Heartthrobs Don’t Date Wallflowers (Texting the Boyband)

Chapter 5

five

“And if I turn here, I should end up…” I sighed and let the paper fall to my side as I found myself back in front of the music room for the third time. “Right where I started.”

I’d left lunch early to have enough time to find my next class and it was a good thing, because I’d been wandering around this stupid, gigantic school for twenty minutes and I wasn’t any closer to finding the classroom. I’d walked up and down hallways, gone up a staircase that seemed to lead to the same floor I’d started on, and somehow kept ending up at the music room, like the universe was trying to tell me I should have chosen it as my elective.

I pressed my hand to my forehead and groaned. Why was this school such a maze?

“Need some help?” A girl asked from behind me. I barely held in my scream of surprise as I spun around. I thought I was completely alone in the hallway, but a girl with light brown hair was now standing behind me. I hated the immediate jealousy I felt as I looked at her—while the school uniform looked frumpy on me, she looked so effortlessly beautiful in her Summerfield Cheer sweater, plaid skirt, and Doc Martens boots.

“Oh, I’m okay,” I said immediately, even though I really wasn’t. At this rate, I was only going to be attending half my classes on the first day of school.

“You sure?” She asked. “You look a little lost. And I’m sure we can help.”

I glanced around the hallway, wondering if I’d missed anyone but it looked just as empty as I thought it was.

“We?” I asked.

“Yeah me and…” She started to point over her shoulder, then seemed to realize there was nobody there and spun in a circle. “Uh, my boyfriend was here. He tends to disappear.” She spun around again and called out, “Jude?”

“Jude?” I asked, remembering the boy in my first period class. “You mean Jude Turner?”

She spun back around so quickly, her ponytail hit her face lightly, but she was smiling. “Yeah! You know him?”

“Oh, uh, he’s in my first period class,” I said, tugging at my backpack straps. I smiled just the smallest bit. “It seemed like every girl in the room was in love with him.”

She laughed. “Yeah, that’s pretty standard. You get used to it.”

My brows furrowed. “To other girls being in love with your boyfriend? ”

“Well—”

“I’m back!” The boy from this morning came jogging around the corner, his messy brown hair flopping on his forehead. He hadn’t looked very school-ready this morning, but he somehow looked even more casual now, with his tie so loose he might as well not have been wearing it and his backpack dangling from his forearm like an afterthought. He pressed a kiss to the girl’s cheek then looked at me appraisingly. I shifted awkwardly under his gaze as he frowned, seeming like he was trying to figure out who I was—or why his girlfriend was bothering to talk to me. “Hey, you’re the new girl, right?”

What a lovely nickname.

“Ivy,” I said. I wasn’t sure whether to hold my hand out to shake or not, but he saved me from having to decide because he went straight in for a hug. I froze, letting him pin my arms to my side and glancing at his girlfriend over his shoulder. Was she really okay with this? My ex would have hated me hugging another guy, even in front of him, but she was just smiling endearingly.

“Nice to meet you!” He stepped back and slipped his hand back into the girl’s and tilted his head toward her a little. “You have good taste in friends if you’re already hanging around Sloane.”

“Oh,” I glanced at the brunette girl—Sloane, I guess—not sure how she would feel about being called my friend when we just met two minutes ago. “We’re not?—”

“Yes, she does,” Sloane said firmly, cutting me off. She leaned forward like she was trying to read the paper in my hand and asked curiously, “Are you lost?”

“That obvious, huh?” I mumbled, also glancing down at the school map in my hand. My hands were so sweaty that it was getting permanently wrinkled and some of the ink was smudged. “I’m looking for my science class. I think it’s on the third floor—I mean, the room number starts with a three, so I have to assume that’s what it means? But I keep ending up on the main floor or the basement, and so I thought maybe one of these floors have rooms that start with a three but…” I realized I was rambling and awkwardly trailed off. “Yes, I’m lost.”

