So the house is super boring.” Kara eased herself into the seat at the deep end of the pool. The hot July sun was only bearable while immersed in water. “But this pool totally makes up for it.”
Kara had called Addy as soon as she arrived in Orlando. The few girls who had gotten there before her were out on a shopping spree, according to the note left on the refrigerator. The rest, Kara supposed, were still flying in.
“So it’s not The Mansion, huh?” Addy’s voice sounded strange when on speakerphone.
“The outside is yellow stucco. One story. I was really hoping for one of those big old Florida homes with the wraparound porches and the shutters and all that. This one is big, but there’s nothing special. No history.”
“No trailers?” Addy laughed. When the two roomed together on The Book of Love, they lived in trailers because The Mansion in central Tennessee, where the show was filmed, was too old to allow for thirty girls to pad around in its two-hundred-year-old halls.
“No, we’ll be living here.”
“All ten of you?”
“And the housemother,” Kara said.
“It must be big.”
“Six bedrooms, each with its own bath.” Kara floated backward and began treading water.
“Wow.”
“Yeah, but every bedroom looks the same. All browns and creams. This place has no personality. I hope it’s not an omen. Maybe I made the wrong choice? I should have gone for the Broadway show.”
“Are you seriously second-guessing yourself based on interior design?” Addy asked.
Kara swam back to the pool seat and sighed. “Stupid, right? I just can’t stop thinking about it. If I lose this, I’m always going to wonder if I could have won that one.”
“But if you went there and lost it, you would have wondered about this show, right?”
“Exactly.”
“So you’ll just have to win this one so you won’t have any regrets.”
“Of course.” Kara got out of the pool and dried herself with a large cream towel. “Easy as pie.”
Kara heard the front door open. “Some of the girls are here. I’d better go.”
“I’m praying for you,” Addy said.
“You know what?” Kara wrapped the towel around her lean body. “I’ll take it.”
“Wow, is this all they can afford?” an annoyingly familiar voice drawled from the living room. “When I was on The Book of Love, we lived in a mansion.”
“It must have been great to live there,” another girl answered.
“Sure was,” the first girl said. “Too bad I didn’t make it all the way.”
“I heard Jonathon didn’t even like the girl who won.”
“Lila? No. He took her to prom, but that was it. I heard he didn’t even kiss her good night.”
“Wow, all that and not even a kiss. I guess you’re glad you didn’t win that date.”
“Sure am.”
“And now he’s dating that girl Addy?”
“That’s what I hear, but I don’t know why.”
Kara turned the corner into the living room. “Well, if it isn’t Anna Grace.”
Looking like a teen Reese Witherspoon with her tiny frame and blond bob, Anna Grace Austen appeared sweet and innocent. But Kara knew better.
“Kara McKormick,” said a Hispanic girl with long, shiny black curls and curves Kim Kardashian would envy. “What, is this a Book of Love reunion?”
“Well, I guess so, Miss Haley. But where’s little Addy? ” Anna Grace drawled. “You girls go everywhere together, don’t you, Kara?”
“Actually, I just got off the phone with her.”
“She’s not auditioning?”
“Addy?” Kara laughed. “Do you not know her at all?”
“No, I don’t,” Anna Grace said. “She was too good for the likes of us, remember?”
“She didn’t want to gossip with you, you mean.”
“Girls,” a third girl, with dark brown hair pulled into a long ponytail, interrupted. “New day, new show. I’m Ava, by the way.”
“Kara.” Holding her hand out to Ava, Kara smiled at the petite brunette.
“Don’t get sucked in by her,” Anna Grace said. “That girl just attaches herself to whoever she thinks is going to win.”
“I am friends with people who are genuine.” Kara walked up to Anna Grace.
“Well then, you can just genuinely get out of my way because this show can only have one star, and that’s me.”
This is stupid. I’m not going to get into it with her. It’s not worth it. This is exactly what Ma doesn’t want me to be.
Kara turned to walk away.
“That’s right,” Anna Grace said, walking behind her. “Just go back to your room, tail between your legs. Loser.”
Kara kept walking. It’s not worth it. It’s not worth it. It’s not worth it.
A hand on Kara’s shoulder stopped her.
“I don’t want to get into an argument with you, okay? ” Kara turned around to see a tiny woman staring up at her. Her hair was purple and spiked, her shirt was neon green with paint splatters, and her stirrup pants were purple with polka dots.
“I’m not one of them,” the woman said. “I am Flora, the housemother. I wanted to see if you needed any help.”
