He's the One (14 page)

Hi, honey, hope you can get some work done tonight. Sorry about our fight the other day. Let’s have a girls’ night in soon. You choose the movie and the take away. Love you xxx

In spite of still being annoyed with her mom, Brooke smiled. It had been ages since they’d had one of their girls’ nights in, where they would put on their PJs and order in pizza, Thai or Chinese, followed by their favourite salted caramel ice cream, and watch a movie in the cinema room. She missed having those cosy times. But Liberty was often away filming, and if she wasn’t working she was out at various movie premieres and parties with Zac.

Brooke took the salad out of the fridge and perched on one of the stools at the island in the middle of the huge space – somehow it seemed a better option to eat there than at the glass-topped dining table that could
seat twenty and always made her feel even more alone when she sat there.

Her phone rang and the smiling face of her best friend Kelly popped up on the screen. They had been close since second grade and hung out together practically every weekend. Brooke had also gone on many vacations with her friend’s family. Kelly was African American, absolutely stunning to look at and also the sweetest, funniest person Brooke knew.

‘Hey, girl, how you doing?’ Kelly asked.

‘I’m back at home now, on my own, having supper, on my own.’ Brooke could hear voices and laughter in the background – it was bound to be Kelly’s three younger sisters. She had always envied Kelly her large family, where there was always something going on. Brooke hated being an only child but apparently her stepdad hadn’t wanted any children of his own, so it was just the three of them.

‘Tragic! Are you sure you can’t come over and we could study together? I could get my mom to text yours.’

It was tempting but Brooke knew that she had been pushing her luck lately and it was unlikely her mom would agree.

‘I don’t think she’ll let me. It’s cool, I do have a paper to write and I’ve already extended the deadline once.’ It wasn’t cool, though. She wished more than anything she could go round to her friend’s, where Kelly’s mom would make a big fuss of them, bring them up iced coffees and cookies, where everyone got on well and there were none of the strained silences that filled her house, whenever her stepdad and mom were in.

‘So did you manage to find a dress?’ Like the best friend that she was, Kelly knew how important this was to Brooke.

But not even describing her purchases to Kelly could really cheer her up, though she ended the call by promising to send her friend a picture of the dress and shoes.

Brooke checked through her messages. There was nothing from Christian, her boyfriend, but then he only ever sent a text in reply to ones she sent him. She didn’t know whether this was his strategy to keep her on tenterhooks, or whether that was just the way he was. They’d only been seeing each other for three weeks.

Christian was easily the best-looking guy in her year. At six foot two, with sun-bleached blond hair that flopped adorably over his forehead, impressive biceps, and the cutest smile, he was the guy everyone wanted to go out with. On top of that he was a brilliant baseball player and the lead singer in a band – boys didn’t come any more desirable than that. As soon as he’d joined the school after moving to Santa Monica two months ago, Brooke knew she had to have him. She had worked her hardest to attract his attention, planned out her strategy in minute detail, bought even more clothes to impress him, wearing a different outfit every single day, hung out at all the places he did, watched him play baseball even though she found all sport a big yawn. And of course went along to all his gigs and pushed her way to the front of the crowd so she got the best view of him on stage, even though he was in a thrash metal band and she hated that kind of music. She had always been a Motown, R&B and pop girl herself.

She’d focused on how good he looked clutching the microphone and showing off those muscles in a ripped black vest, rather than what he sounded like (strained yowling) and what he was singing about (death and
the devil – kind of dreary). His group was called Hell Dogs, so she supposed the clue was in the title. If she could have got away with it she would have been listening to Lady Gaga on her iPod, but she couldn’t risk being caught out. The people next to her, who were all jumping up and down wildly, punching the air, would probably have lynched her. Not even the sight of Christian’s smooth, well-defined biceps was worth that fate.

Finally she got her chance at Kelly’s birthday party where Brooke had homed in on him on the dance floor (like a heat-seeking missile, Kelly had told her afterwards), and, well, several Mojitos later, they were kissing by the pool. Christian had made it very clear that he wanted to go a helluva lot further than kissing … but Brooke wasn’t going to give it up so easily. She reckoned after a month, anything sooner and there was too much of a chance she’d feel slutty, and possibly get dumped. And she had no intention of being dumped. She planned to sleep with him at his eighteenth birthday party – she figured that would be quite some present.