“Don’t worry,” Sloane said, with such confidence in her voice that I thought I’d be willing to follow her into battle if she asked me to. She snatched the map out of my hand and crumpled it up. I probably would have protested if the map wasn’t already useless to me. “There is a third floor, but that staircase doesn’t go all the way up.”

“I still get lost on it,” Jude added helpfully.

“What?” I glanced over my shoulder at the apparently traitorous staircase. The bright yellow stairs just sat there as if they were taunting me. How could it not go up all the way? Wasn’t the point of staircases to take you to all the floors of a building? “But why…”

“I have no idea,” Sloane said. “It’s stupid. But I can show you the way upstairs. Which science class are you in?”

“Uh…” I had to pull my schedule out again. I’d stuffed it in my pocket while I was wandering around, so like the map, it was a mess and I grinned awkwardly at them.

“Look Jude,” Sloane said. She winked at me as she said, “We found someone more disorganized than you.”

“Hey!” Jude said. He knocked his shoulder into her and she laughed. “I am not disorganized!”

“Yeah. Right.”

He crossed his arms and pouted playfully. “You’re so mean to me.”

“Says the guy who lost his student card on his first week of school and made me leave class early to help him back inside.”

“And I haven’t lost it again since!”

“Only because Finn takes it from you at the end of every day and gives it back to you in the mornings.”

“Stop making fun of me in front of my new friend.”

I glanced up from where I was trying to smooth out my map. Was he talking about me when he said his new friend? Again, seemed strange since we only met a couple of minutes ago, but I guess hugging made us friends? Or was that something he just called everyone? Maybe it was a PR move to make people feel more trusting and like him. That was what celebrities did, right?

“Hey, I saw to her first,” Sloane said. “Make your own friends.”

“No, you didn’t!”

“We were talking in the hallway while you were off…” She threw her hand around in the air. “Doing something over there.”

“I was signing autographs, thank you very much. And you didn’t see her first because she was in my class this morning.” He whipped his head around to face me and raised an eyebrow. “Right?”

“Uh…” They were both looking at me now and I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say, since I’d already established with each of them before this that he was, so I cleared my throat and went, “Yeah.”

“Ha!” Jude said, poking Sloane in the chest. She rolled her eyes but she was grinning. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Ivy, give me your twitter handle.”

“What?” I asked.

I’d been the new girl at many schools before this and I’d never had somebody just decide that we were friends like this. I wasn’t really sure what to do with it. Were they making fun of me somehow? I wasn’t sure if what the right move was here, but Jude was holding his phone out to me expectantly and I didn’t want to seem weird, so I took it from him and typed in my username.

“I don’t use it much,” I said as I handed it back to him. I didn’t press the follow button for him, since I wasn’t sure what his intention with asking and I didn’t want to assume. But I guess my first assumption wasn’t wrong because he immediately pressed it then grinned at me.

“You’ll have to forgive his overeagerness,” Sloane said flatly. “He doesn’t have many friends. ”

“Hey!” Jude whined. “I told you I’m sensitive about that!”

I couldn’t help the small laugh that came out of my mouth, though I regretted that as they both turned their gaze back on me. The smile dropped off my face and I dropped my gaze. “Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for,” Sloane said cheerfully. “So, what was the science class you’re in?”

“Oh, uh…” I looked at my crumpled schedule again. It was hard to read, but I could make out enough words to tell her, “Bio. Grade eleven.”

“That’s my class!” Sloane said. “I’ll walk you there.”

She grabbed my hand and started tugging me down the hall, back the way they’d come. I was so surprised by the movement that I didn’t even get the chance to pull my hand back or try to stand in place.

“I’ll see you later, Jude?” She called over her shoulder while we were walking. He was still standing in place, looking amused.

“I’ll pick you up at seven,” he replied. As Sloane pulled me around the corner, a girl appeared beside him and asked for a selfie, taking his attention away.

Sloane led me through some hallway I was pretty sure I’d never passed through before, even though I’d been wandering around this school forever. The lockers here were dark blue, unlike the yellow and grey ones upstairs, like the school officials wanted to make sure they showcased all the school colors across them. Sloane pushed open a door that led into a much bigger staircase than the one I’d been on before. Of course this was the more official one that went all the way upstairs.

