Uncovering Kaitlyn (21 page)

I followed
the general direction of the crowd and walked towards a field. A group of
cheerleaders were manning the ticket booths.

“Welcome to Sunny
view High, what can I get you?”

“A ticket
for one please. Also I need to see the principle.” The girl looked up and
screamed when she saw me.

“Holy shit!
You’re Jamie Stark. Omigod. Jamie Stark.” The girl carried on rambling for a
moment and I waited for her to calm down. Everyone in the area was staring and
I heard the mutterings spread further. After about five minutes the girl was
calm enough to boss another student into finding the principle for me.

“So what’s
the fate in aid of?”

“Usually we
split it. Half goes to the student body and half to some charity. This year we
don’t get to keep the student body part because this kid’s like sick or
something. So we have to give it to him.”

“I’m sorry
to hear that.” I doubted the girl got that I was sorry about the kid and not
the lack of prom funds, since she was saying something about having already
brought shoes for the dance. It was September. Didn’t she know prom wasn’t
until the summer?

“Mr Stark,
how may I help you?” A man asked me fully composed. I saw him shake as I went
to shake his hand. I tried not to smile at the fact a fifty year old man was
literally shaking at meeting me. “I received an invite a while back, but I
didn’t think I would be able to attend. Is there anything in particular you
wanted me to do?”

“I wasn’t
aware you had a personal invite. We are glad to have you here, by all means.
Shall I give you a tour?”

“That would
be great thank-you. I heard this in aid of a sick student?”

“Yes, Toby
Johnson. He was in a car crash a while back, he went blind and he doesn’t have
health insurance. We want him to be comfortable.”

“Is he
here?”

“Yes, he
doesn’t particularly like to meet people though. He used to be captain of the
football team, but he can’t play anymore. He thinks this is pity.”

“I see. In
that case could you point me in his direction? It’ll be worse if you come with
me.”

The man
frowned but did as I asked. I was pleased that I didn’t have to have an escort.
It meant I could be more real with the students. I liked to feel like I was
twenty-one and not a creepy old man. I headed to the corner of the field where
a group of jocks were sitting around.

“Which one
of you is Toby?”

“Are you
stupid? He’s the one with bandages and a stick.”

“No need for
the attitude, could I talk to him?”

A few of the
guys stood up protectively and a few others did double takes.

“Toby, it’s
the guy from that movie.”

“What
movie?” A kid asked sat in the middle of the group. He looked battered up
properly.

“Jesus or
something.”

“Rising
Christ? I’m Jamie stark. I just need to ask Toby a few questions.”

“Seriously?
Are you trying to punish the blind kid? This is sick.”

“No really I
am. There are a lot of people here that could vouch for me. Your principle was
actually shaking.” I sat on the grass next to him and relaxed a little.

“What are
you doing here?”

“I wanted to
ask you a few questions. Firstly who is Ruth?”

“Ruth?”

“That’s the
ugly chick.”

“Don’t say
that man, Ruth’s cool.” Toby seemed sad.

“You know
her well?” I asked him.

“A bit. We
grew up together.”

“She sent me
an invite.”

“What?” He
was about to say something else, but I stopped him.

“Don’t even
think that I pity you. I know people who’ve been through worse crap than you
and they are still fighting. She doesn’t either. She sent me an email asking
about attending the school’s annual fate.”

“Why would
she do that?”

“Maybe she
likes my movies or thinks I’m hot. But then again, maybe she thought you’d like
to meet me. I suggest we take a trip to find her, don’t you think?”

The guy
nodded and a few of his friends helped him up and acting as a guide, while one
of the others looked out for her. We headed straight to the school’s tent,
which was set up to clarify how brilliant they were.

We all
walked inside and somebody shouted to Ruth. She turned around completely
stunned. I saw that when one of the others called her ugly, he actually meant
she had burns across her arms, legs and one cheek. I guessed there were
probably more hidden under her clothes.

“I got your
invite.”

She still
didn’t say anything so I continued.

“I was just
wondering what the significance of this was. I was talking to Toby here, and I
said either you thought I was hot or it has something to do with Toby, and I personally
don’t think, you think I’m the hot one here.”

“I… didn’t
think you were coming.”

“Don’t talk
to me, talk to Toby.”

She played
with her hair and took a few deep breaths. “You seem so down, like football is
the only thing that matters. We used to be friends before football, before you
thought football and popularity was everything. Remember when we were twelve
and I was being bullied. You took me to see Rising Christ instead of going to
Tiffany’s birthday party because I wasn’t invited. I wanted to tell you that
football isn’t everything, like you told me looks aren’t. But you’re stubborn
and don’t talk to me anymore. I was hoping Jamie Stark would give you that
message instead.”

Everyone
looked at me.

“I agree
with her. I’d feel like I’d lost everything if I couldn’t act but I’d still
have a lot. There would be loads I’d still want to do.”

I left the
group to work things out and went to go see the rest of the fate. On the way
out I grabbed the kid that called Ruth ugly. He followed me out and I took him
away from everyone.

“I don’t
want to hear you say something like that about Ruth again.”

“Or you’ll
do what. I thought you told Toby you didn’t do pity.”

“I don’t
pity Ruth.”

“So you’d do
her then? Gross burns and all.”

I thought of
Kaitlyn and how she had to hide her scars. “Someone like her wouldn’t stop me.
So what if somebody has scars or burns. She’s beautiful so what if she’s lived
or suffered just like everyone else on the planet. She survived, you need to
remember that.”

