“Here’s a situation, been to every nation, nobody’s ever made me feel the way that you do. You know my motivation given my reputation, please excuse me I don’t mean to be rude—”

            My hand slammed down on the alarm clock, cutting off Enrique’s voice. I opened my eyes, glancing at the clock. When I noticed the clock read 9:30AM I almost had a heart attack. I was late!

            Shoving myself out of bed, I hurried towards my dresser, grabbing the first clean shirt I saw. I stripped my pajama shirt off, quickly throwing on my clean one. Next came my pants as I hopped towards the bathroom. When my pants were on I turned on the sink, yanking my toothbrush from its cup and doing a quick brush.

            After running a brush through my hair and applying light makeup, I grabbed my school bag, and headed out the door. The grounds were dead as I hurried towards the main building. Third period was probably just starting. Just as I reached my classroom door, realization hit me. This was the day I was supposed to skip because of that stupid magazine!

            I cursed under my breath, dropping my hand from the door handle. Was it too late to escape back to my dorm? I shook my head vehemently. There was no use in skipping school for this. Everyone still knew about it. It was better just to face it. With that thought, I pushed open the classroom door.

            A few people glanced at me, but none of them held expressions of disgust, disappointment, anger, or hate like I’d expected. Confused, I slowly moved further into the room, barely noticing the teacher greeting me. “Miss Carter,” he snapped. “Do you have a late pass?”

            I blanked. I didn’t get a late pass from the office. Laughing nervously, I turned to face him. “I… er, no.”

            He shook his head, pointing towards the door. “Go get one.”

            Before leaving the classroom I quickly glanced around once again. Why wasn’t anyone giving me dirty looks? Did all these people not see the magazine? Didn’t they care that I supposedly cheated on Noah? I would think at least the girls cared… There had to be something I was missing.

            I marched off towards the main office, grumbling to myself. How could I have missed my alarm clock going off for three hours straight? Now there was an unexcused tardy on my attendance!

            “Iris!”

            I froze when I heard my name being called. Turning my head, I saw Luke jogging towards me. My eyebrows furrowed together. “Luke? Shouldn’t you be in class?”

            He held up a slip of paper in his hand. “We have a substitute so I’m bringing the attendance form to the office.”

            “There’s where I’m headed too,” I told him, turning back to the front again.

            “What are you doing in school today?” he asked, falling into step with me. “I thought you were supposed to skip?”

            I shrugged. “Well I forgot… and I decided it was best to face this head on, but it seems like no one really cares. Or at least the people in my history class.”

            “Oh, that’s because Noah snipped it at its roots.”

            “Huh?”

            Luke frowned. “Did I use the saying wrong?”

            I rolled my eyes at him, feeling a grin make its way to my face. “What do you mean by that, Luke?”

            “He confessed this morning that he was only dating you because our record label said it would be good for us,” Luke explained. “He didn’t inform me or Rian he was doing this of course…”

            “Wait, he confessed we were fake dating?” I asked in surprise.

            Luke nodded. “Yep, as soon as we got to school. And over the PA.”

            “Won’t your recording company get angry?”

            “I don’t know,” he responded honestly. “We’ll find out. I don’t think anyone actually cares enough to say something to the company though, so nothing will happen probably.”

            I nodded, impressed. “I’ll have to remember to give him a pat on the back. I didn’t think he’d confess like that. So does that mean you guys don’t have to do that song with my brother?”

            Luke looked offended at just the thought. “Of course we’re still doing it!”

            “Okay, okay,” I responded with a laugh, feeling much more light hearted than before. I didn’t even care I had a tardy anymore.

            “We would never pass up a chance to work with Chasing Silhouettes! Together we can make a single that will top every single chart!” he continued, his voice growing with volume. “It will create so many opportunities for us!”

            “Really?”

            “Really.”

            I nodded. “That’s good.”

            “Heck, we might even be able to go international!”

            “That sounds….” I trailed off, my grin slipping off my face. If they went international, that meant they’d be touring… which would mean them leaving the school.

            Luke nudged me in the shoulder. “Sounds?”

            “Great,” I responded, trying to sound cheerful. “Awesome. Um, I’m going to get a pass now…”

            “Sure thing!” Luke replied, walking past the office door. “I’ll see you at lunch!”

            I opened my mouth to call Luke back but decided against it. He would eventually remember he was going to the office too. It’d be simpler for me to get a pass before he caught me again. I didn’t want to let him know I wasn’t excited for his single with my brother now. In fact, I didn’t want it to happen at all.

