Game On (23 page)

The stadium was empty except for the director, his assistants, a camera guy, and the handful of other girls auditioning. There was one familiar face, one that should've blown her away.

Peyton Smith. He was the star in her drive-in movie. She should've been excited. She should've been a lot of things. Instead she was just numb.

“You're late, Maya.” It was Bow Tie the intern. He wrangled her down to the court. “You were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago.”

“Traffic.” It was all Maya could say. This intern who'd played such a starring role in her day yesterday was an extra to her today. She was full-on out of body.

“Nice to meet you, Maya,” the director said as she was brought in front of him. “Nails only says great stuff about you.” Then he looked her over. “You sure dressed up for us today.”

Jake had taken Maya's bags to his room. Since there was no way she was going to go back and get them, she was forced to wear the same outfit she had on yesterday. And that included the lingerie underneath. She didn't even think to change out of it, she was so distraught.

“Thanks for having me,” she managed.

“You're going to be reading with Peyton—I'm sure you know him.” The director ushered Peyton over.

“How're ya doing,” Peyton said. He was one of the hottest young actors on the planet, but to Maya, in this moment, he might as well have been a tree stump with sideburns. She used
to swoon over Peyton. She believed he was every romantic character he ever played. Now she wondered what secrets he hid. How many girls he faked into thinking he was theirs and theirs alone.

Before Maya knew it, she was standing on the baseline of the court, racket in hand.

“Peyton will say his line,” the director said. “Then you'll say yours, then you'll hand him your racket, and finish it up by helping him swing.”

Maya nodded before she could fully process what he was telling her.

“I will never get tennis,” Peyton said to her after the director walked away. “It's a ball and a stick. How hard could it be?”

“If anyone can do it,” Maya snapped back, “why did you guys fly me all the way to stupid Los Angeles to try out?!”

Peyton looked at her, confused.

“Cut!” the director yelled.

Maya looked up. The director had called “action”—that was the scene he was doing. She was mortified.

“Joke,” Maya said, trying to cover up her mistake. “Just cutting the tension.”

The only tension was the tension that had been slowly devouring Maya over the last fourteen hours. And it wasn't done with her.

“Going again,” the director said, nonplussed. “Action!”

“I will never get tennis,” Peyton said again. “It's a ball and a stick. How hard could it be?”

Suddenly, the stadium filled with silence. And more silence.

“Cut!” the director yelled.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry,” she said. “I just … I went blank. Sorry, it won't happen again.”

But it did happen again. And again. She was so out of sorts that she also forgot to hand over her racket when it was her cue, she looked directly into the camera three times, and she called Peyton by his real name twice. Her only hope of salvaging this trip was nailing the footage of her playing that they were shooting after the scene. But they never even asked Maya to do it. She bombed.

She might as well have walked from Jake's hotel room door to the airport.

As Maya collected her tennis bag, a flurry of people swept in. It was Nicole and her entourage, her agent, Jordan, by her side. Upon seeing her, Maya clenched everything that could be clenched in the human body.

Nicole looked every bit as at ease as Maya was wound up. Nicole was ready to nail this audition. And she was ready to nail it now. Maya wanted to scream. Or run. But she was compelled to hang back and watch.

Nicole didn't need any introduction to Peyton; they knew each other already. The director prepped Nicole in no time, then called “Action!”

“I will never get tennis,” Peyton said to Nicole. “It's a ball and a stick. How hard could it be?”

Nicole smiled. “You think you know everything, but you'd be surprised what a girl like me can teach a guy like you.” She put the racket in his hands, put her arms around his body, and
then swung for him. When they finished their swing, they were turned to where their lips were nearly touching.

“Cut!” the director called out. “Fantastic, Nicole.” Maya had to admit it was fantastic. If it was possible, Nicole was almost a better actress than she was a tennis player.

“That whole thing where your faces met up afterward,” the director said. “That was some amazing improv.”

“I was inspired,” Nicole purred, looking at Peyton. She had both men wrapped around her finger.

