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

Chapter 17

seventeen

I spent a large chunk of the next day pretending to do homework, but really just replaying the previous night’s events in my mind over and over again, grinning like an idiot as I remembered the feeling of Hudson’s lips on mine. Every time my phone buzzed, I jumped for it, desperately wishing I’d find a text message from him. We had talked that morning, but I didn’t care—I wanted to talk to him all day. But for the most part, the only messages that came through were on Twitter and the group chat.

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

@Bay where were you last night young man

Bay

What are you talking about?

Tis Moi, Luca

I went to your room, and YOU WEREN’T THERE

Bay

Oh I went out for Starbucks at one point

You probably just tried to come in while I was gone

Not Zesty

You were at Starbucks at midnight?

Bay

What makes you think I was out at midnight?

Not Zesty

I heard you come in

I was working out in the basement

Sharky

Ok what is up with all y’alls awful sleep patterns

Ni-Ni

Yeah I have to second that

Who works out at midnight??

Not Zesty

It’s the only time when nobody bothers me

There’s always something I have to be doing

Sharky

But you have to wake up at like six a.m. for school

Do you just not sleep?

Not Zesty

I’m not sure if you’ve realized this

But it is Saturday

Sharky

I assumed you’re doing this consistently

I.e. on school nights

Not Zesty

Yeah sometimes

But I also wake up like 5 minutes before I leave for school

Sharky

You guys scare me

Tis Moi, Luca

You’re just a forty year old in a sixteen year old’s body

Sharky

I feel like I should be offended

But you are right

I sighed in relief as I saw them move away from the topic of where Hudson had been last night because that definitely wasn’t a can of worms I wanted them to continue opening. Hudson and I had briefly discussed what to say if they asked any questions, but even in saying that, we had both hoped that it wouldn’t happen. There was only so much diverting we could do before the boys demanded answers—and Hudson had insisted that they wouldn’t die up until they knew the truth if that happened.

Ni-Ni

Wait, but that doesn’t answer the question about Bay

Darn it. Celebrated too soon.

Tis Moi, Luca

Oh yeah

@Bay EXPLAIN YOURSELF

Bay

Why were you coming into my room anyway?

Tis Moi, Luca

I had a nightmare

Bay

Did you have chocolate before bed again?

Tis Moi, Luca

…no

Bay

Luca we talked about this

Tis Moi, Luca

Shut up, I like chocolate!

What is life without sugar

Not a life worth living

Bay

I’m not telling you not to have chocolate

I’m just telling you not to have it right before bed

Ni-Ni

Do you not like Luca climbing into your bed from nightmares every night or something Bay

Tis Moi, Luca

Be careful how you answer

Bay

Of course I love it Luca 3

But I don’t love that you have nightmares

Tis Moi, Luca

The nightmares are worth it for the chocolate

Ni-Ni

I just remembered @eggo is in this chat

And definitely has no idea what we’re talking about

Eggo

I’m just along for the ride

Love learning new stuff about you

Hudson had actually told me about this habit of Luca’s during a call a little while ago. I hadn’t realized it at the time, but Luca must have started doing it when they were still on the show because Hudson said it was back when they had bunk beds. Luca was on the top bunk, and Hudson was on the bottom, but Luca sometimes got freaked out at night, so he would climb down and sit with Hudson to calm down. From what I understood of it, going on the show was the first time Luca had ever been away from home for more than a couple of days, so he struggled a lot with being there for weeks, especially when it was all in the public eye. But while I was sure that Hudson hadn’t shared anything with me that he thought Luca would be uncomfortable with, I didn’t want to parade around the fact that I knew it already in the group chat.

Tis Moi, Luca

You know so much about me, and yet you don’t know what my face looks like

I felt strange not telling them the truth, but I didn’t know how I could. First of all, it felt weird to just randomly say, “Oh, by the way, I believe you guys are who you say you are now.” And second, if they realized I knew their identities, then they would probably want me to tell them mine, and I didn’t want to have to say that yet. But I also didn’t want to expressly lie by agreeing that I didn’t know when they were, so I had to word my responses carefully.

Eggo

That sounds like a poem

Tis Moi, Luca

Now back to Bay

You still haven’t given an explanation

Wow, Hudson really hadn’t been kidding when he said they would be relentless about this. I kept hoping that with every diversion that came up, they would forget about why this conversation had started in the first place, but so far, that wasn’t happening.

A pop-up notification showed on my phone. Incoming Call: Bay . I still had his contact saved under that name because I was worried about the possibility of someone seeing a text or call coming in from Hudson and getting suspicious. Of course, we had the fantastic excuse of me being his guide at school, but I wasn’t sure if anyone would accept that as a real answer. On the off chance that they wouldn’t, I thought it was better to be safe. At least it would keep us out of the school’s gossip mill. Besides, I liked calling him Bay; I’d gotten used to the name.

