Chapter 3.0

People in the “Gossip” Industry are Kinda Smart When You Think About It

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I don’t think I can ever live to say, “Thank God it’s Friday!” because I am so far from thankful! I got through my first week of school making the deadlines for the ton of requirements and all I wanna do is relax but no, instead, I’m cooked up in the school library feeling sticky with sweat and the dust is all over me! Someone has got to clean all these filthy shelves and as much as I refuse to accept it, that someone is me.

Mr. Amoroso is getting thirty percent of our homeroom grade from community service and normally that would be volunteer work but I so did not sign up for this job! It was assigned cause everyone kept vying for the campus cleanup. If you ask me, they don’t need to put that in the hands of the students – the employees are doing a good job of keeping the school grounds clean already.

Irritated, I wiped some sweat off my forehead. They squeeze out loads of money from us and they can’t even get the damn air conditioning fixed immediately! “Heather, hand me the science encyclopedias.” I shifted my hold on the ladder so I could get the encyclopedia but the books didn’t come.

When picking partners for volunteer work my one and only suggestion would have to be to not pick the school headmaster’s offspring as your partner cause they are entitled to do whatever they please – but I’m so not gonna let that happen! I stomped over to where she was huddled up reading a comic book for the younger students with her iPod jammed into her ears. “Heather Jane O’ Riley,” I said in the sternest voice I could possibly muster so it wasn’t at any rate stern – so much for that. “I am so going to throw that iPod into a bucket of water if you don’t get your ass over there and help me.”

She looked up at me, still huddled up at the corner, “My iPod’s got waterproof casing.” That is it! Use your brain, Zayra. Heather’s your friend there’s got to be something you could use to blackmail her into doing the job – listen to me, talking to myself and sounding all sinister… well, blackmail is the only weapon I could use to threaten people since I’m so disabled at making them scared.

“If you don’t help me I will cancel the delivery of that panda rug I ordered for you online. It is under my account and my dad’s credit card.”

She looked surprised at first – I probably haven’t played the blackmail card on her yet or she’s just really thinking about that panda. “You wouldn’t!”

I put my hands on my waist and smirked, “Oh I would.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll start working. Just don’t do anything to harm my precious panda.” See, blackmail’s not so bad. It pushes people to work harder and makes people compromise. I should perfect my blackmailing skills instead of practicing glares in front of the mirror.

By the time we finished one of those big full-length bookshelves the library was closing so the librarian let us off the hook and said we could continue it next time. Ya, right! Next time I’ll just focus on one small section of the bookshelf and wait for closing time that way I won’t get so beaten up. Just kidding, I’m not gonna do that next time. Next month maybe – when I get fed up about it.

Clad in our gym clothes, Heather and I sat on the steps of the library building. If you happened to catch us there you’d probably think we ran in a marathon cause we were sweating so much and the sleeves of our t-shirts were rolled up our shoulders not to mention our “cropped” sweatpants.

After a few minutes of waiting and a few curious looks from school personnel – did we suddenly turn into thugs or something? We decided to go look for Schianne and Wintry. Gen was out on a date with Marco, again.

You know, there was this time when I hated Marco. It’s kinda funny cause he’d keep calling me a ditz despite my consistent As in most of my subjects because our Physical Education is purely dancing and I can’t dance to save my life! So, Marco and I despised each other until he asked me for help to hook up with Gen cause his good side came out then and I figured that he’s not such a bad guy and he didn’t threaten me or anything like those other guys.

Oh-kay. People are starting to freak me out. They turn their heads once in our direction and never look away! They keep whispering and I’m not sure if it’s good or bad cause sometimes they’d laugh, sometimes they’d scowl and lemme tell you… some of those cheerleaders can be like spawns of the devil. I don’t blame them though… we look like shit and probably smell like shit too.

We headed for the newsroom where Wintry was and where Schianne was supposedly headed for. As soon as I stepped into the busy office, Wintry slams into me. “Zayra! I was just about to look for you!” she looked flustered with her mousse brown hair not the least bit combed, her eyebags looking more evident than ever and her glasses titled more on one side.

I replaced her glasses on properly, “Why were you looking for me?” She didn’t answer. Instead, she walked over to her desk and scanned a portfolio. There were different news and picture clippings in the portfolio and most of the pictures were used in the paper for some “out of the campus” news. What in the world could possibly concern me in this portfolio?

