Chapter Thirteen
“Yes, Mrs. Mathison, I completely understand the amount of work it would take to lead the Pink Charity Benefit for Harmony. But I also know that I am exactly the girl for the job.”
“I believe you, Bryna,” Mrs. Mathison said, leaning back in her desk chair. “I just wanted to be sure. I know that your extracurricular schedule is already full, and the Pink Charity Benefit is Harmony’s biggest philanthropy event of the year.”
Bryna smiled sweetly as she uncrossed and crossed her legs. “I am always willing to take on more to further my charitable contribution. I hardly consider it work at all.”
Running the largest benefit of the year would look stellar on her college applications, and she wanted to make sure everything would be in place for her. Not to mention, it would help her bid into society. This was the most coveted position at Harmony Prep!
“Well, I will have to look through the remaining applications, of course.” Mrs. Mathison looked down at the large stack on her desk and then back at Bryna. “But I am sure you are a perfect fit. Our distinguished alumnus, Felicity Rose, will be heading the committee this year. I’ll forward your application to her, and she will be in contact over the break.”
“Thank you so much.” Bryna stood and shook her teacher’s hand.
“No. Thank you for all of your hard work.”
She smiled brightly and then exited the room. Avery and Tara were seated in the hallway beside another cheerleader, Jemma.
“Glad that’s all cleared away,” Bryna said, clasping her hands behind her back. “Mrs. Mathison chose me to head the Pink Charity Benefit. Dream come true.”
“Oh my God,” Avery squealed.
“That’s amazing!” Tara said.
“How could she have already picked you?” Jemma asked. “The applications were due yesterday. First round of interviews are supposed to be this afternoon.”
Bryna shrugged. “Not my problem. Don’t worry though. I’ll save spaces for you all to be my assistants.”
She brushed past the girls without a second thought. She was queen. Of course she was chair the committee. To think anyone else really had a shot was laughable.
She headed to the cheer room for practice after school. The other girls wouldn’t get there until after they spoke with Mrs. Mathison, which would give Bryna time to speak with Coach Baker.
Bryna knocked on the door to the cheerleading coach’s office. “You wanted to see me?”
“Yes, Bryna. How was your interview with Mrs. Mathison?”
“I got the lead spot for the Pink Charity Benefit,” she said proudly.
“That’s good to hear.” Coach Baker ran her hand back through her blonde bob and smiled. “I just wanted to discuss with you something that was brought to my attention this past weekend. Please take a seat.”
Bryna wasn’t sure what this was about, but by the look on her coach’s face, she wasn’t going to like it. She plopped down across from Coach Baker and waited.
“It was unfortunate that you had to miss the game this past weekend. I recently heard that you weren’t absent due to illness, however, and I wanted to see what you had to say about it.” Coach Baker shifted uncomfortably. She was a petite woman who truly cared for the girls who cheered for her. She likely hated having this conversation more than Bryna.
Bryna’s eyebrows rose. “What I have to say? I was in bed all night and could barely move.”
Coach Baker sighed. “I want to believe you, Bryna. I was told that you weren’t home all night, and you were, in fact, out on a date.”
“What?” she gasped. “Who told you that?”
“Your brother,” she said apologetically. “He said that you weren’t at home when he got in. I haven’t confirmed with your parents because I wanted to speak with you first.”
Bryna swallowed her red-hot anger. “Pace is my stepbrother. My father is filming in New Zealand until Christmas, and my mother is probably off somewhere, coked out and sleeping with one of her twenty-something cabana boys. Feel free to verify with them, but neither was home. Nor was Pace, and for once, he never came into my room.”
Coach Baker shifted uncomfortably. “What about your stepmother?”
“I didn’t see her all night.” Here came the theatrics. Bryna put her hand over her mouth and swallowed as if she had to keep from crying. She breathed in heavily, shook her head, and then looked away. She couldn’t believe this was happening to her. “You don’t know what it’s like at home right now, Coach Baker. I was sick in my room, all alone. Pace is throwing out wild accusations. I don’t have a parental figure in the house anymore. I look up to you so much, Coach Baker, and knowing that you might believe this of me just makes it all worse.”
