Senior Year Box Set

I was pleasantly surprised when Halle James and Ben Doman, my costars in Love Letters, took the stage to present our award. I’d known that Halle would be presenting, but I didn’t realize it was for this award.

Before they announced the winner, they showed the clip of each kiss. If they judged by the noise the crowd made after each kiss played, we’d won in a landslide. Poor Leah about crawled under her chair when she heard their reaction.

“And the winner is …” Ben said as Halle ripped open the envelope.

“My friends David and Leah from The Secret Circle,” Halle announced.

Once we got on stage, I noticed that Leah had snatched the trophy out of Ben’s hand. It apparently would be going home with her. When we got ready to thank everyone, I stopped Leah.

“I can’t kiss you,” I declared.

That totally threw her off her game.

“How come?” she finally asked.

“The last time we kissed, it ended up in the tabloids.”

“But … but, it’s tradition,” she stammered out.

The crowd made it clear that they expected a kiss. I folded my arms across my chest and shook my head in defiance. Before it turned into one of those awkward moments, like the time Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift when she’d won an award, Leah began thanking all the right people.

Everyone seemed stunned that I hadn’t kissed her. When Leah finished her speech, we began our walk off stage. Halle and Ben looked at me in disbelief, like I’d just announced I was dating my cousin. Halle had told me not to kiss Leah, so I didn’t see why she should be giving me that look. Then again, I never listened to anyone, according to Miss Halle.

As we all began to walk off, I stopped, grabbed Halle, and put her in a lip-lock. It sounded like every teenage girl in the room had lost their mind.

Ben and Leah acted like they had to pull us apart. Halle pretended her knees had gone weak, forcing Ben to have to catch her. She even had to fan her face because I was just that good. I gave the crowd a knowing look, like that always happened whenever a girl kissed me. Leah ruined my big moment when she mussed up my hair and laughed at me, to the delight of the audience.

◊◊◊

After the award show were the after-parties. I had to beg off because I had to fly home.

◊◊◊ Monday April 17

Sometimes, having a dog is a pain in the butt. I’d gotten home late from LA. Thank goodness I’d planned ahead and chartered a flight. If I’d flown commercial, I probably wouldn’t have arrived until after noon because I would’ve missed the red-eye last night. Mom had given me permission to skip class this morning, which I’d planned to take full advantage of by sleeping in.

That’s where my hound being a pain came in. He has this internal clock he goes by, come hell or high water. This morning, when our usual time to get up arrived, and I hadn’t woken, Duke took it upon himself to wake me up. He started by nudging my hand with his nose. I ignored him and rolled over so he couldn’t reach it. Next came a little ‘woof’ to let me know I was sleeping in. That graduated to his jumping on the bed, followed by him standing on my chest.

Labs aren’t meant to stand on your chest. This same chest had taken a bullet last week and still felt like someone had taken a Louisville Slugger to it. That convinced me to get up and let him out. Being lazy, I left the door open so he wouldn’t bark at it when he finished doing his business and playing with Precious.

Obviously, I hadn’t thought the whole thing through in my sleep-addled mind because not only did Duke come in, so did the cat from hell. They both jumped on my bed and cuddled up next to me.

“Ah, hell, screw it,” I mumbled and tried to go back to sleep.

I had almost dozed off when I heard someone come up the stairs. I opened one eye to see Brit standing at my bedroom door with her phone out, taking a picture of me and my bedmates. She’d apparently come to investigate why her cat hadn’t come home.

“I wondered where my baby had gone. I guess I’m not surprised to see her in bed with a man.”

“Take her and close the door as you leave,” I strongly suggested.

Instead, Brit sat down on the edge of my bed. Aw, crap. I was too tired for this.

“Does it ever start to get to you?” she asked. “It’s like people expect you to be a certain way. The problem is you don’t really know who you are or if that’s the way you want to be.”

I opened an eye to see if she might leave if I ignored her. Then my mind started to wake up and wonder how she’d gotten into the yard to begin with. I doubted my parents had buzzed her in.

“Leave me alone,” I complained.

“That’s just it. You’re supposed to be this big problem-solver and figure all this out for me. It’s sort of what people think, but I get the sense that you’re as trapped in your roles as I am. I’m supposed to be the good daughter, the one who will actually make something of my life. Unlike my idiot brothers, who don’t have a care in the world, I’m supposed to be the responsible one. You get that, don’t you?”