*Cora*
Elle and I sat eating while I told her about my encounter with famous boy. I left out the part about him being famous; well, I left it out until I had to.
Elle nodded along with everything I told her like a good best friend, not like me who was accidentally zoning out after 10 seconds today. I felt bad about that, but there wasn't much I could do. I wasn't like I was controlling it, it just happened.
"So then I rambled for a minute about what I was going to do to him if he didn't move, but this is me we're talking about, so it made no sense outside of my brain, you know?" I said and stuffed a too large bite of chicken into my cheeks, inadvertently making myself into a chipmunk. Well, I'm sorry for not being a flawless eater ok? I'm human, and I'm a hungry human.
Elle quickly agreed. She better than anyone knew exactly what I was talking about. She was the one person I wasn't afraid to talk to because of my tendency to make a fool of myself when I talked. Also, I tended to ramble on about everything and nothing, not making sense to anyone but myself, so I tried pretty hard to not have to talk to anyone but her.
She must've noticed I'd zoned out again because she raised her eyebrows and said, "Then?"
"Oh, yeah. I clarified. I told him I was gonna take a picture of him and post it everywhere and then announce his presence to the mall. He got up and left real quick. He did grin at me though and..." I gave her the oh my, was it hot look.
Elle shot me that knowing smile that only a best friend can give. "Oh, so he was hot, that what you're saying right? Because if he wasn't hot- wait. Why would he care if you took his picture?"
I smirked and took my time finishing my bite, knowing how much she was going to hate that I kept this vital part of information from her. "Oh, that. Yeah, I suppose you don't know that part. He was famous."
I swore Elle's jaw was going to hit the floor. My smile-moment was long forgotten.
"Famous? What do you mean famous?"
"I mean he was a celebrity was trying his best to not be noticed by anyone. He was succeeding, too."
"Why didn't you say anything? That was a once and a lifetime opportunity, you idiot!" I could tell how badly Elle wanted to scream at me for missing this chance, but I didn't care.
See, that's the thing. I don't really get starstruck. At all. And I'm pretty sure that Elle got my share of it 'cause she goes slightly overboard in my opinion.
I can't explain why I don't get all googly-eyed when celebs come around because I know it doesn't happen that often, but the best guess I could ever give was that I just saw them as normal people who have to put up with the unfortunate occurrence of being surrounded by a lot of people all the time. Sure, it's cool to be with someone who's name was known around the world, but honestly, it's really just not that big of a deal to me. I guess going from basically invisible, to almost popular, and then to social outcast gave me a fractional taste of that popularity and it's no different from the others. If anything, it's just more stressful. There're more names to know, more favors to owe, more pressure to live up to the hype of being the "popular person."
So, yeah. Fame to me wasn't that big of a deal. Celebrities are just people, like me and Elle and everyone else we know.
I realized Elle was actually waiting on an answer. Like she really wanted to know how and why I wouldn't out the poor dude.
"Look, he obviously didn't want to be recognized and I don't care what you say, I respect that. He's a person too, and we all have to have to have down time, right? A time when you can just go chill in a mall. Celebs can't get that very often, so I didn't want to ruin that chance for him." What I'd said was mostly true, but until this second I hadn't realized that giving him a chance to be normal was only half of it.
In reality, I knew that the jerk-like attitude he gave me was just a front. His grin at the end, though mostly stuck in my head because of the tilt of his perfect lips, was also stuck in my head because it had been genuine. You can't fake a grin like that that well, especially not if you're actually mad about getting blackmailed (which I would forever feel terrible about). Yeah, he was insanely hot, but I got the feeling that whoever it was had a lot more to him then just his looks and his fame.
Elle groaned and tossed her blond hair over her shoulder. "I hate when you're a good person."
"Hey!" I cried, laughing. "I'm always a good person!"
"Yeah. Oh-kay." Elle started chuckling too. "Hey, how did you know that he was famous? I mean, it's not like he came with a label saying, 'hey I'm famous, don't bother me.'"
I shrugged. "Bro, have you ever met my mom? It was obvious. Versace pants and Gucci shoes under a slightly over-sized sweatshirt with the hood all the way up. Only celebs do that."
"Ugh. I forgot your mom was a fashion guru."
And that she was. Her inability to talk about anything else made me almost glad she wasn't around much anymore.
As always, we finished eating at the same time and dumped our plates in the trash. Halfway out the food court, Elle pulled me to a stop, shoved her Pink bag into my arms and made a right turn for the bathroom. I grinned and readjusted her bag, so I had a comfy wait. (Yeah, I know, I didn't actually go into the bathroom with her. What can I say? I guess Elle and I just aren't that close. Well we actually are, but we both think that's weird.)
I was leaning against the wall outside of the bathroom when I saw him. A guy in a familiar blue hoodie was sat at a table just a few rows away from where Elle and I had previously been just a few minutes ago.
