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

Just standing in her presence, I could feel her awesomeness rubbing off on me.

“Yeeeees?” Alanis asked, before glancing up expectantly at me. “Are they calling us to set?”

She’d changed her hair to a deep golden blonde color since I spotted her at my dad’s work party last weekend. It fell into two long braids down her back with a shortly trimmed row of bangs that were meticulously combed over her forehead. She wore bright green eyeshadow and her high cheekbones were accentuated with just a hint of blush. I bit my bottom lip in excitement, taking a step toward her.

It was now or never.

“Hi, I’m Lexi Black.” I stuck out my hand and beamed brightly at her. My dad had always said, if you’re going to ask for something, there was no point in acting ashamed about it. Own it. People appreciated candor. I hope that included Alanis Nori. “I’m actually here for a job, Ms. Nori. Anything you want, I’ll do it. I just want to gain some experience in the makeup artistry world and I know that with you as a reference, I could go anywhere. Please hire me and I promise I’ll make you proud.”

A little wrinkle appeared between her eyebrows. She stood up slowly, until she towered over me with her six-inch platform sandals, lime green parachute pants, and white turtleneck tank top. Her dark brown eyes scanned me over, devoid of any emotion. Somehow, I managed to maintain my smile, even as I slowly dropped the hand that she’d refused to shake.

“I do not need help,” she said curtly, lifting her chin. “There is no job.”

Failure wasn’t in my vocabulary. At least not today. I scrambled forward as she went to put the lip gloss on the vanity top behind her.

“What about eyeshadow? I’m really good at putting on eyeshadow. I could totally help.”

“Nope.” She snagged a blush compact and squinted at the girl in the chair, totally ignoring me as I circled behind.

“What about to grab your coffee?” I tried and failed to make eye contact with her. “Surely, you need someone to be in charge of your liquid intake for these long shoots.”

She squinted as she applied blush to the girl’s cheeks. “I have craft service for that.”

“What about your brushes? Can’t I be in charge of keeping your brushes clean? You don’t even have to pay me anything, I swear. I just want the experience.”

It was a last pitch, something that I’d only thrown out there because I was desperate.

She shrugged and then turned to put the blush away. “No need. No job.”

All the confidence I’d carried until now seemed to fade away as my shoulders drooped. Alanis was as unmovable as Mount Rushmore. I knew a lost cause when I saw one. Ninety-nine point nine percent of people couldn’t resist the Lexi Black charm.

Apparently, I’d found the point one percent.

“Okay...” I looked up at the ceiling, trying not to let my emotions get the best of me. The last thing Alanis needed to see was my mascara running. “Well, if you change your mind, my dad’s Ray Black. He’s the lawyer for Rock Valley High. He can get in contact with me. I promise, Ms. Nori, I would work extra hard for you.”

Alanis pressed her lips into a thin line while smudging a bit of blush with the pad of her thumb. “I won’t change my mind. Thank you and please depart from my trailer before I call security. I need total silence to work.”

“Um...okay. I’m sorry.”

I took a step backwards, feeling the blow from her words. Never, in all of my daydreaming and planning, had I pictured Alanis Nori shutting me down so firmly. My mind scrambled to keep up with this new reality, but it couldn’t come up with anything new to say that would change her mind. With defeat pulsing through my veins, I turned and headed back for the stairs. The trailer was crushing in on me and if I stayed a moment longer, I was going to lose all control.

Just as I was about to reach for the door, it flew open. I blinked in shock for a few moments as a pair of bright blue eyes widened in surprise. Zane stood before me, wearing a simple gray t-shirt and athletic shorts, but somehow still managing to look absolutely delicious. Freddy stood not far behind, his brown eyes dancing with the familiar flirtatious grin as my gaze flicked to him and then back to the boy standing before me.

It was a relief to see Zane, especially after what had happened with Alanis. I’d needed some good news. I practically launched myself down the stairs at him, jumping to the bottom with a deep inhale.

“I’m so glad to see you again.” I swallowed down the tears that had threatened to flow just moments ago and smiled up at him. “I was hoping we’d run into each other. This has just been the worst day ever. Alanis won’t give me the time of day. I think I’m out of luck with the job.”

The surprise at nearly running into me dissolved from Zane’s face and he pressed his lips together into a thin line. His jaw muscles flexed as he took a step backwards and stared down at the ground. “Oh, hi. It’s uh...Lexi, right?”

“Yeah. Lexi Black.”

A dagger shot through my chest as I stared at the boy I’d been obsessing over for the past twenty-four hours. He had to ask my name? What kind of trick was this? I hadn’t pegged him for the type of manipulative guy who purposely brought down a girl’s confidence before picking her back up. No, that wasn’t him.

In reality, he must’ve been the type of guy who kissed a girl and couldn’t remember her name. The truth of it spilled over my head like a bucket of ice water.

“Dude, I should’ve known something was up when she resisted all of my attempts to snag her number.” Freddy grabbed Zane by the shoulders and squeezed them. “She already fell under the star’s spell. What a relief. I thought my powers of seduction were failing. Glad to know there’s a perfectly logical explanation.”

“No girl needs an explanation to shoot you down, McCray,” Zane said, shooting Freddy an amused look. He didn’t even meet my gaze. “Trust me. And there’s nothing between us. I barely know her.”