            When I trudged into the lunchroom after fourth period I found Luke, Chloe, Kevin and Noah all seated at our normal table… with one extra. Cindy sat in my usual spot next to Noah. I raised an eyebrow, taking a seat next to Kevin. “Hey Iris,” Cindy greeted me brightly.

            “Hi,” I replied before glancing at Noah curiously.

            He gave me a sheepish look. “So, um, has anyone said anything to you?”

            I shook my head. “Nope. I haven’t even got a dirty look.”

            “That’s good,” he responded with a deep sigh. “I thought maybe people wouldn’t believe me.”

            Chloe snorted. “Noah, are you kidding? The girls around here would drop dead to hear that. They want you single and ready to mingle.”

            Noah blushed at Chloe’s words and waved her off.

            “Speaking about this Iris cheating on Noah business, how come I wasn’t invited to your house last weekend?” Kevin spoke up, pouting at me. “You know how much I love your mom’s cooking.”

            “Sorry,” I apologized. “There wasn’t enough room in the car…”

            “That’s hardly an excuse!”

            Luke nudged Kevin in the side. “Her mom made this awesome pot roast.”

            Kevin groaned. “That’s my favorite!”

            “Apparently Rian’s too,” Noah interjected. “He inhaled his dinner.”

            I blinked. “Wait a second. Where is Rian?”

            All four others at the table shrugged.

            “Wasn’t he planning on skipping with you today?” Chloe asked, furrowing her eyebrows. “But you didn’t skip so…”

            My jaw dropped. That’s right! I was supposed to skip with Rian today! I forgot! “I’m going to go find him!” I said, pushing myself up from the table. “See you guys later!”

             “Text me if you don’t find him!” Noah shouted.

            I waved my hand over my shoulder in response to let him know I heard him. A group of students entering the lunchroom brushed by me as I exited. A grasp on my arm pulled me to a complete stop. Confused, I looked over my shoulder to see a girl I didn’t know frowning at me. “Were you and Noah really fake dating?” she demanded.

            “Um, yeah,” I responded, trying to remove my arm from her grasp. “His manager’s idea…”

            She gave me a relieved look. “That’s good! You’re pretty lucky, huh?”

            “Is that so?” I laughed awkwardly. “I actually have somewhere to be so…”

            She let go of my hand. “Yeah, no problem.”

            “Thanks…”

            I continued on my way, passing crowds of students still filing for the cafeteria. Every now and again I’d catch one of them glancing at me, a small smile on their faces. Was Noah being single that big of a deal? I almost laughed. They shouldn’t get their hopes up too high. Noah had his sights set again already.

            Cool air met my face and neck as I stepped out into the courtyard, heading back towards my dorm. If Rian was supposed to skip with me, wouldn’t that be the place to wait? Was he waiting out in the cold for me? The thought made me anxious. Would he do that?

            Of course he would, a voice in my head said. That jerk has a very sweet side.

            Unfortunately I had to agree.

            When I approached my dorm, I kept my eyes peeled for Rian. He wasn’t anywhere near the outside. Frowning now, I climbed up the steps, heading into the main hallway. It was dead. Maybe Rian went home? Or wherever he was staying… I blinked. I actually didn’t know where Gold stayed. Shaking the thought from my head, I started for the lobby room.

            I wasn’t too surprised when I found it empty. My eyebrows furrowed together. Where else could he be…?

            “Oh! Duh!” I muttered, shoving my hand into my pocket. “I can just call him…”

            I pulled out my phone and went to his contact, pressing the call button. After a few seconds it began ringing. The first ring passed, and then the second. It almost sounded like it was…

            “Hello?” I heard someone say.

            My head snapped to the side and I saw Rian pushing himself up into a sitting position on the lounge couch. He grimaced. “Oops, forgot to hit answer…” He hit a button on his phone and put it to his year. “Iris?”

            “Rian?”

            He turned his head in my direction, surprise crossing it. “What are you doing here?”

            “What are you doing here?”

            “Weren’t we supposed to skip together today? I was waiting for you.”

            “This is a girl’s dorm! You can’t be in here!”

            “So you rather me stay out in the cold?”

            “Of course not.”

            “Then I’m going to wait in here for you.”

            “Fine! Wait in here for me!”

            Rian scowled at his phone. “Fine. I’m hanging up.”

            “You can’t hang up if I hang up first!” I said, snapping my phone shut. “Ha!”

            “Real mature,” he responded, rolling his eyes at me. “You do realize we are in the same room, right? The phones were unnecessary in the first place.”

