Paparazzi Read online

  What I didn’t get was if he really was a regular, nice guy underneath, why did he feel the need to act so full of himself all the time? Sure, he was a movie star’s son, and sure, sometimes—even when he was putting on an act—he could be funny. Even charming. Imagine what he could be like if he wasn’t trying so hard.

  No wonder Zoe was crushing on him so bad.

  I drew little nonsense doodles on my paper, wondering how I could let Nikos know Zoe liked him without scaring Zoe off in the process. I mean, to anyone with half a brain, it should have been obvious, but I’m convinced that sometimes boy’s brains are not completely functional.

  “Cassidy?” Victoria said.

  I blinked back to the present. “Oh. Yeah. Sorry.” I tried to find my place in the workbook, but it was hard to concentrate on that when all I could think about was the onboard drama.

  It was clear what I had to do. I had to play Cupid. Or Eros, as the case may be. All it would take was a little push to get Nikos and Zoe together.

  “Cassidy!”

  I blinked at Victoria again. “Huh?”

  She sighed and closed the mythology textbook. “Let’s take a break for a moment, shall we?”

  “I’m sorry. It’s just hard to concentrate when—”

  “I understand,” she said. “You’re on a beautiful yacht. You’d rather be off with your new friends. But learning is important, as well.”

  “I know. It’s just …” I sighed. How could I explain it to her without telling her about Nikos and Zoe?

  “Just one moment.” Victoria grabbed a small book from her bedside drawer and held it out to me. “Magus lent this to me. He thought we might be able to use it for your studies.”

  I turned it over in my hands. It had a plain blue cover with a red spine, but no words. “What is it?”

  “It’s a book of quotations from some of the most famous Greek philosophers. I’d like you to choose three different quotes and write an essay for each, telling me what you think it means, and how it applies in your life.”

  “I have to write essays?”

  “Or we could always do more math.” She reached for the book.

  “No,” I said quickly. “I can read the quotes.”

  Have you ever had to do homework when you’re on vacation? If so, welcome to my world. I’m on a yacht in the middle of the Greek islands, and instead of swimming or playing or lying around in the sun, I have to do three hours of homework every day.

  Today I’m supposed to choose three quotes from famous Greek philosophers and write three different essays, explaining those quotes and how they could be applied in my life. Here are some quotes from Plato I think would be fitting. What do you think?

  “Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.”

  “I have hardly ever known a mathematician who was capable of reasoning.”

  “I’m trying to think. Don’t confuse me with facts.”

  Logan’s icon was already lit when I signed on for our video chat that night. The familiar thrill tumbled over me, just seeing his picture. Was this what Zoe felt like when she looked at Nikos? At least she got to see him in person. How long would it be before I saw Logan face-to-face again? For now I’d have to be happy just talking with him. At least that was better than nothing.

  “Good,” he said when the chat went live, “I thought you weren’t going to make it.”

  “What?” I glanced at the time clock in the upper corner of my screen, confused. “I’m not late, am I?”

  “Nah. But I can’t stay on long. Da will be up any time now. We’re sailing out to Kimbe this morning for some cultural festival. The local ladies are going to show your mum the proper way to roast a pig.”

  I felt a little pang at that. I’d done the pig thing with my mom once. It was in Tonga, and we wrapped the pig in banana leaves and buried it in a pit lined with hot rocks. I wondered if they did things differently in New Guinea. It felt weird to know I wasn’t going to be there to see it with her firsthand.

  “So they’re making New Guinea pig,” I joked weakly. Anything to lighten my mood.

  He just gave me a blank look.

  “You know, like guinea pig? Those little furry— Never mind. Sounds like loads of fun.”

  Logan just laughed. “Hey, if there’s food, I’m happy. And if I’m really lucky, there might even be fireworks afterward. Although I’d have to watch them alone.”

