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Chapter 1
BARRY
“Dowehaveto?”I leaned my head back against the headrest in my car, stifling a groan. Despite Thorne coaching me and urging me on for the past few weeks, I felt wholly unprepared for the new semester.
“Repeat after me,” Thorne started, and I knew what would follow. It was the mantra he’d been beating into my head for the past few weeks after countless hours of self-help pep talks and mental prep. “I, Barry Glick, am one kick-ass dude.”
My face flushed. I quickly glanced around to ensure no one was looking or listening in. “I, Barry Glick, am one kick-ass dude.”
“I am interesting, smart, and confident...”
“But what if I’m not confident though?”
Thorne sighed over the line, clearly frustrated with me, but I ignored it. He was Thorne Roberts, Hollywood’s biggest heartthrob. Millions of girls lined up on the streets just to catch a glimpse of him whenever he had a movie premiere or a big event. Of course it was easy for him to dole out advice and tell me to be confident. I doubt he ever felt like a loser a day in his life.
“Barry, we’ve been through this. You’ve gotta fake it till you make it. Do you think I walk onto every set feeling worthy, like I deserve to be there?”
“Um, yeah?”
“No. I don’t. Sometimes, I go onto set thinking, why the hell am I here? Why did they pick me? But you know what? I shove those thoughts aside because they do me no good, Barry, and they won’t do you any good either. Instead, I walk on like I’m the hottest thing since sliced bread, like they’re lucky to have me. And it works out. Every. Single. Time.”
I shifted in my seat, staring at the hulking stone exterior of Lakeview Prep in the
distance. If only I’d step out of my car and walk up those steps like I owned the place, andpoof,I’d turn into Thorne Roberts. Sadly, I knew the truth. “Yeah, but you’re you. And I’m me.”
“You gotta start somewhere, right? Just . . . trust me. Have I ever led you astray?”
“No.” I shook my head even though Thorne wasn’t there to see me. If there was one thing I could easily acknowledge, it was that Thorne had done nothing but have my back from the moment we met in dodgeball last semester.
“Okay, then. Today is the day. No more excuses. You’re going to find Ella in the halls and talk to her. Not just hello or a passing wave. You’re going to go up to her, brace yourself against the lockers, look her in the eye and say something witty or charming, or anything resembling normal, human conversation. Got it?”
My stomach churned, but somehow, I eked out a response. “Yeah, I got it. I can do this.”
“Hell yes, you can. What’s our goal, Bare?”
“Snag a girlfriend by the end of the year.”
“And not just any girl.”
“Ella Randalls.”
The shrill sound of someone’s voice in the background pierced my ear, and I winced, pulling the phone away from my face as Thorne hollered for them to hang on, followed by a rustling sound. “Listen, I gotta go. The director's panties are all in a bunch about starting on time. But you got this. Update me later, okay? I want all the glorious details. Remember, baby steps.” Then the line went dead.
I exhaled, staring at the phone because I was officially on my own. Which made my task seem infinitely harder than it had only seconds ago when I was still talking to Thorne, because faking confidence and mustering the courage to talk to one of the most beautiful girls at school was easier said than done when you walked a day in my shoes. With skin so fair you could practically see the veins running through my arms and blond hair as bright and pale as the lemon shakes the county fair served in the summer, my classmates started calling me Casper—as in, Casper the Friendly Ghost—when I was eight. And, honestly? I got it. I understood. People were scared of the unknown. As humans, we naturally shy away from people and things unlike ourselves. And I was unlike . . . well, pretty much the whole student body at Lakeview.
I wore nerdy t-shirts and joggers, like ones that made jokes about the sum of Pi or Star Wars. And I enjoyed learning. Physics was my favorite sport. Astronomy and anything space related kept me up late most Friday nights. The Milky Way was practically my girlfriend, I’ve spent so much time staring at it. (No, I’m not talking about the candy bar.) Combined with my looks, those things put a target on my back. Jokes at my expense were a way of life. I’d long since grown used to ignoring the names and antics of others. Heck, if I had one ounce of cool in me, I’d probably make fun of me too.
But none of those things mattered to my newfound buddy Thorne. Ever since he found out about my massive crush on Ella last month, paired with the fact that I’d never had a girlfriend (I’d never even had a first kiss), he was determined to help me with my goals to snag her heart by the end of the year, the steal-your-breath-level gorgeous Ella Randalls.
With that thought in mind, and Thorne’s voice still running through my head, I inhaled and mustered every ounce of courage I had, then flung open my car door and headed for the school.
I sat in the front of chemistry class, eyes trained on the whiteboard, waiting for it to begin, when I felt the familiar wet splat of a spit wad make contact with the back of my neck. My shoulder lifted, and I shrugged it off, trying not to gag at the thought of JT’s saliva soaking into my pores. For all I knew, his cruelty was contagious. It certainly seemed to run in packs.
“Hey, Casper,” he hissed. “You got something–” He motioned to the side of his neck.
On second thought, maybe it’s just his idiocy I should be worried about.
Beside him, Gabby Haines flipped her freshly bleached locks behind her shoulder and laughed, while their other crony, Luca, kept a straight face, as did the rest of the class. And for that, I was thankful. These days, the Royals, aka the popular kids—the elite of Lakeview—didn't have control over the masses like they used to. Their crowns had been knocked askew, their thrones tarnished. All because Penelope Ewe took their king and Scarlett Reese stole the spotlight with her Hollywood star boyfriend, Thorne. But still, they clung to the throne by their fingernails, and making my life miserable seemed to be their grapple hook.
