Eye Candy (2 page)

Chapter 2

I
used to think that Alvin's nerdy dancing looked cute. But right about now I'd give anything if he'd just stop. Maybe it was because of what those girls in the bathroom had said. Maybe it was because of the way people were standing around snickering. And I didn't like that Alvin didn't seem bothered by any of it, including not being able to get back into the VIP area. Had it been me, I would've gone clean off on the bouncer. But Alvin acted like it was no big deal.

He finally stopped dancing when he noticed me barely moving. “What's wrong, babe?” he asked.

I just stared at him. If there was one thing I would change about Alvin, it would be his nonchalant attitude. He wasn't weak. He just rarely got upset—even when he had every right to. Yeah, I'd change that. And his style. And his nerdy ways. Oh yeah, and those glasses. They would definitely be gone. Other than that, I liked him just as he was. But I was definitely going to have to have a talk with him about this.

I'd first met Alvin when a friend of my other BFF, Kennedi, put me in touch with him so he could help me figure out who was hacking into my email account. Alvin was some kind of computer whiz (he even made a lot of money off one of his computer inventions).

Alvin liked me from jump, but he was a nerd with a capital N. He was a rich nerd, but he was a nerd nonetheless, so I wouldn't give him the time of day like that. But Alvin had a great sense of humor and a knack for making me laugh, and eventually, I fell in love with him.

“You're not still mad about that bouncer, are you?” Alvin asked as if he were reading my mind.

“And I can't believe you're not,” I replied.

He shrugged. “Life is too short to be walking around mad. The bouncer didn't know who I was. You cleared it up; it's over.” He began doing that stupid wiggle dance again to the sound of DJ Snake and Lil Jon's “Turn Down for What.”

“Whatever, Alvin.” I was about to turn and go back to my seat.

Alvin actually stopped dancing, took my hand, and studied me. “You're for-real mad? Come on, babe. Just relax and enjoy yourself.” He started dancing harder. He almost reminded me of Carlton off of those
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
reruns.

I couldn't help it. I actually giggled. “Okay. I'll get over it if you promise to just stop dancing.”

“What?” he said, doing a quick spin around. “You don't think I could try out for
America's Got Talent
?”

“Um, that would be no,” I said, laughing.

“Yo, I say go for it. I bet you could win.”

We stopped and both of us turned to see my ex, J. Love, standing there, a big grin on his face. I wanted to die. I'd purposely asked the event organizer if J. Love was going to be here and he'd said no. I'd even gone as far as texting J. Love to find out if he was in town, and when he hadn't responded, I'd assumed that he wasn't.

“What's up, Maya?” J. said with a huge smile. He and I had been a serious item for a few months. Until someone had leaked some info about him to the
National Enquirer
and he'd just naturally assumed it was me. It had turned out to be this girl who was obsessed and stalking me, but because of the whole way J. had handled the situation, I had been too through.

“Hey J.,” I said. J. Love put Alvin to shame in the looks department. There was a reason he was one of the top singers in the country right now.

“You're looking good,” J. said, licking his lips as if I were a pork chop.

Alvin stepped right in front of me, I guess guarding his territory.

“What's up, my man? Andrew right?” J. Love asked, directing his huge, charming smile in Alvin's direction.

“Naw, dude, it's Alvin,” Alvin said, suddenly getting a cockiness that I actually liked. “But you know that, right?”

“Alvin, Alvin, that's right,” J. Love said, snapping his fingers. “You're like a computer geek.”

“I prefer computer guru, but yeah, that would be me.”

If J. Love was trying to insult Alvin, he definitely wasn't doing a good job because Alvin didn't seem fazed.

“Yo, ma,” J. Love said, looking around Alvin so that our eyes could meet, “you enjoying the party?”

Once again, Alvin stepped in front of me to block J.'s view. “Her name is Maya, not ma, but I'm sure you know that, too.”

