Dpov

"So." Ellie's voice said from my headset as, on my screen, a smart car lifted onto wheels meant for a monster truck crashed into my dune buggy, destroying both vehicles in a cloud of flames and smoke. In the background, I could hear Jake laugh. "What's it like knowing a bunch of super gorgeous athletes?"

She and Lorelei were currently carrying our team in Crash Battle, while Jake and I had spent the last three hours duking it out on the scoreboard to avoid last place. Michael, who'd been right behind the girls the entire time, was trundling around the map in armored ambulance, acting as the healer for the team.

"Get it together Dex." He muttered before the sound of sirens blared over the music of the game, and my character was revived.

"This game sucks."

"Get good." Was the collective response, accompanied by more chortles from Jake.

No one spoke as the mayhem increased over the next few minutes. Eventually, the timer ran out and 'Victory' appeared in purple letters on my screen as Lorelei's chrome pink Lamborghini and Ellie's tungsten Prius sped across the screen involved in various highlights from the match.

I wasn't exactly sure how it had started, but being trapped in the house due to cameras over the last several days, I'd fallen into this weird video game purgatory where in somehow, Lorelei and Jake, had ended up spending a fair amount of time online with my friends.

I hadn't been able to go back to school for the rest of the week after the game, and now that the weekend was coming to a close, I was dreading the return. I'd deactivated my phone and gotten a new number after the chaos of last week, allowing only a handful of people to have the new one only after they'd sworn it to secrecy, but if what I was hearing from my friends was anything to go by, going back to class was going to be a total nightmare.

Apparently, rumors had been spreading like wildfire and while most seemed harmless enough, some of them down right insane, others were significantly more sinister. More than one accusation of rebelling rich girl 'slumming it' with the public school kid was apparently being hurled at Lorelei in the halls, which considering the area we were in, was down right laughable, but still pretty messed up.

I wasn't looking forward to going back.

It wasn't as if I particularly cared what people thought of me, but I knew it was going to be annoying. If the messages and calls were anything to go by, I was going to be swarmed. That was something I didn't want to deal with.

Lorelei for her part, seemed to have taken her spectrum of personalities and dialed each one up to eleven, hitting the internet with content from so many different directions, any time I caught wind of something odd about me or our relationship, or whatever it was considered at this point, online, it was buried under shares of a video of her comparing dollar store cosmetics to luxury brands, elaborate cupcake designs, and insane charity stream where Jake had to do ten push ups for every objective she captured in an online shooter.

Interspersed were 'throwback' posts about her and her father, as well as photos of them out together at trendy restaurants or what she later explained to me was a staged outing of the two surfing at a private beach owned by one of the team's managers.

It blew my mind not just how calculated these moves were, but also how effective. I was starting to think Lorelei, in some crazy social sense, was a bit of a reluctant genius. Even if she didn't realize it. And if public relations could be classified as a form of warfare, she'd give the Athena kids a run for their money as for who was the better strategist.

"Well?" Ellie prompted. "Lore?"

"Well what?"

"You didn't answer." She pressed. "About the athletes."

"Oh," she said and I half expected a smart remark, and I noticed she sounded a bit put upon by the question. Disappointed even. While Lorelei was pretty tolerant about the questions my friends had about what her life was like or who she knew, I could tell she didn't like it. Any question her father or his team sort of killed the momentum of basically any conversation. "It can get pretty annoying actually."

"Most of them are idiots." Jake added helpfully.

"They're not idiots." Lorelei said and I could tell by her tone she was shaking her head. "They're just kind of over baring… It's like having thirty older brothers."

"Yikes." Michael, an older brother himself, said sympathetically.

"Yeah." she agreed, her voice flat.

"Still." Ellie added thoughtfully. "I'm sure it helps in the popularity department. I bet every girl in your class was dying to be friends with you."

I knew Ellie was simply curious, but I could practically feel Lorelei's mood plummeting over the chat as the next match started to load.

"Not really." she muttered.

"For real?"

"Lore's not going to admit this, but knowing a bunch of famous people doesn't really make you anything special at our school." Jake explained. "Now if you know the president…"

"Shut up Jake." Lorelei snapped, but it was clear she was uncomfortable.

That was probably the weirdest thing about her and Jake spending more time around my friends. Most of the time, things were normal, everyone laughing and joking, encouraging or insulting each other over whatever we playing at the time. Then something like this would get brought up and things felt a little weird.

