Lucky Me (39 page)

“Oh my God,” Veronica cringed. “I think it's time to give him a fake mailing address.”

“I hate to admit it,” I said. “But you might be right.”

“Hey Gia,” Aria said, propping herself up onto an elbow. “You're friends with Zac Efron right?”

“If by friends you mean we've met twice, then yes. We're best buds.”

“You think he'd want to date me?” Aria asked.

Veronica and I both turned our heads toward Aria, who looked dead serious.

“Come again?” I asked, just to make sure she wasn't kidding. She wasn't.

Aria shrugged. “What? Can you put in a good word or something? I happen to think we'd look bangin' together.”

“The key word being
banging
,” Veronica added with a laugh.

“Aria, if I had that kind of influence over Zac Efron, don't you think I'd put in a good word for myself
first?”

“Oh shut up!” Veronica said, and I turned to face her. “You have Milo.”

“Yeah!” Aria agreed from behind me. “You don't need anyone else. You have witty banter, remember?”

I looked up at the ceiling, my smile widening. “I'll see what I can do for you.”

A muffled buzzing noise came from somewhere on the bed as the mattress began to vibrate lightly.

“Is that my phone?” Aria asked, pulling her phone out of her jeans pocket and checking the screen. “Nope, not mine.”

I sat and listened closely to the buzzing. It sounded like it was coming from underneath the pile of clothes. I shoved my hand in the pile, tossing clothes out of the way until I found it, lying hidden underneath a Taylor Odetta dress.

“It's mine!” I told my friends, checking the caller ID. “Oh, it's Jack!”

I answered as quick as I could, before he hung up, putting the phone to my ear.

“Hello?” Jack's voice came through the phone.

“Hey Jack!”

“Gia!” he replied, and I smiled. Something about Jack's voice was so familiar and comforting.

“HI JACK!” Aria and Veronica yelled in unison behind me. They were so loud, people in Uzbekistan could have heard them without a phone.

I turned and shushed them, sliding off the bed. “The girls say hi,” I told him, pacing in front of my bed.

“Aw, I miss the girls!” Jack replied.

“Jack says he misses you,” I told my friends, the phone still to my ear.

Aria clutched her chest like she was having a heart attack, and flopped back onto my pillow dramatically. Veronica chucked a pillow at her and I turned around, trying not to laugh.

“So what's been happening?” Jack asked, his breath sounding a little uneven, like he was walking quickly.

“I messaged you like a billion times yesterday. You never replied!”

“I know, I'm so sorry!” Jack apologised. “I've been super swamped at work lately. I just didn't get any time.”

I gave a disappointed pout, but I guess I couldn't blame him. He didn't really have much of a choice if work was busy. I just missed him a little more than I liked to admit.

“It's okay. I just wanted to tell you some exciting news!”

“Dinner with Clooney?”

“Oh my gosh, no that's next week! I just about died when Dad told me he had set it up. I couldn't believe it!”

In fact, there were plenty of people in the celebrity world that had sent my family messages. They all said the same thing; how they couldn't believe something so horrible had happened. It felt so odd, like a family member had died. Even Carol had sent me a basket of chocolate. I'm not going to lie; I got some of the housekeepers to try it first, just in case it was poisoned. Harsh, but a risk I was willing to take. So far the causality count was at zero.

“Try not to go British at dinner,” Jack said. “He'll never love you then.”

“I still have Leo.”

“You're not blonde, or a supermodel. You don't have Leo.”

Sadly, he was right. I was going to have to rule him out.

“Anyway, whatever,” I said, pushing the hair out of my face excitedly. “I just wanted to tell you that you'll be seeing me in New York pretty soon.”

“Oh, how come?”

“I'm going to NYU in the fall!”

“Seriously?” Jack's voice came through the receiver. “Congratulations!”

“Thank you!” I replied, giving the phone a pleased smile. He sounded genuinely excited. “I mean, Aria's going to UCLA and V's at Berkeley, so I'm going to miss them. But I'm still happy!”

“You should be,” Jack said. “This city is incredible. You're going to love it!”

“I better! You sure talk about it enough. Dad was pretty set on Brown, but I did some research and NYU ranks higher on the list, so he couldn't technically say no. Plus, Mom will be there after she gets back from filming in Greece, although who knows how long that could take.”

“Well, nothing's better than New York. Not even Greece,” Jack said, matter-of-factly. I heard a car horn beep in the distance as Jack continued. “So have you thought about what you want to major in?”

“I don't know yet,” I told him, sitting on the edge of my bed. Famous walked past, nudging his little ball with his nose. “Maybe something do with psychology? It sounds pretty badass.”

“Oh good choice!” Jack replied. “You're going to need some experts to help figure out what's wrong with you.”

