Just Like Me (12 page)

“What makes you think I want you in here?!” I yelled. As much force as I put behind the door, trying to close it, Taylor was able to squeeze his way in. He closed the door behind him. “Get out!” I screamed.

“I know you’re pissed. But come on, what did you expect?”

“You made me think I was in danger! You put me through stress levels I have never experienced before. And I’m in college! I could have had a heart attack with that gun to my back! I’ll have emotional damage for life! And then that hoodie stunt? Aw! Brilliant! Give yourself a hero metal and at the same time make me the worst human in existence. Congratulations, Taylor Jett. You’re probably the worst excuse of a human being I’ve ever heard of in my life!”

“I…can fix this.” He held a finger up to me and pulled his phone out. He dialed with his thumb while still holding a finger up to me. Putting the phone to his ear I could hear a distant ringing.

“Hey, Harry? Yea, it’s Taylor. Great, thanks. We had a little mishap. Yes. Is a commercial break going to air soon? I need to talk to Joe. Get on air, if I need to. Yes. Alright, I’ll hold.”

I stared at him, trying to figure out what he was doing.

“Yea, Joe? Hey. You’re on commercial right? Yea, dude, why did you air that hoodie thing, man?...Well you got that all wrong. That was me.” He grimaced as he blew his own cover, but gave a quick, fake chuckle. “Yea…no, I mean, I’m pretty into her. No, no, I’m pretty serious about her. Yea, do me a favor man; you’re probably going to get a hold of some footage tonight at the restaurant. Kale got pretty upset over what you aired tonight, man. Yea, well you got your information wrong. It was me in the hoodie. We’re back at her hotel now, if you have to beef that up, I don’t care. But get that information right. That bit was meant to make me look good, not make her look bad. Alright, thanks man. Alright, night.”

He hung up the phone, glancing at the screen for a moment.

“Go turn on the T.V.” He said, flipping through some page on his phone.

“What, I’m your slave now too? Was that in the small print of my contract?”

He rolled his eyes and went over to the T.V., turning it on. “Jesus you’re touchy. They won’t air it right away.” He said, flipping to the Star Gaze show. “But it’ll be on.”

“What, so now you make yourself look like the hero again by covering my ass?”

“I didn’t ask them to air me and you and the car. I thought they had stopped filming, that’s why I put the hoodie on so I wouldn’t attract attention. But they decided to run with it.”

“And, what? Now I owe you my gratitude?”

He looked at me, an incredulous expression on his face.

“You get freaking pissed off that that was on the news, I just fixed it, and you’re still pissed.” He tossed his phone onto the table in front of the couch. “I’m not sure exactly what you want from me, Kale. You want me to call the guy back and tell him that you stormed out of the restaurant because I turned down a second date with you? That’s what they would have said. They won’t air that footage now because I intervened before it could happen.”

“If you were honest in the first place you wouldn’t have had to fix your mistake!”

“My mistake? This whole night was a mistake! I thought you’d wreck everything! I was going to get at least a little good publicity out of you! If that meant tackling a robber in public, I’ll be damned if I wouldn’t do it again. Do you know what the media is like? It takes a hundred good things to make up for one damn mistake.”

“That’s not my problem.”

“It is your problem. You won the contest, you’re here, deal with it.”

“Deal with what? Your constant mood swings? Your arrogance? Your determinedness to look like a total jerk in front of a camera?”

“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

“But I do, I do know what I’m talking about. You can’t be honest with anyone, Taylor Jett. Not even yourself.”

Joe was suddenly on the T.V. and we both stopped, glancing at the T.V.

