Not Just Another Love Story

Prologue

They say sometimes, prayers are heard soon as they leave your lips. I think that’s what happened to me. I had a dream that night. I saw myself; older of course. Wearing a beautiful dress, looking stunningly good but crying; I was standing under a tree, at a place that looked like a park; I’d never been here before. Then, someone says my name…. “Ivory?”

Chapter 1
Fairy tales, love stories, happily ever afters and little girls - a dangerous combination. Nothing affects a little girl’s mind more than a juicy love story with a happy ending. Indeed, I would go so far as to say it shapes a girl’s life - it
certainly did mine.
I was five – bedtime stories were common but what was uncommon was the tragedies like Romeo and Juliet ; something that befell my ears one evening as my aunt (with whom I lived) recounted the main plot for the benefit of one of my elder cousins for a school project. I heard just enough to appreciate that it was a very romantic tale – then I drifted off to the familiar drone of sounds around me, my mind unconsciously waiting to hear the magic words – “…and they lived happily ever after”.
Instead, I was jerked awake by Romeo’s death, followed by Juliet’s. I was appalled.
“Why didn’t they live happily ever after?” I’m sure I surprised my aunt. She was certainly caught off guard. My cousin intervened,
“They did….in heaven.”
“Why in heaven?’Even as I asked this, it made
sense to my five years old brain – what better place to be than heaven? It was, quite literally, a happily ever after.“Because they were soulmates!” Spying my look of
confusion my aunt explained. “It means they were meant to be together – if not on earth, then in the heaven!”
“We all have soul mates?” Firmly believing that I’d find my Prince Charming when I grew up, I’d assumed happily ever after was for everyone.
Naturally, soulmates were the next step.My aunt smiled. “Yes!” I think she told my cousin to get out too, but I wasn’t listening really. The idea of soul mates was much more enchanting than the regular once upon a times and happily ever afters.
Still thinking, I drifted off to sleep but just as I was blacking out I prayed, “God, Let me see my soulmate!”
They say sometimes, prayers are heard soon as they leave your lips. I think that’s what happened to me. I had a dream that night. I saw myself; older of course. Wearing a beautiful dress, looking stunningly good but crying; I was standing under a tree, at a place that looked like a park; I’d never been here before. Then, someone says my name…. “Ivory?”Tragically I woke up. I never got to see my Prince Charming – in my dreams at least. And I guess that was about all God was going to show me – because I prayed afterwards, over and over but that’s all I ever saw. Bummer? I know. And as I grew up, I decided that I’ll know my soul mate when see him. I mean, how hard could it be?

Chapter 2
The dreams became a part of my daily life, like breathing and I stopped paying attention to them. At first, my girlfriends and I felt pretty excited but as I grew up I was inclined to consider them as figment of my own imagination rather than a real peek into the future. I figured my mind was stuck up into the old fairy tales as a safe haven; because, lets face it: if this stuff was true then there wouldn’t be so many fights and break ups.But sometimes, at night I did wonder who that guy was, even though I never shared it with anyone. Sometimes I would even think he had the sweetest honeyed voice ever but that didn’t really matter… After all I had no idea who he was. So I gave up on figuring out his identity.On my 16th birthday my aunt and uncle decided to send me off to LA to stay with my cousin Adrian and complete my high school. And, since I was a really good singer and was pretty good at acting too, they thought I could audition. I was more than happy to accept the offer; after all what more could a 16 year old girl ask for? All my celebrity crushes, especially Justin Tyler, the best singer and the best looking guy in the whole wide world, lived there. It was the best birthday gift they could have given me.Finally the day of my flight came. I kissed my aunt and uncle goodbye. Throughout the flight I was too strung up with the excitement to think of anything. The flight seemed unusually long, maybe because I couldn't wait. And finally I reached LAX.I couldn't help my self; so I turned on 'Party in the USA' on my i-pod and made my way out of the plane. It took me a little while to get out of the airport but as soon as I reached the terminal, I saw my cousin waving me over. It had been a while since