My entire body shook as I stood in front of the full-length mirror in my bedroom. My nerves hadn’t given me a single moment’s reprieve in three days. Sometimes I was so excited I thought the wait might kill me, and other times I was sure it was the fear of what was coming that would do me in.
I’d caught a little of the news over the last few days. The city of Los Angeles was anticipating tonight’s premiere. Everyone was speculating about whether or not Prince Cinder’s Ella would show. Local news anchors, talk-show hosts, radio DJs—everyone.
The craziest part is that they were all excited. They wanted me to show up. Brian’s interview had been a stroke of genius. He turned the two of us into a modern-day fairy tale—the ultimate romance. I’d gone from the most-hated woman in America to being a national sensation overnight. I was no longer a crazy obsessed stalker, but a beautiful, smart, funny, strong survivor. The public loved me now.
Of course, it was also genius on Brian’s part because it guaranteed him he’d get what he wanted. If I didn’t make it to the premiere, the nation would hate me all over again a million times worse than they’d hated me before. So fickle, the American people were. And enthusiastic. Such a large crowd had gathered outside the theater in Westwood where the premiere was being held that the police shut down traffic on two city blocks. All those people were waiting for me.
“I think I’m going to throw up.”
“And mess up my lipstick?” Vivian asked from where she was sprawled on my bed, flipping through a magazine. “I will kill you.”
Juliette smirked as she tucked the new silver and pearl comb my father had given me into my hair. “Brian’s going to ruin her lipstick the minute he sees her, anyway.”
Vivian snorted and I blushed. For, like, the twentieth time that day. You’d think after the hundreds of jokes that had been made at my expense over the last three days, I’d be desensitized to them by now, but no. Any reference to Brian at all and I still went completely middle-school shy.
Vivian smiled at Juliette in the mirror, a wicked gleam in her eyes. “Brian is allowed to mess up the lipstick. She’s not.” She studied my face again for a moment, then frowned. “I totally hate you for looking so good in that shade of red. I would kill for your tan.”
I looked at my lips. The bright red she’d painted on me was killer against my caramel skin and looked even better coupled with the bright yellow of my dress. Add to that the way my blue eyes popped, and I looked exotic. Mysterious. Perfect for a mystic priestess.
My hair softened the picture. Juliette decided to leave my hair down and just give my natural curls some “umph.” Umph turned out to be, like, thirty gallons of product. My chocolate-brown curls fell around my shoulders and down my bare back with one tiny section pulled delicately away from my face by my comb.
My new hair comb was beautiful and very elegantly matched my mother’s pearl necklace. My father surprised me with it this morning saying that he wanted to be there in spirit with me tonight too, like Mama would be. I cried like a baby and both Juliette and Vivian flipped out—screeching about puffy eyes. You’d have thought it was my wedding day and not just a first date.
Granted, it was a really big first date.
“You know?” Vivian said thoughtfully as she looked me over. “The strangest part of this is how perfectly Candy Cane completes the ensemble.”
I smiled. “I told you it would work.”
After I agreed to go to the premiere the other day, the first thing Vivian did was demand to see my dress. She offered to give Candy Cane another facelift and turn it yellow, but I wouldn’t let her. I liked the way the rainbow of color added to the personality of the dress. My spirited mama would have loved it.
“Girls!” Dad bellowed from across the house. “The car’s here!”
Sheer terror had my knees locked up in an instant. I stopped breathing, too.
“You’re going to be fine,” Vivian said. “It’s just Cinder. You’re just going to see a movie with your best friend. That’s all.”
“Yeah.” Juliette snickered and turned my head so that I was looking at the huge poster of a shirtless Brian she’d tacked to the back of my bedroom door. “And Cinder looks like that and wants to father your babies.”
“Not helping,” I breathed.
Anastasia appeared in the doorway and sighed. “Brian Oliver is so wasted on you.”
Both Juliette and Vivian glared, but I refused to get angry. Anastasia was not going to ruin this night for me. “That’s probably true,” I agreed, surprising her with my playfulness. “Still, I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.”
It could have been my imagination, but I swear Ana’s lips twitched once. She ran her eyes up and down my body and I waited for the nasty, snarky comment, but this time she surprised me. Shrugging, she leaned against the doorframe, hovering at the threshold to my room as if she didn’t want to leave and yet didn’t want to come in at the same time. The silence got awkward pretty fast.
