The Dream Stars

5: The Invite

Talia tore through her luggage to look for something to wear. With her hair wet and no easy way to dry it, she had to make up for it in her outfit. Not to mention the make up she was slathering onto herself.

"Will you calm down?" Colette put a hand on Talia's arm, even though she had just gotten out of the bathroom herself where she caked mascara onto her eyelashes and was now wearing jeans and a simple crop top.

"I'm just trying to find something to wear-'' Talia stopped short when she noticed Colette's renewed appearance. "Okay, hypocrite much?"

"Shut up. This is what I'd wear today, anyway."

"Riiiiight." Talia sighed in frustration and continued her search. At some point she settled on a cropped tank top and shorts with knee-high socks. And on their way they went to meet up with the boys in the lobby.

☆

"I want to go to Hot Topic." Travis skipped forward once they entered the premises of the outdoor mall.

"Me too," Colette said to Talia quietly.

"So does Henry," Caspar shoved him towards Colette a bit, "You three go. Danny and I want to go to Shoe Palace. Talia can come, if she wants."

Suddenly they were splitting up. Colette panicked. "Well, uh. I don't mind going to Shoe Palace."

Their group stopped for a second, all waiting on Colette. It took Talia a moment to realize the situation. "Oh, right. Yeah, we could all just go together."

"Nope, I'm insisting." Henry crossed his arms and looked down at Colette, "You're in a shell, and I'm attempting to break it."

Talia shared a glance with Colette, but it was short-lived. Danny's hand was hovering at her back, leading her forward.

"It's settled, we split up." How could she resist that smile, the smell of his cologne when he was so close to her? For whatever reason, it made Talia ignore the pleading look on Colette's face.

"We'll meet at the ice cream parlor downstairs when we're done." Henry announced, then corralled Colette towards the escalators. The whole time she looked back at Talia as she quietly followed him.

Talia gave her a wink and let Danny lead the way.

At first, she sat back while Caspar and Danny admired the shoes on the walls, but then Danny found a window to be alone with her. He came up behind her as Caspar looked for his size in a particular pair of shoes that had caught his eye.

"I hope you're not worried about your friend." He was hovering at her shoulder before he came around to sit next to her. Her eyes followed him the entire time.

"I'm not. She's fine." She had said this a little sternly, so she corrected her tone, "I'm not really scared of Henry doing anything dangerous, so."

Danny chuckled and took off his hat to run a hand through his curls. He seemed to love to do that. "Yeah, if anything she'll be too safe she'll want to come have fun with us."

"Looking at shoes?"

He smirked in that way Talia was getting used to, "Come to our hang out tonight."

It caught her off guard a bit, and gave her a shake into reality. It was only their first gig and their second day of rehearsals and they were already getting invitations to parties. She wanted to squeal and bit back the idea of telling all their classmates back home about the amazing birthday weekend she was already having. "I'll have to check with Colette. Where's it at?"

"Our room. Don't even have to tell you where." He chuckled again, "Just next door for you. Your friend should be fiiiine. If she gets too freaked, she could just go back to her room next door."