Page 76 of The Wrong Prom Date

“You are?”

“I’m as surprised as you are,” he chuckled. “I wasn’t sure I wanted to work with you at first, but I’m glad you proved me wrong. You were committed to your time at the high school, giving us some great PR to work with, and you really pulled through for us by starting production early.” There was almost a sense of pride in his eyes as he looked at me. “You’ve been giving this part your all, so it’s understandable you’re tired, but take care of yourself because I want to see that kind of commitment every day.”

I was mostly relieved to hear such positive feedback, but I couldn’t help but focus on the one negative thing he’d said and I started to frown. “Why wouldn’t you want to work with me?”

“Well, it wasn’t because you didn’t have the talent,” Josh explained. “I guess with all the partying and drugs it seemed like you’d be difficult to direct. Our job is hard enough without adding unnecessary distractions into the mix.”

I swallowed down a tight knot in my throat. I guess that was yet another thing to hate my mother for. She was the one who had made me out to be a party boy, and it seemed to only be hindering my career rather than helping it.

“You know as well as I do that looks can be deceiving,” I replied.

Josh nodded, his lips forming a firm line as he looked me over. “I do, and it’s clear you’re not the guy people believe you are. A word of advice though: you’ve got the talent, so you don’t need those publicity tricks to get the jobs you want. You’ve got to start being true to yourself.”

I’d needed to hear those words for so long, and the thought of following his advice and being myself seemed to release a tension that had been gripping hold of my body ever since my mother started trying to change my image. “You’re right,” I agreed, letting out a long breath.

“Anyway, have a good night, Black.” He tipped the peak of the worn Lakers’ cap he always wore before turning to walk away. I stood in silence, staring after him. I’d been breaking off pieces of myself to please others for as long as I could remember, and I no longer recalled what it was like to feel like my whole self. But as I thought over what the director had said, it felt as though the fractured pieces of the person I wanted to be started to realign and fall into place. I hadn’t been true to myself in a long time, and it was high time I did something about it.

I took my phone out of my pocket and called Zeke the moment I was back in my trailer. “We’re going back to Lincoln High tomorrow,” I said. “Organize the flights.”

“What about the movie?” he asked.

“Screw the movie. If they want to fire me, fine. But I can’t keep letting other people dictate my life, and I need to be there for Teagan.”

“Okay,” Zeke replied. “I’ll get you on the next flight.” I could practically hear his smile through the phone. “What about your mother? She might still release those pictures, and we haven’t found anything to use against her. For a woman who bares an awful resemblance to the devil, she has surprisingly few skeletons in her closet.”

I drew in a deep breath as I considered the problem. If I was starting afresh and being true to myself then I needed to treat my mother in the same fashion. And I had a few ideas of how I could accomplish that.

“I’m going to do what I should have had the guts to do a long time ago,” I replied. “I’m going to tell her she’s fired as my manager and that she’s going to accept it without complaint.”

“Your mother isn’t exactly anaccept it without complaintkind of woman…”

“No,” I agreed. “Which is why I’ll be taking a little inspiration from my English project. If she doesn’t step down quietly, I’ll tell her about the autobiography I’m writing.” I slowly started to smile as I thought about it.

“You’re writing a book?” Zeke raised an eyebrow at me.

“I am now,” I answered. “It will be an honest tell-all about how my mother controlled me through blackmail for years and the lengths she’s gone to in order to make me famous. I think the idea of having all of her manipulative ways exposed should get her off my back.”

Zeke chuckled. “That might just work. She completely freaked out a few months back when that article ran on how rude she’d been to a waiter.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

“I can’t imagine she’ll be happy to hear this.”

I grinned. “No, but her image is even more important to her than mine is and she’ll do just about anything to make sure I don’t tarnish her name.”

“Including leaving you alone.”

“Exactly,” I agreed, with a smile. “Now, let’s focus on what really matters.”

“That you get to see Teagan again?”

“That I get to see Teagan again.”

27

Teagan

It was opening night, and the usual buzz of excitement I felt before every performance was nowhere to be found. Instead, a dull blanket of melancholy seemed to have replaced my normal nervous anticipation. I’d worked with Evan tirelessly over the past week, but he was still struggling to remember all of his lines. It was incredible how far he’d come in such a limited amount of time, but only a miracle could have adequately prepared him for the play.

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