I was actually surprised to see her. She hadn’t said a word to me since I got home. She’d done a good job of never being in the same room as me. She didn’t look happy right now, but for the first time since I’d met her there was no hostility. She was actually trying to make an effort for once. It was probably Dr. Parish’s doing. My dad and Jennifer had been making Ana see my psychologist for a few weeks now. About time, if you asked me. The girl had as many issues as I did, if not more.
“You look good,” Ana said suddenly.
I tried to play it cool and failed miserably. I’d never had a decent poker face, though. “Um, thanks?”
“You know,” she added, “for a freak.”
I knew she was teasing, but neither Vivian nor Juliette appreciated the humor. “Did you need something?” Juliette snapped.
Ana glared at her sister, but then met my eyes and a look of determination swept over her face. I couldn’t tell what the look meant, but it wasn’t anger. Her determination wasn’t defiance. It was something else. Resolve.
“It was me who gave up your location that day,” she said. “I took a picture of you guys with my phone at dinner and sent it to a couple of celebrity gossip sites. It’s my fault you guys got ambushed.”
I wasn’t surprised she’d been the one—I’d always had my suspicions. What surprised me was the confession. She wasn’t throwing the info in my face; she was apologizing. She looked as comfortable in her skin at the moment as I felt in mine. It was as if feeling remorse and admitting wrongdoing was a brand new experience for her.
I was glad no one jumped down her throat. If anyone had, I’m pretty sure she would have become defensive and the moment would have been ruined. She and I needed to get past our issues with one another.
“I didn’t mean for everything that happened,” she said.
I shrugged with what I hoped was nonchalance. “The lie Brian’s people told wasn’t your fault.”
She shook her head. “But they wouldn’t have told it if those paparazzi hadn’t shown up at dinner.”
“Maybe not that night,” I agreed, “but it would have happened eventually if I kept hanging out with Brian.”
Vivian snorted. “Uh, you guys weren’t hanging out, you were making out.”
Juliette burst out laughing. “Good one!”
I smacked them both and looked back at Anastasia, shocked to see that she was smiling. “Anyway, I’m sorry,” she said, trying to wipe the grin from her face.
“Thanks.”
She turned to leave and I stopped her. “Are you going to ride with us to the theater tonight?”
She shrugged again, managing to keep a bored look on her face, but I could tell she was touched by the invite. “I may as well. I’ve got nothing better to do tonight.”
I smiled and said thanks again.
“Whatever,” she replied. She started to saunter away but then stopped and said, “When you guys come up for air tonight, ask Brian if he can hook me up with Logan Lerman.”
“You mean if they come up for air,” Juliette teased.
“You guys! Shut up already! Seriously!”
I wasn’t kidding, but for some reason all three of them laughed at me.
We came out of my room to find Dad and Jennifer waiting in the kitchen. To my surprise, Rob was sitting at the bar. His eyes fell on me and he jerked upright so fast he nearly fell off his stool. The way his Adam’s apple bobbed, it looked as if he’d just attempted to swallow a baseball. “You look amazing,” he rasped.
Chalk up another blush for the day. “Thanks.” I came over and gave him a hug. It took him a little longer than normal to let go. “What are you doing here?”
“I had to come see you off. Couldn’t let you leave for your big date without wishing you luck.”
I hugged him again, this time with much more feeling. Rob had a way of calming my nerves. It was all his cool confidence and calmness about everything. I’d been worried things would get awkward between us, but Rob was always so easygoing. He’d settled into the role of “just friends” with ease after he realized how much Brian and I really meant to each other. I was so grateful I got to keep him as a friend. I was going to have to find him a girl of his own sometime.
“You want to come in the car with us?” Juliette asked. “Dad rented a limo so we could all drive her over there.”
“There’s some concern that she’ll hijack the car and make a run for it if we let her go alone,” Vivian added.
I rolled my eyes at her, but she might have had a small point.
Rob’s only response was a smile and an offered arm. I accepted it and did my best not to hyperventilate as we all piled into the limo.
It took us over an hour to get through traffic since we had to wait in the long line of cars arriving at the premiere. Then, suddenly—too suddenly—the car stopped and the door opened to a roar of noise and endless flashing lights. I looked outside and the first thing I saw was red.
“It’s the red carpet!” Juliette squealed, bouncing with excitement after noticing the same thing I had. “You’re about to walk the red carpet!”
There was a man in a suit waiting to help me out of the car. It was now or never. I gave a quick round of hugs, saving my dad for last. “Good luck, kiddo,” he whispered in a voice clouded with emotion. He cleared it and then projected in a macho tone, “Remember, young lady, home by one.”
Juliette groaned. “A curfew? Seriously? Dad, may I remind you that she’s nineteen and as of yesterday legally no longer in your custody?”
