Competing With the Star (Star #2) (5 page)

The waitress brought our food over and I wondered how to eat the pizza in front of Nick. There weren’t any knives and forks at the table and I was a messy eater—like a toddler type messy eater. My mom used to joke how she wanted to serve me nothing but clear foods to avoid dry cleaning bills. I stared at the greasy slice in front of me that seemed to have more sauce on it than usual and a ton of orange oil on the top.

“Anyone else want utensils?” Pilar asked, getting up.

“Okay, Miss Priss,” Morgan said. “Kidding.”

I said I wanted a knife and fork, but Pilar walked away without acknowledging me. Great, I just got ignored in front of a crowd. Soon Nick would see how invisible the rest of the gang saw me—or
didn’t
see me. But when she returned, she had two rolled up sets of plastic silverware and she tossed one in front of me.

I watched as Simone and Morgan both tore their slices into little bite-size pieces. It was so cute and flirty how they did it—I had no clue how they made eating adorable, but they did. Then there was me acting like I had never used a knife and fork before. Was the knife completely useless? Did I get a defective one?

“Char, sauce,” Asia said, miming wiping her chin.

Charlotte grabbed her napkin and I wondered how she didn’t feel the enormous splash of marinara on her face. At least Asia had pointed it out in a tactful way.

“Eat much?” Morgan asked her. “Just kidding.”

I wish someone would just call her out once on her passive-aggressive “kidding” remarks. Did the guys even pick up on them? Or were they all too taken in by her curly blonde hair, perfect tan, and cheekbones you could grate cheese on?

“So, how did everyone like the movie?” Nick asked.

Reagan giggled. “I didn’t see much of it.”

Nick’s face started to get red. Fabulous.

“Asia, did you like the movie?” I asked.

“Honestly, I didn’t understand, like, half of it. Who were the guys in black?”

“I think they were aliens or something,” Connor said.

Nick said that was what he thought as well and that was when Reagan spoke up.

“Oh, you actually watched the movie, Nick? Must be a new thing for you,” she said.

My face got warm and adrenaline shot through my body. Nick looked surprised and tried to change the subject by offering me some more soda, which he managed to pour onto my lap.

“Oh crap, I’m sorry,” he said, grabbing a handful of napkins. Then he realized it would be awkward to help me mop up my lap.

“I got it,” I said, trying to soak up the liquid. Charlotte grabbed more napkins off the next table while Reagan sat there with a smirk on her face. I envisioned myself hitting her in the face with the pitcher. Just one big smack…

“I’m so sorry, Hadley,” Nick said.

“It’s fine. I’m just going to get some paper towels,” I said, getting up.

“Oh wow, it looks like she wet her pants,” Morgan said.

“Except we all watched the Pepsi spill on her, so we know she didn’t,” Asia said.

I headed into the bathroom and the dark brown stain was so apparent on my jeans. There was no blotting it and going on with my night. And what was worse, I could feel it on my underwear. Ugh. I just wanted to go home and delete this night from everyone’s memory. I could wash my stupid jeans, but I couldn’t erase the picture in my mind that Reagan had planted of how she and Nick had obviously spent every movie date making out. I couldn’t have felt more jealous if I tried. And he hadn’t made any attempts to even hold my hand in the theater. I knew he liked me, but obviously he didn’t like me the way he had liked her. The bathroom door opened and Asia walked in.

“What was that?” she asked.

“I know. Could this night get more awkward?”

“Did you want to hit her with the pitcher or was that just me?”

“The word bludgeon does come to mind,” I said. “Were they…you know…did they…ugh! I don’t want to know, but…”

Asia hugged me. “I know, I get it. You don’t want to know, but now it’s out there and you can’t help but wonder what went on. I mean, yeah, Reagan is a little more…well, she was always in Nick’s lap. Like
always
. But in some ways I think she annoyed him a bit. She was clingy and I don’t think he was into that.”

“So she
was
all over him when they were going out?”

“Kinda.” Asia shifted. “But he’s with you now. Not her.”

“Was that make out thing with Lucas because she likes him or to get back at Nick?”

