Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
A fter a month in the desert, Piper decided it would be an excellent place to take a vacation. There was something magical about being so far away from people. There was no traffic out here. No paparazzi. No smog. Just quiet, cactus, and billions of stars.
Somewhere under all those stars, she realized that, just like Princess Jewel and Tessa, she’d fallen in love with Blake Ryan.
It was almost torture to pretend they were just friends during the day. Keeping her distance wasn’t easy, but it wouldn’t be long before Conned wrapped and they could stop worrying about what people would say.
Time passed so fast, Piper felt like she’d blinked and it was the middle of February. Scorched ’s Valentine’s Day premiere meant putting Conned on a brief hold while she, Marshall, and Blake headed to Los Angeles.
Piper had been to a lot of red carpet events over the years, all related to music. They could be outrageous, with everyone trying to one-up each other for best- or worst-dressed, depending on the show. Everyone wanted to see and be seen, and everyone wore things that might go better in a strip club than a red carpet.
This premiere, though, was a family event.
The Rio Grande Theater had been transformed into a castle surrounded by hundreds of live trees to mimic the forest. The carpet was green instead of the usual red. A section of it was enveloped with fog to simulate the Merry Myst. A cave filled with gold chocolate coins and trinkets waited for children to explore, and visitors had to traverse a bridge over an actual river.
Piper, Blake, Gina, and Jeremy were in full costume and arrived at the back so that they could travel unseen down a hidden hallway behind the set pieces. Tamar wanted to create an illusion for the three rows of children at the front.
Piper peeked out from behind a curtain and saw her sisters about halfway up on the right. They were talking excitedly and pointing at things, just like the children in the rows below them. It was odd to see them out there instead of backstage with her. She couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. “I feel like a kid about to put on a school play.”
“You’ll be fine.” Blake gripped her shoulders and gave her a comforting squeeze. He wore Jesse’s forest outfit, including the cap that reminded her of a blue version of Robin Hood. “I never did a school play. Are they terrifying?”
“Never?” Piper frowned up at him. “How is that possible? You won an Oscar at eleven years old.”
“I never went to school,” he said like it was the most normal thing in the world. “I was homeschooled on set. I never went to prom either.”
“Neither did I,” Jeremy said. “My parents were Southern Baptist, they didn’t believe in dancing. Or acting, for that matter. Good thing they still don’t know I what I do for a living.”
“They don’t?” Piper caught the twinkle in his eyes and chuckled. “You’re a scamp. ”
“I went to four proms,” Gina said. “Two in one night my senior year.”
“I went to prom,” Piper said. “Just once, my senior year. We were already on tour by then, but we took breaks to get school in. Trust me, Blake, you didn’t miss much.”
“Speak for yourself,” Gina said. “You obviously didn’t go with the right man.”
“True,” Piper whispered. “My date, Joey the Jock, tried to spike the punch so he could get me drunk and get his hand up my skirt, but they tossed him out and I wound up dancing with Mattie instead.”
Blake chuckled. “I crashed Marshall’s homecoming once. We got thrown out at halftime for distracting the cheerleaders.”
“How’d you distract them?” Jeremy asked with an arched eyebrow.
Piper giggled.
Tamar rushed through, making shushing noises. “Places, please. Blake, dear boy, are you ready?”
Blake gave her a thumbs-up and a big Jesse grin.
“Good.” Tamar straightened her shoulders, took a deep breath, and stepped out on the small simulated forest clearing that formed a stage.
The audience erupted into applause and whistles.
“Welcome, everyone, to the world premiere of Day Dreams Studios’ newest animated feature, Scorched .”
Piper took one last peek at the audience.
She didn’t see Blake’s mom anywhere, or his dad. “Where’s your folks?”
“Mom’s inside already. She didn’t want to distract anyone from the main event,” Blake whispered. “Dad’s somewhere…ah. He’s behind the stands having a cigarette. That’s Jenny in the third row, on the left by that tall guy with the huge mustache. She’s wearing a blue dress. ”
Jenny looked a little like Blake. She had the same blonde hair, anyway. “I’m glad you invited them.”
“Me too.”
