A Side Effect of Celebrity

Thirteen

Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but you need someone who will help you catch the bus – Oprah Winfrey

In the doorway to Claire's bedroom, her mother stood watching with raised brows as Claire dug around in her closet. The room was a mess, clothes strewn across the floor, one dress hanging on a hanger that had been laid carefully across the bed. There was a collection of makeup products littering the desk and there was a solitary shoe in the middle of the floor.

Claire had yet to find a match to that wedged heel. She was sure it was in the back of the closet somewhere...

"So...Who is this boy that you're going out with?" Alice asked her daughter. She had her brows raised and her chestnut-coloured hair, the same as Claire's, was up in a messy bun atop her head. There was a pencil stuck through it, holding the hair in place.

"Just a guy I met at work," Claire replied. Her voice was muffled from within the closet but it was true enough, anyway. Besides, her parents didn't need to know that Claire had accepted a date with a celebrity. Not until Claire knew what she felt about Jay and whether they would even still be talking beyond this first date. If it did...Claire told herself that she'd tell her parents then.

"Is he a co-worker?"

"Um, no," Claire said as she dug through a pile of discarded laundry behind a row of sweaters. "He was a customer at the deli. We've met up before, as friends. Went for some walks in the city and have grabbed coffee. I also watched his dog when he was out of town for work."

Found it! Claire thought as her eyes fell on the wedged heel. It had been shoved in between her suitcase and laundry basket. She pulled herself out of the closet, hair frizzier than when she'd gone in, and glanced at her mom.

Alice propped a hip against the doorway. "What's his name?"

"Jay."

"Age?"

"Twenty-one."

"What does he do for work?"

Crap.

Claire tried to be as truthful as possible without giving too much away. "He works in the entertainment industry. On film sets and stuff."

Alice seemed appeased by the information and the quick answers that Claire was able to give. Then, her face softened a bit. "And you really like this guy?"

Did she? She liked Jay but Claire was still trying to decide if it was the type of like that could ever turn into something...more. There was no point in lying to herself and there were types of his job and life that scared her a bit. Claire didn't know whether she wanted to be Jay Dawson's girlfriend or if it was something she could even handle if she did.

She hadn't forgotten the hoard of people chasing him through Central Park on the day they'd met or the thankfully-grainy paparazzi shot of her. Their relationship, if it ever progressed to that, would never be normal and Claire would forever be sharing him with the world. She could see it now: tabloids and gossip columns debating whether she, a nobody, was good enough for Hollywood's Most Desirable Bachelor. Her name would be floated around on the internet, discussed in schools and malls, over texts and during slumber parties. Judged about whether she was smart or pretty enough to be with someone like Jay Dawson.

And then, of course, there was Griffin.

As if her mother was capable of reading her mind, Alice asked, "Does going out with Jay mean you've decided what to do about this whole Griffin situation?"