“
And if you need to leave
campus for the weekend, your mother has given permission. You just
need to stop in Admin and let us know.” I thanked him and hung up
the phone.
My mother had given me permission to leave.
That was a nice little fact to know. Thanks, Mom! There’ll be a
little something extra in your Mother’s Day card this year.
“
Well,” I said stretching.
“I better call Jake and talk him out of driving down here to beat
up Lance.”
“
Let him,” Annie said,
maliciousness lurking in her eyes.
I grunted out a hollow laugh and hit Jake’s
number on my phone. He answered right away. “How’s it going,
Iz?”
I stumbled to the bathroom and closed the
door, my heart breaking, begging him to come to me. “Jake, are you
really on your way down here?”
He released a long, heavy breath. “No,
angel, I’m not. I wish, but I can’t do it right now.”
“
Well I am not staying on
campus tonight. I’m going to stay in town or something,” I said,
deciding at that moment that was what I wanted to do.
“
No, Iz, stay there. You’re
safer on campus.”
I blinked, shocked by his outburst. “I’ll go
crazy in this room.”
“
The reporters can’t step
foot on campus but if there are any around, and they see you in
town, they’ll hound you.” I whimpered and he chuckled. “Hey, don’t
worry, okay? My life is not nearly as interesting as most of the
movie stars out here—I don’t think they’ll bother you.”
I frowned, my brows coming together in
confusion. “Out there? Where out there? Where are you?”
“
L.A. Something came up and
I had to fly out here for a few days. Nick is here with
me.”
For some reason, it made it all the worse
with him being across country from me. I hated it. “How did you
find out about the tabloid?”
“
Greta called me early this
morning. She was worried about you but she doesn’t have your
number. I gave it to her. I hope you don’t mind.”
“
No. I like
Greta.”
“
Good,” he said, smile in
his voice. “Listen, okay? It’s not that bad. I know they put your
name and school name in the article, but I don’t think anyone will
really bug you. Like I said, these reporters and photographers are
more interested in what goes on out here.” He took a deep breath
and released it in a yawn. “If anyone does bother you, call me or
your dad.”
“
Okay,” I
whispered.
“
Hey, Iz,” he said gently,
tone soothing. “It doesn’t matter what they print about you. Those
of us who know you know what kind of person you really are. And we
love you for that.”
“
Thanks,” I smiled into the
phone.
“
I have to go but I’ll call
and check on you later. Remember that I love you.”
“
I love you, too,” I
said.
I returned to the others sullen and sulky,
missing the sound of Jake’s voice already. I plopped on the bed and
told them where Jake was and what he said.
“
You know, I was thinking,”
Annie said, standing to pace. “That whoever wants to give the
magazine an exclusive doesn’t really have much to say.”
My brow furrowed as curiosity perked my
brain. What was she getting at?
“
What do you mean?” Cammy
asked as though reading my mind.
“
Well, Bella did go to a
few parties and got drunk a few times, but so what?”
I gawked at her slack-jawed. “So what? Do
you know how embarrassed I am about that?”
“
I know,” Annie smiled.
“That’s what makes you Bella. And it was a bad thing, yes, and I’m
not trying to make light of it but think about this for a moment.”
She pointed at us all as though lecturing a class. “How many kids
here go to parties and do the same thing? How many kids all over
the country do it? It’s not right, and it’s against the law, and
kids shouldn’t do it, but they still do.”
“
Okay,” I said slowly,
grasping at her point which was on the very tip of my brain.
“And?”
“
And,” she continued, “so
what if they print that in their paper. Everyone here already knows
as well as your family. You don’t do it anymore. You made a mistake
and you’re sorry. You didn’t drive while you were drinking. You
didn’t get thrown in jail. It’s not like you slept with all the
boys in this school or have a raging drug problem. You don’t
prostitute yourself. Yes, what you did was wrong but it’s hardly
front page news.”
