Promising You (The Jade Series #4) (26 page)

“I did a lot of bad shit in just a few days,” Garret says. “You sure people will believe that?”
 

“The public doesn’t know you so yes, they’ll believe it,” Pearce says. “You already have the image of a privileged trust fund kid, which the public usually finds unappealing. But for the reasons we learned about on Friday, people are able to look past that with you. They think you’re different. What we’re doing here is showing them you’re not. You’re just a selfish, spoiled, rich kid who does what he wants and doesn’t care who or what he destroys in the process.”

“Yeah, but people who know me will think it doesn’t make sense.”

“That’s where Jade comes in. The people closest to you know your past, so when Jade breaks up with you, it makes sense that you’d go back to this type of behavior. It’s not like people forgot what you used to be like.”

“I was never that bad,” Garret assures me.
 

His dad’s expression seems to disagree with that statement.

“What happens after this story gets out?” Garret asks his dad.

“It’s already out. People are already talking about it online. Now we just keep it going. You’ll need to hide out every weekend so people at Moorhurst buy into the stories about all the wild weekends you’ll be having. I got you a small house in the woods not far from here. It’s very secluded. You’ll go there every Friday night and stay there until Sunday night or Monday morning. You’ll need to stay there the whole time. You can’t be seen in public.”

“Can Jade meet me there?”

“No. Absolutely not. It’s too risky. And Jade, you need to hang out with your girlfriends. Do whatever girls do after a break-up. And I agree that Harper may not buy the break-up story, so I came up with something to tell her.”

He goes over the details and tells me to give the same story to Frank and Ryan, who would also be suspicious of the break-up.
 

“So that’s it for now,” Pearce says. “Oh, and Jade, you can take your car back to school. If anyone asks how you got it, just tell them I bought it for you as a congratulatory gift for doing so well in your classes. In the past I’ve given my scholarship recipients gifts for excelling in their first year. Nothing this big, but given you were dating my son, people shouldn’t question it too much.”

“Okay.” I say it calmly, but inside I’m jumping up and down. I finally get to drive the car! I finally
have
a car! It still doesn’t seem real. “But what if Garret’s fans see me when I drive out?”

“They’re not out there. As soon as we posted the story about Garret being in Bermuda, the fans and photographers went away.” Pearce stands up. “It’s time for you two to say goodbye.” His eyes dart from Garret to me and back to Garret. “A short goodbye, son, meaning stay downstairs. Jade needs to leave now. She needs to be seen on campus as people start arriving back from break. You’ll show up there later tonight.”

Good thing Pearce isn’t looking at me because I’m sure I’m blushing. Did he really think Garret and I would go upstairs and have sex again? Like we haven’t done it enough already? Okay, he’s probably right, but still.
 

We go out into the foyer, closing the door to Pearce’s office. Garret gets his phone out and sends a text. “Brad’s bringing your car around. It’ll just be a minute. You sure you’re okay to drive? It’s been a week since I checked for any concussion symptoms.”

“I’m good. I haven’t had any symptoms.”

He gets up close and gazes into my eyes. “Who am I?”

“Not the questions again.” I laugh, then get serious, playing along. “You’re the jerk who trashed some guy’s house in Bermuda and did it with two girls you just met.”

“Nope. Sorry. You’re too confused to drive.” He gets his phone out again. “I’ll text Brad and tell him to leave the car in the garage.”

“Wait! Let me try again.”

Garret slides his phone in his pocket and circles his arms around my waist. “When’s my birthday?”

“August 22.”

He kisses me and keeps his lips on mine as he asks another question. “My favorite color?”

“Green.”

It earns me another kiss, this one longer.

“Sports I played in high school?”

I squeeze my eyes shut. “Swimming, football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and lacrosse.”

“Correct.” He gives me one last lingering kiss. When he starts to break away I hold on, not ready for it to end. Because what if this really is the end? We have to be apart from now until that group makes their decision, and what if their decision doesn’t change?

“Jade.” Garret pulls back. “We’ll be here all day if we don’t stop.”
 

“I know. But what if this is it?”