“Let me introduce you,” Tamar said in a booming voice to the audience, “to a world besieged by dragons, and a boy who hopes to prove he’s a man by stealing the treasure from the mightiest dragon of all.”
Blake gave her a quick kiss. “That’s my cue.”
The backup singers rushed out from the other side of the stage, pushing tables with them. Blake waited for his opening then jumped out to kick off the premiere just like he’d done at the read-through so many months ago, by belting out his solo while dancing on tables.
The audience, filled with a Who’s Who of Hollywood, loved it. Piper waited for her turn along with Gina and Jeremy, watching with delight.
She realized she hadn’t seen Rachel since they’d left the studio, and glanced around looking for her. She spotted her in front of the Scorched backdrop posing for the cameras in a silver sequined ball gown fit for a queen. She acted like the pre-show wasn’t even happening.
Piper wasn’t sure if that was because Piper had gotten the role in Blake’s movie instead of her or because she was pissed that none of her songs had made it into the pre-show.
“Rachel blends really well with the pile of dragon treasure,” Piper whispered to Gina.
“She should be over here with the rest of the cast,” Jeremy whispered. He shook his head.
“Be fair, Jeremy. They didn’t invite her to sing,” Gina said. “A diva’s pride is a dangerous thing to mess with.”
Blake’s song was almost over. He bowed with a flourish, then glanced over his shoulder and winked at Piper.
She laughed and applauded along with everyone else except Rachel, who leveled a stare on Blake that could burn a hole through diamonds.
Music cued for her duet with Blake, and she forgot all about Rachel.
Piper twirled out onto the stage, and they reenacted the song with some of the dialogue from the movie to the delight of the crowd.
They took their bows together, and then Blake kissed her hand before they drifted off to opposite sides of the stage.
She felt that kiss all the way to the dressing room.
As promised, the team of transformation artists waited to help her change from animated princess to red carpet ready.
They toned down her makeup, relaxed her hair with a few clever flicks of the wrist and bobby pins, and helped her into an Audrey Vidal original silk slip dress in emerald green with strappy heels. They added an emerald leaf and diamond drop shaker necklace, matching earrings, and nestled a tiara in her hair.
She felt elegant, regal, and very much a princess.
She hadn’t seen Blake since the performance. She went to find him, but was redirected toward her limo and got in. They were each being taken one by one around the block to the front of the theater so they could walk the green-carpeted forest for the cameras.
When the door to her limo opened in front of the theater, Blake poked his head in.
“Oh.” His gaze traveled down to the scoop neckline that barely concealed her breasts, to the slit that revealed a lot of her thigh. “It’s not fair to look like that. You’ll make everyone jealous.”
She smiled up at him. “Back at you. I like the hat.”
Blake wore a blue summer linen suit with a white T-shirt underneath, but the best part of his outfit was the snazzy blue fedora. Only Blake Ryan the Movie Star could pull that off .
He tipped the hat. “Ready, Princess?”
She took his hand and stepped out.
Every head swiveled to watch her arrive.
Cameras flashed.
Everyone took in that Blake Ryan had helped her out of the car and held her hand and looked at her like she was the most important woman in the world.
The moment stretched like the afternoon sun. Sound faded into a blur as it sank in.
She’d done it. She’d achieved two dreams. Her sisters were back together, and they were here to watch her have this moment.
Just her.
She wasn’t in character now. She was Piper Bellamy, singer, voice actor, and movie star, stepping out onto the carpet, going in to see a movie she’d played a part in making.
The world crept back in with clicks and flashes and the white noise of questions.
“Piper, who are you wearing?”
She didn’t see who asked, so she smiled at the crowd of reporters. “It’s an Audrey Vidal original.”
“Piper, what’s it like to star in a movie with Blake Ryan?”
She gripped Blake’s hand a little harder. “It’s a lot of fun.”
“Blake, what made you choose Piper as your love interest in the new movie?”
Cameras clicked faster.
“She’s perfect for the part, just like she’s a perfect Princess Jewel,” Blake’s said with a smooth smile.
“You’re holding hands. Are you two a couple now?”
