The Year of the Great Seventh (17 page)

Megan and Alex were posing in front of the billboard, and she smiled, pleased, as she spotted all of us by the theater entrance. A wave of relief washed over me. I knew then that at least Megan was on my side, and that triggered a spark of hope. When the others realized Megan had given Nate a second chance, maybe they would consider the option too.

Alex helped Megan walk in her outlandish rococo dress. She was holding on to his arm. There was something about their body language that betrayed them. I hadn’t been able to fool Megan with Nate, but she wasn’t able to fool me, either. It was obvious they’d fallen for each other.

We were all pretending to be absorbed by Megan and Alex’s red carpet parade, but it was more about avoiding the awkward situation.

“You need to go to your seats now,” the woman with the walkie-talkie ordered in a not-so-very-friendly manner. She was reminding us we were here out of Megan’s courtesy, not the studio’s.

We followed the woman inside the theater. Nate led the line, followed by Tyson and Chase; Emma paced in front of me. She moved slower to create some space between the boys and us.

When she managed to create a gap, and when she was sure they couldn’t hear us, she turned to talk to me. Covering her mouth with her hand, she whispered into my ear. “This started at Ethan’s party, didn’t it?”

I nodded submissively. I was done with covering one lie with another. From now on, it was only the plain truth. It didn’t matter how embarrassing or painful the result. This time, the truth and only the truth.

Emma frowned, annoyed, as though I’d caught her unprepared with my surrendering acceptance.

“I’m so sorry for lying,” I said, walking behind her. “I just knew this would happen. You would’ve made up your minds about him without actually giving him a chance.”

“A chance? Are you serious? I think he blew all his chances when he almost killed Ethan. How can you trust him after what he did?” Emma complained.

Tyson glimpsed back at us, warning us by his expression that even though we were far behind, they could hear us.

“Emma, I think you saw that Ethan isn’t exactly an angel,” I explained, stunned.

“That’s not the point. The point is that I don’t trust Nate,” she insisted.

Emma was more upset than I expected, and this was my only chance for forgiveness. If I could persuade Emma to give Nate and me a chance, I knew Tyson and Chase would follow.

“Hey. He’s terribly sorry about what he did to Ethan. You know if that wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t be here with him,” I explained, trying to contain the tone of my voice. “Emma, you can’t judge a book by its cover.”

“I think I know him enough,” Emma insisted.

We squeezed past the people sitting at the end of the row. The moment we took our places, the theater lights went off and the movie started rolling, leaving us unable to finish the conversation.

I was between Nate and Emma. She was pretending to watch the movie, but I could tell she was also watching us from the corner of her eye. I wanted to pay attention to the movie, but I had too many things inside my head. My hands were still shaking.

Halfway through the movie, and taken away by the scene of Alex and Megan walking in the rain on the beautiful cobblestone streets of Montreal, Nate unconsciously rested his hand on top of mine.

He was absolutely unaware of Emma’s wandering eyes. For a second I thought about removing my hand, but I immediately decided this was it. No more pretending. If they were my friends, they would have to accept my decision.

The movie literally flew by. I hadn’t really given it my full attention, but I was still shocked. It hadn’t sunk in until now that Megan was making it in Hollywood. This was very different from anything else she had done. All her previous roles had been in independent movies, which were more my style. This was definitely a teenage blockbuster with the expected happy ending. But by the standing ovation of the audience, I was absolutely sure that her fans were thrilled with the result.

As the theater lights came back on, we came back to awkward reality. The audience clapped for several minutes, until Megan and Alex rose from their seats and waved at the fans. I was so proud of Megan. I was sure she was going to make it big in Hollywood.

People began to exit the theater and the five of us stood up without really knowing what to say or where to go.

Finally, Nate spoke, probably with the intention of avoiding another awkward situation. “Do you mind if we meet at the after party? Our limousine is already waiting outside.”

“Sure,” Chase quickly replied, apparently relieved that we wouldn’t have to ride in the same limousine.

“Shall we?” Nate suggested, placing his suit jacket over his shoulder.

