Love and Fame Games (Book 1)

06

Once I recovered from the initial shock, I stood up, rushed to the very back row of the dense swarm of onlookers.

I was still pretty far from where Off-Kilter was, like, halfway across the building, but I got a good glimpse of everything that was happening by standing on the tips of my toes and craning my neck as far as it would go. The guys hadn't gotten very far from the main entrance when I caught sight of them. How could they, when all these pushy kids were coming at them, shouting their questions and congratulations all at once from all sides?

I would be scared to death, if I were in their shoes. The guys, however, apart from looking slightly panicked for about half a second, seemed to take it all in stride. They hadn't been famous very long, but this must be nothing compared to the whirlwind of the past couple of days in New York.

Several people broke away from the bunch to speak to them. I found myself impressed with those brave souls, which was unnerving. I shouldn't view the ability to talk to those guys as some sort of accomplishment, but for some reason, I did. I was feeling a lot of things that didn't make sense.

Of those people who got the guys' attention, the only face I found familiar was Everett Jones, a senior. He just walked up to them, said something, and high-fived each band member.

I had to wonder what he actually said and whether or not it actually warranted a high-five; Everett would high-five anyone over anything. Depending on whom you asked, he was either the friendliest, most chill guy in school, or the biggest burnout. He once tried to high-five me from the other side of a glass door, after I just saw him walk into said glass door, so my vote was on the latter.

At this point, a bunch of faculty members stepped in and basically told everyone to fuck off. They did, but in the slowest way possible and not even the least bit quietly. I tried to keep my eye on the guys but lost them in the crowd.

Alex turned to me and shrugged. "We'll run into them sooner or later. They can't hide forever."

Unfortunately, I thought and then, shaking my head, I willed myself to stop worrying about it. It was a big school; I had time. Out loud, I said nothing and just walked back to my locker for the finishing touches and to store my books and other things.

When I was almost done putting my stuff away, Alex spoke up. "Adrian, look who's here."

The smug tone in Alex's voice told me it could only be one person. Well, technically, it could be any one of three people-or all of them together. But only one of those possibilities was responsible for the turning the blood in my veins into ice, and with my luck, it just had to be him.

"Adrian," said the person Alex was referring to, confirming my suspicions.

The way I figured it, I had two options: One, I had a travel sized can of Lysol spray in my bag that I was going to keep in my locker for emergencies. I could empty it all around me and try to disappear in the mist-like a ninja.

Or two, I could grit my teeth and act normal for once. I did promise Alex, after all.

Showtime, I thought, took a deep breath and very slowly straightened up and turned to face the one who had spoken.

"Hey Seth." I noted that the remaining two-thirds of Off-Kilter were nowhere in sight. I gave him my most polite smile. "I didn't know you were here. When did you get in?"

Seth looked perplexed. "Seriously?"

What? I mouthed to myself at the same moment, shaking my head at how dumb I sounded. I tilted my head and gave him a look. "No, not seriously. I'm not deaf."

And then I laughed, hoping to pass it off as a joke. That was surprisingly smooth; maybe I did have a future in acting, like I thought.

Seth just stared, dumbfounded, and I took the opportunity to low-key stare back. I was relieved to see that I was glad to see for myself that his pictures in the magazine Alex showed us last weekend really was just badly Photoshopped. There were times I still missed all the excess weight he had shed ages ago. I didn't think I could handle him changing any more than he already had.