“Ha ha,” I said dryly, rolling my eyes even though he couldn't see. “The joke's on you buddy. You're stuck with me for at least another three years. Just you and your bestie, Gia!”

“Lucky me!”

“Yeah, lucky you!”

“I'm going to take a wild guess and say Milo's going to be around a lot.”

“It's not that much of a wild guess if you ask me.”

“Great! Can't wait to hang out with him,” Jack said wryly.

“Can you at least
try
to be nice?” I asked him, seriously. “He's important to me.”

“Fine, but I'm not making any promises,” Jack said, sounding a little breathless.

“I'll take it,” I said. I'd break down his walls eventually. There wasn't much he could do about it once I moved to New York.

“On that note, when you get here I want to introduce you to Lucy.”

“Who is that, your cat?” I joked, eyeing the chipped nail polish on my free hand.

“Very funny, smartass,” Jack replied. “No. She's my girlfriend.”

I opened my mouth and closed it again. Did he just say what I thought he said?

“Your what?” I said, as more car horns blared in the background.

“My girlfriend!” Jack replied, raising his voice over the noise of the traffic.

“Since when?” I asked, not fully believing it.

“Since always. Listen, I need to go. I was out for my break but I'm just heading back now.”

“Wai—”

“I'll message you later, okay?”

No, not okay! He couldn't just drop a bomb like that and then disappear!

“Wait, Ja—”

“Talk to you soon!” Jack said cheerfully, and hung up before I could protest.

I lowered the phone and stared at the screen for a few seconds, gaping at the photo of me and Jack that Mom had taken before the Golden Globes. It stared back at me, sitting next to Jack's name and contact details on my phone.

“What did Jack say?” Aria asked from behind me.

“Uh,” I said, trying not to sound as flustered as I felt. “Nothing much. He said he wants to introduce me to his girlfriend.”

“His girlfriend?” Veronica repeated in surprise, and I nodded.

“Are you kidding me?” Aria cried. “All the good ones are taken!”

“I guess you guys could double date now.” Veronica said.

There were about a billion things I would rather do than double date with Milo and Jack's girlfriend. Number one on that list involved throwing myself out of a plane without a parachute. It's not like he wasn't allowed to have a girlfriend or anything, but it was Jack! He wasn't exactly a commitment kind of guy. Besides, if he had a girlfriend, why hadn't he mentioned her until now? And what does “since always”
even mean? That wasn't a clear answer! Maybe that's why he was always glued to his phone. Maybe he was sending her updates about how annoying I was being, and how he couldn't wait to see her again.

But, you know, whatever. My New York adventure would just have another person involved. And I could do that much for Jack, after all he'd done for me. Besides, I am a very accommodating person. Mostly. Sometimes. I would accommodate the heck out of her. Okay but, like, who is actually named Lucy nowadays? All I'm saying is, she sounded like a cartoon farm animal.

Whoever she was, she was probably really nice if Jack was putting up with her. And really attractive. Like, unfairly attractive. At least now I wouldn't feel lonely in a new city without my two best friends. I'd have Milo and Jack. And Jack's girlfriend. And his secret, bottomless bank account; let's not forget about that.

Just the four of us pals together in a new city. Without my parents always watching me like a hawk. No Dr. D. No rules. College life. College parties. College boys.

What could possibly go wrong?

About the Author

Saba Kapur is a 20 year-old writer based out of Melbourne, Australia. Her passion for storytelling developed at a young age, born from a deep-seated love of books. Lucky Me is her first novel and an ode to her favorite things: fashion, romance, and mystery.

Born in India, Saba spent her childhood in Indonesia and Kiev, Ukraine. She is currently in her final year of college, studying International Relations and Criminology at Monash University. She hopes to one day become a fabulous lawyer in New York City, with a closet full of stilettos.

In her spare time Saba enjoys reading, watching anything to do with Ryan Gosling, and pretending she's Beyoncé. She currently lives with her parents, her older sister, and a large supply of chocolate. 

Acknowledgements

First, a massive thank you to Amberjack Publishing, who took a chance on a young writer who was just about ready to give up. And a special thank you to my lovely editor, Jenny Catanese, for all of her guidance and support.

I'd also like to thank Anastasia Hantzis, for teaching me that books will never let you down, even when people do. Thank you to my always excited friends, for never being any of those people who let me down. I promise I'll try to make you famous (but I can't guarantee anything, sorry Uma).

I'm forever grateful to my parents, who patiently watched me obsess over my manuscript for three years and never once let me lose faith.

And of course, to my sister Rahat, for crying before every one of my school dances and graduations. You are perhaps the only person I would choose over George Clooney.