by Nikki Godwin
Jules makes a gagging noise and stretches out on the sectional while Tate congratulates Aralie on her strike. Seeing the three of them together makes me feel even more awkward today than it has before.
“Chloe!” Aralie shouts, rushing across the room to me. “Come in here. Have you seen Milo? I need him in here too.”
My throat closes up like I’m having an allergic reaction. I can’t even speak, so I just shrug and shake my head. Is this the part where she announces that she’s a Saturnite and is the first SAS girlfriend? She obviously needs Milo here since he’s the mature and sensible one of the group. He’s the one she’ll have to convince. Maybe she really is dating Tate. Oh God, I hope she doesn’t make a “I’m dating and mating with Tate” poster for their ‘welcome back’ concert.
Tate dashes across the room and volunteers to go find Milo. Aralie walks over to Dad’s DVD shelf and hands Jules a few sheets of paper. I bet he wishes he had a stick of crushed ladybugs right now. He looks miserable.
Milo walks in with Tate riding on his back. Tate jumps down and smiles proudly at my sister. Yep. She’s totally hooking up with Tate.
“Good! You’re here,” Aralie says. “You two, sit.” She points at Milo and me.
This is the first I’ve seen him since he gave me his shirt. He’s wearing royal blue today. It looks good on him too. I wonder if I can just keep his entire wardrobe when he leaves. Emery has already accused him of being naked once. Round two won’t kill him.
“Ladies first,” Milo says, motioning me to go ahead of him.
I sit down on the sectional, and he sits next to me – way too close for public comfort. It’s hard to focus when his leg is brushing against mine. Tate laughs and joins us on the other side of Milo. An accomplished smile spreads on Aralie’s face as Jules stands up and walks to the center of the room.
Jules shuffles through the papers that Aralie handed him until he finds the right one. He clears his throat and avoids looking over at us.
“Dear Chloe,” he begins in the most monotone voice ever. “I’m sorry I wasn’t man enough to stand up for you about the cigarettes. I’m a coward, and I have a terrible addiction. I need to quit smoking or I may get kicked out of the band…What the hell, Aralie?”
He looks at my sister, but she holds a firm expression.
“Read,” she demands.
He sighs. “…or I may get kicked out of the band and replaced with a bad boy who looks better and sings better. Smoking could give me lung cancer, which I can’t afford because I’m the worst singer…Oh hell no.”
Aralie clears her throat, and Tate laughs. I wonder what kind of blackmail she has on Jules to make him suffer through reading an apology that she clearly wrote for him.
Jules shakes his head. “…I’m the worst singer in Spaceships Around Saturn. I’ll never sound as good as Milo. I am ashamed of myself. Emery was right. I smell like crushed ladybugs. Please forgive me.”
Tate throws his head back and laughs like the mad scientist who brought Frankenstein to life. Aralie chokes back her laughter and demands that he read the other apology next. Jules gives her a death glare. Ugh, I wish I knew whatever it is that she knows. It must be juicy.
“Dear Milo,” Jules reads. “You are twice the singer I’ll ever be. You are twice the man I’ll ever be. You’re good-looking, mature, and think with a level head, unlike myself. I’m sorry I lied about the cigarettes. I am a dick.”
Jules crumples up the apology letters, throws them at Tate, and leaves the room.
Aralie walks over to where Jules previously stood.
“You are dismissed,” she says.
An hour later, after convincing Milo (more like begging Milo) to let me color in the heart inside of the maple leaf, I roam the house looking for my sister. Paige invited us to go to lunch with her and Lauren, and there’s no way I’m going alone. I don’t want to go, but I think a break from the house will make me feel better. Maybe I’ll actually stop thinking about Milo and what’s going on between us.
I check Dad’s game room, but Tate and Jules are alone playing video games. Benji is in the shower. I only know because I could hear him singing a One Direction song with all his heart. I hate to tell him, but he needs to leave the high notes to Liam Payne. Thankfully Milo’s cover songs are much better than Benji’s shower songs.
Note to self: Don’t think about Milo singing cover songs. It’ll just drive you crazy.
