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

Shaking my head, I unscrewed the lid to the clay and lifted it to my nose. For a product made from dirt, it smelled heavenly. Like roses and jasmine. I inhaled deeply, urging the stress to leave my body as I exhaled.

“Thanks, but it’s nothing. I just didn’t get the job I wanted on set.”

She frowned, planting a hand on her hip. “The one with the makeup artist?”

I nodded. “Yep. She pretty much wouldn’t even look at me. There goes my chance to get a reference for the L Makeup Institute when I apply next year.”

Marie’s frown grew deeper. She turned to look at her reflection in the mirror and ran her fingers through her waves. Sometimes, it was weird to think of how much she and my mom had in common. They were both particular about their looks. Not a hair out of place.

“Your dad was going to talk to the director about getting you an internship. Maybe there’s still hope,” she said.

I shook my head and headed toward the door. Dad was a good lawyer, but no one was that good. Alanis had shot me down hard. It would take a miracle to get her to agree to take me on as an assistant.

“Nah, I think I’d better just get used to practicing my makeup on my friends this year,” I said, backing out of the bathroom.

Marie turned to smile sympathetically at me. “You know you can practice on me, too. Anytime. And if you want to talk, about anything, I’m here for you.”

“Thanks, Marie,” I said with a little wave.

Throwing myself on the bed in my room, I turned over and stared at the ceiling. I knew Marie would’ve loved to help me with my boy problem, but I wasn’t ready to spill about that. The only other woman I knew who’d survived through this kind of complete rejection was on the other side of town, probably working late without her daughters around to beg for takeout. She’d had quite a year of personal growth, thanks to a weekly therapy session and a dating profile that her daughters had set up for her.

I grabbed my phone to take some selfies of my bare face and duck lips—a habit I’d gotten into when the acne first started to help myself come to terms with my skin—but stopped when I saw a new message pop on the screen. It was from an unknown number. I clicked on it and skimmed over the words, my eyes blurring as my brain tried to keep up.

That couldn’t be what I thought it was.

Flipping back over to my stomach, I reread it again, my heart pulsating with disbelief.

Unknown: Attention Miss Black.

You may start your internship with me tomorrow, after school.

There are three weeks left until we wrap up the shoot.

Do take note that I expect you to stay out of my way.

No showing off. No showboating.

You are there to learn and assist me. Nothing else. One strike and you’re done.

Welcome to the team.

-Alanis Nori

I squealed so hard, I thought the screen on my phone was going to shatter. And when my dad came crashing into my room moments later with two pizza boxes, threatening to spill their contents onto the floor, I couldn’t help but squeal again. Jumping from my bed, I sprinted to hug him tight around his torso. He quickly went from scared for the life of his daughter to looking slightly amused as he shook his head of dark curly brown hair.

“Okay...do I dare ask what caused this reaction?” he asked, sliding the boxes onto my desk so he could return the hug.

“You’re the best, Dad.” I couldn’t stop smiling into his white button-up shirt. “You got me that internship. I start tomorrow.”

Somehow, my dad had managed the impossible. I didn’t know how he’d pulled it off, but I knew he deserved at least a month of homemade hot breakfasts in the morning and coffee from his favorite shop. I could do that. Especially now that I had the job.

He stood a little taller and straightened his collar. “Wow. That’s great. I really am the best.”

I laughed and looked up at him. “All right, Daddio, reel it in before I have to make some witty, yet cutting teenage comment to bring you back down to size.”

He grinned at me. “You are r

eally good at those.”