Hate Me (21 page)

Search For The Next Abby Johnston Falls Short

A Breath Behind You Films CEO Vincent Sharpe has been touring the country, looking for the next Abby Johnston to star in their remake of her cult classic,
A Day at the Lake
. Sources from inside the company say that the search has not gone as planned, and that they will soon have to start looking at more seasoned actresses. Only three roles have yet to be cast. Sources say that Luke Sander, former child star who just wrapped the lead of Danny Zuko in the remake of
Grease
was rumored to be in the running to play the boyfriend. His publicist says he has withdrawn his name from consideration due to a conflict with another project. No word yet on who might play the killer.
 

I breathe a sigh of relief about Sander.
 

I also realize that I haven’t heard anything from B since I got notification that my birthday gifts arrived at his hotel.

I decide to call him.

He doesn’t answer, so I leave him a message.
 

“Hey, it’s me. Just calling to wish you a happy early birthday. I sent three packages to your hotel. It says they were delivered, so hopefully they found their way to you. I also wanted you to know that I’m not mad at you. I understand why your dad doesn’t want you to help me. Anyway, um, happy birthday again. Hope you have a great day and we can talk soon. Bye, B.”

KNOCK KNOCK.

I’m startled by the loud knock and drop my phone.
 

“Who is it?”

“Aiden.”

I glance at the clock, verifying that it’s a little before four, then open the door.
 

“I need you to come with me,” he says, pulling me out the door.
 

“Why?”

“I need to show you something, but we have to hurry.”

“Can I grab my coat?”

“Nope, you won’t need it.”

“You’re being awfully bossy.”

He grins at me. “I’m sorry, but we’re in a bit of a time crunch.”

“Did something happen with the picnic baskets?”

“No, I just need to show you something.”

“Is it bad?”

“I sure hope not,” he says as he leads me in through the back door of Hawthorne House.
 

I follow him up the stairs to the third floor and laugh when he goes into someone else’s room.
 

When I catch up to him, I stop in the doorway and stare.
 

I don’t know why he's rushing up here, but I do know I’ll remember the way Aiden looks for the rest of my life.
 

His entire body is bathed in the golden light that’s streaming through the window, almost making him glow. They say some people can see the color of your aura, and I know without a doubt that Aiden's must be the purest of gold.
 

He holds out his hand, so I walk across the room toward him.
 

“Whose room is this?”
 

He doesn’t reply, just kisses me instead.
 

His lips press against mine, his tongue slips into my mouth, and I could care less whose room we’re in or why.

For a brief moment, I wonder why he dragged me up to someone else’s room just to kiss me, but those thoughts quickly evaporate when he moves his hands, one tangling in my hair and the other pulling my waist closer to his.

I slide my hands up the front of his shirt, needing to feel his skin.
 

I’m getting ready to unbutton his shirt and strip it off him when a loud
HONK
startles me.

Aiden smiles against my lips. “The honk means it’s time.”

“Time for what?”

He spins me around in a little dance move so that I’m facing the window, wraps his arms around my waist, and rests his chin on my shoulder.
 

“Time to look outside.”

I look out the window and discover the reason for Aiden's bright glow.
 

The sunset is beautiful tonight.
 

Gold and red rays of light are fading to pink between layers of clouds.
 

“What do you see?” he asks.

“An amazingly beautiful sunset.”

“You’re half right.”
 

He steps closer to the window until I’m almost smashed up against it, moves my hair off my neck and kisses it.
 

And I could care less about the sunset. I just want to kiss him.

He kisses my cheek, blinks slowly, and then says, “Look down.”

“Ohmigosh!” I say breathlessly, not able to believe my eyes.
 

Now I understand why he brought me up here.
 

Why the horn honked.
 

“Top of the Eiffel Tower, Sunset,” dreamily escapes from my lips as I look down at his house project.
 

It’s a homemade version of the Eiffel Tower. I can only see the pinnacle from up here, but I know exactly what it is.

“It's beautiful, Aiden.” I turn to find him down on one knee.
 

I swear, I just forgot how to breathe.
 

He takes my hand in his. “Keatyn Monroe,
vous me faire l'honneur d'être mon jour pour l'hiver formelle
?”
 
 

I may have forgotten how to speak, too.
 

His godly powers are running strong tonight.
 

I nod.
 

And keep nodding.

Then I finally mutter, “Yes.”

I recover a little, finding my voice, and finish, “I’d love to do you the honor of being your date for Winter Formal, Aiden.”

He stands up, takes my face in his hands, and gives me a movie-ending, sweeping-epic-romance kiss.
 

After the kiss, I open my eyes and smile at him.
 

“You’ve had the whole dorm in shop class working on building the Eiffel Tower for the last two days just to get a dress-down day?”

“Not exactly. We’ve been working on it since we chose French as our next theme. I wanted to ask you to formal at the top of it.”

“But that was over a month ago. And when I was still dating Dawson.”
 

Tears start to fill my eyes.
 

I can’t believe he built me an Eiffel Tower.

“What can I say? I was optimistic. And no crying.” He quickly puts his lips on mine and makes me forget my name.
 

He kisses me.
 

