“You are what?!”

“Calm down,” I whisper, glancing curiously around me even though I’m inside my room, and the band is probably resting in their own bedrooms. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Naomi demands, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

“I am telling you now,” I say.

“If I didn’t call you, you won’t tell me!”

I can imagine her rolling her eyes. I try to understand why she’s mad. If the situation is reversed, and I just found out that she’s staying with my favorite band in the world, I’ll shave her head.

“Naomi,” I start, walking further inside my room and taking a sit on my bed, “I’m sorry, okay? It was just an impulse move. I didn’t plan to be their band manager in the first place.”

Yes, I’m officially in the head quarter of Infinite Chase. It is two-story with a basement where the band practice and compose their songs. I haven’t gone inside their studio yet, so I can’t describe it to Naomi.

On the outside it looks like an ordinary house. You can just pass it by without thinking that famous people are living in it. The façade is overwhelming. It’s like magic when I stepped inside earlier. I want to stay here forever. It is a magnificent place; a place you can call safe haven.

There are five rooms in the house – two on the ground floor that are occupied by Zeke and Lance, and three on the second floor. My room is across from Nate, and down the hall is the master’s bedroom that is occupied by KY.

I don’t have my own bathroom so I have to share with Nate. Mr. Handsome told me that I can do whatever with my room. It kind of disturbs me that there were people who stayed here before me. Fortunately, Julianne assured me that they changed all the furniture and things inside.

“Pretend manager,” Naomi says, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“Aren’t you curious what happened to the real band manager?” she asks. “What if she suddenly comes back?”

I shrug. Then I remember that she can’t see me. Actually, I don’t care about that right now. I’m still feeling euphoric for this once in a lifetime chance. I can’t let negative thoughts ruin my happiness.

“I’ll worry about it when the time comes,” I say.

I lie on my bed, and let my body relax. It’s been long day; it was tiring to pack my things and travel for five hours. The bed is comfortable and fluffy. It’s like a magnet pulling me with its gravity. I look around, a smile forming on my face. The room is spacious, unlike my dorm room which is crammed with my things and my roommate's.

“What about your studies?”  Naomi inquires.

“I dropped out, remember? I can’t stay without my scholarship.”

“Have you told your mom?”

“No,” I choke the word out. The idea alone makes me shudder.

She sighs. “What are you planning to do?”

“I’ll save the money they will pay me, and then I’ll go back to college.” I don’t know how I made that sound so easy.

“Brielle.”

“Yeah?”

“I want to meet the band as well!” she yells.

“Holy macaroons,” I mutter, pulling the phone away from my ear.

I forgot that she can scream. Ugh, my right ear is vibrating. Naomi can have a speech in front of a large crowd without needing a microphone. Her voice alone is already loud.

“Hello?”

“Don’t do it again,” I chastise, scowling at the ceiling.

“Sorry,” she says sheepishly. I can picture her eyes lighting in amusement. “But pretty please, do something so that I can meet them?”

I sigh. “I’ll try. But their rules are getting in the way.”

“Rules?”

I decide to tell her everything that happened yesterday. Talking to my best friend is so ordinary, so normal; we can talk about anything without getting bored. I don’t know how many minutes have passed when suddenly there’s a knock at my door.

“Wait,” I whisper to the phone. “There’s someone outside, I’ll call you later.”

“You better,” she says, “and Brielle?”

“What?”

“You know that if they found out that you’re lying, they can report you to the police, right?” she reminds me.

“They won’t,” I say confidently. “They don’t even have an idea about my real age.”

“Be careful.”

“I always am.”

I swipe the end button and then I stand up and open the door.

Nate is in the hallway, a huge grin on his face. “Going to sleep already?” he asks amusedly.

I glance down and realize that I’m already wearing my pajamas.

“Cute bears.”

I can feel the heat rushing to my cheeks.

Nate chuckles. “I’m here to ask what you want for dinner, since it’s your first night here, let’s celebrate. The guys like pizza, by the way. What about you?”

I wonder if they celebrated the first night of their previous managers as well.

“Pizza’s okay,” I say.

“Any particular flavor in mind?” he asks, cocking his head to the side, and flicking his hair away from his eyes.

I freeze. That’s his famous move. I open my mouth to reply, but I forget how to speak.

Nate smirks. “I’ll call the delivery hotline then.” He winks at me and then goes on his way.

Thirty minutes later, I hear the sound of the doorbell. Opening my bedroom door, I find Nate leaning on the wall across from me.

He hands me cash and tells me that it’s for the pizza. I make my way towards the living room. When I open the door, I find a guy who looks about my age, holding four pizza boxes in his hands.

“Pizza delivery! Is this the Chase residence?”

Chase?

And then I realize that they got it from their band name. “Yes,” I say. I give him the money and take the boxes of pizza from him.

"What time is it?"

Twisting my wrist and glancing at my watch, I say, "Fifteen minutes before ten."

"Thank you," he says, smiling at me. He is cute, and his smile is adorable. “By the way, I’m Felix.”

Do all the delivery guys introduce their selves? Oh well, I don’t want to be rude. I return his smile and say, “I’m Brielle. Nice to meet you.”

His phone rings at that instant, so I make that my cue to leave. I smile at him one last time and goes back to the house.

I bring the boxes of pizza to the dining room and call the guys. While waiting for them, I get glasses and put them on the table. After, I get the biggest soda from the refrigerator. I’m glad it’s well stocked. I don’t want to starve.

