Love Match (6 page)

The Reed mansion was far more contemporary than a British estate, but to Maya, who grew up in a cramped two-bedroom house, it was as big as a castle. But that wasn't the reason she felt like they'd all been transported back in time.

To make Diego feel welcome, Nails had suggested his guests greet the new student when the car they'd sent for him pulled up to the house. Maya was stuck shivering in the chilly night air along with some of her teachers and people she'd never met before waiting for the car to arrive. Surrounded by faculty and coaches, she was probably the only one who felt like part of the serving staff.

Jake was nowhere to be seen, which was likely Nails's
doing. He would never straight-up tell his son that he wasn't invited. That's not the way Nails operated. He would just talk about the party around Jake until it became obvious that he wasn't getting an invitation. Then Jake would do the rest by making himself scarce.

Maya didn't like that she knew so much about the inner workings of the Reed family, but in this case she didn't really mind the result. She wasn't ready to deal with both Reed brothers in such a public setting.

Travis not being at the party was the real surprise. It was exactly the kind of thing Nails liked his favored son to be involved in. Maya wasn't exactly excited about seeing Travis, but they were trying to be friends. She could use a friend right now. Making small talk with adults she barely knew was not a skill she possessed.

After what felt like an eternity, but was probably less than five minutes, a limousine pulled up the long driveway. It was a far cry from the bus that dropped Maya off outside the Academy and probably total overkill for Diego. His life was less privileged than hers. Arriving in a limousine to a mansion with a group of semi-formally dressed people would have intimidated the heck out of her.

The limo stopped at the foot of the stairs and the driver got out and double-timed it to the rear passenger door. He opened the door with a flourish and for a moment Maya felt like she should applaud. She wasn't the only one leaning forward waiting for Diego to make his grand entrance. It all felt so forced. And pointless, considering no one got out of the car.

Maya wondered if Diego had slipped out of the limo on the ride up the nearly endless driveway. He might have taken one look at what was waiting for him and ditched. Maya wouldn't have blamed him. But the driver surely would have noticed. He wouldn't continue to stand there, awkwardly, holding on to the door.

Seconds stretched into minutes with no sign of Diego. The receiving line outside the Reed estate wasn't exactly welcoming, but the Diego she'd met down in Rio didn't seem the type to be easily intimidated. He couldn't possibly be afraid to come out, could he?

Finally she saw some movement inside the car. Everyone else must have seen it, too. The shuffling feet stopped and they all turned their attention back to the car.

Travis's head popped out the door, solving that particular mystery. Of course he'd gone to pick up Diego at the airport. The welcome carpet was probably rolled all the way across the city.

Travis held up the “one moment” finger to his father before disappearing back into the darkened interior. Nails remained stone-faced, as if he was used to this kind of thing.

Maya considered suggesting that they should all wait inside, but she was too afraid to speak up. This group intimidated her, and they weren't even looking in her direction.

Scratch that. One set of eyes had fallen on her: Nails's. She could only assume it was his way of asking for help. Maya wasn't sure what she could do, but she reluctantly stepped forward and made her way to the limo.

Now Maya had all eyes on her. If this was anything like what Diego felt inside the limo, she didn't blame him for staying in there. It was uncomfortable to the max.

“Hello?” she tentatively asked as she peeked in the door.

She was unprepared for what she saw inside. Instead of a frustrated Travis trying to coax a reluctant Diego out of the limo, she found them both playing a video game on the small TV in the back. Diego seemed completely unaware that anyone was waiting for him, but Travis's eyes pleaded with Maya to do something.

“Mind if I come in?” she asked.

Diego's eyes darted to her for a split second. “Maya! Get in here. Grab that controller. Travis sucks at this game.”

Maya slipped into the car and took the controller from Travis. The back of the limo was roomy enough that they could probably host the party in there. They had games, music, and even a minibar. It was far more comfortable than the Reed estate.

