“Okay,” Xander said, giving me a strange look. “Well, we should probably start getting ready for tonight.”
“All right,” I said. “I’m going to head back to my room and shower.”
“When you’re done, Julie and Ken will be here.”
Julie and Ken were the boys’ makeup artist and hair stylist. I’d met the beauty team a plethora of times when the boys needed to get ready for concerts or interviews or any other kind of public appearance, but they’d never styled me before.
“They’re going to help me get ready?” I asked, bouncing from foot to foot.
“Yeah, silly,” he said with a grin. “You are making a public appearance with us tonight.”
“Oh my God,” I gushed, and I knew I sounded exactly like Cara. “This is so awesome.”
I hurried through my shower routine, barely able to rein in my excitement for the night. After stepping out onto the mat, I wrapped a robe around myself and rushed back to the boys’ suite. The kitchen table had been turned into a salon complete with makeup, styling gel, a hair dryer, a curling iron, and a large range of combs and brushes. Alec was already sitting in one of the chairs while Ken worked on his signature hair style.
“Hi, Stella,” Julie said when she spotted me. “I hear you’re going to the premiere tonight.”
“Yup,” I said, grinning at her.
“All right, why don’t you sit down and I’ll get started on your makeup.”
My whole transformation took nearly three hours. Julie went slowly, planning everything from my eye shadow down to my lips. After a year of only doing the boys’ makeup, which consisted of a layer of foundation to smooth out any blemishes, working on a girl must have been a treat. In the end, she decided on a golden, smoky eye and bright-red lips.
After my makeup was finished, Ken took his turn. First, he curled my hair into elegant waves. Then he took the bottom layer of my hair, pulled it back into a ponytail, and pinned it up. After almost a full can of hair spray, he managed to mold my hair into a beautiful marcel wave with my blue streak running through the middle like a bolt of blue lightning.
“You like?” he asked when he finally held up a mirror for me to see.
“Can you do my hair every day?” I asked jokingly.
I never thought I’d use the term to describe myself, but I looked sophisticated. After I pulled on my black dress and heels, I twirled in front of my bathroom mirror to see my completed look. Not to brag, but Oliver was going to be blown away.
“Damn,” someone whistled. I turned to see JJ resting against the door frame, looking smart in a black tuxedo. “Looking like a hot mama tonight.”
“You think?” I asked, glancing at my dress.
JJ looked me up and down in a not-so-subtle way. A slow smirk pulled at his lips, and he stepped up to me. “Oliver’s gonna blow his load when he sees you.”
At this, I gasped and smacked JJ on the arm, pretending to be offended. In reality, his words were flattering even if I was too embarrassed to admit that out loud. “Do you always have to be so vulgar?”
“What?” he asked, pressing a hand to his heart in mock-offense. “That was a compliment.”
I rolled my eyes. “In your own nasty, perverted way, I know you were trying to be nice,” I said, “but still.”
“What about me?” he asked with a pout. “Aren’t you going to tell me how dashing I look?”
“I suppose you clean up nicely,” I teased, which was stingy of me—JJ always looked handsome.
“That’s it? Not so hot that you’re going to dump Oliver for me?”
I shot JJ a pointed look. He cracked a grin in response, and soon we were both laughing. As much as JJ flirted with me, I knew he didn’t mean anything by it. JJ was like that around any girl, he was just that type of guy, and it never affected our relationship in a negative way. Truthfully, he was always so easygoing and entertaining that I felt like we’d been friends for years, ones that were so comfortable around each other that we could joke about anything.
It surprised me that he didn’t have a girlfriend. He was hilarious and kind, not to mention that most of the female population would bend over backward to date him. I’d asked him about it one afternoon, and he explained that he took relationships very seriously. Since the boys’ lives were so hectic and busy, JJ said he’d never be able to devote enough of his time to make a girl happy, and I thought that was adorable.
“Hey, Stella?” Xander called, bursting into the bedroom.
