Chapter 3

“I can’t believe you ate crocodile meat,” Mandy informed Shane as they walked out of the restaurant.

He shrugged. “It tasted like lobster.”

Mandy crinkled her nose. “Dirt,” she stated simply. He playfully pinched her arm. She looked at him, shocked, and pinched him back. Naturally, he pinched her again. She just gave him a look of disdain and continued walking.

“Oooh, somebody’s too special to pinch back!” he teased.

“Daaaaamn right,” she drawled. He put his hands in his pocket and she absently weaved her arm through his. He looked down at their intertwined arms and smiled a bit.

Niiice…

*

The Next Morning

Shane was in a deep, peaceful sleep, not unlike the one he had been experiencing at 4 o’clock in the morning just a few days ago, when all of a sudden, his whole bed shifted. Startled, he opened his eyes to see Mandy in her pyjamas, hair in disarray, grinning at him. Seeing her so jovial made him grin as well.

“Good morning sunshine,” he greeted, sleepily.

“Hellooo! It’s noon right now, and Stephanie and Robbie and Q came in this morning at, like, SIX O’CLOCK, so they woke me up. Well, Steph did. And I have to go get dressed for the premiere and guess what—so do you! But not until later, but I have to go now, `cause I also have to get tutoured,” she crinkled her nose, “and the premiere’s tonight at seven, but we get to be there at seven-thirty, and the movie actually starts at eight-fifteen. AND,” she continued before he could interrupt, “like I said, I have to go now, but I just came to say hi since we’re not gonna see each other until tonight.” She pouted.

Shane just looked at her. “Mandy,” he began, “what on earth did you have for breakfast?” She threw him a mock-glare and tossed a pillow at his face.

“See you tonight!” she called over her shoulder as she moseyed her pyjama-clad body back into her room through the adjoining door. They had just been keeping them both open, since they went in and out so often, unless one or the other was changing. Shane didn’t really care, but Mandy closed the door every now and then, much to his dismay.

Joking, joking… he tried to convince himself. Realizing he wasn’t fooling anyone, he fell back onto his pillow, disheartened.

Three Hours Later
3:05 pm

“Okay, Mandy, if side a is equal to side b, when side b is multiplied by 2 to equal side c, do you have a triangle?” Stephanie looked at her inattentive student. Mandy had her head in her palms, looking like she’d rather be anywhere but learning about side a, b, and c. They were in the backroom of the boutique Mandy’s dress was coming from. Sighing, Stephanie closed the book, and Mandy snapped out of her trance.

“I’m sorry…” Mandy apologized. Stephanie just gave her a warm smile.

“Don’t worry about it, hun. I’m sure there are more interesting things to think about then trigonometry. For example…” Stephanie trailed off, slyly. Mandy looked at her confused.

“What?” she questioned.

“Oh, I dunno…maybe a certain co-star?” Stephanie suggested. Mandy blushed.

“Ha ha,” she commented dryly. But Stephanie had caught wind of her blush.

“Oh? Nothing to tell?” she asked, innocently.

Mandy opened her mouth to protest, when someone knocked on the door and then opened it. It was Karla, the Australian fashion consultant Jon had hired.

“`Allo, Mandy!” she greeted, happily. “Are you ready to try on outfits!”

Saved! Mandy thought, eagerly nodding her head.

Two Hours Later
5:08 pm

“This is it,” Mandy said excitedly. Two hours and forty dresses later, she was wired, Stephanie was exhausted, and Karla was exuberant. Mandy had found her perfect dress.

“It’s beautiful,” Stephanie complimented. “Good choice.” Mandy smiled contentedly.

“Okay!” Karla clapped her hands together. “Now onto shoes!”

All Mandy and Stephanie could do was sigh.

An Hour and a Half Later
6: 30 pm

“Are you guys almost done?” Mandy questioned, her voice muffled. She had one person applying her lip liner, another brushing her hair, a third painting her nails and a fourth working on her toes.

“Shh! Less talky,” Lip Liner Guy snapped. Mandy narrowed her eyes, but did what he said.

I wonder what Shane’s doing… she couldn’t help thinking.

