A Little Less than Famous (18 page)

“L
ike me and you,” Jake remarked, casually.

“What?” I said, looking at him, confused.

“You were super snippy at me when we first met. Couldn’t have a conversation with me without having serious attitude,” Jake said, looking at me knowingly.

“Um, right then,” I agreed, knowing that what he said was very true. I remembered our encounter on Space Mountain and felt embarrassed all over again. “So do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yeah, I think so. Let’s do it,” he said, putting the script down and clapping his hands together. “Charlotte, you
need
to tell me, you
do
understand that,
don’t
you?”

“Listen, Mikey, I’ve told you. I’m not going to tell you. There is literally nothing you can say or do or promise that will make me say anything,” I snipped back.

“Very nicely done.”

Jake and I both spun around to see Cam Daniels standing in the doorway of his trailer. “Oh hi, Cam,” Jake said.

“Hey Jake,” Cam said, nodding in his direction. “Hello, McKinley.”

“Hi Cam,” I said, shyly, biting my lip nervously. Jake came up from behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I looked up and over my shoulder to glare at him for
t
his obvious public display of affection.

“Were you guys rehearsing the scene with Charlotte?” Cam said, taking a seat on the couch. I nodded. “Sounded really good.”

“Yeah, well, Jake has been working hard,” I said, leaning up against him.
You all can thank me later.

“Yeah
,
he has been. You sounded good, kid,” Cam said. “So did you
,
McKinley.”

“Wait, what?” I asked, confused. I shook my head. “Oh, no, I was just helping Jake with his lines.”

“Really?” Cam asked, raising his eyebrow. “You’ve never acted before?”

“Um,” I said, looking over at Jake, “I don’t think a fourth grade play as Becky Thatcher in Tom Sawyer counts, does it?” Jake shook his head, laughter in his eyes, his lips pressed together.

“You sounded great, got really into the character,” Cam said, staring at me intently. “I was very impressed.”

“You know, you
did
sound pretty good,” Jake said, thoughtfully. “Most people who read lines with me
tend to
just read them in normal voice for me to react to. You actually act them out.”

“Oh, well, I don’t know. It just makes sense to act them. I feel weird just reading them,” I explained.

“Oh,” Cam said, still looking at me curiously. “Well, maybe you should
consider going out for some parts
. I mean, you did those lines pretty well and you’re a hot topic right now, what with dating this guy over here.”

“Um, yeah, well, I think I’ll just stick to being a diner girl,” I said, smiling, brushing off the suggestion. Me, acting? So funny. I looked over at Jake, a surprised look on my face. He shrugged but looked at me with the same curious expression as Cam.

“Well, if you say so,” Cam said, shrugging. He grabbed the script Jake had dropped on the table. “Let’s keep working on this, huh?”

I stayed on set all day, watching them film a few scenes for the episodes leading up to Charlotte’s appearance, setting up the story. Isabelle Monroe wouldn’t be on set until the next week
or two
. Jake’s acting though had improve noticeably after working with Cam and I for a couple hours.

After everything had wrapped up and Josh, the director of
Crime Scene,
had cleared Jake for the day, we hopped in the car and made our way back to Brea. Jake tried to convince me to stay over but it had been awhile since I had been home. I’d been spending way too much time in Calabasas. We stayed quiet the whole ride home, Jake’s hand resting on my knee.

“Come on, I’ll walk you inside,” Jake said, patting my knee when we pulled up to the diner.

“And that’s all you’ll do,” I warned him, slyly.

“Yes, yes, I know,” he said, getting out of the car and coming to the other side to open the door for me. “Come on.”

I climbed out of the car, and the two of us walked across the empty parking lot to the back door. I slipped my key in the lock, jiggled it a bit and then turned it the right.

We were immediately greeted by the af
ter closing dance party. Crystal
was shimmying her way toward the disaster that was the Humphrey Bogart table. I could tell right off the bat that at least two children had been sitting there, judging by the amount of ketchup smeared on the vinyl booths and the squished fries on the floor.

“Um, what’s going on?” Jake yelled at me, staring at Mitchell, who was doing a really really bad robot dance.

“It’s the after closing dance
party
,” I said, smiling, pausing at the radio to turn it up a bit. I held my hand out to him. “Come on.”

He shook his head, still looking a little confused…and a bit amused. I shrugged and grabbed a towel from underneath the counter and started wiping down all the tables, shaking my butt back and forth, singing along to the Jackson 5. It was amazing that Luke was not actually present for this dance party, but the station was still his. There were
some
things that you just got used to.

Mitch came out from behind the grills and grabbed my waist, belting the song out at the top of his lung
s. I laughed and grabbed Crystal
and we started a conga line around the d
iner. As we passed Jake, Crystal
reached out to him and yanked him over, planting him right in front of her. I laughed at his shocked look.

“Come on, Mr. Kennedy, shake those hips!” I called over the music.

