Page 58 of Becoming Cinderella

Jared turns his body to better face Penn. “When Liam climbs out of the air vent?”

“Yeah, he’s escaping a locked room and he opens an air vent from the ceiling and he like, slowly hangs down and you can see the veins in his arms and his shirt rides up a little and-”

“Guys!” I cut in. “This really isn’t helping.”

They both mumble apologies as Jared opens his phone. “Here, ten minutes of puppies doing cute things.” He pushes play on a video and hands me his phone.

I want this to work. To have puppies stumbling over their own little feet and dressed in cute outfits to be the distraction I need. But it’s not because I can’t focus on the cute puppies, I’m too worried that I’ve messed up beyond repair one of the best things to ever happen to me.

“Okay, so no to the puppies.” Jared takes his phone back when he realizes my eyes have glazed over at the screen as I’m lost in my thoughts. “Maybe he’s been shooting all day and hasn’t even seen anything? The articles and your messages.”

I look up at Jared, my heart momentarily lighter at the idea. “You think?”

He sighs. “No, he’s definitely seen it.”

Penn shoves him. “You’re not helping.”

I groan and let my head fall back against the trunk of the tree. “What can I do? He’s not answering my texts and my calls keep going straight to voicemail. The longer I wait before letting him know my side, the worse it gets.” I shudder thinking about what Amy said last period.

“Well, you can’t go charging off to the set or his hotel,” Penn says, scrunching her forehead as she thinks out loud. “This story will mean there are twice as many paparazzi’s swarming all over trying to get shots of him. If they so much as glimpse you there, you’ll just be giving them tomorrow’s headline too.”

“Liam Taylor’s girlfriend slash stalker tries to break into his hotel room?”

Penn and I both hit Jared in unison.

“Ow!”

I laugh, but my misery comes right back.

“What? I’m helping you make a point,” he says to Penn. “We can’t risk anyone seeing her.”

Penn’s eyes suddenly light up and I get the strangely uncomfortable-but-not-as-uncomfortable-as-it-once-would-have-been sense that she’d impulsively kiss Jared right now if I wasn’t here. “That just means we have to get her past the fans and paparazzi without them recognizing her.” She turns her slightly manic expression to me. “The hotel staff and his security detail all know you, right?”

“I mean, we have rehearsed at the hotel, so probably, but- “

Penn is already on her feet. “No buts. Come on. Give me some time with you in the theater department and your own mother won’t even recognize you.”

“Oh, I am in!” Jared says, jumping up.

They share an embarrassingly intimate glance before turning to look at me with matching expectant grins.

“Do you really think this will work?”

“What have you got to lose?” Penn says.

I push slowly to my feet. The answer is nothing, because I’m afraid I’ve already lost it all.

Chapter Seventeen

“Penn,” I whisper as I look around the room. We’re behind the stage of the auditorium where the drama class usually meets. “Are we allowed to be back here?” Penn and Jared are both tossing wigs and costumes from past school plays at me. With a look, I hold up a dress that was used in Romeo and Juliet before slowly placing it back on a rack.

“Seriously? I’m not attending a costume party. I just need to go talk to Liam.”

I’m trying to act like my stomach isn’t still completely knotted up in nerves.

“Carter, let me remind you that you can’t just show up as yourself. You’ll get swarmed by the paparazzi.”

“I don’t think a neon wig is what’s going to help me blend in.” I point to one of the wigs at Penn’s feet.

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