I last saw him, so I got all excited and rushed over to reach him. Just then some stupid idiot decided to block my way and bumped into me. It knocked his sun glasses off.I turned around and shouted in his face, "Watch were you're going!” I had my butt cramped on my way here; I was in no mood of politeness. The look on his face was a mixture of shock and amazement. What did he think, I should know him? Okay, maybe he looked very familiar but that is no reason to have that big an ego. After all Adrian looks like young Matt Damon and he's absolutely okay with it.I left "Shock Face" behind me and was on my way towards my cousin when a shout rang out "Oh my God! It's Justin Tyler". I whipped my head around and shouted "Where?" No one answered me but everyone started heading back to the terminal. I started walking back too but Adrian caught up with me and said "We'd better get out of here before they shut all the exits". I begged him "Can I please get an autograph first?" but he was like
"You can get one later, he lives here." I pretended to be unhappy but the presence of
Justin Tyler so close to me was way too exciting; besides I was in a great mood and I wouldn't let a little thing like that get my spirits down. While on our way to home I said to myself, "LA here I come…"

Chapter 3
I was so tired that I went to bed the moment we got home from the airport. I woke up early, after having the same tantalizing dream, ending on the same note. I scowled, wondering who he was and thinking that he’d better be worth all the daily anxiety he caused me.I went downstairs. Since my cousin was asleep, I turned on the TV and a newscaster appeared. Adrian may be cool, but his taste in TV was hideous. News??? What was he, 40? Even my uncle watched more soap operas lately. I was about to flip to another channel but they suddenly presented a picture of Shock Face and I stopped. The newscaster was saying:‘Justin Tyler might be the best singer the world has seen in a few years but it would seem that he too has troubles of an average guy. Travelling incognito, Justin’s identity was revealed, accidentally, by the mystery girl who is supposed to have been travelling with him. Eyewitnesses claim that Justin had a violent argument with his companion who, enraged, slapped him hard enough to knock his glasses off, leading to his subsequent identification. It’s no wonder he looked so shocked. Our sympathies, nonetheless, are with Chloe Rage, Justin Tyler’s stylist and (though neither admit it) girlfriend, since the boy seems to have trouble keeping himself committed. For more news, let us turn to our reporter on the airport…’
No wonder he had looked familiar; I was shocked but I still listened.
‘The airport is in complete chaos.’ Their reporter said, smiling gleefully. ‘Although the airport authorities have given no comments, it is rumoured that Justin Tyler is being sneaked off the airport in a luggage van…’
I turned off the television. Secret girlfriend??? Me? And poor Justin Tyler, stuck in a luggage van because I was too stupid to realize who he was. Just then the telephone rang and I was glad of the interruption. I rushed over and picked it up. To my surprise, it was Lily Ryan, my best friend. She yelled in my ear.
‘Surprise…’
‘Hey Lily.’ I held the phone away from my ear.
‘So, how are you?’ But she overrode my question.‘Did you see him?’
‘What? Who?’
‘Justin! You were on the same air port, right?’
‘Oh that,’ I thought about the news again. ‘Um, no, I didn’t…’ For a moment I was tempted to reveal the identity of the mystery girl but Lily’s next words chased any such notions away.‘Boy, if I ever meet that tramp, I’d …’ she went into an expletive, detailed description of exactly what she’d do to me if she ever found me out. Apart from being crazy Justin fan, she was also a staunch supporter of Joey (Justin + Chloe).
Thankfully, she calmed down enough to ask me how I was.
‘I’m good,’ I lied, now feeling both stupid and sick.
‘Hey, listen, I gotta dash. The bus is here but I’ll call you later. Snap loads of pictures and send me. And, didn’t you say Adrian looks like Matt Damon?’
‘Yeah...’ Lily knew that, had pointed it out in the first place; I wondered what was coming next. ‘Well, give him a kiss from me and tell him I love him…’
‘You!’ I laughed, joined by Lily, who told me to take care and hung off.
I replaced the receiver, grinning. Talking to her had cheered me up, thought I was still feeling exceptionally dumb. Just then, the bell rang.
Adrian had just slumped into the kitchen and he asked me to get the door. I did so gladly, shuddering at the thought of kissing him for Lily.
