Hollywood HollyWON'T

Chapter Ten

"Stop, stop, I can only fit so many fries in my mouth at once!"

Hayden out down his bag of French fries. "You're weak, Julia whatever-your-last-name-is."

"It's Kipps, just so you know," I informed him.

Hayden thought about this for a couple of seconds. "Kipps. Okay. It's fine for you, but I don't know if it fits, you know?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Some people just have the perfect name for them. Like, your name should fit your personality. And from what I've seen, Julia works, but Kipps... I'm just not as down with it."

This boy was insane. How did I even end up here?

"Oh, well now that Mr. 'I'm a celebrity' Pegg says my last name isn't right, I'll get right on it and change it. Anything to please you" I said, rolling my eyes as I did, but ruining the effect by giggling.

"You do that," Hayden said, stuffing at least ten fries into his mouth.

Insane, but hysterical.

After swallowing all his fries in one swallow, he turned to me. "Is that really how you think of me?"

My eyes immediately went back to him, confused. We had just been joking around, but now the whole mood seemed to have shifted to something a little more serious.

We sat in silence for a moment.

"Well," he said. "are you gonna tell me what you think of me or not?"

I stuttered. "Well, I don't-I don't really know what I think of you..."

Hayden grabbed the chicken and the fries. "Let's go for a walk."

Now I knew I was in trouble. If he wanted us to take a 'walk', which basically meant we were gonna go away from all the cameras, he was going to make me confess things he thinks I wouldn't say on camera.

As I stood up, I felt like I was walking the plank. I knew that it was a bad idea to keep walking, but I felt like I had to.

We walked for about two minutes before reaching an empty park, with just a small slide and swing set.

As I sat down on a swing, Hayden started talking. "I don't have a lot of people in my life who I know will be honest. It's all people who want something from me. Money, fame, everything. And in a weird way, knowing that you don't like me makes me feel like you'll give me your honest opinion. So let's here it Julia, who do you think I am?"

I don't know what to say. I barely know this boy, and yet here I am sitting in a park with him, and he wants me to tell him what I think of him?

This can't possibly and well.

"I don't know, Hayden, I really don't," I say honestly. "You seem perfectly fine when we hang out, and you seem normal, but I don't live under a rock. Tabloids get their news from somewhere. You get a new girl every week, you dress like you want people to think you're the biggest bad boy out there, and you've punched paparazzi before. What can you expect me to think?"

Hayden looked at me. "I guess it would be too much to expect you to just trust me, and get to know me instead of believing those tabloids."

I sighed. I knew this was a bad idea, but I'd already gotten myself into this mess, so I may as well get answers while I'm here.

"Those aren't rumors, Hayden. There are videos. Pictures. Everything. And you want me to believe you? Believe you about what? You've never told me anything that contradicts what they say about you."

Hayden kicked the sand on the ground beneath us. "You're right. I'm sorry Julia, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I guess I'm just sick of everyone assuming they know me before I even open my mouth."

I stuck my arm out to stop his swing from swinging, so that I could look directly at him. "So open your mouth. Tell me your side. Pretend this is our first time meeting, and I don't know a thing about you. Tell me who you are, Hayden Pegg.

A huge grin appeared on Hayden's face. "Well Miss Kipps, I'm a small town boy from New Jersey who really likes to make music. I've been singing since I was two, and writing songs since I was nine. I started putting them on YouTube when I was thirteen, and after a couple of years, I was discovered."

Hayden paused for a moment, but I knew that wasn't the end. He was going to explain the rumors.

"I used to just date everyone so that I wouldn't be seen as weak. I didn't want people to think of me as that little Jersey boy with a sick sister. I thought if I did enough things that would land me in tabloids, that would be what people would care about, and no one would bother to find out about my family. I dress like I do because I think it's silly to spend four hundred dollars on a pair of jeans. So I buy mine at Target. It doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me. Most teenage boys dress like I do. We don't all wear designer sandals in the summer and Tommy Hilfiger sweaters in the winter."

Although he didn't flat out say a name, I knew he was talking about Max Bing. Of course I would know. I do research so that I can tell my followers where Max buys all of his clothing.

We say in silence for a moment, as I processed that. It made sense, but still... Could I really trust Hollywood's bad boy?

"Oh, and I punched the reporter, because he asked me why I'm never spotted out with my family, and if that meant I had let the fame get to my head and stopped caring about them, and I snapped."

"So that's who you are, Hayden Pegg?" I asked, smiling.

"That's who I was. I'm hopefully improving. When I was new to the industry, I hated everyone involved with the media. I tried to hide my life from them, and even lost my temper with them. But that was stupid. This is part of what being a celebrity is, and paparazzi are just people trying to make a living. It's not their fault. Haven't you noticed that I haven't had a girlfriend in almost three months?"

I thought about it for a moment. It's true. I hadn't seen any articles recently talking about Hayden Pegg's new girl, or any fights he had gotten into in clubs. He really was changing. The world was just too stubborn to change their opinion of him.

"Well Pegg, if what you're saying is true, you seem like a pretty good person to me. It's just a shame you don't show this side of you to the rest of the world. The bad boy image might sell records, but you're so much better than that."

Hayden put his hand on my lap from the swing next to me where he was sitting. "Thank you Julia. That means a lot to me. How is it that you've only known me for a couple of days, and yet you always seem to know exactly what to say to me?"

I smiled back at him, not saying anything. There was nothing to say. I had no reason that I got him. I just did. We just understood each other.