20
Faye
“H
ey there, beautiful.” I jumped out of my seat in the canteen as someone slung their arm unexpectantly over my shoulder. “It’s good to see you today. Especially when you’re looking so good.”
What the…? I twisted my neck to see Kevin looking down at me. I guessed that it was him from the voice, but the words were too kind to be coming from him. I was more used to him snapping.
“Erm, hi, Kevin?” I replied curiously. “What’s going on? Is everything alright?”
“Can’t I just come to see my favorite girl in the world without their being something wrong?”
He plonked in the chair next to me and rested his chin on his hands. I narrowed my eyes curiously and watched him for a few moments, waiting for him speak out and explain himself. He was acting way out of character for himself and I didn’t like it one bit. It put me on edge.
“Oh what’s wrong with you?” He nudged me playfully. “You’re acting all freaked out.”
“I just don’t know what’s going on.” I let out a sound that was supposed to be a laugh, but it came out far too strangled for that. “You’re being so strange right now. You’re being all nice to me.”
He tossed back his head and boomed out with loud laughter. His chest shook with the mirth as if I was being absolutely ridiculous. Everyone else in the canteen turned to stare at us which brought a bright redness to my cheeks. I’d never felt so embarrassed in my life, this was why I always preferred to blend into the background. It was different on the stage, this was something else.
“Okay, okay, fair enough.” He leaned in close so only I could hear what he was saying. “Maybe I haven’t always been the best. Maybe I haven’t been the nicest guy in the world to you. I understand that, and I am sorry. But I can promise you that it won’t happen again. The Hulk version of me is gone. I’m only going to be Mr. Nice Guy from now on.” He shrugged and smirked. “You were very right with your advice. I can see that now. My latest video did really well and that’s all for you.”
Ah, I could see now. His temperament was solely dependent on how well his damn videos did. I wasn’t keen on that, but it would be a whole lot easier to work with him if he was happy.
“Okay, well I’m glad to hear it.” I replied slowly. “Did you want to do some more filming?”
“Yes! I would love that.” He pursed his lips out to me. “Let’s do a proper intimate interview. It might not be easy for me to be open, but I’ll give it a go for you, since you know it all.”
The way he looked at me made me feel a little strange. I wondered if the way he behaved was all a mask, a cover up to disguise his vulnerability. Maybe underneath it all he was a good person. The version I saw of him all those months back was real. I suppose it was possible…
“Right, come on then. Let’s go now.” I pushed my chair back and stood up. “Oh, I just need to go to my room to get my equipment. The camera and lighting and stuff. I can meet you somewhere?”
“No, no, I’ll come with you and help you. All that stuff is heavy, isn’t it?”
The transformation was huge. It wasn’t that long ago he didn’t care about helping me at all. Of course I felt suspicious, I would be an idiot not to, but I had to just roll with it for now.
We walked up to my room, with Kevin chatting away happily to me the entire time. It felt so nice to listen to him when he was in this mood, he was the friendliest, funniest person ever. If I could capture that on screen the videos would explode, I just knew it. People wanted this, they would much prefer to see this real side of Kevin than the douche bag he’d been previously. Maybe now that he wasn’t as challenging to get through to, I could actually make him see that.
“Hey, Faye!” Tia called out, pausing only when she saw Kevin. “Oh, hi… Kevin?” She gave me a curious look, begging me for answers. “What are you two doing here?”
“Just grabbing my equipment.” I tried to convey with my eyes that it was okay. “Then we’re going to film an interview. Probably in your room, right, Kevin? People will like that.”
“Sure, whatever you say, Faye,” he replied compliantly. “You’re the expert after all.”
He helped me scoop up all the equipment, acting like the perfect doting guy. Tia probably didn’t understand why I’d been complaining so much about him when he was being so nice right now. I would have to explain to her the sudden turn around later on when we were alone.
“Right, okay,” I gave him a giant smile. “Let’s do this.”
Kevin’s room was a mess. A real disgusting state. Whoever he roomed with had to be as much of a pig as he was or he wouldn’t ever put up with this. I was tempted to suggest that we go somewhere else but if I wanted to show the world the real him then this would have to do.
“You take a seat wherever you feel comfortable, and we’ll get started.”
“Before we do…” Kevin sidled closer to me which instantly made my heart leap into my throat. “I just want to get to know you a bit better.” He tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear which caused my back to stiffen in shock. Strangely this was what I’d always wanted in the past, but it felt odd. “You are really something, Faye. I think I like you more than I thought I would. You’re so very sweet.”