When I was about to squeeze past Emma, she made a sign as though she wanted to tell me something. I tipped my head forward and then she whispered softly in my ear, “I guess I could give him a chance, but please be careful.”

I smiled back at her. “Thank you.”

This was my Emma. She could go from loving to hating and back to loving someone within the same hour. Although she was passionate and always had a strong opinion about everything, she could change sides in no time.

In this case, it wasn’t going to be that simple. She wasn’t going to give in to Nate right away, but I didn’t blame her. She was just being protective of me. At least she seemed willing to give Nate a chance.

To our embarrassment, it took us half an hour to find our limousine. We hadn’t anticipated all the black limousines waiting outside looking just like ours.

By the time we got to the Onyx Bar on Sunset Boulevard, the others had already arrived. They were still outside in the street.

“What are you guys doing out here?" Nate asked, loosening his tie and unbuttoning his shirt.

“The bouncer says we have to be 21, even if we have tickets for the after party.” Chase reclined on the side of a parked car.

Emma scrutinized Nate from head to toe. She showed no mercy.

We could hear the loud music coming out of the bar. Limousine after limousine unloaded at the entrance. The bouncer didn’t seem to bother asking for anyone else’s IDs.

“This is a catastrophe. We’ve been calling Megan, but she’s not picking up,” Tyson announced, disappointed.

“Have you tried talking to him?” Nate asked, nodding toward the bouncer.

“We’ve literally begged him. This sucks!” Chase kicked the lamppost with a loud thud.

We stood there in silence, waiting for someone to come up with the perfect plan. Emma had her stiletto shoes in her hand and stood barefoot on the sidewalk. The bottom of her glamorous black dress trailed along the pavement. She was openly accepting defeat.

Nate scratched his head thoughtfully. “Okay, wait here,” he said.

He advanced toward the bouncer, all our expectations resting upon his shoulders. We observed Nate talking him, but the bouncer leaned back several times to stare at us, and kept shaking his head from side to side. Nate crossed his arms over his chest.

Then we saw Nate leaning over to whisper at the bouncer.

“Hey, guys! Quick!” Nate suddenly called, making my heart skip a beat.

We rushed to his side, and magically, the bouncer removed the velvet rope. We entered the bar as if we owned the place.

“How did…?” I stuttered.

Nate placed his finger on my lips. “I’ll tell you later.”

I wasn’t sure if Nate was aware, but just like that, he’d won Tyson and Chase over. Guys are simple like that. They’d been talking about the premiere after party nonstop since the day we got the tickets. They would’ve been devastated if we hadn’t been able to get in. They’d even made a list of the actresses they were planning to hit on—as if they stood any chance.

The five of us walked into the main lounge together. The walls were gigantic fish tanks filled with multicolored fish. You could see right through the tanks into the VIP area. The main room was vaguely illuminated by the purple lights of the tanks. It seemed we were trapped inside an aquarium. The place was extremely crowded, and we struggled to move through the crowd.

Megan was talking passionately to a group of older people on the terrace, probably from the studios. The dramatic lights of the L.A. skyline sparkled behind her. Alex was right behind Megan. His eyes brimmed with admiration.

The DJ was blasting music and the bar was filling up quickly. It was technically impossible to have a normal conversation without having to shout at each other.

Like every party, Tyson and Chase parted from us as soon as we got inside. I spotted them talking to a pair of blond girls by the bar. They seemed to be having a good time.

Megan waved at us from the terrace with an ear-to-ear grin . We rushed to her side, dodging through the crowd. Thankfully, the music wasn’t so loud outside.

“I’m so glad you came,” Megan said with enthusiasm.

She kissed Emma, and then she gave me a long, tight hug.

“He’s cute, but he’d better behave,” she murmured in my ear, making me laugh.

Nate had clearly overheard her. Driven by the unlikelihood of a proper introduction, he made his move. “Hi, I’m Nate. Thanks for the premiere tickets. That was very kind of you.”

“No problem.” Megan glanced at Alex from the corner of her eye.

My face was turning red. I could tell that even Alex knew about the whole drama. Poor Nate.

“Alex,” he said, shaking Nate’s hand.

Nate and Alex started making some small conversation to apparently give us some girl time.