J. licked his lips again. “Oh, I know that. I know that very well.”

I stepped up to defuse any situation. I liked J. Love, I really did, and the public had liked us together. But even though I had forgiven him from tripping with me about the
Enquirer
story, my heart wasn't with him. I felt like we had been more for show than anything else. He loved having Maya Morgan on his arm, but he didn't
love
Maya Morgan. Not like Alvin did anyway.

“Don't you have a concert somewhere you need to be performing?” I asked.

“That's tomorrow in Tampa. Want me to fly you up?”

“Oh, that would be cool,” Alvin said with a big grin. “What time should we be ready to go?”

I couldn't help but smile.

J. Love actually laughed, too. “I like him,” J. said to me. “He's quick witted.”

Alvin took my hand.

“And a little possessive,” J. Love added.

“Bye, J.,” I said, dismissing him.

But before I could turn and walk away, someone yelled, “Maya, J.! This way!” I was about to go off because the paparazzi wasn't supposed to be able to get into the VIP area. But then I noticed it was actually the photographer assigned by the party promoters.

“Yo, can I get a closer shot of you two?” he asked, motioning between me and J. Love.

“Um, yeah, that's probably not a good idea.” I held up my hand, which was still intertwined with Alvin's.

“Oh, come on now,” the photographer replied.

“Yeah, come on now,” J. Love repeated. “I mean, I'm sure your man won't mind. Will you,
Alvin
?” he said, stressing his name to make sure he got it right.

Alvin eased in front of me just a bit.

“Dude, it's just a photo,” the photographer said, staring at Alvin like he didn't understand the problem.

Alvin looked at me. I didn't know what I was supposed to do, but all eyes were on me, so I just shrugged. “He's right. It's just a stupid picture.”

Alvin gave me a look like that really wasn't the answer that he was looking for, but he let my hand go and stepped to the side. I moved closer to J. Love and the photographer immediately began taking pictures of me with J. Love. The flash of the bulbs brought more photographers and before we knew it, there were about five or six photographers snapping away and tossing questions our way. I guess once one of them got in, the rest jumped the rope as well.

I wanted to stop and ask why they were letting the photographers in VIP, but the last thing I wanted to do was get on their bad side. But when one of them said, “Are you guys back together?” I knew it was time to shut it down.

“Oh my God, you guys make such a cute couple!” someone else added.

“Sorry, folks, I'm not with J. Love.” I stepped away from him and draped my arm through Alvin's. “This is my man.”

In what seemed like a scene out of a movie, the whole place went quiet. Then there were a few snickers, then all-out laughter.

Then, someone in the back of the room yelled, “Are you freaking kidding me?”

Finally, a reporter that I actually
did
like said, “What's his name?”

“Alvin Martin,” I said. “He's the sweetest guy you will ever meet.” That made Alvin finally smile. “Here, why don't you guys get a few shots of us?” I asked, pulling Alvin toward me. One lone camera began flashing as the other photographers actually started putting their cameras up and walking away. I don't think I've ever been so embarrassed in all my life.

And once again, my boyfriend didn't seem fazed as he grinned for the one photographer.

Chapter 3

I
loved hanging with my girls, especially now that Sheridan and Kennedi—my two BFFs—were getting along good. Now, since Kennedi had moved back to Miami from Orlando and was finishing up her senior year at school with us, we were three BFFs.

For the longest time though, the two of them couldn't stand each other. Even though I'd known both of them since I was little, they just couldn't get along. Sheridan—the daughter of mega pop star and actress Glenda Matthews—was a brainiac who pretty much did what she wanted, when she wanted, since her mother stayed on the road all the time. Sheridan's aunts lived with her and were supposed to be keeping an eye on her, but they were usually too busy traveling themselves—off Ms. Glenda's money—to be bothered.

Kennedi was the laid-back one. Or she used to be. She'd just come off some major drama with her ex-boyfriend and was currently in therapy to get her temper under control, so she'd been trying to take everything in stride lately.

I think each of them used to be jealous of my friendship with the other, which is why they were always going at it. But thankfully, over the past few months, we all had gotten really close. And I loved it.

