Someone Else's Fairytale

Chapter Ten: Paparazzi

I rolled out of bed and yanked open my door. Lori stood there with her hair still up in its messy bun, her laptop in one hand, the screen angled towards me. Sure enough, there it was, a big picture of me and Jason locked in an embrace.

“This is who you had two dates with yesterday?” she said.

“They weren't dates.”

“Um, sure they weren't.”

I spun around and hunted for some clothes to put on.

“Where are you going?” Lori asked.

“I wanted to go to the library today.”

“There are, like, fifty million reporters on our doorstep.”

“What?” I turned to her again.

“Okay, more like four, but they're staked out, waiting for you. They keep knocking.”

“Oh no...”

“Chloe, you bring a movie star here and engage in PDA, what do you think is going to happen?”

“We are just friends. This is all a misunderstanding.”

“Does he think you're just friends?”

“Yes! We talked about it.”

“You had a DTR?”

“A what?”

“A Define The Relationship talk? Lemme guess, he was the one who started it?”

"Sure. Something like that.”

“And you told him you want to be friends?”

I pushed past her and went into the front room. Sure enough, there were shadows moving across the front windows. The curtains were drawn, so the room was dim. Sitting on our couch, one leg up, was Charles. He had the television on and wore sweats and a v-neck t shirt. Two nights in a row. He and Lori weren't wasting time.

He twisted around to look at me. “Hey. You want me to go out there dressed like this? Say I was here for the night?”

“I don't think that'd make them go away,” I said. “I think that'd do the opposite.”

He shrugged. “Offer's open.”

I made straight for the coffeemaker and poured myself a mug.

“Okay, Chloe, let's talk,” said Lori. “Jason Vanderholt wants to go out with you.”

“I don't care. How many people on campus are going to recognize me in that picture?”

Lori shrugged. “No one. But some people might recognize the house.”

“This is a disaster.”

“You don't want people to know-”

“No!”

“Why not?”

“Because why would I? You want people camped out in our front yard all the time?”

“You're being pursued by Jason Vanderholt.”

“Whom you barely even know. Just lay off, all right? There's more to life than fame and money.”

“If you say so.”

Charles cleared his throat.

“I mean, right. Totally true,” said Lori. “But he's also hot.”

“Not to me he isn't. He looks like a Ken doll.”

Charles burst out laughing. “That's a good one.”