All such thoughts fled my mind when I opened the door.
There stood, silhouetted against the door frame, the handsomest guy I’d ever seen. My mind immediately went to my dream; catching myself before my jaw hit the floor, I summoned my best smile. He smiled back and I felt my knees go weak.
‘Hey.’ He sounded faraway to my dizzy ears.
‘Hi.’ To my annoyance, my voice sounded breathless and husky, sure to give me away.
Just then, Adrian came out of the kitchen.
‘Yo V, what’s keeping you?’ Then he looked up, saw our caller and smiled. ‘Sup Jake? I see you’ve met Ivory.’
‘Ivory, is it?’Jake smiled again, thrusting a big hand which I took gladly.
‘Yup, that’s me.’ I looked meaningfully at Adrian, who was completely oblivious to my discomfort. Thankfully, he took my hint.
‘Ivory’s my cousin; or actually, more like my little sister. She’s here to complete high school and then audition.’
‘Audition? Wow.’ He sounded impressed. ‘What for?’
‘Oh I don’t know… singing, dancing, acting?’ To my surprise, Adrian added. ‘You should hear her sing… oh and the way she dances…’I elbowed him but he continued, ‘She’s amazing.’
Then he turned to me and said in a low voice, that was obviously not low enough, ‘What? I thought you wanted to impress him.’
To my chagrin, Jake heard it. He smiled embarrassedly, then loudly cleared his throat and interrupted.
‘Well, Romeo, I brought your breakfast. Mom said hi.’
‘Romeo?’ I said but Adrian overrode my interruption.
‘Thanks a lot, man. Say hi to your mom and tell her she needn’t worry. Ivory here is a great cook…’
I opened my mouth and closed it again after a few seconds. Cooking? I’d be lucky to find the right cereal box. Jake looked like he didn’t know what to say. That made two of us.
‘Well, ‘He blinked and shook himself. ‘Well, I guess I’ll get going.’
‘Oh, hey, can you, like show her around?’ Adrian gestured vaguely towards me. ‘You know, she’s new around here and I’ve got a few extra lectures to attend today.’
I immediately postponed the idea of beating him to a pulp; Jake, to my surprise, agreed readily.After arranging to pick me up at five, he left and I rounded on Adrian.
‘Romeo? Really?’ in all the time we’d spent together, I’d never known him to be a bombastic guy. He shrugged nonchalantly. ‘That’s what the ladies like to call me!’
I punched him. ‘Speaking of ladies, what did you think you were doing?’
‘Geez,’ He dodged my other punch. ‘I was just tryin’ to help. You looked like you were ready to drop.’
‘I did not.’ I stopped indignantly. Was I really that obvious?
‘Oh, don’t worry. I don’t think Jake noticed or anything. He was too busy staring at you.’
‘Really?’ I brightened.
He shook his head. ‘Pathetic little kids. Be ready for your date and don’t expect anymore help from me.’ He went back to the kitchen, muttering and rubbing his arms.
I sighed happily. Incredible, I thought. Wait till I tell Lily. And after his help today, I might even kiss Adrian for Lily.
Five minutes later, seeing him shovel his food down his throat, I changed my mind.
He eyed me critically and swallowed hugely. ‘You should go and change… greeting someone in your pyjamas is not impressive.’
I shrugged. ‘What am I supposed to do while you’re gone?’
‘Hmm…’ he looked thoughtful. ‘Well, there’s dishes and laundry and dusting and a whole lot of cleaning… oh, and cooking.’ He added mischievously.
‘Oh come on.’ I whined, ‘I’ll do the dishes and the cleaning but the rest…’
‘Just kidding; okay, just do the dishes. We’ll share the rest of the chores.’
‘’k, and what am I supposed to do after that?’
He rolled his eyes.
‘Set up the room idiot… and talk to mum and dad, they’ll want to hear from you.’
After finishing a delicious breakfast sent by Mrs. Austin, Adrian left for the extra lectures he was supposed to attend and I went upstairs to start unpacking.
It took most of the morning and I only came down once to make myself a cold chicken sandwich. So much for my cooking!
