Page 33 of The Wrong Costar

“You have?” I turned to find a nervous smile on his lips. Evan was a serial dater and always said he didn’t want to be tied down in high school. The fact he was seeing someone was major news. “How amIjust hearing aboutthisnow?”

He shrugged. “I’m still seeing where it’s going.”

“Do I know the guy?”

“Probably not. He goes to Westbrook,” Evan replied.

“Please tell me he’s not a jerk.” Westbrook was our school’s biggest football rival, and it might have just been those Friday night lights, but the kids were always scary aggressive at the games.

Evan laughed. “Not all kids at Westbrook are jerks. Noah’s one of the good ones.”

“Do I get to meet him?”

Evan shrugged. “We’re keeping it to ourselves for now and seeing how it goes.”

I frowned at his comment. Evan wasn’t exactly the kind of guy who kept things to himself. He was all about embracing life and living it to the fullest, so it seemed strange he’d want to keep this quiet. I didn’t get a chance to question him further though as we screeched to a halt outside Hayley’s house.

Evan sprung out of the car with added excitement. “Do you think what I’m wearing works for a Hollywood party?” he asked me, as we walked to the front door.

He was dressed in jeans and a fitted Henley that hugged his muscles closely. His hair was messily gelled, and he looked just as good as he always did. “It’s perfect,” I said, giving him the honest truth. He always seemed to look effortlessly amazing.

“You don’t look so bad yourself, Teags.”

I gave him a warm smile and pressed my hands down over my outfit. I’d fretted about what to wear all afternoon. I didn’t want to dress up too much and make Liam think I was trying too hard, but I also didn’t want to look too plain either. I’d settled on a patterned skirt that hugged my hips tightly and brushed just above my knees and a tank that left a slither of midriff showing.

My heels might have been a little dressy, but they were the only shoes I could find that went with the outfit. They were my mom’s, but I didn’t think she’d miss them. She was so out of it these days I doubted she even remembered what was in her wardrobe.

Hayley opened the front door as we approached and grinned broadly when she saw us. “Hello, party people!” she said in greeting. She was wearing a dress far more scanty than my own outfit and had a face full of makeup on. Her dark hair was in thick curls that I envied. My curler hadn’t wanted to play ball this afternoon, so I’d had to settle for straightening my platinum-blonde locks for tonight.

“Come on, Madi’s upstairs,” Hayley said, leading us inside.

I followed her up the stairs and into Hayley’s bedroom. The room looked like a bomb had hit it, and a million different dresses were scattered across the bed and floor.

Hayley laughed when she saw my eyes widen at the mess. “Sorry about the wardrobe explosion, guys. I couldn’t decide what to wear.”

Madi, who was standing in the middle of all the untidiness, laughed and shook her head. “Hayley don’t lie, your room is always like this.”

“Well, maybe just a little bit,” Hayley admitted. “I like to believe there’s order to my chaos though. If my room were clean, I’d have no idea where anything was.”

“Sure, that’s the reason you keep it messy,” Madi said with a grin.

Hayley scrunched her nose up and poked her tongue out at Madi before letting out a small laugh. “Anyway, you guys don’t need to hover by the door please, make yourselves at home in my bomb site.”

I entered the room and went to sit on Hayley’s bed while Evan sat at the desk by the window. The party didn’t start for another half hour, so we had plenty of time before we needed to leave.

“Have you guys been getting ready for long?” I asked.

“Just a few hours,” Hayley replied, heading over to her dressing table.

“A few hours?” Evan struggled not to sound shocked.

Hayley gave a shrug. “Yeah, we shouldn’t be much longer. It will go much quicker if Madi will just stop complaining and change.”

Madi let out a long sigh. “Hayley’s been trying to convince me to wear something different all afternoon, but what do you guys think?”

She was wearing jeans and a cute top, which was pretty much the same thing she wore to every party. Hayley was always trying to get her to wear more revealing clothes, but Madi didn’t need to dress up or put on loads of makeup. She was stunning without all the other fuss, and I nodded enthusiastically as I took in her outfit.

“You look great,” I said. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

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