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Six weird looks within the last ten seconds. I got six weird looks from the people that were passing me on the sidewalk outside of the airport.
I guess I can see why, I was dressed in skinny jeans and a sweater while everybody else was in shorts and tank tops. what can I say? A Minnesota girl doesn't prepare for California weather. I did regret it, because my clothes were sticking to me with sweat and my blonde ponytail was stringy and gross.
"Where the hell is he?" I muttered to myself, pulling out my cell phone and checking the time. "Goddamn it, Jackson." My brother was supposed to pick me up an hour ago and there is still no sign of him.
I delicately tapped on my iPhone, trying to get the least amount of sweat on the screen as possible. I put the phone half an inch away from my ear and listened to the phone start ringing.
"Hello?"
"Jackson, where the hell are you?" I snapped. "You were supposed to pick me up an hour ago and I am about to die of a heat stroke or something."
"An hour ago? You said three!" He argued.
"And it's four!" .
"Oh." He was silent for a minute. "I'll send a car for you."
"You can't just pick me up yourself?"
"Sorry, kiddo. I have a photoshoot at 4:30 and it will take me that time to get there." He said, sounding disappointed.
I sighed loudly. "Fine. Send a car. But tell them to hurry and blast the AC"
He chuckled. "Didn't dress for the Hollywood sun?"
"Are you kidding? I'm so sweaty, it looks like I ran around the Sahara and my hair is a frizzy freaking mess. California sucks." I ranted.
Again, he barked with laughter. "Alright, alright. Kale is on his way. Twenty minutes."
"Fine. I'll see you soon then," I said, setting my suitcase upright against one of the pillars of the airport and then sitting on top of it while leaning my guitar case against the side.
"Later, Sis," He said before the line went dead.
I sighed once more before pulling my Bop! Magazine out of my Vera Bradley carry on and started examining it.
'Mega Size Jackson Thorne Poser Inside!' Was on the front cover.
"Oh, yay." I muttered. "Who doesn't want a huge poster of her half naked brother? Oh, right. Me."
Yes, you heard correctly. The insanely famous teenage heart throb, Jackson Thorne, is indeed my brother. So you can imagine my excitement when half of my stupid magazine was covered in articles about him.
'Jackson Thorne's many hair styles!'
'Jackson Thorne's summer body!'
'Jackson Thorne gets a new puppy!'
'Jackson Thorne's breakup with Mindy Crow!'
I rolled my eyes. I can't believe I just spent four dollars on a magazine all about Jackson. I don't want to read about him, I want to read about-
'Shirtless Ryder West Poster inside!'
Him. That's who I want to read about. Ryder West.
I hurried through the pages and found the poster excitedly. It was a lovely picture if I do say so myself. The background was white and Ryder was standing strong, tall and very shirtless, only wearing dark wash jeans with about an inch of his Calvin Klein boxers showing. I pulled the folded up poster towards me and hugged it close to my chest as I melted into the wall behind me.
"My life is complete." I sighed.
After I had calmed down again, I found a quiz about my perfect first date. Ryder West was a date to the fair because he's fun, Tommy Kidder was a romantic dinner date because he's romantic, and Jackson Thorne was a movie date because he's sweet. I trailed my finger down the paper, answering the questions and then snaked down the page, following the trail to a new question.
When I was done, I nervously looked at the bottom and shot to my feet with a happy squeal. "I got Ryder West!" I squealed victoriously. I sighed. "We are meant to be! I didn't even cheat!"
"Did you win the lottery?" I heard a guy's voice beside me.
My head shot up to the teenage guy standing a few feet away from me with an amused smile on his face. His brown hair looked soft and pettable. God, I wanted to pet his hair. His blue eyes were sparkling with the same amusement that was found in his sexy smile.
"Uh, I- You- I-" I couldn't find any words to speak and when he realized this, his perfect eyebrows raised and his sexy smile turned into an even sexier smirk. When the idea finally bolted through me, my words finally came. "Oh my god! I look like crap!" I shrieked.
I could tell that this stunning stranger was trying to hide his laughter while my face burned red and I looked around frantically for help. When my eyes landed on a man using red scissors to cut the tag off of his daughter's suitcase, an idea popped into my head. Before I gave myself a second to second guess myself, I ran frantically over to the family.
"Can I use those scissors?" I asked frantically, not waiting for an answer before taking them out of the man's hands. "Thank you. I'll be right back." I said, running for the doors to the airport. "Three seconds, count 'em!" I bolted through the doors and into the air conditioned building, racing for the closest bathroom.