At half past three, I went to dress up. Telling myself it had nothing to do with impressing Jake, I tried most of my wardrobe and discarded it.
Finally, I settled for a tank top and jeans, and tied my hair up in a ponytail. It was almost five, so I went down to wait.
At five sharp, the bell rang and I rushed to the door, stopping to catch my breath and hitch my smile back in place before opening the door.
Jake stood there, looking great. He smiled at me and my tummy did a funny flip within me.
‘You ready?’ He asked.
‘Yeah, let’s go.’ I locked the door and headed to his car. He opened the door to the passenger seat with, I suspected, added gallantry and then slid into the driver’s seat.
‘Where to, my lady?‘ He accented his voice.
‘To LA.’ I answered imperiously and grinned happily as we rode away.

Chapter 4

My evening outings with Jake became a routine thing. I loved hanging out with him more than visiting the places, although that too was exciting.
I found that Jake was the hottest guy in our school and basketball team captain. The fact that I knew him, and in fact, hung out with him regularly, put me up with the elites of high school. I was a bit surprised to know that Jake didn’t really hang out with the Jocks. He enjoyed good company and was really nice to those others mistreated. This increased my respect of him and I was becoming alarmingly obsessed with him.
Adrian seemed to approve of Jake. I had expected him to be all big- brother-ish, as Jake was a senior and I, a lowly sophomore but he just told
me to be back by ten.
We weren’t officially dating though; we still went out to the places he thought I would like to see and if we ran into someone we knew, he just told them that he was showing me around. But I really didn’t want that. I honestly wanted us to be something more. Sadly, I wasn’t sure exactly how to say that without sounding hopelessly desperate.
And this was one point on which even Lily couldn’t help me.
About a month later, I was desperately short on clothes; I also wanted impress Jake into asking me out. So I bugged Adrian about it, asking for his opinion on dresses. In the end, he brought me a bunch of fashion magazines, told me to read them
for advice and I talked him into taking me to the Mall for shopping. I needed new dress, new shoes, new everything. And thankfully, my Aunt agreed with me.
That was how I was to be found inside the Mall, on that fateful Friday evening. Adrian watched me pick dresses, about half a dozen or more and decided he could bear no longer. Telling me he would be waiting by the car, he left me to try my dresses. For some reason, the saleswoman looked reluctant to let me use the dressing room but I promised I wouldn’t take long and I must have looked really desperate for she sighed and told me to hurry.
I looked at all the dresses in front of me and couldn’t decide which to try first. To tell the truth, I am more of a jeans-and-t-shirt kind of girl but if I wanted to compete with those other girls for Jake’s attention, I definitely needed to girl up.
Remembering my promise to the saleswoman, I just randomly picked a dress and put it on. It was horrible. Hurriedly taking it off, I systematically went through my dresses and settled on a chic sundress; perfectly complimenting my skin tone, bringing out my eye color and emphasizing my legs. I twirled in front of the mirror and decided to buy it. So, picking up the rest of the dresses, I went outside and bumped into someone stupid enough to be standing in the doorway. Overloaded with the stuff as I was, I couldn’t really break my fall and landed hard on my knees, before hitting my elbows.
I am sorry to say that I am never the best person to talk to while I’m in pain. So the anxious inquiry about my state was woefully lost in the extreme cursing I put forth. I told the guy (for it was guy) exactly what I thought of jerks who blocked doorways.
Thankfully, my tirade was put to halt as the saleswoman came back inside. She helped me get up and dusted my clothes for me. Calmed down (for I wasn’t really angry), I asked her how I looked.
‘Oh, that dress is definitely the one for you.’ She said automatically. Knowing this was a standard response, I turned to the guy who was hanging back a little warily.
‘What do you think?’ I hadn’t paid any attention to the fact that the Mall was exceptionally quiet or to the guy who’d knocked me down. But my blood turned cold as I looked up and saw Shockface aka Justin Tyler.
‘It looks great…’ He blinked a little rapidly.
Boy, I was right to call him Shockface. He picked up the shirt he’d discarded and held it up to his face. I snorted, forgetting my momentary paralysis.
