FanGirl (28 page)

Chapter 19

C
heers erupt when I step through the door, and I can’t even begin to temper the smile on my face. Six weeks earlier, I entered the same restaurant, with the same people and no one knew my name. Tonight, I’m greeted by the entire cast and crew like an old friend. I suppose that’s what happens when you survive the zombie apocalypse together.

“Kind of awesome that Gabe’s birthday is the same night as the wrap party,” Iris says.

“Two parties for the price of one.”

“Gabe’s amazing but, seriously? By his 21
st
birthday he’s managed to write four issues of
Zocopalypse
, write and film a miniseries about it and snag you as his girlfriend. Impressive.”

I squeeze her arm. “Don’t jinx it.”

“Whatever. Here he comes. Go kiss him proper — like a girrrrlfriend would.”

I’m not going to kiss him, even though I want to, but I do smile when I see the silly crown on his head.

“Hi.”

“Wow,” he says, looking at my feet and then my legs and then my feet. I’m wearing a pair of five-inch heels, covered in zombie comics. “Those are amazing.”

“I found them online. They glow in the dark, too.”

He looks up. “Yeah, I’m not talking about those shoes, although they are cool. Holy Batman, Ruby, I’m not letting you or those legs out of my sight tonight.”

“Please don’t,” I tell him and grab onto his arm, wobbling a little. “One false move and I’m hitting the floor in these.”

“You two are adorable,” Iris says, rolling her eyes at us. “Who’s the hottie by the supermodel over there?”

We all look across the room where two gorgeous girls stand by the bar talking to an equally attractive guy. “That’s Peter. Caroline’s husband.”

“Your sister, Caroline?” I say. Gabe has four sisters, all apparently beautiful.

“Yes, Caroline and Abby and then,” he looks around the room. He gestures to a sofa. “Samantha and Margaret are over there. They came for the birthday part of this party.”

“No brothers?” Iris asks.

“Nope, sorry, but look,” he points to the door, “Nick just got here.”

Without a goodbye, Iris is gone, a dust cloud at her back. “That was too easy,” I say.

“You’ll find I’m very inventive when it comes to getting what I want.”

“You want Iris with Nick?”

“No, I want a minute with you.” He rests his hand on my waist. Over his shoulder, I make eye contact with one of his sisters. One of the two girls is his inspiration for Alexandra. “Which one is Samantha?”

He opens his mouth to answer, but NAB appears, nearly panting, the eager puppy that he is, and says, “Gabe — Art and some of the production guys want to see you.”

“Find me later?” he says, swiping a kiss on my cheek. Typical. I’ve been abandoned by both my friends. I spot Vanessa and Rochelle across the room and I’m about to walk over when I feel a tap on my shoulder.

“Ruby?”

I turn to find all of Gabe’s sisters circling me. Yikes. A tall, dark-haired girl offers her hand. “I’m Samantha
[1]
, Gabe’s sister.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“This is Margaret, Abby and Caroline
[2]
.” I have no idea who is who, but I feel like someone stuck my feet in a fire.

“So, you’re Alexandra,”

“I am. Was. Yes.” She’s studying me. They’re all studying me.

“I can see why he picked you.”

I feel the blush. I don’t know if she means he picked me or he picked me to play Alexandra or both. I suspect by the tiny smile on her face she means both. “Thanks?”

“We’re so proud of him.” She glances across the room at Gabe. “But you know he’s a total weirdo, right?”

Um…

The girls all laugh at my deer-in-the-headlights stare.

“We all knew one day he would make it, but no one ever expected it would be like this or so fast,” one says. Margaret? I wish they had nametags. Her name should just be glamazon.

One sister with lighter hair snorts and says, “I expected him to be in jail by now.”

Samantha punches her on the arm. “Stop. You’re scaring Ruby.”

I give a nervous laugh. “I’ve always been a big fan of his work. He’s an inspiration to all the geeks out there. He kind of ‘gets’ us.”

“He ‘gets’ you because he is you. He grew up in a house filled with all of us. I swear he turned in that comic in high school just to get away from the estrogen.” Due to the smirk on her face, I wonder if this is Caroline.

“We’d force him to dress up and play house and do our bidding. One time Margaret made him try on all our Easter dresses and have a fashion show to help us pick the one we liked the best.” Samantha laughs at the memory. “It’s no surprise he surrounded himself with blood and gore. It’s how he kept his sanity.”

“Can I ask a question?” I ask.

“Sure.”

“Gabe told me once he based Alexandra on you — his sister, Samantha. No offense, but from what you’ve said and from what I can tell by just meeting you, I’m not seeing a lot of Alex.”

She takes a sip of her drink and leans toward me. “Can you keep a secret?” she asks. The others are talking amongst themselves, happy to let Samantha continue the interrogation alone.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last six weeks, it’s yes, I can keep a secret if necessary.”

“Well, the truth is, Gabe dreamed up the early versions of Alexandra when we were kids. His imagination was wild, and he would beg us all to play with him. Zombies and monsters. Demon hunters and dragon slayers. I’m the closest to his age, but I never would. I could never be Alexandra. Those first incarnations of Alex were tough, brave, kind and funny. I’m girly-girl through and through. All princess dresses and fairy wings.” She sighs and waves her hand at her occupied sisters. “We were all a great disappointment to him.”

“Huh. I wonder why he would tell me that then?”

“If I had to guess, it’s because he finally found her — you — and he didn’t know what else to say.”