Anything Nicole had to do after that was a formality. She got the part, and all the other girls knew it. When the director announced Nicole's name, the only one who acted surprised was Nicole herself, and even that was convincing.

As the crowd dispersed and Nicole's entourage conferred with the director, Nicole was left to gather her things. Things that just happened to be at the bench right where Maya had stopped to linger.

“You really shouldn't get down on yourself too hard,” Nicole said, packing up her bag. “I've laid out a lot smarter girls than you a lot easier. You at least took a little effort.”

Maya just looked at her. What was she talking about?

“From the minute that photographer wanted to take pictures of you after our first hit,” Nicole continued, “I knew I had to keep my eye on you. But, you know, there are plenty of cute girls at the Academy. I wasn't concerned. But then you had to go and start dating Travis. By the time Nails moved you into the villa, I had no choice. You were a threat. So I did what I do to anyone who offers me even the slightest hint of
competition. I reel them in, learn their weaknesses, and then use those weaknesses to crush them.”

“Crush them?” Maya asked, finally able to speak. “We weren't competition. We were friends.”

“Were we?” Nicole asked. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” Maya wasn't going to let Nicole get away with reimagining their relationship. “We went to parties together, we practiced together. …”

“Ever hear the expression ‘Keep your friends close but your enemies closer'?” Nicole asked.

“You said you were surrounded by people who wanted things from you, but I was the one you trusted. You told me that!” Maya felt her emotions start to come out.

“That was good, right?” Nicole said. “I almost managed a tear on that one. So close.”

Maya couldn't believe what she was hearing.

“You also said I should have sex with Jake,” Maya said, her voice small.

“I was right, you should've,” Nicole said, zipping her bag and looking at Maya for the first time. “He was fantastic.”

Maya was rigid.

“Sorry, Maya,” she said. “There can only be one queen bee at the Academy. And it's not you.”

With that, Nicole walked off to the open arms of her entourage, who heaped congratulations on her. And after fifteen straight hours of numbness, finally, Maya broke down in tears.

Looking at all the love Nicole was being smothered with, Maya had to get out of there. She couldn't stand all this
fakeness. She fled into the stadium in search of something. Something real.

She needed her friends.

Maya pulled out her phone and was reminded again that it was dead. So she made her way to a nearby pay phone and dialed. When Cleo didn't answer, she tried Renee. It just rang and rang. Finally, Renee's voice mail kicked in.

“Guys,” Maya said. She could barely spit out words. “I don't blame you for not answering. I don't blame you for ignoring me. I was a jerk. I know I was a jerk. I just wish you two were here, even if it was only to tell me how much of a jerk I really am. …”

“You are a jerk,” a voice said behind her. Maya turned.

Cleo was standing ten feet away.

And Renee was right next to her.

“What …?” Maya dropped the phone. “What are you doing here?” Maya could see Cleo and Renee, but she couldn't believe they were really here.

“I found out Nicole was auditioning for this thing, too,” Renee said. “The fact that she never told either of us, well, I knew something was up.”

“We tried to call and warn you,” Cleo said.

“My phone's been dead since yesterday morning,” Maya said. And then she realized. “You two flew all the way out here … for me?” Maya's eyes welled up as she smiled.

“Don't get all stupid,” Cleo said. “Renee paid for it, not me.”

“We saw the whole thing,” Renee said, referring to the audition. “And heard what came after. We were right over there.” Renee motioned to seats on the other side of where Maya and Nicole had spoken.

Maya started to cry again.

“I'm so sorry,” Maya said again. “I was a beast. Cleo, you were absolutely right. I was not there for either of you at all. I got what I deserved.”

“Nobody deserves what Nicole did to you,” Renee said. “Did she really hook up with Jake?”

Maya couldn't even say the words.

“Screw 'em,” Cleo said forcefully. “Screw 'em both. Who needs them? They weren't your friends. Not your real friends, anyway.