  My face flushed at the mention of fireworks. Did Logan remember that night in Spain the way I did? Back then, I didn’t realize how much I liked Logan. And since then, I hadn’t exactly told him. …

  I thought about Zoe and her secret crush on Nikos—how I planned to make sure he knew, how I was going to get them together. Why was it so much easier to manage someone else’s crush than it was to manage my own?

  “Can you hear me all right?” Logan asked.

  “Yeah. I’m sorry. I … was thinking about something else.”

  “Oh.”

  “But I was listening to you!” I hurried to add.

  “It’s okay. I hafta go anyway.”

  “Oh.” My stomach sank right down to my knees. “Will you be around tomorrow?”

  “I dunno.”

  Now my stomach hit the floor. Was it my imagination, or did he not sound very enthusiastic about it? “Same time?” I asked in a small voice.

  “Yeah. Prob’ly.”

  “Okay. Well …” I forced a smile and tried to make my voice sound perkier than I felt. “Hopefully, I’ll talk to you then.”

  He said good night and signed off. I turned off the computer and sat at the desk.

  All alone.

  Suddenly, I didn’t like having my own cabin so much anymore. Maybe just for the one night, I could take Victoria up on her offer to stay with her. She’d probably think I was a baby, but I didn’t care, as long as it meant I didn’t have to be alone. Or to think about how the chat with Logan had ended and what it might mean.

  Across the hall, I knocked softly on Victoria’s door. She didn’t answer. I knocked again, even though by then I was getting the empty vibe from her cabin. I closed one eye and squinted at the peephole in her door with the other. It looked dark inside. I knew it was past lights-out, but I kind of doubted Victoria kept the same hours she set for me. She was probably at another boring meeting with CJ or something. Which meant she wouldn’t know if I wasn’t in my room …

  I know it was against the rules, but I couldn’t face my empty room just then. Maybe I could find that game room Nikos had showed me the day before. It couldn’t be too hard; the yacht wasn’t that big.

  If I just retraced my steps up to the deck where we had been talking the day before, and tried to follow our path down the stairs and through the huge sitting room and … yes. I found the narrow corridor.

  By then I could tell that somewhere on the boat, someone was playing some Greek music. I didn’t know that much about Greek music, except that it had a really distinct sound—and I’d heard it in movies before. This music was up-tempo, folksy with almost a rock beat. I was tempted to give up my search for a game and go find the music instead. It didn’t sound like it could be very far away.

  As it turned out, I didn’t need to choose one or the other. The farther down the corridor I walked, the clearer the music became. I stopped outside the game room door. It sounded like the music was coming from in there.

  Quietly, carefully, I eased the door open, expecting to see a party going on. Or some of the crew hanging out in there or something. But the game room was empty. Or almost empty. As I stepped inside, I saw Nikos sitting in the corner, holding something that looked like a mandolin, but with a really long neck. He was jamming along with the music playing on the stereo.

  From what I could tell, he was really good. I couldn’t even move my fingers as fast as his were dancing over the frets.

  He was so into the music that he didn’t even notice me come into the room. Which was just fine; I didn’t want him t
o stop playing. I tiptoed behind one of the arcade games so I could listen to him out of sight. That’s when I saw Zoe. She was sitting on the floor behind one of the other big games, eyes closed, her head nodding in rhythm to Nikos’s music.

  For half a second, I wondered if Nikos knew Zoe was there. No, that was stupid. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be hiding. So … she was here listening to him in secret. I wondered if this was something she did often—like when I saw her hiding near the pool table the night before. Did she come here hoping to see Nikos? That would explain why she had been playing the video game in the dark. Maybe this concert was a nightly ritual with Nikos. The more I got to know him, the more I realized I didn’t know Nikos at all.

  I don’t know if she could feel me there or if she heard me sit down or what, but all of a sudden Zoe’s eyes flew open and she looked right at me with that same panicked fear I had seen in her eyes as that afternoon. She started to get up, but I shook my head quickly and held my finger to my lips. I hoped that was a universal sign for quiet.