“Hey,” I said when I answered the call.

“What do you think I should say?” he asked. I felt bad for thinking his accent was even cuter when he was worried.

“Is there any chance that if you don’t answer, they’ll let it go?”

“Almost definitely not.”

“Then we either need to tell the truth or come up with a convincing lie,” I said. “And I’m blanking on those.”

“You want me to tell them we went on a date?” Hudson asked incredulously.

“Not necessarily that we went on a date,” I said. “But you could say you went out. Maybe don’t say date, that’ll just make them ask more questions. Say you… went out to do something with some girls from school.”

“Went out to do something with girls from school?” he asked. He clearly didn’t think that sounded like it was a very good idea, but I appreciated that he didn’t actually say it out loud. “I still think that might raise a few questions.”

“Do you have a better idea?” I asked. “You know, come to think of it, I don’t know any of your friends outside of the guys. Do you ever hang out with anyone else?”

“Not really,” he said. “I mean, I have other friends, but they all live in other cities, and I would have told them if any of my friends were in town.” He sighed. “I might have to go with the kids from school excuse.”

“Well, you don’t need to sound so upset about it,” I said.

“Sorry,” he said. “It’s a good idea. I really appreciate it. I just know they’re going to be confused. And what should I say we were doing? ”

“Singing karaoke,” I said automatically. I almost face-palmed at the stupidity of the suggestion immediately after saying it. Why on earth would a pop star sing karaoke with a bunch of fans from school on a random Saturday night?

“I…”

“Don’t,” I said. I closed my eyes and shook my head, wishing that I could rewind time to five seconds ago. “Just don’t.”

“It’s actually not a terrible idea,” Hudson said. I rubbed a hand over my face. At least I picked a nice boy that spared my feelings whenever I said something stupid. “Not even just not-terrible. I think it’s pretty good.”

“You don’t need to pacify me,” I muttered.

“No, I’m gonna use it.”

“Hudson!” I laughed. “You can’t tell them you went out singing karaoke with a bunch of fans.”

“Why not?”

“Well, first of all, because they’re going to ask for videos.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Because the videos would be hilarious,” I said bluntly. “And you can’t even get away with saying that you didn’t take any videos, because everyone knows your fans would not give up an opportunity to take a video when hanging out with their favorite celebrity.”

“You’re right.” He groaned. “Maybe I should just take my chances not answering.”

“But if you do that, do you think Jude will do a full interrogation on you?” I asked. I couple legitimately picture him handcuffing Hudson to a table and bringing a lamp over to shine right over him while demanding answers. And who knew whether Hudson would be able to withstand that and not say anything?

“What else can I say, though? Oh yeah, I went out on a date, but I can’t date tell you anything about it or the girl I was with?”

“I got it,” I said, snapping my fingers. “You should tell them you went on a bad date.”

“A bad date?” he asked, confusion lacing his voice.

“Yeah,” I said. “Tell them you went with a girl, but… you hated it, and you couldn’t possibly talk to them about it any time soon because you were that upset about it.”

“Are you trying to tell me something?”

I laughed. “No. I promise I had a great time.”

“Okay…” He still sounded dubious, but I wasn’t worried—I would find a way to show him how much fun I had the next time I saw him. “But what do I say went wrong? I have to give some sort of reason, right?”

“You could just say it was super boring,” I said. “I mean, I don’t know why it would be so bad that you would refuse to talk about it, but it’s an option. Or… say that she went out with you on a dare. That you really liked her and thought it was going well, but then it turned out that she only went out with you, so she and her friends could make fun of you and stuff. That would be devastating.”

“That feels oddly specific.”

I had a feeling that he thought it had actually happened to me, but it hadn’t. The worst that ever happened to me was that one of the popular boys had asked me out as a dare, and I turned him down because I was worried that was the case. But that happened to everyone, right?

“It’s just a common fear,” I said. “Anyway, just say that. I promise they’ll leave you alone.”

“If you’re sure…” he murmured.

Bay

Ok fine I was out

Tis Moi, Luca

I knew it

Bay

I went out with this girl

Ni-Ni

WAIT WHAT

Bay

But it didn’t go well

So I don’t want to talk about it

Sharky

What happened??

Tis Moi, Luca

What part of “I don’t want to talk about it” do you not understand

“Do you think I actually need to mention the dare part?” Hudson asked. “I feel bad for making them think that it was actually something that bad.”

“You can say it if they keep asking,” I said. “But you don’t have to.”

“Okay, well, now that that’s done with,” he said, “what are you up to today?”

“Why? You can’t stand to be away from me for more than a day?”

“It’s torture,” he said, dragging the word out. “Is there any chance we can go out tonight?”

