"WAIT, this is Kira?" Jack says, pointing at me while looking at Zach. Corbyn walks in, taking a seat on the arm of Jack's chair. Zach gets off his stool and offers it to me. I thank him and take it.
"Yeah, that's my name." I smile at Jack. Zach sits on the floor underneath the painting so they can all scope me.
"Apologizes for Jack, it's nice to see you again Kira." Jonah says.
"What are you doing here?" Zach says.
"It's nice to see you too, Zach," Civil "I go to USC, but my boyfriend's teammate was throwing the party." I say, a hint of snide portrayed in my voice.
I hear Daniel and Jack snicker, "Boyfriend?" Corbyn asks.
"Boyfriend." I reply. The look on Zach's face drops like the color was just drained out of him. I get a call, "Sorry, one second." I walk to another corner of the room. I hear Daniel whisper boyfriend, and I roll my eyes.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Where are you?" I hear Em yell over the other end.
"In some random room. Why? Wanna leave?" I ask, slightly hoping she'll say yes.
"Nah, I'll come find you."
"Kk, east hallway two rights, first door on your left. I'm pretty sure."
"Alright, see you."
"Bye."
I turn back around to see all 5 of the boys looking at me.
"Didn't y'all learn eavesdropping is bad?" I say.
"Who were you just on the phone with?" Corbyn asks.
Jesus, they are not only straightforward but nosy.
"My best friend. She wanted to find me so I gave her the directions."
"Oh okay." Jonah says.
"Why?" I ask.
"We have a following, as you might know. Sometimes, crazy fans find us at parties and then the party gets shut down because they go batshit. Shitty for everyone involved." Jonah explains.
Oh. They thought I was giving a fan a tip. In a way, I was but not the way they think. She wouldn't fangirl over them.
"Okay, that makes sense." I say, sitting back down on the ottoman.
"So back the boyfriend," Daniel says.
"What about him?" I state.
"His name, what team he's on, is he hotter then Zach?" Jack replies, pressing me with questions.
"I'm so sorry for Daniel and Jack, they both are wasted right no-" Jonah apologizes but I cut him off.
"His name is Nate and he plays for UCLA's baseball team and I'm not telling y'all if he's hotter then Zach."
"Wait Nate? As in like Nathan Anderson?" Zach finally speaks up.
"Yeah...why?"
"You're dating Nathan Anderson?" Jonah says.
I thought he was the cool one; he had to go and ruin it. What the fuck is their problem with Nate?
"Yeah, is that not what I just said?" I state back.
They are slowly getting more and more on my nerves.
"When did you guys start dating?" Zach asks, looking straight at me. The eye contact feels weird, like a level of intensity I shouldn't be feeling with anyone other than Nate.
"Since July, why?"
"Weren't we literally in New York in July?" Daniel says, laughing. Everyone, including Jack, gives him a death glare.
"What?" I ask, feeling so left out and confused.
"We were in New York in July looking for yo-" Jonah smacks him. Hard.
"OW." Daniel says, rubbing his chest.
I look at Zach, who's doing everything in his power to not look at me. "Zach?"
"Hm," he hums in response.
"Look at me for a quick second." he sighs, making the almost unbearable eye contact. "Did you come to New York looking for me?"
"Yeah I did." He says confidently, "But, you don't get very far with the name Kira Jade. But I wouldn't have come if I knew you were dating Nate." he scoffs.
"I dm'd you in February." I whisper.
"Kira, I hate to put it this way, but I'm famous." he says, looking at me sincerely. "I get thousands of dm requests. I tried looking for your instagram, your twitter, even on linkedin. But I couldn't find you anywhere."
"How? It's literally my last name." I say, confused.
"See, that would be a lot more helpful if I KNEW your last name." He says, dropping his hands in his lap.
Oh fuck. I didn't tell Zach my last name. I rarely told him anything about me. Everything, he ended up figuring out.
"Pass me your phone." I say, he drops it in palm. "Unlocked would be helpful." I roll my eyes passing it back. He returns it to me, his lockscreen is both him and his sister, I'm guessing. She looks 9, maybe 10. I type in my @, follow me, and accept my dm request.
"Wait, how do you guys know Nate? He hasn't ever mentioned you guys." I ask them.
"Can I tell her?" Zach whispers to Corbyn.
"Yeah go for it, it's not like there's anything to hide." Corbyn shrugs.
I raise my eyebrow, "Are you gay? Y'all are being awfully suspicious. I wouldn't be against at all, an icon. But, there has to be some homophobic limelights."
"NO, I'm not. But Nate and I used to fuck the same girl. When she was in New York, she'd sleep with him. L.A., me." He explains.
OH, I was not expecting that. I knew Nate used to be a player but having a dick appointment whenever this random girl was in town is something I literally did not know.
"Oh."
"Yeah, one time she asked to link in New York. But I walked in on her and Nate. I doubt he even saw much, much less knew who I was. But that whole experience was so traumatizing that it's permanently scarred up here." He says, putting his finger to his temple.
"I'm sorry." I say, slightly disheartened by my boyfriend. I don't think Nate knew, but I couldn't imagine being put into that position.
Corbyn laughs, "Don't be. I got fire songs out of it and I haven't seen her in years."
"Wait," I ask, taken back. "You write your own songs?"
They nod at me and each other. "Yeah, most of them. Some of them, never touched. But others were fully produced by us." Daniel says.
"That's so cool." I say. "Maybe y'all aren't that bad."
"Told you she's in love with us," Jack says behind his hand, jokily.
"Dude you wish." I slightly laugh.
"C'mon, is there a song you hate by us?" Jonah says, looking at me.
"I don't know any songs by y'all," I say but think about it for a quick second. "well other than In Too Deep."
"Maybe I do like this girl, good song choice." Jack says.
"Thank you." I smile.
A silence falls over us. I won't say it's uncomfortable, just interesting. It's not bad or good, just silence. I look down into my lap to see a phone.
"Oh my bad, I'm still holding onto your phone." I say, outstretching my hand to Zach. As I'm about to give back the phone, the door opens.
"Dude, you literally gave me the wrong hallway. This is north, you fucking idiot." Emerson says, her eyes partially closed. It's probably a mix of tiredness and drunkenness.
She opens her eyes to see all six of us looking straight at her. Her eyes widened. "Zach's here and you didn't decide to call me sooner?"
I sigh, "Boys, meet my best friend, Emerson." I say, gesturing to her, "Emerson, meet why don't we." deadpanned.
"Huge fan, huge fan," she says, pushing me to the edge of the ottoman so she could sit, "I think you're really hot." She says, pointing at Jonah.
"Me?" Jonah says, pointing to himself.
"Well, clearly I'm not pointing at Mr. Taken," she stumbled over her words, pointing at Daniel. I laugh knowing she's clearly drunk. "or Mr. Baby Daddy. Lav's cute though so I'll give you a pass." she says pointing to Jack.
"Thanks," Jack smiles. Emerson kisses the air in Jack's direction. He shakes his head, laughing.
Jesus Christ, let's hope the night ends soon.
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word count: 1369
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~ nish