Eternal Spring A Young Adult Short Story Collection by Various Read Free Book Online Page B

and smugly smiled, as if
pronouncing herself ready for her close-up. She turned to me, a glint dancing
in her cat-like green eyes. “I guess Dani doesn’t want to know where Craig’s
filming next week.”
    “That’s easy,” I said. “Studio G of the Sandler Brothers
Pictures lot. He’s in makeup by seven every morning.” Wow, that sounded like I
was stalking him.
    Hadley’s laugh tinkled. “Aren’t we Little Miss Know-it-all?
Only not in this case, apparently.” She paused for effect, clearly enjoying the
attention. “He’ll be in Sedona all next week.”

 
 
    The legendary Sedona Red Rocks have enchanted visitors for
generations with their spectacular natural beauty. Huge rock formations almost
glow a brilliant orangey-red, silhouetted against a bright blue sky, forming a
breathtaking backdrop for, well, everything. Even the local McDonalds was
prettier, with the only teal arches in the world.
    It wasn’t surprising the director would want to film on
location in the actual town in which Bethany’s book took place. What was surprising
was that Craig didn’t tell me.
    Particularly since I was going to be there, too.
    No, really. I wasn’t stalking him. I swear.
    The Southwestern Teen Arts Festival takes place every year
during Spring Break in Sedona. Mountain Shadows students always participate,
showcasing their dancing, singing, acting, music, or studio art. He knew that.
Craig had been going since his freshman year, but I guess now that he was a big
Hollywood star he couldn’t be bothered to remember such a trivial matter.
    So what if it also happened to be my fifteenth birthday? He
was so above all that high school BS.
    Mental wrist slap .
    Bad Dani. I really needed to stop thinking poorly of him. He
was probably just busy and forgot. Or maybe he thought it was a different week.
    Of course, there was only one way to find out. I grabbed my
purse and dug around. Lip gloss, EpiPen, wallet, phone.
    HEY! R U IN SEDONA? IM ALMOST THERE. MISS U!
    I bit my lip as my finger hovered over the “send.” Was “Miss
U!” too forward? Not forward enough?
    Did I look as desperate as I felt? At least I didn’t type
“Luv U!” Yeah, it had to go.
    I deleted the message and tried again.
    I HEAR U R FILMING @ SEDONA. ILL BE THERE FOR TEENARTS.
    WANT 2 GO OUT 4 MY BDAY?
    Delete.
    R U IN SEDONA?
    Short, sweet, and to the point. That ought to do the trick.
    I hit “send” and sunk back into my seat to wait for a
response as the school bus chugged up the twists and turns of I-17.
    An hour later, I still hadn’t heard anything. And this was
the third text I’d sent him this week. Was he ignoring me? Maybe he didn’t want
to see me anymore now that he was hanging out with Amber Alexander. Duh. That
had to be it.
    Why didn’t he like me?
    “I’m going to sneak onto the set of Midnight ,” I announced.
    “Oh no,” Analisa said, shaking her head in punctuation.
“No.”
    “No what?” I asked, feigning innocence.
    Analisa raised her arms almost in defense. Against what, I
had no idea. “No more snooping, no more sneaking around, no more breaking and
entering.”
    “Why not?”
    “Uh, perhaps because B&E is illegal?”
    Okay, so she had a point. But I couldn’t help it –
crazy stuff just happens to me. Besides, it’s all worked out in the past. And
if we hadn’t snooped those other times, we never would have stopped some very
serious crimes from occurring. Who cares if we might’ve sorta kinda broken some
laws in the process? The ends totally justified the means.
    Right?
    “Fine. We won’t break onto the set.”
    “No, we’ll get on totally legally,” Maya agreed. Told you
the girl had my back.
    Analisa sighed. “Don’t encourage her!”
    “She’s not encouraging me,” I said. “I’d go even if she
didn’t come along.”
    “That’s what I’m afraid of.” Analisa pushed her bangs off
her forehead. “Fine, we’ll all go. But the movie set is not our priority. We’re
here to dance.