Once I recovered from the initial shock, I stood up, rushed to the very back row of the dense swarm of onlookers.
I was still pretty far from where Off-Kilter was, like, halfway across the building, but I got a good glimpse of everything that was happening by standing on the tips of my toes and craning my neck as far as it would go. The guys hadn't gotten very far from the main entrance when I caught sight of them. How could they, when all these pushy kids were coming at them, shouting their questions and congratulations all at once from all sides?
I would be scared to death, if I were in their shoes. The guys, however, apart from looking slightly panicked for about half a second, seemed to take it all in stride. They hadn't been famous very long, but this must be nothing compared to the whirlwind of the past couple of days in New York.
Several people broke away from the bunch to speak to them. I found myself impressed with those brave souls, which was unnerving. I shouldn't view the ability to talk to those guys as some sort of accomplishment, but for some reason, I did. I was feeling a lot of things that didn't make sense.
Of those people who got the guys' attention, the only face I found familiar was Everett Jones, a senior. He just walked up to them, said something, and high-fived each band member.
I had to wonder what he actually said and whether or not it actually warranted a high-five; Everett would high-five anyone over anything. Depending on whom you asked, he was either the friendliest, most chill guy in school, or the biggest burnout. He once tried to high-five me from the other side of a glass door, after I just saw him walk into said glass door, so my vote was on the latter.
At this point, a bunch of faculty members stepped in and basically told everyone to fuck off. They did, but in the slowest way possible and not even the least bit quietly. I tried to keep my eye on the guys but lost them in the crowd.
Alex turned to me and shrugged. "We'll run into them sooner or later. They can't hide forever."
Unfortunately, I thought and then, shaking my head, I willed myself to stop worrying about it. It was a big school; I had time. Out loud, I said nothing and just walked back to my locker for the finishing touches and to store my books and other things.
When I was almost done putting my stuff away, Alex spoke up. "Adrian, look who's here."
The smug tone in Alex's voice told me it could only be one person. Well, technically, it could be any one of three people-or all of them together. But only one of those possibilities was responsible for the turning the blood in my veins into ice, and with my luck, it just had to be him.
"Adrian," said the person Alex was referring to, confirming my suspicions.
The way I figured it, I had two options: One, I had a travel sized can of Lysol spray in my bag that I was going to keep in my locker for emergencies. I could empty it all around me and try to disappear in the mist-like a ninja.
Or two, I could grit my teeth and act normal for once. I did promise Alex, after all.
Showtime, I thought, took a deep breath and very slowly straightened up and turned to face the one who had spoken.
"Hey Seth." I noted that the remaining two-thirds of Off-Kilter were nowhere in sight. I gave him my most polite smile. "I didn't know you were here. When did you get in?"
Seth looked perplexed. "Seriously?"
What? I mouthed to myself at the same moment, shaking my head at how dumb I sounded. I tilted my head and gave him a look. "No, not seriously. I'm not deaf."
And then I laughed, hoping to pass it off as a joke. That was surprisingly smooth; maybe I did have a future in acting, like I thought.
Seth just stared, dumbfounded, and I took the opportunity to low-key stare back. I was relieved to see that I was glad to see for myself that his pictures in the magazine Alex showed us last weekend really was just badly Photoshopped. There were times I still missed all the excess weight he had shed ages ago. I didn't think I could handle him changing any more than he already had.
Thank God, he looked the same: Same hair, same soulful brown eyes. Still remarkably fair, almost as fair as Erin, who actually wanted to look like that and actively avoided the sun. (She said she was going full-Goth as soon as she graduated.) Except, I couldn't call him pale, anymore. He had a healthy touch of color in his cheeks and the base of his throat. Fame, or New York, or the right combination of both, seemed to agree with him.
Other than that, there didn't seem to be any real alterations made to his appearance. All his birthmarks seemed to be accounted for and in their proper place. At least the ones on his face were, but I had to wonder about the ones on the rest of him...
I mentally slapped myself and averted my gaze. This was neither the time nor the place.
The point was, he looked good, which was more than I could say for myself. I fought the urge to wipe my hands down the front of my striped shirt-dress. I looked even worse than I did the last time he saw me.
I should have listened to Alex.
"Wait a minute." Seth sounded indignant and I was worried that he had finally caught me perving on him. "Are you sure you're not? Because I've heard you sing and that would explain everything."
Surprised, I jerked my head back to where he was and saw him grinning wickedly. I pressed my lips together and gave him a look.
"Watch it, Superstar. I don't let just anyone insult me like that."
It didn't come off as lighthearted as I had intended. He looked about to say something, but my friends, who had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout this whole exchange, seemed to take the superstar comment as their cue to start talking and he never had the chance to.
