May 26th, 2011
"Is anyone up for tonight? I'll treat you guys for all your hard work recently!" Jasper Haywood, the film director of High School Love On cheered.
The whole crew and actors were told to meet up at Subway in half an hour. Ross, who had grown-up into a high school teenager girl, was smiling awkwardly at her senior who was also her opponent in this project.
His name was Oliver Hall, and he was only four years older than Ross. She had always secretly admired him, for he was the most handsome boy she had met in her life and he was the most famous teenager actor. Unfortunately, he had a girlfriend. But that didn't stop him to flirt with Ross during shoots, though.
"Hey." Oliver grinned back at her. "You're coming too, aren't you?"
She couldn't hide the happiness in her eyes as she nodded. Even though Ross had been living in this industry for more than three years now, she was just an innocent and plain girl after all.
"Great! Come with me, then? I'll bring my BMW today."
She nodded again, still smiling.
"Alright, we should go now, before the others ask me for a ride." He took her hand and headed to where his car was parked. Her heart beat so fast at that moment, causing her brain to malfunction.
Ross was almost sixteenㅡshe would be sixteen next monthㅡbut she had never fallen in love before. She had been homeschooled because her mom had decided that it was the best and most balanced way for her to keep studying while still being active in the showbiz world. So she'd never had the experience of falling in love with the basketball captain like normal girls did, but after she had met Oliver, she didn't regret it.
"So, how is school?" he asked.
Ross didn't know much, but she knew that boys didn't like homeschooled girls. "Well, nothing interesting, just a lot of high school stuff, you know."
"Well, like everyone says, high school is the best moment of life, but it doesn't feel that way when you're still living it."
She raised an eyebrow, wondering what he meant by that and then forced an awkward grin. "Yeah, I'm sure it is."
"What about your love life? Is there a guy you like?"
Suddenly, she felt awkward. She thought Oliver knew that she had fallen head over heels for him, because all this time, everyone else was gossiping about them and she never did anything to hide her feelings from him. Well, Ross never dreamt to have her feelings back, though.
"Oh my God, Ross," Oliver teased her. "Don't tell me you don't even have a crush."
"Can we talk about something else?" She ignored his joke. Her face had turned scarlet, and he noticed it.
"Hell, is that true, Ross? What everyone is saying? Do youㅡ" He paused; cleared his throat. "You don't, right?"
Her brain had stopped working and she couldn't think what to say. Instead, she closed her eyes and hoped that she could somehow disappear.
Maybe Oliver could feel it too, because he quickly changed the topic right after that and chatted about films and famous actors until they arrived at Subway.
"Oh, here they are! Our main roles!" Heather Todd, the assistant director called out. "We thought you won't come."
Ross smiled. "Of course not, Heather. We're not going to miss all the fun for nothing!"
"Anyway, I have something I need to tell to everyone," Oliver said in loud voice. He grabbed Ross' arms, giving her a heart attack. "Rossie and I are officially dating from now on."
"What?" Ross murmured.
"Oh, finally!" the others started saying. "No wonder, you two are an absolutely perfect match!"
He winked at her and squeezed her arms. "So, should we eat?"
***
After saying goodbyes to everyone, both Ross and Oliver headed out with a wide grin on their faces. They couldn't stop stealing time for brief kisses; they even managed to kiss on red light.
To be honest, Ross was curious as nobody seemed to notice that Oliver had a girlfriend. However, she decided to keep quiet, because she didn't want to ruin the happiest day of her life.
"Aren't we going to my house?" Ross asked as soon as she realized that Oliver wasn't headed to her house.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Oliver was smiling. "Just be quiet, sweetheart." He kissed her again and turned off the car engine before he opened the passenger seat for her.
She looked around and saw that she was in a high-class apartment which was likely where Oliver lived. Rossie might be innocent and plain, but she was not stupid.
"I'm not going anywhere except my own house," she said firmly.
Then, she saw it. He was grinning at her, but she didn't find him handsome anymore, this time he looked scary.
He muttered some words in a low-strained voice that Rossie couldn't get. She was about to say something else when Oliver pulled out her seatbelt and slipped one hand under her knees and the other behind her back.
"Put me down!"
He was undeterred and carried her all the way to his apartment. He put her down on the sofa and start unbuttoning his own shirt. "What's wrong, sweetheart? We were just sharing a couple of kisses a while ago."
He snogged her after getting rid of his shirt. Slow and passionate. This was the first time for Ross and she didn't know what to do right now. Her brain froze and she did nothing when he started unbuttoning her shirt. She didn't know what should she did to make Oliver stop, not when she could barely breath.
She had an intense kissing scene with him in High School Love On, but it was nothing compared to this, or the brief kisses they shared in the car. He was all handsome and adorable, a little bit too impossible for her to reach. But this seemed like a scene out of an erotica movies and Rossie had never asked for that. She always wanted to lose her first kiss to a handsome bloke like Oliver, but laying naked on his apartment? She shuddered as she thought about it; she sounded like a slut.
But it was a lie if Ross said that she didn't enjoy this. She felt like the luckiest girl in the world, to get the chance to spend a wonderful night with him. And that was why she didn't stop him.
She closed her eyes, trying to forget that her shirt was abandoned somewhere on the floor. Oliver's lips barely leave hers as his hand made its way to unzip her bra.
"Wait, I don't want this," she said.
