*Cora*
I didn't cry when I saw what Elle was pointing, slack-jawed at on the TV. I could have, I had plenty of reason to, but my eyes stayed dry.
The grainy picture some idiot took was playing on every tabloid station on TV and most had a caption along the lines: 'Theo Archer's mystery girl: fact or fiction?'
I couldn't believe it.
I was on national television. I was on national television holding hands with a boy renowned for breaking the hearts of girls just like me.
My brain took a few seconds to break from just staring at the picture and words on the screen and actually listen to the words being said.
"... seen with a mystery girl in the wee hours of this morning, or so it seems. We don't have information about the identity of this girl and because this is the only picture, there is no way of discovering that identity unless she decides to come forward and identify herself or if someone recognizes her. If you do happen to recognize her, please let us know!" The overexcited news lady spewed, and the station's contact info flashed on the screen.
Thoughts immediately flashed through my head as I took in the situation: Who took it? Why'd they take it? That dress really is incredible! Was this supposed to happen? Did my hair really look like that? Did E want for this picture to be taken?
I dismissed most of them but there was one that stuck in my brain like it'd been super glued. Did E want for this to happen?
Before I knew it, I had slipped my phone from my back pocket and dialed the number now saved in my phone under 'E.'
"Pip," he greeted. I could hear the smile. "What's up?"
"Turn on the TV."
"What? Why?" he said, his tone immediately changing.
"Just do it," I replied flatly, and he fell silent. The silence stretched and I took a guess. "You see it."
"Yeah. Yeah, I do. God, Pip, I'm so sorry," he gushed. "I didn't know this would happen; it wasn't supposed to."
I thought about the question burning its way through my head. "So, this is what it is? You're using me for more player publicity? Awesome. Thanks." I said, not taking any chances. I had to know, and better now than later.
The problem was that my brain was already working on it. See, if E had wanted the picture to be taken, it said, surely all he had to do was find a way for the paparazzi to find us. Not that hard, I'm sure, for a super star. Just make a quick tweet or something. We would've been surrounded in a matter of minutes and he could've had 100 pictures like this, but of better quality.
So, no. My guess wasn't that he hadn't meant or wanted for this to happen. It also wasn't like he could've planned it. He never could have anticipated that Naomi would be a slut or that he would run into me or that he was going to walk me home.
Now all I needed was for him to confirm I was right.
"No! It's not like that. Last night was just as off the wall for me as I'm pretty sure it was for you, Pip!" he replied almost immediately.
I breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"Do they know it's you?" he asked almost hesitantly. Was he ashamed of me?
I played with the idea of not answering but decided that he needed to know. "No. No one on the station recognized me because I'm not famous and the photographer didn't know who I was."
E exhaled heavily and said, "Then we're all good. Pip, I want to keep you out of the spotlight for as long as possible."
So, he was ashamed of me. That didn't kill my self-esteem at all. "Why?" I managed to get out.
"I want to protect you from things that I wasn't protected from."
My brain hurt from this conversation. What did he mean by protect? What hadn't he been protected from? "I have to go, E." Even to my ears I sounded worn out. I didn't want him to be hurt by it, but I couldn't help it. I wasn't even quite sure what was happening right now.
None the less, I still felt better. So long as he was telling the truth, I didn't have to worry so much about him being embarrassed about me. He could still be lying, I knew, but my brain blocked that out for the time being. I was way too insecure for the idea of his embarrassment to be completely eradicated.
I was about one-tenth of a second from hanging up when I heard a "Wait!" from the other end. I waited. I felt a small grin find its way onto my lips. I don't care who you are, when a guy sounds that frantic about you not hanging up, you like it. It's gratifying and adorable.
"You're still coming next Saturday, aren't you?" Oh, he sounded so unlike he should, so unlike himself. His usual cocky, self-assured tone was almost... insecure. He sounded worried, like me being there Saturday was the only thing that meant anything to him.
"Of course I am, E." No way I wouldn't be there. A stupid picture on TV wasn't going to change how much I wanted to see him fight.
I was genuinely curious to see what this was all about. I'd seen a few fights on TV in passing and whatnot, but it was kind of obvious how staged and hyped up those were. Granted, I didn't know if next Saturday would be like that or not. I hoped not; real fighting has always been a guilty pleasure for me. I love to see the raw dedication and the strength behind each competitor just because it's not something you see in most other situations. The blood, bruises, and black eyes I could live without, yet they're things I'll put up with to see the fights.
E and I said bye and I disconnected the call, looking up to see Elle staring at me. Her eyes were full of disbelief.
I spread my hands in a helpless gesture. "What?"