“Don’t start thinking that way. You need to stay positive. And we’ll still see each other. We live in the same dorm. Eat in the same dining hall.”

“But I can’t talk to you or touch you or—”

“Yeah, it’s gonna suck, but we can do this.”

I nod, then look up at him. “One more kiss?”

We come together for one final kiss and I feel us both struggling to end it. Eventually he does. “Now get out there and drive your new car.”

He turns me around and opens the door and there it is all shiny and new. “I’m so excited I can finally drive it!” I step outside.
 

“You forgot your coat. Wait here. I’ll go get it.”
 

When he returns I’m in the car, buckled in and ready to go. I roll the window down and he hands me my coat. “So I guess a final goodbye hug is out.”

“Oh, just a second.” I undo my seatbelt and get back out to hug him.

“I love you.” He squeezes me tight, then lets me go.

“I love you, too.”
 

Garret holds the car door open. “Okay, now you can go.”

I get back in and drive away. The parade of girls is gone, just like Mr. Kensington said, along with the photographers.

Back at Moorhurst, I go to my room and find my suitcase still sitting unpacked next to my closet. As I’m putting my stuff away, I call Harper.
 

She answers on the second ring. “Jade, come down to my room.”

“I didn’t know you were here. I thought you were still at Sean’s.”

I wait for her to respond but she already hung up the phone, so I walk down to her room. Her door is open and as soon as I walk in she grabs me for a hug.
 

“Hey, neighbor!” She lets me go and I shut the door. “I still can’t believe we’re going to be living next to each other all summer. My parents can’t wait to meet you guys. They have the greatest summer parties. Full of A-list stars. We’re totally going to at least a couple of them.”
 

“You look great, Harper. You always do, but today you’re almost glowing.”

“Because I’m in love.” She spins around with her arms out which makes me laugh, but also makes me sad because it reminds me how much I love Garret and how I can’t be with him.
 

“Sean is so great.” She stops spinning. “You know how taking a trip with someone can be super stressful? You’re tired. You get on each other’s nerves. You start fighting. We didn’t do any of that. Even at the airport when that asshole delayed our flight, Sean was so cool about it. He kept me calm the whole time and made up these silly games every time I complained about being bored. God, I love him.” She gazes dreamily at a spot on the wall behind me.

“Um, Harper.” I get in her line of vision to wake her out of her trance.

“Oh. Sorry. So where’s Garret? I thought the three of us could go out to eat. Sean can’t come with us because he had to go to the restaurant to prep for tomorrow.”

“Yeah, about that. Garret’s still at his parents’ house.”

“Why? I figured you two would’ve been shacked up in his room since the second you got back.”

“I need to talk to you about something. And you can’t tell anyone about this. Even Sean.”

She hesitates because she doesn’t like keeping secrets from Sean. “Okay, I won’t tell anyone.”

“Garret and I broke up.”

20

“What?” Harper grabs my shoulders, almost knocking me over. “When did this happen?”

“It’s not real. It’s just an act so I can stay out of this media frenzy he’s got going on right now.”

She pulls me over to sit on her bed. “But that’s been going on for months. Why are you doing this now?”

“Because it’s gotten really bad. The photographers are getting really aggressive. I’ve already been hurt once by those guys and if they found out I was dating Garret they’d start following me around.”

It’s the fake story Garret’s dad gave me, and from her expression and nodding, Harper seems to be buying it.

“Garret’s dad should just sue the show. That would stop all of this.”

“It’s not just the show. Garret’s got tons of fans now and fans buy magazines, so even when the show ends the photographers will still be following him around wanting to get his picture.”

“How long does this fake break-up have to last?”

“Long enough for the fans to stop caring about Garret so the photographers will leave him alone. It could be months.”

“So you guys can’t spend the summer in California?”

“I’m still going, but Garret probably won’t be able to.”

“Jade, this totally sucks. How are you going to go all those months without being together? Can you meet somewhere private so you could at least hang out a little?”

“Probably not. We can’t risk people seeing us together. I’m not even supposed to call him. And just so you know, Garret’s going to be doing some strange things during our fake break-up.”

