The Heaven I Found In Hell (20 page)

Nodding, I agreed with Kendra, before I told Anthony that he should bring Riley someplace else if he wanted to continue making-out with her. The two, not being able to control themselves, immediately left us, and now, Kendra and I had to find something else to do. We walked around the school grounds, and talked to each other about a lot of things, school, friends, and boys...definitely. No girl can forget about the male specie.

"Did you hear the other rumor?" Kendra asked me, kicking stones as she walked.

Okay my mistake...she is a gossiper.

"Who is this about now...?" I asked, as I dug my hands into the pockets of my beige skirt and played with my phone.

"Did you hear who's on the rebound?"

Now my mind was working, and I was fully awake now. No one can keep me away from break-up rumors. I just loved them, so I had to ask Kendra who the person was. She told me, and I quickly covered my mouth with my hands.

"That can't be." I said, still gasping.

"Want to bet? Look over there," She told me, as she pointed to two familiar people.

After hanging out with Kendra, I went to a nearby restaurant, namely Tony Roma's, to have dinner with my agent, Rick. Ricky-dear as I call him often phoned me a couple hours ago, and told me he was in the area. With that said, we immediately arranged plans to meet up, so that was how I ended up in a restaurant that was best known for its ribs. I entered the place, looked around, and when I spotted a familiar red-haired man, I went to him. I sat on the seat across his, before I started a conversation.

Rick, even though he was still young, had a high paying job, and if I remembered correctly he was only twenty-five. Also, being part of the fashion industry, he looked better than most men because of his fashion sense. A leather jacket, Seven jeans, and a pair of Vans were his every day outfit, and it never failed to attract women of all ages, including models. He greeted me with a small hug which I returned, before he held up his arm in the air, motioning for a waiter to come to us.

"Hey! How are you?" A guy that looked probably twenty asked us. "What can I get you, guys?"

"Hey, we're good. By the way, I’ll have a whole rib, while my friend here gets a half." Rick said, smiling evilly at me, before he nodded to the waiter.

"Oh okay, cool. How about drinks?"

"I'll get a coke," Rick said. "What about you, Alex?"

"I'm good with just water."

"Cool. I'll be back with your coke," Matt, as I read from his name tag, started. "And your water."

We smiled and nodded at Matt, and when he left that was when I slapped Rick in the arm. 
I know...
we don't act professional towards each other...but this was just how we really were. We grew close a couple years back, because of all the projects I got that he handled. And even though he was older than me by nine years, we always connected and saw eye-to-eye. I told him things, and he did the same to me.

"Ouch. What was that for?" He asked, rubbing the spot I hit.

"You know I don't eat ribs! One whole slab of it for that matter!" I said, throwing my hands up in the air in mock-annoyance.

Rick simply laughed at me, before he told me to settle down. Immature and every adjective related to that word, I crossed my arms over my chest, before I gave him a frown. He pouted back, probably trying to make fun of me, before he reached his arm out to me and patted my shoulder. Both of us knew we were just teasing, so after a while we stopped acting like children, and decided to talk about business.

"So, how's my career going?" I asked him, my voice sounding apathetic and caring at the same time. "Is it still okay?"

I had been out of 
that
 world for a couple of months now, and I was starting to worry. Before I went to boarding school, I settled a lot of projects, but in the world I was living in, there was really no certainty if I’d still be earning a lot since the fashion industry itself was very fast paced. New clothes here...new designers over there...one had to have something that he could claim his for his work to remain different from all the rest.

"It's going well..." he said in casual tone of voice.”But it'll be better when your Winter Break starts."

I sparked up.

"Yeah?" I asked brightly. "How so?"

"I talked to your mom and dad, and forced them to let you model during your breaks. They said yes definitely since they still have their hearts, and of course they know how much you love to model."

The both of us were definitely smiling like a pair of Cheshire cats, and we couldn't help it! Rick wasn't just doing this because he earned through me. He knew how I enjoyed my work, even though it could get tiring at times. But before we could continue talking, our food came, and with that, we thanked Matt, before he left us with a smile and continued with his work.

"So do I have anything lined up?" I asked him, and immediately he answered with a wide grin.

"Of course. I got you tons of projects, and with those magazine articles I’ve been reading about you...you're slowly becoming a public figure."

I didn't know if I should smile with what he said since I didn't really appreciate the lives of those who were being followed 24/7. It's just too crazy, and I'm surprised how come those teen stars aren't stopping with their hard ways yet. I mean they get more bad publicity than good. I wouldn't want that to happen to me. That's the good thing about keeping it low key actually, you can party all you want without the whole world describing you as one messed-up kid. Uh-huh. I like the way I live. Just keep the modeling contracts coming.