My heart lightened and floated in my
ribcage. She was absolutely right. I did screw up and was deeply
ashamed but would the readers of that trashy magazine really want
to read about it? I was hardly a celebrity.
“
But what if they twist it
around and turn it into something ugly?” Cammy asked, sending my
spirits crashing. I nearly panicked.
“
I think that’s when Mr.
Ames can sue them,” Zach answered. “I think that’s Defamation of
Character or something like that.”
Take that, I thought.
The mood in the room lightened and Zach ran
out to get us some fast food goodies. We hung out, eating junk food
and watching movies for a couple of hours until the dorm phone rang
again.
“
This can’t be good,” I
said to Annie.
She answered the phone and I watched her
tight jaw slacken and allow a smile to grace her face. She hung up
and threw my coat at me.
“
We have visitors,” she
said cheerfully. My heart fluttered as my entire face lit up. She
took my arm gently, reading the expression on my face. “No, honey,
it’s not Jake. But it’s the next best thing.”
Confused, I followed her as she hurried down
the hall, out the door and toward the Admin building. As soon as I
walked through the door, I gasped.
“
Hey, Iz,” Ronnie greeted,
sweeping me in his arms. “We’re your bodyguards for a few
days.”
“
Yep,” Matt agreed as he
dropped a kiss to the top of my head. “We brought some crew down to
check out the auditorium while we’re here.”
We’d finally decided on a date for the
benefit concert, and I’d located a charity. It was an organization
that was trying to develop an early education program for families
in need and a tutoring program for students who needed help. They’d
started renovations on an old building and needed funds for more
equipment. They also needed publicity, and I was certain Controlled
Environment would help with that. I’d been in contact with the
organization, and they were excited and grateful. They offered to
help any way they could and called often to check the progress.
Annie and I escorted Matt and Ronnie back to
my room after they gave their sound crew instructions and dropped
their bags off in the guest dorms. My mood brightened considerably
with Ronnie and Matt around. Ronnie’s antics had me in stitches,
and Matt checked over my Calculus homework, showing me my mistakes
and teaching me how to fix them.
We were sitting on my bed, me between the
two of them, watching VTV when Jake finally called. We’d been
watching the music news to see if they mentioned Jake but either
they didn’t get the memo or they didn’t care about Jake’s love
life.
“
How are you, angel?” he
asked as soon as I answered.
“
Hungry and grumpy,” I
whined. “But thanks for sending the cavalry!”
He laughed. “I figured they’d cheer you up
and keep an eye on you at the same time. Too bad I can’t enroll
them there.”
“
Yeah, well, we haven’t
left the stupid room all day,” I grumbled.
“
Get out on campus with
them. I want everyone to see them there and know that I meant it
when I said I’m watching out for you. I want everyone to know I’m
serious.”
“
I’ve been trying to talk
them into taking me to Mario’s for pizza,” I offered.
“
Good idea. Doesn’t half
the school hang out there on there on the weekends?” he
asked.
“
Yeah.”
“
Show your face, Iz. Don’t
hide. You did nothing wrong.”
His words penetrated my brain, and suddenly
I was more restless than before. The walls were closing in, and I
needed to get out and breathe fresh air. I also needed to eat
greasy pizza in a pizza joint.
Jake asked to speak to one of the guys, and
I handed the phone to Matt. He spoke softly, mostly ‘um hm’ and ‘uh
huh’ so I didn’t get much out of the conversation. He ended the
call with a wide grin. “Jake said he’d call you later. Let’s go get
some pizza.”
Mario’s was quite crowded when we arrived.
Everyone took a turn at staring but it only fueled Ronnie’s smirk.
He threw an arm around me and followed Matt, Zach, Annie and Cammy
to a table. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Lance sitting in
a booth with his current flavor of the month. He refused to look
our way.
A few people approached our table to ask me
about the article. One person even asked if I was going to sue.
Ronnie and Matt never let me answer. They both politely, but
firmly, referred them all to my father.