I hadn’t cared, but I loved that Juliette felt the need to argue on my behalf.
Dad sighed. “Cut me a break this once, huh? I haven’t gotten to play the big scary dad for Ella yet, and I’m not even getting to meet her date.”
Laughing, I gave his shoulder a pat. “You’ll have a chance to threaten him soon enough, I’m sure.” I grinned at the girls. “I plan on asking him to come help me haul boxes on moving day.”
Vivian, Juliette, Ana, and even Jennifer all swooned a bit.
“See if you can get him to do it without his shirt on,” Juliette said.
“Juliette!” My dad made a strangled noise in his throat and then let out a breath. “This Brian Oliver thing is going to turn me prematurely gray.”
I laughed and gave my dad a hug, surprising us both when I kissed his cheek. “You’ll love him,” I promised. “And I’ll be home by one.”
My dad hugged me again and had to clear his throat before he replied. “I love you, kiddo. Go knock ’em dead.”
With that, I took a deep breath and then climbed out of the car. The man waiting to help me ran his eyes over me, pausing for a moment on my scars and cane. His face lit up in a wide grin when understanding hit him. “I hope you’re ready for this,” he whispered, waving his hand in the direction I was supposed to walk.
“Not in the least,” I assured him as I took my first step toward a brand new life.
The red carpet extended the entire block leading up to the theater’s entrance. It was lined the entire way with bright lights, thick velvet ropes, and heat lamps. I smiled to myself when I saw the lamps. I’d tried to get out of the limo with my coat on—it was the week before Christmas, after all—but Ana threw a hissy. She snatched the coat, insisting that no one walked the red carpet hiding their outfits. It turned out she was right.
Photographers and reporters with video cameras and microphones stood along the outside of the velvet ropes, and behind them was a crowd of people so big I felt as if I were standing on the pitcher’s mound at Fenway Park.
There were a number of people walking up the carpet ahead of me. I recognized a few of them, and others were unfamiliar. Kaylee Summers was smiling pretty for the crowd, clinging obnoxiously to an actor I recognized from a popular movie about vampires. Somehow, it seemed fitting.
I didn’t see Brian anywhere.
My stomach churned at the idea of having to get from where I was standing to the doors of the theater that seemed miles away. I wasn’t sure I could do it, but I no longer had a choice. The people closest to me had already taken notice and were starting to whisper.
I took one step, and then, slowly, another. My joints weren’t thrilled with the cold weather, so my gait was off a little more than normal. My limp caught people’s attention and the murmurs turned into cheers. “It’s her!” someone cried. “It’s Ella! She came!”
At once, a wave of deafening noise erupted and worked its way from my end of the block to the entrance of the theater and back across the street until it was loud enough it could have been heard in Boston.
People screamed and shouted. They reached out as if to touch me. Cameras flashed in my face, blinding me. The frenzy was so much more than I could have imagined. Overwhelmed, I stumbled back from the ropes. A man twice the size of my father, wearing an expensive suit and some kind of earpiece, caught me. “Are you all right, Miss?”
I gazed at the crowd, unable to think. “This is crazy.”
The man chuckled and set me back on my feet. “No one will cross to this side of the ropes. You’ll be safe.”
The people on the carpet ahead of me all stopped to see what the commotion was. They watched me with curious eyes. Some of them smiled while others didn’t seem to appreciate my having stolen the attention from them. Kaylee looked as if she wanted to shred me to pieces with her bare hands.
“You’d better get moving, Miss,” the security guard said, giving me a gentle nudge. “The show starts in fifteen minutes.”
I nodded and started to walk again, but when I did the cheers grew impossibly louder and I felt as if the chaos had swallowed me up. I was afraid I was going to panic, but then I saw a commotion on the carpet ahead of me that made everything around me fade away.
Brian pushed his way through the crowd of celebrities toward me. I could tell he was calling my name, though I couldn’t hear him over the noise. His movements were frantic; they matched the feeling inside my chest. I thought I would burst if I didn’t have my arms around him in the next five seconds. And then he was there, coming to a stop a few feet in front of me. I didn’t understand the distance he kept between us. I wanted to close it. Needed to close it. I needed to feel him, and smell him, and get lost in his eyes.
“You came,” he breathed. When he spoke, a hush fell over the crowd. People were desperate to hear what we were saying. My focus drifted toward the audience for a moment but then snapped back to Brian when he said, “After the show, when you didn’t call me, I thought…”
He thought he’d never hear from me again.
