The Contest Read online

  The Contest

  A Novel

  Dawn L. Chiletz

  The Contest

  Copyright © 2014 Dawn L. Chiletz

  Cover Designer and Editor: Murphy Rae

  [email protected]

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  For Tyler and Ryan

  Follow your heart,

  never stop believing in your dreams,

  and take the chance.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Madi

  Madi twirled a strand of hair around her finger as she stared at the computer screen. She couldn’t take her eyes off the picture of Jake Morgan on his website.

  “These contests aren’t real,” she said as she reluctantly pulled her eyes away.

  “It is real.” Madi’s best friend Kendra was determined to convince her. “Jake Morgan’s Fan Club is having a contest!” Kendra shrilled in delight. “I don’t know how I missed this. The deadline’s tonight. It says one lucky fan could win a weekend date with Jake in California, all expenses paid, two weeks from today. Holy shit, Jake Morgan! Mads… Madi? Did you hear what I said?” Kendra slammed her open hand on the table.

  Madi’s head shot up. “I heard you, I just don’t buy it.”

  “How awesome would that be?” Kendra said excitedly as she vibrated in her seat.

  Madi furrowed her brows as her eyes scanned the page briefly before looking back to Kendra in disbelief. “Please. No one ever wins those things. They’re fixed. Why in the world would Jake Morgan want to take the risk of having some dog for a date for the whole weekend?”

  “Mads, I’m telling you, it’s for reals! Apparently its part of a promotion he’s doing before his new tour starts in July. His album is called the “The Contest” remember? So, his fan page has been doing all sorts of giveaways as a part of the promotion. It all leads to the grand prize of the date. Damn girl, he looks so fine on the CD cover. Just look at him.”

  As Kendra pointed to him, Madi’s big brown eyes locked onto his picture. Jake Morgan was dreamy. He was kind of unconventional and had a different style. He was more singer/songwriter than pop; a cross between Michael Bublé and Eddie Vetter. He was tall, dark and handsome with that five o’clock shadow he almost always had, and blue eyes to get lost in, but he looked different in every picture. In the professional pics he looked hot and steamy. In his everyday pics, he looked just like a guy you could pass on the street; glasses on, messy hair poking out from under a baseball cap, flannel shirt, jeans and tennis shoes. Madi didn’t care. She found him absolutely adorable. It didn’t hurt that he had a voice like an angel, was LOL funny, kind, and charitable all at the same time. He couldn’t possibly be real. No guy was really like that. It had to be a PR stunt.

  “Come on. I know you like him. Why not enter? What do you have to lose?” Kendra asked as she flailed her hands in question.

  Madi and Kendra had gone to one of Jake’s concerts two years ago when he came to Chicago on tour. Madi had heard of him before that, but Kendra really got her interested in his music after making her watch countless interviews with him where he was absolutely charming, self-deprecating and hysterical all at the same time. When Madi saw him in concert, Kendra couldn’t get her to look away from him. It was as if he were a tractor beam, pulling her in.

  “So?” Kendra impatiently tapped her fingers as Madi stared at the screen. “What do you think?”

  “What do I think about what? He’s Jake, he’s hot, and the contest isn’t real. I’m telling you, no one really wins that stuff.” Madi yawned as she adjusted her glasses on her face. She had stayed up all night writing her Abnormal Psych paper and was too tired to put in her contacts. “Are we going to order something or what?” Madi picked up the menu from the table at the campus grill and scanned the page.

  “I’m going to prove you wrong. I’m entering your name.” Kendra situated the laptop in front of her and determinedly began typing on the page.

  “Whatever,” Madi said. She pulled her long brown hair back into a ponytail and fastened it with a tie from her wrist. She attempted to read the menu with unfocused eyes. She didn’t want to eat, but Kendra had begged her to come with her to the grill after class so she could see Chris, the hot new waiter Kendra was interested in.

  Kendra hit the enter button. “There you go!”

  Madi yawned and her head started to bob. Kendra rolled her eyes as she kicked her under the table. “Wake up num-nuts. Hey, I meant to ask you, how was your date with ‘I’m always game, James’ the other night?” Kendra couldn’t hide the sarcasm in her voice. It was as if she already knew what she was going to hear.

  Madi let out a deep sigh. “It’s all these damn psychology classes. I find myself analyzing everything. Within the first ten minutes I’d already figured out how his parental issues and egocentric conditioning made him completely childlike and dysfunctional. He actually thought after a burger and one hour of my listening to him brag about himself, that I was going to suck face.” Madi slouched as she blew the bangs out her eyes.

