVIN
KLEIN
: Where do you take a 14 yr old on a
date?

ME
: PG-13 Movie? Chuck e
cheese?

CALVIN
KLEIN
: Ha-ha. We think
alike.