Crash

Chapter 20

I think I overestimated how cool my parents are. Jay's mom wasn't allowing him to go to another city alone with Malia, so he invited me. I said yes, with the condition being that I could bring James with me. Jay and his mom were fine with it. Malia was fine with it, I was fine with it - hell, even James was fine with it. My mother however, not fine with it.

"C'mon mom, it's not that big of a deal. James and I aren't even technically a thing." I tried to reason. She looked me up and down, batted her eyelashes and shook her head. 

I could tell she knew she had all of the power here.

"Nope. Not happening. Remember the last time you went out with Jay and one of these Crash and Burn boys. I open up the daily mail and find my daughter's boobs being fondled by a heartthrob. No." She said, flailing her arms dramatically.

I will admit though, she had a point. 

But I wasn't going to let her win so easily.

"Well, I mean that was Kyle and I did that to prove I was a women 'cause he's a misogynistic twat and I hate him. So it wouldn't happen again because  I'd be going with James." I said, as if that would make a difference.

Sure, hate was a strong word to use, especially since I now kind of enjoyed his presence, but again, that was something mom didn't need to know.

"Also Jay's mom is fine with it - and you know how strict she is! Plus James' manager explicitly said we weren't allowed to be seen alone together, so there's no way anything remotely similar to last time could happen!" That was a lie, his manager had actually said for us to be seen as much as possible, just not to get caught doing anything too couple-y like kissing, so that people would be curious about whether or not he had a girlfriend, which would bring publicity to the band.

His exact words were, "any publicity is good publicity, but don't be too public."

"That literally doesn't change anything, Annabelle." 

"James doesn't have the same bad boy reputation as Kyle. And I bet I could convince Natasha to come, so it would be the five of us and what can happen in a group of five? plus I would room with her and Malia anyway because Jay's mom doesn't want them alone, so really there wouldn't even be a chance of anything happening." My pace was quickening and it became obvious that I was getting desperate.

"Yes, but you could sneak into James' room in the middle of the night." She wasn't budging.

"Mom, does that even sound like something I would do?"

I had her there. 

My mother and I were super transparent with each other, so she knew if I said I wasn't going to sneak James into my room, it mean I wasn't going to sneak him into my room.

"You're not going to let this go, are you?" She relented. I had finally managed to break her down.

"Nope."

"Fine."

"Fine, I can go?" I asked, in order to confirm what she was saying, before I allowed myself to get too excited.

"Fine, you can go, but if I see you on TMZ or some - I swear to God, Annabelle, if anything about this trip ends up online, I will transfer you to a public school." 

I knew she didn't mean that last bit, but there definitely would be some kind of punishment.

I excitedly ran over to hug her, reciting the words 'thank you', over and over again.

"Woah, you must really like this boy, if you're this excited." She teased, and I hid my face deeper into her shoulder, to prevent her from seeing the blush forming on my face.

"But we have a deal, Annabelle. Natasha and the other boyband boys have to go with you too."

"Oh yeah, no problem." I said, confidently.

***********

"Bold of you to assume I don't have any plans." Kyle said, as he swung his bag onto his shoulder. I had already managed to convince Natasha, Danny and Harry to come along, and Kyle was the last person I needed to agree, and of course he was being difficult.

"Come on Kyle, I'm just asking for a favour. Here I was, genuinely believing we were starting to get along." I sulked. 

I noticed his eyes softened slightly, but then the annoyed look quickly returned to his face.

"Why do you need me to come anyway?" He asked.

God, I was hoping he wouldn't ask. Up until then, I had just said the boys, Natasha, Malia and I were going to a carnival and that I wanted him to come. I had deliberately left out the fact that I actually needed him to come, because I couldn't let him have all of that power.

"Fine. My mom said I couldn't go spend the weekend with Malia, Jay and James, because she assumed something would happen, so I told her that you, Harry, Danny and Natasha would come along, so nothing could happen." I tried my hardest to get that sentence out as fast as possible, in the hopes that he wouldn't fully catch onto the situation.

Seconds passed, as Kyle looked me deep in the eyes. I felt so vulnerable under his gaze, it was too intimate, too intrusive even.

Then he scoffed at me and rolled his eyes. He almost looked offended by what I had just said, and I could not, for the life of me, understand what I had said that was so bad. 

Kyle brushed past me and I instinctively grabbed his arm.

"Hey, that's not how conversations work, Kyle." Sure, I was being a bit aggressive, considering the fact that I was asking him for a favour, but Kyle had a way of just frustrating me.

"Oh, sorry, I thought me walking away would be an obvious no." He again went to walk away.

"Why not?!" I was starting to feel flustered, and not in a good way. Kyle took a few steps closer to me, so we were now just inches apart.

"You want me to waste my Saturday at a carnival, just so you and James can have a little romantic getaway?" He leaned down a little closer to my face

"I think I'll pass." And with that, Kyle walked away. I couldn't move from where he had left me. My heart was racing, and I could tell that my face was probably bright red.

What the hell had just happened?

*******

A/N: Helloooooooo!!!!!! I'm back! Here's an update!

I hope you're all safe, wherever in the world you are! Remember to wear a mask, wash your hand and don't be like Kyle in that last little paragraph - instead, practise social distancing!