Time Bomb

Chapter 1: In Love With Cole Pendery

—Dalton—

I woke up in the morning to the sound of my iPhone ringing on my nightstand. With my eyes still closed, I reached over and answered it. “Hello?” I said. My voice sounded groggy, but what else would anyone except at this time of day?

“Hey Dalton, we’re gonna be doing stuff at the XIX Building today,” the person on the other line said. My stomach did a double flip. It was none other than Cole Pendery; my best friend.

My eyes finally opened and I rubbed them to adjust them to the light coming in from my bedroom window. I swallowed, feeling my heart starting to beat faster. “Okay I’ll be there in about an hour,” I answered.

“Cool. See ya later, bro.” he said before hanging up.

I let my phone drop onto my pillow and I groaned. What a wonderful way to start a morning; getting a phone call from the guy you were in love with. Well, unless you were me, of course.

I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with Cole Pendery, but how could I not? Everything about him was perfect. The way he sang, danced, his light brown eyes, his laugh, his sense of humor, and his personality. But there were a few problems. For one thing, we were both in relationships, and while I was starting to not feel anything anymore, he seemed to be falling more and more in love with his girlfriend Cassidy Shaffer each passing day; and no matter how much it hurt me to see Cole with her, I knew I had to deal with it. Cole and I could never be together. Things just couldn’t be that way with us... ever. Why? It’s because I was his best friend. I was the person that he would go to for advice, the one person who always had his back no matter what. But most importantly, we couldn’t be together because I was a guy; Dalton Rapattoni; his band mate.

The thing is, I wasn’t even sure how or when this all started. When I got put into the boy band camp that Perez Hilton set up with five other guys, Cole and I instantly became friends. The two of us were so different, yet so alike. We got along really well, even if we did have arguments here and there. I had been close to other guy friends before too, like my friend Hunter Lucas in Dallas, but never like this… It never went to the point where I would fall in love with them. Fans also ‘shipped’ us. They said we had a ‘bromance’, and they called it ‘Colton’. We went along with it without ever really giving it some thought or actually talking about it. It just happened.

Then there was my girlfriend Madison… sure, I loved her… but not in the way I love Cole. She was amazing, beautiful, sweet, and funny, and I really did like her for the beginning of our relationship, but since I’ve known about my feelings for Cole, I’ve started to lose those feelings for her. But I just didn’t have the heart or courage to end things with her.

Shoving my thoughts to the back of my mind, I got out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom. I shut the door and after stripping, I got into the shower. Once I was showered, I dried myself off and put on a pair of black skinny jeans with a chain hanging through one of the loops and a white shirt with red stripes and stars. I plugged in my flat iron and while I waited for it to heat up, I connected my iPhone to my iHome. My favorite song by Cherri Bomb, Heart Is a Hole, started to play. Once my flat iron was hot, I straightened my blonde hair. After messing it up a bit, I put on some eyeliner.

Downstairs, I found poured myself a glass of orange juice and took some food that was in a pan. “I’m going to the XIX in a bit,” I told my mom.

She nodded. “I’ll drive you there. Do I need to pick up any of the other boys?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

I scarfed down the rest of my food like any typical teenage boy would do. My mom rolled her eyes at me, but didn’t say anything about my eating habits. After my plate was clear of food, I placed it in the sink with the rest of the dirty dishes and made sure I was ready. I looked in the mirror near the front door, looking for any flaws. Then I saw it—a pimple on my chin. It wasn’t very visible, but if you were standing right in front of me, you’d be able to see it clearly. I decided to leave it alone, knowing that if I popped it or tried popping it, it would leave a mark that I’d have to live with for at least a month, and I would tear up at the pain, which would make my eyeliner run.