‘You aren’t planning to buy that, are you?’
He looked at me surprised (again) and I shook my head. ‘Your choice is worse than Adrian’s and that’s saying something.’ I went over the rack containing t shirts and handed him one.
‘Try this one; it’ll go with your eyes.’
He took it from me, looking at me closely. ‘Thanks.’ Then, ‘You’re that girl from the airport, aren’t you?’
‘How…?’ I wasn’t sure what to ask but he saved me the trouble.
‘No one curses that badly in a single breath.’ I had the grace to look ashamed of myself. Grinning, he went inside to try it on; I looked through the rest of the pile he’d gathered. It was hopeless. When he came out, I handed him a couple more t shirts.
‘You know,’ I said, ‘after all the time you spend in front of cameras, you should have better taste. I honestly can’t believe your choice.’
He smiled sheepishly. ‘Well, Chloe’s my stylist…’
I was suddenly hit by a wave of guilt. He was alone here; had they broken up after the incident at the airport? I really didn’t want that.
‘Hey, I hope everything’s okay between you two… I mean, ‘I hastily added, seeing his confused look, ‘I didn’t realize it was you until I saw you on TV and well, the way they twist events…’
To my surprise, he laughed. ‘She understands.’
‘Well, that’s a relief.’ I sat on a stool and watched him as he examined himself in the mirror.
‘What, you don’t want me to break up with Chloe?’ He asked curiously.
‘Why would I want that? I support Joey…’ He snorted and I added defensively. ‘Besides, my friend would kill me… she’s already told me in graphic detail exactly what she’d do to someone who tried to come between you guys… and I’d hate that to be me.’
‘Wow, I never knew Chloe had such supporters.’
Then, he turned to me. ‘So, what do you think?’
‘I think you’d better consult your stylist… though she’ll agree that this works for you.’
He smiled the smile that had won him so many crazy fans over the years and I felt a strange warmth in my stomach. I shook myself mentally.
Here I was, preparing, moments earlier for my hoped for first date with the guy I was convinced was Mr. Right and now, I’m getting all giddy just because a guitar-strumming, hot-looking, sexy-voiced singer was smiling at me. I mean, what the hell was wrong with me?
Justin took up his shirts. ‘Well, I guess I’ll take all of these. Thanks for your help…’
‘Ivory Knight.’ I told him.
‘Oh, that’s a nice name. Well, thanks for your help Ivory.‘ He pushed aside the mobile racks that had been placed to provide him some sort of privacy and went outside. I picked up the discarded t shirts that he hadn’t bothered to place back, the celebrity that he was, and was just replacing them when he skidded back inside.
‘What’s the matter? Wrong size?’ I turned around casually enough but he looked completely distressed. ‘Hey, what’s wrong?’
‘Ahh… I got spotted again, I was so sure no one had seen me sneaking in.’ He slumped on the chair, dropping his pile.
I took a peek. The street was filled with screaming fans. The body guards were doing their best to keep the doors closed but it was obviously a losing battle.
‘Oh wow… what’re you gonna do now?’ I asked.
‘Give them what they want I guess… this is so not fair!’ He looked miserably at me, and I had to hide my grin. It was kind of fun to watch Justin Tyler telling me what wasn’t fair. He stood up again, squaring his shoulders in a way that suggested he was planning to raid on a fortress rather than sing for his fans.
‘I wouldn’t go out right now, if I were you.’ He told me, ‘Don’t try any such thing until the whole place is cleared out.’
‘Okay.’
‘Guess you’re stuck here, as well.’ This seemed to cheer him up and he went outside.
‘Good luck.’ I called after him. Then, because I didn’t want to miss his surprise concert, I hurried to change back into my clothes. When I came back out, the manager was shouting instructions for the emergency setup of the stage and also replacing the fallen shirts.
‘Um, hey, don’t put those back inside, Justin wanted to buy them.’ He looked at me in surprise, politely confused.
‘You’re sure?’ He asked.
‘Yeah, he was going to take them when the fans showed up.’
‘Oh, I see. And you are?’