            My cheeks reddened in embarrassment. “I knew we were in the same room. I was just keeping up the act.”

            He chuckled, pushing himself up from the couch. “Yeah, okay, Iris.”

            “You really shouldn’t be in here though,” I told him. “If you get caught you’ll be in a lot of trouble.”

            He shrugged. “I’m not worried about it.”

            “Rian…”

            “So I’m going to take a guess and say you know what Noah did?” Rian asked, stopping a few feet away from me. “I think he’s trying to be your knight in shining armor.”

            I rolled my eyes. “He helped me a lot, Rian.”

            “I know. He helped me too.”

            “He did?”

            Rian nodded. “He’s single now.”

            “I didn’t know you were interested in guys,” I responded, trying to hide a smirk. “That’s an interesting development.”

            He chuckled, moving closer to me. I held my ground. “Yeah, I’m really interested in a certain guy too.”

            “Is that so?”

            “Yup. He’s about this high.” He patted my head. “And has really pretty hair.” He took a strand of my hair and shook it in front of my face. “And has eyes the color of blue irises, which corresponds with his name.”

            I blushed, dropping my gaze. “Clover?”

            “Close. But I’m talking about Iris.”

            “I’ve never met him.”

            Rian sighed lightly. “Really? That’s too bad. He’s really awesome. But I know he’s not interested in dating guys he barely knows, so I’m not going to ask him out right away.”

            “You’re not?” I responded, feeling a little miffed. Rian was going to give up that easily?

            He pursed his lips. “I can be a gentleman, you know.”

            “Oh.”

            “I’m going to wait until Iris is ready.”

            I chewed on my lip. “Um… what if Iris wouldn’t mind having a boyfriend now that the other guy is out of the picture?”

            Rian’s eyes pierced into mine, a small smirk playing across his features. “Oh? You think Iris had a change in heart?”

            “Maybe,” I muttered. “It’s already been a month now, after all. Iris said that when you guys first met.”

            “Well, if Iris is ready, then I’m all for it…”

            “Then you should ask him out.”

            “I don’t know…”

            “Rian…”

            He grinned at me, his eyes twinkling mischievously. “I think Iris should be ready for a whole lot of teasing.”

            “That’s not fair!” I protested.

            “I think it is. We hardly know each other!” he said, mimicking my voice.

            I scowled at him. “On second though, Iris is probably better off without you.”

            Rian laughed, grabbing onto my arm as I tried to walk away. “Hold up. I was kidding. I won’t tease you… on one condition.”

            “I thought we were talking about Iris?”

            He rolled his eyes. “Okay, I won’t tease Iris on one condition.”

            “What’s that?”

            “You go to the Snowball with me,” he stated, pointing towards a flier on the lounge wall.

            “That’s it?”

            “That’s it.”

            “Deal,” I told him, smiling.

            He smiled back. “Then next time you see Iris, can you tell him I want to ask him out?”

            I nodded. “Sure. I’m positive he’ll say yes too.”

            “Perfect. Now that that’s out of the way, can I see your dorm room?”

            “No.”

            He pouted. “Why not?”

            “It’s a mess,” I told him honestly. “And we’ll both get in trouble then. Let’s just go back to class.”

            “Don’t want to,” Rian responded, examining the tips of his fingernails. “Rather wait here. And since I’m Rian Drew, I can do what I want.”

            “You’re such a diva,” I muttered.

            He winked at me. “Don’t you know it.”

            “Whatever. Stay here if you want. I’m going back to school.” Turning on my heel, I started walking away. Five seconds later, as I predicted, Rian groaned and quickly caught up to me.

            “You’re no fun, you know that?”

            “I know that. That’s why I’m class president,” I replied with a small smile.

            He grinned back at me. “That’s right. I’m going to Snowball with Class Prez. Score.”

            Rolling my eyes, I sighed. Hopefully I wouldn’t regret this too much.

___________

Sorry it's short! I've been really busy lately.... as if you couldn't tell by my lack of updates..... my boss is an idiot and fired the other night girl they JUST HIRED so now I have to do all the nights again and yeah, I'm sick of it hahaha. Maybe I'll be writing more soon because I won't be able to handle that again when college starts back.

But I need money. Quite the dilemma.

ANYWAY! You guys should definitely support me by voting for Love at Last Sight in the Watty Awards! It'd be awesome of you! It's under Most Popular, Most Popular Teen Fiction, and Best Trailer! Thank you in advance!!