Dare You to Chase the Soccer Player (Rock Valley High 5)

Nothing was getting me down. Not the rainstorm of homework and pop quizzes coming my way with the start of another year of high school. Not even Beth’s morning sourness. I hopped out of the front seat and glanced across the lawn stretching out in front of the white limestone school. Was it my imagination, or was the grass a more brilliant green than usual? And that clear sky...it was as blue as Zane’s eyes the moment before he kissed me. There were all the signs that today was going my way.

“All right, Little Miss Sunshine, let’s get to English lit.” Beth shrugged her backpack onto her shoulders and nodded her head toward the front doors where a steady stream of students had already begun to file inside. “Mr. Garret isn’t afraid to give out tardy slips on the first day.”

I shuddered and hugged my bag to my stomach. English lit was bad enough. English was my worst subject. But Mr. Garret was like the human version of a blackhead smack dab in the middle of my nose. He hated me. And I hated his class. We were in a mutual hate-itude. Nothing would change that.

I fell in beside her as we walked toward the entrance. “Okay, fine. But I’m sitting in the back, as far away from mister spits-a-lot as humanly possible.”

“Deal.”

Beth pulled her phone out of her pocket and glanced down at the screen, disappointment flashing in her eyes when no new notifications popped up. She’d been doing that a lot lately, and not just because of her never-ending obsession with her video games.

I hadn’t quite gotten the full truth out of her yet, but I had the feeling she’d been talking with a boy. Maybe she wasn’t quite ready to spill her guts, but I was prepared and willing to discuss all the juicy details once she was. I lived for that kind of stuff.

I’d already succeeded in getting one of our friends together with the love of her young life. Maybe it was my destiny to find us all love by the end of our high school careers—a girl could only dream.

“Lexi! Beth! Where have you been?”

The moment we strolled through the doors of the school, Charlotte practically tackled us. She had her phone in her hand and was bouncing up and down like an energizer bunny on caffeine. Charlotte was my matchmaking success story and the final piece in our friendship triad that our sisters had built before they went off to college. Her brown hair was pulled into a low ponytail and she had a new spattering of freckles across her cheeks from spending every free moment this summer learning how to barrel ride with her boyfriend’s horse. It was her new obsession. Our little cowgirl in the making.

Charlotte released us from the hug and grinned madly. I giggled into my hand at the sight. She wasn’t usually so bouncy. That was my role.

“Did you see the news this morning?” She waved her phone in front of us, but moved it too quickly for me to see. “Oh my gosh, I about died when I saw it. I can’t believe we met a real, live, movie star. I thought that party had been a total bust. But we just didn’t know. And then you spilled shrimp sauce on your shirt. But he was there for that, too, wasn’t he?”

I squinted at her, trying to understand her babbling rampage. Giving up, I leaned over to look at her boyfriend standing behind her with his hands stuffed in his jean pockets.

“Hunter, can you translate for your girl?”

He shook his head and grinned softly. The boy was country, from the rodeo buckle holding up his Wrangler jeans to his blue flannel shirt. His hazel eyes shone with fondness as he draped an arm over Charlotte’s shoulders.

“What Char Char is trying to say is that as it turns out, the guy we met the other night at your dad’s work party is one of the actors in the movie they’re shooting.”

“Wait.” I held up a hand. “Who? What are you talking about?”

Charlotte’s eyes grew wide as she finally stopped bouncing. “The boy. The one that thought you were the paparazzi.” Her eyes darted around the busy hallway before she leaned in closer to whisper. “The one you...kissed.”

“No way!” Beth exclaimed, finally shoving her phone back into her pocket to give Charlotte her full attention. “Really? Let me see.”

I froze, my entire body stiffening. She couldn’t have meant Zane. That was insane. It just wasn’t possible. Laughter bubbled out of my mouth before I could stop it. I bent over at the waist, slapping my knee like that was the funniest joke I’d ever heard.

“You guys almost had me going. You’re good.” I pushed past them and went to my locker. It wasn’t much farther down the hall. The bold green locker door swung open before my friends could surround me again.

“Lexi, I’m not joking.” Charlotte crossed her arms, hurt entering her eyes. “This isn’t a prank. It’s on the RockValleyBiz Instagram account. It’s legit.”

RockValleyBiz was the notorious gossip site of Rock Valley High. No one knew who ran it, but I suspected a few of the most popular girls in my class had their hands in it. I’d seen them whispering over the posts at parties but hadn’t been able to fully infiltrate their circle.

Yet.

I was working on it.

“Let me see that.” Beth grabbed Charlotte’s phone and her gaze darted over the screen as if she were reading a major newscast. Her eyes grew wider the further she read, until finally, bright red spots appeared on her cheeks. “It’s true, Lex. Take a look.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” I quirked an eyebrow and took the phone delicately from Beth’s hand.

Now, they were all in on the joke. If that was how they wanted to play it, I’d give in and let them have their laugh. Zane wasn’t some famous actor. Famous actors didn’t hide in the shadows at parties. His dad worked on the film, just like mine.

Except, when I finally looked down at my phone, there was a picture of Zane. And it wasn’t from the party. It was him, looking absolutely dashing in a sleek black suit with a white t-shirt underneath. He had his arm draped over a gorgeous girl with jet black hair. And they stood in front of a white screen, as if they were attending a red-carpet event.

“What the...?” I scrolled down to the description as fast as I could and read aloud. “Are up-and-coming Hollywood royalty expected at Rock Valley High? With the new shoot for Kicked starting soon, keep your eyes peeled for the star, Zane Rees. Zane is the son of the famous actress Maria Irving and it looks like he’s got acting chops of his own. Does any girl have a chance of pinning this bachelor down? Doesn’t seem likely with all the broken hearts left in his wake.”