"Start explaining, Seth." Alex spoke up as she, Beth and Erin walked up to stand beside me. They looked ready to pounce, and Seth must have thought the same as his eyes widened and took a step back. "And don't say you just magically woke up famous one morning."
"Oh. That." What did he think she was talking about? He gave a thoughtful pause then shook his head. "It's kind of a long story."
"Okay, hold on," Erin said. She reached into her black cross-body bag and pulled out a digital voice recorder-she was rarely ever without one-and held it up to Seth. "Start from the very beginning."
"A very good place to st-" Beth started to sing a song from a much-loved classic but we all looked at her funny and she laughed. "I'll stop."
Seth lifted an eyebrow. "Put that away."
"You got your big break. Help me out with mine. This could be the story of my career."
"You don't really believe that, do you?" Seth countered, laughing. Erin seemed to consider this but still held her ground. Seth rolled his eyes. "Maybe later."
It sounded non-committal to me, but the recorder went back inside Erin's bag, anyway. I couldn't help but be impressed. Seth really handled that well. Which surprised me. Like, what the hell? Erin was usually more dogged than that.
"Okay, but what just happened there?" Erin pressed. Better.
Seth shrugged and turned back to me. "Crazy, right?"
"What, you mean a sea of people doesn't follow you around everywhere you go now?" I asked, head tilted. He looked confused and with a flourish of my hand, gestured at a couple of kids lurking around, acting like they hadn't been a part of what happened earlier, but at the same time were obviously trying to eavesdrop.
They realized I was talking about them and scoffed, like I had said something absurd, and moved along. Mob rule was no longer in effect, it seemed, and I guess that meant overtly fawning over him and the band wasn't the coolest thing to do anymore.
My point proven, I smirked at Seth. "Actually, I'm surprised you were even able to spot us amidst all that."
"Um," Seth's brows furrowed and seemed hesitant to continue. His eyes drifted downward and mine followed, to my still-open locker and the wads and wads of used disinfecting wipes near it-the aftermath of my first-day ritual. When our eyes met, he said, in a quiet voice, "You're kind of hard to miss."
I reddened; he knew I did this every year.
"Was that entrance staged?" Beth asked.
"Yeah," Alex seconded. "Is it gonna be on the news? I wish someone had told me; we could have waited out front. And made signs."
Everyone, including Seth, looked at her funny. I fought the urge to roll my eyes; she must have really wanted to go to the Grammys.
"What? No. I don't know how that got started," Seth made a face and scowled. "As if we weren't running late enough. We had to drive all the way from LA. We didn't even get a chance to drop our stuff off at home," he said with a slight whine, and shifted to show the overstuffed backpack he had slung on one shoulder. He opened it and began rummaging inside.
"Which reminds me, I have something here for you," he said, turning to me.
"What is it?" I asked, eyeing him skeptically. It was the same backpack he had that night he left, so I just hoped whatever he was about to hand me hadn't been stored with his underwear. And then I mentally scolded myself, for even thinking about his underwear.
"A surprise. Now close your eyes."
"Like hell I will," I blurted out, before I could think better of it. Seth looked taken aback, and then his eyes widened. He looked less at ease after that, which made me feel better, for the most part.
But also, what, did I just slip his mind this whole time? I knew that unlike myself, he had better things to than dwell on it all this time but this was downright insulting.
"Just do it, Adrian, so we can all see what it is," Alex said, sounding impatient. Seth and I both turned at the same time to see our three friends watching intently. I had forgotten that they were here, too. "We'll watch to make sure he doesn't try any funny business."
Just like that, Seth blanched and began to fluster. I felt bad for him, then; I didn't mean to put him on the spot. Sure, I had a bit of a grievance at the moment but would rather deal with that in private and I definitely would rather not get Alex involved. It was just more peaceful for everyone involved that way.
"Guys, come on," I said, scoffing and waving dismissively. "What funny business? This is Seth we're talking about here."
Alex looked unconvinced, so I decided to prove it. I turned to Seth and nodded my agreement.
"No, it's-forget it. We don't have to..." The words spilled out in quick succession, making me narrow my eyes at him.
"It's fine, Seth." He stopped talking right away. I closed my eyes and held out one hand. The sound of rustling and things being moved around could be heard, and then...
"Now say ahh."
I opened my eyes to glare at him. "Are you kidding me?"
"You're gonna eat with those hands?" He asked, voice lowered, one eyebrow lifted. To his credit, he seemed uncomfortable with this whole thing as well.
He was bribing me with food. My one weakness, I thought dramatically-only half-joking. Everyone would know in an instant that something was wrong if I refused food.
And he was right, I didn't want this gunk on my hands in my locker, I sure as hell didn't want it entering my system.
What had I gotten myself into?
"I could wipe them on your nice, clean, white shirt." That fit him perfectly, I silently added. I held my palms up, dangerously close to his broad chest.
"You better not," he warned, visibly recoiling.
