If Cori hadn't already been rooted in place, she would have been now. She dropped her phone and continued to stare dumbly at her dream guy from Miracle 10. Her breath seemed to catch in her chest, and for a moment, Tanner gazed back, making Cori's heart pound.
"What are you doing here?" he finally asked again. "Oh," his eyes fell to the magazine she was still clutching, now illuminated by her fallen cell. "I should have guessed." Tanner sighed. "You're here for autographs, right?"
"What? No," Cori frowned, too stupefied to even realize that she was holding the magazine.
Tanner looked at her curiously.
"Then it's just coincidence you showed up here with that?" he pointed at the magazine.
"I promise, it's not what it looks like!" Cori instantly dropped the magazine, wishing she had left it where Dezarae had dropped it back in the cabin. "I just-" she scrambled to explain, but her next words were drowned out by a roaring crack of thunder.
"It's gonna storm. Come on," Tanner said, suddenly picking up her cell phone and lighting the way through the trees.
As she followed after Tanner, Cori felt like she was in a dream, but feeling a raindrop hit her cheek, she knew she was awake.
"Hurry," Tanner called behind him, leading her at last out of the trees.
Cori emerged past the final mossy trunk and glanced around. A large, two-story cabin was settled nearby and a blazing bonfire illuminated several more figures near the lake.
"How did we end up back by the lake?" Cori asked Tanner, surprised to see the water, but even more surprised by her ability to wonder so casually despite her nerves.
"Everything's by the lake," said Tanner plainly. "We're on an island," he finished, striding away towards the campfire.
"An island?" Cori gasped to herself. "So I guess I won't be able to get a cab..."
"You coming?" Tanner paused halfway to the fire, waiting for Cori. "Unless you want to get caught in the rain."
Cori furiously shook her head and hurried after him, but when they reached the fire, she almost froze again at the sight of those sitting around it. The flames were casting light upon four faces- the faces of the rest of Miracle 10. They were all there...Axel, JM, Kole, Nicky U... and they all looked stunning in the orangey glow. However, no one was as appealing as the guy standing next to her, who was now handing back her phone.
"Hey guys," Tanner said. "I found the source of the light in the woods. A prowler," he nodded at Cori and she hoped the glow cast by the fire would cover her blushing.
"Well, she doesn't look too dangerous," JM shrugged.
"How'd you find us?" asked Kole.
"Yeah, we thought we had the place to ourselves," sighed Axel.
The boys all watched her carefully, awaiting her response.
"Miracle 10 is looking at me," she panicked.
The band members continued to stare.
"I, uh, took a boat," she told them when she finally found her words.
"But how'd you know we were here?" Kole raised his brows.
"I didn't," Cori waved her hands. "I was just hoping I could maybe find someone with a telephone. I don't have any service," she held up her cell, accidentally shining the light onto Nicky U's face. "Oh, sorry!" she embarassedly turned off her flashlight app, but a streak of lightning lit the scene even more.
"We'd better get inside," said Nicky easily, glancing at the sky. "It's gonna start pouring any minute."
"Some week we picked to ditch rehearsals," Axel frowned, standing up and stretching. "We didn't even get to make any s'mores yet."
"Yeah, it better not rain the whole time we're here," agreed Kole, rising from the log he was sitting on.
"It'll be fine," Nicky told them. "Just go on inside. I'll take care of the fire."
"Well, what about her?" JM looked at Cori. "She can't go back out on the lake in a downpour."
"We've got plenty of room in the cabin," said Nicky.
"There's only three bedrooms, Nicky," Tanner put his hands on his hips.
"Yeah, but Tanner, you're the only one not sharing a room," said Kole. "It won't kill you to give up your privacy for one night. You can bunk with JM and I."
Tanner glared at him coldly and as if on cue, the rain began to fall.
"Just do it," Nicky ordered.
"You better hurry, Nicky!" JM shouted as he, Axel and Kole made a run for the cabin.
"Go!" Nicky told Tanner.
Tanner exhaled deeply and, grabbing Cori by the hand, pulled her towards the cabin.
"Alright," he shook the rain from his hair when they were inside. "You can stay the night, but then you need to leave. I know you were looking for some fan experience, but we're just trying to get a little break. We'll give you autographs or something in the morning, okay?" Tanner stared down at her seriously, then led her up the stairs. "That's the bathroom there. And this is my room," he opened a door and flipped on the light. "Well, your room, I guess." Tanner grabbed an extra blanket and pillow from the top of the closet and headed for the door. "Oh, and also," he paused to glance back. "I'd better not find any of my stuff for sale on the internet." Tanner gave her a final look and disappeared down the hallway.
Cori shut the door and leaned against it, closing her eyes.
"I feel so bad for putting them out when they're on vacation," she frowned. "But... I'm in Tanner Lee's bedroom!" she opened her eyes and tried not to squeal. "Well, his cabin room," she thought, looking around. "But it sure doesn't look like a cabin."