"Well, I just want to model that's all," I told him, a little bit of uncertainty heard in my voice. "I don't think I’d be able to handle more paparazzi. I get enough of them already."

Before he answered me, he took one big bite of his ribs, and munched it down his throat. With my stomach growling, I decided to start eating too, but of course, I took baby bites, if you could put it that way. This dinner was definitely good...but with good came fattening!

We continued talking about my career, and he told me that once my break starts, I should fly to New York to get things going. He told me I had projects with Victoria's Secret, Louis Vuitton, Roberto Cavalli, and Monique Lhuillier, but he also said that I could finish those things within a week so the rest of my break I could just rest and spend time with my family. Yay! I ended my night stuffed, and unable to breathe properly, so I decided to jog once I get home, just to burn a few calories.

I stuck to my word, and when the clock struck nine, I left my dorm clad in sweats, a pair of jogging pants, and my Adidas running shoes. I left the building, before I made my way to the soccer fields to jog. When I got there, I gave myself a couple of minutes to think 
it
 over, and when I finally made my decision, I started to run. At first my pace was fast, and I thought that maybe I could have a career in running, but a while after, I realized that my running skills weren't any better than my talent in soccer...
Oh, I forgot...I don't even have a talent in the sport to start with.

I sighed heavily, and thought about what I was doing. I knew the reason I was jogging right now was just to burn what I had eaten earlier, but because of the silence that surrounded me while I ran, I began to contemplate about my life and me. I wanted to be good at something. I did not want to be known simply as 'that supermodel.' I wanted to earn something I’d be truly grateful for while I was here in Ridgeway. Soccer, math, running...anything...

But before I could even think about what specific area of study or sport I could better myself in, someone knocked me hard, making me fall on my butt. I groaned at my sudden fall, and when I regained consciousness, I took the hand of the person who knocked me over, and stood up. I soon realized my consciousness wasn't at its best yet since I took Nathan's hand. Yes, I took Nathan's warm, soft hand.

I looked at him with my mouth open, making a fool of myself, and when my brain finally decided to function, and take in the view in front of me which was a fine specimen of creation (a.k.a. Nathan Adams), my lips started to curve upwards and move.

"Stalking me?" I asked with a sly smile, my heart rate and pulse probably going like mad.

His eyes widened, before he grinned at me, and before I knew it, I was smirking back at him. We remained standing on the cemented pathway surrounding the school's fields, just staring at each other, but not in the 'my-eyes-only-see-you' kind of way, it was more of a, 'woah-you're-jogging-during-the-night' look.

"Maybe." He replied, turning the I-Pod that was strapped to a leather case around his arm off. After doing so, he looked back to me, before he furrowed his eyebrows. "You're the one who should be called a stalker. I jog here every other night..."

I thought about what kind of answer I was going to give him, but when my brain didn't process anything reasonable, I decided to change our topic of conversation.

"I heard you're not taking Cindy to the dance anymore?" I said going way out of the topic. I started to walk, and he followed me from behind.

I took small steps, and a couple seconds later, we were walking side by side. Our shoulders would brush from time to time, and when it did, I’d feel a tingling sensation coming from the lowest part of my stomach. I tried to brush away the certain feeling I’d been encountering for the past week and a half, but when it didn't leave, I just let it rest there at the back part of my head.

"I see news travels fast." He said, and I nodded. "Why? Concerned?"

I turned my attention to his eyes, and gave him a questioning look. I raised one of my eyebrows up at him, before I looked away, and settled my sights on the floor I was walking on. I didn't want to look at those hazel green orbs of him. They were slowly hypnotizing me, and that before I could even realize it...
I might end up falling hard and what's going to hurt is if his two feet remain standing firmly on the ground.

"Why should I be concerned?" I asked, sending him a look of mischief.

"If you're not concerned...maybe you're jealous...?" He said, before he returned my smile with a playful, but suspecting one of his own.

I literally felt myself stiffen when he mouthed out the word 'jealous,' so I ended up stopping in my tracks, as I tried to take in what he just said. He nudged my shoulder when I didn't answer right away, and just to save myself from embarrassment, I decided to run away from him. I started to walk briskly, and when I was a few feet away from him already, I hastened my walk into a jog, but unsurprisingly, he caught up with such ease. I stopped, and he followed suit.

"Why are you following me?" I asked, panting heavily.

God, give me talent...

He laughed silently, probably amused with my words, before he said, "Because you left my question unanswered...!"

I replayed what happened only a few seconds ago in my head, asked, "You weren't asking. You were assuming."

"No, I was asking." He said, his turn to correct me.

"Nuh-uh, you were assuming, and I’m sure of that."

He gave me an entertained smile, before he crossed his arms over his chest. We started walking again, and during our so-called exercise, I only kept thinking about one thing...or one person for the matter, him.