I find Aralie outside near the pool with Milo and Noah. Emery is with them. She’s probably just waiting for Benji to get out of the shower. Why does it feel like things just keep getting weirder and weirder around here?
“Hey Chloe,” Noah says as soon as I step onto the concrete of the patio. “I saw Milo’s maple leaf. It was definitely a Chloe Branson original.”
Aralie gives him an epic, dramatized eye roll.
“Noah, it’s a leaf,” she mumbles.
He raises his eyebrows. “Did you see the before or after version?”
“Whatever,” Aralie says. “You’re annoying. This is why I don’t hang out with you.”
She stands up and walks toward the patio door, but I stop her. I quickly give her the run down that Paige wants to meet up for lunch, and I don’t want to go alone. Aralie can’t stand Paige, so it surprises me when she says she’ll go. Maybe she just wants a few moments back on planet Earth too.
Emery goes inside with Aralie, leaving me with the only other people in this house who know my secret.
Noah smiles. “I liked the heart. You should’ve left it.”
“Noah,” Milo says in his serious voice. “You remember what she did to you last time you provoked her, right?”
“Don’t!” Noah shouts. He hugs his own body. “I love this shirt. I’ll hush, I swear.”
The patio door slides open again before Milo or I can scold Noah for talking about our relationship – whatever it may be – out loud. Aralie stares at us.
“We have a problem,” she says. “Mom said we have to take Emery with us.”
My heart is a rapid drum beating out of control. I stare at the double door entrance of the pizza parlor, but I can’t bring myself to get out of the car. Aralie stares ahead too, knowing that Paige and Lauren are inside waiting for us.
“My stomach is growling,” Emery whines from the backseat.
We’ve lectured her the entire drive over here, but I still don’t feel confident. Mom lectured her before we left the house. I can’t believe Mom put us in this situation. Yes, I know Emery is driving Benji to the point of Prozac, but we’ll all need a prescription once Emery slips up and our house is bombarded with Saturnites.
“Okay, here’s the deal,” Aralie says, twisting around to look at Emery. “Do not mention Spaceships Around Saturn at all.”
“But…but…what if they ask who my favorite singer is?” Emery asks.
I look at her in the rearview mirror. Her face is scrunched up like an ugly baby doll again. Oh God, please don’t let her start crying.
“Em,” I say. “No one is going to ask. They don’t care about the guys. They won’t even bring them up.”
She breathes a heavy sigh, and her little shoulders slump forward. There has to be something in Emery’s little brain other than spaceships, Saturn, and Benji Baccarini. Maybe she’ll just sit quietly, eat her pizza, and we can leave fairly soon because she’s with us. She’ll be our ticket out of here. Oh who am I kidding? She’s going to sit down, scream out Benji’s name, and contort her face back to the taxidermy hyena smile.
Aralie opens the passenger side door.
“Let’s just get this over with,” she says.
We walk like it’s a death march, taking us away to our executions. Emery clings to my arm, squeezing my wrists every few seconds. Aralie spots Lauren and Paige in a corner booth. At least we won’t be in the middle of the room. If Emery does slip up, maybe we can hush her and escape before word spreads around the entire pizza parlor.
Then again, with Lauren and Paige, there
’s no chance the lockdown could ever remain a secret. Emery better not breathe a word about Spaceships Around Saturn. Paige waves as soon as she spots us.
Aralie slides into the rounded corner booth first. We stick Emery in between us, and I take the seat closest to the exit. If this goes badly, our plan is for Aralie to talk loudly enough to drown out Emery while I drag the little one to the car in a hurry.
“Finally,” Lauren says. She flips her hair over her shoulder. “Now we can order. I’m starving, and the Branson sisters are never on time.”
I bite down on my lip as the waitress scribbles down Lauren’s order. I knew Lauren would be pissed off at us. We missed her party right after the lockdown happened. Because of our lockdown, she now feels obligated to take Paige to Florida with her. Plus, she’s always thought I was a fool for not sleeping with Deacon because “every girl in school wants a piece of him.”
And I don’t appreciate her referring to us as the Branson sisters. The only person who ever addresses me with my last name is Milo. He’s pretty much the only person who has that privilege.