*

“I am so bored, so bored I am…” Shane sang to himself as he walked around his room. He had called his parents, his friends, even his ex-girlfriend (who had promptly hung up on him—she was still a little bitter about the way he wore a fur coat to break up with her*). Getting an outfit to wear had taken all of two hours. He went down to some store with Robbie and Q, tried on something that had already been chosen for him, and took it with him. All he had to do was gel his hair, and that took all of five minutes. So now, he was stuck watching Australian prime time TV. For the next…he looked at his watch, which read 6:32 pm.

For the next forty-five minutes… he thought, mentally whining. Jon had called, informing him that the limo would be there to pick them up at 7:15, and they’d be at the cinema by 7:25.

“Daaaaamn…” he moaned aloud. “I wonder what Monica is doing…” he muttered a minute later. Then realized she wasn’t speaking to him either.

Sometime Later
7:06 pm

Shane waited patiently for Mandy. She had been due back to the room five—scratch that, six minutes ago.

Two minutes later, he wasn’t so patient. Just as he was about to call her cell—something he was only allowed to do today “in case of emergency”—he heard her through the wall, opening her door. Seconds later, there were knocks at the adjoining door. He opened it, took one look at her, and his jaw dropped open.

*

“Ahh, I’m late, I’m late, I’m laaaate…” Mandy said in a singsong voice, feeling very much like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. She knew she looked crazy by the way she was jogging, due to her not wanting to break an ankle in her heels. Reaching her room, she struggled to put her card-key in the lock.

I knew I should’ve gotten dressed in the room, she thought absently, as she let herself in, dropped off her key and old clothes, and knocked on Shane’s door. She figured he’d heard her come in, because it opened fairly quickly. Taking one look at him, her jaw dropped.

She looked gorgeous. Her silken hair was loosely draping over her shoulders, and her dress’s simplicity was what made it stunning. Shimmering white eye shadow topped her lids, somehow making her striking hazel eyes appear more dazzling, if that was possible. Other than that, her make up had a soft dewy look to it, making her skin appear fresh and bright. Shane couldn’t close his mouth.

Mandy tried to take all of Shane in. His hair had been haphazardly spiked at what appeared to be the last minute, but had a sort of “messy perfection” to it. He was wearing a navy blue silk button up shirt, with the sleeves rolled up once and dark grey slacks. Mandy felt her face flush. He always looked good, but…Damn…

At the same time, both realized they were gawking and quickly composed themselves. Then, Shane spoke:

“Well Mandy, you look beautiful,” he told her. She blushed even more.

“Thanks Shane, you don’t look too bad yourself,” was what she choked out. He stood and stared for a little while longer, but then snapped himself out of it.

“I’ll, uh, grab your purse for you,” he offered.

“Okay, great, I’ll just let Rob, Q, and Steph know we’re leaving. I’ll be back.” He nodded, but neither of them moved. Suddenly, he took two big steps forward, leaned in—

—and kissed her on the cheek. “You really do look gorgeous,” he informed her quietly, looking into her eyes. Mandy could count the gold flecks in his.

“Thank you,” she breathed. He licked his lips and she leaned in this time, but he abruptly straightened.

“I’m, uh, gonna grab your purse now…” he backed out of the room through the adjacent door way.

“Right, I’m going to—Steph, and, and…I’ll be back,” she quickly walked out the door.

STUPID! was their only simultaneous thought.

At the “Red Carpet”
7:45 pm

If Mandy got through the night without tripping once, she would consider it a success. Surprised at the amount of fans that had arrived (bearing in mind that the past couple days had been practically uneventful when it came to being approached by people), but pleased nonetheless, Mandy smiled and waved. Robbie—the only bodyguard accompanying them—gave her a kind of nudge to say that she could sign autographs, so her and Shane did so happily. Most people were yelling things at her, but she couldn’t for the life of her hear them, so she just smiled and nodded, saying “thank you” at appropriate intervals. She caught Shane in her peripheral vision giving a little girl a hug while signing the paper of an older girl beyond her. Robbie took hold of her arm, motioning that they had to go in. Mandy gently touched Shane’s arm, and he turned. She couldn’t help but feel flattered—he had hands reaching out to him from all directions, but it was hers that he turned to. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she mouthed and motioned to him that they had to go inside. Shane nodded, finished scrawling his name and gave one more hug, before following her in.