“I know he chose me for Alexandra because I can play the part, but I don’t think I’m like her very much in real life. Alex is a goddess.”

“Don’t underestimate yourself, Ruby Miller. I suspect you have more goddess in you than you could ever know. I’ve never seen my brother look at a woman the way he looks at you.”

“You think he’s attracted to me because I’m like Alexandra? Because that’s weird.” I grimace. “And maybe a little creepy.”

Her hand comes down on my shoulder. “No! He doesn’t like you because you’re like Alexandra — he likes you because he has spent his entire life trying to make up a girl who is worthy of his time. A fictional, pretend, drawn girl.
[3]
You, dear, are the first real girl who has surpassed this image. He’s no longer the little boy trying to make a friend with common interests. He no longer needs the fabrication. He has you.”

“What if I’m not? I’m not brave or tough or those other things.”

“That’s not what I’ve heard. I heard you’re the girl who fought for this role. You fought your parents and your lack of experience and the fans who didn’t believe in you. You’re tough enough to stand up to agents and your friends. You make the right choices in hard situations. Not everyone can do that.”

I’m speechless. Because no one has ever spoken to me like this, and because she is right. I did do all those things.

“Yes, you have all the traits for a girl my brother would adore. Plus, I’ve seen pictures of you in your costume. You look fantastic. One look at that and I imagine he was a goner.” She leans a little and looks around me. “Oh look, they’re setting up the cake — come on.”

Across the room, on top of the bar, a huge cake sits with the
Zocopalypse
logo. Candles cover the top. The sisters walk off and a heavy arm lands across my shoulder. Andrew is by my side.

“Hi,” I say leaning into him.

He has his eye on the cake. “I wish I could eat that.”

“Doooo it,” I taunt. But I know he won’t. Cake is not on the Andrew Xavier negative carb/sugar/anything-that-tastes-good diet.

“So, um, I want to introduce you to someone.” He moves to the side and I see him. Handsome, tall, slim but fit. “This is my friend, Carter.”

I offer my hand, but Carter obviously has other ideas because I’m engulfed in a hug. “Hi, Carter,” I say into his chest. I take a breath. What’s up with these delicious-smelling guys?

He releases me and says, “Ah, Ruby, the other woman.”

“That’s me. Breaking up relationships left and right.” I say. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“I’m so glad to be here.” The two exchange a look. A happy look.

“Can you eat cake or are you on the zero-carb, no fun diet too?”

“Oh, I can definitely eat cake.”

“Excellent, we can go eat cake and then talk about Andrew like he’s not here.”

He smiles big and wide. “Perfect.”

g

“
I want to show
you something.”

I step to the front of the restaurant with Gabe and let him lead me through the parking lot. Tucked behind an SUV is the rusty Chevy we used in the movie.

“What’s this?”

“I bought it.”

“You did?” I run my hand down the tailgate. “You’re going to take the truck back to New York?”

He catches my hand in his. “Nope. I bought it for you. A memento of sorts. Plus, you don’t have a car for school.”

“I’m not sure this clunker can take the mileage.”

He smiles. “The outside looks the same, but I had a mechanic check it out and make some upgrades. Runs like a charm. Perfectly safe.”

I search for the right words. “I kind of love this truck. Do you buy all your new girlfriends cars?”

“Only the ones who can decapitate a zombie in 10 seconds,” he says, opening the door to the cab. I climb inside, smoothing my skirt under my legs. Gabe opens the passenger door and sits next to me. “It’s the least I can do. To thank you.”

“For what, exactly?”

“You made this happen for me.”

“What do you mean?” I swallow.

“The movie, Alexandra, Issue 4. You, me.”

“Oh, all that.”

“Yeah, all that.”

“I don’t think I’m fully responsible.”

He looks at me for a moment and says, “You know that part where Cole gets cornered by the zombies while trying to get food for everyone, and Alex risks her life by luring them into the basement of the house where they are able to destroy them all and escape?”

“You know I do.”

“Alexandra saved him that day. From the swarming zombies and certain death.”

“She’s badass.”

He laces his fingers though mine. “Will you be my Alexandra?”

“I think my days as Alexandra are over, but if you want me to be your Ruby, I can manage that.”

“I want both. We’ll just have to make another movie.”

“If you make another movie, then you have to share me with Andrew again. Wyatt doesn’t go anywhere.”

“I think Wyatt has some issues he needs to deal with, plus you and I both know what he finds when they get inside the army command center.”

I shake my head, still mourning the loss of my favorite couple. “You haven’t started Issue 5 yet. Cole and Alex may not work. Wyatt may still have a chance.”

He scoots across the bench seat. “Or Cole and Alex may be the epic couple no one ever anticipated.”

“Epic?”

“Yes, epic. Eternal. Fated.”

“Maybe the zombie apocalypse wasn’t started by the government. Maybe it was really the Fates.” I smile, egging him to continue.

“Maybe they have superpowers.”

“Ooh! Yes! Superpowers! Like maybe the zombie bites give them super-strength.”

“What?” He frowns.

“Yeah, like, if you’re bitten by a zombie you reanimate into another zombie who can move things with their mind.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“None of this makes sense.”

“You know what makes sense?”

“What?” I ask, loving his silliness.

He kisses me in the front seat of that truck, and it’s so much better than the last kiss I had in here. He’s sweet and tastes like cake.

“This. This makes sense.”

g