Celebrities Don’t Date Bookworms (Texting the Boyband #1)

Chapter 11

eleven

As always, Mrs. Kavinsky finished all the class content about twenty minutes early. But today, instead of telling us to talk with our desk partner about something like she usually did, she told us we could do whatever we wanted for the rest of the period. For a second, I was worried that Hudson was going to strike up another conversation with me, but he didn’t even get the chance to open his mouth before the fangirls descend. I swear, they must have been waiting on the edge of their seats for the lesson to be over because one second, they were sitting, and the next they were surrounding Hudson’s side of the table.

“So, Hudson…” Lily Pletsch said. She was standing right in front of him, and his face would have been to her stomach if she wasn’t practically bent over at the waist, putting them eye-to-eye. She lightly brushed his bicep with her hand. “How are you liking Summerfield?”

I knew for a fact that her voice was not normally that high or airy. While I was no stranger to putting on a customer service voice when talking to a stranger, I was pretty sure she was actually aiming for (and epically failing at) a seductive one instead. The other girls seemed to be going for the same attitude as well. The girl who had been glaring at me earlier had unbuttoned, so much of her blouse that she might as well have just opened the whole thing, another girl was trying to perch herself on the edge of the desk without actually sitting on his binder, and yet another one was stroking her hand through his hair like he was a dog. I scrunched up my face as second-hand embarrassment coursed through me. I could understand the idea of having a celebrity crush, but surely, they didn’t think this was the way to win him over, right?

“Oh, I’m loving it,” Hudson said. He flashed them his perfect, mega-watt smile that I was sure his publicist made him practice in the mirror every morning. He had to be ready to win people’s hearts at any moment. “Everyone here is so friendly. Like Megan here.”

Suddenly, a bunch of eyes were on me, and not a single one of them was friendly.

“She has been so nice,” Hudson continued. I couldn’t tell whether he was being sarcastic or not. “I really appreciate her showing me around the school.”

“You know, you could probably find another one who…” Lily looked at me distastefully, “…smiled more.”

“Or actually likes your music,” the girl stroking his hair pitched in .

“And did I hear you call her Starbucks girl in first period?” Christina asked. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, showing off her perfect manicure, before saying, “Does she, like, work there or something? Because you shouldn’t have to mingle with the poor students. Some of us actually have parents that can provide.”

For the first time, Hudson’s smile seemed to switch from genuine to frozen. Even if I thought it was pretty fake before, it looked infinitely better than it did now.

“There’s no shame in needing a part-time job,” Hudson said tightly. “I had one to help support my parents before I joined Take Five.”

Christina flushed, and looked away quickly, making a show of pulling a textbook out of her bag, and stepping away. That was definitely for the best; I didn’t think there was any coming back from that.

“Hudson,” another girl jumped in, “tell us all about your friendship with the other boys. Do you live together?”

I rolled my eyes. I didn’t understand why they would be asking him questions that they obviously knew the answer to; with all the news coverage that Take Five got, their fans probably knew more about them than they did about themselves. As Hudson droned on about their living arrangements, and how he loved living with his four best friends, I climbed out from my seat on the non-crowded side of the desk. Unsurprisingly, my spot was immediately taken over by three more people, but I didn’t worry about it. As long as they didn’t ruin any of my school stuff, I couldn’t care less about them sitting there. It wasn’t like I wanted the spot anyway.

I walked across the room and dropped down in one of the beanbag chairs in the corner. They were technically for silent reading, but for today, we were going to count texting as reading. I glanced up again as I heard everyone around Hudson start giggling. In the gaps between people, I saw that he had also pulled out his phone, and was now showing it off to the girls like it was some work of art. I shook my head and looked down, hoping that I would have some new notifications from the group chat. I was a little surprised by how much I was starting to rely on talking to these guys all day; how much I felt like they were my real friends in the same way that Sloane was. I wasn’t sure whether I should be happy that I had new friends or concerned that I still didn’t know who any of them were.

Group name: I promise this isn’t a group chat, Dad

Members: Ni-Ni, Bay, Sharky, Tis Moi Luca, Not Zesty, Eggo

Tis Moi, Luca

Not to be dramatic, but

I just met the most beautiful girl in the world

Sharky

Do tell

Tis Moi, Luca

My guide at school

I think I might be in love with her

Ni-Ni

How long have you known her exactly?

Tis Moi, Luca

An hour

But when you know, you know

Eggo

Do you believe in love at first sight?

I only asked the question because I thought it was relevant, but as I looked at it, I wondered myself. If someone had asked me a couple of weeks ago, I would have said no resolutely. How could you fall in love with somebody that quickly? Heck, I wasn’t even sure I could even develop a crush on somebody that quickly.