"For God's sake!" Alex exploded and then gave an impatient groan. "Why do you both have to make everything so difficult?"
Seth and I protested at that but stopped our bickering immediately after. We faced each other and I closed my eyes once again.
"Ahh," I said, opening my mouth just a little. I kept my tone dull, which wasn't easy when my face felt like it was on fire. I felt the lightest of touches and then, the bittersweet taste of dark chocolate was on my tongue.
It was okay and had a nice aroma, but I couldn't understand why he thought this was such a big deal-everyone knew I had a serious sweet tooth. But then, I bit down, and my eyes flew open.
"Oh my god." My words a little garbled from speaking with food in my mouth. Seth was looking me with an amused expression, his mouth slightly parted. He wasn't the least bit surprised at my reaction.
"Dark chocolate-covered espresso beans," he explained, smirking. "Like it?"
"You're kidding, right?" I heard Erin ask.
"Like it?" I repeated incredulously as soon as I could speak again. Did anyone like having a religious experience? No. Like didn't begin to explain this. I paused to find the right answer. "I-I never felt more alive," I declared, throwing my hands up.
Seth laughed and handed me a mason jar, filled with the chocolate pieces and topped with a shiny fabric bow. I held the jar out to our other friends to offer them some. They shook their hands and made hand gestures in refusal so I withdrew my hands and took a closer look at the jar.
"Hey, this thing's sealed," I said.
"So?"
"But you already gave me one," I paused for effect gave him a suspicious look. "That means...you have more."
That shocked a laugh out of him. "Just tell me when you need more, but try not to go through them so fast. I'm usually bouncing off the walls after I've had around five-"
"Then neither of you should be having any!" Erin interrupted, sounding frantic and reminding me once again that we had nosy people listening in.
"They really help with the late nights, though." Seth reasoned.
"Seriously, take it back," she pleaded.
"It's in better hands with me than with him!" No one refuted this point and I stuck my tongue out at Erin. To Seth, I said, "Thanks. And thanks for the warning but I think I can handle it."
"Dude!"
We all looked in the direction that the familiar voice came from. A tall guy with dark blond hair-Ethan Scott-stood outside the Administration Office, beckoning at Seth. We all waved at him and he waved back, before addressing Seth once more. "Tinsley wants you!"
Seth cast me an apologetic look. Mr. Tinsley was Riverside North's vice-principal and a bit of a weirdo. "I have to go."
"Of course you do." I waved him off and smiled. He and the other girls exchanged quick goodbyes and then he headed to where Ethan was standing.
"Sit with us at lunch!" Alex called out. The two boys waved to indicate that they had heard and together walked into the office door.
As soon as the two boys disappeared, Erin sidled up to me. "The three of us talked about it, and decided that someone should hold on to that for you."
"What?" I looked around and, to my horror, Beth and Alex were nodding solemnly. "I very nicely offered you guys some but you refused."
"We're not gonna eat it. You heard what happens if you have too much of it," Erin said, reaching for my jar. "Hand it over."
"Not a chance," I exclaimed, hugging the jar closer to me. "This is my new favorite thing in the world and if you want to take it away, you'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands."
Before any of them could react, I rushed back to my locker, tossed my stuff, including the jar, inside and quickly slammed it shut. As soon as I did that, my three horrible friends exploded into laughter. I turned to scowl at them.
"We were just kidding, Adrian," Alex said, obviously trying to stifle her laughter.
"That's not funny!" I scowled harder.
"You're absolutely right, Adrian." Beth sounded apologetic as she walked over to where I stood. "Here. You might want this back."
I looked down and saw that she had placed the packet of wipes I had given her earlier in my hand. I looked at her, puzzled. A sly little smile was on her face. "You're probably feeling extra dirty right now-after what you and your BFF just did."
My jaw dropped, and I stared at her in shock. She looked like she was really struggling to keep a straight face; Beth looked really sweet and innocent but deep down was pure evil.
"Okay, that was pretty hot," Alex admitted. All three of them started cracking up again.
"Oh my God, it was not hot at all!" I yelled at them. I was seconds away from having an actual fit, so before it happened, I picked up the used wipes that were still scattered on the floor and stomped my way to the nearest trash can to throw them away. The three of them followed behind me, still snickering, but I actively ignored them and started to storm off.
"Where are you going?" Erin asked. Each word was punctuated with shaky laughter.
"To wash my hands!" I spat out. "Of this and of all of you."
"Uh-oh, you guys," I heard Beth say in a stage whisper before I got too far. "That was a bible reference. She must be really mad."
***
A/N: I'm still trying to decide if this will have a part two or if I will attach it to the next chapter. If it's the first, expect an update soon, if not, see you in a week, hopefully.
Thanks for reading. Don't forget to vote, leave comment, etc. ILY!