“Don’t be shy now.” Devlin flashed what Kara was sure he thought was a million-dollar smile. “I won’t bite. I save that for the scene.”
Kara couldn’t join him in laughing at his lame joke, but she did reluctantly scoot her plate a few chairs closer.
“Hoping for your fifteen minutes of fame, huh?” Devlin winked at her. “I started so young, I never really had to compete for roles. They just came to me. Is it hard?”
“Actually, the auditions are fun.” Kara stabbed her lettuce with gusto. “You’re really missing out. I feel bad for you, not getting to experience the thrill of not knowing. It must be so boring.”
Kara was satisfied she had wiped the smug grin off Devlin’s face. The other girls came through the line and surrounded the young star, treating him like he was royalty. Kara’s mind drifted back to the audition piece.
Oh yes. Ignoring him won’t be hard at all
.
“You Suck”
HOPE
: (Standing by a tree) I hate this new city. It’s nothing like home. I wish I’d never moved here.
VAN
: (Suddenly appearing from behind the tree) I am glad you are here.
HOPE
: Who are you?
VAN
: (Standing beside Hope) My name is Van.
HOPE
: Why are you so pale?
VAN
: I am from the north.
HOPE
: Why are your eyes red?
VAN
: Genetics.
HOPE
: Why are your teeth so . . . pointy?
VAN
: Okay, okay, so I am a vampire. You got me. (He walks to the park bench)
HOPE
: (Walks in front of him) Really? Cool. I’m on the swim team.
VAN
: What?
HOPE
: You’re a vampire, like in baseball, right? Well, I’m on the swim team. At my old school, I was the record holder for the five hundred meter.
VAN
: (Stands and walks to Hope) No, I’m not an umpire. I’m—
HOPE
: (Crosses to the tree) I know what you’re thinking. The record holder for the whole school? But I am.
VAN
: That’s impressive.
HOPE
: I know, right? But no one here seems to care.
VAN
: (Standing close to her) I care. I have been watching you for a while. And I think I—
HOPE
: I mean, I can swim circles around these other girls. And does anyone care? No. It’s like they’re ignoring me.
VAN
: (Touches Hope’s neck) I’m not ignoring you. Since the first day I saw you—
HOPE
: (Walks away) Well, that’s nice and all, but I don’t want to get on the baseball team. I want to swim.
VAN
: Forget swimming. I can take you far away. We can fall in love and get married and have babies that crawl out of your belly and have weird names and—
HOPE
: Whoa, dude. I don’t really go for ballplayers, okay?
VAN
: I’m not a baseball player.
HOPE
: So you lied to me?
VAN
: No. What?
HOPE
: You come over and tell me you play baseball and get me to talk to you and then you tell me you don’t play baseball?
VAN
: (Yelling) Vampire. I am a vampire.
HOPE
: Make up your mind. Do you play baseball or don’t you?
VAN
: Pale skin, red eyes, pointy teeth . . . vampire.
HOPE
: (Walks past Van) Oh, I get it.
VAN
: Thank you.
HOPE
: You have issues because you’re ugly, so you pretend to play baseball.
VAN
: (Walking away) Forget it.
HOPE
: (Calling after him) You could try spray tan. Colored contacts.
(Van exits.)
HOPE
: Oh well. Some guys are just losers.
T
hat was so fun.” Kara turned to Haley on the ride home.
“I don’t know about fun,” Haley said. “I hated feeling so bound to their lines and their blocking. I agree with Anna Grace. I wish we had a little more freedom.”
“Isn’t this network supposed to be all about teens bringing our ideas to the show?” Anna Grace said. “I mean, they have us write and perform our own monologues to get on this, then they put us in this tiny box once we get here.”
“Forget today.” Zoey leaned up from the backseat of the van. “Tonight we get to have dinner with Devlin Tyne.”
“I can’t believe he’s coming to our house.” Sophie grinned.
“That is one hot boy,” Anna Grace said. “I bet he’s the star.”
“But he’s on
Boys Underground
.” Sophie twisted in her seat to face Anna Grace.
“He’s one of five on that show,” Anna Grace said. “Why wouldn’t he want to be on his own show?”
“Good point,” Zoey said. “I sure wouldn’t mind looking at him every day.”
“Too bad, then,” Anna Grace said. “Because this show is all mine. I killed it in the auditions today. Sparks were flying between Devlin and me like you wouldn’t believe.”
“That’s because
he’s
a good actor,” Ava said, a hard edge to her voice.
“Just watch tonight.” Anna Grace crossed her arms. “You’ll see. He won’t be able to keep his eyes off me.”
The girls in the van grew silent. Kara closed her eyes.
And the game has begun
.
She looked back and noticed that neither Jillian nor Kylie was involved in the conversation. Jillian watched the other girls. Kylie was engrossed in a book. Kara knew that girl was very serious about her art. She was always reading a book about acting or the biography of a famous actress. Kara had tried to talk to her, but Kylie wasn’t interested in doing anything but reading about acting or actually performing.
So maybe Jillian and I can be friends
, Kara hoped. Jillian was Miss America pretty, with blond-on-blond highlights, perfect hair all the time, huge blue eyes, and teeth that Kara was sure had been covered in braces and whitening trays.
No one’s teeth can be that perfect
. But she seemed pretty nice. That was certainly a rarity around here.
Two hours later, Devlin Tyne entered the girls’ house. Kara found her impressions of the teen star were exactly right.
Those girls were swarming to Devlin like ants to a lollipop. If she learned nothing else from Addy, it’s that going crazy for a boy did not endear a girl to him. Kara looked at Devlin once more, his thin frame enhanced by skinny jeans and a tight-fitting shirt.