But that was before I started talking to Bay.

I wasn’t in love with him yet—I knew that much for certain. I barely even knew him. But I was definitely starting to get some feelings for him, and if I was someone who thought I could fall in love that fast… maybe I would think I was.

Tis Moi, Luca

Absolutely

Sharky

You should ask her out

Tis Moi, Luca

I can’t be that forward!!

I need to take some time

Get her to fall for me

Bay

She’s probably already in love with you too

Who wouldn’t be right?

Sharky

This is why everyone on twitter thinks you’re dating

Tis Moi, Luca

@Bay In another life, mi amor

Bay

3333

Eggo

Aside from that, how’s your first day at Summerfield going everyone?

Sharky

I’m liking it!

Of course it’s only second period, so there’s always time for it to go downhill

Bay

That’s the spirit

I stared at the empty icon that went alongside Bay's name. I wished I had a photo of him to put in there; I wished I knew who he was, even if we couldn’t meet. I wondered who he was, and if we had met yet. Today was only his first day, so the chances that we had were probably low, but it didn’t stop me from wondering. It didn’t stop me from thinking about the fact that he was somewhere in this building, possibly thinking about me too.

It was then that I realized I couldn’t deny the truth anymore: I was falling in love with a boy that I had never even met.

And even worse… I wasn’t upset about it in the slightest.

“Jude is so cute!” Sloane gushed as we walked home that afternoon. “I mean, I always thought he was the cutest one in the band, but seeing him in person was just…” She sighed and held her hands to her heart. “Amazing.”

She’d been talking about Jude for five straight minutes, and I wasn’t even sure if she realized that I hadn’t said anything the whole time.

“Grace is going to be so jealous,” she continued. “Unless Neil’s in one of her classes. Oh my gosh, can you imagine if she got to be his guide? That would be amazing.”

The chances that all three of us got to be guides for the band seemed slim to me, but I guess it was possible. She was right about Grace being jealous, though—as sweet and cute as she was, she would probably kill someone if it increased her chances of getting to meet her favorite boy band.

“Maybe you can introduce her to Jude,” I said. Sloane gasped and grabbed my arm.

“You’re right! That would be great. She would owe me forever.”

The bell above the door jingled as we walked into Starbucks. Unlike when we’d come in last week, there actually were other people in the shop, and—I was careful to note—there were no members of Take Five anywhere.

Luckily, there wasn’t anyone in line to order, so I went straight up to the counter and ordered my drink.

“Could I get a name for the order?” The barista asked.

“Megan.”

Her typing slowed, and she looked at me closely. “Megan White?”

“Um…” Why did this random girl know my name? I looked to Sloane, hoping that she would jump in and say hi to the girl because it turned out we went to elementary school together or something random like that—she always remembered people better than I did. But Sloane just looked as confused as me, so I turned to the barista again, and tried not to look freaked out. “Why do you ask?”

“Somebody paid ahead for you,” she said. She handed me a gift card with a small note taped to it.

Sorry again for spilling your coffee. Forgive me?

- H.S.

Sloane looked at the card over my shoulder.

“H.S.,” she said. She grinned from ear to ear. “Megan, Hudson Shaw paid for your drink.”

“You don’t know that it was him.”

Sloane rolled her eyes. “Okay—can you think of another H.S. that owes you a coffee, and would go out of his way to pay for it?”

Well, no, I couldn’t, but that didn’t mean anything. Why would Hudson care so much about paying me back for the drink he spilled? Sure, we talked about it briefly this morning, but that didn’t mean anything.

“That doesn’t mean it was him.”

“Well…” the barista said. She looked around, then leaned in to whisper to me, “Actually, it was Hudson Shaw. I didn’t want to say anything out loud, just in case anyone heard and freaked.”

Considering the day I’d had at school, that was definitely a good idea.

“How did he know what I was going to get?” I asked.

“He just paid fifty dollars to cover whatever you wanted,” the barista explained. “I have to ask… how do you know him?”

“We go to school together,” I mumbled.

“And he spilled coffee on her last week,” Sloane added. “She wouldn’t let him pay her back, so I guess he had to get creative. Isn’t it cute?”

“Totally adorable,” the barista said with a nod. “I’m so jealous. I wish I could see him at school every day.”

Want to trade places?

“Yeah,” I murmured. I handed her the card back so she could swipe it. “Guess I really am lucky.”

Was I the only person in the world who wasn’t obsessed with this boy? He was just a person, after all. Sure, he was cute, and I guess he was nice enough, and it was sweet of him to do this for me, but he was still just a boy. A famous one, sure, but did that really make him that special? Or was there something there that I wasn’t seeing?