me, I stiffen up because I have no idea what to say.
The Rejects watch as the director pulls me aside to thank me personally. I recognize Jeremy as a Vestal dropout from six or seven years ago. He’s one of the few students who left Tabula Rasa of his own accord. Now he’s got piercings in his nose and tattoos on his neck. Jeremy directs all the Vestal commercials.
“You’ve helped a lot of people,” Jeremy tells me. “That harvest price of yours is employing loads of workers. We’re grateful.”
I’m helping the Rejects? I had no idea! I thought it was the other way around. Ms. Lydia is a genius for organizing it this way.
Then there’s Trevor’s soap commercial. The camera crew got everything ready.
All I have to do is look pretty. I run down some steps from a fake apartment building, swing my leg behind Trevor on his white motorcycle, and then we drive off into the sunset.
Easy, right?
The problem is, Trevor can’t figure out how to operate a motorcycle even if his life depended on it. After five hours of expert instruction, he still gets the left-hand clutch mixed up with the right-hand accelerator. He never remembers about starting the engine in neutral and has no idea how to upshift.
The Vestal Reject who’s trying to teach him is about ready to scream.
“Look, Trevor,” I finally say. I try not to compare him to Seth, but it’s hard. “Riding a motorcycle isn’t that difficult.” I grab my helmet, climb on, and take the bike for a spin around the sound stage all by myself before anyone can stop me.
“Blanca!” Jeremy shouts, but I don’t find that out until later. I can’t hear anything underneath my helmet.
When I turn off the engine and park, everyone stares at me.
Lilith is ready to spit nails, but Trevor looks amazed, like he didn’t know I could do something like that.
Leave it to Ms. Lydia to fix things. “Let’s change course,” Ms. Lydia tells Jeremy. “You can’t see anything under those helmets anyway. Let’s have Trevor lean on the bike, and Blanca run down to kiss him.”
So that’s what we do. The commercial becomes Trevor getting cleaned up in the shower, and then me running down to meet him. Trevor’s leans next to the motorcycle he’s too clueless to ride.
Then comes our date.
The sound stage is set up to look like a restaurant. Trevor and I sit at a table with a red-checkered cloth and a candle stuck in an old wine bottle. There are enormous plates of spaghetti in front of us and a basket of garlic bread.
“Don’t really eat that!” Ms. Lydia cautions, even though she knows I know better.
“Act natural,” Jeremy adds. “Forget the cameras are here.”
But it’s hard to forget. Especially with Lilith glowering at us across the room, her face smoother than ever. Something about the corners of her eyes makes her look different than she did so many years ago in the Citrus Sunshine commercial. They must be loading Lilith up with anti-wrinkle cream. It’s ironing out her face to perfection.
“So,” says Trevor. “Our first real date.”
“Yes,” I say. “This is awesome.”
I’m such a liar. This is awful! What are we supposed to talk about? Maybe I could say, “Hey, Trevor, did you know what a bad kisser you are?” Let’s get that conversation on camera.
Jeremy gestures for us to do something, so Trevor grabs my hand. His own is slimy with sweat.
But he whispers something honest, something that makes me like him all over again. “This is awkward,” he says. “I’m not normally such a turd.”
“You’re not?” I giggle. There’re multiple flashes as the cameras catch my response.
“If there weren’t all these people …”
“Exactly,” I whisper. “And your Vestal-mom over there, looking pissed.”
Trevor’s face darkens at that. I must have said something wrong.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“No. That’s okay. Things are … complicated.”
“‘Vestal families are always complicated.’” I quote Barbelo Nemo.
“Yes,” agrees Trevor. “‘But we have everything we need to achieve happiness.’”
“Exactly.” Then I look over at Lilith again and do a double-take. She reminds me of somebody I know, and not only from the Citrus Sunshine ad. But before I can ask Trevor about it, he leans in to kiss me.
“Bingo,” says Jeremy. “That’s a wrap.”
My videos are everywhere. On the drive to Cal’s office today, we see an enormous glowing billboard of me holding the roses and Trevor leaning in to kiss me. I’m finally up there with all my friends!