Just Like Me (14 page)

“I didn’t put the number under my real name, the last thing I need is someone going through your contacts and realizing you have my number.”

“What name did you program it under?”

“Coffee House.”

“Nice.”

He sat back down, flipping through the channels. I leaned against him, watching as a movie played across screen. Before I knew it, I was closing my eyes, and dreams were playing behind my eyelids.

I woke up to a knock on my door. I sat up, glancing around, confused as to where I was. Then it hit me. The media, the pictures, the restaurant, the hotel room. I was in the gold and white bedroom in the hotel.

Taylor.

Oh God, had I really fallen asleep on him?

I shook the fog from my head and quickly got out of bed. He wasn’t here. I grabbed my purse and bag, making sure to slide my phone into my purse. I must have fallen asleep on his shoulder last night. He must have brought me in here. Was I really that asleep? Normally I wake up if a pin falls. Geez, that’s humiliating.

I looked through the peephole and saw that Hector was the one knocking. I glanced back at the clock on the wall; it was 6:00 am.

I opened the door and heaved my bag over my shoulder.

“Hey, Hector.” He looked at me, trying to judge my expression, whether I was still as mad as I was yesterday.

“Yes, we have to get going, Kale.”

“Sorry I slept in,” I said, taking one last glance around the hotel room to make sure I hadn’t forgot anything. I stepped out into the hallway with him, letting the door slam behind me. I felt a little awkward in yesterday’s clothes, but no one had any idea of knowing I had dressed in a t-shirt and jeans last night when Taylor came over. “And also I’m sorry about yesterday. You were just doing what you were being paid to do. It wasn’t your fault that stuff came up on the T.V. I was mad at Taylor, not you.”

We walked down the hallway, the guards all trailing.

“So ya’ll made up?”

“I guess you could say that.” He gave me a look and I flushed. “Ew, Hector, not like that.” He laughed and shrugged.

Soon I was in the car, on the way to the plane. I remembered he had programmed his number in my phone. I flipped through, realizing Lisa had already started texting me.

YOU’RE DEAD!

I laughed, quickly punching back that I already knew I was dead. And that maybe I’d be resurrected as a zombie so I could star alongside Taylor in Zombie Grave.

I went back to my contacts and stared at Taylor’s number, unable to figure out whether I should text him or not. That was probably one road I didn’t want to go down. It was too early to be texting him anyway. I could just see my life as an endless charade of red carpets and photography flashes. Constantly watching what I did and said. Was that what I wanted? But it was Taylor, and if I had met him on campus or something, I would be dying to meet up with him a second time. Well, at least parts. The snotty arrogance I couldn’t stand, the paparazzi Taylor. But the Taylor I saw when it was just the two of us? I had liked that. A lot. But was that just a joke? Was he hoping I’d fall for the act if it meant another date and more publicity for him? He had easily fooled me one time; this could just be another trick.

That made me angry, thinking about how he may have just pulled that act last night so he could score even more good points with the media. He couldn’t stand me at the beginning of the night, why should I think he could stand me now? He wouldn’t, I’m not one of those girls that celebrities date. I’m not any kind of Cinderella, if anything he’s that prince and I’m the pauper. Yea, it’d be just like that story. And it never goes down like that. I’m not pretty enough for him. I’m not some gorgeous model. Why in the world would he be interested in a girl like me?

And whenever you flip to those Hollywood channels, you always hear about some celebrity divorcing their spouse. It never lasts. The young celebs stay married a year before they’re calling out for divorce. Heck, even the couples married for twenty years divorce in Hollywood. And it’s not like I even know Taylor. What if he is always getting drunk? What if he abuses drugs? Isn’t that what celebrities do? They do drugs, girls, and alcohol? And the celebrities that don’t do that stuff, you never hear about them.

What am I thinking anyway? I hate celebrities. I hate everything they stand for. How arrogant, rude, and selfish they are. And I’m thinking about liking one? Dating one? Who
am
I?

My head started to hurt with all the thoughts swirling around. I finally put my phone down; deciding to give it a lot of thought before texting him anything. At the back on my mind, I knew I’d already resolved that I wouldn’t be texting him at all.

A black car finally dropped me off in front of my dorm. I waved goodbye to Trent and quickly hopped up the steps. I swiped my card allowing the doors to be opened. I skipped the elevator and ran up three flights of steps, trying not to run down the hallway to our dorm room. Finally I reached it; I tried the door, knowing it’d be unlocked. I flung it open and Lisa was sitting up in bed, dazed looking like I had woke her up by opening the door.

“Kale?” She asked, sleepily. I nodded.

“Yea, I’m back.”

