Just Like Me Read online

  Just Like Me

  Dani Hall

  This book is dedicated to my beautiful family.

  Mom, Dad, Sara, and Cali- thank-you for your immeasurable love, support, and strength.

  Cody- thank-you for your continuing patience and your unwavering love, you will always be my heart and soul.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Chapter Five-Seven

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Chapter Sixty

  Chapter One

  “How do you spell…melancholy?”

  It’s funny how she’s the English major and she’s asking me how to spell stuff.

  “M-E-L-A-N-C-H-O-L-Y.”

  Lisa was typing furiously at her laptop, getting mad at each individual letter.

  “I HATE papers.”

  “And yet you’re the English major.” She stuck her tongue out briefly before hitting the backspace button threateningly. I briefly reconsidered my education major…but I really wanted to be a first grade teacher. Even if I am good with words, I wouldn’t want all of those English classes.

  Lisa has been my best friend since second grade, and now she’s my roommate in my second year of college. She’s everything I’m not. She’s happy, bubbly, and blonde. I’m mellow, sullen, and brunette. Her light blue eyes make every guy in school fall head over heels in love, while my green eyes don’t pop enough for any guy to notice. But that’s how I’ve always known it. Lisa gets the guy, Kale gets the grades. It’s always been like that.

  “I’d rather do your geography homework.” She grumbled, briefly letting her hands leave the keyboard to reach for her hot pink water bottle. “You can write this stupid paper, you’re good at stuff like this.”

  “You are too; you’re just not as motivated.” She took a sip, shaking her head.

  “You’re right, I’d rather be asleep.”

  “I’m always right,” I was busy attempting to draw, procrastinating ironically. “The sooner you admit that, the better off you’ll be.”

  She wadded up a paper ball and threw it at me. I caught it and threw it right back. We giggled and her phone started ringing.

  “Ooh! It’s Ben!” Ben is Lisa’s boyfriend of ten months. “Hello?...hey baby! How was your day?...”

  I shook my head and refocused on my drawing. It’s an abstract, a mermaid and a kid with tentacles instead of a tail. I can’t get the mermaid’s mouth right. “My day was great!” Nope, the mouth is too full. Erase. “I’m working on this paper. Yea, it’s crap.” Now it’s not full enough. Ugh. “For English…you’re good at writing papers right?...well a C paper will probably be better than what I’m going to get.”

  I glance over with a smirk and toss the sheet of black and white lines on to my bed; I can’t look at that stupid mermaid any more tonight.

  As Lisa continues to lovingly babble to Ben, I consider my own dating experiences. Which, granted, are very few. Besides a couple guys I danced with at prom and an almost-boyfriend…I’m clueless when it comes to dating. Sad, right? Yea, I know.

  Chapter Two

  It’s past midnight and I am staring at the T.V. screen. Lisa is too, but she’s a night owl. I used to be a morning person before I started college. We’re watching some sitcom with the dumb dad and kids that are smarter than anyone in the house. All of the sitcoms are the same, aren’t they? Mind numbing, you find yourself drooling by the end of these. I look over at Lisa, a cell phone is lighting up her face, and she’s texting Ben probably. It’s dark except for the T.V. glowing and reflecting on the white cement walls. I can see my tie dye bedspread in the dark; its bright personality reflects Lisa more than it does me. Lisa’s bright pink covers reflect her well, too.

  “Hey, Kale.” She whispered, looking up from her phone. She was lying down under her covers, raised up on her elbows as her stomach grazed the top of her bed. I was on my side watching T.V., my elbow propped up, my hand cupping my head.

  “Yea?”

  “You think me and Ben will end up together?”

  I sighed, not taking my eyes off the T.V. My eyes were getting heavy finally; sleepiness was knocking at my door. I had learned a long time ago that I couldn’t come between Lisa and whatever boy she happened to be dating. I learned it the hard way, the first jerk she dated she was absolutely in love with. When I had tried to convince her he was a jerk…we had stopped talking. So now I was trying to sound unbiased.

  “Well, you’ve been dating almost a year.”

  She considered that for a second, gazing back down at her phone.

  “Yea. But…I don’t know. I’m not sure if I can see us on that long walk down the aisle towards death together.”

  “Maybe you’re just tired.” I suggested, reaching for the remote and flipping the T.V. off. Darkness descended further into the room, the only light now was the light of Lisa’s cell phone.

  “Maybe.” She didn’t sound convinced. “Maybe I’ll end up with a movie star.”

  I laughed into the darkness, turning on my back and gazing up into nothing.

  “That sounds swell. Do me a favor, when you become some famous wife, buy me an island, will you?”

  She giggled.

  “Sounds good to me. Only if you become rich and famous, you have to buy me a mountain. An entire mountain. Not some skimpy little thing either. A big mountain. With a log cabin. And a ski slope.”