Today, we were chillin' at Orange Leaf Yogurt, enjoying a beautiful Saturday afternoon and people watching. After making a lot of small talk, Sheridan said, “So I heard about J. Love at the club the other night. Why didn't you tell me?”

I shrugged. “What was there to tell?” I replied. “J. Love was just being his usual arrogant self.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Kennedi said, smiling. “He was all up in that magazine talking about how much he loves you.”

I shook my head. The
Miami Hot Gossip
magazine had just come out yesterday and I prayed that Alvin hadn't seen it. Not that I had done anything wrong, but it was just straight disrespectful. Not only had they made Alvin look like some kind of nerdy creep, but every picture they had used had Alvin lurking in the background. It looked like J. Love and I were the couple, and not me and Alvin.

“So what are you going to do?” Kennedi asked.

“What do you mean, what am I going to do?” I replied. “I'm going to do what I've been doing.” I slid a spoonful of the low-fat yogurt into my mouth.

Both of them looked at me like I was crazy.

I studied them for a minute. “Are you all serious? I thought you both liked Alvin.”

“Oh, we do. It's just that everybody else
loves
J. Love,” Sheridan said, snickering.

“Since when do I care what everyone else thinks?” I snapped.

“Um, since always,” Kennedi replied. They started giggling like something was really funny.

I waved my spoon in their direction. “That's not the point. The point is Alvin is my boyfriend. End of story.” I guess the tone of my voice let them know that I was getting an attitude because they threw up their hands like they were done talking about it. Of course, that didn't last long because after five minutes of talking about some drama from school, we were right back on Alvin.

“So, you're going to take Alvin to the Icon Awards?” Sheridan asked, referring to the biggest award show outside of the Oscars. It was being held in Miami in a couple of weeks.

“Why wouldn't I?” I asked.

“You're really going to have him on the red carpet?” Kennedi asked. She was acting like I was taking Flavor Flav or something.

“And again, why wouldn't I?”

Both of them shrugged and that made me do a double take. I dropped my spoon back into my bowl as I glared at both of them. “If you have something to say, say it.”

They exchanged glances and, finally, it was Kennedi who spoke first.

“Look, you know we like Alvin. We really do. He's a cool guy, but he makes your stock go down,” she said.

“That's jacked up,” I replied, stunned not only that my friends actually felt like this, but that they were sitting here talking about my boyfriend.

“It is jacked up,” Sheridan added. “But it is what it is.”

They exchanged glances again, and then Kennedi said, “Are you going to tell her or not?”

Sheridan gave her a “shut up” look and now I found myself getting mad.

“Okay, you two better get to talking and tell me what's going on.” When nobody answered, I slammed my hand on the table and said, “Now!”

They jumped a little bit and then Sheridan said, “Look, Savannah Vanderpool told me word from the award folks is that they don't want you on the red carpet unless you're with J. Love.”

“What?” I said, shocked. Since when do they get to dictate who someone brings on the red carpet?

“Savannah Vanderpool knows someone who knows someone, who works with the event coordinator,” Sheridan continued. “Apparently, they like the whole Maya—J. Love thing. And when they extended the invitation for you to walk the red carpet, they just assumed you'd be walking with J. Love.”

“Why would they assume that?” I asked.

Both of them shrugged.

“Apparently, they saw the
Miami Hot Gossip
pics, so they had Savannah call me this morning to get the scoop,” Sheridan said.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. “So, I'll walk by my dang self, if it's that big of a deal.”

“I think they want you with J.,” Sheridan said, giving me a
don't kill the messenger
look.

“Well, I don't care what they want,” I said. I was in a foul mood now. I was sick and tired of everyone trying to put me with J. Love. Been there, done that, had the T-shirt to prove it didn't work.

“Look, it's probably no biggie. I'm sure they'll be happy with you and your man on the red carpet,” Kennedi tossed in.

The way Sheridan averted her eyes and looked down, I definitely knew that wouldn't be the case.

All I wanted was to live my fabulous life and love my wonderful boyfriend. Why in the world did everything have to be so difficult?