I dropped my bag and purse on the ground, unsure whether or not I should launch into details. I wasn’t quite sure Lisa was capable of functioning this early.

“You had sex?!” She thundered. Ok, maybe she can function.

“No!” I tried to keep my voice at a casual level. “Taylor was just messing with you, he was mad that you thought you knew him so well based on the media.”

“You have no idea the mess that was on T.V. yesterday! Kale!” She was awake now, flinging herself out of the covers. “I was so worried! It’s like they kept changing their story. Was it a real robber?”

“It wasn’t a robber; it was some actor they paid to be a robber so Taylor could get publicity.”

“What an ass.”

“Yea, I agree, that’s an ass move.”

“Why did he call me? Was that really him?”

“Yea, I asked him to call you because it was getting late and we were still hanging out.”

“Why?”

“Because…”

Because he started being honest, or sounding honest. And I liked it. I liked the way it felt when he was close to me, the way he had taken me to my bedroom when I had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

I started from the beginning of the evening, talking about the car ride and the jet plane, the hotel and the outfit. I talked about the limo and the beach, recounted every detail up until I had woken up that morning. Lisa was looking very confused by the end of it.

“So was he faking or was he being honest?” She finally asked.

“I don’t know!” I exclaimed. “I’ve been trying to figure it out all morning. I think he must have been faking, Lisa, because he hated my guts at the beginning of the evening. I’m thinking he wants more publicity out of this thing so he wants the media to think we’re dating. That would help out the foundation thing too.”

“Oh yea! They announced on the T.V. yesterday that there’s going to be another competition. But they’re taking it down to areas now, and going to start a T.V. show about how celebrities are ‘just like me’. It all seems kind of ridiculous.”

“Well, you know from what I told you…all those fancy things were NOT just like me.”

“No kidding.” She evaluated my face for a moment. “You like him.” She finally accused.

“No I don’t.”

“Don’t lie to me. I see it in your eyes. They’re all bright and happy looking. And you’re normally a grump. Normally you’d be bad-mouthing him from a mile away. You enjoyed yourself yesterday.”

“No! It was horrible! All that media stuff, the pictures, you know I don’t like getting close with people like that.”

“Then why did you fall asleep on his shoulder?”

“I was tired!” That was the truth, wasn’t it?
“Why did you let him come back over with pictures?”

“I really was worried he’d pick out ones that looked good of him but horrible of me, just to spite me or something.” Ok, that was a lie.

“That’s not how it sounded when you were explaining it to me.”

“Well…that’s how it went.”

“Are you going to text him?”

“…I don’t know. Honestly…I don’t think it’d be a good idea. I mean, my life is going to take forever to get back to where it was before all this. Can you imagine if I continued seeing him? I wouldn’t be myself anymore.”

“Well, it’s up to you.” And she was back down in her bed, catching a few more hours’ worth of sleep, I assumed. I crawled into my own bed, but thanks to Taylor Jett, I was wide awake.

When we got up it was lunch time. I got out of bed quickly never having slept a wink. I was hungry for something to eat, realizing I hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday’s handful of popcorn. Lisa seemed to drag as she put on her clothes.

“Ben wants to eat lunch with us, if that’s ok. He wanted to hear about Taylor Jett.” She stuck her tongue out while saying his name.

“That’s fine, I don’t care. But can we use our code name? I don’t want to draw attention today in the cafeteria.”

“Actually, can we do Bert’s? The T.V. will drown out your voice and we can actually watch what you did last night.”

I cringed. I could just imagine how the media was going to spin our evening together.

“I guess.”

We met Ben downstairs in the lobby, it was actually a little bit chilly outside so I was thankful for my hoodie. But as soon as we entered Bert’s I regretted it. It was hot and stuffy and I’d be sweating in no time.

I ordered a turkey sandwich while Ben and Lisa decided to split a pizza. We put in our orders and all filed into a booth with a T.V. that was already featuring Star Gaze. I was opposite of the two of them, it was commercial break on the Star Gaze network.

I gave Ben a quick and blurry picture of what had happened with Taylor. He seemed mildly interested in me, but a lot more interested in Lisa’s reactions to me.

I was just finishing up about the pictures in the hotel when I spotted him. No, not Taylor.

Chris.

Chris Tanning.

His blonde hair and ice blue eyes were unmistakable as he made his way through Bert’s.

“Oh God.” I said. I quickly folded my arms on the table and buried my head in my arms.

“Kale?” I heard Lisa fidget as she turned to see what I was looking at. “Oh God.” She repeated after me.

“I know, right?” My voice was muffled against my sleeve. “He never comes in Bert’s.”

“He’s going to know you’re with me. You better look up.”

“No.”

