“What’s going on?”
I can’t tell her just yet. I can’t. But I can tell her the other stuff; if anyone would understand iffy feelings on publicity plans, it’s Ally. I chew on my lip and dig my nails in deep. “It’s about Zander. He wants to…get more serious.”
“Like… ‘ukelele’ serious?”
I almost laugh at her mention of our “I-lost-my-virginity” code word, but the fact that she invokes it here when the reality is actually the complete opposite is even more sad than funny. “No, not exactly,” I say on an exhale. “He thinks we should wait until marriage. He wants us to make a purity pledge.”
“I’m sorry, what? Marriage? Are you planning on marrying Zander now? I mean, don’t get me wrong, he seems nice, but…I didn’t think you guys were quite that serious.”
“We’re not.” I take a deep breath of ocean air as I claw up a clump of dirt and then release it. “He and Jade convinced me to think about it and said I’d be a role model, but I don’t think I can do it. Jade will kill me if I don’t, and I’m pretty sure Zander would break up with me—”
“Vanny, if you think Zander would break up with you for not wanting to commit to this, then he’s definitely not someone you should even be considering doing this for. Please tell me you know that.”
I nod, then realize she can’t see me. “I do. I just… then what? What—” I break off as I hear the beep of another incoming call, and look to see who it is.
Zander. Definitely not up to talking to him right now. I put the phone back to my ear. “Sorry, just Zander calling. I’m ignoring.”
“How romantic,” she teases. “You were saying?”
I was going to say that I actually like someone else, but now, seeing Zander’s name pop up, I realize I can’t acknowledge anything about Bri until I clean up this whole mess with him. I need to tell him it’s over and that I’m not doing this purity pledge. It’s obviously not the right move for me. I never felt about him the way I should, and now that I know why, I know I never will.
“I think I have to rip off the Band-Aid with Zander. Today. I’m pretty sure Jade will fire me, but—”
My phone beeps again, and I glance at the screen. Speak of the devil. “I can ignore Jade, too, right?”
Ally shudders. “If she heard me telling you that was okay, she’d probably have me shot.”
I glance again and realize I also have three text messages. Make that four. Now six. A cold fist squeezes my gut. “A, I hate to ask this, but…can you check CelebriTeens.com? I have a feeling something’s happening right now.”
“Hold on a sec — let me get to my laptop.” I hear a little fumbling and then the sounds of clicking keys. “Okay, let me see…Oh. Crap.”
A breeze floats over the ocean and leaves goose bumps all over my body, even the skin wrapped in the towels. “How bad is it?”
“Um, I don’t really wanna answer that.”
“A!”
She sighs. “It’s a huge story about how you’re screwing around on Zander with Josh. There are pictures of you making out—”
“What? I have never — oh, God. Those must be from the set. We’re acting. Our characters hook up.”
“And pictures of you guys dirty dancing from last night and pictures of you leaving together. I’m gonna guess there are paparazzi waiting for you outside Josh’s house right now, too.” She clucks her tongue. “There is a lot of evidence here, Van. I think you would’ve told me if you were, but I kinda have to ask—are you hooking up with Josh?”
“No! Of course not! God, A, you know me better than that.”
“I thought I did! But this…Jesus. I’m still scrolling down this thing. They have pictures and quotes and all this stuff. Even Shannah Barrett’s quoted here as talking about how you clearly have a thing for him.”
This is such a mess. No wonder Zander and Jade are blowing up my phone so early in the morning. I hop up from the sand and make my way back up to Josh’s house, needing to know if he’s seen any of this yet. I don’t see any lights on, though, which makes sense; Josh isn’t exactly a morning person.
Either way, I have to get out of here. I have to talk to Zander, I have to make Jade fix this, and I have to make sure that Bri knows it’s complete and total bullshit. Not necessarily in that order.
“I think Josh is still asleep,” I tell Ally, “and I have to get out of here. But all I have is the dress I wore last night. It won’t exactly help anything if I walk-of-shame out of here.”
“What’d you sleep in?”
“Clothes that are obviously Josh’s. No better. What do I do?”
I can practically hear Ally’s brain working on the other end of the line. “Got it! What about Bri?”
My grip on the phone turns to iron. “What about Bri?”
“Ask her to bring you something. She can sneak it in her purse, pretend she’s at Josh’s house on official business or something. Then you guys can leave together, which at least ups the innocence factor a little, no?”
There’s so much irony in that idea, but on the surface, I know this makes the most sense. Bri and I just need to put everything else aside for now. She’s on my publicity team; she’ll get it. This morning, I need her in a professional capacity. We’ll deal with the rest when this ridiculousness dies down.
Plus, this way at least I can get to her early, before any of these lies reach her.
“Yeah, okay. I’m gonna give her a call. I’ll text you when I get out of here. Thanks, A.”
“Always. Keep me posted.” We hang up, and I quickly check the text messages that have gathered on my phone. Most of them are frantic ones from Zander, who unfortunately is a morning person, and a few are seething ones from Jade. Nothing from Bri. I wonder if she’s even awake.
I take a deep breath and dial her number, though a part of me hopes she doesn’t pick up. If she’s still asleep, it means she hasn’t been exposed to any of this train wreck yet. I like to think she’s still enjoying a good night’s sleep, maybe even dreaming of a certain petite Korean chick. But after two rings, she picks up, her voice thick and raspy and sexy as hell. “Hey. Woman of the hour.”
“You saw.”
“I did. Not really where I thought you were gonna go after I left last night.”
I duck back into the guest house and close the door behind me. “Bri, please tell me you know everything in that article is complete crap. There’s nothing going on between me and Josh. You’ve been to the set, and you know that’s where the pictures are from.”
She takes a deep breath and exhales. “I know. It’s just…you really freaked out last night, and then when you didn’t call…” She laughs, and the nervousness in it is so cute, my bare toes curl against the slate tile. “God, I swear I’m not usually this insecure. You do weird things to me, Park.”
“Not as weird as you do to me, Harris,” I murmur, heat rising into my cheeks.
We’re both quiet for a moment, letting our weirdness sink in. Then I remember I actually had a reason for calling her in the first place. “So, I actually have a huge favor to ask you.”
“I’m intrigued. Shoot.”
“I’m still at Josh’s, and I need to get out of here so I can deal with things.”
“You need new clothing and an escape plan,” she fills in.
“Man, you really have learned a lot from working with Jade. Anyway, yes. Please. Desperately. I don’t know how many more messages from Zander I can ignore. But I need to break up with him in person, like an actual human being.”