KissnTell

Chapter 12

BLOWING UP

Anais

I jumped awake. Vaughn's Blackberry was buzzing, knocking the hard Formica surface of my desk. I pushed some hair out of my eyes and rubbed them. Mascara particles crumbled under my fingertips. I must have fallen asleep without washing my makeup off, breaking my mom's number one pageant girl law of beauty. I picked up Vaughn's Blackberry, silencing it. Who would be calling her anyway, if not me? It occurred to me her mother could be concerned. The clock read 1:08 p.m., and she probably hadn't heard from Vaughn since yesterday afternoon. I checked the call log and my heart nearly stopped.

It was Austin. The hot photographer.

I froze. My hands quaked. I noticed she had a few messages as well, which I knew better than to assume were from her mom. Darlene could barely work their microwave. I turned to Vaughn, who was deep in slumber, a dainty puddle of drool spread across my pillow and haloed her gaping mouth. I scanned the menu to retrieve the messages. Vaughn wouldn't mind—she'd do the same thing if it were the other way around.

You guys work fast.

My instincts were correct. It was from Austin Green. But what was he talking about? KissnTell? There was no way our photos had swept the nation that quickly. Was there?

Hey, can you send me A's #? I'd like to congratulate her too.

I smiled and felt my face burn up as I typed my number. I debated adding a smiley face but decided against it, in case it was too immature. I stared at his name for a moment. Austin Green. I liked the way it looked on the screen. I placed her phone carefully back on my desk, sat down, and opened my laptop. I checked Perez. On the second page, sandwiched between Chad Kroeger and Avril Lavigne's wacky red carpet moment and the quote of the day from Selena Gomez, was our story with our logo plastered across the page.

"Holy shit," I marveled. Vaughn tossed and turned a little, groaning. "Vaughn," I said, "you've got to wake up. You're not gonna believe this." She rolled toward me, blinking. I hurried over to the edge of the bed with the laptop, turning it to her. As soon as she laid eyes on her photo on Perez Hilton, she scrambled upright, her eyes wide.

"Omg," she said. "It actually worked."

I nodded, grinning. "I think this means KissnTell.com is officially open for business." She ripped the laptop from my hands. "Let's see who else picked it up," she said, creating an advanced Google search. I bit my thumb anxiously.

"By the way," I started shyly. Vaughn glanced at me quickly and then back to the screen. "I'm surprised your phone didn't wake you up this morning. It was blowing up."

"My mom?" she asked.

I shook my head. "That's what I thought too but ..."

She looked up at me, confused. "What?"

"It was Austin," I said, blushing like crazy.

She smiled. "Did you talk to him?"

"No," I sighed. "I missed it. But he asked you for my number, and I gave it to him," I mustered.

Vaughn clapped her hands together enthusiastically. "That's amazing!" she exclaimed, pulling me into a hug.

"Okay, okay," I said, prying her off me. "Hit search." I nodded to Google.