Maya took control of Travis's robot character. She didn't recognize the game and had no clue what she was supposed to do. “You do know people are waiting, right?”

“Yep.” Diego pounded on his controller as red laser beams filled the screen. “You're really bad at this.”

Maya tried mimicking his actions. Soon there were almost as many blue laser beams as red. “I've never played it before.”

“Me neither,” Diego said. “But it was a long ride from the airport.”

“Diego—” Maya threw a glance in Travis's direction. He just shrugged.

“They'll wait,” Diego said as he mowed down a line of enemy robot soldiers. “I'm worth the wait.”

Maya put down her controller. This was not the same kid she'd met down in Rio. This was a Nicole King in the making, and Maya wasn't about to go down that path again. “Yeah, well, I'm one of the people you've kept waiting, and I'm not waiting anymore. I'll be inside where it's warm and there's food.”

Diego's robot exploded and the screen went dark. “Maya, hold on!” he called after her as she opened the door. “I'm sorry. I just don't want to go to this party.”

“You think I do?” Maya said. “Welcome to the Academy.”

It was exactly the kind of thing Cleo would say and it seemed to work. Diego followed her out of the car as Travis brought up the rear. Nails greeted the three of them warmly, with the slightest uptick of a smile in her direction.

Maya stared into her punch. The electric purple color of the drink didn't exist in nature. She suspected it was some kind of energy beverage from a company that had a special deal to force people to drink it at all Academy functions. The only other options were wine, beer, and water. She should have gone with the water.

Maya tried to figure out the point of her being at the party as she gazed into the purple void. Sure, she'd gotten Diego out of the limousine, but Nails swooped him up immediately, introducing him to his new coaches. She hadn't talked to him since. She hadn't talked to Travis either. None of the faculty or coaches wanted to chat, which was fine by her. She was content letting herself be hypnotized by the ripples she made in her punch.

“You're not really drinking that?” Travis asked as he took the purple concoction from her and abandoned it on an end table.

“Thank you,” Maya said. “I was dying over here. Never knew you were so popular with the faculty.”

“
I'm
not,” Travis said. “They think if they cozy up to me, it will help them when they need something from Dad.”

“That's horrible.”

“Not really,” Travis said. “Comes in handy when I need some extra credit.”

Maya knew Travis well enough to realize he was joking. He would never exploit his relationship with his dad like that. Besides, his grades were good enough on their own. He didn't need an assist.

Maya nodded toward the other side of the room. “Looks like Diego is popular too.” The soccer coaching staff had their new recruit surrounded. Diego looked about as bored as Travis had when the faculty had him cornered.

“Poor guy,” Travis said. “I can't imagine that's how he planned to spend his first night here.”

“Better than my welcome to the Academy sucking in bus fumes,” Maya admitted.

Travis nodded. “Yeah. Dad has to work on that. We have a big welcome thing in September, but so many students are added randomly throughout the year that we should do something special for them, too. We're good about getting students to the school, but we need to work on what to do with them once they're here.”

“
We?
” Maya said. “I didn't realize you work in administration.”

Travis's laugh had an edge to it. “I grew up on this campus. I'm more a part of it than most of the staff.”

“Is that what you want?” Maya asked. “To run this place one day?”

“That's the plan,” Travis said. “I'll be a first-round draft pick, get onto a top team, have a stellar career, then retire and take over the reigns from Dad.”

“But is that what you
want
?” she asked again.

“That's the plan,” he repeated.

A muscular hand came down on Maya's shoulder and a matching hand landed on Travis. “Mind if I speak with the two of you for a moment?” Nails asked.

Before either of them could answer, Maya felt herself being gently steered out of the living room and into his private study. Nails closed the doors, cutting them off from the small party.

“Maya, I wanted to thank you for your help earlier getting Diego out of that limo,” Nails said.

“It was nothing,” Maya said. “I think he was—”

“Don't underestimate your skills at managing situations. That will come in handy as your career grows.”

