The four members of Big Time Rush watched awkwardly as the two girls they had just met stared at them.
After almost a minute of silence, the two turned to each other.
"Pinch me," they said to each other at the same time. Simultaneously, they pinched each other's arms. "Ow. Okay, not a dream." They turned back to the band. "Hi!"
"That," said Logan, pointing at them, "was creepy."
"Aw, thanks," smiled the shorter girl with purple hair.
"I don't think that was a compliment," said the taller girl, whose hair was blue-black.
The shorter girl shrugged. "And?"
"So," interrupted Kendall, bringing the girls' attention to him, "what're your names?"
"Gina Harkness," said the purple-haired girl.
"I'm Lianne Ryan," said the tall girl.
"Oh hey, we're moving," noted Gina, staring outside the pod. Everyone else followed her gaze and could see that they were moving, albeit slowly.
"This is weird," said Logan quietly to his band mates.
"I know," agreed James. "Neither of them are jumping on me." He brought a mirror out of his blazer pocket. "Is there something wrong with my hair?"
"Not what I meant," said Logan, rolling his eyes.
"No, but I see what you're getting at," said Carlos. "They're not acting like typical fangirls."
"We can hear you, you know," said Lianne, her hands on her hips and an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, we are standing right here," added Gina, her arms folded across her chest.
"Besides, we pride ourselves…" Lianne started.
"…on not being obsessed and screaming fangirls," finished Gina.
"Do you usually do that?" asked Kendall. "The sentences thing?"
The girls shrugged. "It happens," they said together. There was a pause in the conversation that slowly started to become awkward.
"So… uh…" started Carlos, sensing the building awkwardness. "What do you guys do?"
Gina raised an eyebrow. "I'm studying Screenwriting for Film and TV at university," she replied.
"You're at university?" blurted Logan, looking surprised.
"I think what he means is, uh, you don't look old enough to be at uni," Kendall said quickly.
Gina laughed. "I get that a lot. People think she's older than me most of the time," she said, pointing at Lianne.
"You're younger than her?" asked James, his mirror back in his blazer.
Lianne's face went a light pink. "Yeah. By about two years. I'm 17, just finished my first year at college."
"Doing what?" asked Carlos.
"Animal Management. It's fun, but it's hard work."
"Cool."
The awkward silence returned again.
"How long does this last?" Gina whispered to Lianne.
"Half an hour," she replied.
Gina resisted the urge to face-palm herself. She needed to think of something to do, and quick; she knew she wouldn't be able to bear thirty minutes of awkward silence.