I got into the black marble-looking stall and ripped my sweaty clothes off of my body before going to work. I quickly cut the legs off of my skinny jeans and the sleeves off of my sweater, lowering the neckline as well. After I got dressed again in my lopsided shorts and ruined sweater, I got out of the stall and then took out my ponytail and shook my hair around, in an attempt to make it look effortless. Which, ironically, takes a lot of effort. I slipped my shoes back on before running back out of the bathroom and into the scorching sun.
My eyes scanned the people and landed on the family the second before I ran over to them and handed the scissors back to the man. "You're a lifesaver." I said before running back to the wall where my stuff and the stranger remained. He was now sitting on my suitcase where I had been.
"Sorry about that." I said awkwardly as the stranger flipped through the magazine.
"Jackson Thorne fan?" He asked with a small smirk playing on his soft lips. I so wanted to kiss those lips.
I snorted. "No."
"They why'd you rip the poster out?" He questioned, holding up the flimsy paper.
"It's double sided." I replied slowly.
His eyebrows furrowed and he unfolded it enough to see the other side, then let out a bark of laughter. "Ryder West? Really?"
"Yes, Ryder West." I defended, suddenly feeling like this stranger is judging me for my poster choices.
"Why Ryder and not Jackson?" He asked.
"Uh, because incest isn't really my thing." I said sarcastically. "I'm Jackson's sister."
His cute blue eyes widened in shock and he stood up . "You're Holly?"
My face changed into an expression of confusion. "Uh..." Was all I could get out. But then fear. "Please don't kill me. I have a full life ahead of me. I'm going to go to college and then get married and have little kids and then force them into sports that they hate and not let them date and- I don't want to die!"
The stranger chuckled and put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm not going to kill you, relax." He stretched out his hand. "I'm Kale." He said it like that name was supposed to mean something to me.
I nodded awkwardly. "Cool."
He rolled his eyes. "Jackson sent me to pick you up."
I gasped before my face turned into a scowl. "That little rat! I'm going to kill him! He's dead! Dead!" I shrieked.
"What'd he do?"
I huffed as I threw my Vera Bradley bag over my shoulder, then picked up my guitar case and pulled out the handle on my rolling suitcase. "I complained to him that I was gross and sweaty so then he purposely sends you."
As he led me towards the car, I noticed how his muscles flexed as he walked. Oh, and his ass. I noticed that too. He turned around for an instant and sent the world's best pouty face my way.
"What's wrong with me?" Kale asked as he popped the trunk. If he was trying to get me to admit that I think he's hot, I wasn't going to fall for that. I'm smarter than that.
"I'm not going to say it." I said, lifting my suitcase into the trunk with a loud thud.
Kale grabbed my black guitar case and gently laid it on top of the suitcase before I threw in my Vera Bradley. "Say what?" He asked, feigning innocence.
"You know what." I shrugged off his question as he got in the driver seat and I followed into the passenger.
"I'm confused." He admitted to me with that charmingly smooth voice.
"Sure," I said skeptically. "Anyway, how do you even know Jackson and why is he making you pick me up?" I asked, changing the confusing topic.
"He's my brother's friend and he paid me fifty bucks." He said with a small smile as he drove away from the airport. "Why are you just now coming down to visit your brother?"
"I'm still in school so I can only come down during the summer. But last summer, Jackson was moving so I couldn't come down or up or wherever we are according to Minnesota."
Kale laughed. "Not good with geography?"
I shrugged. "I'm more of a science girl."
"So how long has it been since you've seen him?"
"Two years, since he moved down here. So I'm kind of freaking out. I mean, when we were little, we were insanely close. But then he wanted his stupid dreams to come true so he moved here and moved in with our grandma. But right before summer last year, she died, and by that time he had enough money for his own house-mansion, so he moved closer to Hollywood which is why I couldn't come visit. I miss him so much. And now I'm rambling. That's attractive." I muttered.
"Wow. When my brother wanted to become famous, our whole family just packed up and came out here with him."
"Well, yeah, that's what I wanted to do. I really didn't want to leave Jackson. But our dad refuses to leave Minnesota and Grandma only had room for one person. Please stop asking me questions, I ramble too much."
Kale let out a short laugh. "That wasn't a question. It was a statement. But don't worry, your rambling is kind of adorable."
My cheeks blushed lightly and a tiny smile forced its way onto my face. "Thanks. My ex hated my rambling, he would always just ignore me or tell me to shut up. But then instead of talking, he just started hitting me and then-" I stopped talking and put a hand up to my mouth, realizing what I had just said. "I didn't just say that." I whispered loud enough for Kale to hear.