  I loved hot. She loved cold. I loved coffee. She loved tea. I loved mornings. She loved nights. Complete opposites, yet we got along fairly well.

  “Sure, Lisa. You can go to sleep knowing I’ll buy you a mountain someday.”

  “Well, it could happen.” She flipped her phone off and I heard her rustling around in her bed. I was closing my eyes, skating on the edge of sleep when her voice cut through the darkness. “You heard that competition on the news?”

  “Wahmf?” I muttered through my daze.

  “They’re trying to prove that celebrities are just like normal people, or something.
They’re trying to get a celebrity to go on a date with a normal person. A competition or something.”

  “Huh.” I muttered. “You know I don’t care about those stupid people who think they’re God.”

  “Yea, but if me and Ben don’t work out. You never know. Maybe I could have a shot at it.”

  I only caught the last few words as I drifted off, unable to avoid the cloud of dreams.

  Chapter Three

  I woke up to the angry sound of my alarm clock, yelling at me for even considering sleeping at this hour. I shook the fog from my brain, shutting the freaking thing off. I have yet to meet a human being who loved their alarm clock. Its shrill voice should be replaced with something more subtle, like kitten meows or an angel choir.

  Lisa mumbled into her pillow and didn’t move.

  “Oh no, you don’t.” I flung my pillow at the top of her head and she groaned.

  “No.” She said halfheartedly wagging her arm at me. “Not today.”

  “That’s what you get for going to sleep at two in the morning.” I swung my legs over and let my feet hit the cold floor. Shivers went up through me and I shook my head clear of the last sleepy thoughts. “Rise and shine, it’s time for class!”

  “I don’t want to go.” She was still mumbling into her pillow.

  “It’s Friday?” I added, somewhat hopefully.

  I saw one eye peek out at me.

  “It is?”

  I didn’t move so she rose up completely. She sat up, excited, and a streak of guilt went through me.

  “Get up!” I said, smiling. She slit her eyes at me.

  “It’s not Friday.” She snapped and fell back into her pillows. I shook my head.

  “Whatever, it’s not like you don’t have three absences to blow through…”

  She had, in fact, used up all of her absences for the semester. And we still had two months of the semester left.

  “Ugh!” She threw her pillow at me and sat up, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. “Why did I sign up for an eight o’clock class? Why?” She looked toward the ceiling and threw her hands up. “Why didn’t you strike me with lightening when I signed up for this class?” Her cute pajamas made my baggy t-shirt look like trailer trash.

  “The ceiling won’t answer you.”

  “I was halfway hoping it would fall on my head so I could get a concussion and have an excuse to cut class.”

  I walked out the door and down the hallway into the bathroom, spewing toothpaste on my toothbrush. As I brushed I looked at my reflection thoughtfully. In the movies how come they never get toothpaste all over their mouth? How come they wake up with their hair already perfectly straightened? My hair looked like it had seen a blow torch, and it was impossible for me to brush my teeth without getting toothpaste all over my mouth.

  I spit and rinsed my brush and watched the mirror as Lisa went staggering around the corner so she could take her morning shower. She tended to take two showers a day, I gave her credit, I hardly had the energy for one.

  “Don’t come over here.” She grumbled. “I’m naked.”

  “Like I’d want to see all that.” I yelled, trying to yank a brush through my hair. The water started up and her voice started echoing with the water.

  “Yea, I know why you haven’t had a boyfriend in so long. You can’t keep your eyes off of me!”

  “Oh you bet, sexy.”

  We both laughed and I shook my head as I finished applying the finishing touches on my makeup, remembering back to the last boy who had broken my heart. Chris was the guy who had led me on for so long. He made me think we had something, and then had no problem running away from me as fast as he could.

  I heard my phone going off so I set my lip gloss down and went grabbed my phone that I had placed on the counter. I unlocked it and realized I had an email.

  “Who’s texting you at this God-awful hour?”

  I grinned as I stepped back into the bathroom. She’s going to be pissed my eight o’clock class was cancelled.

  Chapter Four

  The end of the day gets here sooner than expected. My last class ends around 3:45, but my professor always lets us out about 3:15. I call Lisa.

  “Hello?”

  “Why do you say hello like that, you know who I am.”

  “Hellooooooooo?” She repeated, more obnoxiously. I rolled my eyes.

  “I’m off and I never had lunch. I’m starved.”

  “Oh, boo hoo. Poor Kale.”

  “I’m serious! I’m feeling some bad food today.”

  “Hmm…you mean like, unhealthy?”

  I nodded even though she couldn’t see it.

  “Yea…I’m thinking…fried.”

  She gasped in mock horror.

  “Oh, you are so bad.” And she giggled.

  “Bert’s?” I asked hopefully.

