“I didn’t think you were getting paid as well as you normally do.”

“I’m getting paid enough,” he said.

“But you’re really doing this for a reputation boost,” I said.

“Do you actually think this movie is going to help with that?” Amanda asked.

“People like horror. I’ve gotten out of touch with the average fan while playing Heath Hall and pumping out my multimillion-dollar movies. I’m trying to regain my core audience with an indie film. Plus, there is less running and shooting and more . . .”

“Eating brains?” I suggested.

“Cutting off heads?” Amanda offered.

He rolled his eyes. “There’s more chances for me to show heart.”

I held up a fake glass. “Here’s to hoping it works.”

Amanda joined me. “Here’s to hoping you don’t get any more bad reviews that go viral.” Her tone was light, but it immediately altered the mood.

I cringed. “I don’t think the review swayed anyone,” I said. “They either felt that way on their own or they didn’t.” I felt a need to try to save Donavan from Grant and Amanda.

It didn’t work. “You’re kidding, right?” Grant said. “If that review didn’t exist I’d be in a much better position now.”

“You’ll bounce back.”

“I wouldn’t have had to.”

I sighed.

“So really,” Grant said. “We should kiss.”

“Not happening.” I stood. “Amanda can be my stand-in tonight if you need more practice though.” I made my way to the door.

“Bye, lover,” Grant said.

Amanda walked me outside. “Thank you.”

“How was it?” I asked.

“Amazing, and I’m going to go pretend he needs more work now.” She winked at me. “See you tomorrow.”

“You’re not going to kill me when I have to kiss him tomorrow, right?”

“Of course not, because I’ll make sure he’s imagining me.”

Twenty

It was only eight, but I decided to head home. I was so used to staying at the studio as long as possible, but I hadn’t talked to my dad since Donavan told me about the classified ad he’d almost taken out. I had been avoiding him, but we needed to talk.

Our apartment complex was quiet when I parked and walked through the courtyard to our front door. Rather than dig through my bag for the key, I knocked on the door. “Dad, it’s me,” I called, my mouth close to the line where the door met the frame. He didn’t answer. Was he already asleep? It wasn’t even nine o’clock.

I swung my bag off my shoulder and to the porch, where I squatted and dug through the contents in search of the keys. There were mints and pens and hair clips and old receipts, but no house keys. I searched a second and third time, only to come up empty. I didn’t have them.

I took my cell phone out of my pocket and called my dad. He picked up on the third ring. “Hello?”

“Hey, I’m on the porch. Come rescue me.”

“I would, but I’m not home. You’ll have to use your key.”

“You aren’t? Where are you?”

“I’m at Anchor.”

“The restaurant?” I paused for a moment. The fancy restaurant? “Wait. Are you on a date?”

“Perhaps. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“But wait, I don’t have my keys. I think I left them on my dresser. Yes, I’m replaying this morning step-by-step, and I see myself walking by my keys and out the door, which has led me to this terrifying moment of being stranded on the porch alone in a strange town in the dark.”

“So dramatic, Lacey.”

“Thank you.”

I could hear the smile in his voice when he said, “It wasn’t supposed to be a compliment.”

“It’s the very best compliment I can receive. So are you going to save me? Bring your date so I can meet her.”

“Do you see that potted plant by the front door?”

“Yes.”

“On the back side, just below the soil, there is a key hidden in a fake rock.”

I held my phone against my ear with my shoulder and rooted past leaves and soil until I found a rock that twisted open, dropping out a key. “You hid a key to our house right by our front door? It’s like you’re asking strangers to come and rob us or abduct me. You want me to get abducted?”

“I think you meant thank you. I’ll see you later.”

“Bye, Dad.”

The phone line went dead.

I let myself in the front door and tugged my bag in behind me. I locked the door, then put the now-empty rock and key on the counter in the kitchen. The only light came from a small bulb above the stovetop. I flipped on a few more lights, then turned a full circle, which revealed nothing new in the apartment world.

I pursed my lips to the side, scratched my forehead, and slowly made my way back to my room.

Why had I left my homework in my trailer? I’d finished the math portion with Donavan earlier but that was it. I could’ve finished history or English right now because I wasn’t tired at all. Maybe it was the nerves I was feeling about the kissing scene that was finally happening the next day. As funny as it was, I wished Amanda didn’t like Grant, because I actually could’ve used the practice. I lay back on my bed and clicked on my constellation lamp. I stayed like that for several minutes before I pulled out my phone and sent off a text to Donavan.: Can you send me a pic of my packet pages? I left them in my trailer.

My phone rang five seconds later.

“Wow, you’re so personable,” I said when I answered. “A written response would’ve been fine.”

“Sometimes typing it out takes twice as long as just saying it.”

I remembered what Abby had said to me about how I called more than I texted. “I feel the same way.”

“I don’t have your packet. I just had the one that I gave to you, which I didn’t think to document with pictures.”

“Will you do that next time?” I teased. “For moments like this.”

“Of course. I live to serve you,” he teased back.

“I’ve long suspected that might be the case.” I put my feet up on the wall beside my bed. “I’ve been told people give me anything I want.”

“Whoever told you that should’ve kept it to themselves.”

“He really should’ve, because now I’m impossible to deal with.” I tapped my foot on the wall, knowing I should probably hang up but not ready to. “So . . . how’s life?”

He chuckled a little. “Are you bored, Lacey?”

“Yes, tell me more about you. I know you have a younger sister. Any other siblings?”

“No, just me and her.”

“And what do your parents do?”

“My mom is a nurse, and my dad is a camera operator.”

“Like for movies?”

“For a news station right now.”

“That’s cool. I’ve always thought that would be a fun job.”

“It’s not as glamorous as it seems.” Was that bitterness in his voice?