‘Ivory Knight.’ I told him. ‘And could you please pack this one as well?’ I handed my dress over to him.
‘Sure.’ He smiled widely and he waved for someone to come over. ‘Take Miss Knight somewhere comfortable.’
The young man who’d come over smiled conspiratorially and escorted me to a sort of backstage area; I could hear Justin singing and the crowd bellowing along with him, but I couldn’t see him. They gave me a high seat and provided me with tasty juice. Just then, my phone rang. It was Adrian.
‘What the hell is going on in here?’ I could barely hear him over the screaming of the girls outside.
‘Justin Tyler is doing a concert.’
‘Where are you?’
‘Still inside.’ I told him, putting my feet on the stool they had placed for me. ‘I can’t leave until the crowd clears out.’
‘Don’t try it either.’ He sounded distraught. ‘Any idea how long this is going to last?’
‘It’ll be a while…why are you upset? You’re surrounded by girls.’ I could hear him curse as someone bumped into him.
‘Yeah but they aren’t looking at me… God, I’ll have to back out of here. You sure you’re okay in there?’
‘I’m more than just okay…’ I looked around me. Everyone was busy yet they were worried about my comfort. Weird. ‘You should probably go home, though. I’m not missing this concert, okay. So, I’ll call you when I’m free… or maybe, I’ll take a cab.’
‘Do that… I’m going.’ With that, he hung up. I shrugged. They’d turned on a big screen to show Justin Tyler and I had a clear view of him. I sang along with him.
About two hours later, I was feeling distinctly bored. Outside, excitement was running high but in here, hustle and bustle had died down a long time ago. All I could do was watch Justin on the big screen and it wasn’t all that different from watching it on the TV, except that maybe I could hear him better. And the seat was kind of hurting my butt. When he finished the last song with a flourish, I could have screamed with joy to hear it end. I saw him shaking hands with screaming girls, snapping pictures; it was another half hour before he could make his way back inside. The girl beside me got up and waved.
‘Your friend’s over here, Mr. Tyler.’
He looked momentarily confused then his eyes landed on me; I waved, grinning sheepishly. He smiled and made his way over to us, thanking various people for their help. They had placed a seat for him beside me; he sat into it with a sigh of relief and took the proffered water thankfully. Then he leaned back into the chair, closing his eyes.
A few minutes later, he spoke, without opening his eyes. ‘Hello, friend.’
‘Hi.’
‘Didn’t think you were the kind to take advantage of me.’
I’d been lounging in my chair as well, but I sat up suddenly. ‘I’m not; it was a misunderstanding…’
I stopped when I heard his laugh. ‘I know.’ He sat up, chuckling. ‘Oh boy, this is quite some day, isn’t it?’
I nodded. ‘Quite… I told the manager to pack your t shirts. You wanted to buy them, didn’t you?’
‘Of course. Thanks, friend.’
‘Ivory.’ I told him. The manager bustled over, two identical shopping bags in his hands. ‘Your things, Mr. Tyler, Ms. Knight.’
‘Thanks.’ Justin told him to put the bags beside him. Then, ‘Would you please call a couple of cabs?’
‘Sure.’ He hurried away. Justin looked at me. ‘Need a ride?’
‘Uh… yeah, sure.’ No way could I say no that. ‘Why the cabs though?’ As far as I remembered, Justin Tyler owned a very pretty sports car and a couple of jeeps.
‘Yeah, well, I had kinda hoped to sneak out without drawing attention to myself.’ He smiled ruefully. ‘But my fans are very… observant, I guess.’
‘Hmm… I guess I had better pay for this.’ I got down; he joined me.
A few minutes later, I was riding in a cab with Justin Tyler; behind us, another one carrying his bodyguards was following. I tried to be nonchalant about it but it was just so cool. When we reached my place, Justin handed over a bag to me. I stood for a moment, thoughtfully. I had spent literally a whole day with Justin Tyler; I had advised him on his clothes; I had heard him sing; I had rode back home with him. Yet I didn’t have a shred of evidence to prove it. Maybe, if I could call him inside, I could snap a photo or two and even get autographs for Lily and me. So, I leaned back inside.
