“She's trying to get the girls settled down. I can talk to you.”
“You can talk to me about boys?”
“Well, I’m a boy. I ought to be an expert.”
I give that some thought. “Wow, I never thought of that. Plus, Mom said you were a player. Hmmm. Okay, so what does it mean when a boy stares deep into your eyes, like touches your soul kind of deep. He does something really romantic one minute, but then doesn’t call or text, and then he acts like he hates you the next?”
“I’d say he was into you, but then you pissed him off.”
“Let me add that he has the reputation of being a player, but with me he is not very smooth.”
“Hmmmm, maybe he’s a good actor. Maybe I should meet him.”
“Oh my gosh, Tommy. This guy is way better looking than an actor. He’s practically a god.”
“The God of all Hotties?”
“How do you know that? Are you his god mentor? Cuz now that I think about it, you have some powers similar to his.”
“Your mother told me you called him that. I swear, I’m going to use that line somewhere in my next movie. I laughed so hard!”
“Tommy! This is my personal life here! Do not laugh at it.”
“Calm down. Breathe. If he’s a player and was just playing, he’ll lose interest and move on. If it was love, true love, he won’t give up, even if it takes a while. Be patient. Sometimes true love takes a bit.”
“Mom said she knew the minute she shook your hand.”
“And I contend I knew it before, the second she walked in the room. I just felt this magnetic pull to her. Like gravity.”
“That’s not what she says. She says it took you a while to figure it out.”
“No, I knew. I just didn’t want her to think she had me whipped. And I sorta couldn’t believe it was happening to me. After all the women I’d been with. And then, boom! I tried to pretend it wasn’t real at first. And don’t forget, I’m a good actor. She couldn’t figure me out. Hey, it’s late there. You should be asleep.”
“I know. . . . Tommy?”
“What, baby?”
“Do you think the stalker will forget about me?”
“Garrett seems to think things will get worse before they get better.”
“Get worse, how?”
“He’ll get frustrated that he can’t find you. If he gets frustrated, he might become more scary.”
“Maybe we should just let him find me. Set him up. Then once we have proof that he was trying to kidnap me, they could arrest him.”
“It sounds good in theory, but if something went wrong we’d never forgive ourselves.”
I sigh loudly.
“But the good news is we had security trailing him when we left for New York. He didn’t follow us, so you’re safe for now.”
“Tommy, you’re a big star. How do you know who your real friends are?”
“That can be tough sometimes. Usually I know someone is a friend if they tell me the truth. In this industry, a lot of times people tell me what they think I want to hear.”
“They don’t want to piss you off?”
“Exactly. A true friend would want to piss me off.”
“There’s a mean girl here. She’s apparently telling everyone the only reason I have money is because we hit the lottery.”
Tommy laughs. “That’s funny. I suppose that makes your money not good enough?”
I laugh too. “I don’t know. Who cares? Money is money. All it’s good for is buying stuff.”
“Your mom raised you right. A lot of people think money is the most important thing in life.”
“I lost my dad, Tommy. I’m pretty sure I know it’s not.”
“Yeah, I know, baby. So are you behaving at school?”
“Uh, mostly. Kinda, yeah.”
“Mostly, kinda, yeah?”
“I’m not doing drugs, getting drunk, or having sex, so I guess I’m being pretty damn good.”
“Good to hear. Get your beauty sleep. Mommy and I love you.”
“I love you too, Tommy. Thanks, really.”
Wednesday, August 31st
Seven minutes until class.
7:48am
Stayed up way too late last night.
Note to self: stop staying out until 2:30 with Dallas. Must have beauty sleep or some kind of decent sleep.
I’m so tired, there’s no way I’m going to get breakfast before class. I’ll be lucky to be dressed in today’s uniform combo, which is the plaid skort, white long-sleeved tee under a red sweater vest. Little girl white socks with ankle bows, Charlotte Olympia red Kitty flats, Miu Miu red patent leather headband, and straight hair. I look like the perfect little preppy schoolgirl today. The girl who is probably going to have to sprint across campus to make it to History before the bell rings.
I guess that makes the flats the perfect fashion choice!
I text Riley.
Me: You still at breakfast?
Sex God: Yuuh, where are you?
Me: Hung with Dallas last night. Very tired :(
Sex God: I hate you. Invite me next time!
Me: Okay :) I’m soooo late, will you bring me food to class?
Sex God: Sure. What do you want?
Me: Skinny soy chai latte, maybe some of that pound cake? Or a banana or a whole grain bagel. I’d be grateful for anything, really.