"What the hell is happening?" She collapsed onto my parent's couch, throwing her arms wide.
I shrugged. Heck if I knew.
After last night, I felt a little worse off than a zombie. I went to bed shortly after E left and woke up at six thanks to my brain being more active than it needed to be. I honestly don't understand why my brain needs to think more as I'm sleeping than when I'm wide awake, but the dumb thing won't ever shut up!
Suffice it to say, tired I was. I dropped my head into my hand, staring down at my feet before closing my eyes. "You don't know much about last night, right? Just the synopsis E told you."
She nodded. "Yeah. All I got was that his date was shit and he met you after, you went to dinner and he walked you back here."
"Right," I agreed. "Well, that's only half of it." I proceeded to explain to her the details of the previous night. Leaving out only the sparse few that weren't for me to tell; mainly the things that E had told me. Those things weren't for me to tell, they were for Theo to tell if he so wished. "So that's why and how this whole thing started." I shook my head not believing it myself.
Elle stared at me. "So, just to be sure I have this right: Theo Archer was that famous guy at the mall that day, which you figured out when we saw him again at the beach and made complete fools of ourselves." I nodded, grimacing. "Then, last night, when you thought I was out of town, you decided that you were going to actually go out shopping by yourself for the first time in forever and you just happen to run into Theo again. Somehow, you guys ended up at the pizza place that he's been going to for years where, might I add, he is known by name and ended up talking about things you won't tell me about. He acts all possessive over you when the waiter hits on you and then, like one of our cheesy rom-coms, he walks you home. Someone happened to catch you guys walking, recognized him, and took a picture on what had to be a 2004 flip phone of him walking you home while holding your hand. The picture makes it to national TV and you actually call the Theo Archer, the guy in question, and the first thing he does is make sure the world doesn't know who you are so that he can protect you." Elle sucked in a giant breath. "Did I get that about right?"
I dropped onto the couch beside her and let my head drop completely into my hands. "Spot on."
"Well," Elle said, "that's ridiculous."
"Yeah. It is." I looked up. For no reason whatsoever there was a grin on my face. "But I'm ok with that."
Elle looked at me with a question written all over her face: why?
"You've known me long enough to know that my life isn't exactly thrilling." She snorted. "Right, but Elle, this is something new to me. It's exciting and terrifying and, yes, ridiculous and I'll take every second of it because it's awesome."
Elle smiled. "Can't say I blame you, Cora. I really can't. I can't, however, pass up the chance to say I told you so."
I narrowed my eyes at her. What was she talking about? "Huh? What did you tell me so?"
Elle looked at me like I was stupid. "Uh, the day of the contest sign-ups. I told you you'd be thanking me for signing up for that contest."
Ohhhh. That. Well, that's just not quite right. "Uh, no," I said, unable to resist the grin creeping onto my face. "You said I'd be thanking you when one of us won the contest and he fell in love with whoever it was. Neither of us won and he's definitely not in love with either of us."
Elle considered this for a moment before looking at me with a knowing smirk. "Not in love... yet."
Immediately I flushed at the idea. "Yeah, yeah," I muttered.
Elle laughed at my discomfort, but thankfully changed the topic. "So what's next Saturday anyway? You never told me what it was, you know. Only told me that we're going somewhere and he's going to be there."
I thought for a second. E told me that only me, him, and his best friend whose name I still didn't know were the only ones who knew about the fighting thing. We had decided that I should bring Elle to meet Jay, the guy E thought would be great for her, though, so I figured I needed to tell her where we'd be going in a few days.
"Ok, here goes. Theo and his best friend are fighters. Last night, right before he left, E asked me if I would go to the tournament he was fighting in next Saturday. I told him that I would and, by mutual decision, I'm taking you with me, even if that means dragging you out of the house like you did to get me to sign up for that contest, so you can meet the guy he told us about. You can't tell anyone this, though. You, me, him, and Jay, the other fighter, are the only ones who know about this."
I'm pretty sure Elle thought I was kidding with her at first until she realized that I was dead serious. "Wait, so I'm going to have to watch one, but probably more, hot shirtless guys throw punches and get all hot and sweaty?"
I bobbed my head and mentally prepared for the worst.
She sighed and I deflated a bit. So there it is, she's not going to come. "Great. Now I have to find two hot outfits instead of just the one. Now we both gotta look good."
"So you're coming?" I dared not hope, but I really wanted her with me through this.
She sighed again. "Yeah, I'm coming, stupid! You think I'd miss the chance to see Theo Archer shirtless in person again?"
I ignored the pang of jealousy that rippled through my stomach at thethought of Elle seeing E shirtless and I grinned. "No. No, I didn't reallythink you'd pass that up."