  She must have understood, because she settled back down again, even though she still had that cornered-animal look on her face. What did she think I was going to do? I mean, come on. I had helped her escape the game room and hid her in my room the night before. Didn’t she know she could trust me?

  Maybe not. We were still getting to know each other. Besides, my guess was it wasn’t me she was worried about. She was probably afraid that Nikos would know she’d been hiding out, listening to him. I knew how I’d feel if Logan found me sitting there in the dark. I would be mortified. And here I had come in and blown Zoe’s cover.

  I eyed the door, wondering what the chances would be of sneaking back out the way I had come in. Nikos was still too distracted by the music even to know I was there. I motioned to Zoe to let her know I was clearing out, but I don’t think she understood what I was trying to say. She shook her head frantically, no.

  It’s okay, I signaled to her as I stepped out from behind the arcade game. I’m just going to …

  Uh-oh.

  The music ended and Nikos looked up. Right at me. Maybe that’s what Zoe was trying to tell me. She must have known the song was about to end. It was all I could do not to look back over to where she was crouched, but I didn’t want to give her away. So I clapped for Nikos.

  “That was really great. I had no idea you could play like that.”

  He pulled the instrument closer to him, like he was trying to protect it … or hide behind it. “How did you know I was here?”

  I took a few steps closer to him—away from Zoe. “I didn’t. I just followed the music to see where it was coming from and—”

  The oh-crud-I’m-caught look on his face came a close second to Zoe’s. He switched off the stereo. “I thought the room was soundproofed. Could you hear the music all over?”

  “No. Not really.” I took another tentative step forward. “What kind of instrument is that?”

  He looked down at the thing in his hands as if he was surprised to find it there. “It’s called a bouzouki.”

  “I love the sound. So traditional.”

  He shrugged. “Sometimes.”

  “So … sometimes not traditional?”

  He hesitated, like he was keeping some big secret and deciding whether or not he could tell. Finally, he looked back up at me. “Listen,” he said. He changed the CD in the stereo and pressed Play.

  I expected more of the Greek music I was familiar with, so I was surprised by the heavy bass beat. I didn’t recognize the song, even though it did sound vaguely familiar. “This is rock,” I said. Like he didn’t already know that.

  If Nikos heard me, he didn’t show it. He bent over the bouzouki again and started … well, I don’t know if “shredding” is the right word to use for a bouzouki, but the way Nikos played could put any guitar hero to shame.

  When the song ended, he leaned back and closed his eyes, almost as if he had to gather his thoughts back together before he could speak again.

  “Wow.” I was so blown away, that’s all I could come up with. “That was awesome!”

  He looked up almost shyly and hunched his shoulders a little bit. “Thanks.”

  “Does CJ know you can play like that?” I asked. “We should do a segment on—”

  “No,” he said quickly.

  “Why not? That was the coolest thing ever. Think of how much the network would love to promote—”

  “That’s just it,” he said bitterly. “I don’t want to be promoted.”

  “Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say. From the tone of his voice, I knew I’d hit a sore spot. “I’m sorry.”

  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It’s just … this is just something I do for me, you know? I don’t want my dad to think it’s just another thing he can use to get attention.”

  “Your dad?” The realization hit me slowly. “He doesn’t know you can play?”

  “He’s not around much,” Nikos said simply. “I don’t play it in front of him.”

  “Why?”

  Nikos laughed, but it sounded sad. “The only time he’d even care is if the cameras were rolling.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said again. “I didn’t mean to—”

  “Forget it.” He busied himself nestling the bouzouki in a felt-lined case.

  I felt like the biggest killjoy ever. “I can go,” I offered. “You don’t have to quit.”

  “It’s okay.” The case closed with a loud click. “I’m done for tonight anyway.”

  Behind me, Zoe sucked in a breath. I had almost forgotten she was there. It took me a second to switch gears in my head. Zoe hadn’t wanted Nikos to find her listening to him play in the first place, but now it was even worse, because it was like she was eavesdropping, too. If Nikos left now, he was sure to see her.

