No, wait.

I’m not going to wish on it this time. I’m going to make it a promise.

If I get my life back . . .

No, when I get my life back, I’m not going to let anything stop me. Not fear of embarrassing my mom. Not fear of failure. Not fear of what people might think. I’m going to audition for as many movies as I possibly can. I’m going to live my dream.

I head back to my spot. I still need to study for a vocabulary quiz and do a couple pages of math.

I’m surprised that Aiden is still here.

“Why are you still here? Don’t you have stuff to do?”

“We weren’t done with our conversation.”

“What conversation?”

“You were going to tell me about the scripts you wrote.”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“Come on. Tell me about one.”

“I already did.”

“So tell me about a different one.”

I hesitate. No one really knows about the scripts that I write except for Damian, and Brooklyn a little. It’s something I’ve sort of kept hidden. Kind of like my acting ambition.

But I know Aiden won’t quit bugging me unless I tell him something.

“Fine. I’ll tell you about a script I worked on this summer. It’s one that could be made into an actual movie someday. It’s not a silly script I wrote to try and plan my life.”

“So will its premiere be the one I’m your arm candy for?”

I smile at him. “Hmmm, probably not,” I say, but then I decide what the heck, I feel like dreaming big tonight. “You will be my arm candy when I walk my first red carpet as an actress. I’ll have a role in a big blockbuster action film.”

“You gonna be a Bond girl?”

That makes me laugh. “I don’t know. That’d be fun, although it seems like they usually die, don’t they? I don’t want to die.”

“Okay, so an action film where you don’t die. You the star?”

“Probably not for my first film. That wouldn’t be very realistic now, would it?”

“So I’m realistic arm candy?”

I roll my eyes and smile at him. “For someone who is supposed to be arm candy, you’re awfully worried about yourself. This is supposed to be my night.”

Aiden leans back in his chair and just stares at me for a minute. His mouth starts to move, like he’s going to say something, but he stops himself. Finally, he says, “If we’re being realistic, we both know that I wouldn’t be your arm candy.”

“Oh,” I say and immediately lower my head.

Aiden doesn’t want to be my hypothetical arm candy?

For some reason that sort of bothers me.

Hypothetically.

He pushes my chin up with his finger and looks into my eyes. “A night like that would be magical. You’d want to share it with someone you love.”

“That’s exactly why I don’t write scripts for my own life anymore. You promised you’d be my arm candy. I wrote the script in my head, and now you’re backing out.” I reach into my bag and grab a pencil and my English notebook. “I have to do some homework.”

“No.”

“No, what?”

“No, we’re not done talking.”

“Yeah, we are.” I tap my notebook with my pencil. “I have homework.”

He runs his hand through his hair and sighs. Then he gets up, gathers his books, and leaves.

I struggle through my homework, my mind still trying to figure out why Aiden doesn’t want to be my hypothetical arm candy.

But then I decide I don’t care. I’ll cast someone else.

Dawson is hot; he’d make great arm candy. Of course, I don’t know if he’d want to be arm candy or not. Riley would though. He’d be the perfect eye candy, really. He’s cocky and would love it.

But, unfortunately, Aiden is right. I’d rather share my dream night with my dream guy. I don’t just want arm candy.

But the odds of that happening are slim. Why do you think so many people take their mom to the Oscars? They’ve been working hard, filming all over the place, and don’t have time for love.

I shake my head. This line of thought is silly.

I’ll recast.

I’m walking my dream red carpet with Mom and Tommy. With my family. Not with some guy that can’t just shut up and look pretty.

My phone vibrates with a text that makes me smile.

Dawson: I miss you.

Me: I miss you too.

Dawson: How’s practice going?

Me: It’s good. You should come sometime. I sit around a lot waiting for my scenes. I have all of my homework done. What have you been doing?

Dawson: Well, I was supposed to go play racquetball with Bryce. But after dinner I came back to my room, thinking I’d just lie down for a minute. LOL I just woke up.

Me: Did your cheerleader wear you out?

Dawson: She did ;) Is she coming back tonight?

Me: She isn’t, but I’d like to. I need a goodnight kiss.

Dawson: I’ll be waiting. <3

Rehashing it.

10pm

When I get back to my dorm, I find Annie, Katie, and Maggie sitting on our bare floor.

“Where did the rug go?”

“Oh, I donated it to a worthy cause, but don’t worry. I ordered us a new one. What’s going on in here?”

“We’re talking about Homecoming,” Annie says.

“Rehashing it, really,” Maggie corrects her.

“Did you end up having fun with Parker, Maggie? He seemed to like when we were up there dancing together.”

“He did, but we’re not going anywhere. It’s really more of a friends with benefits thing,”

Annie huffs. “Why would you settle for that? Don’t you want him to ask you out?”

“No. I don’t. We’ve been there. Done that. And it didn’t go well. We fought constantly. Now we never fight.”

“You just have sex,” Annie states.

“That’s not true. What’s true is that when he starts to piss me off, I just leave or tell him to stop it. I didn’t do that when we dated because I didn’t want to mess up our relationship. I have more control now. Besides, it’s not like we have any long-term potential. So this works for us.”

“What will happen if he starts hanging out with someone else?” Annie counters.

“More power to him. I like him and his friends are fun to hang out with.”

“I’ve had bad cramps for the last two days. My body is making me pay.”

I lean over and give her a hug. “I’m sorry you don’t feel well. Have you talked to Tyrese at all?”

“No, he’s avoiding me like the plague. Like, we almost ran into each other in the hall and he literally turned around and walked the other way.”

I decide a change of topic might be good. “Are you and Ace good, Annie?”