He kept kissing her, pretending not to hear her. Ross was now kicking the air, but Oliver managed to use his weight to stop her. He then pulled her black skirt down andㅡ
"Oliver!" she raised her voice breathlessly between kisses. "Please, stop! I don't want this!"
He pulled back a little and smirked. "You said you liked me, remember? All I'm doing is giving you my all."
She slapped him in the face. "I said I don't want this, can't you hear me?"
He smiled and kissed her neck. "You desperately want me, sweetheart. We both know it."
He locked her hands above her head so that she couldn't rebel against him. Then, slowly, he took off her underwear and his. Before she knew it, it already happened.
***
The Present
Michael has received a letter from the Greenville County Solicitor's Office after completely forgetting about the CV he sent to the office.The letter says that he has passed the first and second round and he is told to go for the interview on the first day of December, which is two weeks from now.
He still dreams of being a prosecutor, but now he has so much work to finish in his father's companyㅡbesides, he can't leave New York and Delancy behind. He has his proper life here, and he couldn't just drop everything and move all the way to a small county like Greenville.
But sometimes dreams make you do crazy things, right?
"You can go, but it means you'll be dismissed from the company and you won't be able to inherit it," is his father's comment after he tells him about the whole confusing thing.
Michael doesn't have brothers, only one older and married sister, Blair. There's no way his dad will give his company to herㅡat least, that's what Michael thinks.
Delancy freaks out as soon as she hears the news. "You crazy, Mich? Greenville is way too far, and remember, you promised me that you'll marry me next year!"
"I told you that I still want to pursue my dreams before we get married, remember? You said you'll give me thirteen months at worst and it means you shouldn't hold me back now, Del." This is the first time he finds his courage to voice his argument with her.
Delancy's eyes turn wide. "You asked for my opinion, and now you're telling me thatㅡ"
"It's not like that, Del. Why do you always twist my words?" He sighs. "Listen, it's not easy to get into any prosecutor's office at this age and I'm not sure I can even pass the interview, but at least I want to try. I want to give one last chance for my pride. I don't want to spend the rest of my life thinking about the other roads I didn't take."
Delancy doesn't reply right away. She takes a sip of the hot chocolate in front of her and takes her time to think, because whatever she's going to say next will be her decision.
She wants to be a supportive girlfriend, but sometimes it's so much harder than it seems.
"Okay." She clears her throat. "If that's what you want, then go. But remember, it's only for the sake of your pride and not more than twelve months, okay? And after that, we're going to live here, in New York, and you're going to run your dad's companyㅡ"
"He's not giving the company to me," he cuts in, "if I go."
"Wait, what?"
"It's not that serious, Del. I know he's going to change his mind anytime because you know, Blair is expecting a baby now."
"But he could consider Kevin, and that's not a good thing, Mich."
Kevin is Blair's husband's name.
"Yeah, I'll figure it out. There must be a wayㅡ"
"There's not, Mich. You must turn the job down right now, that's the only way."
***
"So, is there any happy news from our Delancy?" Zoe Travis asks her on the girls' day out.
Delancy and her girlfriends meet every Wednesday afternoon at Starbucks. It's an old habit, coming from when they had been friends as teenagers.
Delancy smiles as she plays with Kristen's baby boy. "Soon, I'd say."
"Oh, poor Delancy Queen," Harper fills in. "Not even an engagement ring?"
A loud sigh comes from the three of them when Delancy shakes her head weakly.
"I'd leave him alone if I were you," Kristen says, followed by nods from Harper and Zoe.
Delancy sighs heavily. "Oh honestly, I really want to do that. But he's really wealthy and I'm too old to find a new boyfriend. And don't laugh, but Mich is going to South Carolina."
"Wait, what?"
"Don't tell me he's cheating on you with some high school girls there."
"Oh, you owe us a lot of stories, dear."
Delancy smiles bitterly at the three of them. "Not today, I guess. I'm not in the mood."
Zoe straightens up her body and clears her throat. "Anyway, I have a good news for you guys."
Now everyone turns their attention into her and waits while Zoe shoves her hands in her bag, searching for something. She pulls out three wedding invitations and gives them to her bestfriends.
When Zoe hands it over Delancy, she smiles. "I won't throw my flower bouquet, it's an old and boring tradition. I was thinking of handing it directly to you, and gotcha! It'll be perfect timing for Michael to propose to you in front of my guests." She winks at her, ignoring the grateful look Delancy is throwing at her and adds, "I invited some reporters, anyway. I'm sure your face will fill the front page of New York Times on the next day."
"Brilliant!" she screams. If there was no table between them, Delancy would hug her right away. "Oh, thanks, Zoe-Zoe. Oh my God, I really love you."
Zoe chuckles. "I'm just doing what I can do for you. Oh and anyway, I don't know if this is important for you, but Dylan and I are going to invite Oliver too."
***
a/n Yeah, the early Ross' story is inspired by the Harvey Weinstein's case.
And there's a time issue here, if you noticed. Above it says that Michael's audition is on December 1st and two weeks from now. Yeah, I wrote this part about a month ago, and if I change the date here, it'll affect the rest of the story, so I hope you'll understand.
Wednesday, December 20 2017. 10.00 a.m.
Edited July 8 2018. 3.15 p.m.
Also, dedicated this part for xFakingaSmilex for making me this beautiful cover!