“Megan,” I said slowly. I kept staring at the boy, even though his eyes were back on Megan. I grabbed my drink from where it was sitting on the counter, freshly made, and then took Megan’s hand. “Sorry to interrupt, but I’ve got to get home, and she needs to come with me.”
“Wait!” He said. “Let me pay for your coffee. I’m the one who spilled it.”
I mentally pieced together what had happened here. When Megan and I walked in earlier, there’d been a boy standing by the counter. I hadn’t paid any attention to him then—I hadn’t seen his face. And then, while I was in the bathroom, he somehow spilled Megan’s coffee all over her.
“You can repay her some other time,” I said, desperate to get out of here immediately.
The boy’s eyebrows pulled together in confusion. “But I don’t know you.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” I said, thinking back to the announcement at school earlier today.It gives me great pleasure to tell you all that the members of the famous boy band Take Five will be starting at Summerfield Prep this coming Monday.“You’re going be seeing a lot of us very soon!”
I pulled the door open and pushed Megan outside ahead of me, only sparing a momentary glance at the boy before following. Megan complained, but I ignored her as I looked through the window and saw the boy continuing to stare at us. I didn’t want to have this conversation in front of him. I pulled her down the street until I was sure we were far enough away that he wouldn’t follow, and put my hands on her shoulders, staring at her intently.
“How did you meet that guy?” I demanded breathlessly.
“What?”
“How did you start talking to him? What did he say?”
“What?” Megan laughed awkwardly. “I mean, I know he’s cute, Sloane, but?—”
“No, forget that,” I said. There was no way that she knew who he was. She couldn’t tell if she was acting this cavalier about it. Even someone like her, who wasn’t a fan, would still have some sort of reaction to meeting a celebrity, right? My grip on her shoulders tightened. “Megan, that was Hudson Shaw.”
“Hudson…” She trailed off like she wasn’t following who that was or why he was important. Did she live under a rock or something? I knew she wasn’t a fan of the band, but there was no teen girl in the world that didn’t know their names.
“Hudson Shaw,” I repeated slowly. “The lead singer of Take Five.”
A long beat of silence passed before Megan pulled away from me and laughed. “No. That’s ridiculous, Sloane.”
She continued walking down the street as if I’d just told her the sky was blue and not thatHudson freaking Shawhimself just spilled coffee all over her. I grabbed her arm again to stop her.
“No, it’s not,” I insisted. “Trust me, Megan, I know what Hudson Shaw looks like. Grace has his poster on the outside of her bedroom door, so I have to walk past it every day, and that—” I pointed at the coffee shop, “—was him. I’m positive.”
Megan stared at me, realization slowly dawning on her face. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“It doesn’t matter if it makes sense because it happened.” I glanced at my watch and huffed in annoyance. “Look, I’d love to keep talking, but I have to get home. Just…” I shook my head. “Megan, you just met Hudson Shaw.”
I could barely comprehend the words even as they came out of my mouth. If I hadn’t seen him with my own two eyes, I never would have believed it happened.
The house was suspiciously quiet when I got inside, which was strange since Grace should have been home too. But when I walked into the kitchen, I glanced out the window and saw her in the backyard, practically jumping around while she was on the phone. Of course.
I grabbed a glass of water and took a long sip, leaning against the counter as I tried not to laugh at Grace, who was now twirling in circles, her phone still pressed to her ear. She was probably planning the next fan club meeting or scheming with her friend about how they were going to get the boys to fall in love with them the moment they showed up at school.
Setting my glass in the sink, I wandered into the living room, flopping onto the couch with a sigh, and pulled out my phone. A quick scroll through my notifications didn’t reveal anything interesting—just a bunch of boring updates and one reminder that I’d probably ignore until the last minute. So, instead, I swiped over to Twitter.
Take Five Boyband@takefiveofficial
Hey everyone, Jude here! For the next 15 minutes, I’ll be doing a Q&A. Tag your questions #askfive
Do any of the Take Five guys like cheerleading? #askfive
Take Five Boyband@takefiveofficial
Participating or watching?
Jenny [email protected]