The question was innocent enough. They’d expected it and agreed that whenever it came up, they would walk away. The important news of the day was the movie, not their relationship.
Gina, Jeremy, and Rachel all waited with Tamar and Paul at the backdrop for the group photo .
Piper tugged on Blake’s hand. “We should go.”
Blake leaned close to her. “They’ll wait. Enjoy the moment. You worked hard for this.”
They strolled slowly down the carpet, stopping to smile and wave along the way. A little girl in a red dress and blonde ponytails caught her attention. She could have been Della at that age, they looked so similar.
“I have a question I have a question!” The girl waved a card at Piper.
She let go of Blake’s hand to kneel in front of the little girl. “What’s your name?”
“Anna,” she said without a hint of shyness.
“What’s your question, Anna?” She took the card to sign it.
“Daddy says there’s no way a dragon gets to eat you. He says you’ll slay the dragon and save your sister. Is he right?”
The man next to her made an uncomfortable laugh. “That’s not exactly what I said.”
“Actually, Anna, sometimes it’s easier to save someone by making friends instead. Watch, you’ll see.” She winked at the man and gave the card back to his daughter.
“Can we get your picture?” he asked tentatively. He wasn’t a typical VIP. He seemed like an average, everyday dad.
Anna bounced up and down with the energy only a five-year-old could muster. “Can we?”
“Of course.”
The man scooped Anna up into his arms, and Piper moved into position on the girl’s other side. She could have been posing with her own father and Della. She’d done it plenty of times when they were growing up. Usually, Mattie stood on Daddy’s other side, and Lizzie snapped the photo.
Blake held out his hand to the dad. “Give me your phone. I’ll take it. ”
Blake snapped off a dozen shots and the paparazzi a few thousand.
“You too, Blake!” someone in the crowd shouted.
He laughed and gestured for one of the security guards to take the picture while he jumped in next to Piper.
Blake’s arm went around her so he could squeeze in tight.
Piper smiled at the little girl and her daddy, then posed for the multitude of cameras.
“Someone send me a copy please,” she told the crowd. “I want to remember this moment forever.”
“Me too!” Anna said.
Everyone laughed.
They made their way slowly to the group photo area, taking their time to sign autographs, pose for pictures, and have a few words with as many people as possible.
“You’re about to be immortalized in action figures and theme park rides, how does it feel?” Blake asked her with a laugh.
“I am not…am I?”
“Oh yeah. I bet there’s Scorched action figures out by summer. The theme park ride might take a few years.”
An official photographer for the studio waved them up for the group shot. “Okay, you two, in the center. Blake, stand slightly behind Piper. Gina, you on this side, Jeremy, over there…Rachel, please step over here. Tamar and Paul, you have the place of honor in front. Remember, everybody, this is for the internet so smile nice.”
They all laughed.
Rachel brushed by Piper on her way to the spot the photographer had indicated. “Perfect for the role, huh?”
She said it so quietly Piper almost missed it, but she didn’t miss the look of envy and intense resentment on Rachel’s pretty face.
That look said what’s yours should be mine. It was the kind of look she imagined someone would have right before they murdered someone.
A shimmer of unease flickered down Piper’s spine.
Blake put his hand on the small of Piper’s back and whispered, “Don’t let her spoil this for you.”
“I won’t.”
They posed for at least ten minutes after the official photos were done to allow the paparazzi time to get their shots.
A stage director ushered them into the lobby, where buckets of popcorn and beverages waited to be scooped up and enjoyed.
Blake sat next to her, with Marshall on his other side, while her sisters sat one row behind them.
The lights dimmed, and the movie started to play.
Piper held Blake’s hand and watched Princess Jewel fall in love with Prince Jesse and realized it wasn’t just in the movie.
Somewhere over the past few months, she’d fallen in love with Blake Ryan.
Life was everything she’d ever wanted it to be. She was going to sing with her sisters again. She was in love with a wonderful man, and sitting here watching her own movie, she felt like she’d finally shaken free of that awful runner-up feeling that had haunted her for her whole life. She’d finally emerged from Della’s long shadow, and no one was going to make her feel second best ever again.