“Like what?”

I describe how Pearce hired people to purposely make Garret look bad so people won’t like him. And how in the next few months she may see photos of him or read stuff online that will make him seem like a jerk but that none of it is real.

“That’ll just make people even more interested in him,” she says.

“If he were a real celebrity it might. But once the reality show ends, he’ll go back to being a regular guy and start losing some of his fans. We’re hoping the fans he has left will get tired of him being a jerk and will eventually lose interest in him.”

Harper’s right. The plan could make Garret even more popular. But being popular because you trash hotel rooms or crash cars won’t make you a popular presidential candidate someday. And that’s all we care about. Of course I can’t tell Harper that.
 

“Doing that will ruin his reputation,” Harper says. “It could mess up the rest of his life. Or at least the next few years.”

“He’s willing to risk it. He doesn’t want to keep living this way. You should see how many texts and phone messages he gets. He changes his number and his fans still find him. And he can’t leave his house without photographers following him around.”

“Yeah, my sister has the same problem. The paparazzi are already taking photos of her and her movie hasn’t even come out yet. But they haven’t been aggressive like they’ve been with Garret. They keep their distance and shoot from across the street, so it hasn’t been that bad.”

“Remember that you can’t tell anyone about this, including Sean. Just tell him that I broke up with Garret and that Garret didn’t take it well and that’s why he started partying and drinking again.”

Harper’s eyes narrow. “Okay, but I wouldn’t do this for anyone else. I’ve never lied to Sean and I hate doing it now.”

“I know, but I really need you to keep this a secret. Even Garret’s stepmom doesn’t know the truth.”

“This is so weird. But I understand why Garret’s doing it.”
 

“I just hope we won’t have to do this for very long. The fake break-up just started and I already miss him.”

“I’m sorry.” She pouts her lips, then scoots off the bed and races over to her suitcase. “I have some gifts that might cheer you up.”

“Harper, you didn’t have to get me anything.”

“I didn’t.” She sorts through the clothes in her suitcase taking certain items out and forming a pile off to the side. “These are some more freebies my sister got.”

I go over and sit next to her on the floor. “Did you bring me more t-shirts?”

“A few t-shirts, a few more skirts, a couple casual dresses, some bikinis.” She holds up a neon green bikini that Garret would love and I can’t even model it for him. There’s also a red one, a hot pink one, and a white one.
 

“I know this skirt looks kind of frumpy, but I have one just like it and it’s totally cute on.” She hands me a white, cotton skirt with an elastic waist. “And I really love this dress. I wish it was in my size, but it’ll look great on you.”
 

I take the dress and hold it up. It’s a short, navy blue, sleeveless knit dress. It’s more sporty than fancy, so definitely my kind of dress.

When she’s done making me a pile of new clothes she insists I try them all on which is good because it’s something to do. It’s better than sitting in my room wondering what Garret is doing and wishing I could be with him.

“You should wear that to dinner,” Harper says.

I have on a dark denim mini skirt with a light blue sweater. The sweater is super soft and comfortable. Harper knows exactly what I’d buy if I had money to buy new clothes. She could be a personal shopper.

 
“I don’t have the right shoes for this,” I tell her, checking myself out in the mirror.

“Shoes! I almost forgot.” She opens another suitcase and pulls out several pairs of shoes; a few pairs of sandals, and some shoes that are almost like sneakers but nicer. “I knew you’d say you didn’t have shoes, so here. Now you don’t have any excuses. Put these on and let’s go.” She hands me the sneaker-like shoes.

“Where are we going for dinner?” As I ask I remember my empty wallet that was drained by the taxi ride to Garret’s house. “I can’t go. Sorry, I’m out of money. I had to take a taxi earlier and—”

“It’s my treat. Don’t worry about it. You know my family’s loaded and you never let me pay for anything.” She’s at the mirror, applying lip gloss and smacking her lips together.

“Because you shouldn’t pay. I should pay for myself.”

“I thought you agreed never to mention the money thing again.” Now she’s adjusting her ponytail which always takes forever. She has to get it just right. Not too high, but not too low.