She selected his number, but it went straight to voicemail. She did her best to sound upbeat as she left a message, and appear happy and relaxed, not needy and insecure, though she couldn’t help wondering where he was exactly at seven p.m. on a Thursday night, and why he didn’t pick up his phone when he saw who it was calling him. She always took his calls, had her phone with her at all times, on the chance he might ring. She even took it into the bathroom with her.

She scraped her half-eaten salad into the bin, grabbed the bags out of the car, and carried Ozzy upstairs to her room. He wasn’t supposed to go upstairs at all but Brooke always flouted that rule, causing even more
arguments between her and her stepdad. Here at least, in her bedroom, she was able to express her personality and there was no sign of Zac’s minimalist taste. An entire wall was devoted to photographs of Brooke and her friends over the years, and to her beloved animals, Ozzy and Fifi the cat, who had lived to the grand old age of fifteen; there was also a huge pop art canvas of a couple kissing, an enormous plasma-screen TV on one of the other walls, a four-poster bed painted silver with pale pink drapes. She’d had the bed since she was seven years old after begging Liberty to buy it for her. It had always made her feel like a princess when she was little. There was also a pink velvet sofa in the shape of a pair of lips, but best of all was the breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean from her window.

Brooke sat down at her desk, switched on her laptop, and attempted to continue her psychology paper. She had wanted to drop out of school and go straight to drama college but Liberty wouldn’t hear of it, had insisted that she had to have some qualifications behind her.

‘But I want to be an actor, like you,’ Brooke had pleaded with her. ‘That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do, you know that. Why do I need to take these stupid subjects? You dropped out of school and you did okay – more than okay.’

Usually if Brooke was persistent enough she got her own way with her mom. Not over this.

‘Because in acting you never know what might happen. It’s a brutal profession. You might not make it.’

‘Big me up, why don’t you, Mom?’ she’d shot back sarcastically, hurt at her mother’s apparent lack of confidence in her talent. ‘And Zac is my stepdad, surely he’d give me a role?’

Liberty’s face had softened when she saw how upset
Brooke was. ‘Honey, you’re hugely talented, far more talented than I ever was at your age, but sometimes talent isn’t enough. And Zac agrees with me, you need to go to school. You’ll be a better actress for it. Trust me on this.’

She looked away from the essay and out to sea, then checked her phone. Still nothing from Christian. This sucked. She picked up a remote control and selected Beyoncé on her music system. She could only work accompanied by music. Two painful hours later she finished the essay and flopped down on her bed. Ozzy crept out from under the desk where he had been lying curled up at her feet and hurled himself on to the bed next to her, turned round three times and then sat down with a contented sigh. She scratched his chin. Sometimes she envied him his simple life, even though she knew how completely mad it sounded to be envying a dog. No one ever gave him a hard time, or told him what to do.

After all that hard work, she felt like rewarding herself with a drink and was about to go downstairs and help herself to a measure of Zac’s very fine vodka, for which she had recently developed a taste, when she heard the sound of the front door opening. Liberty and Zac were back. And they were mid-argument. Brooke’s heart sank. She hated hearing them quarrel.

‘Couldn’t you at least have acted like you were enjoying yourself?’ Zac shouted. ‘Everyone commented on how miserable you looked. It was embarrassing.’

‘Oh, I’m so sorry that I wasn’t being the perfect Hollywood trophy wife tonight. Sorry for having any emotions of my own. Sorry for thinking that I might actually be allowed to think my own thoughts, instead of always being an extension of you!’ Liberty responded. She had lived out in LA for fourteen years,
but whenever she was angry her LA drawl slipped and her English accent took over.

Brooke sat up and hugged her knees, wishing she could block out the sound. It was as familiar to her now as the sound of the ocean she could hear from her bedroom, part of her day, part of her life, and not something she wanted to hear any more. There was a gentle knock at the door and her mom walked in.

