Junior Year Box Set

Hannah Minacci and Adrienne left at the end of the day. Hannah still hadn’t really confirmed Prom. I was starting to wonder if the Dawson magic was gone.

Caryn still hadn’t solved the problem with the bank when I was done for the day. She told me she had some ideas, so I left her and Mom to figure out what could be done to save the deal for the farm. I’d started to get excited about the possibilities, so I wasn’t happy that it looked like it might not happen.

Fritz cheered me up when he wanted to go surfing. I think he liked being my security because of that. Caryn said she’d catch a ride home with either Halle or Rita, so we drove to the beach house.

The first clue that something was up was when we started to get close to the house, there were cars parked along the road. One of the reasons Rita had purchased this house was because it didn’t have much parking close to the beach, which meant not many people would be using it. There were much better places to park and get to the beach up the road. Those beaches seemed to be packed.

When we got inside, Fritz and I looked out the back window and saw that the beach was packed with people lying out, and there were several paparazzi. The good news was that the girl-to-guy ratio was about 5 to 1, and the girls were dressed to impress.

“Well, shit,” Fritz said.

Trip, Craig, and Kent must have heard us come in because they came bounding down the stairs to join us.

“Do you think it would be okay to go surfing?” I asked.

“When Mom did her last movie, we had something like this,” Trip said.

Fritz didn’t look happy.

“What’s he talking about?” I asked.

“As soon as they see you, it’ll start to draw a crowd. I can’t let you go out there. Someone might get hurt,” Fritz said.

I looked confused.

“It’s not you he’s worried about so much as a fan getting hurt if the crowd gets out of hand,” Kent supplied.

“I think he’d be fine. Just run out and go straight to surfing,” Craig said with a smile. “If you were to lure six or eight cute girls back with you, that would be good.”

“No,” Fritz said as he pointed at the paparazzi.

“Who appointed him the voice of reason?” I asked.

Fritz arched an eyebrow.

“Do I need to call your mom?” he asked.

“No need for that,” I quickly said.

“Please, you’re worried about your mama?” Craig asked in disbelief.

“I’m scared of his mama,” Fritz said to defend me.

“Trust me, we don’t need her getting involved in this,” I warned them.

Fritz made the call that we couldn’t go surfing, and my side and stomach still hurt, so we skipped the dojo. I changed into workout clothes and hit the gym at Rita’s house, even though I don’t like to run on a treadmill. I needed to burn off some energy, and I didn’t get my run in this morning. When I was done, I did sixty minutes of hell. I was disappointed when I about died doing it. I made myself a commitment to make sure I kept up my conditioning.

◊◊◊

After dinner, Halle sat me down.

“I heard what happened at the beach house. I’m glad you listened to Fritz. One of the scary effects of fame can be a crowd. If people in the back start to push forward, people in front can get hurt.”

“They explained it to me,” I said.

“I expect you’re starting to see that fame is a double-edged sword. While it can open doors for you, you also have to be careful. Our ads for Star Academy are starting to run. They’ll ramp up the week before it opens. With the recent press about your fight and all the interviews Frank has had you do, people will begin to recognize you.

“Whenever you’re in public, you need to start to be conscious of that. People have cell phones that can take pictures and videos. Just assume that everything you do in public will be recorded. The press loves to see someone like you doing something wrong. If you even suspect it might be questionable, reconsider, and then don’t do it,” Halle said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Let’s say you go out to eat and have terrible service. Be sure to overtip your server, or you’ll find yourself on the Internet as being cheap. If I say something to you in jest and you flip me off, imagine it on the front page of the Enquirer or on Hollywood Central. All they’ll see is a picture of the All-American Boy misbehaving. Look at how much fun they have with Blake Seaver and the dumb stuff he does.

“You also have to start caring about what you wear in public. I didn’t pick out your clothes because that was what I wanted to see you in. I personally think you look good in jeans and a t-shirt. Instead, I picked out clothing I knew would be neutral. You should never wear something that could be used to make fun of you. People in this town expect you to look a certain way. They already know you’re from the Midwest, and if they dig, will find you’re a part-owner in a farm. Right or wrong, they’ll judge you for that.