Kiss & Sell (20 page)

“I’m sure they were,” Ryder said with mock seriousness. “So, I’m assuming since you’re the brains behind the operation, that you’ll be attending the ball, too?”

I rolled my eyes, but my heart was fluttering at the same time.

“I’m going with my friends, McCartney and Phin. And it’s not a ball or anything like that. It’s a
Homecoming
dance. It’s a big deal to some people, though.”

“Is it a big deal to you?”

I stopped and thought about his question. Despite the fact that I’d already agreed to attend, I’d never actually asked myself if I
wanted
to go. On the one hand, it seemed like a lot of work to put in for what could potentially be a lame night. But on the other, it meant I might get the chance to dance with a boy. Or boys. And wasn’t slow dancing practically a step away from kissing?

“Yeah, I guess it
Is
sort of important to me.” As I said it, I knew it was the truth.

“Man, you’re so lucky,” Ryder said, sounding genuinely jealous.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Nah. I’ve never been to a school dance,” he said. “By the time I was old enough to actually go to things like dances, I was already acting full time. I’ve had tutors on set since the seventh grade, so all this stuff you get to do, well, I never did. Whenever I hear people talk about going to Prom or to football games on Friday night, I always kind of wish I knew what it was like.”

There was a longing in his voice that took me by surprise. How could Ryder possibly be sad over missing out on something as boring as public school? especially when he’d had it so much better than the rest of us.

“Yeah, but you get to go to the
Teen Choice Awards
and the
MTV Movie Awards
and Hollywood parties. That’s
so
much cooler then a silly high school dance,” I said, plopping down onto my bed.

Our conversation had started to flow more easily now that we’d been talking for a while. We weren’t quite strangers anymore. The thought made me feel braver, so I continued on.

“And,
hello
?! You play a high school student on TV. Granted, your character’s a vampire, and it’s all for the cameras, but you get to experience most of the same things as us. You go to the dances, you have the breakups, you try to survive high school. Sure it’s not quite real life…but who wants to live that anyway?”

“I get what you’re saying,” he said as I finished. “And don’t get me wrong…Diddy’s parties are unbelievable. But going to those things—the award shows, the parties—it’s still
work
. I’m bored out of my mind half the time. It’s not the same as going to a gymnasium with a hundred other people my own age, having fun and dancing with cute girls.”

I didn’t remind him that we weren’t exactly the same age either.

“And as for my character on the show,” he continued with a sigh. “Try having a true high school moment with a dozen cameras pointed at you, and someone telling you where to stand, when to cry and how to hold a girl’s face when you kiss here. not exactly the stuff memories are made of.”

Hearing him talk about everything he was missing out on left me feeling sort of bad for him. As bad as I could feel for someone who frequently rubbed elbows with people like seth rogan and Jennifer lawrence, and probably had Miley Cyrus on speed dial.

“Well, if you’re in the area two weekends from now and feel like seeing what a real dance is like, you can be my guest,” I said, jokingly.

Now it was Ryder who grew quiet. It dawned on me that if he hadn’t taken what I’d said as a joke like I’d intended, he was probably weirded out by my invitation. My invitation to a
high school dance
. With
me
. I was just about to explain what I’d meant, when he beat me to it.

“Yeah, okay. That would be fun.”

“Huh?” I asked, wondering if he was joking with me now.

“The dance sounds like fun,” he repeated, sounding genuinely excited. “Just text me the details and I’m there. Do guys still get corsage’s for their dates?”

Date? Ryder was actually considering going with me to Homecoming? My head started to spin as I tried to keep up.

“Um, I’m not really sure. Maybe? I haven’t really been to a dance before,” I stammered.

“So, it’ll be a night of firsts for both of us then,” he said, with just a hint of flirtation in his voice. “Well, since we’re each sort of clueless on how this is supposed to work, and all I know about this stuff is what our writers come up with, how about I bring you the corsage anyway. Then, if we see that no one else is wearing them, you can just toss it.”

Toss it out? Was he kidding? That baby would be placed in a see-through, airtight box, and prominently displayed on my trophy shelf where everyone would be able to see it.

“You don’t have to get me one if you don’t want to,” I said, blushing. Thank God we weren’t having this convo in person. “Are you sure you really want to go to a high school dance in Podunk, nowhere?”

Ryder responded with a laugh. “Are
you
sure you want to go with
me
?”

“Is that a trick question?” I asked before I could censor myself. “I mean, I hope you’re not just doing this because you feel bad for me or anything. It’s not everyday that a TV star asks me to a dance. You’ve gotta see how this would throw me off, right?”

“I get your point. But really, I think we’ll have fun. We’ll go as friends so there’s no pressure or anything, and I’ll forever be in your debt for giving me the gift of a normal teenage experience.”

I nodded my head and then realized Ryder couldn’t actually see what I was doing. “Well, when you put it that way…then yeah, it sounds like fun!”

It sounded like more than fun, but I couldn’t tell
him
that. not during our first phone call anyway.

A little later, we said our good-byes, and Ryder promised to call me in a few days after he’d let his agent, manager, publicist and parents in on the plans. It was so weird to think that someone like Ryder had to get the approval of more people than I did to go out.

I lay back on my bed and stared up at the ceiling, replaying our conversation over and over again. Nobody would believe me if I told them what had happened tonight. Hell,
I
barely believed it myself. As I began to drift off to sleep, my phone started to ring again.

I lunged across the bed to answer it, annoyed that I’d forgotten to put it on vibrate before. Smiling, I brought the phone to my ear, hoping it was Ryder calling back to tell me that two weeks was too long to wait to see me and that he was hopping on a plane to visit. Or something like that.