‘Hi, Brooke, are you okay?’ Liberty looked as beautiful as ever. Her silky dark brown hair cascaded down her back; the floor-length black couture strapless dress showcased her enviable figure. An emerald choker caught the light and sparkled at her throat, accentuating her vivid green eyes, the only feature Brooke had inherited from her. Her make up was still perfect after the party.

‘I’m fine. Stayed in, like you wanted, and didn’t see anyone, like you wanted. Finished the essay like you wanted,’ she muttered sulkily.

Liberty chose to ignore the tone – she was good at doing that. ‘Brilliant. Well done, sweetheart, I knew you could do it if you put your mind to it.’ She came over and lightly kissed Brooke on the top of her head, enveloping her in an exotic perfume. She managed a smile for her daughter, but Brooke could see the sadness in her eyes. She seemed strained and on edge, as if at any minute she might snap. Brooke suddenly felt sorry for her.

‘So what were you and Zac arguing about this time?’

‘Oh, it was nothing. I just didn’t want to be at the party. I’d rather have been here with you, but he made a big deal of it, and then, as you heard, was pissed off with me for not putting on the big Hollywood fake smile.’ Liberty’s shoulders seemed to sag, as if she was worn out by the quarrel.

‘So how about I make you a hot chocolate?’ she continued. She had noticed Ozzy curled up next to Brooke, and raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything.

Brooke guessed she would have to forget the vodka now. ‘Sure, thanks, I’ll come downstairs.’

‘I’ll bring it up to you. Zac’s in a pretty dark mood. He’s best left alone until he’s calmed down.’

‘Okay.’ It wasn’t, though. Zac’s dark moods could last for days. Brooke waited until her mom had left the room and then switched her music back on, anxious not to overhear any more of her parents’ arguing. It was right at this moment that she could really do with hearing Christian’s voice, to have him say something nice to her, to make her feel good. She dialled his number again. Voicemail. Again. She noticed the designer shopping bags by the side of her desk and quickly shoved them in her walk-in closet. She hadn’t even sent the pictures to Kelly. Somehow she didn’t feel like it. The excitement she had felt when she’d bought the clothes had fizzled out now.

Chapter 18

Brooke’s school was a five-mile drive away. It used to be one of Rosa’s jobs to give her a lift to and from it, but on her seventeenth birthday Zac bought Brooke a cherry red Mercedes convertible and from then on she drove herself and Kelly. She never ceased to get a thrill when she got behind the wheel and started the engine and hit the freeway, knowing how many people would be admiring and envying the blonde girl in the driver’s seat. In fact for all the hours she had devoted to attracting Christian, and all her many tactics, the first thing he had said to her when they finally got together was, ‘You’re the girl with the bad ass car.’ She could just have driven past his house a couple of times to get his attention … her ears could have been spared the sound of Hell Dogs.

She pulled in at the entrance to the school, a sprawling modern building set in attractive landscaped grounds, and parked in the student car park. She noticed that Christian’s distinctive black-and-gold jeep was already there. It was a little too pimped up for her taste – not that she would ever tell him that. Good, so he was in school already and she could find out where
he had been the night before, and what had been so important that he hadn’t called her back.

Kelly saw her frown and guessed the reason why. ‘He was probably playing baseball, don’t stress about it.’ She pulled out her lip-gloss and swiped some more on her already perfectly glossed lips.

‘I guess.’ But it hurt that he hadn’t called. It would have taken Brooke’s mind off her parents arguing. It would have made her feel that he cared about her, because sometimes she had her doubts.

As usual before class, the two girls went to the cafeteria to grab a skinny latte. They had just paid for their drinks and were making their way over to a table when Kelly nudged Brooke. ‘There’s Christian over there.’

Brooke followed the direction of her gaze and saw her boyfriend. The trouble was, he was not alone. Her boyfriend was talking to Taylor. Oh, please, anyone but her. She was blonde, rich, and the biggest bitch on campus. From the word go the two girls had loathed each other, and their relationship had taken a turn for the even worse when Brooke landed the leading role of Sandy in the school production of
Grease
, and Taylor, who was jealous as hell, had done her best to turn everyone against her.