  “Yea, meet you at the counter.”

  “Alright.”

  I hung up, shoving the phone into my pocket without locking it. I could care less if I accidentally called someone today. Walking the campus I saw a variety of people walking along the painted brick sidewalk. Those painted bricks were murder in the rain. You could have on shoes with steel spikes at the end and still end up slipping and sliding on the sidewalk. Huge cement and brick buildings lined roads for cars. People were walking either terribly slow or really fast. They had classes to get to or flowers to smell. Girls in neon colored leggings and black nail polish, boys in saggy pants and baseball caps. I guess I’m pretty tame in a black t-shirt and jeans. Pink dresses, jock hoodies, and heavy backpacks whirled past me. It was getting cold fast, and I’m sure all the girls with short skirts were dreading their choices.

  The building that contained the restaurant Bert’s finally came into view. I quickly crossed the street and entered the multi-purpose place. It had a smoothie stand (which also served coffee), a cafeteria, a career office, a game lounge, and Bert’s. At the counter with the condiments Lisa was smoothing her hair, watching some jock in a tight t-shirt walk past.

  “Now, what would Ben say?” I asked as I was walking up to her. She jumped, startled, and when she realized it was me her gaze went back to the jock. My gaze followed hers as he met up with some girl with too much lipstick and they exited out of the building.

  “I’m just looking.” She slit her eyes with a mischievous grin.

  We both looked up at the menu, observing the fried chicken, sandwiches, and pizza galore. She settled on a burger, I settled on chicken tenders. Fries were a must when it came to Bert’s. It’s not like the fries were any good, but their seasoning none other than heavenly. We probably would die from it eventually, because all the grease and calories were surely clogging up our arteries. But hey, you could get a combo for five bucks. And we’re starving college kids, so a five buck meal is heaven within our starving hell.

  After patiently waiting we loaded up on ketchup and honey mustard (don’t forget the seasoning), grabbed our sweet teas and settled into a booth. Lisa likes tea more than I do, but I wasn’t in the mood for coffee. It’s unseasonably warm for this time of the year. These booths are pretty fancy; they’ve got T.V.s that you can change the channels on. I guess that’s one upside to this forsaken place.

  Lisa immediately starts flipping through channels.

  “Not even gonna take a bite?” I asked, chomping into a chicken tender.

  “I want to find out more about that contest thing.”

  I took a generous helping of honey mustard.

  “Oh yea, you were talking about that last night. But I was kind of asleep.”

  She finally settles on the trashy Hollywood gossip channel, which is currently showing a commercial about some kind of blanket with sleeves and the sleeves have gloves on the end. What they need to do is start working on glow-in-the-dark light switches.

  “Yea.” She finally starts to pay attention to her hamburger and starts stuffing it with fries. “It’s this organization. They want to prove to the world that celebrities are just like us, or
something.”

  “That’s what I’m talking about.” I said, biting off pieces of fries. “They’re not these immortal gods everyone makes them out to be.”

  “This organization is trying to get a celebrity to take part in a competition.”

  “What kind of competition?”

  She had just took a huge bite out of her burger and made a face at me, unable to answer. But she didn’t need to; the gossip show was back on. A short red headed man appeared on the screen in a purple suit, talking to the camera.

  “Welcome back! So! If you’ve been following along with the Just Like Me competition sponsored by the CAPT, you’ll know they have been trying to find someone to be the first to take part in this global phenomenon. Here to talk more about it is the president of CAPT, Celebs Are People Too. Harry?”

  A man with a full beard and thick glasses appeared on the television.

  “Thanks, Joe. I’m Harry Tolland and I’m here to talk to you a little bit more about our competition. We have narrowed specifics to not only sponsor an awareness of celebrities being just like you and me; we have found a way to support education. This Friday, we will launch our competition across college campuses.”

  “No way!” Lisa yelled, a handful of fries halfway to her mouth.

  “The competition will consist of this: On one college campus…a celebrity will be hiding. A grand game of hide and go seek, if you will. Whoever finds the celebrity in hiding will win a date with them! If the celebrity and the finder turn out to be the same gender, then they will have a girl’s or guy’s night out on the town.”

  “Oh my gosh, that’s so lame, Lisa.” I muttered, feeling embarrassment for this Harry guy. Lisa waved her hands at me wildly, trying to shush me as the details for this elementary-level competition continued.

  “Now, Harry, have you found a celebrity willing to take part in this competition?”

  “Yes we have, Joe. We will be revealing the celebrity’s identity on Thursday, that’s tomorrow.”

  “Don’t you think hiding a celebrity will make students skip class, therefore not supporting education at all?”

  “Well, we’ve thought about that, and decided that the competition will take place at about 5:30 a.m., Eastern Time. That way the celebrity will more than likely be found by the time regular classes take place.”