Page 21 of The Wrong Prom Date

“Not this again,” I groaned. “I’m not going to ruin the play.” I wasn’t even planning on being in it.

“Right, I remember, you’re going tomake it.”She let out a sharp breath. “Do you even want to be in the play?”

For a moment, I wondered if she’d read my thoughts. I was very good at masking them, but I hadn’t really been concentrating on protecting them from this girl. I didn’t answer her question quickly enough, so she continued on.

“You know, other people actually auditioned for the role you were simply handed,” she continued. “And it’s pretty clear you don’t give a damn, so why even bother continuing with the play?”

“Who says I don’t give a damn?”

She stopped in her tracks and glared at me. “Your whole personality says it. Everything from the way you dress to your lackluster performance in class says that you could not give a shit about this school and most certainly this play. You might be able to fool a camera with your good looks, but on the stage, you need courage, talent, and dedication. From what I’ve seen, those are a few areas you’re lacking.”

I blinked several times as I tried to process the grilling I’d just received. I don’t think I’d ever been given such brutal criticism to my face before. How could she judge me so harshly after just one class together? My laid-back, dismissive attitude was generally an act, but I still felt hurt by what she’d said.

She barely had time to draw in a breath before she continued. “And this is my house.” She stole the bags back from my hands and left me standing, gap-mouthed, on the street.

Who the hell was this girl? A part of me wanted to find out, but another part of me told me to stay clear. She was stubborn and frustrating—nothing like the girls I had expected to meet in high school.

“Why do you look like you just got slapped in the face?” Zeke asked, as he pulled up the car beside me. I’d been so focused on Teagan that I hadn’t noticed him trailing us as we walked.

“Because that’s pretty much what just happened.” Physical violence may not have been involved, but I’d certainly received a verbal lashing from Teagan.

I shook my head as I stared after her. She didn’t look back and quickly disappeared into her house. The home was large but in total disrepair. The front garden looked somewhat like a jungle and stood out amongst all the other houses on the street that had perfectly manicured hedges and flowerbeds.

“Why was she so angry with you anyway?” Zeke asked as I got back in the car.

I frowned and focused on doing up my seat belt as I considered his question. It was clear Teagan only thought the worst of me. She thought I was lazy. She thought I didn’t have what it took to perform on stage in a high school play. I’d been on TV and in Hollywood my whole life, but perhaps, she was right.

“It doesn’t matter,” I replied. “Did you manage to get me out of doing the drama play?”

“Ah, sorry, man.” Zeke shook his head. “I couldn’t swing it, I’m afraid. The studio said your subjects can’t be changed.”

“Right.” I expected my gut to drop as I heard the news there was no way out of it for me, but instead, I felt encouraged. Perhaps, it was a blessing in disguise that I’d have to go through with the play. I might have been worried about learning all of those lines, but I’d never been afraid of pushing my boundaries before. I’d worked hard to get where I was today, and I was about to star in my biggest movie to date. I couldn’t let my fear of failure hold me back, especially when it came to a high school production. If anything, I needed to use it to make me better.

Teagan may have had her doubts about me, and I had a few of my own. But perhaps, this was my chance to prove both of us wrong.

9

Teagan

“Did you see the paparazzi in front of school this morning?” Evan asked as he met me at my locker.

I nodded as I grabbed out my books. “I guess word is out that Liam Black is here.”

Like it wasn’t bad enough that everyone in school was obsessed with him, now we had to contend with paparazzi on the street. It felt like the guy was invading every facet of my world, and he’d only been here one day.

It wouldn’t be so bad if he were even slightly likable. His whole attitude just rubbed me up the wrong way though. He acted like he was above us all and seemed to take joy in provoking me. I had no idea why he helped me home with my groceries last night. But, I was half-convinced it was part of some twisted joke that I failed to see the punch line for. Either that or his assistant had told him to start acting like a decent human being. Zeke had witnessed firsthand how Liam had been a jerk toward me at the grocery store and had been the one driving the car, so I was presuming it was the latter.

“I guess so,” Evan agreed. “At least they can’t come onto school property.”

“Yeah, well, they hardly need to when every kid here has a phone pointed at his face.” I’d lost count of the number of times I’d seen Liam appear in Snapchats and Instagram posts yesterday. He waseverywhere,and everyone was trying to be his best friend.

Evan scrunched his lips up, his eyes growing thoughtful as we started walking to class together. “It must be hard for him to have so much attention on him all the time.”

“Please don’t tell me you feel sorry for him.”

Evan tilted his head as he looked at me. “You really don’t like him, do you?”

“I don’t like or dislike him,” I said. “I just don’t want him to ruin our play.” I thought it was a very diplomatic response.

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