Chapter Three
Dr.Stockton claps his hands. “People, people, can we try to get through this without a mistake, just once!”
Everyone turns and looks at him. “Will you let us go if we do?” Patrick asks. Even his smirk is blond.
“Yes, you may all leave when you have completed this correctly one time.” I almost feel sorry for Dr.Stockton. He’s terrified of Patrick because Jack and Patrick’s dad is the US ambassador to Italy.
There’s a soft mist across my forehead. Patrick looks around at us all. “Okay, guys, let’s do this, one time, and get the hell out of here!”
“Patrick, language!” Dr.Stockton says, but his attempt to instill discipline flies past its target, who sits on top of a desk with the nonchalance of someone in charge.
Our parents are expecting a nice graduation, though, and we’re all hot and irritated, so we try a little harder to get the day over with. Guin, Kelsey, and Alicia start to discuss how I could possibly know Luca Kinnaird, but Patrick is more interested in finishing, so he shuts them up. We finally get it right, and Dr.Stockton lets us go a little after lunchtime, but we haven’t actually eaten because we worked straight through. I stay behind to help Dr.Stockton straighten the room, mostly to avoid any grilling my classmates must have in store for me. I stop by my locker to grab a couple of books, and the hallway is blissfully empty. The storm seems to have passed, until I step outside. A crowd has gathered at the student entrance.
Kelsey rushes over to me. “You should let me do the talking. I’m a natural!”
Before I can even react, cameras start clicking and whirring. I look around to get my bearings of the group that’s staring at me. It’s a mix of paparazzi and kids from school. There doesn’t seem to be any open lane for me to walk, as everyone makes a semicircle around the entrance. I’m trapped between them and the building.
“You guys are making a big mistake,” Patrick says. “There’s no way Story Herriot is Luca Kinnaird’s girlfriend. She doesn’t even have any friends.” A few photographers turn and snap his picture. Patrick smiles, completely pleased with himself.
“Thanks, Patrick,” I say. Way to look out for a fellow Dip.
He just smiles bigger.
The paparazzi shout questions at me. Every one begins with my name.
“Astoria, where did you meet Luca?”
“Astoria, how long have you and Luca been dating?”
“Astoria, why don’t you ever post on social media?”
“Astoria, is it true that Luca has a thing for Jasmine?”
I almost feel sorry for the me who’s supposed to be his girlfriend having to listen to questions about him liking some super-hot music diva who used to be a Disney star. Jack moves in front to shield me. “Hey, whatever you all want to know, Story’s relationship with Luca Kinnaird is no one’s business.”
My eyes widen. But maybe he just wants to be in the pictures the way Kelsey does. Guin has also somehow managed to get very close to me. It’s almost worse to be surrounded by the Dip Squad pretending to be my friends than it is having those stracciatella pictures of me forever embedded on the internet.
I’m about to yell “I am not Luca Kinnaird’s girlfriend!” when I hear my name called, and all the photographers turn. They clear a path. Luca comes striding through, cameras going off like fireworks. He walks right up to me, and I think Guin is going to hyperventilate.
“Sorry I’m late,” he says, and kisses me on the cheek while wrapping his hand around mine. “Please play along,” he whispers in my ear as he leans in.
Luca turns to the paparazzi. “Take your pictures, but we aren’t answering any questions right now. Perhaps later, if you’re all good boys and girls.” He smiles his charming smile and slips his arm around my waist.
A few of them laugh. “You might see us tonight at the Jamie Talon concert,” he adds, squeezing me close as a warning or plea to get me to go along. They fire a few questions anyway, but he ignores them. “Come on, I have the car just over here.”
I hesitate, but I really want to get away from the cameras. Luca smiles and pulls me along. My classmates’ faces are priceless. Especially Patrick’s. His smirk is completely wiped out, and his open mouth makes him look almost as idiotic as I did in the picture last night. Even Ed seems reverently awed. I’m going to have to spend the rest of the summer living down the humiliation when they find out this isn’t real, but I’d rather it didn’t start in front of paparazzi cameras. I let Luca tow me to a shiny red sports car that looks as if it could almost be out of an old movie. He opens the door for me. I climb in, and he jaunts around to the driver’s side.
“I brought the Portofino because it’s classic. And you like classics,” he says with a smile. I’m presuming the Portofino is the car, which is fancier than anything I’ve ever been in. The Dips and paparazzi have followed us. Patrick lets out a low whistle. “Dude! Nice Ferrari!”
Luca starts the car, and it revs as if by its own free will. He flips his sunglasses down from his forehead and waves to the little crowd as he pulls out.
Patrick yells, “Bro, let’s do coffee!” like they actually know each other. I look in the passenger-side mirror. They’re standing in a pack that gets smaller and smaller on the street behind us. As we drive off into the unknown, I’m not even sure what just happened.