“Thank you,” Maya said. She'd learned years ago that when adults didn't want your opinion, a simple “thank you” occasionally peppered into the conversation kept it moving along.

“I was hoping to see those management skills in practice again,” Nails said. “At the Academy Exposition.”

“You want me to play at the Expo?” Maya asked. The Academy Exposition was the talk of the campus. Every year, the Academy opened its doors to the public for a major exhibition
in which the students played against celebrities who'd donated money to the school.

To Maya it didn't sound like much of a showcase. She'd have to hold back a lot if she played against some celeb who had never picked up a racket before. But that was beside the point. She'd get to meet celebrities. Her first Hollywood star encounter hadn't gone so well. She still had nightmares about her horrible movie audition with Peyton Smith. This was a chance to put it all behind her.

“You playing in the showcase goes without saying, after this weekend,” Nails said. “But, I'd hoped for something more. I'd like you and Travis to be Student Ambassadors.”

“Absolutely,” Travis said without hesitation. “Thanks, Dad.”

Maya wasn't sure what he was asking. “Ambassadors?”

“You'd be the public faces of the event,” he explained. “Make sure everything is running smoothly. Handle any problems that come up.”

Maya wasn't afraid of work, but that sounded like a major undertaking. Managing all those celebrities and their egos? To say nothing of their own classmates.

“Don't worry, Maya,” Travis said. “The school publicity team is really in charge. They'll deal with all the big problems. We're just the first line of defense.”

“Any real issues, you'll bring to me,” Nails said. “But I'm hoping for a pair of students who can minimize the need for me to be involved.”

That wasn't very reassuring. It sounded like he wanted Maya to be in charge while not giving her the power to do anything. Still, Nails had already made it clear that when the
Academy asked something, it was not her place to say no. At least, not yet. Once she was a big star like Nicole, she'd be able to decline any request she wanted, even though she knew in the back of her mind that she never would.

“Okay,” Maya said. “Sounds fun.”

“That's great,” Nails said. “Now that that's taken care of, you two go back to the party. I've got some work to wrap up in here, but I'll be out soon.”

Maya suspected that Nails was making an excuse to get away from the reception for a few minutes. She couldn't be the only one who was bored out of her mind.

As soon as they were out of the office, Travis pulled Maya into a hug. “Maya, this is awesome. Do you know how big a deal it is to be Student Ambassador?” Truly, she had no idea. “I mean, I expected Dad to ask me, but you only being here a couple months … Maya, you have arrived!”

Maya felt like she'd “arrived” before. She'd felt like a big shot when she was chosen to audition for that Peyton Smith movie. And see how that turned out.

As they came out of their embrace, she was surprised to see Diego right beside them. “I thought you two abandoned me,” he said.

“No,” Maya said. “Nails needed to talk to us.”

“Let me guess,” Diego said. “He wants you to make a toast in my honor just to make this whole thing more awkward and uncomfortable.”

“No,” Maya said. “It wasn't about you at all, actually. Nails would never ask us to make some toast like we were welcoming royalty. That's
his
job.”

Travis's face scrunched up, which Maya noticed immediately. “Travis? Are you making a toast later?”

“Just a short one,” Travis said. “Welcoming Diego on behalf of the students. It's not like Dad asked me to prepare a speech.”

“Doesn't matter,” Diego said. “I won't be here. It's my first night in the States. There's got to be a party or a club opening or something we can go to.”

“360,” Maya suggested, before she realized she'd spoken out loud. Nails would freak if they snuck out of the party. That was not very ambassadorial behavior. But Renee had been talking about the club ever since Maya got back. Her friends were there right now.

“We can't go to that,” Travis quickly said. “We can't leave.”

But Diego was already on the scent of a party. “What is a 360?”

“It's a club,” she explained. “This is the only night of the week the club is open to the underage crowd.”