Rue's Mad World

Chapter 3

I crouched there beside him, completely and utterly frozen, with his hand still clasped onto my wrist. How the actually heck had I managed to find myself beside someone in London who had almost as much social status as the queen? I blinked, I was in a trance. I wanted to say something but I couldn't make my mouth move. I just sat there looking at him with my mouth wide open, like I was one of those crazy girls from The Eye line. But the strangest thing about this whole encounter wasn't the fact that I was staring at him speechless like a complete idiot, it was that he was doing the exact same thing to me.  

"I'm sorry if I frightened you." he said, finally finding his words. He realized he was still holding my wrist, and embarrassed, let go. He offered me his hand in a handshake, "I'm Ash, it's really lovely to meet you." His voice snapped me out of my trance.

"Oh really, is it really lovely to meet me?!" I said sarcastically. I was mad. One because all I wanted to do at the moment was go home and two because I was in disbelief that some teen idol had  caught me off guard. How embarrassing was that?

"I'm serious! It's not every day that I have the privilege of being hit on the head by someone with such pretty eyes." he smiled.  

This kid is not serious

I was definitely not in the mood to be subjected to mindless flirting.

"What's your name?" he asked as he brushed his fingers through his sandy brown hair.

I completely ignored his question. "What are you doing crouched beside my car like a little creep, kidnapping innocent girls who walk bye?!"

He burst out laughing. "Okay woah, I did not kidnapped you. Let me explain. You see I'm kind of in the band--"

Did he really think I didn't know who he was? You couldn't even get a cup of coffee without running into a Mad World billboard.

"Ugh I know who you are!" I cut him off. "Now get to the point because I really just want to go home." I crossed my arms impatiently.

Unaffected by my rude remark he continued with what I was sure was to become a novel instead of a simple explanation.

"...and you see we are kind of slightly popular...." He was trying to sound as humble as he possibly could, but slightly was an understatement: they put Taylor Swift's Grammy collection to shame. " ....and because of that, people who enjoy our music, for some reason also really enjoy chasing us...everywhere we go. And today was just not a convenient day to get mobbed." 

Was any day really a convenient day to get mobbed?

"So you're running away from a group of little teenage girls. Oh you poor thing," I said my tone dripping with sarcasm. " I still don't see how that gives you the right to kidnap me!"

He smiled at me. His green eyes showing hints of amusement. "You don't give a damn about who I am, do you?"

I thought about it for a moment "Yeah no, not at all." I said with my arm still folded. I met his gaze with one of the best glares I could muster, but the only thing he returned was a boyish grin.

"Well like I was saying" he continued.  "it was my little niece Posie's birthday today, so we came here to celebrate and enjoy the nice weather. All was going well until this really nice fan-- I think her name was Willa-- spotted me"

"Ouuu Willa. Sounds real scary." I interrupted. 

He ignored my remarks once again.

"But then Willa eventually became Willa, Joy and Emma and then they became a whole crowd and for the sake of my niece's safety, I ran from my brother and his wife and found a safe haven beside your little car." he patted my car like a dog before turning back to me "And don't think I've forgotten. You still haven't told me your name."