Once Upon A Bus Ride

Chapter 5: You're Not So Bad

"Not like that," I explained.

"So are you gonna see him again?"

I was about to respond when I saw Paige, Sienna and Macy walking towards us.

They sat down.

"Girls," Sienna greeted.

Shannon and I shared a look.

"So I'm guessing we're cool now," I chuckled.

Paige sighed. "Oh Morgan, such trivial arguments shouldn't get to us."

"Interesting," Shannon muttered.

"Anything to say Shannon?" Macy questioned.

She merely shook her head. "No."

"Okay," Paige chirped. "So party tonight at the Drew brothers'. Anyone going?"

"I'm down for some fun," Sienna giggled.

"I might show up," Shannon shrugged.

Macy chuckled. "You will show up, because Cole's gonna be there."

I rolled my eyes internally. She could do so so much better than him.

"Just bang him already gosh," Sienna joked. "You know you both want it."

"No," she said. "Look, Cole might be a player but he's not incapable of real feelings. I'm going to make him work for me."

"So your plan is to make Cole Andrews fall for you," Paige stated rather than asked.

Shan smiled. "Yup."

Paige chuckled. "Yeah good luck with that. What about you Morgan? Up for some fun tonight?"

"Me? No," I declined. "It's a school night, and I don't appreciate walking into first period Physics tomorrow morning with a hangover."

"I'm skipping this one too," Macy added. "I've got a history test tomorrow I gotta study for."

Macy was a sensible girl who probably cared about getting good grades more than anything else, even Paige.

"Okay, guess it'll just be us three then," Paige concluded, looking at Shannon and Sienna.

The bell rang.

"We should get to class," I said, getting up and grabbing my stuff. "I will see you guys later."

~~~~~

When I pulled up in the driveway after school I was a little surprised. A white Escalade was parked in front of the condo. That could only mean one thing, mom was home.

Jean was seated in the hall when I walked in.

"Hey, where's mo-"

Before I could finish asking my question mom appeared with a grin on her face. She click-clacked her way over to me and grabbed my hand.

"Oh good Morgan, you're home. Come along now, I have some exciting news."

"Okay?" I managed to say while looking at Jean.

She only shrugged.

I entered the kitchen and saw unusual but familiar faces.

"Josh? Mr...."

"Wyatt," he completed.

"Right, sorry," I apologized.

"Mr. Wyatt has a proposition I think you'd like," mom said.

I rose an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"Well Josh was going to do a photo shoot to publicize your mother's fall line," Mr. Wyatt answered. "So we thought we'd spice it up a bit so he'd shoot it with you. We figured a date in Central Park scene would be ideal."

"Then?"

"Then we realized we can just let the paps do the work. Think about it, Jean Hall's secretive younger sister and one of the freshest young faces on tv right now!" he continued. "Josh would get some publicity and your mother can get the attention she wants for her collection."

There was so much about those statements that annoyed me.

"It's a brilliant idea!" mom gushed.

"So you're setting me up for both your personal gains,". I said. "No."

"You haven't even thought about it."

"Yeah Morgan," Josh added. "Just think of how good we'd look together."

I rolled my eyes and focused on my mother.

"Do you even know why I'm saying no?" I asked her. "I could be gay for all you know."

"Well are you?" she asked.

I sighed. "No, but still, I don't want that kind of attention."

"Morgan."

"Forget it, I'm not doing it," I said before leaving the kitchen and going upstairs to my room.

I sat on my bed for a few minutes and then the door opened.

"Hey," Jean said. "Heard what went down."

"I can't believe them," I chuckled sourly. "My own mother wants to exploit me."

Jean laughed. "She doesn't want to exploit you. Look, it's just how things are."

"Spare me."

"Okay, enough of all this then," she said. "I got invited to a concert tonight, and you're coming with."

"I don't think so," I chuckled. "It's a school night, I'd rather stay home."

"Really?" she continued. "Even for Apollo?"

My eyes lit up. "Apollo?"

"You heard me," she smirked. "He's putting on another one of his underground concerts."

Apollo was a popular DJ. His beats and mixes were something else. It was no wonder he gathered such a large fan base within a short period of time when he began to release his music. He gave surprise concerts at unexpected venues but you could trust the media to find out where his next concert might be and get people buzzing about it. The only thing was that no one, and I mean no one, knew who he was. He wore a mask every time he was onstage and he was never spotted off it. It was like he came in unnoticed, put on a show and then disappeared.

"Yes, of course I would love to!" I exclaimed.

She laughed. "We leave at nine."

She walked out of my room and I smiled to myself, falling backwards onto my bed.