  Kendra shook her head. “There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of face sucking. Where do you think he got the nickname?” she laughed. “You need to stop analyzing so much. One day you are going to meet someone who gets you better than you get yourself.”

  Madi’s eyes widened as she snapped, “Do you think I like being able to find something wrong with every guy I meet? Whatever happened to the guys who held doors and actually listened when you spoke?”

  “See, I actually like the date best when we stop talking,” Kendra smirked.

  Kendra was tall, blond and beautiful. She had no problem with guys except for the fact that sometimes, they wouldn’t approach her because she seemed too far out of their league. Madi and Kendra were opposites on just about everything, but somehow, that worked for them. Madi had brown hair, Kendra was blond. Madi’s hair was long, and Kendra had a wickedly hot short cut that only someone like her could pull off. Madi hadn’t had a lot of success in relationships and
Kendra just didn’t want one. Madi loved that Kendra was outspoken and completely unreserved. Madi could talk to anyone and Kendra loved to hear her analyze people. She could read anyone and anything, usually correctly.

  “You just need to find someone who will challenge you and who keeps you guessing,” Kendra encouraged. “Any guy would be lucky to have you. I mean, look at you… You didn’t sleep but somehow you manage to look completely put together.”

  “Whatever. That’s coming from the beauty queen who turns heads in sweats and a t-shirt,” Madi said as she stretched her arms above her head. “For the record, I’m through with dating. I’m just going to focus on getting through these last five weeks of college. I’m going to be the best damn resident assistant I can be, work my part-time Pharmacy Tech job at Titans, and try to maintain my 4.0 GPA. No more stupid boys. This summer, I’ll work my ass off to save some money, so I can start the whole ridiculous process over again, until I graduate.”

  Kendra rolled her eyes as she closed her laptop. “We’re juniors. Only one more year of fun left for us. We’re going to wish we were still in school when we’re working twelve hour days.”

  “You mean when I’m working twelve hour days?” Madi said in a yawn. Kendra’s family had money and Madi knew all too well that Kendra had never had to work a day in her life. “I honestly can’t wait to get out there,” Madi continued as she rubbed her hands together. “There’s a whole world full of messed up people who are just waiting for me to tell them how messed up they are.”

  Kendra rolled her eyes again, her trademark look for Madi.

  “No really,” Madi said enthusiastically as she adjusted her posture. “People are like puzzles. Sometimes they’re easy to figure out and sometimes they’re hard. Sometimes you start putting one together and realize you don’t like the picture it’s making, so you put it back in the box and move on. Sometimes you find one that’s really challenging and interesting so you keep working on it, knowing that if you give up, you’ll never see it for what it’s supposed to be.”

  “I don’t like puzzles,” Kendra said with a frown. “I don’t wanna put someone’s pieces together. That’s their job. They should know where their pieces go.”

  It was Madi’s turn to roll her eyes. “If everyone knew where their pieces were supposed to go then no one would make mistakes.”

  Kendra groaned as she waved her hand in the air spiritedly. “Seriously, if all people are puzzles then I’ll just get a dog.”

  Madi had to laugh. Even though she knew it was just an expression, the idea of Kendra taking care of a dog was funny as hell. She could barely take care of herself.

  Kendra was a music major with a minor in Psychology, even though people mostly annoyed her. Madi had met Kendra their freshman year and they’d been inseparable ever since. Although Madi was double majoring in Business and Psychology, she’d spent a large chunk of time going to various concerts with Kendra over the years and learning about different styles of music. Kendra looked at things simply. Madi had a tendency to overcomplicate everything. Somehow, they balanced each other out. Kendra was the one person Madi would listen to, even if she didn’t like what she had to say.

  “Ugh, I’m too tired to eat.” Madi flipped the menu over and stared at the back page, trying to focus her sleepy eyes.

  “I don’t know why you look at the menu every time you come in here. You always order the same thing: chicken salad with honey mustard dressing on the side. Damn, we need to get you out of your rut. You need to expand your horizons and try something new.”

  “I like chicken salad,” Madi half yawned, half spoke. “What’s wrong with just looking at the menu?” She placed the menu down on the table as she pouted.

  “That’s the problem, Mads, you always look at the menu, but you never partake of the variety life has to offer. Like, I would totally partake of the menu Chris has to offer. Look at that fine ass,” Kendra said as she bent backwards over her chair to see Chris, the waiter, as he walked by.

  Madi sighed as she rested her head on her hand. She loved Kendra like a sister and she was too tired to argue with her. “He’ll be drooling all over you before we leave here today. I’d bet lunch on it!”

