"Do you have one?"

"I do, but she helped me pick it out." She scowls. "I don't love it."

I give her a grin. "You're going to win, so you need to be in a dress that you love."

She bounces a little. "Wouldn't that be amazing?"

I glance at my watch. "Hey, I gotta get in there."

"Break a leg.” She looks at me sincerely and says, "Thanks for letting me come with you."

"You're welcome. Um, do you want to invite Whitney? I felt bad when she left me out, I don't want to make her feel that way."

"Hell, no," she says and marches off.

"Keatyn Monroe," the drama coach says, calling my name off a list in his hand.

It’s time! I was a little nervous while I was standing here waiting for my turn, but as I walk across the stage, it’s gone.

I’m ready.

I have my lines memorized.

The accent down.

I know how I want to portray the character physically.

I've even dressed the part in a sweet but flirty skirt and cowboy boots.

I recite my lines and forget about everything else.

After my tryout, I step slowly off the stage. I know I have to let the next person audition, but I'm not ready to leave. I could stay up here all night.

Dance. Talk. Pretend to be someone else.

I don't want to leave.

I send Dawson a quick text, telling him I'll meet him later, and work my way through the seats to the darkened back of the auditorium.

I'm surprised to find Aiden sitting right where I was headed. "Are you trying out?" I whisper as I take a seat next to him.

"No, I watched Logan and Nick try out earlier. They had to get to the JV game. I decided to stay and watch for a while."

"Shouldn't you be there too?”

"Cole was the starting receiver and he got hurt, so I’m filling in for him and will only be playing Varsity for a while.”

"That's exciting. Congrats."

He cocks his head at me. "So just who was that up there?"

"What do you mean?" My heart sinks. "Oh my gosh, did I suck?"

He smiles gently and shakes his head. "No, you didn't suck. It was like watching a different person. The accent. The way you flipped your hair."

He knows how I flip my hair?

He continues. "And you put your hand on your hip when she was being sassy. You only do that in real life when you're mad. You even held your jaw differently. Like, not as tight as usual and your face looked softer. Sweeter, maybe."

I break out in a grin. "That's because she's not a bitch like I am."

"You're not a bitch."

"No? But I can play one." I straighten my back. Tilt my chin and look down on him. Roll my shoulders slightly forward in a model pose. Get a defiant look in my eye.

"Damn, you haven't even said anything yet, and I'm already scared," he says with an adorable laugh. He studies my face for a minute. "You know, you have a very expressive face."

My mind flashes to Vincent saying those same words. I remember thinking it was sweet that he noticed. Of course, that was before he tried to kidnap me.

"Thank you," I say to Aiden.

"You belong up there. On stage. You made it look completely effortless, like you’re a natural."

My heart aches to tell him that I should be a natural at it, having an actress for a mom and a model for a dad. I think about my dad. How he always used to tell me to think of something happy and then would snap a photo. How we would pose for silly pictures. How he could think about something sad and look like a different person.

I nod my head and whisper the words I've been afraid to admit to anyone. "I think it's what I want to do. Like, for a living. Like, if I'm good enough."

"If I didn't need you here to tutor me, I'd suggest you quit school, go to Hollywood, and start auditioning. I'm serious, Keatyn."

My heart skips a beat. He just called me Keatyn.

God, my name sounds beautiful on his tongue.

I get all flush and flustered. Why do I still get that way around him? I kicked the Aiden addiction.

"Um, uh, thanks," I stammer. "But I think I need some practice first. Some classes, maybe."

"Well, I know you'll get the part."

"You can't know that. I was the first one to audition for it.”

"Why did you pick that role and not the lead?"

"I like how she affects the story, I guess. I like how she has to follow her heart and how she finds true love. How even though the Bad Prince tries to keep her and the Good Prince apart, their love prevails.”

Aiden lets out a deep, sexy growl. The kind of growl that makes a girl want to rip off her panties.

Not me, of course. I’m just saying most girls. Well, some girls would, maybe.

I think.

“I always knew you were a romantic at heart,” he says.

For the first time tonight, I start to sweat. I move my arms out wide on the armrests to give my pits some air to breathe.

No. I will not do it.

I will not talk to the hottie god about true love or romance.

I will change the subject.

"I've heard it's hard to be an actress. Dealing with the paparazzi. The filming locations. Kissing your cast mates. I can see why Dawson is having a hard time with it."

Aiden leans closer to me and puts his big hand on top of my knee.

It's a casual gesture, leaning in toward me, his hand on my knee for balance. "Dawson should be here supporting you. And if he had come, he'd know. It's not you up there."

Electrical shivers shoot up my leg.

And my knee is such a slut!

She likes it! She’s that friend you have. The one who you tell you’re on a diet and the next day she shows up with cupcakes and says, Aww, just one won’t hurt.

But when I look down at my knee, I realize that she’s not only a slut, she’s an enabler. She’s all, Look at your knee. How small it looks under his big hand. How safe it feels.

God, I hate my knee.

And Aiden is talking to me. Something about a premiere and a red carpet. But I don’t really catch all he’s saying.

Because. His. Hand. Is. On. My. Knee.

"You'll walk the red carpet with me?" I ask unbelievably. Is that what he said?

It's dark back here, but I instantly see a flash of brilliant white teeth.

"I said I'd watch you walk it, but if you're offering . . ."

“Oh. I, um, just, you know, a hot guy in a black suit is, um, well, it’s like the ultimate accessory."

I get another radiant smile. "It's agreed then. I'll be your arm candy."

I have the sudden urge to lick him. To see if he tastes as good as he looks.