One by one, they come in. My heart skips a beat when I see KY. I try to be inconspicuous around him. I’m afraid my actions and expressions will betray me.

When we are already seated and no one is speaking, I try to think of a decent topic. Maybe they are testing me if I can live here with them. I remember what happened a while ago, so I ask, “You don’t come out of the house?” They made me go out and pay for the pizza delivery.

“No,” Lance answers, “we don’t want the people to know that we live here.”

“So you just stay inside the house when you don’t have concerts?”

Zeke snickers. “Of course not! We go to different places.”

“Where?” I ask curiously, munching on my second pizza. With my nervousness and worries, I forgot that I was hungry. The trip here made the boys ravenous as well, because two boxes of pizza are already empty.

“The mall, the beach, bars,” Zeke says. “Name it!”

“Hey dude!” Nate says slapping Lance’s hand away. “Slow down on the pizza!”

Lance ignores him and quickly grabs another one from the box.

I hide a smile. These boys and their appetite; I wonder how they don’t get fat.

“Any more questions?” Zeke inquires. I remember that he’s the one who told me about the rules yesterday. So, he likes talking.

I search my mind for a question, and an obvious one resurfaces. “What if people recognize you while you’re strolling?” I ask.

Surely they won’t just go out without disguising themselves. What if people see them? They will surely be cornered by those fangirls.

I look at KY in the corner of my eyes and find that he’s busy eating his pizza. He’s not even interested to join in our conversation.

A sigh escapes from my mouth. What will I do to make him notice me? We’re already living in the same roof, but he hasn’t talked to me yet. He hasn’t even looked at me.

“Brielle.”

I look up from my plate to see a tall young man beside me. He’s wearing dark shades and a baseball cap. A scarf is thrown loosely around his neck and over his mouth.

“Do you recognize him?” Lance asks a huge smile on his face.

I frown. Of course I know him. “Nate,” I say obviously.

Nate pulls down his scarf and grins at me. “It's not much, but it helps hide our identities.”

“But when you go out looking like that, people will be more suspicious,” I point out.

Perhaps they won’t be easily recognized, but with the scarf, glasses, and cap, combined, people will get a hunch that they’re a celebrity or something.

“Maybe you can do something about it?”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Like, be my girl when we go out so that people won’t stare at me.” His eyes shine mischievously. “Perhaps we can already try tomorrow if it will work out.”

“Nate!” I say in a weird voice, surprised at his suggestion. Why does he always like teasing me?

“You were flirting with the delivery guy earlier,” KY comments, staring directly at me. “Is that a habit?”

My eyes widen at what he said, that I almost forgot how to speak. When I find my voice, I say, “I was not.” Is he really talking to me?

“Yes, you were!”

I blink my eyes. Maybe he’s just kidding. When I look at him, I discern that he’s glaring at me.

Why is KY being like this? Yes, I wished earlier to have a conversation with him, but not like this. What is he trying to imply, and why did he suddenly say that? He was not even there a while ago so how can he accuse me of flirting with that guy?

At the back of my mind, I have a false hope that he’s jealous. But I know that he’s not, and I only have a wishful thinking because even though we just met yesterday, it’s obvious that he doesn’t like me.

“KY,” I start to explain, “The guy just asked the time—“

His smirk makes me stop speaking. I don’t like the fact that he has a hold on me. Just a single glance from him catches my breath away, but the attention he’s giving me now is too much to bear. Unfortunately—

“Next time do it somewhere else,” he says, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Is he judging me? Even though I have a huge crush on him, I won’t just let him have his way.

I try my best to sound calm. “You don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

“Hey!” Lance says in a loud voice, getting both my attention and KY’s. “Don’t fight guys!”

“We’re not fighting,” Ky and I say at the same time.

Actually, for the past few minutes, I forgot that KY and I were not alone, that we are with his band mates. I glance around and find that they have the same look of amusement on their faces.

Nate raises his eyebrows. “You were shouting at each other just a few seconds ago,” he says.

KY puts down his glass angrily. “I don’t have an appetite anymore,” he says a scowl prominent on his face. He gets up from his chair and walks out of the room.

I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding.

“Well, well, well,” Zeke says, breaking the awkward silence. “That goes well for your first night here.”

“I’m sorry,” I murmur, ducking my head in embarrassment. I’m only just starting but I already make a fool of myself. What did I do to make KY hate me?

“Forget Kyle,” Nate says, “he’s just tired, and he has his moods.”

“Is he bipolar?”

Nate’s eyes widen at my question. A second later, my ears are filled with the sound of the band’s laughter.

I frown at them as I wonder if I said something funny.

When Nate’s laughter subsides, he studies me with an amused expression on his face.

“What?” I ask uneasily.

“Kyle is not usually that way,” he says. “Leave him be. He gets in a bad mood when he can’t find words that will suite the melody in his head.”

I guess I fell in love without knowing a single thing about KY. Yet truth be told, I know that what I’m feeling for him can’t be considered love.

“Brielle?” Lance says, “Please be patient with Yves. He’s a good person. He’s probably testing your patience.”

I smile at him. I hope so, because I don’t want to regret my deception and lies.

~*~*~*~*~

The song is Stuck in the Middle by Boys Like Girls.

 I hope you liked it! (: