Reluctantly Famous (2 page)

“
Allie, right?”

The three girls are smiling like I’m
supposed to know them. “Yes. Who are you?”

“
Oh, I’m Viv, this is
Stella, and that’s Tess. We’re having a party at our apartment on
Friday, you should totally come.” She watches me like a hawk
follows its prey.

“
Yeah,” the one called
Tess says. “It’s going to be killer.”

“
I uh…”
What in the
hell is going on?
“I’ll have to get back to you.”

“
We’re here everyday at
this time, Allie, so just find us,” Stella says, flicking her hair
over her shoulder.

“
Oh, okay. No
problem.”

They shuffle off, heads together as they
leave the café.

I think I woke up in the Twilight Zone.

“
Order?” The tired barista
waits for me to speak. “Allie, it’s you!”

“
Do I know
you?”

Is this becoming my new catch phrase?

She smiles, her cheeks reddening a little.
“Nah, I just recognized you.”

Huh. Okaaaay. “Can I have a skinny venti
mocha?”

“
Sure! Coming right up.”
She turns to her coworker. Allie wants a skinny venti mocha, hurry.
It’s four dollars and fifty-five cents, Allie.”

I stare for a moment before handing over the
money and taking my drink from the way too excited guy making the
coffees. “Thanks.”

He waggles his eyebrows as he hands it to
me. “My pleasure.” The way he says it makes my skin crawl.

My original plan had been to hang out here
until my next class, but I feel kind of uncomfortable, so I decide
to walk to class early. More people stare, more whispers follow me,
it’s so awkward that I’m literally at a loss as to what to do.

Screw this shit.
I turn on my heel
and rush back to the safety of my dorm. This is just too bizarre to
deal with early on a Monday morning. I’m about to reach the
entrance to my building when someone calls out my name.

“
Allie!”

Cringing, I glance up to see who’s yelling
for me. It’s a tall, good-looking guy. His cheeks are red and he’s
winded, as if he just ran all the way across campus.

“
Hey, I was hoping to
catch you.” His breath puffs out in misty clouds between
us.

I can’t hide the sarcasm. “Well, lucky you.”
My patience is all used up for today.

“
Yeah,” he agrees,
oblivious to my snarky attitude. “Do you want to go out
sometime?”

“
What?”

“
A date. I’m asking you on
a date,” he repeats, showing me perfect rows of white teeth when he
smiles. His blue eyes are blazing with confidence and something a
little less honest, more sinister.

“
Do I know you?” God, I’m
beginning to despise that phrase.

“
Maybe, I’m Troy White.”
He’s still giving me that perfect fake smile, all teeth and
dimples.

I stare at him blankly. My face must be
obvious, because his confident expression begins to waver. The
darkness hidden by his wholesome looks takes over.

“
You must not be a
football fan.” I shake my head no. “I’m one of the wide receivers
for our team.”

“
Oh. Do we have a class
together or something?”

“
No, I don’t think
so.”

“
Well how do you know my
name?”

Troy throws his head back and laughs. I
can’t decide whether it’s charming or creepy. “You’re cute. Here’s
my number.” He hands me a piece of paper. I close my hand the torn
scrap without looking at it.

“
Ummmm, thanks?”
What
the hell?

“
Call me.” Troy grins and
jogs off to wherever the fuck he’s going, leaving me stunned by the
front door of my dorm.

Exhausted and perplexed, I run upstairs and
shut myself into my room. This morning has been the weirdest day of
my existence. It’s like I woke up this morning with a giant
spotlight on my head and a neon sign with my name attached
following me everywhere.

“
Allie!”

Oh dear God, no more.

Beth flies into the room and slams the door
shut. “Allie!”

“
What?” I snap, too tired
for any more stress.

“
We have to
talk.”

Why do I feel like my life is about to
spiral out of control? Probably because it is. I should have been a
psychic.

Declan – then

I cannot believe that I agreed to do this.
I’m standing, half-naked, on a New York City street, with a bunch
of other half-naked dudes, while women come up to us and treat us
like walking, talking Ken dolls.

“
Oh my God, Jill! Look at
this one!”

“
Are these abs for
real?”

“
I would do each and every
one of these guys.”

“
Mmmm-mmmm, you’re all so
fine.”

You’re raised to think women are shy, timid,
the fairer sex. In my twenty-three years, I’ve been quite
disappointed to find that completely untrue. Women can be just as
juvenile and horny as men. Sometimes, I think they’re worse, like
being a girl is a get out of jail free card for being flat-out
rude.

A brave woman comes up to me and flicks a
finger over my exposed abs, trailing it down the ‘v’ cut to my
waistband.

“
Sorry, no touching.” I
say it with a smile, even though I really want to
scream.

“
Hmph,” she grunts.
“You’re supposed to stand there and look pretty, not
speak.”

Seething with anger, I know my neck and face
are flushing red. I can feel the heat burning into my bare skin. My
boss’s words come back to me, ‘be polite, smile, no snapping at the
bystanders. You’re selling a product’.

I keep up the pretense, using as much acting
skill as I can muster. “That’s what we’re doing ma’am, looking
pretty, so you can
look
. Not touch.”

Her shrewd eyes narrow, obviously not happy
with my statement. She walks away, nose up in the air but at least
she’s leaving. Frankly, I’ll take what I can get.

Never in a million years did I think being
‘pretty’ would feel so damn crappy.

Declan – then

“
Hey, what’s up? Need help
with that?”

The cute blonde wrinkles her nose at me.
When she looks up to find me smiling, her eyes go wide. “Uhhh, yes.
I need help. I mean, a changing room. I need a changing room.”

Chuckling, I lead her over to an empty stall
and unlock it. “My name’s Declan. Let me know if you need
anything.” I wink at the stunned girl before walking back to the
pile of faded jeans I was folding.