  “You are so on!” Kendra said as she shoved a chip into her mouth from the free bowl on the table. “You need to eat. It’ll make you feel better.”

  “No, sleep will make me feel better,” Madi mumbled. “My pillow’s calling me and he’s pissed I haven’t drooled on him in over twenty-four hours.”

  Madi scanned the room, searching for Chris. “He may have a great ass, but he sucks as a waiter. What in the hell is he waiting for? Do me a favor and flash him a smile so he can skip his fine ass over here, take my order, and bring me my standard, boring chicken salad so I can eat and get back to my date with my bed.”

  Kendra turned toward him, flashed him her big beautiful smile and come hither look, and turned back to face Madi, rolling her eyes. “Happy?”

  “Very.” Madi stretched as Chris almost ran to the table. Staring at Kendra, he took Madi’s order before Kendra asked him what he recommended.

  “The chicken salad is great!” he said overanxiously.

  “See?” Madi laughed. “I know what I’m talking about. You don’t give me the credit I deserve. I know what’s real and what’s not. What’s good and what’s not. What’s a PR stunt and what’s the real thing. You just need to trust me, just like I trust the chicken salad.”

  Chris looked back and forth between Madi and Kendra as Madi stood on her soapbox. “Does that mean you want the chicken salad?” Chris asked as his mouth twisted and his eyebrows shot up, making him look ridiculous. He stared at Kendra like she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. His kooky expression and over-eagerness completely turned her off.

  Kendra rolled her eyes. “Yeah, we’ll take two. It looks like I’m buying.”

  *****

  Two weeks passed by quickly. The end of her junior year was just three weeks away. Madi had been trying to keep up with her eighteen credit hours and not procrastinate on all the end of year tests and papers that were fast approaching due, but she worked so much better under pressure. Kendra was patiently waiting for her to turn twenty-one in June so they could go out to the bars together, but Madi wasn’t interested in the bar scene. Right now, all she could think about was the tests she needed to start studying for and how she was going to maintain her straight A average.

  One more week of procrastination won’t hurt, she thought as she eyed the books on her desk.

  Madi had just finished talking to a freshman who was feeling overwhelmed at the end of the year, when she heard a ping announcing new mail on her computer. She finished writing her notes and walked over to her laptop, which was sitting on the desk in her tiny dorm room, paid for by her job as a resident assistant. She opened up her email and saw a message titled “Congratulations Madison Ryan, Jake Morgan is waiting for you!”

  “What? Huh?” Madi re-read the title of the email three times before she picked up her cell. Not taking her eyes off the screen, she dialed her best friend. “Kendra Parker, get your ass over here NOW!”

  It wasn’t more than three minutes until Kendra arrived. “Oh my God! I freaking told you! You totally won! Holy shit balls, you won!” Kendra jumped up and down scrolling through the contest details as Madi paced back and forth in her room, arms folded, then hands in her hair, then blowing her bangs back, then arms folded again.

  “You’re messing with me aren’t you?” Madi asked. “This isn’t funny, okay? Just fess up. We’ll have a great laugh and then move on.”

  Kendra gawked at her with a huge smile on her face. “Madison Ryan is wrong about something? I told you the contest was real! Honestly, I didn’t do this. I swear on my daddy’s Porsche that I am not pranking you! You won! You really won!”

  “No, this isn’t real. This can’t be real.” Madi continued to pace as Kendra sat down at the desk.

  “It is, Mads, I swear! It says that
you’re booked Friday morning at 10 a.m. on a flight from Chicago O’Hare to LAX in Los Angeles. A limo will be waiting to take you to Jake’s studio where you will meet with him to watch a recording session. Then dinner with Jake and all expenses paid at the Brook Regency. Your flight returns to Chicago at 7 p.m. on Sunday. You’re going to meet Jake Morgan you lucky bitch!”

  Madi stared at Kendra wearily as Kendra grew more excited with every word. Kendra’s leg started pumping up and down as she read the through the specifics. “Damn, I should have entered my name. No guest? Why won’t they let you bring a guest? I guess it’s a date and they don’t want your best friend tagging along, but damn, who doesn’t allow a guest? Holy shit, you’re leaving Friday!”

  Kendra’s hand sifted through her short hair as she turned eagerly back toward Madi. “What are you going to wear? We have to go shopping! I’ll tell my dad I had to buy clothes for a school presentation. He’ll be so happy it’s for school that he won’t care about the bill. I am so buying you new outfits! Don’t argue with me! Holy shit! Did I say holy shit yet? Hot damn!” Kendra jumped up and down, as she hugged a non-moving Madi, then danced around the room.