Junior Year Box Set

Adam: ‘Uh … Faye’s a little shaken, and Diana’s worried. Faye has always been a little unpredictable. You never know what’s she’s going to do next.’

Cassie: ‘Is that why you came here? To convince me to join your secret cult?’

Adam: ‘No. I just wanted to apologize. I’m sorry about earlier.’

Cassie: ‘Which part?’

Adam: ‘In the woods.’

Cassie: ‘Yeah, I know.’

Adam: ‘It should never have happened. I don’t know how it happened. I love Diana.’

Cassie: ‘Yeah, I get it.’

Adam: ‘It can’t happen again.’

Cassie: ‘It can’t.’

Adam: ‘Well, I should go. You’re one of us, Cassie. I can’t tell you what to do. But just know you’re not alone.’

Rita held up a finger and left us. It was amazing to watch a mother and daughter have the same mannerisms. A moment later, she returned with Fritz in tow carrying a video camera and tripod.

“Okay, do it again—and David, I need you to be a little more hesitant,” she said.

When Fritz was ready, we reread the scene. When we were done, she grabbed the video camera and without a word walked back into the house.

“How did I do?” I asked in confusion.

Fritz rolled his eyes at me and disappeared back in the house. Halle smiled.

“I think we need a new baseball player.”

I wondered if that really was a good thing or not. The plan was to have a small part in the film and then see what else I could do. I wanted to audition for a few of the roles Saul had sent me. I also had agreed to shoot the Japanese sunglasses commercial. Caryn showed up as I was thinking about everything.

“Hey, boss. Hey, Halle,” Caryn said as she joined us.

“How’re your parents?” I asked.

“Happy I finally left Range Sports, but nervous that I’ll be moving further from them. Just a heads-up: on Monday, Sandy’s telling Devin that I’ve gone to work for you. I expect he might call you,” she said.

Rosy called us in for dinner. I was happy to see Trip and his friends Craig and Kent join us. Craig, of course, had been the lead in Star Academy. Kent’s task was to keep Craig on the straight and narrow. I noticed that their drug-dealer friend wasn’t around. I hoped I wouldn’t have to deal with him ever again.

Rosy made us chicken enchiladas and tamales with sliced avocado and tomato as a garnish. It tasted as good as it smelled. Rosy was all smiles when I asked for more. Halle had been right: her LA cook was much better. After a couple of months of this, I would put on thirty pounds. She was evil too because, for dessert, she made fried ice cream. I’ve had it in a restaurant before, but that was laughable compared to what she made. The ice cream was cinnamon-flavored. If I’d been here longer, I might have asked for seconds on that as well.

◊◊◊ Monday November 30

Halle was totally missing her opportunity: I woke up and there was no oral sex waiting for me. I put on my running clothes and stepped out front to stretch. Fritz and three other security people came out to join me. Fritz introduced me to Paul, Jane, and Flo. They were all in their mid- to late 20s and looked to be ex-military.

“Why do you carry a stick around?” Flo teased me.

“David fancies himself a martial artist,” Fritz said.

They all looked at me, and I could tell they weren’t buying it. I just gave them a tight smile.

“I take it you plan to run with me. Is it okay if I set the pace?” I asked.

“By all means; we’ll try to keep up,” Jane said.

We began to run through the neighborhood. I was amazed they packed these luxury homes so close together. My mom always told me that real estate was all about location, location, location, and only so much land had views like this. Each home had been custom-built to take advantage of the cityscape. The homes varied in age and style. Rita’s house was more of a classic Hollywood mansion. As I ran, I saw several similar homes, then I came across more modern ones that were all glass and steel.

I’d asked Fritz to direct me so I didn’t get lost. He had us slowly going down the hill. I suspected he planned to let the terrain give him and his team an advantage. After we had gone the first mile, according to my smartwatch running app, I began to hit my full stride. Being six-four meant I had long legs, and they could cover a lot of ground in a hurry. I noticed that Jane looked worried as she glanced over at Paul. Then I started to do my Bo staff exercises.

When I hit the two-and-a-half-mile mark, I turned around, and we ran back up the hill. I used my speed-work technique of increasing my pace by ten percent and then easing back to my regular cadence, only to repeat. Combine that with now running uphill, and I could start to feel the burn in my thighs and butt.

I will give Fritz’s team credit; they all made it back. I had to cut my warm-down stretching short when Paul puked, or I might have joined him. Fritz was grinning because the old man of the group had bested his charges, with my help.