Junior Year Box Set

After I’d playfully touched his nose a couple of times, Phil seemed to calm down enough to realize that I could have kicked the crap out of him. I was still starved, so I took him inside, and we ate Italian beef sandwiches. While we did, I explained the facts of life to him and how he should treat women with more respect. I told him that was the first thing Greg had taught me. Phil still thought that my call to my dad was extreme, but he understood that I would have punched him if I hadn’t.

We talked it out, and I felt better about us as potential friends. I had zero intention of teaching Phil to pick up girls. Not until I determined he could be trusted with the knowledge. I didn’t need a little douchebag mini-me set loose on Lincoln High. Greg would kick my ass if he found out I’d done that. I figured I would spend more time with him, though.

I took Phil home. His mom took one glance at him and his dirty clothes and looked at me suspiciously.

“I fell down,” Phil said, daring me to say otherwise.

I was positive his mom didn’t buy it, but that was for them to work out. Rather than get into the middle of that, I told him I’d see him Monday in school and left.

◊◊◊

Mom and Dad made me ride with them. This must be some kind of punishment for knocking my half brother down. It also meant that Halle and I would have almost no chance to have any alone time.

I winced when Fritz answered the door; he had a big, bruised knot in the center of his forehead. That looked like it hurt.

“Sorry,” I said.

“Did you do that to him?” Mom asked.

Crud! Me and my big mouth.

“I forgot to duck,” Fritz explained.

I received a look that told me I would be talked to when I got home. It seemed two physical altercations in one week might be two too many, in my mom’s opinion.

We were taken to the solarium, and I could hear a loud male voice and then laughter before we entered. I looked at Fritz, and he rolled his eyes. We walked in and found a good-looking guy with a short haircut who was in his late thirties or early forties. He was obvious as he checked out Rita. When we entered, he looked my mom over and gave her an appraising look. My mom is very good looking, but I’d never seen anyone put eyes on her like that, especially with my dad in the room.

He tore his eyes away from my mom, looked at me, and smiled.

“You’re better looking in person,” he said as he stood up and crossed the room to shake my hand. “I’m Saul Gessler. Rita asked me to fly out and meet with you and introduce you to the Gessler Agency.”

“Saul is one of the top five agents in Hollywood,” Rita said, and listed off who some of his clients were.

Many of his clients were action stars. Rita had mentioned that she would have her agent find someone for me. I didn’t expect he would fly out, but then again, this was for Rita James. Then Halle and Trip came in, and I watched Saul eye Halle. Halle noticed and plastered herself next to me, and when his eyes finally found hers, he flinched. I don’t think he expected anyone would object to him ogling them. Both my mom and Rita noticed, and neither of them appeared happy.

We had dinner with Saul, and he came across as loud, arrogant, and foul-mouthed, but I quickly realized he was very good at what he did. He had taken the time to call Frank Ingram, my PR agent; they had worked together for years. I was sure that was why Frank was also Rita’s PR guy.

Saul had a way of making you feel like you were the most important person in the room. He first won over my mom, and then my dad, before he even began to talk to me. I watched Saul in action and took in everything he did. I wasn’t totally sure whether my first impression was correct or not. There were times when I wondered if the arrogant, foul-mouthed agent might just be performing an act that people expected. Then again, Saul could be exactly the way he was acting.

When dinner was over, he stood up and shook my hand again.

“I’ll get with Rita and find out what your shoot schedule will be when you’re in LA. I’ll messenger over a contract to your lawyer on Monday. Good luck with football,” Saul said and was gone.

“That was impressive. He just assumed the sale,” Mom said. “I’ll have to try that sometime.”

“It surprised me when Saul insisted on being David’s agent. I expected he’d hand him off to one of his other agents. Having Saul as David’s agent will open doors for him. It’ll give David a lot of credibility,” Rita told my mom and dad.

I was sold, but my mom and dad wanted to know if he’d be appropriate for someone as new to the business as I was. Mom probably had visions of Saul’s office being in the back of a strip club or something equally sketchy.

Halle and I took a stroll and ended up in the library. It had a big leather couch. We were able to get a good make-out session going before I received a text from Fritz. I wondered if he enjoyed the show, but I appreciated the heads-up, as we barely had time to part before Rita stuck her head in the door.

“Your parents are ready to go,” she announced.