“Hello?” I asked quietly, hoping my mom was already asleep in her room.

“Hey, Arielle. Sorry to call so late,” a guy’s voice said.

It wasn’t Ryder calling me back. But the voice
did
sound familiar, and I racked my brain to attach a face to the caller. Only, I came up blank.

“It’s Cade,” he said, solving the mystery for me.

“Oh, yeah, hey,” I said stupidly.

I’d gone fourteen years without so much as a ‘hi’ from anyone besides Phin—and he didn’t really count—and now in one night I’d received phone calls from two
Ridiculously
hot guys. And they weren’t pranking me. Was it a full moon or something? I walked over to my window to check it out.

“I was calling to see if you wanted to meet up after school tomorrow to work out the decoration details?” Cade said as I looked up into the sky.

No full moon. Guess it was just my lucky day then.

Forcing my focus back on Cade, I tried to process what he was saying. Tomorrow was Friday, and surprise, surprise, I
didn’t
have plans. But what was weird was that Cade didn’t have any either. I started to wonder what he did in his spare time.

“Sure,” I said, trying to sound like I got phone calls from cute bad boys every day. “Do you want to meet in the student lounge?”

Cade paused and I could hear him shuffling around as we talked. “I was thinking maybe we could hang at your place? The student lounge can get a little…distracting sometimes. I’ll bring food.”

“Well, if you’re bringing food…”

I gave him my address and told him I’d meet him an hour after the last bell. After hanging up and remembering to put my phone on vibrate, I turned off my lamp and snuggled underneath my covers. I yawned loudly, suddenly exhausted from all the excitement of the evening.

Man, was I going to sleep well tonight.

“YOU’RE GOING TO
Homecoming with
Ryder Diggs
!”

I covered my ears as McCartney let out the first of several high-pitched shrieks. Glancing around, I was embarrassed to find that everyone was staring at us with annoyed looks on their faces. I immediately regretted my decision to tell my best friend about Ryder while we were in public. We’d stopped at the smoothie shop to get an early morning pick-me-up, but after hearing McCartney’s screeching—which I was convinced only dogs and other small animals could hear—I think it was safe to say that I was officially awake.

“Jeez, Cart. Way to make a scene,” I said, before apologizing to those around us.

“That’s
your
fault, sister soldier. You can’t drop a bomb on me like that and expect me to act like it’s not
the
biggest news I’ve ever heard in my entire life,” she said. Placing her hand up to her mouth and faking a dramatic yawn, she looked at me tiredly. “oh, you’re going to Homecoming with the hottest celeb in the universe? you think that’s impressive? Try going Han solo like me.”

McCartney’s sarcasm was not appreciated, though I could kind of understand her point. This thing with Ryder was certainly the highlight of my fourteen years so far. I probably would’ve reacted similarly if I’d been in her shoes. Possibly even worse.

“Okay, okay,” I said, giving in and smiling. “I admit, it’s pretty freaking cool.”

McCartney shook her head, squinting her chocolate brown eyes at me accusingly. “You little mother humper,” she swore under her breath. “How did this happen? More importantly, why isn’t it happening to
me
?”

I knew she didn’t really mean it, but I stepped ahead of her in line and paid for both our smoothies to try and “Smooth” things over anyway. We both ordered the “Monkey Business,” a drink we’d been getting since the second grade. It was a combo of chocolate, peanut butter and banana, and it was delicious. I watched as McCartney immediately shoved the straw into her mouth and slurped away at the mixture like she was mad at it. Only, I knew her annoyance should’ve been directed at me. When she still refused to speak to me, I launched into my explanation.

“He called me up out of the blue, Cart. I didn’t even think it was him at first. I mean, I called him a
butt-much
,” I said, recalling this horrifying bit of the story. “Anyways, we ended up just shooting the breeze, talking about the eBay thing and Kristi being a be-yotch, and then I mentioned that I was on the Homecoming committee. He started to talk about all the stuff he’d missed out on because he was so busy getting famous, and so I jokingly told him he should go to the dance with me and…he said
yes
.”

“You’re shitting me, right? all you had to do was
ask
him and he said yes? and you weren’t even being serious about it? This is so unfair! Where’s
my
celebrity Prince Charming?” McCartney whined. Suddenly her face softened and she turned her head sharply to look at me. “Do any of his super-hot, super-famous friends want to go to Homecoming with me? I would be excellent arm candy, you know.”

I burst out laughing, almost snorting “Monkey Business” out of my nose in the process. “I don’t know, McCartney. Part of me doesn’t even believe he’s actually gonna show.”

“Just ask him next time you talk, okay? Promise me you’ll put it out there,” she pleaded. If she could’ve gotten on her knees to beg at my feet without getting her white jeans dirty, I was pretty sure she would’ve done it, just to prove how much the request meant.

“I promise,” I answered.

At school, we walked down the hallway in silence, both of us distracted with thoughts of Ryder. We’d only made it a few feet before McCartney turned to me, a confused look on her face.

“Wait. Didn’t you say that you had
two
things to tell me?” she asked me. “And if you say that Ryder asked you to run off to Vegas and elope, I
might
have to jump off the school tower.”

“Hey, Arielle,” Cade said, appearing out of nowhere and blocking our path. My pulse quickened as I noticed how good he looked. How he managed to make a faded black t-shirt and jeans look insanely hot, I’ll never know.

Realizing I was full-on staring at him, I closed my mouth and pulled it into a friendly smile.

“Hey.”

“We still on for after school? I’ll be over after I pick up the food. I hope you like indian,” he said.

I’d never had indian food before and honestly couldn’t guess what it entailed, but if that’s what Cade wanted, I would wolf it down like it was my last meal. And I’d do it with a smile on my face.