After her father's tragic passing, Nora Davis is forced behind the scenes, nothing more than a stepping stone for others in their journey to stardom. When an opportunity presents itself, Nora, trapped under her stepmother's heel, takes it as her cha...
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The next day, Eli Leonger stopped her on her way out of school. She shoved on the metal door leading out into the school courtyard. This afternoon was a rarity—she didn't have to be at any appointment with one of her artists. Didn't have to sit in a lumpy studio chair for hours on end. She could go home, do the final run-through for Grumpy's song, finish some homework, and then whatever she wanted.
"Nora!"
At first, she thought she heard her name being called, however, the likelihood of that was slim so she ignored it.
"Nora!"
Okay, that was definitely her.
A solid, warm hand gently touched her elbow. She glanced up and over to find Eli beside her.
"Eli," Nora frowned, "are you looking for Felicity?"
A cold, bitter breeze swept through the dark locks escaping out his deep gray beanie. "What? No, I—"
"Eli!"
"Eli, man, get over here!"
"Eliii, yoo-hoo!" A girl cooed.
Nora quirked an eyebrow. "I think your fans are looking for you."
He muttered something unintelligible under his breath. Then, louder, he said, "Nora, I wanted to ask you..." after a hesitant pause, he said, "about the Chemistry test at the end of the week."
She stopped. The sooner she answered his question, the sooner she could get into Tessa's car and on her merry way. Tessa sat in her SUV, engine running. When she spotted Nora, her best friend made an excited gesture between her and Eli.
Nora just barely shook her head in response. It wasn't like that between the two of them. They were hardly acquaintances—she could count on one hand the number of conversations they'd had. Besides, she was and would always be Nora. He was Eli Leonger.
"Eli!"
"Hey, man!"
...and his gaggle of friends would never let her forget that.
Following his lead, she ignored the people calling his name. Was this really his daily life? Didn't these kids have more important things to do than watch Eli all day? Like, maybe classes? Or homework?
"What about it?" She asked.
He scratched the back of his head. "I thought the two of us could go over the material."
Her eyes flicked to the people calling to him across the courtyard, over to Tessa's car, and then back to him. Was he joking? Her gut soured. Oh Creator, he was trying to play a joke on her. Devon had wanted to "go over material" with her once a couple of months back. What she hadn't known then but painfully knew now was that in the upper-class circles that was code for "help me cheat."