I looked up at him, noting the concern in his voice. “Yeah?”
“Oliver hasn’t—whoa,” he said, stopping when he saw me.
“She’s hot, right?” JJ asked, nodding at his friend.
Xander blushed. “Yeah,” he said sheepishly. “You look nice, Stella.”
“Thanks. You look good yourself,” I told him. “What were you going to say about Oliver?”
“He hasn’t called you, has he?” he asked, trying to sound hopeful.
“No, why?” I’d checked my phone several times today, so I knew I had no new messages, but I reached for my cell out of instinct.
“He still hasn’t shown up yet,” Xander said, his forehead wrinkling with worry. His words made me frown. “It isn’t like him to just disappear.”
“Have you talked to Courtney?” I asked. If anyone knew where Oliver was it would be her. She always kept tabs on the boys, not because she was a control freak and it was her job, but because if she didn’t, they’d probably get in to some kind of mischief.
“That’s the strange thing,” Xander said, the lines in his brow deepening. “I called her, and she doesn’t seem worried at all.”
“What?” JJ responded, and joined us in frowning. “That doesn’t sound like Courtney. Normally she’d freak out.”
Xander nodded quickly in agreement. “I know, right? She told us to meet her in the lobby in ten, so I guess we’ll have to ask her then.”
Ten minutes passed quickly, and Oliver still hadn’t returned. All the excitement I felt for the evening was slowly trickling away, and it was being replaced with a stomach dropping feeling.
Alec looked down at his phone. “Guys, we need to leave.”
“I think I’m going to stay here,” I told the boys. If something bad had happened to Oliver, I didn’t want to show up at the movie premiere without him.
“You sure?” Alec asked me.
I nodded and said, “So I guess I’ll see you guys there?”
“You bet,” Xander said and gave me a hug.
“Good luck,” JJ added, flashing me a wicked grin. “Don’t trip on the carpet.”
“Thanks,” I said sarcastically, my heart suddenly racing.
When the door slammed shut, leaving me alone, I perched on the edge of the couch and waited for Oliver to arrive.
I waited. And then I waited some more. I looked down at my cell phone and saw that it was ten o’clock, and I knew that he wasn’t coming. I sat there anyway, hoping that I was wrong. After that, I didn’t keep track of the time, and the night passed in a blur. It must have been a little after midnight when the front door opened and a concerned voice called my name.
“Stella, are you here?” I hardly noticed as Xander joined me on the couch. “Hey, are you okay?” I didn’t respond. I could barely hear him over the sound of the blood rushing in my ears.
“Stella?” JJ asked, crouching next to me. He waved a hand in front of my face. “Stella, snap out of it.”
I blinked and looked up at them. Xander looked horrified, like he had been told someone died, and JJ was red in the face. Alec was standing behind them and he looked…deadly. The gleam in his eyes was almost frightening.
“He didn’t come,” I said finally and looked up at my friends.
“We know,” Xander said. “We saw him there.” He bit his lip, and I knew he was ho
lding something back.
“What is it?” I asked. My heart was hammering against my chest in anticipation, but I could feel the dread like poison in my veins. In that moment, I knew what he was going to say. Xander hesitated, as if he was afraid he was going to break my heart with a few simple words.
Alec said it for him. “Oliver went with someone else.”
• • •
She was a model. The boys hadn’t wanted to tell me, but I made them. I had to see the girl Oliver went to the premiere with, the one he ditched me for. Apparently the two arrived shortly after the rest of the band, and when Oliver walked her down the red carpet, the paparazzi and reporters went crazy with speculation. It didn’t take me long to google her, and I discovered that Amelia Rose had long, endless legs and stunning red hair.
“She’s not Oliver’s type at all,” JJ said, snapping me back to reality. He was sitting on the opposite couch, and his mouth briefly settled into a white line. “When she stepped out of the limo with him, I was so shocked I almost…” He trailed off and shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
“Yeah,” Xander added. “We’ve never met her before. She just came out of nowhere.”
