Junior Year Box Set

I had to hand it to our booster club, they had really come through the last two weeks with transportation. The charter buses were much better than riding on a school bus. I had my earbuds in and listened to my tunes as I closed my eyes and reflected on the last two days.

Saul Gessler had agreed to the contract Tyler had sent him. The only change he requested was a flat fee to finish negotiating my Star Academy movie deals. Saul liked that if he made me more than what they were currently offering, he would get a bonus and a percentage. His flat fee was half what I would have paid Tom and Kendal, so I talked to my dad, and he agreed we should sign the revised contract.

My plan for going to LA for nearly two months was to see what I might put together on the acting front. I needed to know if I had a possible future or not. Star Academy had come to me because I’d followed my dad’s lead and walked up to someone and introduced myself. That someone was Lori Winnick. That same night I met Teddy Wesleyan. Dad was right: you never knew what talking to someone would turn into. What I needed to find out was whether I could do it without the help of friends. One might consider my newest venture linked to my getting to know Halle.

I was smart enough to know that I couldn’t go through life relying on people I knew to find me jobs, despite evidence to the contrary. News articles talked about so many actors who struggled and were routinely rejected for parts. I guess what I wanted to figure out was whether I really had what it took, or if I’d just fallen into it and gotten lucky. Believe me, I was all for getting lucky, but didn’t want to rely on it.

Before I loaded onto the bus, I’d gotten a text from Frank that told me they’d found my blogger: it was Brandon Rigby. When he’d been fired, I worried that there might be some retribution. If he was anything like his uncle, I should have known I needed to keep an eye on him. It turned out that Brandon had been a busy boy: Frank’s investigator had uncovered three other blogs. Evidently, Brandon had taken photos on some of our trips. I thanked God that I hadn’t gotten naked in front of him. But he had posted a picture that showed Todd Davis participating in the gang bang with me in the background. I was impressed that Frank’s team was able to take the photo down as quickly as they had.

I called my dad and asked him to call Ms. Dixon and see about getting a muzzle on this rabid dog. So far, his attacks had been either funny or harmless. That is, until the one with Todd’s picture. I had a bad feeling in my gut about what might happen next. I was also glad that I didn’t have my hand out during our trips. Brandon had been with me enough that if that had gone on, he would have known about it. That would have really screwed me.

I shook my head to clear it. I didn’t need to worry about Hollywood or Brandon Rigby right now, I needed to worry about Nazareth Academy, and the first step to repeating as State Champs.

◊◊◊

When we pulled into the parking lot, Wolf nudged me.

“We’re here,” he said.

I looked out the window, and to the west was an angry wall of black clouds slowly headed our way. I hadn’t checked the weather, but if what was coming towards us hit hard, we would be in for a long night. What concerned me were the lightning flashes that lit the cloud bank. We could play if there were rain, but not if there was a chance of lightning.

“That doesn’t look good,” Wolf said.

“I’m sure this can’t last. They’ll want to get this game in because they have to have at least two full days off before our next game. They’d have to push back the second-round game to Sunday,” I reasoned.

As soon as I said that, a bright flash of lightning spidered through the clouds. I loved to watch a good thunderstorm, but not today. A few seconds later, we heard the roll of thunder.

“Way to jinx us,” Wolf said as he shoved my shoulder.

Coach Hope stood up at the front of the bus.

“Help the team managers get your gear inside before it starts to rain,” he announced.

We all filed off the bus and waited for them to open the underneath storage area where our gear was. That was when we heard leaves start to blow and were buffeted with a gust of wind. There was another flash and a much closer crack of lightning. The bus driver opened the under-coach bays for us, and we each just grabbed a bag; we would sort it out once we were inside. As soon as we made it inside, the wind really picked up, and the first big drops of rain began to fall.

The janitor met us and showed us where the locker room was.

“Just change into shorts and t-shirts. The Booster Club has arranged for something to eat,” Moose said.