Shane ducked into his hotel room, trying to avoid a large group of girls that had been following him all day. He loved his fans, but it was exhausting sometimes. Especially this week; they had held a contest. "A Week with the Connect Three!" let the winning fans stay in the same hotel as the band, attend Q & A sessions, watch their rehearsals, and sit front row at the first concert of their tour. They also got plenty of free merchandise.
"Um…hi."
Shane turned around quickly at the female voice. A beautiful girl, about his age, was standing in his room. She wore a black, lacy tank top and dark skinny jeans that showed off her figure nicely. Her red hair was cut to her shoulders and feathered out, and she was looking at him with the deepest brown eyes he'd ever seen.
"Hi…" he started, confused by her presence. "How did you get in here?"
"With my key," she told him, equally confused. "This is my room. 415?"
His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. His face burned with embarrassment. "I am so sorry. I must have gotten off the elevator on the wrong floor. I'm in 315."
"Oh, are you here for the contest?" she asked. All of the winners were on floors three and four, as well as the band.
Shane looked at her, trying to decide whether or not she was serious. Of course he was here for the contest, he was a third of the reason people entered it in the first place. "Yeah…are you a fan?"
She smiled. She had an amazing smile. "They have a few catchy songs, but I can't say I know all the words to any of them. And I don't think I could pick them out of a line-up if my life depended on it. They all have curly hair, right? I would pick the curly-haired one. My sister is the fan. She needed someone over eighteen to take her and her friend, and she thinks our parents are embarrassing, so I agreed to come. What about you? Big fan of Connect Three?"
He was amazed; she didn't know who he was. It was refreshing. Since they had become well-known, he hadn't been able to talk to a girl who didn't see him as a "rockstar" instead of just "Shane." He missed feeling like someone actually cared about him, not who he was. "Uh…no, I'm here with my little sister, too."
The instant he said it, he regretted it. She would know he had lied as soon as he went onstage at the rehearsal tonight. "Are you going to the rehearsal tonight?"
"No. They're old enough to go buy themselves. I was going to walk around for awhile. I've never been to LA. If you're not doing anything…"
Damn, he thought. Yes, he wanted to hang out with her, but he couldn't exactly skip his own rehearsal. "I can't. My sister's only twelve, she can't go by herself."
The girl shrugged. "My loss. I'm Audrey, by the way."
"Shane G…" he started. "I'm Shane. And I'm really sorry, again, for breaking into your room."
She laughed. "Don't worry about it. Actually, it was kind of nice. I thought I was going to be the only person my age here. I wasn't really looking forward to spending an entire week with parents and screaming little girls."
"Yeah, it was nice," he smiled. He looked at his watch. He had an hour until rehearsal started. He was supposed to meet his band in fifteen minutes, but they would understand…there was a bar area in the restaurant that only allowed people eighteen or older. Nobody would recognize them if they went there, and if they did, they probably wouldn't care. "Do you want to, um, go get something to eat?"
"Yeah, I'd like that," Audrey replied, looking around for her purse.
She found the black bag on the desk and slid it over her shoulder. He opened the door, holding it open for her before leaving the room himself. He pulled his hood up, trying to cover his face; as long as he could get to the restaurant without being noticed, he would be in the clear for now.
Shane was grateful to find the elevator empty. He hit the button for the first floor, stealing a glance at Audrey. She was really beautiful. She caught him staring and smiled.
"Where are you from?" she asked.
"New Jersey," he told her, trying to hide his embarrassment again. "You?"
"New York. I go to Colombia."
"Cool," he replied as the elevator doors opened.
They walked quickly to the lounge, waiting at the maître de's podium to be seated. An older man came to greet them. Shane saw from his nametag that he was the manager.
"Two, please," Shane said, praying that he didn't recognize him. He hadn't thought about the staff; they always made sure to treat them especially well when they stayed there.
"Absolutely. Only the best for you, Mr…." he started. Shane gave him a panicked look with his eyes and shook his head slightly. The man was confused, but he got the message. "Sir. We give our best to all our visitors. This way."
He pointed them towards a table, and Shane let Audrey go before him. He leaned towards the manager and whispered. "Please ask our server to pretend I'm just another customer."
"Of course," the man said with a small smile. He was figuring out was going on, and apparently taking some amusement from it.
They followed Audrey to the table and he gave them both a menu. "Ashley will be your waitress tonight. She will be right here."
"Thanks," they both said, glancing over the menu.
"So…where's your sister?" he asked, trying to be casual. She would definitely recognize him, and it would only be so long that he could hang out with Audrey without running into her sister in their room.
"Oh, I think she's in her room," she told him. "They wanted their own room so they could feel like adults, so they're next door to me. Where's your sister?"
"She's, um…" Shane tried to think fast. He had forgotten that he ever 'had' a sister. "She's in the pool…with her friend and her friend's mom."
"There's a pool?" she asked, her face lighting up. "I have to check that out later."
The waitress came and took their orders. Shane sat anxiously, trying to think of what to say. He wanted to get to know her as much as possible before she found out who he was; if she knew the real him, maybe it wouldn't matter that he was famous.
"You look nervous," Audrey smiled.
"I'm not," he lied.
She laughed. She was obviously unconvinced. "Tell me something really embarrassing about yourself."
"Why?"
"Because once you tell me that, you can tell me anything," she explained.
He thought for a moment. "Whenever I walk by a window, I check myself out to make sure I look good."
She laughed. He wanted to make her laugh all the time; she had an incredible laugh. "I do that, too."
"But I bet you always look good," he said sweetly. She was right, that had helped him loosen up. He was never usually nervous around girls, but she was different. "Your turn."
Audrey bit her lip. "My real name is Adrasteia."
"That's…cute…" he said, trying not to laugh.
"Don't lie," she smirked. "My mom is a freak for Greek mythology. Adrasteia was a goddess."
You've got that right, he thought as they received their food. "What are you eating?"
She laughed. "Tofu and couscous."
"Why?"
"I'm a vegetarian," she told him, taking a spoonful and holding it in front of his face. "Try it."
He shook his head. "No way."
"Please?" she pouted.
God, she is so cute. He cringed and took a bite. He considered it for a moment. "Okay, it's not that bad."
"You like it," she said triumphantly, taking a bite for herself.
I like you. He noticed her shiver. "Are you cold?"
"A little," she admitted.
He started unzipping his black hoodie.
"No, I'm fine. Thank you," she stopped him.
He slid it off his arms and handed it to her. "Take it."
"Thank you," she smiled, pulling it on.
They talked through the rest of the meal about the music they liked, they're favorite movies, and their hobbies.
Audrey pulled her wallet from her purse when the check came.
"Put that away," Shane smiled, handing his credit card to the waitress.
"Are you sure?" she asked cautiously, and he nodded. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
The waitress brought his credit card back and he slid it back into his wallet. They stood up and exited the restaurant.
He glanced at his watch; he had to be at the rehearsal in five minutes. "I have to go, um…get my sister."
"Thanks for dinner," she said, unzipping his hoodie that she was wearing.
"How about you hold onto that," Shane told her. "So I have an excuse to see you again."
She smiled and winked at him. "You don't need an excuse. I'll see you around."
"Bye," he called after her as she headed towards the elevator.
As soon as she was out of sight, he ran as fast as he could to the arena across the street.
"Where the hell have you been?" Jason asked him.
"Look at that smile, Jay. Do you really have to ask?" Nate laughed. "She's hot, huh?"
"She's amazing," Shane sighed, catching his breath before they had to go out onstage.