“Seriously?” Alec hissed, glaring at both of his bandmates. “You guys aren’t helping.”
“Right, sorry,” JJ muttered, looking at me apologetically. Then a fierce look crossed his face and he leaned toward me. “When he gets back, I’m going to beat him senseless.”
“Stella, you have to believe us,” Xander said then, cutting off JJ before he could make any more threats. “As soon as we realized you weren’t with Oliver we wanted to leave, but Courtney wouldn’t let us.”
“It’s fine,” I said, brushing the comment off. I wasn’t upset with the boys—I was merely trying to sound removed, like Oliver’s actions hadn’t torn my insides apart and left me feeling gutted. They’d done nothing wrong. There was only one heartbreaker in this band.
Xander and Alec exchanged concerned looks, but I took no notice. As I stared at the picture of Amelia Rose glowing back at me on the computer screen, I realized that it didn’t matter who Oliver went with. He could have gone with a gorilla and I would still have felt betrayed. Sure, it hurt that he had taken a beautiful girl instead of me, but what really upset me was how he’d stood me up with no warning. It just didn’t make sense. The last time I saw Oliver, he was so excited to go with me. What had changed?
Obviously something had happened between when I saw him this morning and the premiere tonight. I just couldn’t figure out what. Before I could think of an explanation, the front door slammed shut and we all froze. I knew it had to be Oliver finally returning, and the panic that rose in my chest made it hard to breathe.
I turned to Alec. “Please hide me,” I said, letting out a tiny sob. “I don’t want to see him right now.”
The moment I realized that Oliver wasn’t coming to pick me up for the premiere, I should have gone back to my own hotel room. But I’d been so shocked and completely confused about why he didn’t show that I couldn’t think straight. I kept telling myself that there was a perfectly logical reason for why Oliver did this. There had to be.
Alec held out his hand without a word, and as he helped me up, I could see the understanding in his eyes. He guided me down the hall and into his room, and only when the door was firmly closed behind us did he speak.
“Stella,” he said, his voice soft. “Are you okay?” I could tell from the way he asked his question that he knew I wasn’t. But he asked anyway because Alec Williams wasn’t as rigid and frosty as most people thought.
And that was all it took. The tears started, and I fell into his arms and wept. He stroked my hair, murmuring comforting words in my ear. At one point I heard angry shouts from somewhere else in the hotel suite, but I couldn’t stop crying long enough to hear what was going on. I bawled and bawled, letting all of the heartbreak pour out of me like blood from a fresh wound.
I must have cried myself to sleep. When I opened my eyes, I could feel my hair sticking to my face where my tears had dried. Sitting up, I noticed that someone had tucked me into bed and pulled the covers up around my shoulders. That certain someone was sprawled out in an armchair, head tilted back and mouth wide open.
“Alec?” I whispered to see if he was awake.
He jumped with a snort. “Oh. Morning, Stella.” He pulled himself into a sitting position. “Sleep well?” he asked after rubbing away his weariness.
“Oh my gosh, Alec!” I gasped, ignoring his question. “Did I take your bed last night?”
He dismissed me with a wave. “Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”
The purple circles under his eyes said otherwise, and I knew he hadn’t slept well at all. “But you guys have a concert tonight,” I said, feeling horrible. “You need to be rested up.”
As the words left my mouth, I realized their true meaning. The boys had a concert tonight, which meant I had to work. I would have to face Oliver.
Alec must have seen the horror on my face. “I’m sure if you talk to Paul, he’d understand if you didn’t want to go.”
“No,” I said suddenly, surprising both of us. I felt like an empty shell, like all my insides really had been ripped out, especially my heart, but I wasn’t going to let Oliver see that. More importantly, I wasn’t going to let our relationship, or as I should call it now our past relationship, interfere with my job.
