Love and Fame Games (Book 1)

11

I did it: I survived seven minutes in hell.

More importantly, I didn't cheat. Matt and I kissed and though it wasn't spectacular, it wasn't horrible like I had expected it to be, either. No queasiness like the last time or anything.

Anyway, it was quick and happened at the last possible moment, but I didn't expect Matt to have any complaints. He seemed more nervous than I was and I had a feeling that, like me, he was just glad when it was over. We both rushed out of the closet and went our separate ways without so much as a word to each other as soon as Alex had opened the door and called out, "Next!"

(Not that I blamed him. If I had shot up five inches over the course of one summer and lately seemed to move as if my body weren't my own, I would probably hate the feeling of being trapped in a tiny space like the closet, too.)

Returning to the living room, I saw that some unfamiliar faces had joined the game, making our original circle bigger and rowdier. Also, from what I could see, the original rules were being bent left and right. Needless to say, I wasn't going to have another go at playing and so left the living room in a hurry.

The upstairs of Alex's house was supposed to be off-limits during the party, but there was a line outside the downstairs bathroom and Alex had a private one in her room. After all she had put me through, I earned the privilege of using it. Moreover, I was going to take my sweet time. No way was I going back downstairs. Not until everyone else had left.

When I entered Alex's bedroom, I caught a pair of girls who had the same idea and were about to go in the bathroom. They looked at me with pleading eyes and, since it was too late to do anything about it and I never was one to stand in the way of nature, I just told them to make it fast and keep the fact that I looked the other way for them a secret.

Aside from those two, there were three other girls just lounging around and talking and had no business being in the room. One girl was stretched out horizontally on Alex's canopy bed; she was partially hidden by the gauzy fabric draped over it, but I recognized her by the polka dots. Misty Brenner was with two girls whom I knew to be seventh-graders but didn't know by name. One had wild curly brown hair while the other one had pin-straight black hair and a side-swept fringe. They had their backs to me and were freshening up in front of Alex's vanity.

"Hey, you can't be in here."

My words fell on deaf ears. The girls didn't even look my way and kept right on talking.

" . . . I saw the two of them go out back, behind the pool house," the curly-haired one was saying, in what was supposed to be a hushed tone but carried all the way across the room where I stood.

Misty gasped. "But it's super dark there!" She paused and shrugged. "Then again so is the closet but still! Hasn't she heard what everyone's saying about him?"

"I'm sure she knows what she's doing. You know who she hangs out with, right?" the black-haired one said between dabs of lip-gloss. Everyone murmured their agreement and I expected these girls to start cackling at any moment. "She's not as sweet as she looks."

Dammit, Ethan. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours.

The rumors were always wildly exaggerated as far as I knew but it wasn't like Ethan encouraged them or even cared; he had bigger concerns. Still, it seemed to be getting worse and worse and some poor girl's reputation was gonna be damaged beyond repair if no one said anything.

Ethan would probably listen to me; we did go way back.

The curly-haired girl sighed. "Can't say I blame her. I would totes do the same if he asked me."

"Like he'd ask you. If he's with her then you don't stand a chance." The black-haired one with the fringe scoffed. She was definitely the nastier of the two.

I walked toward the foot of the bed and cleared my throat loudly. On one hand I kind of wanted to join them and get some details on who the girl in question could possibly be but on the other I would much rather chase these gossipy trespassers away with a stick. This time, Misty glanced up and had the decency to look sheepish as soon as she saw me. Quick as a flash, she turned to the other two.

"Uh." She craned her neck, trying to catch the girls' eyes in the mirror. No use. It was like the combination of their reflection in the tri-fold mirror and the sound of their own voices was too captivating to notice anything else.

"Ugh, I know," Curly-girl's shoulders sagged. "But he's so dreamy and it doesn't hurt that his family's loaded."

Wait, what?

"Really?" The black-haired girl turned to her, sounding surprised, which made two of us. Why would people say that about Ethan? Everyone knew his situation; if this were a joke, then it was a cruel and unfunny one.

"I mean, they must be, right?" Curly self-corrected. "'Cause his dad's some big-shot in New York? My mom says that's why his mom fought so hard to get custody."

The bits of information I had picked up began to click together. History was repeating itself. The same thing that happened to Ethan was happening all over again.

There was a new belle of the ball.

"You guys could not be more wrong about Seth," I said, huffing. The two girls' heads jerked in my direction. It seemed like they didn't even know I'd been here the whole time. "You were talking about Seth Frasier, right?"

No one said anything but the look on their faces confirmed my suspicions. It was Seth they were talking about albeit a weird distorted version of him with just enough shades of truth to be believable.

This was all a shock to me. I knew Seth was capable of turning heads—even mine that one time—but I wasn't aware that all these things were being said about him or that he attracted this kind of attention.

"Well, who is she?" I asked, curious but also skeptical of my source of information. They were probably making that up, too. "Who was at the pool house with Seth?"

"It's—"

"Don't you three have anything better to do than talk about me behind my back?" An irked voice interrupted the curly-haired girl. I turned to face the door and it felt like all the air was suddenly sucked out of the room.

"Are you kidding me," I muttered. I definitely spoke too soon about the queasiness. It wasn't a no-show; it just wanted to make a dramatic entrance and was finally here.

Chloe Wasserman? Really? I wanted Seth to have a nice time tonight but not this nice. I closed my eyes and shook a mental fist at the universe.

Chloe, still remarkably pretty despite the deep scowl she sported at the moment, was still at the doorway when I opened my eyes. Beth stood beside her, as usual, but didn't seem to share the same mood as her bestie.

"Out," Chloe ordered. The three girls scampered toward the door with their tails between their legs. I was about to do the same (hopefully with a little more dignity) but Beth was standing beside me by the bed in an instant.

What the hell? I thought. I was usually faster than this.

"You stay, Adrian. Let's catch up," Beth whispered, smiling. She tugged my arm somewhat forcefully so we could sit side by side on the edge of the bed.

Chloe stood her ground as the three girls walked past her. She didn't move aside to make it easier on them nor did she avert her hard stare.

"I'll have you know he was a perfect gentleman the whole time," she told the three once they were standing in the hallway. With that, she promptly slammed the door in their faces. One corner of my mouth lifted against my will. When it was just the three of us, Chloe turned around and smirked. "No he wasn't, but I didn't mind."

Smiling took a lot more effort after that. I managed, but all the while I was wishing I could be somewhere else, anywhere, even back in the tiny space in Alex's front hall.

For the life of me, I could not even remember why I left the closet in the first place. It was so nice and cozy there, and at least Matt Engels knew when to shut up.

(to be continued)