Fifteen Minutes

only be good. Because one day when he was off the show he could reach even more people with the truth about Jesus.

The movie played on, but Zack didn’t catch a single word. Outside of a car ride, this was the first time any of them had been able to sit all week. Just sit for more than a couple minutes and think about what was happening. Here in the dark, no one was shoving a microphone in his face or taking his picture, no production assistants were prompting him to give the cameras his best smile or response or angle. Zack breathed out and felt himself relax. Chandra Olson came to mind again. Her advice had been simple.

Run.

Leave the show, go back home, and never look back. Zack pictured the passion in her face that night in the dark hallway. Chandra hated fame—no question. The crazy thing was the world had no idea how she felt. Chandra played the part of a celebrity with grace and poise, smiling for the cameras and answering questions with thoughtful consideration. She signed autographs and stayed safely between her bodyguards wherever she went. She’d taken cameo roles in movies, endorsed a cosmetic line, and had a perfume named after her. Every song she sang found its way to the top of the charts.

Chandra Olson was as A-list as she could get, and yet she hated the fame, every single second of it.

Zack thought he understood Chandra’s strategy. Better to ride out the fame, own it. Zack shuddered. Was that what he wanted? He had wrestled with the question every possible moment since Chandra had talked to him. At this pace, he was headed fast toward fame, and yet the ride never felt as awful as Chandra described it. Sure, it was crazy, but most of the time he was having fun, and after coming this far, he couldn’t leave. Couldn’t consider walking away now. He had a list of reasons and a signed contract, promising he wouldn’t leave until he was kicked off, unless he got sick or had a family emergency.

He shifted in his theater seat. His family. Yes, that was another reason. There were still the matters of saving the farm, getting better doctors for AJ, making a life for Reese. He couldn’t let them down.

But all of it was happening too fast to consider the impact, whether down the road he would long for these days and the chance to walk away. Before fame became a prison for him, too. He believed Chandra that it could happen. She wasn’t the only one talking about it. Last night Gaines had patted him on the back while he ate. “The other teen heartthrobs keep messing up. Lucky for you.”

“What?” Zack turned to look at the contestant coordinator. “Who?”

“The big names. Their reputations are sinking like the Titanic.” Gaines gave Zack another hearty pat. “It’s your turn, my boy. Watch and see. You’re gonna be one of the biggest stars this show has ever created.”

Zack was glad none of the other contestants had heard him. No one but Zoey, who was sitting across from him. Their eyes met and what she had said stayed with him. “Ever get the feeling our lives are scripted? Whether we like it or not?”

Now a chase scene played out on the big screen, and Zoey leaned in closer. “Chandra talked to you the other night. I’ve been wanting to ask you about it, but people are always around.”

“Yeah.” He didn’t try to pull away. “She told me fame is a prison. After this week, I can sort of see what she means.”

“Hmm.” Zoey let that sink in and nodded slowly. “I feel you. It’s like . . . we never had a life before the show.”

She was right, even if the thought terrified him. Their routines had been lost. The usual communication with family and friends was gone.

For a long moment Zack wondered about Reese. In the few minutes they’d had to talk, he hadn’t done more than ask how she was. Her answer was always the same. “I’m great, Zack. Everything’s fine.”

Their lack of communication created a distance that again only Zoey could understand. The scene in the theater remained loud. He spoke near the side of her face. “How nice is this?”

“The quiet? I love it.”

He thought about the way she’d chased him the first two weeks and how she’d backed off. She understood that he was serious about Reese. “I mean, it’s been fun. But the craziness has to stop sometime.”

“Exactly.” She stole a glance at him. The shine was back in her eyes. “You still have to teach me to pray.”

“It’s easy. You just talk to God like He’s there beside you.” Zack smiled at her. “Because He is.”

“There’s more to it than that.” Her eyes held his. “We need to find time alone. So you can tell me what you believe and why. Deal?”

“Deal.” Zack felt a pang of guilt. How come he hadn’t already told her about his faith? She’d asked a number of times. Yes, they were busy, but what could be more important than telling a girl like Zoey about Jesus? Not that he could do that here in a theater. And with Gaines watching him so closely he would have to be quiet about it. He’d signed the agreement. But there had to be time, right? “Maybe later this week.”

Suddenly he realized how much he loved being able to talk without anyone taking their picture. Nights were for rehearsals and after that curfew was strictly enforced. Fifteen Minutes had leased an entire floor of hotel rooms at the Benjamin, not far from Times Square. But production assistants did a pretty good job of making sure contestants stayed in their rooms.

“You know what?” She took his hand again, but this time held it only for a few seconds. “This is the most like me I’ve felt all week.”

“Same.” He smiled at her. “I’m glad you’re my friend. No one else understands.”

That truth should’ve terrified him, should’ve sent him running for Gaines and the permission to leave. Family emergency or not. Chandra had warned him, right? There would be no going back to life the way it had been. Instead, Zack wished the movie would last another hour. Reese didn’t know the insanity of what they were going through. She didn’t have to worry about people constantly taking her picture or making up stories about her. Only Zoey understood that. Which was why he wished they had more time. Because here, safe and unrushed, comfortable with Zoey at his side he felt something they had already left behind.

The feeling of being normal.

chapter 17

Kelly Morgan took the Fifteen Minutes private jet into Greenville. The plane gave her time to think—about the show and Michael and Cal. About the fact that her father was so sick. All of it stayed heavy on her heart.

She settled into the leather seat and stared out the window. Michael had called her on the way to the airport, spewing apologies and excuses. He would’ve called sooner, but the time difference was too great. The couple days with the South African singer hadn’t meant anything. The media exaggerated the facts. He didn’t plan to see her again.

Kelly had waited until he ran out of words. “Is that all?”

“Baby, come on. Don’t be like that. You’re the only one I love.”

His words poked pins at her, but the surface of her heart was too tough for him to pierce. “I’m boarding a plane, Michael. It’s over. Call the girl. Maybe she feels like talking.”

“Are you serious? I never took you as the jealous type.” He sounded desperate.

“I’m hardly jealous.” Kelly had found a very natural laugh. “You were good for a time, Michael. I’ve moved on.”

“It hasn’t been a week.”

“Good-bye.” As she had tapped the end button she knew it was true. They were finished. She blinked back the tears and put him out of her mind. Michael Manning was a part of her past—where he would stay.

She dismissed the memory of the call and closed her eyes. As she did, a conversation from earlier in the week came back. One she’d had with Cullen and Chandra about celebrity energy. Which of the contestants had it and which never would. They all agreed Zack Dylan and Zoey Davis had it. But then Chandra had said something that surprised Kelly and Cullen. “That boy should walk away from all this. If he knows what’s good for him he’ll