We played another few rounds before the general consensus was people should go to bed as we all had school tomorrow, but before my console had even fully powered down, my phone began to vibrate and I grinned as I saw I was receiving a video call from Lorelei.

"Hey." I said tossing myself on to my bed and holding up the screen to see she was also laying on a blanket, but while mine was worn and dark blue, hers was quite possibly the fluffiest thing I'd ever seen, and made up of splashes of pinks, purples, and light blues. It reminded me of her shifting hair colors.

"Hey."

She looked tired, probably due to maximizing all of her hobbies for photo ops over the passed few days, but she was smiling.

"Good gods, what creature did you have to kill to make blanket?"

She tilted her head to look at it, before glancing back at the camera.

"Actually it was my child like sense of wonder." She said with a shrug. "Don't worry though, it was already dead."

"Wooow." I said laughing in shock and her smile softened. "You know Lore, I think you have the darkest sense of humor out of anyone I've ever met."

"At least I'm memorable." She said pretending to sigh.

"True, but there's a lot of reasons for that."

"Is it because of my assets?" she asked sarcastically, her tone heavy with implication. "Or is it my cheerful disposition?"

"Actually, it's the money."

She laughed. It made her look positively angelic, which was a bit weird considering her personality.

It had become our habit the last couple of nights to call, even briefly, after we got off of voice chat with our friends, and I was glad tonight hadn't been an exception. I found I'd started looking forward to these calls. They tended to be the best part of my night.

"You ready for tomorrow?" she asked sounding concerned and I shrugged.

"As ready as I expect I'll ever be." I said and she nodded, looking a little guilty.

"I'm sorry I caused a photo of you to go viral."

"I'm pretty sure that was Ellie's fault."

She smiled, clearly amused at the comment, but it looked a bit bittersweet.

It faded pretty quickly however, and her expression went unexpectedly conflicted.

"Why are you so nice to me Dex?"

The question was out of nowhere and sort of confused me.

"What do you mean?"

Did she want me to be mean to her?

"I'm pretty sure I've caused like, nothing but trouble for you." she said softly. "You couldn't even go to school last week because of me, or go to work, or see any of your friends."

"Well." I said not entirely sure how I was supposed to answer this question. "I like you."

"Gods help you Dex." She said with a sigh, rolling onto her stomach and propping her phone on what I assumed must be a pillow before laying her head on her arms, obscuring the lower half of her face.

I suspected it was to hide a smile.

"How's school been for you?" I asked.

She'd managed not to get detention over the last week. Well, more detention on top of what she'd already earned, and while she'd never talked about school all that much, she'd been even more silent on the subject than usual.

"It's been ok." She said quietly.

"Just ok?"

"I kind of want to murder my math teacher." She said with a shrug. "Lot's of comments about you."

"Really?" I asked surprised and she nodded.

"Good comments?" I asked frowning. "Or bad?"

"Just… comments." She said evasively looking away from the screen. "It's not even really about you." she continued. "I don't exactly have the best reputation at school."

She hesitated and surprised me by admitting.

"I think some people are kind of hoping that it might be catching up with me. Karma, I guess, in their opinion."

She looked uncomfortable now, and still was avoiding looking at the screen and something about it caused my heart to sink. I hated seeing her like this. Lorelei's confidence was one of my favorite things about her, and seeing her look so down had me wishing I could reach the phone and give her a hug through the screen.

"Lore," I said incredulously. "People make up rumors about famous people all the time, no one takes it seriously. I don't care what people say about you."

"Even if some of it's true?" she asked in what was almost a whisper, and I had to admit, caught me off guard.

I didn't know what people were saying about her at her school, if it resembled anything my classmates were apparently saying, or if it was completely different, but I couldn't help but think back to the game at her school, and what the idiot who'd been bothering her on the sidelines of the field had said.

'She likes the attention. Everyone knows it.'

She'd also managed to punish the second one by causing some sort of argument with his girlfriend. The one who'd clearly been trying to make a move on her, no matter how screwed up his way of going about it had been.

I figured I knew what some of the people at her school was saying, I'd seen it before. Mostly with Ellie. Someone deciding they just didn't like a girl for whatever reason, and that was it. Suddenly, the whole school would be talking about her.

It had crushed Ellie, her friends abandoning her just because of a few stupid comments angry people had made when she started spending more time around the guys in the club. None of the rumors were true of course, until recently, all of us in the robotics club had just been friends. And the only exception had been Michael, whom she'd liked for a very long time.