Emery squirms around next to me.
“How long until they get it ready?” she asks.
She’s taken a sudden new liking to pepperoni, Benji’s favorite, and she swears she’s craving some right now.
“It’ll take just a little bit,” I say. “They have to….”
I don’t finish my sentence because I hear his voice. My body moves in slow motion as my head turns toward the flat screen on the wall. The music video for “Music Up, Windows Down” is on the freaking flat screen! And it’s Milo’s verse!
Before I can completely die inside, Emery’s voice echoes across the universe.
“This is my favorite song right now!” she shouts out. “I love Spaceships Around Saturn. Benji is my favorite person in the band.”
“He’s cute,” Paige agrees. “I can’t believe someone shot at them. I wonder where they are. I bet they’re back in Canada with their families.”
Lauren nods in agreement. “They probably won’t even finish their tour here, and if they do, they’ll never come back.”
Emery’s eyebrows bend together. Her lips semi-pout, but I really think this is supposed to be her angry face.
“Benji is mine,” she says through clenched teeth.
Oh seriously, Emery? Someone just said your favorite band would never come back to America, and you’re worried about someone taking Benji from you? He’s nineteen. He’s not going to date you.
Paige laughs. “Don’t worry, Emery. You can keep him. He’s not really my type. I think I would rather have a baaaad boy,” she says, almost singing the word ‘bad.’
Emery shakes her head. “Um, Jules is not going to like you. And he smells like crushed ladybugs anyway.”
Lauren curls her nose. “How would you know what he smells like?”
As confident as ever, Emery smiles.
“He smokes cigarettes,” she declares.
“Well, yeah,” Paige says. “He’s the bad boy. He’s supposed to.”
I cannot believe we’re even having this conversation. I have to end it before things go too far. Since Aralie hasn’t jumped in to defend Jules, I’m pretty sure she’s Team Tate. I can’t wait to tell Milo about this when we get back. Oh God, Chloe, really? Don’t think about Milo!
“So,” I interrupt. “When are you guys going to Florida?”
“Next month,” Lauren says. “We had planned to go sooner, but since Paige’s trip got unexpectedly cancelled, we rescheduled so she could go with us. It’s not really fair that she has to miss out since other people apparently had issues.”
“Yeah,” Emery agrees. She props her little elbows on the table and leans forward.
We all wait in this epic moment of silence – like in a movie – waiting for the building to explode or zombies to erupt from the ground. Maybe Aralie’s zombie-obsessed rock band would rescue us. I’ve already met Sebastian’s Shadow, and Emery’s met Spaceships Around Saturn. It’s only fair that Mutilated Arteries would be next. The Branson sisters are two for three. We could do it.
“That’s like…” Emery pauses and looks at me. Then she looks back at Paige and Lauren. “It’s like when you tattle on someone because they are naked in your sister’s room. Then you get in trouble for tattling, but the naked person doesn’t get in trouble for being naked.”
Oh. My. Saturn. I want to sort of…no…completely die right now. If there is anything at all from this lockdown that I want to forget about, it’s the mistaken nudity. Emery’s misunderstanding costs me two days with Milo. That doesn’t even include the humility, embarrassment, and broken heart.
“Aralie,” Lauren says. “You’re dating someone?”
Of course. Ice Queen Chloe would never have a naked boy in her room. Not even the ever-so-gorgeous Milo of Spaceships Around Saturn. I can’t believe I thought for half a second that they’d think it was me.
“No,” Aralie says. “Emery’s just talking crazy. She’s five years old, remember? None of us have boyfriends.”
She shoots Emery an evil eye, and I’m thankful because it shuts Emery up for the time being. The last thing I want to talk about is Milo and mistaken nudity in my bedroom. The word ‘boyfriend’ is completely banned from my vocabulary for the moment.
Leaving the house was a bad idea. I should’ve just stayed home with Noah’s wisecracks and Benji’s bad high notes and Milo’s caramel eyes. Shoot, I could take Aralie and Jules in another boxing round. I’d even let Tate laugh the entire time.