“You look good,” Cleo said. It was the first time she'd seen Maya out of the makeover.

Maya smiled. She didn't care if Cleo would freak out. She was going to do what she needed to do. She grabbed Renee and Cleo and hugged them. Hard.

“Oh, come on!” Cleo said, trying to push Maya off.

But Maya just held on tighter.

Back at Renee and Cleo's hotel, Maya watched as the girls packed their suitcases. Renee could've fit a hundred of Cleo's overnight bags into her twelve-piece luggage set—and still had room for Cleo herself.

“Renee, I can't believe I missed your parents coming,” Maya said. “I can only imagine what that must've been like.”

“Me too,” Renee said. “They never came.”

“What?” Maya asked.

“My dad had an ambassador emergency,” Renee said, zipping her luggage hard.

“What does that even mean?”

“It means they have to come next month instead,” Renee said.

Maya and Cleo exchanged glances.

“No matter how hard I try,” Renee said, “I'm never going to be good enough for them.” It was an awful realization. But it would've been more awful if any of them had tried to deny it.

“Well,” Maya said, “maybe you should stop trying?”

Renee took that in. She smiled. “Maybe.” But it was easier said than done.

Maya turned her attention to Cleo. “Okay, so. Svetlana? Wedding bells?”

“I broke up with her,” Cleo said.

“You …?” Maya just squinted. “Well, that didn't last long.”

“It didn't feel right after all,” Cleo said.

“So you're not bisexual?” Maya asked.

“No, I'm not,” Cleo said. “I'm gay. It was just Svetlana I was torn about. Turns out she was incredibly annoying.”

Maya laughed. “That's … great? At least now you know?”

“Oh yeah,” Cleo said. “Now I know for sure I have something concrete to freak out about.”

“Okay,” Renee said. “You're a freaked-out lesbian, my parents don't care if I live or die, and Maya's boyfriend cheated on her with one of her best friends. We are in awesome shape.”

“So we're a mess,” Maya said. “At least we have each other to help figure it out, right?”

Cleo looked at her. “You have to be the corniest person I have ever met.”

Maya threw a pillow at her. Then another. And another.

The room phone rang. Renee answered to find their limo to the airport was ready and waiting.

As they grabbed their bags, Renee stopped suddenly. She turned to Maya. “How are you and I going to live under the same roof with Nicole now?”

“Wow, that's amazing,” Cleo said in a tone that said she appreciated the entertainment value.

“You're on your own with that one.” Maya smiled wistfully.

“Are you moving out?” Renee asked.

“Yes!” Cleo said, thrilled. “Now I can get rid of my roommate. She's one soft push from packing her bags anyway.”

Maya didn't laugh. In fact, she was downright maudlin.

“I'm going to help you guys with all your problems, I swear,” Maya said. “I'm not going anywhere. Except … I am.”

Cleo and Renee looked at each other, confused.

“Where are you going?” Renee asked.

It was as hard for Maya to say as it was for them to hear. But she'd made up her mind.

“I'm not cutthroat enough for the Academy,” Maya said. “So I'm leaving. For good.”

And just like that, their journey together was over.

As fast as Maya packed to come to the Academy, she packed even faster to leave. She did not want to be at the villa when Nicole got back. Worse, what if Jake was with her? As upset as she was at Nicole, Jake's betrayal hurt her at a level too deep to comprehend. She could at least pretend to understand how Nicole could've gone after her the way she did. But Jake … To make someone fall in love with you out of sport, to prey on her heart as part of some game, was inhuman. Nicole might have almost managed a tear that night on the tennis court, but Jake had sobbed in her arms. All to get some play. He was a monster, and the mere possibility that he could walk through that villa door before she could leave made what was left of her heart pound out of her chest.

“It's true, then,” he said. Maya turned to see him walk through the door. It was a Reed, but not the one she feared.
Travis. And he didn't look happy seeing her throw clothes in a garbage bag. He didn't look happy at all.

“You can't go,” he said. “Not like this.”