But even if they had been true, it wouldn't have made me like her any less as a person. If Ellie had been dating one, or all of the club, it wasn't my business. Not really.

"Yeah." I said honestly. "Even then."

I highly doubted, given what she'd told me about her history with relationships, Lorelei was some obsessive serial dater, granted the situation with her classmate had been strange, but even if she had been, did it really matter?

It didn't change her as a person.

She didn't answer right away, but she did look back at her phone, clearly trying to sort out what she wanted to say.

"My dad really likes you." she said eventually.

"Really?" I asked in surprise.

While I knew her father had been pleased that I'd been able to identify the issue with one of his cars, I hadn't realized I'd made a lasting impression. The guy was a world class athlete after all. I was still in highschool.

"Yeah, like really likes you, it's a little weird to be honest." She continued frowning. "He couldn't stand Caleb."

"That was probably a father's intuition there." I pointed out. "As it turned out he kind of sucked."

She laughed.

"What does he think about Jake?" I asked curiously.

"He likes him." She said neutrally. "Tolerated him at first, but Jake wore him down. Don't think he likes that Jake understands French though." she smirked. "He likes being able to talk about people without them knowing what's being said."

"Well maybe that's why he likes me then." I said grinning. "Because I don't know a lick of French. He can talk about me all he likes."

"True." She said mildly, then returned the smile. "He doesn't know Greek though, so we can talk about him if you want to even the score."

"Vindictive aren't you?" I teased and she shrugged.

"I like things to be fair."

"If that's the case, what language should your dad and I be learning so we can talk about you and Jakes?"

"Fair for other people." she said dismissively. "I'm selfish." She continued before her voice taking a more conscious, and most embarrassed quality. "I pretty much always want to know what you think of me, in any language."

"In English you're pretty cool." I said pretending to think and she smiled again. "In Greek though..." I continued with a deliberate pause. "In Greek you're kind of a pain."

She laughed.

"And in French?"

"I don't speak French," I reminded her.

"Yeah, but if you did?" she said sounding interested and I debated the question.

I'd never been a huge fan of the language, or any language really. To me they'd always been something to utilize, a tool of communication and I hadn't thought about them much beyond that at all. The few times I had heard her speak it however… I had to admit, I'd thought about that quite a bit.

"Well I don't." I repeated knowing how stupid I was about to sound. "But if I did… I'd probably think you're the most interesting person I'd ever met."

I expected another laugh at this, or a clever comment, but she didn't say anything. Her expression was hard to read, but even through the screen, it felt as if her eyes could see right through me. It was an unnerving feeling, but one I just couldn't quite get enough of.

"Je pense à toi tout le temps." She said softly, almost as if she hadn't wanted to.

"What does that mean?" I asked, and this time, she did smile. It was catlike and made my heart skip a beat.

"Learn French." She challenged.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope." Her smile grew. "Goodnight Dex."

"Lore-"

"Bye."

I sighed.

"Night Lorelei."

She ended the call and I stared at the screen for a moment, before it went dark and I saw my reflection gazing back at me.

'Gods this girl is going to drive me crazy.' I thought letting my arm fall onto the bed next to me.

I knew I should have been going to sleep. I had to go back to school tomorrow, a reality I was sure was not going to be fun to face, but I wasn't tired.

I was thinking back over the conversation I'd just had with Lorelei.

She'd said her father liked me and though I knew she'd never come even close to admitting it, it seemed important to her that he did. It also seemed like she was facing what sounded like bullying at her school.

I didn't understand it. With her status, and acute social perception, I'd be willing to bet if she went to my school she'd be running the place. Class president, prom queen, and voted most popular in the year book all in one. But maybe her things were different where she went to school. Or maybe the things people would have liked about her in my class, just weren't so important in hers.

From what it sounded like, like Ellie, she might have made some enemies, whether she'd meant to or not. I'd always thought being a child of Aphrodite would make things like high school an absolute breeze, but maybe it was how you used your abilities that determined if you were popular or not, and Lorelei from everything I'd gathered about her, was kind of unusual for a child of Aphrodite. Maybe in her case, her mother's influence had created a reverse effect. Backfired even.

Yes she had power, and yes she knew how to use it, but it didn't seem to give her any sort of satisfaction either.