“You know, I think the rule with dates is to not ask for the second date for at least three days, so you don’t seem too eager.”

I wasn’t actually sure about that—I felt like I’d read it in some magazine a couple of years ago, but I could have been completely misremembering it. But I doubted Hudson would know it any better than me, so I didn’t worry about it.

“Screw not seeming eager,” he said. “I am eager. All I want is to see you.”

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

“So does seeing you.”

“That’s not a saying.”

“I don’t care.”

I giggled. “I wish I could go out, but my mom insists on family dinners every Saturday night, so I really have to stay home.”

Hudson sighed dramatically. “What do you expect me to do, then?”

“Sit there and think about me for the whole day,” I said sweetly. “You could even build me a shrine. It would be very romantic.”

“You’re so right,” he said. “I’ll get on that right now. But first… secret?”

“I have never built a shrine to someone,” I said. “You?”

“That doesn’t count as a secret.”

“It’s a fact I’ve never expressly told anyone, ergo secret,” I said. “Now tell me yours.”

“I also have never built a shrine to someone.”

“You can’t steal my secret! Think of your own!”

“But it’s true for me, too.”

“Well, I probably could have guessed that,” I said. “Now, tell me another secret instead.”

“I can’t think of anything else. It’s too much pressure.”

“Oh yeah, because I’ve never asked you for a secret when we’ve talked before.”

He laughed. “I guess it is on me for calling you without thinking of something.”

“So irresponsible.”

“Okay, I’ve got it,” Hudson said. “My secret is that I want to see you again as soon as possible.”

“That’s not a secret—you already told me.”

“You’re so hard to please.”

“Try again.”

“Okay, okay. My secret is that I want to kiss you… preferably right now.”

“I can’t kiss you right now,” I said.

“Why not?”

“You’re not here.”

“Try again.”

I frowned in confusion and looked around as if he would have materialized in my room somehow without me knowing.

“What do you mean?” I asked. I stood up, tossing the pillow I’d been holding back onto my bed, and walked over to the window. My eyes widened as I looked down at the street and saw Hudson standing there in the open doorway of his car. His phone was pressed to his ear, and he grinned up at me. “Are you crazy?”

“Crazy in love with you,” he said, echoing the words he’d said when he told me he wanted to meet for the first time. “Come down?”

“Somebody’s going to see you,” I said. “You’re going to get mobbed.”

“Guess you better come down fast, then.”

I shook my head in disbelief and grinned but headed for the stairs. “I’ll be there in a second. Don’t let my mom see you, or she’ll make you sign an autograph.”

“I wouldn’t mind signing an autograph for her,” Hudson said with amusement in his voice.

“Oh, I’m sure you would,” I said. I grinned a little as I remembered the way I’d thought of him when he first started at school—as some celebrity obsessed with his own fame, who probably wished everyone would ask him for autographs and photos all day, every day. Now, I could see that even though he was happy to do it, he was honestly still surprised every time somebody asked him for one.

I threw the front door open and hung up once I made eye contact with Hudson. Then I ran towards him and jumped, giggling in happiness as he caught me. We kissed deeply before I dropped my feet back to the ground. Hudson looked a little dazed.

“Well, that was enthusiastic,” he said.

“You said you wanted to kiss me,” I replied cheekily.

“I did,” he agreed. Then he opened the car door for me. “Come on.”

“I told you I could only stay for a second,” I said, but I couldn’t stop my feet from shifting towards the open door.

“We’ll just sit for a minute,” Hudson bargained. “We won’t even drive anywhere.”

“You’re a bad influence.”

“Funny, I was going to say the same about you.” He closed the door behind me after I sat down, then got in on his side as well.

“So, where do the boys think you are right now?” I asked. I glanced at my phone, but there weren’t any new messages from Hudson in the group chat warning them that he wouldn’t be home for some reason.

“Just out for a drive,” he said.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

Mom

Where are you?

I guess it was only a matter of time before she realized I was gone, but I was hoping we would get a little longer. She normally didn’t care much if I went out, but she was adamant that we had family dinners every Saturday and Sunday nights since they were the only days everyone could consistently be home. She probably came to get me and noticed I wasn’t in my room like she’d thought.

Megan

Just went for a walk around the block

Be back in a minute

“I have to go,” I said. “My mom noticed I’m missing.”

“What if you stayed anyway?” Hudson asked.

I kissed him quickly, then patted his cheek.

“I can’t,” I said. “But I’ll see you at school tomorrow, okay?”

He sighed deeply. “Fine. I guess I can wait until then.”

“Get working on that shrine,” I said with a wink before climbing out of his car and walking to the house. I stopped by the front door to watch him drive off. Who knew that there would ever be a day that a boy would be upset at not being able to see me for twelve hours? Let alone that boy being an internationally known pop star?

Even as it was happening now, I could barely believe it.