Just as the realization that I was staring at the side of his hood and should probably look away entered my head, he turned to look at me. Or I assume that what he was doing. The hood still shielded half of his face but a saw a flash of a smirk before his expression returned to normal and he raised a hand in a wave of recognition.
On a sudden surge of confidence and curiosity, I waved back and took a step forward, headed straight for him and ready to find out who this dude was. That's all the further I made it though, because just then Elle stepped out. "Ready?" she asked, oblivious to everything surging through my head right now.
I painfully tore my eyes from my famous boy and nodded, unable to form words. I knew I'd never see him again, let alone speak to him again, so getting my body to follow Elle into the concourse was about as easy as pushing a chain. Luckily, Elle was still oblivious and didn't realize I was dragging behind her. It wasn't like I wanted a sit-down meeting with the guy, but something about him drew me in.
We shopped around for a few more hours— well, correction: Elle shopped around for a few more hours, I was still lost in thought about Famous Boy— and Elle bought some really cute earrings, a new scarf, and a skirt so short my mom would've forbidden if she wasn't the fashion guru of LA.
Not me though. I couldn't focus. That is, I couldn't focus even less than I already was today. It felt like every time I turned a corner or ducked out from behind a rack, I was going to see that curiously familiar blue hoodie. I didn't see it once after the second time in the food court, but the feeling lingered.
Elle knew that something was off. She also knew that I didn't want to talk about it and that I would eventually spill everything to her. That's just what best friends do. She was impatient, but she knew me well enough to know I'd only talk when I was good and ready. I have such love for how much she understands me.
We left the mall, marching out to our car and I saw him again. He was a few rows to our right walking at a pretty good pace towards the back of the lot. My eyes followed the path my brain predicted he was going to take and ended up at a car I had a hard time believing no one had noticed yet. It had to be his, literally no one but a celebrity would own a car that intense. At the far back of the lot, there it was sitting there in all of its bright, bright cobalt blue glory, complete with a black stripe down the hood.
If I could drive, I would die for that car. Elle was always laughing at me because I'm 18, can't drive, and have to bum rides off of literally everyone. I keep telling her, though she already knows it, that it's not my fault my parents won't agree to letting me get my license because they got stupid strict on some things four years ago. I could run around LA all I wanted; I just couldn't drive around it. I could stay out as long as I wanted, but if I was gone for a whole night, they put me on lock down. (Of course, that only happened if they knew I was gone for a whole night or if they knew I would be gone all night, but I was staying with Elle.)
I sighed and smushed myself into the passenger seat of Elle's car. She looked at me with a question in her eyes, but I wasn't bringing it up.
Instead, I asked, "Want to go to my place and binge watch rom-coms?"
The unsaid question vanished, and she nodded, a huge grin plastered on her face. "What makes you think I wouldn't want to do that?" she asked.
So that's what we did. My parents were both out as usual, so we had the house to ourselves and we took full advantage of that. Every blanket, comforter, and pillow were stripped from its location in the house (except for Mom and Dad's room, they were weird about me being in their room) and placed on the floor of the living room until we had a suitably squishy floor. Elle also got to raiding the kitchen, bringing in way too many snacks.
We were just about to start our third movie of the night when my phone lit up and started buzzing. Elle and I just stared at it. We both knew that I do not get texted unless it was Elle or someone needing help on homework. And yes, I know how lame that is, but Elle was sat next to me and we were currently on summer holiday after our senior year.
Neither of us moved for the phone and a minute later, it did the buzz to remind me that I got a text. I didn't need to be reminded.
"Maybe someone has summer school..." Elle suggested.
"Yeah, maybe," I agreed, but it was a long shot. No one at our school would be caught dead in summer school because it ruined their 'image,' whatever that was.
"Well, pick it up." I did.
1 New Message- Unknown Number
I clicked the "view" button.
"Well?" Elle asked immediately.
I stared at the screen, wordless.
thanks for what you didn't do today
-E
I was just about to send out a quick "who is this" text, but another one came through before I could.
i mean it
-E
Then another.
i really needed to cool off from a bad day and i didn't want to be mobbed by people so thanks for not outing me
-E
That's when it clicked. Famous Boy was thanking me for not announcing him today at the mall. I stared at Elle with my mouth slightly open.
Who was 'E' though? Even with all the knowledge Elle as bestowed upon me about the stars of Hollywood, I couldn't come up with one who simply went by E. Maybe it was a nickname. Maybe he still didn't want me knowing who he really was.
It didn't take long for her to scoot over and read the messages over my shoulder. I watched as her eyes flicked back and forth several times. Apparently, she had to read them multiple times as well before they sunk in.
"Holycrap," she whispered finally, and I couldn't agree more.