“Kale…you’re going to just be more embarrassed so…sit. Up.” She talked quick and low so I could hear it. I peeked out at her, but her eyes must have been focused on Chris.

Chris was the reason I hadn’t been close to a guy in so long. Chris broke my heart senior year in high-school, dragging my heart purposely along after him. After a year of chasing him he finally let me down. It was the biggest heart break I had ever had, the reason I felt my heart had painful pieces of glass shards protruding out. Because of him, I was messed up. Because of him, I didn’t want anyone coming close to touching me. Just when I had let him in, just when I became accepting, after he kissed me…he left.

I thought I would finally get away from him when I came to college. He had big plans about going to a huge university. He told me we would never work out because we were going down different paths. Imagine my surprise when we ended up picking and attending the same college. I found out quickly his favorite places to hang out, the people he talked with the most, and ignored those places and people like the plague. This was supposed to be my escape, the best years of my life, and here I had to tiptoe around campus.

I quickly rearranged so the back of my hoodie was facing him, my gaze on a commercial on the T.V. I kept watching Lisa out of the corner of my eye, she whispered in a low voice to Ben. Something to the effect of: If he starts anything I will hold it over your head forever if you don’t say something.

And hell would have it that I’d see Lisa’s gaze stop right by our table, I heard a familiar laugh as Chris slid in beside me. Me.

“Watching for your face on that T.V. screen, Kale?”

I was frozen. Do I look at him? Do I keep looking at the T.V.? Do I say a word? I finally moved my eyes off the T.V. and towards Lisa. Her eyes were wide. Not a single time since we had been in college had Chris acknowledged my existence.

“Heard you screwed that zombie kid, I have to say you certainly downgraded your taste.”

He reached over, like a shameless ass, and took a sip of my coffee.

“I see your taste in beverage hasn’t changed. Iced mocha, you’ve always been predictable, Kale.”

“If I screwed the zombie kid it’s none of your business.” I snapped. I still couldn’t look at him.

I had a flashback to the time at the beach when he had taken pictures with me, kept his arm around me, as if I meant something to him. As if I meant anything to him. How he had shamelessly tossed my affections out like a sack of trash that was stinking up his life. I had never had anyone, never loved anyone. It took me a lot of time to realize that decent people don’t do stuff like that.

“So you are screwing him?” Chris pressed, I felt his eyes drilling into me.

“Maybe she is, it isn’t your concern.” Lisa snapped.

“Stay out of this, Lisa. You always were such a nosey bitch.”

I finally turned to face him.

“Don’t talk to her like that. You want to get into it with me? Fine, but you don’t have to snap at her.”

“Get into it? Right. I never wanted that, Kale. You know that.” He readjusted himself and slid an arm around me. I tried not to physically revolt at his movement. “So what’s so special about this Jett guy?”

“None of your business, Chris.”

“Is it because he’s a celebrity? You never were into them before.”
“I guess I’m not as predictable as you thought I was.”

I kept counting to ten in my head, over and over, knowing that this couldn’t last forever. He would have to leave. He would have to. I turned my gaze back to the T.V.

One.

Two.

Three.

“Hoodie and sunglasses inside? You never wore those before either. Huh. I guess you have changed.”

Seven.

Eight.

Nine.

I watched him in my peripheral as he glanced around Bert’s. He seemed like he was looking for something.

I took a second to glance around Bert’s as well, trying to figure out what he was looking for. Then I realized…Chris was the type of guy who would do anything for attention. Anything. He mocked me to our friends behind our back during our…whatever it was. He would purposely go out of his way to make me miserable. Maybe even calling up media to get a good shot of Kale Delaney already moving on with another guy.

“Oh.” The word angrily escaped from my lips as I shut my eyes tight. I wasn’t sure what to do. If I got up and left, would the cameras follow? Should I make a scene and make sure the cameras caught that I wasn’t interested in him?

I caught Lisa’s eye, she kept flicking her eyes near the doorway. I took a quick glance and noticed a guy, looking like a college student, nonchalantly polishing a camera. But, he wasn’t moving the camera around, it was held steady. I could make out a piece of black tape over where the recording light was probably blinking.

“Chris.” I said rather loudly. I noticed the camera guy’s eyes look up. “We’re over. And it’s really pathetic that you’d come crawling back like this.”

I stood up quickly. I would crawl under the table to get out if I had to. Chris looked at me, confused.

“Move!” I hissed. When he didn’t budge, I hesitated, but then climbed up on top of the table, hopping down into the aisle. I was surprised that I hadn’t kicked off the pizza tray, I’m normally a klutz.

“What the hell are you
doing
?!” He thundered, stepping out with me.

“I’m sick of this. Leave me alone, you stalker.”