Lauren glances back up at the flat screen. The music video ended moments ago, but now there’s a news segment about the guys. Fans cry to the cameras about missing out on the shows. These girls all talk about how it was going to be the highlight of their summers.
“They’ll never come back here again,” Lauren says. “I mean, you come to the USA for your first big tour here, and BAM! Someone tries to kill you. I bet they hate America.”
“No!” Emery screams. She leaps forward, halfway onto the table. “They love America!”
Aralie and I grab our little sister simultaneously and pull her back. This has gone too far. She’s going to snap any second. Mom should’ve known better than to let Emery out of the house. There’s no way to contain an almost-six-year-old Saturnite. The universe isn’t ready for people like Emery. Scratch that – there isn’t anyone who can compare to Emery.
“Calm down,” I tell her. “I’m sure your boyband will come back to America, and I bet Mom and Dad will buy tickets for you. We’ll make it happen if you just caaaaalm doooown.”
I drag out the last two words like Milo would on Twitter. I don’t think the little Saturnite knows what to do with herself. She’s in a big world where she can’t tell her biggest secret ever. Why couldn’t the flat screen just play footage of One Direction instead? They’re so much more famous than Spaceships Around Saturn.
The waitress interrupts Emery’s panic and places two large pizzas on the table ahead of us. I grab a slice of pepperoni for Emery. She wasn’t lying about being hungry. This is the first time since lockdown started that I’ve seen her care more about eating than talking about Benji.
I’m three bites into a slice of cheese pizza when my cell phone rings. I dig into my purse and see Mom flashing on the screen.
“Hello?” I say, hoping she’s not calling to tell me that lockdown is over and the guys left.
“Why, hello, Ms. Branson,” Milo says.
“Hi…Mom,” I stammer. “Is there a reason you’re calling at such an inconvenient time? You know I’m with Paige and Lauren, right?”
“Oh Chloe,” Milo says. “Am I making this awkward for you?”
Awkward is an understatement. I pray that Emery doesn’t hear his voice through the speaker. Surely Milo knows to keep his voice down. I can’t believe Mom let him use her cell phone to call me. She has to be in the room with him. She wouldn’t risk giving the guys her cell phone without monitoring them. Then again, she
trusts Milo.
He clears his throat. “I’m sitting here with my dick-of-a-friend Julian Rossi, who wanted to know if you’d be so kind as to bring us food.”
“Hold on, Mom,” I say into the phone. I get up from the table.
Aralie looks at me with that sisterly look that clearly says that she knows I’m not talking to Mom. In fact, she flags down the waitress and asks for a to-go box as I step away from the table. I don’t say anything else until I’m in the parking lot.
“Milo Grayson, do you have any clue what you just put me through?” I ask.
He laughs, and I can’t even be mad.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “Really though, we’re starving. Jules said Aralie would never do him a favor, and you wouldn’t do it for him because of what happened the last time you did him a favor. So I’m calling. Your mom said you wouldn’t do it unless you felt guilted into it, and she suggested I call since I defended your honor earlier.”
I sigh and dig through my purse for a pen.
“Order when ready, Mr. Grayson.”
Chapter Fifteen
I linger around the kitchen in my pajama pants and a tank top. The sun has barely risen outside, and I don’t know how I’m even awake. Noah and Milo kept me up watching movies until far too into the night.
The microwave spins around, heating leftover pizza from the night before. Aralie, Emery, and I had to drive around the block a few times until Paige and Lauren left before we could pick up the enormous order that Milo and Jules requested. The microwave beeps once, and I open it before it can wake up the entire household.
“Good morning, beautiful,” Milo says from behind me.
I spin around, wishing I’d taken the time to wash off yesterday’s makeup and repaint my face. At least I ran a brush through my hair, which is more than he’s done. How is it that he’s still cute with messy hair and sleepy eyes?
He wraps his arms around me, pulls me to his chest, and kisses my forehead.
“Why are you even awake?” he asks.
“I could ask you the same thing,” I say.
He yawns in response, and I laugh. That’s pretty much how I feel. I grab my barely-warmed pizza, and Milo follows me to the dining room table. He sits next to me, eating the pepperonis that I pick off of the slice, but he doesn’t say anything else.