By the time we reached the top, I felt like I couldn’t breathe, but I tried to play it off, because she looked no more exhausted than if she’d walked in a straight line. She turned right into a classroom as soon as we got to the floor and motioned for me to follow her. I did so slowly, my heart pounding off of my chest the same it had been as I walked into each class all day. It looked like pretty much everyone was already in here and we had to weave between people throwing wadded-up papers and yelling to get to the tables across the room.

“So, why are you starting mid-semester?” Sloane asked.

“I just moved here,” I said. I narrowly avoided tripping over some backpacks that were scattered in the middle of an aisle. That seemed like a safety hazard in a lab.

“Well, welcome to Bibridge,” she said, dropping her bag at a table and sitting down. I glanced at the surrounding empty tables, wondering if they were unclaimed or if the students who normally sat there were just standing around the room right now. Sloane gestured at the empty seat in front of her. “You can sit with Megan.”

A blonde girl sitting beside the empty seat looked up and smiled brightly at me. I was hit by the sense that I knew her but I couldn’t place where. Maybe I’d seen her around town in the last couple of weeks? Not that I’d walked around much, but I guess it was possible.

“Hey,” Megan said, sliding her papers over to make room for me. She glanced curiously at Sloane and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sloane mouth new girl .

Honestly, I would have preferred Sloane to take her usual spot and let me sit alone, but she was clearly trying to be nice. It would be rude to throw that back in her face, so I awkwardly sat, even though all I wanted was to keep to myself.

“So, did I hear you saying you were new in town?” Megan asked.

I awkwardly bobbed my head. There was nothing I hated more than awkward small talk, especially when starting at a new school. I’d moved five times in my life, so I was used to being the new kid, but I hated all the attention it brought me. It was the same reason Poppy had convinced our parents that she should go to boarding school—it was much easier than having to start over again and again every time our dad’s job location changed. Boarding school was at least stable, no matter where the rest of us moved to.

“Where do you live?” Megan asked.

“Oh, uh…” I wracked my brain for the street. Mom had made me memorize the address so I wouldn’t get totally lost. “Beachwood.”

Megan’s eyes widened slightly. I recognized the look of someone realizing that I lived in one of the huge houses in the neighborhood. I hated seeing that reaction, but I tried not to show it on my face.

“What about you?” I asked.

“What house number?” Sloane asked, giving Megan no chance to answer.

I glanced at her. She was leaning forward on her desk, looking totally interested in what I was talking about. I frowned a little. Why would she want to know that? Was she planning on coming over at some point? Maybe she was planning a prank, some way of initiating me into the school. I probably should have lied to her and said something, but then she would just do it to some other poor student’s house, and I couldn’t let that happen to them. Besides, how bad could it be? She seemed like a sweet person, and the house, like all the others in the area, was surrounded by huge gates and long driveways. She’d be hard-pressed to try to get in.

“One-eighty-one,” I said, awkwardly clicking my pen. “Why?”

She grinned and flashed a look at Megan, who was smiling back.

“You live next to my boyfriend,” Megan told me.

I blinked at her. I mean, of course, I knew I lived next to Sloane’s boyfriend, but hers too?

I cleared my throat. “You’re, um… You’re dating... Zach?” I asked. Megan shook her head. I frowned and thought of the other’s names. “Neil?”

“Let me save you some time,” Megan laughed. “I’m dating Hudson. Sloane here is dating Jude.”

“And my little sister is dating Neil,” Sloane added, “and Jude’s little sister is dating Finn.”

I frowned, trying to keep all the puzzle pieces together. Sloane and Jude. Megan and Hudson. Sloane’s little sister and Neil. And Jude’s little sister and Finn.

“So, Finn’s dating his bandmate’s little sister?” I asked, trying to talk it out.

“Yeah, it was a little awkward at the house for a bit,” Sloane said. “Especially since she’s living with them. Jude was not happy for a while there.”

“That sounds like a lot,” I strangled out. Both girls just giggled. “So… Zach’s the only single one?”