‘Wanna come inside? Have a drink or something?’
He smiled that lovely smile again, shaking his head. ‘Some other time, I guess. Bye, Ivory.’
‘Bye.’ I watched as the cabs drove away. Of course I knew there wasn’t ever going to be ‘some other time’; Justin Tyler had too much to do. I went back inside, wanting to show Adrian my dress. As I opened the bag, the prospect of ‘some other time’ suddenly became much more real.
Justin had given me his shopping bag.

Chapter 5
‘So, when exactly were you going to tell us you were dating Justin Tyler?’
Jake was holding the newspaper that so drastically changed, no ruined, my life. On the front page of the entertainment section was a picture of me and Justin, snapped God know when. Headlining the picture, words blazed: JUSTIN TYLER’S KNIGHT IN SUNDRESS??? Below was a ridiculous article, written by some jerk, claiming, once again and even more assuredly than before, that Ivory Knight (meaning I) was Justin Tyler’s girlfriend. Quoted frequently was the saleswoman who’d seen me with Justin; I’ll never know what she had against me to make this mess of things. I mean, when had I swooned on Justin’s arm when he had complimented my dress??? And I had no idea Justin was taking me on a date next Saturday.
I scowled at my plate. We were having a late lunch, Saturday evening.
Adrian already had made enough fun of me; even now, he was barely bothering to hide his grin; and now Jake, in a tone peculiarly similar to Adrian’s, was asking me the same thing.
‘For the last time, I am not dating Justin Tyler. Don’t say that again.’
Much as I wanted to yell, I had no intentions of spoiling my chances with Jake. Adrian chuckled; my frown had no effect on him whatsoever.
‘Really?’ Jake winked at Adrian. ‘You guys look pretty chummy to me.’ He indicated the picture; Justin and I were laughing. Probably snapped backstage.
‘Ha ha.’ I said sarcastically, snatching the hideous newspaper from him. The morning news had already announced my alleged relationship to the world and I was simply dreading returning to school on Monday. The girls had both threatened me and tried to chummy up to me because of Jake. I hated to think what they’d do for Justin. I hadn’t had the nerve to go out, even though I was bored to death.‘Oh come on, V. It’s not that bad, really.’ Adrian apparently had decided that there was a good side to this whole fiasco; this was so typical of him, I couldn’t even be annoyed. ‘I mean, what is wrong with you hanging out with Justin Tyler? Huh? Quite apart from the publicity you’ll get, think of all the good you’d do to me.’ He sounded as that was the only thing that mattered.I stood up, taking my plate to the sink. ‘I am not dating Justin Tyler; I am not hanging out with him. And I don’t want publicity.’
The bell rang and I escaped Adrian and Jake. Who could it be? Please don’t be someone from school, I prayed fervently. I opened the door.
‘Hey girlfriend, wanna hang out?’
It was Justin, grinning broadly. I shut the door with a bang. Adrian had followed me out, though. ‘Ivory, this is very rude.’ He opened the door and let Justin in, ‘I’m sorry about Ivory, she’s a bit upset right now.’I didn’t linger; I made my way straight to my room. I could hear the guys talking and laughing. I heard them come upstairs and then, there was a knock on the door.
‘Go away.’ I called, presuming it was Adrian.
‘I will but I need my clothes.’ Justin’s voice made me jump. Cursing, I got up to let him in. I’d planned to return his things to the mall but the morning news had changed my mind. I’d stuffed them in the closet.
‘Hey…’ His smile faltered when he saw my expression.
‘C’mon in, then.’
I glowered at him as he passed by; this wasn’t, of course, his fault but I wasn’t feeling really reasonable. Leaving the door open, I went to my closet and rummaged to take out his things. The shopping bag had been thrown in the back somewhere. While I was thus occupied, Justin whistled cheerily, and I heard him walking around my room.
‘So… you play guitar?’ He was fingering my guitar.
‘Obviously.’ Politeness, as we already know, isn’t my thing.