I haven't talked about Shane to anyone for over a year. Now, don't get too interested, it was just a typical teenage love story gone wrong. We were dating for about a month and I was heels over head in love with him until he hit me. I made excuses for him until Libby, my best friend, snapped me out of it and I finally ended it. The nerves I'd been feeling about seeing Jackson again were playing with my mind. My rambling habits were becoming catastrophic.
He gave me a curious, yet concerned, look. "I heard it."
"No, you didn't."
"I did." He insisted.
I heaved a sigh. "Okay so you heard it. But it's no big deal, so there's no need to talk about it. Or repeat it.""It's none of my business." He said calmly.
"Well, okay so he hit me. But he only did it three times before I finally just left him. So, really, it isn't a big deal. And I know it's not any of your business but I'm nervous. And when I'm nervous I ramble. If you haven't noticed. What if Jackson's changed? What if I've changed?
"Kale laughed. "He won't even be home when we get there, he's still at that photo shoot."
"Right before my first recital, I told Libby that I still sleep with a teddy bear. She was laughing at me for weeks after that. I mean, that was before we were best friends, so now, she just accepts my weirdness. And now I realize that I just told you that I still sleep with a teddy bear. I love him, his name is Boyce, after that YouTube band. I love them. I'm just digging myself into a deeper hole here so feel free to interrupt at any time now." I said as we turned down a street of houses that were widely spread apart and rather huge."
Don't worry about it." Kale said with a sexy smirk. "I won't judge you if you still sleep with a bear."
"He's not just a bear." I defended but in my mind, I was begging myself to shut up. "His name is Boyce."
"Sorry, my bad." He mumbled, keeping that smirk on his face. "So you play guitar?"
"Not really." I lied just because I didn't want him to know that I played. "I would have felt bad if I didn't bring it, though, because my dad bought it for me.
"But in reality, I do play guitar and I absolutely love it, but nobody knows that I play... at least not anymore. When people know that you can do something, they want to see you do it. And I didn't want to play my guitar in front of anybody else. "Then what kind of recital were you talking about?"
"Oh, that," I said with an awkward chuckle. "I dance."He smiled a bit and glanced over at me from the road. "I find it funny that I don't even ask a question and you talk for five minutes but when I ask a question, it's just 'I dance.' I don't get it."
I shrugged and watched as he pulled up into a driveway of a house... or, no. A mansion of cream colored shingles and large, fairy tale balconies. I'd seen pictures that Jackson has sent me but this definitely looks bigger than the pictures.
"This is Jackson's house," I slowly realized.
"Yeah," He said confirmed as we got out of the car. "Why?"
"It's huge," I mumbled, grabbing my Vera Bradley and then my guitar out of the trunk.Kale grabbed my suitcase, like a gentleman, and led me up a small pathway through the yard. The porch was huge and wrapped around the whole house. We stepped up the concrete steps before Kale pulled out a key from his pocket and started unlocking the door.
"Yeah, your brother is kind of loaded," He reminded me while we walked into the house. The inside was just as amazing as the outside. I laid my guitar on the huge black couch across from the large flat screen TV and Kale put my suitcase next to the door.
"Do you know when Jackson will be back?" I asked, still examining the house.
"At about five thirty," He said.
"That gives me an hour to get ready," I decided. "I just need to find my room."
"I'll show you," He offered, walking behind the couch and up the large spiral staircase in the dining room.I followed Kale up the stairs, rolling my suitcase behind me, and down a maze of halls before we finally stopped at a closed white door.
"This one, I think." He said.
"You think?" I repeat, swinging the door open. It was a huge room with a fancy, flowery bed in the corner and a white dresser along the opposite wall. There was a love seat in the other corner, facing a huge flat screen TV with an Xbox below it, making me smile because I've told him over the phone how good I've been getting at Call of Duty so that I could kick his butt now. He'd always beat me when we were kids. I also noticed two doors side by side next to the bed."Why are there doors?" I asked in confusion as I sat the suitcase down by the foot of the bed to explore.
"Really?" Kale looked confused at my confusion. "A bathroom and a closet." He said it like I had just asked him why there was a bed in the bedroom.
"Well, Hollywood Boy, sorry that I'm not used to having my own bathroom."
Kale grinned as I walked inside and sat down on the loveseat. "You should feel special. This is the only other bedroom that has a bathroom in the house except for Jackson's room.""How do you know?" I asked.