“An update on the Just Like Me date going on tonight folks. Unfortunately right now we don’t have an update about their festivities tonight, but they were spotted going back to the same hotel together. Perhaps you Taylor Jett fans can get up early to gather around the entrance in the morning. We aired earlier in the broadcast that Kale was with another man at the movie theatre.” They again showed the footage of me and Taylor in the parking lot. “That guy in the jacket? No, he’s not another man. He’s none other than Taylor Jett himself. Apparently they’re pretty smitting, folks, and so those ladies who are in love with Taylor Jett? Prepare to get your hearts broken, because this probably isn’t the last time we’ll hear about Kale Delaney.”

Joe moved segments to talk about another star and I stared at Taylor. I could get angry about the hotel comment, but I couldn’t muster up the strength. I was no longer the bad guy, now I was being portrayed as a hormonal teen that was good enough to be with a movie star for the night. I could deal with that, I guess. That’s what everyone was thinking anyway. I’d rather be hated for being in some star struck love with Taylor Jett rather than breaking his heart.

“You want to know what I really thought?” I jumped, glancing up at Taylor. He sighed, sinking into the couch in front of the T.V. “I didn’t know what to think about you. You’re right, I expected someone who was completely in love with me to win the competition. I was annoyed that you didn’t even recognize me when you walked in. I was even more annoyed that you didn’t catch on to saying my name in the coffee house.” He paused, looking up at me. “But…it’s different. You’re…different.” He shook his head, as if lost in thought. “I can’t just put you in a nice hotel with nice clothes. I thought that’d make you swoon. If it’s not for me being a star, you’d at least swoon over the money. But you didn’t. What can I do, Kale? I could make every other girl in America…in the world…fall for me. But here you are, looking like you could probably kill me with your bare hands if you could get away with it.”

I released a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding in. I felt my heart beating in my chest as I stared at him. Just when I thought I had him figured out, he flipped on me.

“That.” I said, sitting down next to him. “Just when I think that arrogant brat is about to talk, the honest, normal guy talks. Well, not normal, I guess…I’m just trying to figure out who you really are. I don’t give a crap about money or fame, that doesn’t matter to me. The arrogant star who thinks he can get whoever he wants? I don’t find that attractive. It’s annoying. The guy that calls a movie station and saves my butt, even though he’s the one who screwed it up in the first place…that’s…that’s better. I guess you could’ve just let them air me in all the negative light, make yourself look even better, but you didn’t. So that leaves me in a very confused position.

“Honest.” He said, finally breaking his gaze. “Arrogance…” He smiled softly, almost sadly. “I can’t always help that. I mean, I am attractive. Any girl would kill to be with me.” He looked up to make sure I caught that he was joking. I kept his gaze. “And then there’s you. In order for me to win you over, it would take a lot more.”

“You’re right. And it’s not easy.” I said. He laughed.

“Yea, I think I figured that out.” We both took a moment and relaxed. He leaned back into the couch, closing his eyes. I stared at the screen on the T.V., not that I was paying attention to Joe, but it gave me something to look at. “I’ve never known what that’s like.” He said finally. He didn’t open his eyes.

“What what’s like?”

“Actually working to win someone over. I’m so used to everyone already being in love with me. Any girl, I can have her. I never had to work for it. If a girlfriend got mad, I threw a piece of jewelry at her and she’d be fine. I got thrown off my game when someone wasn’t willing to just go on a date with me. I’ve never known what that was like. I’ve been famous for so long…” He opened his eyes finally, staring at the ceiling. “I got mad when I threw stuff like this hotel room and a pretty dress and a photo shoot with a walk on the beach at you and you didn’t so much as flinch.”

“No, the walk on the beach thing was good.”

“But that’s the thing; any other girl wouldn’t even care. They’re all so blinded, so star struck. I feel like every girl I’ve ever gone out with never even knew who I was. To them, I’m a celebrity. I’m a dollar sign. I’m nothing.”

I propped my head in my hand.

“Well, who are you then, Taylor Jett?”

“I don’t even know if I know.”

“Well…maybe next time you won’t just settle for someone who sees the actor, and not the person.”