“Probably a little of both. But again, he likes
you
.”

“Yeah, it’s obvious by the way he got so flustered by the reminder of their relationship that he tried to drown me.”

Asia burst out laughing. “You know what I mean. Here, stand under the hand dryer. It’ll get the worst of it.”

“I hate my life.” Between dealing with Nick’s ex’s little comments and the fact I felt so immature next to her, I also had the fact that Simone was acting odd around him too.

We walked back out of the bathroom and Nick was standing outside the door.

“Did I ruin your jeans?” he asked.

“They’ll be fine.”

“Asia, your dad’s here,” Simone said when we got to the table.

Great, I’d be leaving and my maybe-kinda-sorta boyfriend could stay behind with both the beautiful former TV star and his ex to reminisce. Awesome.

Charlotte got up, and Asia grabbed her purse.

“I’ll pick you up at two tomorrow, okay?” Nick said to me.

I nodded and followed the girls out of the restaurant. As we walked to the car, Asia put her arm around my shoulders.

I got home and threw my jeans into the wash. I kept checking my phone, expecting Nick to text me, but the only one who did was Asia to tell me she hoped my stains came out.

Chapter Seven

The next morning I woke up and grabbed my phone to see if I had any messages. There was only one from Asia asking if I was okay and wishing me luck on my date today. Yeah, assuming he didn’t cancel last minute because a make out session with his ex sounded more exciting than hanging out with boring little me at the nursing home. I went downstairs and my mom was making waffles with Aunt Faith.

“Blueberry or buttermilk?” Mom asked.

“Buttermilk. Thanks,” I said, pouring myself a glass of juice. “Ew, you didn’t strain this? It’s so thick I could chew it. Gross.”

Mom laughed. “I thought you’d be on cloud nine today what with your date and all.”

“Yeah, I’m excited.”

Aunt Faith looked at me and tilted her head. “Everything okay?”

I shrugged. “Do we have that berry syrup?”

Mom went into the pantry to check and Aunt Faith leaned forward. “What’s up?”

“Nick’s ex was at the movies with us and she kind of implied they used to be a bit…physical.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “She told you that?”

“She said something like that in front of me.”

“Did he hear?”

“She was saying it
to
him.”

Aunt Faith cleared her throat. “How did he react?”

I told her he poured half a pitcher of soda into my lap. She burst out laughing.

“I fail to see the humor myself,” I said.

“What’s so funny?” Mom asked, walking up with the syrup.

“Nothing,” Aunt Faith said. “Hadley just told me a funny story.”

“Yeah, hilarious.”

I ate quickly and then went upstairs to get ready. My excited, fluttering feeling over the idea of a sweet date with Nick was gone. Instead I had this anxious, sick feeling over the Reagan thing. It sucked to have to deal with some guy’s past when I didn’t have one myself. How did famous people do it? My favorite actress, Valeria Joseph, dated celebrity guys and not only did she know about their exes, but she could just go online and find tons of pics of her boyfriends with their exes. Plus, she’d run into the girls on sets and stuff. How did she handle it? It was bad enough for me having to go to school with Reagan. However no one was there watching my facial expressions to see if I looked upset when she was around and taking pictures. Not so for Valeria—there were tons of gossip blogs that would say stuff like, “Valeria Joseph throwing shade at Laura Hewson.” So annoying.

I stared at myself in the mirror. I looked so much younger than Reagan. Did Nick have any idea he was the only guy I had ever kissed?

I heard my phone getting a text and saw Nick was on his way over to pick me up. I unplugged my curling iron, mad I got so caught up with my anxiety that I didn’t get to fix my hair. Although it wasn’t as if doing my hair was going to suddenly make me look more sophisticated. I put on some lip gloss and mascara and went downstairs to wait for him. I didn’t want him to have to deal with my parents, so I walked outside when I saw him pull up and got into the car.

“Hey,” I said, avoiding his eyes as I put my seatbelt on.

“Hi.”

I turned to face the windshield.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

“Yup.”

He asked me if I liked the movie last night and I shrugged. We had always been able to talk and now there was this awkward silence in the car.

“Did you like the movie?” I asked.