"Our houses are identical, structure wise."I nodded. "Oh. Well, he only gave me my own bathroom because he doesn't want to have to see my tampons and makeup.""I don't need to know that," Kale muttered.
"Hearing the word 'tampon' won't murder you and your entire family or anything, you know," I rolled my eyes a little bit because it was ridiculous to get bothered by me mentioning tampons. "Wow, you're such a guy."
"Uh, thanks?" He said it more like a question because he wasn't sure if it was a compliment or not but in all secrecy, it was definitely an insult. Guys suck.
I smiled my sweetest smile at him and then stood to my feet. "Mind helping me find something to wear?"
"You just said that I was too much of a guy. Now you want me to help you find something to wear? I don't see how that adds up," He challenged me with raised eyebrows, following me to the bed where my suitcase rested. I picked it up and then plopped it down on the bed and unzipped it, throwing the flap open and revealing my clothes and prized possessions. Whatever I could squeeze into the bag to bring to California with me.
"Is this Bryce?" Kale asked, picking up the worn out brown teddy bear.
I pulled it out of his grip, feeling like a mama bear in the need of protecting her precious baby. He was an old bear, very delicate and I didn't want this guy accidentally ripping off his paw. "It's Boyce," I put the bear on my pillow so that I wouldn't lose him and went back to my suitcase as Kale let out a quiet laugh.
"Sorry. Boyce," He said with an amused smile. I watched as he pulled out a sweater that was on top of the pile of clothes and holds it up. "Is this all you have? Just long sleeve stuff?"
I nodded. "I'm from Northern Minnesota. We have summer and everything, but it's not very long and I couldn't find what little of my summer clothes I really do have, so I'm roughing it for now."
"My sister can take you shopping later," He suggests, his charming eyes looking very amused. "She really likes shopping."
I sighed, looking down at my full suitcase. "I'm not a fan of shopping, but I think I'll have to," I finally decided on a pair of denim shorts that cut off right above my knee that I got for a dance trip last year when the team went to Florida for a competition, and a T-shirt that's black and says 'Come at me, bro' in big white letters.
After I showered and got changed, I brushed my hair and put on a little bit of makeup while Kale played my new Xbox. Well, it's not my Xbox, but it's in my room so I guess I'm just borrowing it or something. "Do I look okay?" I asked nervously as I came out of the bathroom, scrunching my still wet hair and tugging on the hem of my jeans.
Kale offered me an encouraging smile. I couldn't figure out why he was dealing with me, a frantic stranger that he probably just wanted to get away from at that point. "You look fine. He's your brother, Holly, not the president. He won't care about what you look like."
"I know that. And I don't think the president would care about what I'm wearing either," I countered with a small laugh. He shrugged. "But you get my point. He'll just be glad to see you."
I sighed and sat down beside him on the love seat and watched him play Call of Duty. "Two years ago, when he left, Jackson felt horrible about leaving me and our dad. I need to show him that we're doing fine and that he made the right decision. He's happy here," I explained even though it wasn't really any of this guy's business. I just felt like maybe I should explain to him why I was acting so crazy.
Kale looked over at me at me, his blue eyes boring into me, which made me even more nervous. "You look nice," He finally told me with a small, encouraging smile.
I couldn't help but smile back. "Thanks," I said quietly before standing to my feet again, unable to sit down for a long time because I was so nervous. I grabbed my cell phone out of my pocket and started texting Libby while I waited.After a silent moment, Kale stood up and smiled at me again, but this smile was more of a I-know-something-that-you-don't kind of smile that I don't trust at all.
"What?" I asked suspiciously.
"Come over here, I forgot to show you something," He said, leading me over to the walk in closet that was pretty much empty. He opened the door and then led me through it to another set of doors. Only this was a sliding glass door that led to a small outdoor balcony.It overlooked the backyard of the house that had a large in-ground pool surrounded with deck chairs with a small hot tub off to the side. The pool had a diving board and a large slide. Behind that, there was a full sized football field spread across two yards. The other yard belonged to a gray shingled house with the same sized pool with the same diving board, slide, and hot tub.
"That's my house." He added, motioning towards the house that I was inspecting.I laughed at the news but I didn't laugh because I thought that was funny. It was more of a 'this is going to be a very long summer' kind of panic-laugh. "So we're neighbors."
"So we are," He said as I watched a car pull up the driveway.When I saw who it was, I grinned. "Jackson!"
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[Update 9/11/2020]
I started a rewrite of this story, link to the new first chapter in a comment on this line! (More info in the Help?! chapter at the end of this story)