Levi Weston had been a student at Summer Cove High for over a year, and everyone had gotten used to his presence. Hardly any of the students would come up to him to ask for an autograph or a selfie now, except for a few freshmen.
"I'm not going to ask for an autograph or a selfie," Chaz said.
"Don't interrupt me," Emily complained. "Did you or did you not ask me to tell you about Levi Weston at school, dear cousin?"
"I did." Chaz sighed. "Please go on."
When Levi first started at Summer Cove High, he seemed to have been immediately surrounded by his own group of friends (why he chose to hang out with that group was anyone's guess) as soon as he stepped foot in the school. The students (and a few teachers) who were fans managed to get a selfie, then after about a month, most people left him alone. Some people believed he was there for a publicity stunt or a reality show. But nothing came up. Levi didn't even release any new music until after the first semester. It looked like he really did go there to finish high school, and hang out with his friends.
"Do you know if his friends were fans?" Chaz asked.
"What did I say about interrupting me?" Emily crossed her arms. "Just listen, okay? But yeah, some of them were fans, I saw them in line at that signing event."
She continued her story by telling Chaz about the time she approached Levi at his locker and requested a selfie with him. When he'd smiled at her, she'd thought she would combust. She was so nervous that her hands were shaking, so he offered to take the photo. While Emily was happy with the selfie, she couldn't help but feel that she'd crossed some line. She thanked him, and afterward, never tried to talk to him again. Sometimes she would smile at Levi when she saw him in class or in the hallways, and he always smiled back, but she wondered if he remembered her at all.
"I'm sure he remembers you, Em," Chaz said encouragingly.
"Maybe." Emily thought Chaz was being naive. She had kept that selfie, though.
Chaz quickly moved on. "Did you get permission to show me around school before I start classes?"
Chaz's family was moving to Emily's neighborhood, and he was transferring to Summer Cove High. Being an even bigger Levi Weston fan than Emily, Chaz wanted to know everything she knew about the singer. She figured he'd just be excited at first, and then get used to it like everyone else did.
When Chaz showed her the letter he got from "Levi Weston", she didn't have the heart to tell him that she had a similar letter hidden away with her albums. In hindsight, she wished she had told him.
"Chaz, you said you weren't going to ask for an autograph or a selfie," Emily whispered, holding on to her cousin's arm.
Levi Weston was standing only a couple of feet away, across the cafeteria.
"I'm not going to do that," Chaz reassured her. "He's a friend."
Emily's jaw dropped, and Chaz slipped away from her grasp before she could stop him.
After scrambling to hide around the corner, she watched with secondhand embarrassment as Chaz approached Levi. She saw Levi's confused expression turn apologetic (perhaps forced to admit that thousands of fans had gotten the same letter?) Then he smiled kindly and gave Chaz a pat on the shoulder, before walking away to join his own friends. Surely that was more than enough for her cousin.
"Levi is going to hang out with me and my friends," Chaz told her, after. "You can come, too."
"Are you sure you heard him right?" Emily asked.
Chaz waved away her questions. She later found out that he'd approached Levi a few more times during the week.
"Don't you think you need to back off a little bit, Chaz?"
"What do you mean?" He sounded baffled.
"Levi barely knows you! Try to put yourself in his shoes."
The next day, Emily saw Chaz dressed head to toe exactly like Levi Weston, including a cowboy hat.
"This is not what I had in mind."
"Pretty cool, huh?" He was beaming at her. "We're hanging out with Levi at Metro Plaza this afternoon. You should really come."
"Didn't you say he was busy? When did he agree to this?"
"I'm going to tell Levi when I see him later," Chaz replied. "We have the same lunch period."
Emily had no idea what to say. Chaz was usually a sweet guy, but he could be clueless when it came to other people's feelings. She didn't want to hurt him by outright saying he was turning into a creepy stalker, so she tried to explain in a nicer way. But Chaz brushed off her concerns.
Summer Cove had a monster attack practically every few days, and Emily was used to hearing about it in the news. She had even seen it up close twice. But when she couldn't find Chaz in all the chaos, Emily was panicking. She ran around Metro Plaza in circles trying to find her cousin, before finally bumping into him after who knew how long. She pleaded with him to go home, but he refused.
"...The next thing I remember, Levi Weston's there," Chaz was telling his friends.
"Yeah, right. You're dreaming, Chaz," replied one of the guys.
"It's him!" Someone yelled, and Emily looked up from her phone.
"Howdy, folks." Levi Weston (with his friends) appeared in front of them. "Can I have a word, Chaz?"
Emily was tempted to eavesdrop, but she wasn't close enough to hear everything Levi said. The mini-concert and autograph signing that followed, though? She was definitely near enough to appreciate.
It wasn't too long before one of Levi's friends (Emily thinks that one was Brody) tapped him on the shoulder, and he nodded. Emily noticed how his friends stood and, whether they meant to or not, surrounded him in an almost protective circle. Even though they'd all been perfectly nice, it still looked more than a little intimidating. So when Levi said they were leaving, nobody even dared to ask if he could stay longer.
That night, Emily sat her cousin down for a long overdue talk.
"Think of it this way. How would you feel if a complete stranger came up to you, and expected you to hang out with them? Then they started to dress like you, and announced to other people that you'd do something without even asking you first?"
"I'd be really uncomfortable," Chaz admitted. "Probably get mad, too."
"We might know things about Levi as a celebrity, but we don't really know him as a person. And he doesn't know us."
"You're right," Chaz said, disheartened. "He said pretty much the same thing but I didn't listen."
The next time that they saw Levi Weston at school, Chaz moved to approach him again. Emily attempted to pull him away, but her cousin promised it would be the last time.
"I wanted to thank you for showing up to meet my friends," Chaz told the singer.
"Uh sure, it was no big deal."
"I also wanted to apologize. I understand now that what I did wasn't okay. I'm sorry, Levi."
Levi was visibly surprised. "That's… Thank you. Apology accepted."
When Chaz returned to Emily's side, he smiled at her sadly. "Some of my friends might stop hanging out with me when they realize the truth."
"Then it means they aren't your real friends."
"I guess so."
"Hey." Emily reached over and gave him a hug. "I may not be a country music superstar, but I'll always be your cousin and your friend."