Be Your Everything

f i f t e e n

"Manny, remember you can't say a word about me and Calum around the twins." I warned him as we pulled out of the airport parking garage. It was a little past one by the time we got there, meaning that Jo was at work and Jaclyn could honestly be anywhere right now, so Manny and I had a few hours to ourselves to do whatever we wanted.

"Girl, would you chill?" Manny bat his hand at me dismissively, "I'm not going to give away your dirty little secret, now let me film something on this damn car ride so I have more footage than just you and your fake boyfriend."

I playfully rolled my eyes at him but smiled as soon as the camera was out. Force of habit, I suppose.

"Alright you guys, we made it to LA and now we're heading to Elle's apartment so that I can drop off my things. Then, we're going shopping, and then out to dinner with some friends. It should be a lot of fun, I'm excited." Manny rattled off our plans with plenty of enthusiasm before turning to me. "Elle are you excited? I'm taking you to a restaurant that isn't going to kill you."

"Any restaurant that has something I'm not allergic to is my favorite restaurant." I laughed without taking my eyes from the road.

Manny fidgeted with the camera as he tried to set it on the dash in a way that we would both be in the frame. Once it was adjusted to his liking, Manny sat back in his seat to record the rest of our drive home. We took turns sharing stories of this weekend, mine in the city and his in Brooklyn, which were broken up by music breaks when we heard a song come on the radio that required a full-on jam session. He took great pleasure in judging my air-guitar skills until the radio DJ announced that 'She's Kinda Hot' was playing next. Manny immediately recognized Luke's band's name when it was mentioned, reaching forward to crank up the volume.

"It's your boo." He teased me, giving me an evil grin. I rolled my eyes and proceeded to sing along with Luke's recorded voice, while Manny looked at me in pleasant surprise when he heard the lyrics to the song.

"Elle, are you always bitching when Luke sleeps in?" he asked me playfully. I gave him a face of mock-insult and huffed dramatically.

"This song isn't about me! It's over a year old by now." I smiled to myself, realizing Manny's playful accusation wasn't entirely inaccurate. "And I've only yelled at him for sleeping in one time. And I wouldn't even call it yelling, more like pestering." I glanced over at Manny, who simply turned to the camera instead.

"See, this song is about Elle, and she just won't admit it." I shook my head at my friend and continued to sing along with the song until it ended.

"Your boyfriends are so good, OMG." I gasped at Manny's comment and looked over at him in horror.

"Manny! Edit that out!" I commanded him.

"Would you chill? When I post this vlog, it will look like you and Baby Blue Eyes are happily in love and all that shit. Don't worry!" He laughed at my flustered expression and pushed my shoulder playfully. "You can't deny that I'm right though. They're both gorgeous and they can sing. You are one lucky little bitch."

"I wish it were that simple," I sighed. "Luke and I are just friends. We've gotten past feeling awkward about having to kiss and such, but he's interested in someone else, and I have no clue who it is. I feel bad for the girl, even though I don't know her, but she has to believe that Luke is dating me just like everyone else does, so I'm sure she's not too happy right now."

"She'll get over it, so don't feel bad."

"I hardly ever get time with Calum. After that Fourth of July party, I didn't see him in person again until the day after I became Luke's publicity prop."