I hated the way that my heart lifted a little at the idea—I didn’t understand why. There was no reason that him being single was good. I mean, if anything, it was worse that the one who wasn’t even dating anybody else could see me through my window every day. I flushed as I remembered the way he watched me when I was dancing. What did it matter if he was single? I was never going to be able to redeem myself after that. And not that I wanted to, anyway. I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, and I certainly wasn’t looking to date a celebrity.

“Yep,” Megan said. “We’ve been talking about trying to find him a girlfriend, but he doesn’t seem that interested.”

“Bit of a loner,” Sloane added.

I frowned. “He’s in a boyband.”

“Okay, well, as much of a loner as he can be,” Megan clarified. “I mean, the other guys are just so loud and outgoing, and Zach tends to just keep to himself. He’s pretty quiet. I don’t really know that much about him, honestly.”

“How did you meet the boys?” I asked curiously. “I mean, did you know them before they were famous or…”

Megan laughed. “Heck, no. We only met them when they started at school here this year.”

“Well…” Sloane said with a pointed look in Megan’s direction. “It wasn’t entirely because they started here. You met Hudson a few times before that.”

Megan flushed and glared at her friend. “We don’t need to get into the full story now.” She looked at me again. “Ignore her. The band moved here in September and that’s when we met them.”

“So you’ve only been dating Hudson for a couple months then?”

She grinned. “You don’t follow the band, do you?”

Would she be offended that I wasn’t into her boyfriend’s band? That seemed like a rude thing for me to say. But if I tried to lie and pass it off like I did, then they might try to talk to me as if I knew anything about the band, which I totally didn’t.

“I’m not really much of a music fan,” I mumbled. A half-truth.

Megan laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not a fan either.”

My eyes shot up to meet hers. “But you—you’re dating…”

“Okay, I guess I’m a fan now,” she corrected. “But I didn’t know anything about them before that.”

“She hated them, actually,” Sloane added.

“I did not hate?— ”

“You told Hudson?—”

“Okay, yes but that was diff?—”

“All right, class!” The teacher called from the front of the room, cutting off Megan and Sloane’s argument. I slid around to face forward again, praying that she wouldn’t tell everyone about how I was a new student and ask me to come up and introduce myself. I’d already done that twice today and I was not looking to repeat it a third time—especially since most of the people in this class were probably in at least one of my earlier classes. But instead, she tapped her marker on the whiteboard and said, “All right, let’s jump right into today’s lab. Pair up, and I’ll be handing out materials.”

A wave of relief washed over me. No awkward introductions. Thank goodness.

“The three of you can be a group,” she said as she came around to give us materials.

“Uh, what’s the teacher’s name again?” I whispered to Sloane as we gathered our supplies.

“Oh, that’s Mrs. Keller,” she replied, pulling out a pair of goggles and tossing them at me. “She’s super chill, don’t worry.”

“Oh, here,” Megan said, leaning to mutter it to me while Mrs. Keller answered somebody’s question at the front. “Give me your number. I’ll add you to our science group chat.”

“Oh, uh…” I hesitated for a second but took it from her. First, Jude asking for my twitter and now her asking for my number—I’d never been this popular on my first day of sc hool before.

Megan smiled as she took her phone back, her fingers quickly flying across the screen. “There. Now you’re officially part of the group. We usually help each other out with assignments, but we also just talk sometimes.” She shrugged casually, like it wasn’t a big deal. To her, it probably wasn’t.

I nodded, trying to seem nonchalant, but inside, I was relieved. Maybe this would make it easier to navigate the whole new girl thing. Not that I was expecting to suddenly become best friends with Megan or Sloane, but at least I wasn’t completely on my own.

My phone dinged immediately and I glanced at it to see that I’d been added to a group chat, but I tucked it away quickly as Mrs. Keller came around again. But immediately the phone kept buzzing with new texts, like the group chat was active even though it was the middle of the school day. It should have been annoying but given that I was sure I was going to make it through this day without a single new friend, it made me smile.