Plus, that boy is a stick. I want a man with some muscles. Now, if Chad Beacon were coming over for dinner, I might be in trouble. But of course, he’s not. He’s a singer, not an actor. He’s probably out in California somewhere, recording his next album
.
“Ladies, ladies,” Devlin said, parting the girls like Moses parting the Red Sea. “Thank you for the enthusiastic greeting. But I can’t talk to you all at once. Why don’t we just go in order, like we did at the auditions today?”
Anna Grace thought the idea was “stupendous” and suggested they go out to the pool for their talk.
“Did you bring your suit?” Anna Grace asked Devlin as she sashayed past the others.
“No, I’m afraid I didn’t.”
“Well, would you mind terribly if I got into mine? It’s been such a long day, and I’ve been just dying to soak in the hot tub.”
Devlin thought that was a great idea, and Anna Grace changed into her suit, a bikini that left little to the imagination, in world-record time.
Wow
. Kara watched Anna Grace lower herself ever-so-slowly into the hot tub.
And the auditions continue
.
“I don’t approve of bikinis.” Flora joined Kara at the refrigerator where Kara was getting a bottle of water.
“I don’t approve of throwing yourself at a boy to get his attention.” Kara laughed.
“Good for you, Kara.” Flora patted her on the back. “You just keep being yourself.”
“Myself is not making too many friends here.”
“That’s all right.” Flora sat at the kitchen table. “I’m not too popular either.”
Kara looked out the window. Ava, who had also changed into her bathing suit, motioned for Anna Grace to go back inside. A slight argument ensued, but Anna Grace eventually submitted.
“Do you think Devlin is the star of this show?” Kara asked.
“What do you think?”
“It doesn’t really matter, I guess. It’s just acting.”
“But . . . ?” Flora smiled at Kara.
“I don’t know.” Kara looked at Devlin, allowing Ava to take off his shoes so he could put his feet in the hot tub. “He just seems kind of fake. If I was going to be working with someone every day, I’d want it to be with a friend.”
“You sound like Elizabeth Bennett in
Pride and Prejudice
. Except she was talking about marriage, not a TV show. But the same principle applies to both situations. Elizabeth was beautiful and smart and caring, and she didn’t want to be with someone who didn’t share those qualities.”
“You really do love books, don’t you?” Kara smiled at Flora. Today she was wearing a beret over her burgundy hair. Her dress was a wraparound Hawaiian print dress, held on her shoulder by a huge daisy pin.
“I do.” Flora nodded.
“And you’re a Christian?”
“I am.”
“One of my best friends is a Christian.”
“What is she like?”
“She’s one of the best people I know.”
Flora nodded.
“But a girl I knew at school said she was a Christian, and she is one of the worst people I know,” Kara said. “All I was to her was a project. When she finally realized I wasn’t going to believe what she believed, she was done with me.”
“I have known people like that too.”
“How can people who believe the same thing behave so differently?”
“That’s a good question.” Flora took an orange from the fruit bowl and began peeling it.
“Are you going to answer it?”
Flora kept peeling. “No. I think our questions are best answered by God. You should ask him.”
“Ask God?”
“Yes.” Flora peeled a section of the orange and ate it. “If you really want to know him, he’ll answer you.”
“But what if I don’t?”
“Then you wouldn’t be asking these questions.” Flora handed a slice to Kara.
“You’re not really a housemother, are you?”
“I am for the next month.” Flora stood to throw her orange peel away. “I need to get dinner together. You go have your talk with Devlin.”
Kara watched Flora open the stove and check on a casserole inside.
Ask God, huh? Maybe I should. Just to see. Not that I think he’ll answer. But if he doesn’t—when he doesn’t—at least I can go back to Flora and tell her she’s mistaken
.
“You don’t want to swim?” Devlin asked Kara when she walked out the sliding glass door in her shorts and T-shirt.
“Not right now.” Kara sat in a lounge chair. “I just want to rest.”
“I guess it is tiring,” Devlin said. “I’ve been doing this for so long, it’s just second nature. I did my first commercial when I was six months old.”
“Really?”
He doesn’t even remember having this conversation with me at lunch
.
“Yes.” Devlin sat next to Kara. “From there, I was on TV shows, a few movies, some music videos. I did anything and everything. I was even in a band for a little while.”
“Really? Do you know Chad Beacon?”
“Sure I do,” Devlin said. “We go way back. We used to go to acting school together.”
Kara sat up. “Chad’s homeschooled.”
“Yes, but this was outside of school.”
“Really?”
“Oh yes,” he said. “My parents and his are good friends. His little sister and mine really hit it off. They have play dates all the time.”
“Are we talking about the same guy?” Kara looked at Devlin. “Chad is an only child.”
“What, are you some stalker of his or something? ” Devlin’s eyes hardened.
“No, I was just confused.”
“I’m just trying to make small talk, all right?”
“Sure. Fine.” Kara forced herself to smile. “So tell me a little about yourself.”
Devlin’s face brightened. He launched into a Devlin Tyne autobiography, and Kara sat back, pretending to be interested in his accomplishments, his fans, his future plans.
“. . . And this fall, I start shooting my first film.” Devlin smiled. “It’s going to be a trilogy. I’m the star.”
“That’s wonderful,” Kara said, meaning it. “Really, really wonderful.”
Especially since that means you can’t possibly be the star of
this
show
.
O
h, Addy.” Kara hugged her friend as soon as she stepped out of her car. “I’m so glad you came.”
Addy returned the hug. “Of course I came. I can’t wait to explore Orlando with you.”