Oh my god.

Could it be that my family has gone bankrupt?

“I don’t know how to say this but,” she held a newspaper cutout in front of my face and my jaw literally dropped. “Apparently you and Jed could possibly be together.” I snatched the cutout from her hand and just stared at everything on that little piece of paper. It had the picture of Jed opening the door for me at Starbucks – no, it’s not that time where he paid for what I ate, going to Starbucks every morning has actually become a habit. The cutout had the headline, “Teen Stars – Together?” and the article insinuated the idea that we were a couple cause we’re constantly seen out together and acting all lovey dovey. That’s crazy talk! When did we ever act lovey dovey?

“Rick says it’s on every single tabloid and a fair number of broadsheets.” Broadsheets?

Schianne sat on Wintry’s tabletop beside Heather, wondering aloud, “I just don’t understand why this only happened now. You’ve been with Jed for so long.”

“It’s what the public wants, that’s why.” Heather answered. That doesn’t make any sense.

Rick, the gossip columnist, popped out of nowhere – he’s the media expert here so he probably knows. “I think it has something to do with the popularity of your sitcom especially since a relationship between you and Jed was suggested. Children, old people, teens, tweens love the show and you know how much teenagers’ opinion are valued in media nowadays.”

“So, what do you think’s gonna happen?”

“Definitely more paparazzi, more interviews, more magazine covers and definitely more money. Individually, you and Jed are already loaded but if this thing goes big your net worth will go through the roof! Especially if you and Jed actually get together.”

That’s not gonna happen even if it does get me another gazillion dollars!

“Lets just hope they find no proof to support the rumor cause things will start getting big then. I can just imagine all the press coverage you guys are gonna get. Spare me an interview, okay?” I pulled Rick’s newsboy cap down to his eyes and gave him a pat on the head. “I was just saying.”

“Zayra, do you mind telling me why you’re smiling in the picture?” Schianne pointed to a different cutout where I was smiling.

“I was trying to look good. It’s not like I can smile at them while walking without crashing into a post or something!”

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“Zayra get over here!” Wintry yelled from her bedroom. What could she possibly want? I’m running late here. I didn’t even put any thought into my clothes today!

I walked into her room and saw her huddled up in one corner with her eyes glued to the computer screen – at least she’s got her glasses on. “What is it and hurry up please.” I squeezed in beside her and she just pointed to the screen.

Under the “Hot Juicy News!” section were the words: Lockhart-Lavoisier: A One Sided Relationship.

“They said Jed’s in love with you, that the lyrics on most of the songs on his new album are about you and that his MySpace has pictures of you.” Wintry said. “I know it’s just another rumor but rumors aren’t just concocted out of thin air.”

My mind is blank right now. I just don’t know what to think. “I have to go just fill me in later. Bye.” I kissed Wintry on the cheek and turned to go. He used to have a crush on Miss Piggy for crying out loud! Do I look like Miss Piggy all of a sudden?

When I got to the set I was immediately hurled into wardrobe even though I wasn’t going on until after four scenes. I approached the leather couch where Jed was sprawled out, snoring his butt off.

I tugged on his black hair but he wouldn’t budge. “Jed, you don’t own the couch now move over and give me some space!” Nothing happened. That is it! I lifted his shoulders up and pushed him over so I could sit on one end of the couch but as soon as I lost my grip on him his head landed on my lap. I liked it better when I was not in this situation.

“A little help here!” I yelled. Not one of my brightest ideas. Everyone on the staff started paying attention to me which would be good if they were trying to help me but they weren’t – they just kept gushing about how cute we looked. The day this rumor clears up is the day people will start thinking normal again.

I slapped Jed, which woke him up and everybody else in the room. He was angry but he’s finally awake so I don’t really care if he’s angry or not. “Get up.” He was in a grouchy mood and kept glaring at me from the other side of the couch but I didn’t care. As long as I have my space, I’m happy.

Two scenes have passed and I’m getting bored. Somehow the thought of Jed’s lyrics and his MySpace popped into my head so I borrowed Chev’s laptop and isolated myself from everyone else.