As soon as Emma realized they weren’t listening, she went right back into it. “You don’t look too shocked about Sophie’s date. You knew about it, didn’t you?” Emma still sounded resentful.

“She never told me, but I guessed,” Megan said apologetically. “I asked her to bring him. Maybe he’s not as bad as we think.”

“But…” Emma promptly complained.

“I know what happened at Ethan’s party, but I also know Ethan. And believe me, he has his history, too. It’s not fair to blame it all on him.” Megan tipped her head back toward Nate and Alex.

Megan and Emma openly stared at Nate. There was something about him that never went unnoticed. It wasn’t really about his physique, but more about his aura. Nate seemed to have the talent of making people feel good when they were around him. It wasn’t about the superficial perfection that we were so accustomed to in L.A., but rather, an inner allure.

“I guess I understand why you’re captivated by him regardless of what happened,” Emma murmured, as if to convince herself.

“Hey, Emma, that’s the director. I want to introduce you to him. Alex knows him well. Could you excuse us for a moment?” Megan apologized, dragging Alex away by his arm. Emma followed behind.

Nate and I leaned on the balcony and realized without Emma around we could relax, at least for a moment.

We looked at the dramatic skyline, Nate’s gaze lost in the horizon. I couldn’t stop looking at him. Sometimes I wondered what was going on in his mind. He seemed to always be lost in his thoughts.

“They seem to really like you.” Nate turned around. His piercing eyes hypnotizing me.

“I think it was you. There’s something that makes people like you.”

“I could name you a few people who don’t seem that fascinated by me.” Nate chuckled.

The terrace was getting packed. We were literally against the balcony. If they continued letting people in, we were going to get crushed.

Megan, Emma, and Alex were talking passionately to the director. Megan was probably trying to get Emma a job. She was really good to her, and many times she’d gotten Emma roles in her movies. In fact, the two of them had been in a lot of movies together, Emma always with a secondary role.

After a few minutes, I saw Megan fighting her way back through the crowd to our side. She seemed a bit worried.

“Hey, the director is hosting another party at his place in Beverly Hills. I think we’re going to have to leave this place. This is getting too crowded.” Megan frowned.

I looked over her shoulder. The slim brunette who was supposedly Alex’s ex-girlfriend had just flounced out onto the terrace.

“Are you coming?” Megan asked, looking annoyed. A girl stepped on her dress.

Nate looked at me, seemingly waiting for my decision.

“Yeah, we’d love to go, but I’d like to stay at this party a bit longer. You go ahead. We’ll catch up with you later,” I said, trying to get some time alone with Nate.

“What about Tyson and Chase?”

“They already knew about the other party. They’re coming, too.” Megan nodded.

Megan planted a kiss on my cheek and then hugged Nate. “You better look after her. I know where you live!” She joked, but I knew there was some truth in her threat.

Nate smiled back at her. “Don’t worry. I will.”

Seconds later, Megan and Emma, each holding one of Alex’s arms, disappeared into the crowd.

“We can go now to the other party if you want. Should I call the limousine?” Nate asked.

It was probably a good idea. The shoes were killing me, but thankfully I’d left another more comfortable pair in the limousine.

I was going to need to have my feet amputated after walking in these horrible heels all evening. When I was about to accept Nate’s offer, the DJ spun the latest hip-hop hit, “Never Stop.” I absolutely loved this song. We couldn’t leave just yet.

“Let’s wait until this song’s over!” I pleaded, grabbing Nate’s hand and dragging him behind me onto the dance floor. There was something about this song that took hold of me.

We managed to squeeze through the dancing people into a bit of space left by one of the fish tanks. Nate chuckled at my spastic dancing. For the first time ever, he seemed utterly embarrassed. He was leaning on the fish tank like a block of wood. I suspected dancing wasn’t one of his greatest skills.

Everyone on the dance floor was singing along to the chorus. I seized Nate’s hand, inviting him to join, but he kept nervously laughing and nodding his head from side to side. It was obvious that no matter what I did, he wasn’t going to give in. After my badgering, still leaning on the fish tank, he finally held my hand up, making me turn around as if we were dancing a waltz.