“I’m so sorry,” Kara said. “I didn’t mean to be rude. I was just—”
Flora put a hand up. “I know. I heard. Think of me as Miss Temple in Jane Eyre. I’m on your side, and I’m not going to believe the horrible things people say about you. Unless you prove them right, of course.”
“I saw that movie in class last year.” Kara nodded. “It was good.”
“The book is even better.” Flora smiled, revealing a gap between her front teeth.
Kara glanced down at the suitcases in Flora’s hands. “Hey, can I help you? Those look heavy.”
Kara grabbed the suitcase on the right. She could barely lift it. “What’s in here? Rocks?”
“Books.” Flora hefted her remaining suitcase and the two walked down the hall to Flora’s room. “But I’m supposed to be helping you.”
“Oh, there will be plenty of time for that, I’m sure.”
“Well, thank you . . . ?”
“Oh, sorry. My name’s Kara. Kara McKormick.”
“Very nice to meet you, Kara. Irish?”
“How’d you guess?” Kara laughed.
“Typically, last names that begin with Mc denote an Irish etymology. Not to mention that redheads are often associated with Ireland. Wait, you were being sarcastic, weren’t you?”
Kara smiled and laid Flora’s suitcase on the floor in her room, situated at the end of the hallway. A queen-sized bed was in the center, but other than that, the room looked just like Kara’s. “Do you need anything else? I’m all unpacked, so I’ve got time.”
“That’s very nice. I need to determine what we’re going to eat for dinner tonight. I haven’t had a chance to go shopping yet, so we’ll have to send out for something. I was thinking pizza, though that’s not very healthy.”
“Some pizza places sell salads too.”
“I would love a big Caesar salad.” Flora opened her suitcase of books and placed them on the nightstand.
“That sounds good to me,” Kara said. “How about if I look up some places nearby that sell pizza and salads and see if we can get some delivered out here?”
“Stupendous suggestion, my dear.”
Kara returned to her room and pulled out her phone, scrolling through local listings to find just the right spot. She walked out into the living room to ask the girls what kind of pizza they’d like.
“Sucking up to the housemother, Kara?” Anna Grace laughed. “The lawn guy’s out front. Maybe you should cozy up to him too.”
“Did you see what she was wearing?” Haley laughed. “Where did they dig her up? The Woodstock Museum? ”
The other girls laughed. Kara folded her arms. “Two cheese, a pepperoni, Caesar and house salads. Right? ”
“That’s right,” Anna Grace said. “Go back and tell Miss Matched our order.”
“Her name’s Flora.” Kara glared.
“I don’t care,” Anna Grace said.
“What is your problem?” Kara came to stand next to Anna Grace.
“My problem is that I don’t want to lose another competition.”
“And acting like a jerk will win this for you?”
“It worked for Lila.”
“That’s a great role model.” Kara rolled her eyes. “Lila was awful the whole time we were on The Book of Love.”
“But she knew to stay away from you and Addy.” Anna Grace put her hands on her tiny hips. “Now she’s got her own show. No competing for one role. My agent said if I want that, I should make her my role model. That’s how you get ahead in this business.”
The other girls in the living room listened to Anna Grace and nodded.
“My agent said the same thing.” Haley shrugged. “If we get too close, we might not do our best in the auditions.”
“Boy, this is going to be a great month.” Kara shook her head.
The pizza deliveryman came forty-five minutes later. The girls were hungry and cranky, pouncing on Flora as soon as she paid the bill.
“The house salad is mine,” Anna Grace called out.
“No, I ordered a house salad,” Ava yelled.
Flora, balancing three pizzas and two salads in her thin arms, tripped over a rug and fell, food flying everywhere.
“Great.” Anna Grace stepped back. “What a klutz. Now we’ll have to wait another forty-five minutes for more food.”
Haley, Anna Grace, and Ava left Flora on the floor, surrounded by lettuce and upended boxes.
“I’m sorry, Flora.” Kara helped her up, then bent down to pick up the pizza and salad scattered throughout the entryway.
“You don’t need to do that.” Flora joined Kara on the ground, scooping handfuls of lettuce into the plastic containers. “I am a bit uncoordinated.”
“We should have helped.” Kara walked to the kitchen. “I’m sorry the girls were so rude.”
“I appreciate your help, Kara.” Flora smiled up at the younger woman. “More than you know.”
“Do you want me to call in another order?”
“Would you?” Flora asked. “That would be wonderful. I have to make a quick phone call.”