More out of curiosity than anything, I picked up my phone and opened the web browser, feeling a bit stupid as I typed, 'Lorelei Ellis boyfriend', only to feel a jolt of shock go through me as a familiar name appeared in bold at the top of the page.

Dex Cartwright

There was a string of text under it.

'While no official statement has ever been made by Lorelei about her romantic life, fans speculate that Lorelei Ellis is currently in a relationship with friend Dexter Cartwright, after being spotted together numerous times around their home city of Los Angeles, and visiting him at a lacrosse game at one of the local public schools.'

Mine wasn't the only name in the results, and I almost laughed when I saw 'Jake Courtlin' realizing I'd never actually picked up on Jake's last name before now.

Amused, I clicked on the result, seeing a photo of what looked like the two at a music festival, Lorelei sitting on Jake's shoulders both of them extending their middle finger to the camera, clearly not happy to have their pictures taken.

'Yeah that seems about right.' I thought smiling at the photo before reading the text below it.

'While some people might have suspected a relationship with Lorelei's long-time friend Jake Courtlin over the years, there is no evidence of a romantic relationship. The two met when Courtlin's mother joined her father's team's staff as a physical therapist specializing in sports medicine, and have reportedly been best friends ever since.'

I was surprised to find however, the last name in the search results was not Caleb's, though, if the two had primarily spent time together at camp, the mortal media might not have known about it.

Instead, there was a different name.

'Logan Freeman.'

Knowing I should probably have left it alone, but unable to help myself, I clicked on the name seeing that this result had gotten a lot more attention over the years than the one with Jake. There were a lot more articles, and a lot more photos of the two together.

'Logan Freeman, professional athlete, and rumored ex-boyfriend of new team member Martin Ellis's daughter Lorelei. Though their relationship was never publicly addressed, it was known the two were friends at school before he graduated and signed on to the professional league. Fans of both Logan and Lorelei speculate the pair went through a messy break up not long after he joined the team. Whether this was influenced by her father is unclear and highly debated, though many find it unlikely as he would have been playing in France at the time. The two no longer appear to be friends.'

It was only when I looked at the photo next to the name that I realized I recognized the player. It was the guy I'd run into outside Jake's house, the day I'd gone to check on Lorelei and he'd been in a terrible mood.

Was this why?

If they had gone through a messy break up, it would explain why he seemed to hate him…

Something wasn't adding up however, and it occurred to me that there seemed to be a time line issue. If he only just joined the team, and this all happened while her father was in France, that didn't make a lot of sense when you factored in her relationship with Caleb, the only real boyfriend I'd known she'd had. In fact, it didn't make any sense at all.

'That's because it's probably not true.' A voice said in the back of my mind.

I didn't know what to consider my relationship with Lorelei at the moment, but the internet seemed to think it was pretty official. Who knew how well she even knew her father's teammate. Maybe it was as simple as they went to the same school, he got scouted and ended up, eventually, on the same team as her father, and people let their imaginations run wild.

But when I clicked on the images tab and saw what appeared to be a photo of a Lorelei and Jake, sporting what looked like spirit gear in their school's colors on the sideline of a field, I felt a creeping sense of unease. Logan was between them, arms around both their shoulders, and I knew there had to be at least some truth to it, even if it was just that they had been friends.

I could have asked her about him, but that would mean admitting to looking her up on the internet and I knew she wouldn't be impressed with that.

It was weird, knowing someone whose entire life had been documented by people whose job basically was to figure out everything about you. Every story, every secret, any and all details about who you were. For the most part, I tried not to think about it. It felt like cheating kind of, be able to google things about your friends, instead of letting them gradually show you who they were at a pace they were comfortable with.

I was starting to regret looking her up at all.

'She can tell me if she wants to.' I thought in resignation locking the screen and setting my phone on my nightstand.

If she ever wanted to.

Maybe she never would.

'Or.' That same voice said in exasperation. 'Maybe she'll do it in French.'

This seemed like a definite possibility, and it reminded me of her words before ending the call.

She'd been joking when she'd said to learn French, I was sure, but she had taught Jake. Her father spoke it to her when he didn't want to be understood by anyone else, all of her siblings could speak it. It was an undeniable commonality in almost everyone she cared about.

Without putting much thought into the action, I grabbed my phone and opened the app store typing into the search bar.

I scanned the list of the top rated apps, and downloaded the one with the most reviews, only hesitating when I reached the screen where you selected the language imput.