He rolled his eyes and shuffled along as we continued around, releasing Mitch b
ack in the cook area and Crystal
at the counter. I spun around and grabbed Jake’s hand, leading him in an awkward, but silly hip shaking dance. For all of his suaveness and his celebrity and his all around hotness there was one thing that Jake Kennedy could not do: dance.

“It’s a good thing you become an actor,” I shouted at him.

“What?” he shouted back.

I paused as the song came to a finish. “ I said, it’s a good thing you became an actor. Your dancing skills could use some work.”

He gasped, shooting an offended look at me. “Hey now, I just haven’t had a chance to show you my skills.” He cocked his ear, listening for the song. He grinned as a slower,
bluesy
song came on. “Would you like to dance now?”

I rolled my eyes. “So cheesy,” I teased, allowing him to grab my hand and pull me into his arms. I suddenly became very aware of how close he was. Of course we had been close before, this wasn’t something new but the intimacy in sharing a dance was not the same as sharing a bed. I felt my hands begin to sweat, one of them clutched tightly in his, the other gripping his shoulder.

“Hey love
birds, if you’re going to be part of the par
ty, you gotta help out!” Crystal
called from the bathrooms, her laugh echoing through the entire room.

I stepped away from Jake, grateful to have a reason to pull away. “You guys need help?” I shouted back to her.

Mitch shook his head, using some serving spoons as makeshift drumsticks on the pre
p table at the same time Crystal
shouted back, “Nah, get out of here.”

I felt a little letdown, the after closing dance party was one of my favorite parts of the day and I hadn’t been able to participate in what felt like such a long time. Jake, on the other hand, looked extremely relieved. It dawned on me that Jake probably didn’t have a lot of experience with a dishtowel or a mop…or even a broom.

When we made our way upstairs, we found Luke sitting on the couch, watching the Laker game, his feet propped up on the coffee table, though I’d told him a million times not to do so.

“Oh hey guys,” Luke said, looking up from the TV. “Want to watch?”

“Sure,” Jake said, looking over at me to see if it was okay. “I’m always up for a Laker game.”

“Yeah, I’m sure my small TV is nothing compared to sitting courtside, like I’ve seen you do though,” Luke said, scooting over on the couch to make room for
Jake. I walked over
, sitting on the floor between his knees, flipping open a magazine sitting on the table in front of me.

“It
is
pretty awesome,” Jake admitted. “I’ll h
ave to bring you guys sometime. It is prime viewing of the Laker girls.”

I shook my head, rolling my eyes, choosing to ignore the both of them. I continued to peruse the magazine while they both watched the game intently, only speaking to commend a good play or curse at a bad one. It was only until the game reached halftime that they spoke to me.

“So, McKinley, Sunday? What did you want to do for your birthday?” Luke asked. “Or did you and Jake already have plans?

I winced;
glad that they could not see my face.

“Birthday? McKinley, your birthday is Sunday?” Jake asked, looking confused.

“You didn’t tell him?” Luke asked, laughter in his voice.

“I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it,” I grumbled. I looked up at Jake. “And I know you, you’d make a big deal.”

Jake laughed. “So what? Now I know.” He turned to Luke. “Oh yeah, we’ll have plans. Unless you had something in mind.”

“Oh we’ll figure it out,” Luke said, smirking.

“I’d really rather we not make a big deal about my birthday,” I insisted.

“You’re famous now,” Jake said in retort, clearly enjoying this. “You deserve a huge party.”

“Okay, I’m famous by association which is not the same thing,” I argued. “And in completely one-hundred percent honesty, I do
not
want a huge party.”

Jake stared at me for a moment
. Something in my face must have changed his mind because eventually he nodded in agreement
. “Okay, fine,” he agreed. “But I’m still going to do something for you for your birthday. It’s my job as your boy…” I glared at him. “As your friend. Right.”

“I don’t have much say in this, do I?” I asked, looking at the both of them.

“No, you really don’t, McKinley,” Luke said, turning back to the television as the third quarter started. “I would just accept it and move on.”

“Yeah, your dad has the right idea on that one,” Jake said, grinning triumphantly.

“Fine, fine, fine,” I said. “Whatever you want to do on Sunday, fine. Keep in mind that I do have to open the diner on Monday morning so I can’t be out all hours of the night.”

“I’ll open it up on Monday,” Luke said, standing up to go get a beer out of the fridge. “You stay out as long as you need.”

“Awesome,” Jake said. “It’s all settled then.”

“What’s settled?” I asked, feeling slightly nervous. “You do remember that I don’t like surprises, yeah?”

“You’ll see, McKinley, you’ll see.” Somehow this did not make me feel any better.

Chapter Seven

“McKinley. McKinley, wake up. Kinley, baby, wake up.”

“Go away,” I mumbled into the soft pillow I’m pretty sure I had stolen from Jake in the middle of the night. I felt Jake’s hands on my hair, tryi
ng to brush it away from my face
. “Nooooo, its too early.”