“It was okay. I read the book and that was better,” he said. I didn’t know what to say to that and we had another long, silent pause. “Do you want to borrow the book?”

“Yeah, sure. That’d be great.”

“Okay, I’ll bring it for you on Monday.”

“Sounds good,” I said.

He pulled into the parking lot and I followed him in. Once inside, I understood why my mom was worried I’d freak out at the nursing home. There were a bunch of people in the main hall just going up and down without focusing on anything. I smiled at one lady and said hi to her. Her face brightened up.

“Hello,” she said, waving to me.

Nick smiled at me.

We walked down another hall and the smell of antiseptic was starting to make me feel dizzy.

“Grandpa’s not in his room,” Nick said. “He sometimes goes by the nurses’ station.”

I expected to see his grandfather chatting with the nurses, but instead we walked over to a man who was sitting in his wheelchair and just looking down at his hands. Nick squatted down and said hello to him. His grandpa raised his head and a huge smile broke out over his face as he recognized his grandson. Nick was beaming back at him.

“Hey, it’s movie day. Told you I’d come to spend it with you. I brought someone to meet you too. Grandpa, this is Hadley.”

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” I said.

His grandpa looked up at me and smiled.

“Okay, let’s go over to the main room to watch the film,” Nick said, turning his grandfather’s wheelchair around.

We went down to where the movie was going to be shown. Nick situated his grandpa over by the door, saying it’d be easier if anyone had to go to the bathroom or get a nurse. We sat down and I noticed him opening the paper bag he brought with him.

“They have some snacks here, but I know you like gummis with your movie, so I brought you some,” he said.

“Oh thanks.” Okay, so that was thoughtful. But then my stupid mind went wandering to how much money he saved by not having to buy Reagan candy because she was too busy kissing him to eat junk food. I stuffed a handful of gummi bears into my mouth as I tried to erase that image from my brain.

“Grandpa, what do you want for your snack?” he asked. “They have brownies, popcorn, cookies, and caramel corn.”

His grandpa stared at him blankly.

“Do you want some popcorn or a brownie?”

His grandpa’s mouth moved as if he was going to say something, but no words came out.

“I’ll get you a little of everything, okay?” Nick said.

I stood up. “I can get the snacks.”

I went over to the table and the nurse gave me a tray. “Mr. Jenkins loves the buttered popcorn, but make sure he drinks a lot of water with it so he doesn’t choke,” he said.

I picked up the tray with the snacks and Nick pulled up one of the little tables.

“Here’s some water for your grandpa,” I said, handing him the cup with the straw. His grandpa put his hands out to hold it, but Nick held it for him and positioned the straw for him. I looked around the room as the other residents came in and realized Mr. Jenkins was one of the youngest people there. There was a group of older people who walked in and acted almost like me and my friends going to a movie. They picked up their drinks and popcorn with no problem. I watched Nick as he stared over at them with a frown on his face.

“So I hear you like Elizabeth Taylor,” I said to Mr. Jenkins.

He looked at me. “Oh yes, Elizabeth Taylor.”

Nick smiled. “We’re watching
A Place in the Sun.”

“She was good in that,” Mr. Jenkins said.

Nick turned to me excitedly. “Wow, he picked up on that. Did you see that? He knew who you meant and everything.”

I nodded and tried to match his enthusiasm. Nick’s grandpa was the same age as mine and yet my grandfather was out at an indoor driving range today with his friend. It was so unfair.

I looked across the room and saw Pilar sitting there with her parents and grandma. She was texting on her phone and chewing gum. The nurses went to dim the lights and turn on the film.

Everyone stopped talking and suddenly I became aware of the sound of people using oxygen tanks.

Nick leaned over. “I’m sorry if this is weird or whatever for you. If you want me to take you home, I will.”

“Are you kidding? I have a brownie, gummies, and popcorn, and there’s an older man over there who looks like Jack Brogger’s grandpa—it’s like seeing into the future. I wouldn’t leave even if you made me.”

“So you’re staying so you can observe what you future husband, Jack, will look like?”

“Well, that and the company’s not so bad,” I said.