‘Mmm hmmm.’ He looked at the desk; several things were scattered on it, including my song journal. His eyes lingered on it. ‘You sing?’ He asked. I didn’t reply; he didn’t notice. ‘Do you mind?’ He didn’t wait for a reply this time but picked it up. He read through a few pages, and then flipped to the end.
‘You wrote all these by yourself?’ Now, I might have been feeling annoyed that he was going through my personals like this but his tone stopped me from showing it. He sounded really impressed.
‘Yeah,’ I told him, less than graciously. ‘They’re originals.’
‘And you have, like, their tunes all figured out?’ I nodded.
‘Wow. Cool.’ He looked at me. ‘I actually came over to return your dress.’ He had placed my shopping bag on the bed; I hadn’t noticed it.
‘Thanks.’ I handed his bag over to him. He didn’t leave immediately. I waited, for he obviously wanted to say something.
‘About the news…’ I sighed. He ignored me. ‘Um, I’m sorry about that… but it’s like you said, they just twist the events…’
‘I know.’ I told him.
‘Yeah, but it’s different for you.’ I shook my head, not understanding. ‘I mean,’ he pressed on,
‘I’m a known figure. As long as your identity remained hidden, there really wasn’t anything to worry about. They could make as many stories as they like; the only people that matter know the truth.’ He eyed me with muted intensity. ‘But now… well, people know who you are now. I’m afraid your life might take an ugly turn now.’
‘I know.’ Somehow seeing him upset for me gave me resolve. ‘But I can handle it.’
He grinned a little. ‘I know you can… but, unless you want yourself to be plagued by cameras until someone else comes along, you’d better do something about it.’
He was right of course. I slumped on my bed. All the things I’d worried about (and Adrian had so easily discarded as baseless) came back; given his experience, Justin knew what he was talking about.
‘Yeah, but what should I do? I can hardly call a press conference.’ I had considered this before; there really wasn’t anything I could do except bear it.
‘You can’t… but I can.’ His eyes glinted and his smile was suddenly mysterious.
‘What do you mean?’
‘You know how to sing?’ He was suddenly brisk.
‘Yeah….’ Hadn’t he just been going through my diary?
‘Sing then, will you?’ He sounded utterly serious.
I looked at him incredulously. ‘C’mon, please?’
‘Okay…’ I cleared my throat, suddenly nervous.
Then, I started singing my favourite song; it was one of my own. ‘Wish I knew… who you are, standing near and yet so far… Like a dream…'
I didn’t see Jake come in but when I ended both Jake and Justin clapped. ‘Well, that settles it then.’ Justin rubbed his hands excitedly. ‘I’ll announce it tonight.’
‘What?’ I was sort of distracted by Jake’s presence; it made me feel self conscious.
‘I’ll clear up the matter, you know. I’ll tell them exactly why we were hanging out. That way, they won’t have a lot to speculate about… and they’ll leave you alone easily.’
‘Okay but what are you going to tell them? That I was helping you pick clothes?’ That would be rather stupid; Chloe Rage was an excellent stylist and he didn’t need a new one.
‘That you’re doing a duet with me.’
‘Brilliant!’, said Jake.
‘What?’ I was aghast. Justin grinned, delighted to have surprised me.
‘You have a great voice; I’ll just tell them you’re a recent discovery and I’m helping you to boost your career.’
‘It still doesn’t clear me of the media.’ I pointed out.
‘No but it puts you in a definite spot. No one will be suspicious if you’re seen with me again; it puts an end to all the discussions about us and saves you a lot of hatred from my fans.’ He rolled his eyes expressively. I looked at Jake. He shrugged, ‘You’ve always wanted to sing.’
‘That settles it then.’ Justin got up, picking up his bag. ‘Here’s my phone number.’ He scrawled his number on a piece of paper. ‘Let me know when you’re free and we’ll set up a schedule for you, okay. Pick the songs you’d wanna record. When you’re done, let me know. See ya around, guys.’
Shaking hands with Jake and Adrian, who’d just arrived, Justin made his way out.
I looked down at his card. Jake was right; I had always wanted to sing. Maybe Adrian’s optimism wasn’t as baseless after all. I grinned. Things were suddenly looking up.