KissnTell

Chapter 14

RESCUE SQUAD

Anais

It wasn't easy getting a straight story out of her. We pulled up to the corner of Mulholland and Macapa, and Vaughn was nowhere to be found. I got out of the car and whisper-shouted her name. It was dark. I could barely make out the road. I tiptoed up Macapa shakily, freezing at the sound of every snapped twig or scuffed patch of gravel. On the phone, she had sounded distressed, but I couldn't tell if she was truly in danger or just being a drama queen. Familiar with her track record, I assumed it was probably the latter, but something about the tenor of her voice set me on edge, like maybe it was the real deal this time.

"Hey," said a grim voice, clear in the near-silence of the canyon.

I jumped, gasping, clutching my chest. "Vaughn? Is that you?" I exclaimed.

She sighed. "No. It's Lee Harvey Oswald. Of course it's me," she snapped. I exhaled, relieved, but didn't appreciate her sarcasm. I was the sarcastic one, not her.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Where's the car?"

I shook my head, confused. "It's down there," I said, pointing a few yards down the road. She headed toward it, her chin held high. "Vaughn," I pressed, "on the phone, you sounded terrified. Was that just bullshit?"

Vaughn stopped and turned to face me. "I'm fine," she said.

But she wasn't fine. Something was up. I trudged after her, frustrated, pondering the root of her anger. Because that was how she was acting: angry. I realized, to her, it probably looked like I had abandoned her to hang out with Austin, but that wasn't entirely true. For one, I was defensively trying to avoid getting abandoned by her for Baron Caldwell. I couldn't compete with a TV star, even if I was her best friend. And I was fine with that, at least in theory, but I knew if I actually subjected myself to it and she ditched me for that d-bag, I would have been seriously peeved and maybe a little bit wounded. So I stayed with Austin. And as much as I'd like to say we were hanging out and flirting and getting to know one another, the truth was, it was all business. We got some shots of Rihanna in a wacky outfit only she could pull off, we caught Liam Hemsworth looking way worse for the wear, and we threw in a few shots of the Playboy bunnies just in case they proved to be worth something.

Vaughn climbed into the back seat of Austin's car and slammed the door. I got in the front and buckled my seatbelt, casting a suspicious glance at her. She crossed her arms over her chest sullenly.

"Hey," Austin said into the rearview mirror. She didn't respond. "Everything okay?" he continued.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm fine," she spat.

Austin and I exchanged concerned looks. He shrugged, putting the car in drive and pulling out onto Mulholland. We drove in silence for a few minutes. I tried to think about Vaughn, but my mind wandered. All night, Austin kept grabbing me by the fingers, or steering me this way and that, placing his hand on the small of my back. He bought me a drink. I stupidly confessed it was my first real drink ever so he chose some kind of beer. It was sort of rank at first, but I got used to it. I liked the way the bottle felt on my lips, and how it gave me something to do other than stand around like a dope. He put his arm around me and sort of squeezed once, when I made him laugh mocking one of the bunnies. Someone threw a drink at her gigantic, silicone chest, and I said, "At least she can't drown." It wasn't that funny, but he laughed and put his arm around me and squeezed. I couldn't tell if these things meant he liked me, or he was just a nice guy. Either way, though, I was pretty positive I liked him. I tried to make out Vaughn's face in the dark. Maybe it was a bit of a cop-out for me to make excuses about picking Austin over her.