The Secret Life of a Dream Girl (Creative HeArts) by Tracy Deebs Page A

row of the theater when she waved a hand and told them to go outside and work on blocking for the one-acts they would be performing next month.
    He grabbed his backpack and thought about just taking off, but he didn’t want to deal with the crap that would come down if his mom found out. Plus, he didn’t want to give her anything else to worry about. She was already stressed enough over the doctor’s appointment his dad had Thursday afternoon. They all were, since it was when they were going to talk about the results of a bunch of tests they’d run last Friday—and what his next couple of months of treatment were going to look like.
    Jacen caught up to him as soon as he hit the outdoor quad that was situated between all the buildings. The drama classes regularly used it for rehearsal, and the art classes came out pretty often to draw. Who knows how many pictures there were hanging around the school of the weird, Pokémon-like sculpture that sat in the middle of the lawn. Too many to count, that was for sure.
    He and Jacen were doing Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story , and had totally switched up the casting so that Jacen was businessman Peter, just minding his own business and trying to eat his lunch on his park bench, while he was the desperate and suicidal Jerry who would make Peter fight for that bench before the play was through.
    It was a great play, and Keegan loved playing Jerry—especially since he was doing it opposite his best friend. But he just wasn’t in the mood for it today.
    Which was okay, it turned out, because Jacen obviously wasn’t, either. They started working on the blocking for the knife fight scene that would leave Jerry’s character dead, but they’d barely gotten into position before Jacen asked, “What exactly was going on in seminar today?”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His assertion might have been more believable if he hadn’t stumbled over his own feet as he said it.
    Jacen just gave him a look before he continued. “I call bull. Don’t tell me you didn’t hear Finn listing off all the places he plans to take your girl—”
    “She’s not my girl.”
    “Obviously, or she wouldn’t be planning to run off to Hollywood with Prince Finn.” He says the last with an obvious sneer.
    The nickname cut through his bad mood just enough that he had to laugh. “When exactly did you come up with that name? It seemed like the two of you were getting along great at the after-party.”
    “That was before I realized he was going to steal my best friend’s girl.” He lunged in like they were really in a fight and Keegan jumped back at the last second, barely avoiding getting nicked with the capped pen Jacen wielded like a knife.
    “Again, not my girl.”
    “Yet. Not your girl yet ,” he reiterated. “And she never will be if you let her go to L.A. with Mr. Movie Star. So what are you going to do about it?”
    “What can I do about it? She agreed to go with him, didn’t she?”
    “Of course she did! He offered her an all-expenses-paid trip to a fancy Hollywood party with a bunch of movie stars. Hell, I would have jumped at it, too. Wouldn’t you?”
    “Yeah, well, he’s not exactly my type.”
    “Finn McCain is everybody’s type.”
    Keegan glared at him. “ So not helping here.”
    “Sorry, sorry.” Jacen held up his hands in mock surrender. “I got carried away thinking about those eyes and that body and—”
    “Still not my type,” Keegan grumbled. “And still not helping.” Then, for the hell of it, he lunged forward and stabbed Jacen hard in the stomach with his pen.
    “Ow!” Jacen stepped back, rubbing his stomach as he did. “I’m supposed to kill you, remember?”
    “Sorry,” Keegan answered, tongue firmly in cheek. “I got carried away.”
    “Ha-ha. This is the last time I’m going to try to help you.”
    “Yeah, well, I’m still waiting for the help, so I’m not sure it’s that big a loss. From where I’m standing, all you’re