'What am I doing?' I thought annoyed at myself, before locking the screen and setting down my phone again feeling incredibly stupid, and yet…

I thought about her expression on the call earlier, the way she'd smiled when her father had teased her about her 'boyfriends' despite responding in English, and the fact that when she'd been so angry at her father's agent, the language she'd ended up shouting in wasn't English.

I had to admit, a part of me was disappointed I hadn't understood it. Lorelei was so always so careful about how she expressed herself, how much she let others know what she was feeling or thinking. And I didn't want to miss any of it when she did, no matter what language it was in.

I still didn't even know what it was her siblings had been calling her at camp...

Swearing, but resolved, I grabbed my phone again, unlocked the screen too see several cartoon characters had trotted onto the screen, and were smiling at me, while words and phrases from all around the word scrolled behind them.

'What language do you want to learn?'

"Screw it." I muttered, and selected French.

Lpov

"So." Said a vaguely familiar voice, and I looked up from my magazine to see Celeste had slid into the seat across the table from mine in the court yard during my free period.

To my genuine surprise, she was alone, not surrounded by her usual pack of influencer friends and even more unsettling, she didn't look upset with me.

"What's with the outfit?"

I glanced down at the game logo on my t shirt and the shorts I'd thrown on before school today.

"What?"

"Are you depressed?" she asked frowning at me.

"… Excuse me?"

"What. Are you wearing?" she asked enunciating her words with dramatic emphasis as she looked me up and down. "What are you on an apology tour or something?" she asked pulling out her phone. "Since when do you post anything online?"

Apology tour was what most of the students here called the damage control we all had to go through at some point when it came to the media, mostly to protect our parents reputations. It was different for each 'tour' but usually consisted of charity events, scripted apologies on social media, and very specific wardrobe choices.

She looked at my outfit again, as if it pained her.

"What did your father's agent finally follow through with his threat to burn all your clothes?" she asked raising an eyebrow. "Because if so, that shirt should join the pile."

"What do you want?" I asked her impatiently and she crossed her arms over her chest, giving me a considering look, and despite the fact what Celeste was saying was incredibly rude, I got the impression she wasn't trying to be.

"Are you hooking up with Jake?

"Ew."

"I didn't think so." She said frowning. "A lot of people have been talking about you and your new boy toy." She said with a detached curiosity. "He's pretty hot. How'd you find him?"

I didn't answer this, knowing the urge to smack Celeste would eventually pass and looked back at my magazine.

"Hey. I'm talking to you." she said annoyed.

"You're talking to hear yourself talk."

"Why didn't Jake call me?"

This surprised me into looking at her. Jake had had to leave school early today, for a lacrosse game at a school that was fairly far away, and I was starting to wonder if there wasn't a reason why Celeste had been alone when she'd walked over here.

"That's why you wanted to talk to me?" I asked incredulously. "Because Jake didn't call you?"

"No." she said stubbornly. "But, it's kind of rude, you know?"

"I'm pretty sure he thinks you have a hit out on him," I pointed out. "Let alone want him to call you." I frowned. "Besides, you told him not to."

"Well yeah," she said as if this should have been obvious. "He kicked me out of his house for you."

"But you're mad he didn't call you?"

"Look at me Lorelei." She said raising an eyebrow. "I'm a perfect ten. Boys always call me," she sounded genuinely annoyed. "That's something you ought to understand."

Not even knowing where to start with this, I shook my head and returned to my article hoping Celeste would disappear by the time I looked back up.

"Is he going to?"

"Is he going to what?"

"Call."

"No." I said looking at her as if she were crazy only to feel a little guilty when it was apparent her feelings had been hurt.

I sighed.

"If it make you feel any better, he was irritated he had to kick you out. He thinks you're crazy hot." I added and she looked mollified. "Jake doesn't really date, but if you want him just shoot your shot."

"I do not want him." She muttered and while her tone was offended, something about her expression, and the way her lip had twitched up at the corner had me thinking Jakes was going to be far less 'available' over the next several weeks. "But that's not what I came to talk to you about."

"Then what is it?" I asked impatiently.

"Turns out, my family's stylist has more of a moral compass than I'd originally thought."

"So?"

"So, I might look great in designer, but apparently, I can't style it." she said frowning. "He won't let me pay him to do my final project for our fashion and merchandizing class, and I need it to increase my over all grade."

"Why do you care about your grade?"

