April 2019

“Lisa?!” I stormed into the house, not waiting for a response. I barrelled up the stairs and checked every room, fully intent on giving the woman a piece of my mind. When I made it to her room I stopped suddenly as smooth shoulders met my eyes. Lisa turned around, towel drying her long blonde hair  that had darkened from the shower water. She stood in nothing but jeans and a black laced bra and when I finally realized that I was staring I quickly covered my eyes.

“, sorry…I didn’t know you were…” I heard Lisa chuckle and I knew she was shaking her head.

“It’s okay, J. Nothing you haven’t seen before.” I peeked one eye open and Lisa was just finishing putting on a deep green V-neck shirt. I opened my eyes as I willed the embarrassment to diminish.

“What’s going on?”

What was I doing here again? Besides walking in on a beautiful woman changing? Oh right. I’m pissed. Let’s get back to that feeling instead of the twinging sensation in your stomach. I pointed to the piece of paper in my hand. “Twenty five thousand, Lisa? That’s way too much.

The club wouldn’t even know what to do with that kind of money.”

Lisa shrugged as she grabbed a comb and started untangling her hair. “I figured you guys can set up a scholarship or something.”

“Lisa,” I groaned as I sat on her bed. “It’s way too much. Why did you do that?”

Again she shrugged. “Ever since the presentation I’ve been thinking about what those kids are going through. I wanted to help.”

“You helped enough just being there and talking. Even Bryan Donnelly hasn’t had an incident. He just keeps talking about how hot you are and how you’re only twelve years older than him and how that’s not illegal in a lot of states in the south.”

Lisa burst out laughing. “Glad to see that I was able to change some minds. Even if it’s kind of gross.” She twitched her nose.

“Well, all I’m saying is it is too much.”

“I’m not taking it back.” She countered.

I sighed heavily. “I know. You can’t anyway because Principal Williams was the one to tell me. He has a lot of plans for this.”

“So what’s the problem then?” She moved over to face me and I caught her vanilla scent. Why couldn’t she have changed that since coming back?

“It’s just a lot of money.”

“Jen, it’s really nothing to me. You know that.” She waved her hand. “I don’t need it and I think the school can use it for a lot of good.”

I eyed Lisa’s sincerity and finally relinquished my argument. “Well, thank you. I still think what you did was enough but if you’re so hell bent on doing this…”

Lisa laughed as she pushed my shoulder, the momentum causing me to lay on my back on her bed. I lifted myself on my elbows as I smiled at her tease but the face she was giving me made my smile quickly fade. It wasn’t a look of humor or playfulness, rather a look of hunger and lust. I swallowed and willed myself to not think too much of that look. Lisa had a teasing personality, and she was an actress. Linking those two together could make anything see something that wasn’t truly there. It has been a decade, there is no way she still has feelings for me. Plus she has someone already. She told me so.

It had to be an act.

I closed my eyes and willed the moment to fade. When I opened them again she had turned from me, her back hunched over and gripping her desk as if it was a life line. I stood up from the bed and met her eyes in the vanity mirror. She was holding back and I knew it but I didn’t want to comment on that look.

“Mom told me to invite you for dinner tonight.” I tried to cut through the tension and her normally easy smile was reserved.

“Thanks, but I have something going on tonight. Rain check?” I nodded as a twinge of jealousy flushed through me. She had been skipping a lot of our nightly talks and I came to the realization that it was probably because her beau was in town.

“Sure. I’ll let her know you had a hot date or something.” I tried to get more information out of her but she didn’t give me anything in return but a chuckle. Still reserved she walked me to the door and waved a goodbye. I took a trying glance over my shoulder to see if she had been watching me leave but the porch was empty and devoid of all life. I had to get a grip on myself. I had to come to the realization that Lisa was unavailable and uninterested. That time had passed and although I didn’t regret allowing Lisa to leave and live out her dream, a part of me still had wondered what it would have been like if I asked her to stay.

***

May 2019

“Would you like some coffee or tea?” I called out over my shoulder to the woman sitting on the couch. Bom declined and I walked over  with my own mug in hand, sitting down next to her and going over the proposal she had brought over.

Park Bom was the CEO at Green Tree publishing, the power house firm who allowed my story to become what it was today. Bom had been an old friend of my mother’s and after reading my first draft knew that the book could be something amazing. She immediately spoke to her firm about the possibilities and nearly a decade later they had grown into one of the most sought after publishing agencies in California.

“It’s good, J. Really good.” She said as she leafed through the pages. Bom was one of three people that knew Randle Gooding was actually Jennie Kim. She had wondered why I chose to write under a pen name but after knowing that I wished to remain anonymous if the book gained steamed, she had understood fully. “Sony is already in talks. We want the book to be out for a couple of months before they start shooting the film. You’re making them a lot of money and if this one does as well as the last, then you’re going to be a very, very rich woman.”

The comment slid off my shoulders. I already had more than enough money for my mother and me to live comfortably. I kept telling my mother that she didn’t have to work anymore but she waved me off. I think she enjoyed getting out of the house and I wasn’t about to take that away from her if it was what she truly wanted.

“What about the book itself? Do you think it will get a lot of attention?”

Bom nodded her head. “It’s the best in the series by far. A lot of people wanted to know what happened between Blake and Holly and this doesn’t leave anything hanging. I was ecstatic when you called me to let me know you were doing one more.”

“You don’t think it’s too much?” I asked still worried. I wanted to do right by the characters and if that meant not publishing the book than I was more than willing to keep it a secret.

“Of course not. You know how many people are invested in these two. Think about if J.K. Rowling came out with another Harry Potter. Do you think people wouldn’t like that?”

“Oh no, they’d like that a lot,” I chuckled. Bom and I went over the plans for release. Of course there were many requests for interviews and book readings but Bom knew that I would decline them all. I knew that eventually one day the true identity of Randle Gooding would come out but for the time being I was okay with just being a normal high school teacher.

“One more stipulation that Sony wants. They want to release the book early to the actors so they can start getting a head start on how they’ll be portraying the characters.” Bom looked at me, waiting for my response. I tilted my head wondering if there was any reason why I shouldn’t allow it. I couldn’t think of anything so I just nodded my head.

“That’s fine, just as long as they know not to release a