Just Talk to Him! (IM5)

Chapter 5

June 20th, 2013 - 6 am

“Up and at ‘em!” Cole yells, yanking the blankets off my bed. I grumble. Why does he have to be so much like Dad? And why do we have to share a room? Right. Because we’re siblings.

“No,” I mumble, clamping my eyes shut. The next thing I know, there’s a whoosh sound and blinding light attacks me. “Hey!” I groan, burying my head into my pillow again.

“Nope,” Cole replies cheerily. “We have a concert and we can’t be late.”

He pulls my pillows away from me and tosses them across the room. I just roll into a tighter ball.

“Come on, Kylie!” He whines, jumping up and down on his bed. I cringe and cover my ears to mute the sound of strained springs.

“Make me breakfast,” I bargain.

“There’s a buffet downstairs. Hurry up! We need to be out of here in an hour!”

I growl. “Fine.” I peek open my eyes, immediately blasted with light. “I’m up! Leave.”

I can barely make out his grin from the bright sunbeams. “Great!” He exclaims. “Meet us at breakfast!” With that, he leaves the room, giving me about five minutes to sleep in.

I wake up again ten minutes later and panic. I shoot out of bed and run into the shower, shaving my legs quickly and hoping I don’t miss spots or end up slicing myself. I wash my hair in a rush and hop out, sopping wet and cold.

In twenty minutes, I’m dry and dressed. I check the clock and nearly have a heart attack. They’re leaving now! I curse and throw some things into a cross-body bag before racing out the door and into the elevator. While the lift goes down to the second floor, I inspect my face in the mirror, glad that I don’t have any major imperfections today. I’m not good enough at makeup to cover it up.

When I get to the breakfast buffet, the boys are all laughing at the biggest table, all clearly waiting for me. I race over to them and skid to a halt, nearly crashing into the table.

“You’re late,” Cole complains, giving me a playful sour look.

“Sorry,” I huff, trying to catch my breath. “My shower took longer than expected.”

He rolls his eyes. “Grab a banana or something. There won’t be much food there.”

I agree and wander over to the buffet area, examining the food available. I stick toast in the toaster before perusing everything else. In the end, I’m carrying a paper plate piled with toast, sausages, potatoes, bacon, and eggs.

They all glance at me critically when I get back like they’re doubtful I can eat that much. Dana smirks, remembering that I didn’t even finish my ice cream from yesterday. I ignore them and motion to leave.

They continue to chat animatedly as they leave the table and head down to the lobby. I just trail behind them, cautiously balancing my food. Once we get in the van, the ride to the concert venue is a blur.

I still have a pile of food left when we get there, even though it is substantially smaller. I stare at the line of fans already waiting by the front door as guards rush us to the back entrance.

“Are there usually this many?” I ask Cole, amazed.

He grins. “There are more every time.”

I nod, overwhelmed. “Okay. How long until you perform?”

We enter the venue and the metal door slams shut behind us. Suddenly, the noise from the fans is muted and the only sounds left are our footsteps and the echo of the door. Cole checks his watch as we’re ushered through the hall. “An hour,” he says. “There’s not much time.”

With that, he runs ahead to catch up with Gabe, leaving me by myself. I sigh and try to shake off the jitter of being at a concert where, apparently, several other musicians are also playing.

We go into a fair-sized cozy room with a TV, sofas, and a table. The boys immediately collapse on the couches and drop their backpacks on the floor. Their manager ignores them and goes to talk business with some staff. I sit down gingerly in an armchair in front of the couch that all the boys are splayed across.

They all start laughing and Dalton falls to the floor with a thump. “Ow,” he groans. “Guys!”

At this point, I’m utterly confused. I never know what they’re up to. I stay silent as I watch them all burst into laughter. I shake my head and pull out my phone. Just as I’m about to enter my passcode, someone snatches it out of my hand. “Hey!”

I look up to see Dana examining it, smirking at my lock screen picture. “Really? Who’s this?” He shows me the picture.

“Dylan O’Brien,” I answer cautiously. Is it not socially acceptable to have pictures of actors on my phone?

“Who’s that?”

“He plays Stiles Stilinski in Teen Wolf,” I recite. I start to get impatient. It’s nice to have Dana’s attention, but I really want my phone back. I need to see if Anna has texted me back yet.

“That’s a funny name,” Dana remarks. “You watch Teen Wolf?” I nod, expecting some degrading comment. Instead, he asks, “Is it good? I need more shows to watch while on the road.”

I beam. “It’s amazing. You should watch it.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Only if you watch it with me.” Realizing how that came out he backpedals, “I need to know what to expect, right? And I don’t mean as a date. Nope. Cole would kill me for even thinking about it.”

I purse my lips, nodding. “Yep, Cole would kill you. Let’s watch it tonight. We still have another show here, right? We have time.”

He nods. “It’s a, um, friend-date, then.”

I smile. “We’re friends? Since when?”

“Since now.”

Dalton staggers toward us. “What’s cracking, um, Kardashian?”

“That doesn’t even rhyme,” I point out.

“Close enough,” he says and slaps Dana’s back. “Time for the costumes and makeup.”

I giggle. “Makeup?”

Dana blushes. “Yeah. It’s an showbiz thing. Not like we need it.” He flips his imaginary long hair.

“Yep. It’s stupid. Gotta go.” Dalton grabs Dana’s shoulders and wheels him around.

“My phone!” I suddenly remember. I glare at Dana. “Give it back.”

He sighs. “Only because I’m leaving.” He tosses it at me and I lunge to catch it. Just in time, because it nearly hits the floor. “Think fast.”

“Don’t you think you could have warned me before you nearly broke it?” I demand in frustration.

He pretends to think. “Nope.”

With that, he and Dalton head off to some other room, laughing and joking. Time for a long, long wait.

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Sorry for taking so long! What do you think of Kylie and Dana's new friendship? Make sure to vote if you want the next chapter! xx Delaine