Page 4 of Dream On

As the day stretches on, it isn’t long before the gossip train takes off, and Lex’s name is in everyone’s mouths by lunchtime. Eyes are alight with the gossip surrounding his transfer to our little town outside Chicago, and while I pretend to be unabsorbed, curiosity has me hanging on to every word.

“He was a famous child actor.”

“He was in that TV show calledWhispering Tails.”

“His parents are loaded.”

“He moved here from Hollywood.”

“His mother was that actress in that one soap opera.”

It’s been less than five hours, and Lexington Hall is already Hollow High’srenowned golden boy. I’ve been going to school with these kids since I was five, and I’m pretty sure 70 percent of them still don’t know my name, outside of Choir Girl, that chick who lives on the farm, or Joplin St. James’s sister—even though she’s a grade younger than me.

So he’s been on TV. I’ll never admit to him that I googled that sitcom the night after he rammed his six-figure sports car into me and spouted off his Hollywood accomplishments. I expected his acting chops to shine.

But they weren’t all that inspiring: cheesy camera angles, fake smiles, and dialogue wrought with melodramatics and laugh-track jokes. Admittedly, he didn’t have a ton to work with, especially in the few commercials I also discovered while scouring the internet for his name. There was only so much he could do with frozen pepperoni pizzas and their extra flaky crusts.

An image pops into my mind of him sitting at a kitchen island as the camera zooms in for a close up and he moans, “So flaky!”

One of my drama friends, Jameson, shoves a ham-and-cheese sandwich into his mouth, talking between chews. “How does he do that?” His eyes narrow at Lex, who is seated at one of the cafeteria tables across from us. “Literally a magnet to every hot chick in this school. Zero effort too.”

While Lex was sitting by himself at the start of lunch, it took less than ten seconds for him to be surrounded. Currently, Natalie and her boobs are taking up most of his personal bubble.

Lex glances up at me, catches me staring, and I whip my gaze away and blink over at Jameson. “Misty claims it’s his face.”

Her ruby-red ponytail bounces in agreement as she gawks at him shamelessly. “That bone structure. Flawless.”

“Mist says he’s the guy who wrecked your Saturn,” Jameson continues. “Brutal.”

I swirl my chili in aimless circles with my spoon. “Insurance is dealing with it, I guess.”

“This Hall guy…he’s an actor. Do you think he’s going to try out for this year’s show?”

My insides pitch at the notion. I hadn’t thought of that.

Lex strikes me as more of the model type. Fashion ads, commercial work. Ican’t imagine him gracing the stage in bohemian garb and singing his soul to a live audience. That takes gumption and heart, and Lexington Hall exudes arrogance and steel.

I lean back in my chair, dropping the spoon into my bowl. “That would be something, wouldn’t it? If I get the lead role of Satine, I assumed I’d be acting alongside Barron or Rigs. Maybe even you,” I say to Jameson.

Misty sighs, fluttering her mocha-brown eyes fringed with long lashes. “I’d let him sing for me. I don’t even care what it is. It could be a grocery list. Terms and conditions. Hell, even the directions on an IKEA instruction manual would sound like poetry.”

She is lost to her infatuation.

When the bell rings, I gather my book bag and say goodbye to my friends as we go our separate ways. Algebra is up next. I’m headed down the long corridor to Mr. Mason’s class when a familiar voice catches me off guard.

“Tell her I’m not interested,” the voice bites out, edged with thorns. “I don’t know. Make something up. I don’t fucking care.”

I halt in place, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear before I swivel around and my eyes meet with disarmingly clear sky blue. Catastrophe dances inside them, something almost dangerous. He has a cell phone pressed to his ear as he trails behind me, stops short, and flops back against the lockers, severing eye contact.

Lex’s voice pitches louder. “Whatever,” he grumbles. “Fine. Just say I’m busy forever.” He disconnects the call and shoves it into his pocket, muttering more curses under his breath. “Fuck it.”

Swallowing, I inch away, not wanting to be a snoop.

But he catches me still lingering in his periphery, and his aggression heightens. “What?” he snaps.

I chew on my lip, my cheeks heating. “Nothing.” I watch as Lex looks straight ahead and closes his eyes, causing a rebellious pang of empathy to stab me in the chest. “Everything okay?”

“Mind your business.”