It was hard to find some of his lyrics cause his album came out just a few days ago but I was able to find his MySpace. I used Wintry’s account since I didn’t have one – yeah, pathetic I know but I just don’t have time but Jed seems to find the time. “Lets see,” There was a picture of him and his little sister, Regina, on his profile.

Why does he tell people his full name here when he forbids us to even utter his first name,Richard. Under the “Who I Want To Meet” part he wrote: “I wanna meet all the soccer, basketball and BMX superstars that rock my world! I also wanna meet the cast of Get a life, Lily…just kidding! I see those freaks every single week! So I guess all those unlucky guys out there would want to meet the girl of their dreams sucks for you guys but not for me cause I’ve already met mine! Yeah! I’m one lucky bastard. We’re not together though. I still have to work on that.”

So I’m the “girl of his dreams?” That’s kinda hard to swallow since he pays very little attention to me and I hardly get special treatment but what I do get a lot of his rude comments – definitely a lot of that.

I don’t even see a picture of me here. That was just a bunch of dog poop. I saw the link to his pictures and my face fell – just when I thought things were already clear. I opened his album and there were pictures of me alright but there were pictures of Marion, Ralph and other people from the cast too. There were even pictures of Cedric, Heather and some other people at school. People who create gossip must really be stupid.

“Is that Jed?” Marion asked from behind me. I shut the laptop closed and looked sheepishly at Marion. “I’m guessing you’ve heard the rumors. Do you wanna know if he likes you? 'Cause I know the answer to that.” She does?

I’m a little afraid to ask though. What if it is true? What if he does like me? What if I like him? Did I just say that? Oh God. My mind’s going ballistic on me! Not now, please!

“God! What is wrong with you? The most sought-after teen star could possibly like you and you don’t even get excited!” I don’t want him! You could have him if you want. I don’t need all these questions in my head right now.

But I will find out sooner or later so why not sooner? “I don’t even think he’s attracted to me so why would I even assume that he likes me.”

“But he has liked you the minute you walked up the stage in one of your school assemblies. He told me so.” But that was my first day at Rembrandt. “He’s crazy about you Zayra.”

“You can’t prove that.”

Marion rolled her eyes, “Fine. He’s in the dressing room right now. Come with me and eavesdrop from outside.” I’m not liking the sound of this but I gotta find out somehow right and nobody said it was going to be easy.

We went over to the dressing room and Marion started to ask him, “So when are you going to tell Zayra you like her?”

“Will you shut up.” Jed replied. So much for that, though I did kind of wanted him to actually like me. Don’t ask me why because I don’t know why either.

As I was getting ready to leave I realized that I left my headband at the dressing room but before I could enter I heard Marion yelling at someone. “I thought you wanted to tell her!” she yelled.

“I didn’t want her to find out that way.” Jed answered. I peeked in and saw Jed’s back then I looked at Marion and her eyes popped out when she saw me. She gave me a thumbs up and was smiling like crazy. As soon as Jed turned around I hid again.

“You do know that you crushing on her is on all the celebrity news shows.” Marion said. “She’ll start wondering – hell, she’s already wondering. You saw how she eavesdropped. She wanted to know. Who knows, maybe she likes you too.”

“She used to. I’m part of her past now.” How the hell does he know that?

“You keep telling me you don’t want to be just another one of the many guys that have a crush on her and trust me you’re not. You’ve got the opportunity to actually make a relationship happen here. You’re probably in love with her for all I know.” I heard Marion say.

Jed sighed, “But if I tell her things will get weird and that’ll just affect our work.” Are my ears deceiving me or did he just confess that he likes me – wait, no, he’s in love with me. Jed. In love with me. One word: Crazy. I seem to be using that word a lot these days.

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It was around 11o’clock so I figured that Wintry would be asleep when I got back to the dorm – dinner with my parents took longer than expected especially with all the talk about Jed, leave it to my mom who loves to watch celebrity news shows. I saw that the light at Wintry’s bedroom was still on so I let myself in and I saw not only Wintry but also Gen, Heather and Schianne huddled over the computer. They looked like a bunch of perverted guys surfing porn for the first time.

“Umm… what are you guys doing over there?”

As soon as they saw me they started speaking a mile a minute. They were beside me and dragging me onto the bed before you could say… anything! I could only hear little bits and pieces of what they were saying because they were all speaking. Okay, think Zayra. Think of something to say to shut them up.