Another attractive girl heads my way,
clothes in hand. “Hey! What’s going on?” I make sure to use the
company taglines when I greet each customer. Abercrombie &
Fitch insists that we not only look a certain way on the sales
floor, but that we use certain phrases from the employee
handbook.

She stutters, blinking several times before
speaking so low I can hardly hear her. “No. Just a fitting room
please.”

“
Sure.” I unlock another
stall and hold the door open for the tall brunette. “My name’s
Declan. Let me know if you need anything.”

“
You have got to stop
doing that.”

I spin around to find my co-worker, Bree
laughing as she shoves a few items onto their proper racks.

“
What? I didn’t do
anything?”

“
You keep smiling and
standing around all… hot.” She waves her hand vaguely in my
direction.

“
I can’t help how I look,
Bree.” I try to sound petulant and fail, miserably.

She huffs. “Yeah, I know. I hate that you’re
prettier than me.”

I pull back in mock horror. “Pretty? I’m not
pretty!”

Bree grins. “You know exactly what I mean,”
she says. “One of these days, a customer is going to faint. Then
they’ll fire you for injuring her.”

I can’t smother the laugh that escapes.
“That’s… that’s just…”

“
Accurate?”

“
Stupid.”

“
Hi. I don’t need these.”
Cute Blonde is standing in front of me, clutching a pile of
clothes.

“
I can take them for you.”
I give her my best smile.

“
Ummmm, yeah. Okay.” She
hands me a few items, her face and neck flushed red. When I take
them from her, she presses a piece of paper into my
hand.

“
Maybe I’ll see you
again,” she whispers before fleeing for the checkout.

“
Well?” Bree asks me,
hands on hips.

I can’t answer her, because Tall Brunette is
approaching.

“
I don’t need these.” Tall
Brunette holds out a pair of jeans, waiting for me to take
them.

“
Sure, no
problem.”

“
Be sure to check the
pockets,” she murmurs, her breath close enough to my ear to send a
shiver down my spine.

I smile politely. “I certainly will.”

She winks, gives Bree a scowl, and then
heads out of the store.

“
Right. You’re right. No
one will ever swoon to death at your feet,” Bree jokes, glancing at
the two phone numbers I’m clutching in my hand. “Hot, nice, and
super smart? Mmm-hmm. Not swoon-worthy at all.”

“
Hey, all in a day’s work,
Bree. All in a day’s work.”

“
I have to go,” Tall
Brunette says as she climbs out of my bed. She shrugs into her
clothes and grabs her purse. “Thanks for the good time.”

The door of the apartment I share with two
other guys bangs shut before I can even get out of bed.

“
Crap.” I scrub my hands
down my face, sighing. Noise from the common area lets me know at
least one roommate is home. Now I’ll have to take shit about
bringing another girl home.

Too tired to bother getting dressed, I throw
on a pair of loose athletic pants. It’s cold out, but I don’t put
on a shirt. Tall Brunette was wild in bed, so I’m feeling pretty
warm.

“
Nice.” Fred, my roommate
and classmate at the University of Pennsylvania grins at me from
his spot on the couch where he’s playing Xbox. “She was hot,
Dex.”

“
Yeah.” I trudge into the
kitchen and grab a Gatorade out of the fridge, chugging down most
of it right away.

“
What’s her name?” Fred
asks as he shoots another enemy soldier.

“
Don’t know. She didn’t
stay long enough for me to find out.” I drop onto the couch next to
Fred.

“
They never do,” he
scoffs.

“
So, did you study for the
advanced business statistics final?” I ask Fred, eager to change
the subject.

“
Yep. You?”

“
Yeah. I’m going to hit
the library in a minute.” I slug down the rest of my Gatorade and
put my feet up on the coffee table.

“
Sure you are.”

“
I am.”

Fred laughs. “You hardly study, Dex. You
probably don’t even have to.”

“
That’s not true,” I tell
him. He’s right though. I don’t have to study. I do it because it
feels wrong not to. My stellar grades and my Irish immigrant
parents’ tiny bank account got me a full ride to UPenn’s Wharton
School of Business. I refuse to take it for granted, even if it
means studying subjects I can recite in my sleep.

I get up from the couch to change my
clothes. “See you later,” Fred calls out.

“
Yep. Later.”

“
Hi.”

Startled, I spin around in my chair. A
gorgeous girl is standing behind my favorite study spot in the
library, fidgeting while waiting for me to speak.

“
Ummmm, hi?” I phrase it
as a question because I’m not sure if I know her or not.

“
I was studying over there
with my friends.” She points to a nearby table where two giggling
girls are watching us. “And I wanted to say hi.”

“
Okay.” Puzzled, I wait
for her to continue.

“
Do you want to hook up
sometime?”

Is this girl coming on to me at the
library?

“
Well…” I try to think of
an excuse to let her down easy. She’s hot and all, but I’m too busy
to deal with this right now. Finals are gearing up and I have a
full work schedule because of the holidays.

“
I’m not looking for a
boyfriend,” she clarifies, making sure I know she’s only out for
casual sex.

“
I understand,
but…”

“
Are you on the soccer
team?” she interrupts.

“
No, but…”

“
Swim team then?” Her
eyebrows rise hopefully.

“
No, I’m not.”

“
You must play something.
No one gets that body without being a top athlete.” She leers at me
and not for the first time in my life, I feel dirty. “Are you a
model?”

“
No. I don’t play anything
and I’m not a model. I’m in the Wharton School of Business,
actually.” I scowl at the girl. “If you don’t mind, I’m studying.”
Irritated beyond belief, I return to my books and put my earphones
on, but don’t hit play on my iPod yet. I want to make sure I can
hear her leave.