Disharmony

Brighter Than the Sun

From: Annie Masters

3 days.

Kasia and Annie had been friends since they could walk. They'd grown up across the street from each other and soon realized they were the only two girls in a neighborhood filled with boys. So they bonded together and managed to beat up the ones that teased them incessantly. Made quite the team, they did.

These days, Annie was attending college in Florida, pursuing a degree in architecture. Although she and Kasia spoke on quite a regular basis, they weren't able to meet up as often as they liked. So, of course, when Annie had heard that Kasia's tour was set to play in Orlando, she had made it a priority to come for the show, as well as spend some time with her best friend.

Kasia couldn't be more excited. Annie was really the only female friend she'd ever had and after the new revelations in her relationship with Xavier, she was in serious need of some girl talk.

After responding to the text message with far too many smiley face emoticons that was probably necessary, Kasia tossed her phone on the bed and stripped off her workout clothes as she walked towards the shower.

As she promised, nearly an hour later, she sat slumped in a large leather chair in the hotel lobby, waiting for Dylan and Xavier to arrive.

"Are you as excited as I am?" Dylan asked as he bounded up to her after sprinting across the lobby upon stepping out of the elevator.

Kasia laughed warmly. "I don't think anyone could be as excited as you."

Glancing up at Xavier, she sent him a slow nod, wondering if this outing would provide them some time to talk and perhaps return their relationship to some semblance of normalcy.

Hitching the strap of her purse up on her shoulder, she stood and smiled widely down at the boy. "Ready when you are."

Grinning, he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the front door of the hotel. She clutched his small palm tightly, causing him to skid to a stop just before they reached the door.

"Hold on, buddy," she explained, glancing at the small crowd of reporters and paparazzi waiting outside. How they constantly knew where she and Xavier were was actually kind of impressive. "We're going to have to go about this tactically."

Pausing for a moment, she thought through the most rational way to handle the situation before lighting with an idea and glancing at Xavier to explain.

"Why don't you and Dylan go out first," she said, "I'll follow after a few minutes."

Xavier quirked an eyebrow in confusion and she quickly continued the detailing of her plan. "It'll be complete chaos if we both leave at the same time. Firstly, because they won't know who to take pictures of and ask questions to and secondly because if we leave at the same time, they'll think we're together."

His eyebrows shot up, his lips kinking into a smirk. "Speaking from experience, are we?"

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes. "Like you don't know that I've been romantically linked to every male I've ever spoken to. Including you."

She probably shouldn't have been surprised that Xavier had no idea what she was talking about. He wasn't in the habit of searching himself on the internet. This was less out of lack of interest and more to do with the fact that he genuinely didn't believe there was anything to write.

And up until recently, that was probably true.

Xavier's album was doing remarkably well and his name was recognizable, but because he generally wasn't involved in any scandalous behavior, the tabloids left him alone.