“I heard him say that he’s in love with me.” Silence.

We spent the night talking all about this issue with Jed. I felt like I needed to talk about everything. You know, just release everything.

So turns out that the rumors were right. Seems like I overlooked a tiny detail at Jed’s MySpace – the photo captions. There was a picture of the cast and under it was: “eenie, meenie, miney, mo.” My picture with Cedric had “you little thief!” and the solo picture of me had one of those little heart characters. How could I not have read those?

Gen held up a copy of Jed’s album in her hands, “Got it from Marco.” Now this is something that really intrigues me. I have got to listen to this. “He keeps singing about how the person he likes doesn’t know about how he feels and how ironic it is that you’re asked to play a couple on the sitcom – well, at least, that’s how it related to us. It was really sweet though. I wish Marco was a singer.”

Wow, I wonder how those people in the “gossip” industry even come up with these things. What even gave them the idea of looking at his MySpace or his new album? I take back the stupid comment. There are some stealthily smart people in that industry.

“He did his own version of Lifehouse’s Hanging by a Moment, Nickelback’s Far Away, and Stephen Speaks’ Out of My League.” He knows I love all of those songs! Now I really don’t know what to think of this. At first I felt that even if it was true it was just a passing fancy but then he goes and says he’s in love with me and now this.

“So, do you like him now?”

Umm… “How about we do this over coffee?”

They grabbed their jackets but Wintry and I felt like we could brave the cold in capris and long-sleeved tees. Boy were we wrong, we were freezing to death outside and as soon as I took a sip of my hot cappuccino, I sniffled.

Even though I got the sniffles they spared me no mercy and still pushed the question. You know, I’ve got a load of reasons to like Jed – he’s Jed Lockhart for crying out loud! But on the other hand, he has been a jerk to me since I stepped into Rembrandt Academy.

“It’s normal boy behavior. They either act inferior around the girl they like or conceal the inferiority with superiority.” Psychology really does look like the best career for Heather – lets not forget that only she can understand her own self. I know it’s normal for us to understand ourselves but no one understands Heather.

Wintry sat back on her chair and chewed on a piece of my cake thoughtfully, “Lets face it, Jed’s perfect for you and all the problems you have with him are just minor details.”

“So do you like him or not?”

I like him – I mean, I’ve liked him before so that’s not so hard. I’m physically attracted to him too but then again who isn’t. “I just don’t know if there’s a connection between us.”

“Please! You two have got chemistry even when you don’t get along.”

How can they see the connection and why can’t I see it? I don’t even feel anything when he’s around me – it does get awkward but I’m not sure if that means something. “I’ll just tell you guys tomorrow. I need time to sort things out.”

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Generally, I like working as part of the school paper staff but today for the first time ever it felt like a job. My nose is clogged and my head feels like my brain’s been flushed down the toilet. I feel awful and look awful – I don’t even want anyone to see me. Where’s the concealer when you need it?

As soon as I walked into the newsroom everyone knew I was sick. Despite my clever ploy to hide behind my oversized sunglasses and my brightly colored oversized tote I started coughing non-stop when I entered. I was like a fish taken out of the water!

“You okay?” Nathan asked as he patted my back. He handed me a bottle of water and I gladly took it. “Maybe you should just rest. I already asked Wintry to get back to bed.” Thank God for Nathan!

“Thanks and I’m sorry about this.” He just nodded. Nathan’s a really nice guy. Why can’t Jed be like him? Actually, the question is more like “Why can’t Jed be nice all the time?”

I opened the door to my dorm room and saw a bunch of people around the couch. “Am I in the right room?” One of the people walked towards me and I recognized her immediately. “God, you look awful Twinks. Do you wanna change first?” I’m wearing cuffed wool shorts, a tank top and a hoodie – I don’t think I need to change. “Lie down, I’ll get you some tea.” I shook off my flip flops and settled for the divan cause Wintry was sleeping on the couch. Schianne and Heather were sitting on the rug watching TV. How could I not have recognized them?

Gen handed me the tea together with a five-minute lecture. “This is why I told you two to grab a jacket.” My mom isn’t even this strict! “You should get well soon.” Who doesn’t want to get well? “And please don’t tell me you got sick to get out of the practical test in Music tomorrow.” On second thought, maybe being sick is for the best.

