The Jacket Snatcher

Chapter 42- It's Meet and Greet, Not Meet and Grope

A/N

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"Rachel? Rachel!" I yell over the dramatic teen actors on television.

"Huh? What?" she says, looking over at me with wide eyes.

"I've been trying to get your attention for like the last five minutes," I say, tossing a handful of popcorn at her.

She gives me an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I was just out of it."

"You've seemed that way lately." I mute the trash TV show that neither of us is really watching and give my full attention to my friend. "Is there something you want to talk about?"

She puts her fingers to her mouth and chews on one as she looks at me.

"It's not really a big deal. I'm just super stressed with school." She hesitates before continuing, but I can tell she has more to say, so I don't speak. "I probably just signed up for too many hours."

I nod my head in understanding, even though I don't fully understand since I haven't done the whole college thing yet because of this job opportunity. We were supposed to go through all of the woes of freshman year together, and now I'm starting to feel a little guilty. The guilt must show on my face because Rachel reaches over and grabs my hand.

"I'm really fine. Don't worry about me." She smiles at me, but the smile doesn't reach her eyes.

I look at the friend I've known for half of my life and am convinced that there is more going on here that she's not telling me about. She has always been smart and never really one to get overly stressed about school. There's more going on, but I can tell by the thin veil of fear over her eyes that, if I press her for more information, she will close up immediately.

So I say nothing. She'll tell me when she's ready.

I return her smile with one of my own and unmute the television.

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After spending a good part of the afternoon sprawled out on the couch with Rachel, I have to start getting ready for another radio meet and greet the boys are doing. I've hardly seen them the past couple of days since they've been writing and recording.

They didn't really need a camera there, so I've mostly only seen them the few hours they've spent practicing for the shows. Since they just came from a tour in Australia, they really only had to tweak a couple of things in their set, so there hasn't been too much need for staging.

However, today is a public appearance, so Adam told me he definitely wants me there. Rachel helps me get ready by setting out a maroon, faux-leather midi skirt and a white crop top. It's probably way more effort than the boys have ever seen me put forward before, but hey, that's what happens when best friends help each other get ready.

I drive myself to the station and pull around the back. When I get out, Jerry is standing at the backdoor and greets me with a nod.

"Where are they?" I ask, as he opens the door for me.

"Third door on the right. I think they've just started the meet and greet."

"Thanks!" I start down the hallway and press my ear against the door he specified. Sure enough, I can hear the distinct chatter of fangirls waiting for their turn to meet the guys.

I open the door carefully and slip in. A few girls in the back notice and smile at me, but most are oblivious to my presence. I retreat to a corner and put my camera around my neck. They have other hired photographers to take the photos of the girls as they come through the line, but Adam still likes me to get candid shots.