Kisses my neck.
 

Kisses my nose.
 

“I know we’re supposed to be handing out picnic baskets now, but I was trying to time it with the sunset. I didn’t think we’d get it up in time. And I was worried you might have already seen it.”

“My room faces the woods. I miss all the good stuff.”

“We’re going to miss handing out baskets if we don’t get going.”

“I can live with that,” I say.

“Perfect. That means we have time for one more kiss.”

One really long kiss.

Fifteen minutes later, I’m outside, staring up at the Eiffel Tower they built in awe.

From the top, I could only see the metal pinnacle of it, but from down here, I can see that they have covered the metal with flattened soda and beer cases that are duct-taped together. It seems a little odd, seeing brand names emblazoned on the sides of the Eiffel Tower.
 

I start laughing. “It’s like an advertiser’s wet dream.”

Aiden laughs with me. “Yeah, well, we needed something to help support it. We couldn’t get it to stand on it’s own.”

“I still can’t believe you did this.”

“I can’t believe it hasn’t fallen over yet.”
 

“Do you think we’ll have fun at Winter Formal?” I tease.

“I think it will be a night to remember.”

We walk hand-in-hand down to the Student Center where the French Club is handing out the picnic baskets that everyone pre-ordered.
 

Annie is already hard at work, and I’m shocked to find Jake with his sleeves rolled up, helping her.
 

“Hey, Jake.” I give him a little elbow to the ribs and a teasing smile. “You join the French Club?”

“I asked him to help,” Annie says. “Because I need your help with something else.”

“My help?”

“Yeah, come one.”

Aiden grabs my hand. “You can’t ditch me.”

I kiss his cheek. “Apparently, I’m needed.”

“What for?”

“Annie?”

“Girl stuff, Aiden. You only have an hour shift and then you can go get ready.”

“Just meet me at seven,” I tell him.
 

Jake is wearing what appears to be a permanent grin.
 

“Annie, does Jake know what we’re doing?” I ask her as she grabs makeup and dress bags.

She looks back at Jake and gives him a little wave. “Of course he does. I was kind of freaking out. You guys did my hair and makeup, but wouldn’t let me look in the mirror. I need you to show me how to do it so I can do it myself. I’ve been trying all week and it looks okay, but not as good.”

“What are you wearing?”

“I have two dresses. I’m not really thrilled with either. One because I’ve worn it before and the other because I was supposed to wear it with Ace.”

“Have you talked to Ace?”

“He texted me that night after he got mad. Told me he was sorry. I asked him what really happened and he told me the whole story. The stuff Chelsea said to him over break. How he was stupid.”

“What’d she say?”

“Sexual stuff. And, you know, I would have been fine with that. He could’ve apologized and maybe we would’ve gotten back together. But then he told me that he told her stuff about us. About our sex life. And get this: he told her that I don’t give good head! He never once complained! As soon as he told me that, I was completely done with him.”

“Wow. That’s low.”

“Especially since he wanted me to do it to him all the time. Honestly, though, I was doing something—not wrong, really, but I’ve since learned how to do it better.”

“Did you watch videos online or something?”
 

She half laughs and half coughs. “No. Jake, um, helped me.”

“Helped you?”

“Let me practice. Gave me some pointers.”

“Annie! I can’t believe you’re doing that with him already!”

“I know, right? I’m a little shocked too. But I’m having a whole lot of fun. And I just want to look really great tonight. So he’s proud to be there with me, you know?”

“I know. I want to look my best tonight too.”

“What the heck is that?” Annie says, squinting at the monstrosity in front of Hawthorne’s dorm. “Is it supposed to be the Eiffel Tower?”

She takes off running to look at it more closely.
 

Just as I’m getting to my dorm, she runs back to join me. “That’s crazy! Who in the heck’s idea was it to make that?”

“Aiden’s. He just asked me to go to Winter Formal at the top of it.”

“How did you get to the top of it?”

“He took me up to a dorm room, showed me the sunset, and then had me look down.”

“Top of the Eiffel Tower, Sunset?”

“Yeah, when I first tutored him, we joked about going to France together.”

“I heard they’ve been working on the project for over a month but I didn’t know what it was. You do realize that a month ago you were still seeing Dawson.”

“I know.”

“Aiden’s pretty freaking special.”

“Yeah, he is.”

Once we’re in my room, I make her try on the dresses.
 

She puts the first one on, and I can tell by her body language she doesn’t like it. “Is this what you were going to wear for Ace?”

“No, I wore it last year for something. But I’ve changed a lot since then.” She smiles. “And it’s all your and Maggie’s fault.”

“Our fault?”

“Yeah. I never really cared that much about clothes until I started hanging out with you guys. And you have such a great sense of style. Some of the outfits you put together, if someone else tried to wear them, they would look ridiculous, but on you they just work.”

“Thanks, I think. Speaking of Maggie, where are she and Katie?”

“Getting dressed in Maggie’s room, then pre-partying with Bryce.”

“Cool. Okay, so, what kind of style do
you
want to have?”

“I want to look classic. You dress in classic pieces, classic shapes, but they all have a little flair to them. Then you go crazy on your accessories.”