"What's your name again, sweetheart?"

The woman behind the marble counter flashed a smile at me, but she was one of those people who smiled with all their teeth with full passion, so it looked more like she was baring her teeth.

Then again, what with her leopard print blazer, brown pencil skirt and cat-like way of sitting, it just added to her theme.

"Bec," I replied, my gaze transfixed on her very loud, slightly frightening blazer. "Rebecca, I mean."

The cat lady swept her heavily gelled brown curls out of her face, revealing a thin, angular face with her skin pulled tight across her features. "Well, well, Rebecca, aren't you lucky! I'm sure it's a dream come true to be meeting who must be your favorite author in the world for the very first time!"

I chose not to tell her that I had been to every single meet and greet Gemma T. Leslie had held in Boston, instead accepted the torn ticket stub gratefully before warily walking away.

Glancing up at the huge lobby with its high ceiling, marble floors and huge banners, filled with bustling crowds, I smiled to myself. These were my people.

Everywhere else in the world, I stood out with my messy blonde ponytail, numerous Simon Snow T-shirts and signature bright red Doc Martens amongst all the teeny crop tops and high heels.

Here, at the Simon Snow meet and greet convention, I felt at home. The people here were just like me, shy introverts who wrote numerous fanfiction stories and got five hundred thousand hits on the first day of the post.

Well, maybe that last part was just me.

"Bec!"

I swiveled around to see Lilly, a friend I'd met through numerous phone calls and instant messages involving Simon Snow, barreling towards me. Lilly was my best friend and resident fellow Simon Snow fan. We lived a forty-five minute drive away from the convention center, but Lilly could always convince her dad to drive us there every time. If she was anything, Lilly was persuasive. That's why I love her so much. Lilly's dyed fiery red curls were pulled into a topknot, and her tiny frame was wrapped in a shiny yellow candlelight skater dress that shimmered and rippled as she ran, with the top half of the dress draped in a red shawl, arranged like an Indian sari. Her emerald green eyes are lined with black kohl. Just like all her other daring fashion choices, the arrangement was beautiful.

Lilly may have been just barely five feet, but she sure could get herself noticed.

"Hey!" I caught her as she flung herself towards me in a bear hug, flushing when I noticed the strange looks we got from the people around us.

"May the audience please take your seats in the hall. Gemma T. Leslie will be arriving shortly," a voice boomed over the speaker.

Lilly grabbed my hand. "Come on, come on! I have a feeling this is the day she'll finally do it!"

Laughing, I let her drag me to the doors.

For the past six months, Lilly and I had showed up at every meet and greet we could, listening to all of Gemma's speeches in hope that she would reveal a hint about the eighth and last book in the hugely successful Simon Snow series, that everyone has heard about. Every chance we got, we peppered her with questions, but it was to no avail.

I eagerly followed Lilly into the small but plush auditorium, the brass doors swinging shut behind us.

Just before the doors closed, I glanced back around to see a pair of shining blue eyes staring right back at me.

Before I had a chance to ponder those intriguing, beautiful pair of eyes, Lilly yanked me down in my seat and the hall darkened as the cat lady who was at the counter came clacking up onto the stage in her leopard print high heels.

She flashed one of her signature blinding grins at the audience. Only now did realize the full height of her glossy hair, heavily teased into a curly vintage half-updo with thick bangs hanging to just above her eyes.

"Well, well," She began, "What an absolutely fantastic turnout! Before we begin, let me introduce myself, my name is Felicia Monroe, and I will be your emcee for this convention! Might I remind you, dears, that no photography or videography is allowed in this hall!" She paused to let that sink in. "And now, the moment you have all been waiting for, the person you came here to meet-" Felicia hesitated before jokingly adding, "and greet, of course – Miss Gemma T. Leslie!" She trilled.

The hall erupted in applause, and Gemma herself stepped out behind the curtains, rather reluctantly allowing Felicia to kiss her cheeks before retreating shyly behind the podium for her speech.

Gemma's mousy brown hair was in loose smooth waves around her shoulders and her eyes were a shining pale, watered down blue. She allowed the audience to settle down before clearing her throat and smiling.

"Thank you, thank you all so much for being here. It means so much to me to have you all here to support Simon, a character I created so long ago that used to be just my little imaginary friend, but now I can share it with all of you and the rest of the fandom!"

Applause and cheers rang out again.

"And now, before I begin, I just want to say that this meet and greet means particularly a lot to me because, for the first time, my own son is here with me today to show my support. Julian is seventeen and my biggest supporter. I couldn't be here today without him. Julian?"

At that, a tall and lean boy with golden brown hair and bright shining blue eyes stepped out on stage.

I knew those eyes.

The all-too-familiar blue eyes met my gray, and they did something few others do.

They stayed there, gaze locked with mine.

Lilly's soft and kind features were twisted into a disappointed frown as we walked slowly out of the hall. It was weird, really, how expressive she was. This morning, since she was so excited, her entire being was glowing with energy, her appearance immaculate, and with a spring in her step.

Now, she hunched as she walked, her hair falling in curly tufts out of her bun, and her half-sari kept twisting awkwardly, trapping her arms to her sides every once in a while.

The stream of people coming out of the hall seemed endless, awed chatter echoing off the walls. A few die-hard fans like us hovered in the lobby while some waited in the carpark, waiting for Gemma T. Leslie to finally come out from backstage so the fans might be able to talk to her personally.

