Free ... not in love with Kale Eddison by Joanne McClean Page B

“Fine,
the latest thing happening in my life is that I’ve got a lead part
in the school play. Is that newsworthy enough for you?”
    They all nodded
and Kale filled them all in on the details and eventually managed
to escape fifteen minutes later. He made his way over to his car
which happened to be parked next to Izzie’s. She rolled down her
window and whistled, “Phew, I thought they’d never leave. I’m glad
they have though; one was blocking me in.”
    Kale looked at
her with a distressed look, “Izzie I’m really sorry. I didn’t know
they’d be waiting to ambush but I should’ve figured they’d be
waiting for the opportune moment.”
    Izzie looked at
him sympathetically, “Hey, you didn’t know. Anyway, they’ve got
their story so they’ll leave you alone for another bit.”
    Kale laughed,
“Yeah, I sure hope so. Thanks for being so cool about this. I just
want to warn you that your picture will probably be in the paper,
as will some ridiculous story no doubt.”
    Izzie laughed,
“Don’t worry, I’ll handle it. Now, where are we going for
dinner?”
    Kale smiled,
“Jeez, after all that I’m shocked you haven’t changed your
mind.”
    Izzie rolled
her eyes, “Um, I’m not about to pass up a free meal, that’s for
sure.”
    Kale chuckled,
“Ok, you wanna go now? I know it’s a little early but I’m kind of
hungry.”
    Izzie nodded,
“Ok, I could eat too; how about ‘Soda Joe’s’ – it’s usually quiet
around this time and it’s an American diner; it’ll make you feel at
home, yeah?”
    Kale raised his
eyebrows, “You know I am British really, my parents just moved to
America when I was two. But hey, it sounds great … you wanna take
my car?”
    Izzie debated
with herself and decided to take him up on his offer; it would be
nice not to drive for once. “Sure, as long as you leave me back
here so I can get home.”
    Kale nodded,
“No problem, come on then.”
     
    The waitress
had just served them their dessert and Izzie found that she was
actually quite enjoying herself. Kale was really nothing like she
had pictured him; the more she got to know him, the more he
surprised her; in a good way.
    “So,” Izzie
began, licking some chocolate off her spoon, “why did you really
decide to finish your last year at Hartside? I mean, not that
Hartside’s a bad school – ‘cause it isn’t – but why not just finish
getting tutored? Come on, making films can’t be that bad.”
    Kale sighed,
“No, they’re not; I love making movies but I was just fed up of not
having a normal day where I did normal things. I mean, most days
I’d be on the set for hours and if I wasn’t, I was studying with my
tutor and then there are the press conferences, paparazzi, award
shows … I think you see where I’m going with this – I just wanted
that all to stop for a second and just be me; normal high school
student.”
    Izzie nodded,
“Yeah, I get all that but you seem to forget something; you’re not normal! Come on, you’re Kale Eddison … you’re a
big famous film star! Your life will never be normal so you should
just enjoy it. Believe me, having a normal life like mine is not that exciting; I’d kill for a bit of disruption in my
everyday boring life.”
    She shook her
head at Kale; she really couldn’t believe he’d want a normal life –
it certainly wasn’t much fun.
    Kale laughed at
her over-the-top reaction, “Izzie, you really make me laugh. You do
make a fair point; most people would kill to be in my shoes but
they’ve never experienced it firsthand. Yes there are good things
but there are not so good things about it too.”
    Izzie shrugged,
“Guess nobody’s ever really happy then; the famous want to be
unknown and the unknown want to be famous … it really is a mad
world.” She laughed and finished off the last piece of her
chocolate fudge cake. “Phew,” she added, “good thing I’m not an
actress otherwise I shouldn’t have eaten that! ”
    Kale smiled at
her