“I’d like to know why he didn’t give credit to God.” Grandpa Dan took his baseball cap from his head and slapped it on his knee. “I thought that was the whole point.”
“He may have.” Zack’s father sounded tired, not exactly anxious to defend Zack but not sure they should gang up against him either. “They’ll use what they want to use.”
Reese’s phone was in the pocket of her jean shorts. She felt it vibrate and in a hurry she pulled it out. “It’s Zack.” She held up her finger and the room fell silent. “Hello?”
It sounded like a party in the background, but after a second or two she heard his voice. “Reese? I can barely hear you.”
“Hi.” Her heart pounded so loudly she could barely hear her own voice let alone his.
“I have to explain.” He was shouting and still the background noise made it almost impossible to understand him. “They . . . everything . . . God.”
“What?”
“You’re breaking up.” She pressed her finger into her free ear, desperate to hear what he was saying, how he felt about the episode.
“. . . sorry. I’ll . . . back in a few hours.”
“You’ll call me back?”
The phone went dead.
Everyone was looking at her. “He . . . It was loud wherever he was. They must’ve had a party for the debut.”
“What did he say?” Zack’s mother sat back down, her eyes concerned.
“Something about explaining things. He mentioned God and the girl. But it was too loud. I couldn’t really understand him.”
The commercial break ended. The blond cheerleader was up next. A montage of footage showed her with Zack in line and then sitting together in the stadium before their tent audition. “Eighteen-year-old cheerleader Zoey Davis came to Atlanta looking for a shot at
More footage of Zack and Zoey talking, laughing, making their way into the tent audition, hugging as their names were called and they were sent through. The shot cut to an interview with Zoey. “Zack’s amazing. I don’t think I would’ve gotten this far without him. He doesn’t know how good he is.”
“Now,” Kip continued, “the question remains. How good is Zoey Davis?”
The camera cut to Zoey walking into the room with the judges. This time it was Cullen’s turn to act goofy over the looks of a contestant. “You’re a pretty little Sheila, aren’t you?” He grinned at Zoey. “And I hear you and young Elvis have a thing going on, is that right?” Cullen raised his eyebrows at her, grinning. “Or do I still have a chance?”
Zoey giggled. “I’m single.”
Kelly rolled her eyes and quickly brought matters back to the audition. After a few seconds, the girl sang “Wind Beneath My Wings.” The song was beautiful, her voice like that of any top pop singer. She made it through and again there was a commercial break.
“It’s okay.” Reese blinked back tears. This wasn’t the place to break down. Besides, she hated how everyone in the room was looking at her, feeling sorry for her. Even if they didn’t say so, their expressions did. She stood and hugged Grandpa Dan. “Zack will explain everything. As soon as he has a good signal.”
But she was struggling with the truth. He was at a party and by the sounds in the background, he was having a great time. The connection was bad, but he was in Manhattan, right? Couldn’t he move somewhere across a hallway or into another room? Couldn’t he step outside if it meant talking to her?
Grandpa Dan excused himself, but Reese and the others watched the rest of the episode. The whole time Reese held her phone, watching for his call, waiting for it. When the show was nearly over a thought occurred to her. She called up Twitter and found Zack’s profile. What she saw made her quietly gasp out loud.
“What is it?” Dara was in tune with Reese. “Is it Zack?”
“He has a new Twitter account. He told me about it yesterday.” Reese stared at the screen, shocked. “He already has over a hundred thousand followers.”
His dad looked confused. “Is that a lot?”
“Yes.” Dara kept her eyes on Reese, the two of them more aware than the others. “He had just a couple hundred before the show aired.”
And like that Reese felt the earth shift, felt her reality changing. She tapped the screen a few times and checked the things people were saying to him. After a minute she changed the screen back to Zack’s profile. The girls were relentless, offering themselves in every possible way. Totally shameless. She checked his recent tweets. His latest tweet read,
“Beautiful”? “The ride’s just begun”? That didn’t sound like Zack. The tweet sent Reese over the edge. She clicked out of Twitter, stood and grabbed a deep breath. “I have to go. The stalls at home need cleaning.”
“Want help?” Duke was on his feet. “I’m finished here.”
“That’s okay.” She smiled at the boy. He was growing up, so much like Zack. No, that was wrong. So much like Zack a month ago. The way he’d been before he auditioned.
Dara came to Reese and hugged her. “We’ll figure everything out. I’m sure there’s an explanation.”
“Yes.” She smiled again. Anything to keep the tears at bay. “I’ll call you if I hear from him.”
“I’ll do the same. He may only have a few minutes to talk.”
Her smile felt sad. “Usually.”
Reese hugged AJ and the rest of the family and thanked them for having her over. She was halfway to the car when it occurred to her that the show had been over for ten minutes and Zack hadn’t called. By the time she was behind the wheel and heading down the driveway, she realized that she wasn’t thinking so much about his phone call as the one she’d gotten earlier that day.
The one inviting her to London for a year.
chapter
15
Zack was furious. His Twitter account had been hacked. He had no idea who had sent out the last tweet, but he’d had nothing to do with it. He slipped his phone in his back pocket and found William Gaines near the bowl of punch in the party room they’d rented for the season opener.
“Hey, man, listen.” Zack tried to control his anger. “Someone just sent out a tweet under my name. But it wasn’t me.”
William leaned against the wall and laughed. “What are you trying to say, Zack? You think
“Zoey?” He shook his head. “She didn’t have my—”
That was when it hit him. Gaines might be right. Five minutes before the show started, Zoey had squeezed into the spot beside him. The room had been packed with cameras and cozy, overstuffed leather sofas. Pillows were everywhere. Not until the show was over did Zack find his phone between the cracks of the sofa. He figured it had fallen out of his pocket during the show, with all the bodies packed onto the cushions. But maybe Zoey—
Gaines laughed at him. “The girl has it bad for you. Don’t put anything past her.” He raised an eyebrow in Zoey’s direction. “She’s got her mind made up. Whether you like it or not.”
Zack’s anger doubled. He gritted his teeth and headed over to Zoey. She looked up when she saw him coming her way. He had to yell over the music. “Can we talk?”
“Sure!” She gave the girls around her a look that said maybe this was her lucky day. The others giggled and Zoey bounced up, ready to follow him. “Where are we going?”
“Out in the hall.” He could feel the cameras on him, so he kept his smile in place. Everything they did was
