Three Months and You're Mine (In Too Deep) (3 page)

Chapter 3

Meredith

The texts
to Zack didn't go exactly as planned, but also weren't a total bust. He agreed to teach me the ways of a master seducer, but only after a waiting period, and maybe not even then. Dang, I guess it
was
a total bust. At least he left room for a little hope. I considered scrapping the whole idea, but for now I was planning on trying my luck with Zack, and waiting out the three months.

I thought about telling Zack I was a virgin as incentive, but I honestly didn't know if
he would consider it a positive or a negative. I felt like most guys would enjoy the idea of deflowering a girl, but since I told him it was casual, I didn't want to scare him off with the whole virgin thing.

I was only six days into my three-month
wait period when I moved to Los Angeles. My mom was furious with me for dropping out of school, furious about the tattoo, and furious about my decision to move to L.A. Just about the only thing she
wasn't
upset about was my job at Paradise Island. It was television's longest running soap opera, and my mom had been a fan for decades. In fact, when I first told her I had the job, she got really excited and uncharacteristically bubbly and friendly. The friendliness died down about one minute later when she found out that I would be starting out as a production assistant, but she turned it around again when I told her they wanted to use me as an extra and I'd have the chance to audition for a starring role in the show. Okay, so I stretched the truth a little. But that brief period when I thought she was proud of me felt so good that I just couldn't make myself stop the white lie.

In spite of
me already having a job and a place to live, my mom still thought I was destined for failure. The lady wasn't known for mincing words, and she told me that she gave me two months before I was on her doorstep, begging to move back home.

Because I'd dropped out of school
in the process, she and my father decided to teach me a lesson and cut me off completely. I had a car that was paid off, but they were no longer going to help me with insurance, cell phone, or any of my other monthly expenses.

What
they didn't know was that I had more than ten thousand dollars in cash that I'd saved over the years.

My parent's paid for everything I needed or wanted, so I'd been tucking away birthday
and Christmas money since I was twelve years old. A few times, I almost spent it, but boy was I glad I hadn't. Now I had a big chunk of cash that no one knew about. I knew the money I'd saved would be plenty to at least carry me through a few months, and if all went well, it would just be a building block for my new life in Los Angeles.

My brother
, Collin, and his wife Rachel had been with me all day. They came down to San Diego to help me move even though I probably could have squeezed everything I was taking with me in my car. The room I was renting came furnished, and I was only really bringing clothes, shoes, and makeup and hair stuff, but I was still glad to have Collin and Rachel's help. Collin drove his truck and it was nice to have the extra room so I didn't have to pack strategically.

My parents
completely ignored the fact that I was moving out. They treated me as if I was going on a trip, and I'd be back in a week or so. It stung when they didn't offer to help me move, but I expected as much, so I tried not to let it get to me.

****

It was my first night in my new place, and Rachel was helping me get all my things organized. A few minutes earlier, Collin had walked downstairs to talk to my new landlords. They were also my neighbors since my apartment was attached to their home. The room I was renting from them was just that—a room. It was tiny, but it had a bathroom with a shower and a corner of the room was the designated kitchen area. It had a two-burner coil stove that would have mortified my mother. It was definitely only meant for one person, (maybe even better suited for a single guy) but it was clean, and would do fine.

There was a set of stairs on the side of the house that led up to my door, and my brother was downstairs talking to the landlords about the motion light on my side of the house and why it wasn't coming on. I should have been
embarrassed that my big brother was playing dad, but I sort of liked that he was so protective of me. Besides, the couple I was renting from was really nice, and they'd already said they were big fans of Collin's. Everyone was a fan of my brother. He was the most popular Olympic athlete last year, and people always got really excited to meet him. I was constantly dropping his name, and people got all gleamy-eyed and nostalgic when they found out he was my brother. It was like a golden ticket.

Anyway, Collin would have no problems asking for a new bulb for my light. In fact, they'd probably apologize profusely for the inconvenience. They were
a really cool couple that was friends with my new boss, and I felt entirely safe and secure at their house. I was terrible at guessing ages, but I assumed they were my parents' age since they had a daughter who was about my age.

"Where do you want this?" Rachel asked. She held up a fabric box with a lid that contained my brushes and blow dryer.

"If you can't find a spot in the bathroom, then it'll have to go in the closet, I guess."

"I thou
ght so, I just wanted to ask. There's not enough room in the bathroom, I already tried."

"I know it's small," I said, almost apologetically, "but it's my first place, and I like it."

A sweet expression flashed across Rachel's face. "Oh, I love it. I think it's perfect for you. I lived in a much smaller place when I was in college."

"I'm just trying to be smart with my money, and I knew I'd be able to afford it
with my job at the show. Hopefully, I'll get a job acting on the show and I won't have to worry about things like how much rent costs."

Rachel laughed. "Everybody worries about how much rent costs, and I think you're smart for getting something small like this. The neighborhood's great, and that family
seems really nice."

"I know," I said.
"I'm excited about everything."

Rachel
regarded me with a sincere expression. "I hope you know you can call on Collin and me to help you out if you ever need it, Mere. You know you only need to ask."

"I know," I said, giving her a reassuring smile. "I really do know that. I think I can make it on the budget I'll have from the show, but I have a little cash put back just in case. Thanks for saying that though. It's nice to know my bubba's got my back."