  “Oh. Uh …” I fumbled for something to say to stop him.

  Nikos glanced up. “What?”

  “Have you seen Zoe?” I heard her gasp again. “I was coming down to meet her when I heard you playing.”

  “She was coming here?”

  “Yeah. She was going to show me that video game you were talking about yesterday. She’s got that one too and she’s really good.”

  “Zoe?”

  “Yes, Zoe.” At least I guessed she was good, based on the score I saw on the screen the night before. “Don’t sound so surprised. She could probably beat you, you know.”

  He laughed. “How would you know? I thought you didn’t know how to play.”

  “I don’t. That’s why I’m looking for Zoe.”

  “I could show you,” he offered.

  “Oh. Uh, sure.” Anything to get him away from the door. Then all Zoe would have to do is pretend to come into the room. She could join us, and she and Nikos could play the video game and sparks would fly and it would be perfect.

  But Zoe didn’t follow the script. Nikos led me over to the game and booted it up. I thought I could hear Zoe slipping out of the door behind us, so I waited for her to come back in. And I kept on waiting. Zoe never did reappear.

  I was so preoccupied listening for her, I’m afraid I wasn’t a very good student. Nikos kept trying to explain the characters, the powers, and the levels, but none of it sank in. A) I wasn’t really that interested, and B) I was too busy wondering where Zoe went, and how I was going to keep her from running away whenever Nikos got close enough to do something about that crush of hers.

  “Maybe we can do this another time?” Nikos asked.

  “Yeah. I’m sorry.” I yawned for effect. “I didn’t realize how tired I was.”

  “Come on,” he said, turning off the game console. “I’ll walk you to your cabin.”

  Much later that night, I wrapped up

  in a blanket and sat out on my private balcony, watching the moonlight skip and pirouette over the water. I had gone to bed hours before, but I couldn’t make my mind be quiet long enough to let me sleep.

  Scenes from that night kept replaying
in my head, from the minute I blew the chat with Logan to the long walk back to my room with Nikos after I had interrupted his jam session and sent Zoe running. How had I developed such a talent for doing and saying the wrong thing?

  I had tried to salvage the evening after we left the game room, but I probably only made things worse.

  “So have you known Zoe a long time?” I asked Nikos.

  He kind of half shrugged and mumbled something I think was “Don’t know,” but I couldn’t be sure.

  So I tried again. “How long has she worked on the Pandora?”

  Nikos’s expression became completely unreadable. “Long time, I guess,” he said.

  He guessed? The Pandora was his dad’s yacht. How could he not know? Unless … I wanted to kick myself. Of course. Nikos said his dad wasn’t around much. Maybe Nikos didn’t know anything about his dad’s yacht because he didn’t spend much time here. Smooth, Cassidy. Real smooth.

  I probably should have shut up about then, but I have this habit of talking too much when a situation gets awkward, so I couldn’t turn it off even if I had wanted to.

  “Well, she’s really nice,” I babbled. “You should really get to know her.”

  “O-kaaay,” he said slowly.

  “I mean, if you want to.”

  By that time, we were on the promenade deck, just outside the doors that led into the cabin hallway. We both reached for the handle at the same time, and his hand came down on top of mine. He didn’t move his right away, and I didn’t want to yank mine back or anything like that, so I did what I do when I can’t think of the appropriate response—I laughed.

  Which drew the attention of Zoe, who, until that moment, I hadn’t seen in the shadows, coming up the steps toward us. She froze for an instant, and then turned around and ran the other way.

  I wanted to go after her, but I was afraid I’d just say something stupid. Or worse, tip Nikos off that there was a potential problem. So I just said good night and hurried off to my room.

  Now, hours later, I still wondered if I had done the right thing. Maybe I should have tried to explain to Zoe, to let her know I was on her side. Maybe I should have stayed and talked to Nikos.