He leans back to watch the next audition, taking his big hand with him.

I close my eyes and shake my head.

How the hell does he do that?

Damn him!

He's like a goddamned walking love potion.

I quickly grab the key necklace, hoping it’s like an antidote, and slide it back and forth across my chin while we watch the rest of the auditions in silence.

An obsession with bras.

9:30pm

After auditions, I have a little time before curfew, so Dawson leaves the JV game and meets me in his room.

“I think my tryout went pretty well.”

"Speaking of pretty . . ." He kisses my neck hard, unbuttons my blouse, and grins. "This is the bra from the day at the library."

"You have an obsession with bras. What are you, like thirteen?" I laugh, but I love that he likes them.

He throws me on the bed and shakes his head. "I know a lot more now than when I was thirteen."

My phone buzzes with a text and I peek at it over his shoulder.

"Dawson! Ohmigawd! Yay! I got a callback!"

"A what?"

"A callback. From the director! I mean, the drama coach!"

"What does that mean?"

"It means he liked my tryout enough to want me to read another scene tonight, probably with one of the princes to see if we have chemistry on stage."

"Chemistry? Like the kissing parts?"

"It's not just the kissing. It's are we believable to the audience? Am I a good enough actress to pretend like I have feelings for him? Haven't you ever seen a movie where two people are supposed to fall in love but you just can't picture them together? I mean, take Twilight for example. I think when most people read the book they loved Edward. But when the first movie came out a lot of people started switching to Team Jacob because it felt like they had good chemistry." I laugh. "And, well, his abs didn't hurt either."

"But aren't the people who played Edward and Bella a couple in real life?"

"I'm not sure, but I think they were a couple during some of the filming."

"So, some people do fall in love with their co-stars." He hangs his head a little.

I wrap my arms around his neck. "Dawson, I love you. Please don't be jealous."

He pushes me back a little to read my face.

"Is Jake just giving me shit?"

"Yes."

"It's just he has Whitney, and I was a little nervous he'd get you too."

"You're jealous Jake has Whitney?"

He runs his hand through his hair and sighs. "No, it's just he was telling Bryce and Tyrese about other night. About how she was drunk. How hot the sex was. I guess she's different with him."

"Our sex is different than it was with you and her, it would stand to reason that theirs would be different too,” I say, even though I know that Jake was talking about sex with Peyton, not Whitney.”

"Yeah, I guess. Maybe she just wasn't that attracted to me."

Knowing what I know about her wanting his brother instead, I'd say he's probably right. "Not to bring up my past, but I'm not the same with you as I have been before. You make me feel a whole lot sexier."

He tries to pull my bra off. "You are sexier."

“And I have to go. I’ll call you when I get back to my dorm.”

Friday, September 30th

Stranded on second base.

Breakfast

I’m sitting at breakfast with Riley and Dallas.

“So, I’m giving up on boobs.” Dallas says.

Riley is like, “You going gay, dude?”

“Ah, no. But apparently some girl complained to a teacher about it, like I was sexually harassing her or some shit.”

“That’s kinda lame,” I say.

“It’s not like you were touching them or anything. Were you?” Riley asks.

“Naw, I mean, not unless she wanted me to later.” Dallas grins. “But I decided that basically the psychic panty network and the boob guessing were really just pickup lines. Ways to talk to a girl, get her attention.”

I nod my head. “I could see that.”

“So, I have a new approach.”

“Oh, boy, what’s that?”

“I’m going to try a different pickup line every few days.”

“Interesting idea.”

“Maybe we could go off campus and try out a few,” Riley suggests.

“Riley, are you trying to meet new girls? I thought you were crazy about Ariela?”

“I am, but, shit. I told you. I’m stranded on second base. I haven’t been stranded on second base since seventh grade!”

“Which means you like her.”

“Yeah, maybe. We’ll see.”

I turn to Dallas. “So does it start today? What’s your line? Try it out on me.”

“I can’t just say it. I need to work it into the conversation.”

The bells rings, reminding us it's time to head to our first class.

"I'll walk over and refill my coffee. You come up to me and say it.”

He rolls his eyes at me. “Fine.”

“Wait,” Riley says. “I’m going to get coffee with her. I gotta hear this.”

Riley and I wander up to the coffee thermoses, refill our cups, and then turn to walk to class.

Dallas saunters up next to me. He’s wearing a very cute smile. It's the smile I noticed the first day, when I decided to go sit by him. He stops and lays his hand gently on my forearm.

I stop walking and give him a confused look.

He grins at me and says, “I just have to ask. Did you have Lucky Charms for breakfast this morning?”

"Uh, no. Why?"

"Cuz you look magically delicious.”

I can’t help it. I grin back at him and laugh. Because if I didn’t have a boyfriend, I would totally fall for that.

“I didn’t have Lucky Charms,” I say, “but now I wish I would have. You should say that to Katie today. It’d probably melt her panties off.”

Riley hits Dallas on the back as he walks off to his first class. "I thought that was pretty lame.”

"Only because you didn't think of it first." They both laugh, then Riley turns to me. "So I hear you asked Ariela to go shopping with you. Now Dallas and I will be stuck here alone."

"Why don't you go to Columbia with Dawson?”

"Dawson is going to Columbia?" He raises his eyebrows at me.

"Yeah."

"And you're okay with that?"

"Uh, I think so. Should I not be okay with that?”

"Camden is . . . well, he's trouble."

"Trouble, how?"

"I know what goes on there. Cam knows a lot of girls. Gets a lot of girls."

I squint my eyes trying to follow. Then I realize what he's not saying and my eyes get big. "You think he's going to cheat on me?"