“Bryna, I’m sorry. I know things have been rough with your home life lately. You’ve been so consistent all these years, and this was just a one-time miss, so we’ll put the whole thing behind us. Let’s just get to practice.”
“Thank you, Coach Baker,” Bryna said, wiping her eyes. “Can I just have a minute before I go out there?”
“Of course.”
Coach Baker walked out of her office to herd the rest of the team, and Bryna pulled out her cell phone. Dropping the theatrics, she let her temper take over. How dare Pace rat her out to her coach! She wouldn’t stand for this. He couldn’t get away with it. She hoped he knew what he had gotten himself into because, from now on, this wasn’t just fun and games. He had messed with her life, and he was going to pay.
She jotted out a text message to Pace.
Game on.
* * *
Bryna left practice in a hurry. She wanted to get home and prepare for her inevitable showdown with Pace once he got home from football practice.
On her way out of the building, she’d told Avery and Tara how Pace had lied to their coach. They couldn’t believe that he would lie, let alone stoop to that level, but they were glad nothing bad had come of it. She wished she had someone to confide in about Jude, but she couldn’t tell the girls that she hadn’t actually been sick.
On her way home, her phone started ringing. She glanced down at the display. Gates. She sighed. This had been a long time coming. She clicked the Bluetooth feature.
“You have one minute before I hang up,” she answered.
“I’m sorry. I miss you. I want to make it up to you.”
Bryna rolled her eyes. “And how does Chloe feel about that?”
“Chloe and I aren’t even together, Bri.”
“You’re not a couple, or you’re not fucking?”
“Bryna,” he sighed. “Come on. I’m making an effort here.”
“Sidestepping the question isn’t making an effort,” she responded. She was still pissed about what she had walked into that night with Chloe and Gates. He shouldn’t have blindsided her with that.
“We’re not together, and we’re not fucking either. All right?”
“Fine.”
“You and I are the only people in each other’s lives who know the real person behind the mask. You were there for me before my acting career exploded. Everyone else sees the movies, and you see the dick who you agreed to date even though he was a nobody.”
Bryna laughed despite herself. “I would never date a nobody. I knew you would be huge.”
“Would be huge?” he asked, laughing.
“We’re not talking about your dick, Gates!”
“Fine. Fine. I’m just trying to make this right. I’ll be gone through most of Christmas break, but I actually have an appearance scheduled for New Year’s Eve in Los Angeles. If you aren’t seeing anyone else, maybe you could be my date?”
She didn’t know her plans for Christmas or New Year’s. Her dad was supposed to be in town for both, as far as he had told her, and she usually dropped everything to spend as much time with him as possible. Also, she didn’t know if, by the end of the month, she would have a hot New Year’s date with Jude all lined up.
“I don’t know. If nothing else comes up, then count me in. But just as a friend, Gates.”
“Sounds like a vote of confidence, B. I invite you to the Chateau Marmont hotel for a posh New Year’s exclusive, and you say, only if you don’t find a better offer.”
Bryna’s heart rate picked up in excitement. “The Chateau Marmont? You are on the rise, aren’t you?”
“Say you’ll go with me.”
“I stand by my answer.”
Gates laughed. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were seeing someone else.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” she demanded.
“I know you, and you wouldn’t be interested in some Harmony or Covenant trust fund baby. And with your extracurricular schedule, where would you find the time to meet someone new who could compete with me?”
Bryna shook her head in disbelief. This had been a relatively pleasant conversation up until that comment. Now, the anger that had momentarily dissolved was rearing its ugly head again.
“You’re right. How could anyone ever compete with the ex-boyfriend I dumped for lying to me about sleeping with his costar? In fact, maybe you should just invite Chloe to the New Year’s party.”
“Oh, so there is someone.”
“Stop fishing,” she snapped.
Gates laughed lightly. “I’m not fishing. I have to get back. I hope I see you on New Year’s, Bri.”
“Bye, Gates.” She hung up the phone with relief.
She felt like she was performing on a tightrope. Every footstep forward left her wobbling and in a more precarious position than the step before, but she couldn’t turn around now. All she could do was keep walking down the unsteady rope and hope she would make it over to the other side without falling and breaking her neck.