He had slipped his hand in hers, in an attempt to pull her away from the crowd, but held on much longer than necessary. He knew he was pushing it, especially after what happened in the room, but her hand was so soft and nice and fit perfectly into his own…He cleared his throat.

“So, are you excited?” he asked, giving her that infamous half smirk. (*you know which one I’m talking about…oh yeah.)

“I’m actually a little nervous!” she admitted. He squeezed her hand reassuringly.

“Don’t be, you were great, everyone’s gonna love it,” he assured her.

“Well, we’ll see,” Mandy commented, as they were escorted to their seats.

*

There is always something to be said about seeing your face multiplied by what seems like a thousand times and put on a movie screen for everyone to see. Mandy still wasn’t used to it. She didn’t think she’d ever really be. Shane could probably see her nervousness as she stared at the screen, because he grasped her hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

“Just enjoy it,” he whispered in her ear. She nodded and continued to watch.

*

The whole theatre was silent, except for a few sniffles and muffled sobs here and there. It was the scene where Landon was crying on his father’s shoulder. Shane had his face buried in his hands. Mandy’s lip quivered.

“It’s okay, Shane,” she reassured, her lip quivering again…in a desperate attempt to hold back her laughter.

“I look like such a retard,” Shane moaned, shaking his head disbelievingly.

“You do not!” she whispered. “It’s a very emotional moment, and you pulled it off beautifully,” she added reassuringly. He sighed and leaned back in his seat.

“Yeah, well, ya know…” he pretended to crack his knuckles, in a mock-humble sort of way. She playfully squeezed his arm. He grasped her hand and put it on the armrest. Funny thing was, he didn’t let go of her hand.

Funnier still, Mandy didn’t seem to mind.

*

The movie was a success in Australia. Shane and Mandy couldn’t get out of their seats, there were so many people around them praising them on their “excellent acting jobs” or “superb on-screen chemistry”. Needless to say, it wasn’t exactly a humbling experience, but Mandy and Shane took all the compliments graciously and modestly. Finally, the crowd subsided, with the help of Robbie and his intimidating stare.

“Phew!” Mandy exclaimed, her hand to her chest. “I can breathe again!”

“Not for long…” Shane reminded her. “Onto the after-party!”

*

Against her better judgement, Mandy found that she was enjoying herself. The party was held at some elite Australian star’s massive house, and there were people everywhere, from the bedrooms to the pool. Not terribly glamorous, but not terribly…terrible either. She took a seat on the couch nearest her and did one of her favourite things—people watched. She watched the guy that didn’t leave the bar, but kept stealing glances at a scantily clad young lady who seemed to be “over-flirting” with her date, all the while checking to make sure the Bar Guy was still looking. She saw one guy try to hit on five girls—and was rejected by each one—in the span of three minutes. Robbie was showing off his muscles to a petit blonde, who squealed in delight. She saw Shane and that pretty red head talking—wait.

Who’s she? Mandy thought curiously, trying to stifle the green-eyed monster that threatened to appear. The girl was stunning…in a made-up sort of way. Clearly not a natural beauty, But she paid a lot for her body Mandy thought scornfully, then immediately felt guilty for having such thoughts. Here she was, thinking about the guy that pulled away when she tried to, tried to—what exactly had she tried to do? Kiss him? No… she tried to convince herself. Leaning in just seemed to be the appropriate thing to do at the time. I mean, nothing would’ve come of it…right? She bit her lip and looked away. Who was she kidding? Her and Shane West? Yeah, they were great friends, he was a great friend, but in a relationship? She almost laughed at the thought. Almost.

*

Smile and nod, smile and nod Shane thought, doing just that. The Australian red head—what was her name? Alexis? Andrea?—was pretty to look at, but not fun to talk to. He regretted glancing her way and holding her gaze, because she took it as an invitation to begin a conversation. A dull, pointless conversation. Which wasn’t really a conversation, unless giggling counted as conversation. Which it doesn’t he told himself.