“Erm…” There were many things that I needed to say at that moment, but they didn’t come out. My words got balled up along with my breath in my throat. I didn’t know what to do.
“You like me too, don’t you?” He whispered against my cheek. “That’s what I heard anyway.”
I did… once. I wasn’t sure that I did now. I couldn’t quite work it out. I needed to express that, but I couldn’t seem to find the way. I hadn’t ever found myself in a situation like this before and it scared the living hell out of me. I couldn’t even step back because my limbs were encased in lead.
Ring, ring… ring, ring… ring, ring…
Kevin’s phone blasted loudly, shaking the walls of the room. At first he seemed to be undeterred by the sound, but eventually he stepped backwards and muttered a curse word under his breath.
“I just have to take this,” he snapped at me. “I’ll be back in a moment to do the interview.”
He stepped out of his bedroom, presumably to get some privacy, but his voice was so loud I could still hear it in the bedroom. Needing to know more, I tiptoed over to the door and pressed my ear against it to hear every single word. I wasn’t sure why, but my instincts told me it was important.
“Yeah mate… I’m just doing some filming now, it’s gonna be off the hook…”
His arrogant tone was back, making me shudder violently. That side of him hadn’t gone, clearly.
“I’m gonna make sure it’s amazing… of course I’m gonna bang Faye, who the hell do you think I am?... if Angelo likes her then this will crush him which is obviously what I want…”
My blood ran cold as I heard him speak about me in such a degrading way. No wonder he was being sweet all of a sudden, he was just like Angelo who used his charm to get girls into bed. I didn’t care what Kevin said, I knew for a fact that he didn’t really like me. That was nothing.
“Yeah, yeah, that’s true. She’s one of the only chicks that I haven’t fucked yet so that’s another advantage. I might even try and get the full set before I leave her. You think I can do it?”
I didn’t want to hear what anyone’s response might be to that so I gathered up my stuff and prepared myself to leave. I wasn’t going to leave myself in such an uncomfortable position just to get this video done, it wasn’t fair. I didn’t want to put myself at risk, it wasn’t right. No one would expect me to.
Just as I was done, the door swung back open and Kevin strolled back in. My eyes widened in panic, I wasn’t sure I would be able to get away quite as easily as I thought I might be able to.
“What’s going on?” He ran his eyes up and down me curiously. “Are you leaving?”
“Erm, yeah I feel a bit sick. It just came on and I don’t think I’m going to be able to do anything today. Is it alright if we postpone this and do it another time? I don’t want to throw up over you.”
He narrowed his eyes at me and folded his arms across his chest. “That’s not true. You don’t look sick at all. There’s something else going on here.” His tone was aggressive. “What is it? Are you running back to Angelo who doesn’t even give a shit about you?” Hmm, that was the opposite to what he was saying on the phone not that long ago, but I didn’t want to get into that. “He’s got another chick now anyway. She’s called Sierra. So you’re better off staying here with me. I can really show you a good time.”
Angelo has another girl? Maybe that shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did.
“I am sick,” I gushed, feeling myself pale. The only good thing was that it probably made me look ill. “I just need to go and lie down, please just let me go, Kevin. If I feel better later I’ll come back.”
I pushed myself forward and thankfully he stepped to one side. He was an asshole but thankfully not so much that he would block me in his room. Admittedly I feared he might.
I ran from his room as fast as I could with all my heavy equipment and I got to the outside of the building. That was horrible, that sort of thing was the reason why I didn’t ever get myself involved in this popular crowd. It left me way out of my depth. I wasn’t the girl that could hack it. I needed to get back to my pre football life when no one even knew my name. I liked the shadows, it suited me, maybe I should always be behind the scenes. Maybe even Romeo and Juliet wasn’t for me.
Almost as if I could sense him, I felt Angelo’s presence opposite me, standing outside another building. I almost bolted across to him to speak to him about the trouble I had in my heart, but before I could take a step I spotted a sight that made my blood run ice cold.
A stunning girl, someone so beautiful she made me heart ache, wrapped her arms around him and hugged him in a familiar way. She seemed like she knew him very well, like she might be the girlfriend that Kevin mentioned. I was confused. How did he want to get one over on his mate who ‘liked me’ when he had someone? I thought he said the girlfriend bit to upset me but clearly not.
Shit. I dragged my eyes away and made myself move. Now I felt even worse. The illness that I’d pretended to have was all too real. What the hell am I going to do now?