“We’re perfect. He was such a gentleman and I loved getting to meet his mom. It was a dreamy weekend.” She smiles and her cheeks flush. “And he loved the back of my dress. He kept putting his hand on my naked skin while we were dancing. It was hot.”

Maggie’s eyes get huge. “It was hot?”

“Yes, it was. Just because he makes me hot doesn’t mean we are going to do anything. Some people can restrain themselves,” she says, very judgmentally. She instantly puts her hand up to her mouth. “Oh, Katie, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. I just meant . . .”

“It’s okay, Annie,” Katie says. “You better get going. It’s almost curfew.”

“Oh,” Annie says, looking at the clock. “I guess you’re right.”

Jumping out of the bushes.

Midnight.

Katie is fast asleep.

I’m sewing the sequined trim onto the cheerleading costume.

My phone vibrates.

Riley: Cave tonight?

Me: I probably shouldn’t.

Riley: Me and Ariela are over.

Me: WTF??!! Why???!!!! What happened?

Riley: I’ll tell you at the Cave.

Me: Tell me now.

Riley: Dallas is coming. We’ll discuss then.

At one o’clock, I pull on a pair of sweat pants, grab a jacket, and sneak out of my room.

Riley jumps out of the bushes just as I crawl out of the window. He covers my mouth with his hand and muffles my scared scream.

“Shhh,” he says.

“Don’t jump out of the bushes at people and they won’t scream. Where’s Dallas?”

“He’s already there. Even though we made it through Homecoming and I’m sure everything is fine, I didn’t want you to walk by yourself.”

“Aww, thanks, Riley.”

We get to the Cave and find Dallas already smoking. We sit down next to him and Riley spreads a blanket out over our legs. It’s starting to get chilly at night.

“So what happened?” I immediately ask.

“Smoke first. Questions later,” Riley replies. I can tell he’s upset.

Dallas says, “We’re still keeping the rug.”

“What’s this got to do with the rug?”

“Everything,” Riley says with a sigh. He hands me the joint and starts talking. “So, tonight, Ariela came to my room. I mean, we had a great time at Homecoming. A really great time. I didn’t get a hotel room because I didn’t want her to think that I expected sex. But then you gave me the rug.”

“And?”

“And she came to my room tonight . . .” he hesitates.

“And?” I say again.

“And we were kissing on the rug. She liked it. Loved it. Commented about how soft it is. Then I sort of blurted out how I want to do her on it. How I’ve been thinking about it. Then I made a move.”

“And she got pissed?”

“Yeah. Said she wants to be more than just sex. Of course, then I got pissed and asked if she was still talking to that guy from home. She said yes. I told her I haven’t been talking to anyone since we started talking. Then I got more pissed. Told her I’d been going slower than I’ve ever gone in my life and I was sick of it. It went downhill from there.”

I put my arm around his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

Dallas puts his arm around my shoulder. “What about me?”

“What about you kissing a girl in front of the whole math class? Are you even upset? Did you do that just to get back at her?”

“I was hurt at first. I’ve never been completely ditched like that. Then I was pissed. Then I just wanted to get even.”

“Because she hurt you.”

“Yeah, I guess.” I give him a big hug. He wraps me in a hug and rubs his hands down my back. “I’m very, very hurt. I need you to help cheer me up, sweetie.”

I wiggle out of his grip. “You’re so full of shit,” I say with a laugh.

He laughs too. “Fine. I don’t really give a shit.”

“I give a shit,” Riley says pathetically. “For the first time in my life, I really give a shit. And it sucks.”

“So are you going to try and win her back?”

“Nope. She wants to talk to other guys behind my back, then I’m going to be talking to other girls in front of her.”

“You’re going to try and make her jealous?”

“No. I’m done with her. I was really, excruciatingly, patient with her. I did everything I could to make her feel special. And if she’s going to be pissed at me because I got hot and tried something, fuck her. A simple no would have sufficed.”

Dallas says, “All right. You need to chill.” Then he passes him back the joint.

Wednesday, October 12th

Never wearing plaid again.

10am

Peyton grabs me after math class and holds up a note. “What’s that?”

“It’s a pass. You, me, and Whitney are going on a field trip.”

“A field trip with Whitney? Why?”

“We need to go to the party rental company’s warehouse and look at props for Greek weekend. The drama department has a few columns, but they are too busy with the play to do anything custom for us. The art department is going to do some large canvas pencil drawings of classic statutes. Their teacher is giving them extra credit for it, so we should have that to line the walls of the banquet, but we need more.”

“That sounds fun.”

“Good. Now go change out of your uniform into something cute. I’m not wearing this plaid skirt in public.”

“Oh, really? I just got a cute dress that I ordered online. I’m excited to wear it.”

“What’s it like?”

“It’s a Thakoon mini. It has the cutest quilted leather sleeveless top and then a plaid straight skirt on the bottom. I’ll probably wear it with a pair of black Burberry riding boots.”

“The bottom is plaid?” Peyton asks, scrunching up her nose. “Don’t you get sick of plaid? I swear, when I leave here I’m never wearing plaid again.”

“I guess I haven’t been here long enough to be sick of it.”

“Fine, so go change and meet us outside your dorm in ten minutes.”

We go to the rental store and find a few more props.

“So, we headed back to school now?” I ask.

Whitney turns to look at me sitting in the backseat of Peyton’s car. “We are going to the spa.”

“But won’t we get in trouble?”

“The spa is decorated with columns and has a Romanesque feel to it. We’ll be immersing ourselves in the culture and brainstorming. It’s strictly business,” Peyton says with a laugh.