“Gee, thanks.”

I realized he was feeling vulnerable exposing that side of his life to me and that it had to be weird for him. I slipped my arm through his and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

“What are the chances you’ll end up looking like your grandpa?”

He shrugged. “I dunno. I guess he kind of looked like me when he was younger. Why?”

“Just trying to figure out which horse to bet on,” I said.

He started to laugh. “Who’s winning? Me or Jack?”

“So far you are.”

“Good to know.”

His grandpa was having a little difficulty with his popcorn, getting it all over his cardigan. Nick looked over at me nervously.

“I like him to have his independence, so if he can feed himself then…”

I nodded. “I get it. Just make sure he takes some water with it. The nurses mentioned that to me.”

“This doesn’t bother you?”

I shook my head. “Why would it?”

He didn’t say anything. His grandpa coughed and I picked up the water cup and held the straw up to Mr. Jenkins’ lips. When he had had enough, he sat back and I shook the cup.

“It’s getting low. I’ll refill it,” I said, getting up. The nurse filled the cup for me and I sat back down. Nick reached over and held my hand. I looked over at him and we smiled at each other. He squeezed my hand and we went back to watching the movie. I glanced over to the other side of the room when I heard someone coughing and noticed Pilar staring at me.

The movie ended and a lot of the people clapped.

“What did you think?” he asked.

“It was great.”

He turned to his grandpa. “Did you like the movie?”

Mr. Jenkins nodded. “She’s classy.”

Nick laughed. “Grandpa, do you need to use the restroom?”

Mr. Jenkins said he did and Nick said he was going to take him to find a nurse and asked if I’d be okay sitting there until he got back.

“It could take a while.”

“No worries,” I said.

They left the events room and suddenly I was aware of someone sitting next to me. I looked over and Pilar was there.

“So this place royally sucks,” she said.

“Oh, um…it’s not so bad.”

She raised her eyebrows at me. “Are you kidding me? I’m here all the time and part of the place smells like an unflushed toilet and I feel like the angel of death just walked past me.”

“Is your grandma a resident here?” I asked.

“Yeah, my mom likes us to come to visit as much as possible. She says her generation wasn’t lucky enough to grow up with grandparents so we should appreciate it.”

“Oh?”

“Her family is from Japan, and after the whole bombings there—well, radiation doesn’t just go away over the years so there has been a lot of cancer over the generations.”

“Oh my gosh.”

“Yeah. My grandparents didn’t even live near those areas where the bombs were dropped, but like I said, that crap spreads. My mom’s dad was literally sick almost her whole life and he died when she was fifteen. So my grandma’s been through a lot having to take care of him and her kids too.”

I didn’t know what to say.

She shrugged. “I hate seeing Grandma like this. She used to be a strong lady—she had to be with all she’s been through.”

“Pilar, we’re going to take Grandma out for some fresh air,” Pilar’s mother said. “It’s so nice out today.”

“Mom, this is a friend from school, Hadley.”

“Oh, I remember you from the Fourth of July party,” Mrs. Ito said. “Nice to see you again.”

That party was the night Nick kissed me for the first time.

“Nice to see you again too.”

“Well, see ya later,” Pilar said.

That was the longest conversation I had ever had with her and I realized I didn’t know anything about her. I always assumed she was just Morgan’s little minion, but now I realized she had been dealing with a lot more in her family life. Maybe I had misjudged her.

Nick came back in with his grandpa.

“Is your grandpa tired or would he want to go outside for a bit? Mrs. Ito said it was nice out,” I said.

“Grandpa, you up for going outdoors?” Nick asked.

Mr. Jenkins nodded and we stopped by his room for a jacket in case he got cold. It kind of threw me that we had to go through so many doors with alarms on them to get outside. Made sense that they didn’t want patients wandering outside and getting lost, but it made me wonder how the residents felt. After all, it made me feel a little locked up and I knew I was going to be able to leave whenever I wanted.

“There’s a pond over that way and we can see a little of the lake from there. The view’s nice,” Nick said, pointing over to some benches. I nodded and he pushed his grandpa’s wheelchair over. “Want to sit for a bit?”