Tanner's room was completely decked out, not unsimilar to pictures and videos she had seen of Miracle 10's dorm in the city. The closet was overflowing with fashionable apparel, signs from fans were taped to the walls, and a large mirror reflected over a desk with tons of skin products and cologne.
Cori sat down her phone and looked into the mirror. Her hair and clothes were pretty wet from the rain. Slowly opening the door, she stepped back into the hall and peered over the balcony.
"They must all be in their rooms," she decided, turning for the bathroom.
She flicked on the light switch as more thunder rumbled.
"Aha," Cori spotted a fuzzy, yellow towel hanging by the tub and bent over to dry her hair. "That's better," she thought, flipping her head back up and bumping into someone behind her.
"Ahh!" Cori was shocked to see Nicky U standing there, completely drenched from the storm.
"Whoops!" he said. "I didn't expect you to be in here. I was just coming to dry off," he eyed her still-damp hair. "But it looks like you needed to, too."
"Sorry, I'm done," she laid the towel on the sink and tried to slip past him but he caught her by the arm.
"Wait. You can't go to bed in wet clothes," he told her.
"I'll be okay," she promised.
"Yeah, but Tanner's bed won't be," he chuckled. "Come on, I probably have something you can wear."
Nicky grabbed another towel, ruffled it over his hair, and then tossed it with the yellow one before leading her to a room at the end of the hall.
"Dude, you're soaked!" Axel, who had already changed clothes, looked up from his bed. "Watch out!" he jumped up and snagged a leather coat from the floor near Nicky's foot. "You almost ruined my jacket! I'm gonna go get a towel," Axel grimaced and left the room.
Nicky chuckled and shook his head, starting for the closet, which was just as full as the one in Tanner's room.
"Here you go," he said, removing a tee shirt from its hanger and handing it to Cori.
Cori looked at the expensive, brand-name shirt as Nicky continued to weed through his wardrobe. A picture of a bright red mouth with its tongue sticking out was printed on the front with the acronym 'JK' under it.
"Oh, no! I think my shirt just dripped water on Axel's boots," said Nicky suddenly, and Cori looked up to see Nicky pulling off his sopping tee to reveal his extremely sculpted back.
Cori quickly turned away in embarrassment, but Nicky soon put on a fresh shirt and spoke again.
"Do you think these would fit?" he asked, now passing her a pair of black and red harem pants.
Cori nodded, accepting the baggy, knee-length pants and made for the doorway just as Axel ran back in with a handful of towels.
"Ew! You threw your wet shirt on my bed?" she heard Axel shout as she headed down the hall.
Back in Tanner's room, she changed into the dry outfit Nicky had given her and looked in the mirror once more.
"Dezarae would die if she knew I was wearing Nicky U's clothes," she grinned to herself, tugging at his tee. It was incredibly soft and smelled like some sort of soap. "Too bad this isn't Tanner's," she thought. "I bet his shirt would smell really good, too."
Curious, Cori eyed a bottle of Tanner's cologne, but a sparkling something on the desk caught her eye. A tiny silver pendant in the shape of an arrow was dangling from a bottle of hand cream.
"No way!" Cori picked up the necklace. "Tanner was wearing this at the music awards last year!"
Holding it as though it were extremely fragile, she deliberated whether or not to try it on. Her desire getting the better of her, she began to place it around her neck when suddenly there was a knock at the door. Cori dropped the chain back onto the vanity at once and opened the door.
"Why are you wearing my shirt?" Tanner stared at her from the doorway before stepping inside.
"Huh?" Cori gaped. "Nicky gave me this."
"Nicky!" Tanner shouted down the hall and Cori heard a door squeak open, followed by the sound of footsteps.
"Yeah?" Nicky popped his head into the room.
"What's the deal with giving away my stuff?" Tanner demanded.
"Huh?" Nicky looked as confused as Cori.
"That shirt's mine," said Tanner.
"It is?" Nicky laughed. "Sorry, man. I forgot I borrowed that from you! I can get her something else to wear if it's a problem," he added, beginning to leave.
"It's fine," Tanner shrugged.
"Are you sure?" both Nicky and Cori asked at once and Nicky shot her a grin.
"Yeah," Tanner told them.
"Alright. I gotta get back to helping Axel dry the floor," Nicky chuckled and with a wave, jogged back to his room.
Tanner, however, made no attempt to leave, crossing the room towards his bed instead.
"Umm, what are you doing?" Cori asked him nervously. "Is he going to kick me out?" she worried.
"I forgot my slippers," he answered, visually scanning the floor. "Where are they?" he sighed to himself, stooping onto his knees and checking beneath the table next to his bed.
"Let me help you," offered Cori, crouching onto the floor next to him and peering under the bed. "Hmm. What do they look li-AHH!"
Cori screamed as a loud boom shook the cabin and the lights went out.