All of a sudden, he started laughing. Just a body-shaking, breath-taking laugh. It was cute, I loved that laugh as soon as I heard it.

“Just like me.” He finally got out.

“What?”

“I was about to ask you, if I was just another guy, how would we have spent tonight…and then I realized the whole point of this freaking contest.”

I laughed too. It was ridiculous. We had spent the evening at expensive places, showing that Taylor was in no way the same world I was.

“So what would you have done?” He asked.

“I do what?”

“If I were to go on a date with you, what’s the normal protocol for you?”

“I…don’t date much.” I was flustered.

“If someone asked you out, what would you have done at home?”

“He would have probably insisted we go to the movies. Just because I’m a manager and I could have got him in free. He probably wouldn’t have been very nice, probably would have made me drive myself. After the movie he probably wouldn’t have even thanked me, and then gone home.”

“Really?” He said, unimpressed.

“Yea, the only reason I say that is because that’s what happens whenever I try to date someone.” I gave him a half grin. “They only like me for my free movies. No one actually likes me. Which, you don’t either, so I guess I ask for it.”

“That’s not true,” but he was smiling too.

“Well, one time, the guy wasn’t only in it to see a free movie.”

“What else was it?”

“It was to see you on screen.”

We both laughed.

“He was gay?” He asked, taking a breath.

“Yea.” I joked, and we both laughed again.

“Wow…”

“Yea, when it comes to dating…I’m not the best person to ask about. My record isn’t great. My friend Lisa, she’s the pretty one.”

“I disagree with that.” A tingle went through me as he sighed. “Jerry’s probably freaking out.” He pulled his phone out and started dialing Mr. Nolan’s number. “He’s also probably going to be upset I contacted media.”

He listened to it ring a couple times before hanging up.

“Well, I tried.” He shrugged.

“You ever get tired of all this?”

“What?”

“The fame, the cameras? Never getting to live your life without a picture being taken? Never showing your true colors?”

“You should see some of the stories that come out on the media. I swear, they make up whatever the hell they want and don’t even care how it affects us. One time a broadcast went out saying I was some kid’s father. I’m 20, and I’d never even heard of the girl who was claiming I was her baby’s daddy.”

“That’s awful.”

“Yea, I know. It took forever for the media to finally quit broadcasting the story. And you think they ever cleared the air and said I wasn’t the dad?”

“No?”

“No.”

I let out a low whistle.

“That’s pretty harsh.”

“Yea, that’s why I try to create things for the media to have. I try to control it as much as I can, but even if I think it’s a perfect plan, they still find ways to make me or my family look bad. Or you, like that video of last night. Bad news is good news for the media.”

We both sat in silence, watching Joe bash more stars on the T.V. He was talking about Taylor’s costar in the zombie movies.

“See, that’s a lie.” He said pointing at the T.V. “Veronica isn’t dating that guy. She’s dating a props guy on set right now.” He shook his head.

He stood up, stretching. We both had been talking a while. He held out a hand and I took it, letting him help me up. He had put a little too much energy behind his pull and I ended up getting slammed against him. While I tried stumbling apologies, he laughed it off, but held me there. I felt my heart pound as I felt his abs brush up against my stomach. Self-conscious, I laughed nervously, backing away from him. He put his hands in his pockets, awkwardly.

We both jumped at the sound of a knock on the door. He glanced up, full alert.

“Dunno who that is.” He said, striding around the couch and toward the door. I followed after. He opened the door and a very pissed off Mr. Nolan was standing behind the door.

“Taylor.” He said, venom dripping from the name. “Time to go fix whatever it is you fucked up tonight.”

“Alright.” Taylor said, waving him off. “If you don’t mind, I haven’t fucked anything yet tonight. So-“ And he slammed the door in Mr. Nolan’s face. I felt Taylor’s finger under my chin as he closed my mouth.

“Yea, I can be a bastard sometimes.”

“That guy could really mess up your publicity. He
is
your agent.”