I had fallen asleep again and it was around two in the afternoon when I came to. “Jed asked about you.” Ugh. Please, my head is clogged enough.

“I’m going back to sleep.”

“Cedric!” I heard Marco yell. I rubbed my eyes and flipped my position on the divan to see what all the commotion was about. Wintry was bundled up in blankets and seated on the couch laughing with Schianne and Heather while Cedric was being pumbled by Nathan and Marco while Gen just beamed beside Marco. Jed, where’s Jed? I saw a pair of feet and when my eyes traveled upwards I realized that they were Jed’s. He was sitting on the armchair and looking elsewhere.

I tried to get up but the world was spinning and it was making me all dizzy. Gen ran over and felt my forehead. “You’re still hot.”

“Psh! Well, duh.” Cedric said to which everybody laughed. “As if you guys weren’t thinking that.” he retorted.

I pushed the blankets away and got up to grab this menthol camphor thing that helps me breath easier when I get colds. Gen didn’t know where it was so she just came with me to make sure I’d be okay. She held my arms so I wouldn’t trip or anything and sure enough I didn’t trip instead, I blacked out. Yep, I fainted. My mind was just spinning and a second later I dropped out of Gen’s hold.

When I woke up I was on the floor and everybody was around me. My head was aching but I managed to get my top half up, Gen didn’t want me to go anywhere. “You shouldn’t have gotten up. It was a stupid thing to do.” Jed said.

I’m sick and he still bad mouths me – unbelievable. I just chose to laugh at him. “Well I can’t let that thing just levitate towards me now can I?”

“You shoud’ve asked someone else to get it.”

Okay, now he’s just being annoying. “It happened already, get over it.”

Sad to say, he didn’t get over it. “It wouldn’t have happened if you used your head.”

I leaned closer to him and glared at him, “I’m sick. Do you think I can think straight?”

He rolled his eyes, “After that, not really.”

“Hey, stop it you two. Just let it go.” Marco said as he shoved Jed away from me. I felt someone grab me by my shoulders but I just continued to glare at Jed. Does the fact that I’m sick even affect him? And to think that this guy supposedly likes me!

My nose started to get hot and so did my eyes but I held the tears back. I didn’t want to cry over this. Jed isn’t supposed to give me a reason to cry. His words don’t mean anything. What he says isn’t supposed to make me cry! It’s just supposed to make me mad, annoyed and irritated. Why do I value his opinion all of a sudden?

I felt the tears spill out of my eyelids as the thoughts continued to fill my head. At first what he said made me cry but now I think I’m crying because I’m confused and being such a know-it-all it hurts my head to be thinking like this – chemistry doesn’t even make my head throb like this!

“I really don’t understand why you’d insult her like that, Jed. I thought you liked her.” Heather asked him. She didn’t say it in an angry tone though, it takes a lot more to get someone like Heather angry.

He glanced at me, at the floor and then at Heather. “I don’t even know why I liked her in the first place and I tried to get rid of it but it didn’t go away so,” I felt tears filling up my eyelids again. Oh God, please no more crying. “Uh, you know what? It doesn’t even matter if I like her –“

“Of course it matters.” I found myself saying. “Because – because, I like you too.” Okay, no. Scratch that. I am not falling in love with a guy who just screws up with me. It’s not gonna happen.

He raised his eyebrows and gawked at what I said, “You like me?”

I looked at everyone in the room and sighed, “No. I take it back. I don’t like you.”

He laughed. Now he’s laughing! Good God, what is up with this guy? “Now you’re saying that you don’t like me. Seriously, what is it?” Crap, he’s being serious again. Just organize your thoughts, Zayra. You obviously like him. Yes, as hard as it is to accept that it is the truth. But honestly how do you go from wanting to kill a guy to wanting to be with the guy?

I took a deep breath. This is gonna be really hard to say but I have to say it sometime. Better now than never, right? “Maybe when you start acting less like a jerk, Jed. Maybe.”

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Authors Note I’m thinking of discontinuing this story because of the lack of response to it. I’m starting to doubt whether it is an effective story but I have finished five chapters so it all depends on what goes on after I post this. //