“I didn’t know.” I release a breath, realizing how stupid that sounds.
Most girls my age are obsessed with social media, but I was raised on a steady diet of sunshine and surf. Growing up in Hawaii, my mom was a single parent trying to bring me up on a paper-thin budget. We couldn’t afford many things, so I found ways to entertain myself that mostly consisted of reading, dancing, and spending time outdoors. I was taught the importance of being present. My grandmother didn’t want me to lose touch with the world around me like everyone else has, and since she looked after me so often, that practice sort of stuck. I guess you could say I was a little sheltered in that way. When I finally did get a cell phone, I used it for calling and texting. It never occurred to me to look up Landon’s Snapchat or Instagram or whatever because I don’t have those accounts myself.
When the principal asked me to tutor Landon, the only information I received was that he’d just moved back to Black Mountain. Being a transplant myself, I hadn’t been here long enough to know his history. After a rough start to the tutoring sessions, I saw him practically every day. The school said he needed a little help, but that was obviously an understatement because Landon was behind in almost every subject. Of course, I thought it was a little strange, but being that he was so cagey, I never worked up the courage to ask him for an explanation. I was more concerned with getting him caught up in time for the new year than checking to see what he posted each day. But now that Court just dropped this bombshell of truth about his identity, I’m dying to know.
“Why didn’t you tell me you guys were hanging out?” She eyes me curiously. “You never mentioned him when we talked this summer.”
“We only hung out a few times.”
I’m not sure why the lie slips from my lips, but I always got the impression that Landon wouldn’t want anyone to know about the tutoring. It felt like a secret, and I didn’t want to betray that. But the longer I stand here, digesting the scene before me, the more I realize this summer was a bigger secret than I ever could have imagined. Nobody knew he was here, and the entire time, I was completely oblivious to who he really was. Now everything makes so much sense. His barbed wire exterior. The immediate distrust when we met. The disbelief when I said I didn’t know him. I thought he was just an angry guy with trust issues. As it turns out, he’s one of the most famous faces of our generation.
The time we spent together doesn’t mean anything. This party is proof of that. That must be why he invited me. He wanted me to see the truth.
I always suspected it would be like this summer never happened once school began this year. We’d sit at different tables, and maybe he’d look at me in the hall, but he’d never admit that he knew me. Because deep down, I understood he was one of them. I just thought we had more time before the line was drawn. I’d nurtured a silly, girlish hope inside me that these feelings weren’t one-sided.
“I’m so stupid,” I groan toward the sky. “I just thought he was the new kid.”
“Yeah, no.” Courtney snorts. “This town loves to claim him as their very own. Black Mountain’s child actor turned teenage heartthrob. He never really lived here permanently, but his grandmother did, and he’d visit her between filming breaks in LA. I still can’t believe you’ve never seen Blood River Legacy.”
“We didn’t even own a television before I moved here,” I remind her.
Before my mom married Theo, we didn’t own a lot of the things we do now.
Courtney blows a giant pink bubble between her lips. “My mom says he’s like their generation’s version of Johnathan Taylor Thomas. Whatever that means.”
“I can’t believe this.” My voice wobbles. “Why didn’t he tell me?”
“You have to admit, it’s a little funny.” She quirks a brow, clearly amused. “It was probably refreshing for him to be around someone who didn’t worship the ground he walks on. Everyone here has always lost their minds whenever he came to town. He couldn’t walk down the street without fan girls flinging themselves at him like dodgeballs. And now he’s going to school here? He’s automatically elevated to god status.”
I dig my fingers into my temples. “Yeah, and meanwhile, I’m the only idiot in town without a clue.”
“Well, he invited you tonight.” She pokes me in the arm. “You should go in there and let him know you already know. He probably wants to get that conversation out of the way before school on Monday. That way, there won’t be any awkwardness.”