Between You & Me

Chapter Six

On my way across the hall to my next class, Brad comes up to me, walking me the rest of the way. “Look at this,” he demands, holding up a large pad of paper, the bind making it seem like a handmade notebook. And then I see the title.

“Oh my God! You got the part!” I exclaim, hugging him even if it means losing the grip on a book. “What’s the movie about?” I ask him.

“Something about-” he scoops down to pick up my book, and drops it on the fold out table in front of my chair, “-family issues and a girl falling in love with her stepbrother,” he points to himself.

“So it’s a big part?”

“Hell yeah!” He pounds my fist with his own and I can’t help but smile back.

“So… when do you leave?” I ask, and he sighs.

“It’s the beginning of the school year and my agent thinks it’d be best if I stay at least a month or so more. But some of their people will be showing up to talk to me about it,” he explains.

“That’s so awesome!” I squeal excitedly while taking a seat beside him. “So, it’s all romantic and stuff like that?” I ask.

“Wellduh, it’s what I do,” he laughs, and so do I. “Besides, you know the lead girl? She’s such a brat, she practically controls the whole set and suggested that I be the stepbrother since she refuses to kiss the dude they originally had.”

“Well, how old is she?” I ask.

“Our age, and I’m sure you know her. Melissa Newman?” He asks, and I gasp.

“You’re going to be in the same movie as Melissa Newman?!” I exclaim, and he shushes me.

“It’s not that big a deal. She’s not as great as you think,” he tells me slowly and quietly, as though he’s scolding me for thinking Melissa is such an amazing actress. But she is!

“Fine,” I mutter, opening my laptop and logging into Facebook before class starts.

“What’s up?” Ash takes the seat on my other side.

“Nothing…” I glance over at Brad, who laughs. The corner of my mouth itches to curve into a smile. Ash gives us both a you-two-are-crazy look just as the teacher begins the lesson.

I don’t even bother logging out of Facebook, since the teachers never even catch you on it. I jot down notes in my notebook while everyone else is typing on Microsoft Word. My words shimmer in blue and silver from my pens, my favorite pens. Ash smirks at me and I elbow him back.

At the end of the day, Jordan and I go down to the gym. He meets me at the entrance, and looks me up and down. “What?” I ask.

“I haven’t seen you in running clothes before,” he tells me.

“A girl can’t be athletic and have style?” I joke, and he laughs, opening the door for me.

We run side by side on the treadmills, watching the game on the television screen. I keep my pace steady, listening to “Remember the Name” by Fort Minor on my iPod. Slowly but surly, I pick up the pace. Jordan looks at me through the corner of his eye, and I smile back. “You never told me you run,” he says as I remove my ear buds.

“I just assumed you knew,” I confess.

“But still. You’re hardly out of breath and I’m…” he pants heavily, and I laugh.

“I was on cross country at my old school,” I explain, slowing down and stepping off, “and track.”

“Anything else I should know about? Do you wrestle or something?” I burst out laughing when he says that.