Ready or Not (DISCONTINUED)

September 7th

"Ah, here they are!" Our agent proclaims, beaming down at us from the head of the long table. "Shall we get started then?"

I look up from my nails. Everyone nods awkwardly.

"Well, let's hit the most important things first. Parents, your kids are incredibly talented and I feel that they would bring the company quite some profit. We apologize for the nine-month wait but we would like to hit the studios this week for recording. If we hurry, we can have their EP out in November, and a debut album out in early December."

Aria's mom gasps. "November? That soon?"

Miles nods wisely. "If everything goes to plan, we can write and record everything this week."

"Wow," Thom's mom says in awe.

My dad turns to Miles. "Does this mean that they'll be out of school this week?"

Only my dad would ask that. I turn to him and loudly whisper, "Dad!"

"Not that I care, but it's only the second week and they might miss some important stuff..." My dad turns back to me with a wink.

"It's only the second week, Mr. Evans," Artie interjects. "There's not very important stuff."

"Agreed." I shoot Artie a thank-you-he-might-be-convinced look.

"Don't think that just because you're going to be major pop stars doesn't mean that you get to forget about your education," Aria's mom snaps at Artie and me.

When she looks away, I grin at Artie.

Collin's grip on my hand tightens, and I squeeze back and rest my head down on his shoulder. Dad throws me a Look, and I snap back up.

"If you want to, we can call in one of our songwriters later," Miles offers.

"That would be great," Aria cuts in.

Everyone nods rapidly. Our agent seems amused by us. "Great. I can call him in as soon as possible."

"Um, I'll be right back," I say, standing up and heading out of the room.

They think I'm in the restroom, but Im just outside the door. Wow. This is super-overwhelming. You know, when I first got into Westlake, I thought that the most I'll be getting was a gig at a coffee shop or something. But wow. I'm a real pop star.

A memory pops into my head. Something about a fanbase. Oh, yeah. Sara said I have a fanbase.

I pull out my phone and press on the Twitter icon. While I'm waiting for it to load, I study the print of Michael Jackson on the wall in front of me. I haven't seen any pop stars today, but I'm hoping to see one before we leave.

"Are you Nichole Evans?"

I look up from my phone. Beside me, it's... oh my God. Is it...?

"Zack Murphy?" I whisper, in shock.

I'm majorly fangirling right now. Zack Murphy, star of the most popular teen drama right now, Storm Warning, and on the cover of almost every magazine. This boy makes me breathless just looking at him. Oh my God. And he's talking to me. And he knew my name. AND HE KNEW MY NAME.

"Uh, yeah." He chuckles. "You're really Nichole?"

"Yeah. Hi." I cannot believe this is happening.

"My uncle is your guys' agent. I'be been wanting to meet you guys for forever." Zack runs a hand through his sandy-blond hair and smiles nervously.

Hot damn. "Really? I'm such a big fan of your work, it's incredible that you know my name. I watch Storm Warning religiously, is it true that-"

"Miles has been obsessing over you guys for the past week. Says you have a lot of potential." He glances through the small window of the door to the room and ignores my question. "You really do though."