𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎; 𝚓𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚛

𝐢𝐢. 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡

Cora

out of nowhere, everybody starts screaming and cheering. confused, I turn to the stage to see what I had missed. the first thing I see is Jaden trying to cover his red face and Leland laughing hysterically. everyone is turning to look at me and I have no clue why. I feel my face slowly becoming redder with all the attention focused on me.

when in doubt, smile and laugh

I smile nervously at the crowd, still unsure of what's happening. Turning my attention back to my fans, I continue to hug my way through the line.

Jaden

I peek out from behind my fingers to see that she's looking directly at me. She smiles before turning back to her fans. Leland wraps up the interview and I sprint off the stage towards my boys. I stumble up to them and glare at Griffin, who is grinning at me.

"Dude you look like a tomato right now," Kio chuckles. (A/N: lol I've never heard anyone chuckle before)

"Yuh, cause my boy is a SNACK," Anthony yells.

"Can we not-"

"Throw in some cucumbers and chips and you have a whole ass MEAL," he continues. The boys nod in agreement as I stare exasperatedly at them.

"If you cut up a tomato and a cucumber would it automatically be considered a salad?" Josh asks Kio.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure you need to throw some more food in there first."
"But technically-"
"Can y'all shut up for a few seconds? Our boy here just got exposed," Bryce says while waving a camera in my face.

"Sorry buddy, but this is gonna be our Teatok content for the week," Josh adds.

"Or we can just play it off as a joke," Josh mumbles.

"YES! Can we? Please?" I beg

He smirks at me, "Uh I don't know about you, but I've not forgotten about my 'NoNeXiStEnT mUsClEs.'"

Cora

I smile up at Avani, who is currently on stage. Her and Leland are just making small talk and she's answering the fans' questions. A few minutes later, she steps off the stage and he announces my name, "Please welcome the Queen herself to the stage... Cora Quinn!"

I walk onto the stage and take a seat next to Leland. "In case you guys didn't know, I'm basically the older brother Cora never had!"

"More like the older brother I never wanted," I say, allowing a small smile to creep across my face.

"We all know you love me, don't even try acting like you don't."
"Mm.. just a little bit."

I take a sip of the coffee I stole off of Avani earlier. "Okay enough small talk. There is so much TEA to get through, I don't even know where to start! Alright Cora, how do you feel knowing that most of the TikTok boys in this room have crushes on you?"

I choke on my coffee, and launch myself into a series of small coughs. When my lungs finally fix themselves, I turn to Leland with a bewildered expression on my face. "Sorry, what?"

"Tsk tsk... have you not been paying attention to any of the interviews? Many of the desperate e-boys here have confessed their undying love for you," he says sarcastically. "Nick Austin, Mark Anastasio, Alex Warren, Jaden Hossler-"

I spit my coffee back in the cup before forcing myself to regain my composure.Yeah okay, that's enough coffee for the rest of this interrogation.

"I know you're not connected to many of the TikTokers here, but you may have heard of Jaden Hossler. He's an aspiring rockstar-"

"not gonna lie, his songs are fire. I think I DMed him once about a possible collab, but his DM bot shot me down. kinda hurt tho but it's fine," I reply, telling the truth.

"Jaden Hossler, explain yourself!" he says, frowning at Jaden, who is hanging around the back with the other Sway boys. They're all shoving him around while he just stands there, gaping up at me. He grabs his phone out of his pocket and taps at the screen for a few seconds before slapping himself on his forehead. Glancing up at me, he mouths the word 'sorry'.

"so... Cora. are you sure there isn't any other reason for you DMing Jaden," Leland presses further. I feel my cheeks redden as everyone looks at me, waiting for my answer. I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. "Ooh ladies and gentleman, looks like someone here has a crushhh."

the one time i fuck up on stage i swear to god-

I hear whoops from the back of the room as all the boys slap Jaden on his back and grin. the crowd goes wild once again, my silence being an answer in itself. I shake my head at Leland frantically, silently begging him to shut up. "Nuh-uh, you did this to yourself Cora. I'm calling this right now as TikTok's next power couple!" he screams into the microphone.

"can I leave now?" I ask, slapping the back of his head. He shakes his head, grinning.

"Sorry Cora, but the fans need to ask their questions."

I quickly call on a girl closer to the front. "What do you like about Jaden's music?"

"Well one, his songs are absolute bops! They're really catchy, and the lyrics have meaning... well, for the most part. I'm still a bit confused on how one would fuck someone like a rockstar," I direct my answer to Jaden.

"I GUESS YOU'LL HAVE TO FUCK HIM AND FIND OUT," Josh screams. All the fans scream as Jaden tackles Josh. I cover my red face with my hands, much like how Jaden did an hour earlier.

"Not gonna lie, I'm with Josh on this one," Leland whispers quietly to me. Rolling my eyes, I choose another fan. She looks sweet, so hopefully she won't put me in the hot seat. Boy was I wrong-

"In your opinion, who is the hottest TikToker?" Everyone starts yelling Jaden's name and I shake my head, grinning.

"I'm not gonna answer that, sorry-"

"it's obviously Jaden," Leland smirks.

I punch him lightly in the arm, knowing damn well I was about to say Avani. "Fuck you Leland," I mutter.
"Nah, I'll leave the fucking to you and Jaden."

•~•~•~•~•