“Yah! So, then my agent said, ‘Alexa, why don’t you just take your clothes off for the nice man?’ an’ I said, ‘Well, love…” Blah, blah, blah Shane filled in for her. Just sit there and look pretty, sweetheart. Against his better judgement, he let his gaze wander and immediately he saw Mandy sitting by herself on a couch, a small glass of punch in her hand. He was about to excuse himself from the conversation to go sit with her, when a tall blonde guy went and sat beside her. He involuntarily narrowed his eyes, which caused Alexa to start a whole new topic about…oh who cares!?

*

Mandy didn’t even notice anyone was beside her until the couch shifted. Startled, she turned her head to see an attractive blonde seating himself beside her.

“`Allo!” he greeted, his Australian accent apparent.

“Hello,” she said back, smiling.

“I saw that lovely movie you were in. What an excellent actress you make! And that voice is something else…” He complimented. She couldn’t help but blush.

“Thank you!” she said happily.

“I was wondering, if you’d like to accompany me to get a drink?” he questioned, giving her a nervous half-smile. He seemed so sweet, she couldn’t resist.

“Sure, I’d be happy to!”

“Great!” his uneasiness disappeared as quickly as it came. He took her hand and led her away.

“Oh! Well…” she looked for Shane, but she was now in a position where he was out of her view. Not knowing what else to do, she followed her Australian friend.

“`Ere you go, love!” he handed her what was clearly an alcoholic drink.

“Oh, um, thanks, but I don’t drink. I’m only seventeen!” she tried to play it off with a little laugh.

“Aww, it’s barely anything, it’s good for ya! It’ll clear the system.” He used all the clichés imaginable in one sentence.

“Nope, I’m good.” To prove her point, she held up her punch glass.

“Whoops!” He dumped half the drink into her glass and gave her what she perceived as an obnoxious half-smile, however it would’ve been quite sexy had he had a different personality.

“Oh. Well, there goes that.” She placed her drink down. “I’m just going to go find my friend…” She looked frantically for Shane, but there was still no sight of him. “Nice meeting you!” She started to walk away, when he grabbed her arm and pulled her in.

“What’s the rush, love? We’re just getting to know each other!” Pulling her in even closer, he started to dance…basically like a moron. For the first time, she realized he was most likely drunk, and her suspicion was confirmed when she could smell the alcohol on his breath. Placing both palms on his chest, she attempted to push him back, but he was holding on tight.

“Um, please let go of me,” she asked politely.

“An’ what’re you gonna do if I don’t…love?” he was using the nickname in an almost vulgar way now.

Instead of answering, Mandy tried to shove him again, and in the process, bent her ankle backwards, ultimately breaking the heel of her shoe. Of course, Jerk Australian Boy chose that time to let go of her, and she would’ve fallen back, had she not fallen into the safe protective arms of someone. Looking back, she saw Shane gripping her around the waist against his chest, giving the look of death to her new “friend”.

The guy, clearly seeing that Shane was bigger and angrier than him, backed off. Once the guy was out of sight, Shane straightened Mandy and clung onto her so she wouldn’t fall. She whipped around so her face was in his chest and he tightly wrapped his arms around her.

“Your heart’s beating so fast,” he said quietly, chuckling a bit. “Did that jerk-off scare you that bad?” Mandy decided not to tell Shane that the real reason for her heart murmur was the fact that she was wrapped in him.

Instead, she muttered, “He wouldn’t let go.” Sighing, he stroked his back, then pulled her away. Looking into her eyes, he sighed again.

“Baby, some guys are assholes,” was all he said. She looked up at him and he kissed her forehead. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.” She took off her shoes, since it was impossible to wear a shoe with a broken heel, and they went off to find Robbie.

Shane clenched his jaw. When he had seen that guy holding her like that…the scared look on her face…He had walked away from Alexa mid-sentence, and it took everything out of him to not tweak on the guy. His fists clenched thinking about it. You know what this means… A little part deep inside him spoke up. He ignored it. Another thought crept into his head right before he stifled it. However, it was still there. And it would become a troublesome notion for quite a while…

It means you’re falling for her.