“
But I’m sure they’ll sue
any moron who feeds any garbage about Iz to any of these rag
magazines,” Ronnie announced rather loudly. He flashed Matt a quick
smile. “After that moron deals with us.”
I asked the waitress for a to go box,
suddenly preferring the confines of my room.
***
Jake called later that night after Ronnie
and Matt retired to the guest dorms. His voice was laced in
exhaustion, and I worried that he was stretching himself too
thin.
“
Jake, why did you have to
fly out to L.A.?” I asked.
He exhaled slowly. “Just had to straighten
out a mess. I’ll tell you all about it when I get home.”
“
When will you be home?” I
sounded like a spoiled child but I’d had a miserable day. My love
life had been splattered all over a tabloid and Jake was thousands
of miles away. I just desperately wanted him closer.
“
A day or two,” he muttered
as he yawned. “But I don’t know if I’ll be able to see you until
spring break.”
My heart fell to my feet although I was
getting used to not seeing him for weeks at a time. “It’s okay,” I
sighed.
“
Sorry, Iz. I can’t help
it.” His tone was stern with a hard edge. He never spoke that way
to me.
“
I know, Jake, it’s fine,”
I answered a little curt. I closed my eyes as guilt washed over me.
He’d spent most of the day protecting me, and if he was a little
grumpy and tired, I should be a little more patient. “Are you okay?
You sound tired.”
“
I am tired,” he admitted.
He took a long deep breath. “I’m sorry, Iz. It’s just been a long
day.”
“
I understand. Go get some
sleep. I’ll call you tomorrow,” I ordered. “Thanks for all you did
today.”
“
Not a problem. Night,
Iz.”
***
The rest of the weekend passed by too
quickly and before I knew it, I was saying goodbye to Ronnie and
Matt. They made me promise to call if things got too bad and they’d
be right back down.
I kept in contact with my father regularly.
He said no one had called the magazine with any information on me
but if they did, the magazine promised to call him first for
verification. It was a little comforting, knowing my dad would set
the lies straight, but I still wasn’t sure what anyone would want
to tell. And if they did tell anything, would the magazine
embellish?
Jake was still in L.A., still mum about his
business, but said he’d be home that weekend. He’d had contractors
working on his house, and he wanted to make sure it was all done
before spring break.
Cammy, Annie and I were sitting in the
Student Center Thursday evening finishing up our homework when
Karen Lange rushed into the room. She switched the channel we were
watching and turned on some entertainment news program. I was about
to protest when the hostess, a forty-something woman with fake
breasts and lots of plastic surgery, mentioned Jake’s name. I froze
as ice ran through my veins. Cammy let out a tiny yelp when the
picture of me and Jake suddenly popped up on screen. I groaned and
hid my face in my hands, peeking through my fingers.
“
Hot on the heels of the
breaking story about bad boy Jake Johnson’s new love, Isabella
Ames, finds us asking just how serious he really is about the young
beauty,” Ms. Silicone announced.
I nearly gagged. And really, why did they
keep calling Jake a bad boy?
Film footage played behind the hostess as
she continued to speak. But I didn’t hear a word she said as I
watched an image of Jake, dressed in a dark suit and sunglasses,
wrap his arm around the waist of some female I didn’t recognize,
and escort her into a building. My heart stopped.
“
Jake Johnson reportedly
flew to L.A. early this week to come to the aid of his former love,
Monique DuVois, who, sources say, has been in a little trouble with
the law. Witnesses reported Jake has been escorting her all around
town, including to the L.A. County Courthouse. Courthouse officials
have been mum about what sort of business the couple had with the
court.” Ms. Silicone flashed an evil grin and hate coursed through
my body. I absolutely despised her. “Speculations are flying as to
whether or not the couple is reconciling and if they are,” she
paused as the picture of Jake and I returned to the screen, “what
will become of sweet Isabella?”
I was conscious of all eyes on me as I
slammed my book shut. “How the hell do they know I’m so sweet?”