I left the
kid pondering and noticed that a crowd of people had formed around us,
including Ruth and Toby. I gave them a nod and found a stall to entertain
myself at. A group of girls were giving manicures and makeovers and I sat
myself down as the next client.

“I’ll take a
manicure please.” The girls laughed and joked around while they did my nails
and I happily joined in to the gossip. They had the radio on some of them sang
along. Bad boy hater came on and I grinned.

“Who sings
this? It’s awesome.”

“Kaitlyn.”

“Is she new
or something? I’ve never heard of her.”

“Kaitlyn
Fox, she’s fairly new but she’s well known in England.”

“I love the
way you say England.” A cheerleader who’d been following me like I was prey
since I arrived jumped in.

“Kaitlyn
Fox? Isn’t she your girlfriend? I remember now. She was on some show with you.
I watched the video; I can’t believe you love her that was so romantic.”

“Yes she
is.” I was still grinning when I went to find the principle again. I wanted to
talk to him and Toby before I left. I found him talking to Toby already, along
with two people I assumed were his parents.

“Hello, it
was great to meet you today but I’ve got to go. Before that though I wanted to
finish asking my questions, firstly do you plan on going to college?” Toby’s
parents started to cry.

“No.”

“But you
planned on going before the accident?”

“Yes. We
can’t afford it. My parents had to use all the savings for the medical bills
and I lost any chance I had of a football scholarship.”

“I want to
pay your college costs.”

“What? You
can’t do that.”

“Why not? If
you keep your grades up, I want to pay. I’ll pay tuition as well as books and
living costs.”

“I’m not a
charity case.”

“Don’t take
it as charity then. You’ll have to do some stuff with me. I go to all these
different charity events. Each one I go to, you can talk at them. Tell them
your story. I need an assistant as well, to go with me to premieres and stuff.
What do you say?” His mum cried harder and his dad appeared to be in shock.

“Really? Why
do you want to help me?”

“I don’t
have an education. I can act and I have some GCSEs. That’s like sophomore year,
but it actually counts as something. If something happened to me right now, I
know I can go back to education. I don’t want anyone throwing that away.”

I gave his
parents and quick hug and patted Toby on the shoulder. I looked at the
principle and he seemed in shock as well. “I also heard that the school gave up
their dance fund to help Toby. Is that true?”

“We did a
vote. It seemed wrong not too.”

“I want to
match what they made today and double it, for the student body and their
dances. I’ll also match what they made for Toby and the charity. I’ll call you
later in the week to sort that. Is that ok?”

“That’s
brilliant, thank you.”

I shook his
hand and got ready to leave. I had a message from Kaitlyn and I wanted to read
it in private. The principle stopped me as I began to stroll towards my car.

“We’re
setting up a guidance thing. Asking people in the local community to come and
give workshops for the students as well as having a door open mentoring system.
Would you be interested?”

“That
sound’s brilliant. Sign me up. Don’t tell anyone but I might ask Kaitlyn if
she’d like to join as well. She’d be good at this.”

“Thank you
Jamie. You’re a good man.”

Chapter
Thirteen

Kaitlyn

I threw up
three times on the flight. I heard whispers from the other passengers and I
made a comment about being airsick. I mentally scolded myself. It wasn’t like
my scars, it didn’t physically hurt me. When I showed Dad Jamie’s text he simply
said either tell him or let him read it, and seeing how I had no idea what they
were going to print I decided on telling Jamie straight. I couldn’t ask him to
fly out because he was filming and Dad and Aaron had their hands full with
Jake, so that left me to go to LA alone.

Aaron had
asked me if he could tell Wayne, seeing how I just got number one album and
single in the UK and I was in high demand. I agreed on the condition Wayne
never talk to me about it, which Aaron promised he’d make clear to him. Wayne
made a few calls, mainly to Graham who explained what he heard about the
impending article and then he locked himself in his office preparing a press
statement for when the news broke. I threw up again in the toilet just as the
captain announced we were beginning to descend. The airhostess gave me a paper
bag as she checked people’s seatbelts and I cringed. I was nervous not
desperate but I bit my tongue and thanked her anyway.

I went
through passport control to arrivals with just the small carry-on case Aaron
brought me a few weeks back when I had to fly to Edinburgh for an interview and
performance. Jamie stood in a suit at the front holding a sign saying ‘Foxy,
Come here.’ I laughed and ran over to him. We ignored the cameras around us as
I jumped into his arms. I ducked away from his kiss saying that there were
small kids around. He looked hurt, but a crowded airport was not the place to
tell him I spent the flight throwing up with nerves. He plastered on a smile
and took my bag to his Lamborghini. He didn’t speak at all, even when we were
in the comfort and privacy of his house. I excused myself briefly and went and
threw up in his bathroom.

“Is this
what you were like at Howard Collins?”

“Yep, only
that time there was three others listening and a woman screaming at Jake for
being in the ladies. If I wasn’t throwing up, I would have laughed at him.”

“How is he?
And Diana?”

“I’ll come
back to him, but Diana is fine. Her washing machine broke and she slipped on
the water in the middle of night when she went to get a drink. She had to have
ten stitches and she had mild concussion.”

“Why? What’s
going on Kaitlyn?”

I took a
deep breath and sat on the cold tiles of the bathroom floor. I motioned for
Jamie to sit down as well, which thankfully he did without question. Clearly I
was lucky with Jamie, most A-listers would throw a fit at sitting on a bathroom
floor but Jamie didn’t say anything.

“I need to
start from the beginning. I say that because I need to tell you my life story.
It’s easier for me that way. I also want to say that I don’t talk about this
because it’s hard, not because I’m ashamed or embarrassed.”