"Because, if I don't get my GPA up, my dad's cancelling my trip to Cabo over the summer." she said matter of factly. "And we're allowed to have partners. I know you've already almost finished your project. And, present outfit excluded." She continued looking me up and down again. "I know you're good at this sort of thing."

"You want to put your name on my project?"

"Both of our names."

"No."

"Oh come on." She whined, sounding a lot more like her usual self. "All my friends are going on this trip. They're all going to be talking about it when we go to Europe in August, I'll be totally left out."

"And yet, still no." I countered and she pouted.

"What if I did something for you?"

"Like what?" I asked skeptically.

"Like helped you with your little media campaign." She said brightly. "You're trying to make everyone like your new boyfriend, right?"

"… Yes." I said knowing that with Celeste, there wasn't really a need to get technical.

"Well you've got a problem." She said conversationally and I felt my brow furrow.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't have any friends." She pointed out. "No one besides Jake and if anyone actually has a hit out on him, it's your father's agent. What's the number one rule of vetting boyfriends?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Their follower count?" I asked sardonically, but she continued as if I hadn't spoken.

"Girlfriend approval."

"I have girlfriends." I said thining of Liv. Well, one girlfriend. Maybe two if you counted Ellie...

"Not here you don't." she said gesturing at the school around us. "And that's the kind of credibility your relationship needs. You have a terrible reputation with the press. You and I both know they'll be gunning for any hint of drama they can stir up." she shot me a satisfied expression. "You help me with the final project, and me and my friends will cosign on the fact that you are not as crazy as the paparazzi makes you out to be, and that your new boyfriend is the greatest thing since red bottoms."

I frowned, but didn't see anything particularly wrong with this plan. Well, except…

"I thought you hated me." I said frowning at her and she shrugged.

There had to be easier ways to get her project done, including actually doing it herself.

"I did. But then I realized you kind of did me a favor, exposing Aaron. You weren't the only girl he was messaging," she said scowling. "And besides, he was kind of an awful boyfriend." She said thoughtfully. "I realized he's the one I should be mad at. Jake's a better kisser anyways."

"Again, ew." I muttered and she made a non committal gesture. "But fine. If you help me out put your name on the project."

"Great." she said smiling, getting to her feet and motioning that I should as well. "C'mon."

"Where are we going?"

"Equine therapy." She explained her tone as sunny as a summer afternoon. "It's in my academic plan that I can bring a friend."

"We're friends now?" I asked incredulously.

"I don't see why not." She said her voice still unsettlingly cheerful. "We do school work together."

"For like thirty seconds…"

"And we'll be in each other's posts." She continued sounding thrilled at the prospect. "But for the love of god you'd better change before I take any photographs." She scowled at my t-shirt. "I'm not having any pictures on my account with anyone looking as if they just rolled out of a thrift shop."

"I guess I'll just go grab some stilettos then." I said sarcastically but it seemed lost on her as she said.

"On a horse farm? Don't be ridiculous Lorelei." She shot me a reproachful look. "I've got an extra pair or riding boots at the barn."

"Great." I said dully, but figuring that, she was in fact, trying to help, I added. "Thanks Celeste."

"No problem." She said in a singsong voice and strangely, I figured she probably meant it.

"Jakes like music." I said begrudgingly. "Go to a warehouse party and text him to meet you there. He'll turn up. Wear his jersey to one of his games and he'll be putty in your hands."

"Noted." She said with a smile before looking at me. "And what about your boy?" she asked. "What does he like?"

It was a surprisingly thoughtful question for Celeste to ask in my opinion, and I found it a bit out of her character. It seemed so disinterested for someone so self involved.

'This.' A voice said in the back of my mind. 'Is why she has girlfriends and you don't.'

"Dex likes video games." I said quietly and she let out a long suffering sigh, before glancing at my shirt, then up at the ceiling as if praying for patience, her expression pained once again.

"Jeez, you really do like this guy, don't you?" she asked. "None of this is an act?"

I didn't answer, but I felt I didn't really have to. I knew most people here, Celeste included probably, didn't understand why I'd want to spend time with someone outside of the celebrity social circles. Let alone go so far to protect them from the press. I was sure most of them thought I was just trying to get a reaction from my father, or string Dex along until I got bored.

But I didn't care what they thought, and Celeste must have picked up on that, because she let out another sigh before saying.

"Well then," she sounded a bit defeated. "I guess we'd better keep the t shirt then."