Because of Cara, I had years of experience with hiding my pain. I knew how to fake strength when all I really felt was helpless, like a blade of grass in the wind. This would be no different. Besides, I’d taken the job because it was an amazing opportunity, not because of Oliver. I wanted to be good at what I did, and I couldn’t let Oliver ruin that.
“No?” Alec repeated, his eyebrows arched in confusion.
“I’m going to the concert,” I said with as much resolve as I could muster.
“What? Why?” He sounded aghast, like I’d just told him I was going to jump off the top of a really tall building.
“Because,” I responded slowly, making sure my voice didn’t crack, “I’m not going to be pathetic and run away.”
“Stella, that’s not what I meant—”
“I know that,” I said, standing up. “But I was a slobbery, snotting wreck last night, and I’m not going to let that happen again.” When I finished my speech, Alec looked upset, and I realized that I probably sounded angry with him. Crossing the room, I leaned down and gave him a hug. “Thank you so much for taking care of me last night. I couldn’t have asked for a better friend.”
“Of course,” he said when I pulled away. I could tell that he was still baffled by my sudden mood swing, but I wasn’t going to let my problems affect him any longer. According to the clock on the nightstand, it was still early, and there was plenty of time for Alec to get some sleep before the day began.
“Why don’t you sleep a little?” I suggested and pointed at the now-empty bed. “You can still get in a few good hours.”
Alec was watching me, his face completely blank. After a few seconds, he finally nodded his head. “Yeah, good idea.”
“All right then,” I said as Alec unwound his headphones from around his iPod. “I’ll see you later tonight.”
• • •
The rest of the day sucked majorly. To be more accurate, being around Oliver was nothing short of torture. But I had the boys for support—Alec, Xander, and JJ were giving him the cold shoulder. In turn, Oliver avoided us as best he could, which was why I panicked and froze when I heard him call my name after the boys’ concert later that night.
“Stella.”
The sound of his voice made me suck in a sharp breath. I held it in my chest as I tried to prepare for our upcoming conversation. What could he possibly have to say to me? Would I even be able to talk to him? After a few seconds, a tight, burning tension built
up in my lungs, and I finally released my breath and turned around. When I saw him, my hands started to tremble and I quickly tucked them behind my back so he wouldn’t see.
I made sure to hold his gaze as he approached. I still didn’t know if I’d be able to say anything, to formulate some kind of speech so he’d know how much he’d hurt me, but if I couldn’t, I hoped the look in my eyes would do all the talking.
“Hi,” he said when he reached me.
The strain in his voice was so sad sounding, and suddenly I was hit with an urge to step into his arms. My heart screamed at me to move forward, to reach out and comfort him, but I knew better. Curling my toes in my shoes, I held my ground.
“Hi,” I said, careful to keep my tone flat.
“I’ve been looking for you.” He looked at me expectantly, like he was hoping I’d respond, but I decided to let him take the lead, so I pressed my lips together. Two very unpleasant seconds passed, and finally he said, “Can we talk for a moment?”
I rubbed my forehead before scraping back my bangs. “I’m tired, Oliver.”
“Please?” he said. There was a desperate look in his eyes that made me sigh.
“Talk quickly,” I told him.
“Okay.” He gestured over his shoulder at an empty room. “But this needs to be private.” Whatever he wanted to talk about, it must have been important, because Oliver risked grabbing my hand as he pulled me into the room.
“What do you want?” I snapped, yanking my hand away from him. Nothing good was going to come of this conversation. I could feel it.
He paused as if what he’d say next was more frightening than performing in front of thousands of fans, and the next three words that came out of his mouth were so unexpected that I was left speechless. “Iloveyou.”
“I—what?” My brain was trying to comprehend what he’d said, but the words wouldn’t register. It was like I was getting the same computer message over and over: An unexpected error has occurred. Please try again.
He cleared his throat and repeated himself, this time more slowly. “I said, I love you.”
Oh, hell no. Crossing my arms, I tucked both my hands away to resist reaching out and slapping him. “You can’t just stop caring, treat me like shit, and then turn around and say something like that.”