fameless → ZACH HERRON ✓

p r o l o g u e

PROLOGUE
( LOS ANGELES, PRESENT DAY )

CARMEN GLANCED AT the crowd beside her. It had seemed that an hour had passed- two, even. But the branded golden watch on her wrist proved that it had only been minutes, and that she would have to wait a bit longer. Elle began to tap her foot from beside of Carmen, seemingly more angry than her best friend.

"If I didn't enjoy the café here, I would've left when I saw the group," Elle huffs in annoyance, crossing her arms over her chest. "Yet it's been long enough for them to disperse, and they haven't. What's going on up there?"

"Maybe Justin Timberlake is here for a pop-up performance," Carmen jokes, trying to lighten her best friend's mood. But the scowl on Elle's face only hardened.

"I wish. Anything would be better than waiting here for nothing. It's been what, a half hour? What could they be waiting on? Black Friday isn't until next week."

"It's only been twenty minutes," Carmen corrects, before pulling her long brown hair into a ponytail. "And there are sales out even before Black Friday. We can leave if you want. I have no reason to be here."

"Yeah, well, I would," Elle frowns. "But the door is on the other side of the crowd, wherever the front of it is."

"Then lets go," Carmen suggests, grabbing her hand. "Lead the way."

Elle smiles, before shoving their way through the crowd. Carmen apologizes to nearly everyone they push past, only to get glares in response. When reaching the front of the hoard of teenage girls, Elle lets out a sigh of relief, and sprints towards the exit.

Carmen tows behind, still being pulled.

But as they rush forward, Carmen trips over her own feet, and falls into the grasp of a stranger. She gasps as the unfamiliar arms wrap around her, and a worried expression shows down at her.

"Are you okay?" The boy asks, his brown eyes sparkling with concern.

"Holy cheesepuffs," Elle mutters from the doors, stumbling over to her friend and the boy that holds her. "You're Zach Herron."

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