The speech and Q&A session in the hall had gone as expected, mysterious but beautiful Julian having disappeared shortly before Gemma had begun her speech. Lilly and I had got into the routine of not asking her anything about 'Simon Snow and the Eighth Dance' during the speech, but to wait until afterwards when we could get her on her own.

Of course, we didn't want to come across as desperate stalkers, so we had carefully planned to only ask every other time, and as she only came to Boston for two shows every trip, she did not remember us.

We waited for an hour before Gemma finally appeared, and by then there was only a handful of people left.

The second we saw Gemma's trademark canary yellow leather bag, we rushed towards her with everyone else.

But then I saw who lingered at her side.

And I stopped in my tracks.

The boy – Julian – with his beautiful eyes stood there, looking awkward but still with his easy smile from before.

In person, he looked different – not like a celebrity, which was my first thought about him, but more like a regular guy.

A beautiful regular guy, that is.

Standing next to his mother, you could see the similarity between them. But while Gemma's hair was mouse and wavy with the occasional corkscrew curl, his was golden-brown and smooth and silky. Instead of flopping out like most guys' hair, his flopped inwards, creating an adorable tall and messy look, with little pieces dipping into his eyes.

While Gemma's eyes were pale blue-grey, his were glimmering sapphires, such a bright and vivid deep blue they looked like the sky and the ocean had rolled into one. He had Gemma's high and prominent cheekbones and soft yet angular features, but while Gemma was rather short, he was long-limbed and tall.

In other words, he was everything beautiful about Gemma but ten times more vivid.

Lilly turned around from chattering along with the rest of the group with Gemma, just noticing my absence.

"Well? Don't just stand there, Bec, come on!"

Trapped, I warily approached, keeping my head ducked to avoid Julian's sweeping gaze.

I listened to Gemma's conversation, only half paying attention.

Finally, Lilly jostled my arm.

"Ugh," She groaned. "I forgot I promised Mom I would babysit Jamie tonight." Jamie was her six-year-old little brother. "Sorry, Bec, I'd love to stick around but I got to go. Are you coming?"

I checked my watch. My parents didn't expect me home for another hour or two. "Nope, I'll find a ride home. See you later, okay?"

Lilly nodded before giving me a quick hug and rushing away.

I glanced back at Gemma. She was still at the climax of her conversation, and even Julian seemed interested, but there were only three other people left chatting now. I was sure to be noticed.

Instead, I wandered off towards the library of the convention center, which was a little ways off from the lobby. The library was small, certainly, but it had a full bookcase devoted to Simon Snow, so Lilly and I liked to stop by after a show.

I settled down on a soft armchair in the cool library, deciding to reread a chapter or two of 'Simon Snow and the Six White Hares'.

Time passed.

I didn't notice, lost in the world of Simon Snow.

Simon.

Baz.

Lost.

"I didn't expect you to still be here."

I startled up from my book, to see a familiar boy about my age standing in front of me with a charming grin, leaning against a pillar in the library.

I flushed. Julian was here, talking to me. Gemma T. Leslie's very own son.

I opened my mouth to reply but snapped it shut again. For once, I was speechless.

Julian's brow crinkled and he stepped away from the pillar. "Are you okay? You look a little… pale."

His accent was so very English.

I snapped out of my daze and shook my head, blushing again, feeling stupid. "I'm – I'm fine."

I cleared my throat, mustering up my courage. "Julian, right?"

Julian smiled, looking surprised. "Yes," He said. "I didn't expect you to remember."

"You're Gemma T. Leslie's son. I've been stalking her for years. How could I not remember?"

The words were out of my mouth before I can stop them, and I braced myself for the imminent strange look.

But Julian only laughed and shook his head. "Well, I saw you come in here about two hours ago. Mom left already, but I thought I would hang around for a bit. The library's small, but I like it. It's cozy, kind of… reassuring."

I grinned. "That's exactly what I always say about it!"

We grinned stupidly at each other for a moment before I hesitantly asked, "So… You like to read a lot, then, Julian?"

Julian shrugged and slid into the seat across from me. "I've loved to read since I was young. Obviously, you do too, since you've been sitting there reading that Simon Snow book that I'm pretty sure you've read before, seeing how your friend kept telling Mom that you've both read and loved all her books."

I shrugged back at him. "It's kind of my thing. I grew up with Simon as, well, my hero."

"You know, if you'd like, I have an entire box of limited edition Simon Snow posters I never use. It's weird to have posters for my mom's books in my room, but I'd love to give some away," Julian offered.

I nearly jumped out of my seat. "The ones with Penelope and Agatha arm in arm with Baz?"

"No," he replied with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry."

My heart dropped, and I slump back into my seat. "Oh."

Suddenly Julian burst out laughing. "You are so gullible! Yes, yes, it's that one. Do you want it?"

I shrieked (totally inappropriate for a library) and jumped up. "Yes, yes, yes!"

I caught sight of my watch and shrank back down.

Julian looked concerned. "Something wrong?"

"No, I just have to go. I'm late."

I grabbed my bag and hurry to my feet. To my surprise, Julian did the same, smiling at me.

"Okay, but can we meet again? I still want to give you those posters," Julian teased me.

I hid my smile. "Sure, Julian. I'd like that."

As I walked away, Julian suddenly grabbed my arm. "Wait, Bec."

I swiveled around, eyebrows raised.

"Call me Jules."