Rachel had a great job at some big advertising firm, and Collin hit it big with endorsements after the Olympics. They were freaking loaded, and I knew they wouldn't think twice about helping me out if I needed it.

Maybe it was just to spite my mother, but I
really
wanted to make it on my own, and I was just the type of girl who was stubborn enough to do it.

"Seriously, though, Mere," Rachel said. "I'm not just talking about money. If you ever need
anything
let us know. If you're sick and need soup, or just want to come over to say hi—we're right around the corner."

I breathed an internal sigh of relief at the level of
warm, fuzziness this girl somehow gave me. It was so comforting to know I wasn't alone in this town.

The door opened, and Rachel and I looked up to see my brother standing there with a triumphant grin. "They're so nice," he said. "That makes me feel better."

"You don't have to worry about me brother."

"I don’t think there's anything you can say to keep him from worrying about you," Rachel said, "but we're really glad you're here. I know you'll do great."

I smiled at my sister-in-law. She was just the sweetest thing.

She was smiling back at me, but suddenly her expression changed, she looked slightly confused for a second before remembering something. "I can't believe you were about to let me walk out of this house without talking to Meredith about her birthday." She shoved playfully at Collin who gave her an innocent look.

"How was I supposed to know what you two talked about?" He asked, shrugging.

"
I don't know, can't you read minds?" she asked smiling.  She looked at me. "I just can't believe we were about to leave and I hadn't even talked to you about the party yet."

"What party?"

"Exactly," Rachel said. "We should have been discussing this long before now. You have a birthday coming up, and we have to plan something. It's actually another one of our friend's birthday. You remember Zack, don't you?"

I was slightly offended. I gave an expression that said as much. "Yeah, I remember Zack. I
've been knowing him for years." I hesitated, but couldn't stop myself from continuing. "I've actually been in touch with Zack recently. You know, letting him know I was moving up here and everything."

"Wait,
who'd
you talk to?" Collin asked. Obviously he hadn't been paying attention to what I was saying until he heard me say Zack's name.

"Zack," I said.

I left it at that.

He narrowed his eyes at me, and cocked his head "Since when do you talk to Zack?" Collin asked.

"I don't really
talk
to him, present tense. I just talked to him once. I'm just trying to make friends, Collin. You can't blame me for that."

"No, but he's not the type of friend I want you making, Meredith."

I huffed out a laugh. "Oh that's classic, Collin. You're friends with him, but you're telling me I
can't
be?"

"Don't try to act like you don
't know the difference between me being friends with Zack, and
you
being friends with Zack."

"Rachel gets to be friends with Zack. Does she go around sucking his cock?"

"You watch your mouth, young lady!" Collin's voice was so stern that I physically flinched.

"God, Collin, you scared me. Chill out. I was just joking. I'm just saying it's ridiculous that I can't be
friends with Zack. He's one of the few people I know who isn't married or engaged or otherwise preoccupied."

"I vote for letting the pieces fall where they might," Rachel said.

"Just so some pieces fall on me," I said. I grabbed my crotch with one hand and my head with the other and bumped and grinded for a few seconds like I was in the club. I only did it because it was so fun to watch Rachel try to keep the peace when my brother wanted to strangle me.

It worked. My brother closed his eyes like he was praying for patience. He took a deep breath.
"Meredith, you're making me extremely nervous here. I can't handle you moving up here and going all Miley Cyrus on me. Please tell me you're not gonna make me have to shoot one of my best friends, because I'm telling you right now, I will."

"
Shoot, guys. I just really want us to all get along. I think we should talk about the birthday party," Rachel said.

I laughed.
"Oh my God, that's awesome. You guys are so classic. I'm just messing around, Collin. I'm not moving up here to just go wild, and I'm not jumping in bed with every guy I meet, if that's what you're worried about."

"I'm worried about that and many other things."

"Well don't be," I said. "You guys were doing stuff on your own when you were my age. I don't know why everybody's so concerned about how I'll turn out."

"She's sort of right, Collin. Now can we please move on to the birthday party?" Rachel looked at me
a little shyly.

"
I feel weird saying this after everything you've just said, but I hope you don't mind having a dual birthday party with Zack. I already ran the idea past him and he's okay with it."

I couldn't hide my curiosity. "You told him he was sharing a party with me? What did he say?"

Rachel smiled at me—a knowing smile that she thought it was cute I was so interested. "He said it was a great idea. Two birds with one stone, or something or other." Rachel paused, but then continued before Collin could interject with his feelings on the subject. "Your birthdays are next Thursday, but I was thinking we could make it Friday instead. We haven’t gone out together in a while, and I thought that would be fun. The only problem is, you're turning twenty, aren't you?"

"Oh, that's not a
n issue. But, we won't be able to celebrate my birthday since my name is Jenny Canter and I turned twenty-three last January."

"I told you
she had a fake ID," Collin said, punching Rachel's shoulder.

"I can totally go out," I said. "In fact, I'm excited about the idea. Is anyone else coming?"

"Well, it would hardly be a party if nobody was coming," Rachel said. "I'm gonna tell all our friends about it, and if you have anyone you want to invite, you can give me their number and I'll send a mass text once we figure out what we're doing. Now that I know you and Zack are both okay with next Friday, I'll start making plans for a place to meet."