He couldn’t say the words, and I didn’t make him. “I…went away…for a while…after what happened.”
I wasn’t sure if Brian knew exactly what I meant, but the look of guilt and devastation on his face suggested his thoughts were on the right track, if not exactly correct. I hoped my smile would reassure him that I was okay. I’d have that conversation with him, but not right now.
“I only got home three days ago,” I said. My smile turned wry. “My therapist played your interview in front of everyone I know. I was the only one who hadn’t seen it. I had no idea what was going on and everyone stared at me the whole time. I had to watch that interview with my father standing over my shoulder. It was so embarrassing.”
Brian crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow. “My love for you is embarrassing?”
Miracle of miracles, I managed to keep a straight face. “There’s such a thing as subtlety, Brian. You could benefit from a few lessons on the subject.”
I’d been doing well, but when Brian’s face fell into a pout I burst into laughter. “I loved it.”
Brian finally stepped forward and pulled me into his arms. “You’re such a brat. I can’t believe you made me sweat it out until the last possible second.”
I shrugged. “After seeing that interview, I figured we were striving for dramatic. Surprising you seemed like the way to go.”
Brian chuckled and scanned the near-riot my arrival had caused. “It was definitely that. You managed to cause quite the scene.” He grinned at me then in a way that melted my heart. “I bet I can do better.”
I smirked. “Of course you do.”
The wicked glint in his eyes was the only warning he gave me before he dipped me back into a deep kiss.
Our first kiss had been tender. It had been a kiss to get to know one another. This kiss was entirely different. This kiss was hungry. Brian kissed me as if he were trying to fuse our souls together for eternity. He wasn’t doing this for show. It had nothing to do with the hundreds of people watching and going crazy around us. It wasn’t possessive, either. He wasn’t staking a claim on me. He wasn’t even trying to prove his feelings to me. He was simply taking what he needed.
I could feel his yearning, his ache for me, and it turned me into a puddle of mush. Whatever he needed, he could have it. I would gladly give it. He could have all of me. In fact, by the time he brought me back up and ended the kiss, he did have all of me.
“I love you so much, Ella,” he whispered.
I didn’t know what was cuter: his smitten expression or the bright red lipstick smeared all over his face. “I love you too, Cinder.”
He gave me another quick kiss and then slipped his arm around my waist and led me toward the theater doors. When we got there, he stopped and turned us toward the crowd. “Say ‘cheese’, Ella,” he teased.
I stood there and smiled until my face hurt, but it wasn’t hard to do since I was so deliriously happy. Brian could totally tell too, because every time I looked up at him he chuckled as if I were the most amusing thing in the world.
I must have missed the signal, but eventually Brian decided it was time to move on. As we turned to leave, a man on the other side of the velvet ropes thrust a microphone at us. “Brian! Brian! Won’t you give us a statement before you go inside?”
Brian stopped walking.
A hush fell over the crowd. The atmosphere turned almost reverent as the world waited to hear what Brian Oliver would say. I hoped, for his sake, whatever he came up with was good. I had a feeling this moment of ours was going to go down in Hollywood history.
Brian looked at the man and then back at me. His grin spread the entire length of his face and he said, “How about, ‘And they lived happily ever after’?”
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
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Thanks!
Kelly
Kelly Oram wrote her first novel at age fifteen–a fan fiction about her favorite music group, The Backstreet Boys, for which family and friends still tease her. She’s obsessed with reading, talks way too much, and loves to eat frosting by the spoonful. She lives outside of Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and four children. Connect with Kelly through social media: Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Blog.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you so much, as always, to Josh for your endless support, feedback, your beautiful covers, indulging me when I ask you to make me book graphics, for taking over a lot of the “mom” duties so I can have time to write, and especially for loving me despite my crazy writer quirks.
And thanks to Josh Jr., Jackie, Matthew, & Daniel for actually preferring foods like cold cereal, frozen waffles, yogurt, and pizza over home-cooked meals that I don’t have the time, energy, or skill to make. You’re the best kids a mom could ever ask for! (Yes, even though you fight so much.)
To Jen (Literally Jen), and Lisa (A Life Bound By Books) for your invaluable feedback and excitement for this project, and to Heather for always being willing to sit and listen to me talk plot issues out. (And for eating my extra donuts when I end up with too many!) You all help me to make my books the best they can be.
Thank you to all my friends and family for your love and support over the years, I couldn’t do it without you. And I’m especially thankful to my Father in Heaven, for blessing me with a little talent and creativity, a healthy dose of patience, and the insane amount of personal drive it takes to be a writer! Through Him, all things are possible.