I hurried out of the restaurant, hoping I had done the right thing. I caught sight of the cameraman, looking after me, confused. I had made Chris look bad, which made me feel great. But I had also got the point across that I was not interested in him. I hoped that helped Taylor. Even if I didn’t do the right thing, I hoped it would reflect badly on me instead.

I was racing to my dorm, and suddenly they were everywhere. Cameras, flashing lights, pops, people, they all crowded around and were shouting demands at me. Are you with Taylor? What is your relationship status with Chris Tanning? Are you and Taylor a couple? Are there any plans to advance your relationship with Taylor?

On and on they came, and I found myself shoving and pushing my way through the crowd. I saw a break and took it, blasting through the sea of people and racing to my dorm room. I had just made it inside when Mr. Nolan’s number popped up on my cell phone, he was calling me.

“Mr. Nolan?” I asked.

“Ms. Delaney, we had word that a cameraman from Star Gaze was at your school. Is everything alright?”

“Yes…umm…a cameraman? There are more like…dozens of them, Mr. Nolan. Someone I used to be…involved with…called them, I think. He was trying to get a rise out of me, make it look like I was dating him or something. He might’ve been doing it out of spite, but I’m not entirely sure. I’m guessing they may have paid him. But I called him out saying we were over. I had to climb on top of a table to get around him…but I’m out now and heading back to my room. I got surrounded by a whole bunch of people with cameras, but I’m in my dorm building now, and you need to swipe a campus I.D. to get in.”

“Ok, that’s ok. I’m not sure how this will be interpreted. They didn’t hurt you, did they? Who is this person you said was calling them?”

“Chris Tanning. Is there any way you can stop him from calling the cameras here?”

“I can try. Thanks for giving me the information, I’ll call your Chancellor and see if I can get some chat time with Mr. Tanning. Just stay put in your dorm if you can, Ms. Delaney. I’ll call as soon as those cameras are off campus. Just give it some time and they will leave you alone. They will press for a while but once your communication with Mr. Jett stops, they will leave you alone. To insure your safety I will have body guards temporarily sent to your location.”

“Oh, no-no-no. That’s ok. I don’t need any body guards. Thank-you, Mr. Nolan.”

By the time I hung up the phone I was at my dorm room, shoving my key into the lock, Lisa and Ben were now behind me.

“What the hell was that?”

“Dude…you climbed on top of a table.” Ben exclaimed. “You’re like my new hero.”

“What the hell
was
that, Kale?”

“Chris must have called cameras in. He was trying to make me look bad in front of media, but I’m hoping when I said we were over, it would make him look bad instead. I bet they were paying him. Maybe they found him, somehow.”

“Good idea. What a jerk. God. I was wondering why he would be talking to you after all this time. I mean, the jerk did break your heart.”

“Yea, yea. Anyway.” I waved it off. Just my heart, no big deal. “I’m supposed to stay put up here until they can get the cameras off campus. Apparently Taylor’s agent is going to have a talk with Chris.”

I grinned at the thought. Maybe Mr. Nolan would look as angry as he did last night when he found Taylor in my hotel room. Maybe Chris would leave me alone.

And then I thought back to what Mr. Nolan had just said…that my contact with Taylor was ending. That everything would be normal soon enough.

I sighed, feeling my heart sink in spite of myself. If there was any hope…any at all left that Taylor might like me, that was the confirmation I needed. He was moving on, I was moving on. Whatever.

“So what’s the story with that guy?” Ben asked, sitting down in Lisa’s desk chair. Lisa and I exchanged a look.

“That’s one story meant for a later day.” Lisa finally answered, forever protecting me. I gave her a grateful look then turned the T.V. on. Joe was on talking about our now infamous date.

“-two went for a walk on the beach before hitting the movies. It’s said Taylor grabbed a rather large popcorn and soda while Kale only drank water. Is the pressure of Hollywood already making her conscious of her image? I’m thinking so. After the movies they briefly stopped by a restaurant but left early in order to get back to Kale’s hotel. They looked in a big hurry to get up to her room…I guess we’ll find out if the love birds are actually starting a relationship or a simple one night stand.”

“Dude, you screwed the guy?” Ben asked, glancing from me to the T.V. Sometimes it felt like Ben had no shame.

“No! That’s the stupid media!” I shook my head, flipping my computer on. “They make up crap. I’m just glad they didn’t say anything about me in the restaurant.”

“Yea, that would have been bad.”

I glanced and noticed my phone was blinking with a new message. I dodged to messages and noticed I had one from Chris Tanning (do not text him).

What the hell is your problem???

I forwarded the message to Mr. Nolan without a flinch, hoping it might help him in some way.