“Can I drive?”

            “No.”

            “Can I drive now?”

            “No, Noah.”

            “Can I drive… now?”

            I briefly turned to shoot Noah a glare. “No, Noah. Now don’t ask again.”

            He pouted at me, crossing his arms. “Aren’t you tired?”

            “Noah, keep talking and you’re sitting in the back.”

            “Sounds like a plan to me,” a grumpy voice commented from behind me. I glanced in the rear-view mirror to see Rian glaring at Noah.

            Chloe snickered. “Noah won the front seat fair and square.”

            “And you guys nearly broke my door during the process,” I muttered, rolling my eyes.

            The fight between Noah, Rian, and Luke for shotgun had actually been really amusing, if you ignored the part about almost yanking my door off. Every time one of them would sit in the seat, another would pull that person back out, and the one standing by would hop in. And so it went on. For ten minutes straight. It was especially funny when Luke kicked Rian straight in the face. A smirk slipped onto my face as I remembered Rian’s shocked expression.

            “I think Luke should sit in front,” Luke commented casually, covering his mouth with his hand. After he said that, he looked around with a pleased expression. “Who said that?”

            Chloe laughed again, giving Luke and amused smile. “I do believe you did, Luke.”

            “Nah,” he responded with a grin. “Whoever did say that is pretty awesome.”

            “Are we almost there?” Rian demanded, obviously not amused by the other two.

            I checked the clock on my radio. “Like ten minutes.”

            “Can we stop at Dunkin’ Donuts?”

            “No, Rian.”

            “I’ll buy you a doughnut.”

            Without warning I veered to the left, pulling into the little plaza that held a McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Ocean State Job Lot, and a few others smaller stores. Rian smirked smugly in the backseat while I felt my face heat up, ashamed that I had been bribed so easily. But I couldn’t help it. Doughnuts were good and I was hungry.

            As soon as I parked the car, Luke, Noah, and Rian all immediately climbed out, not even waiting for Chloe and I before heading towards the building. Chloe raised an eyebrow and I rolled my eyes, pushing open my car door. Before the boys entered the store, I called them to a halt.

            “What?” Rian questioned in an impatient tone.

            “Are you guys just going to walk in there?”

            Luke turned to me with a confused expression. “That’s what you’re supposed to do…”

            Rian sniggered and I gave them both a flat look. “You guys are famous. Won’t you be like, attacked, or something?”

            A short bark of laughter left Luke’s lips. “Aw, Iris, are you worried?”

            “Kind of,” I admitted. If their fans mowed them down, it’d take forever it order to get back to my house. And I really didn’t want to waste any more time.

            Noah gave me a wide grin. “Don’t worry. There’s only like, three people in there.”

            I pursed my lips for a moment, watching them all closely. All three men seemed not the slightest bit phased by the face they might be recognized. Noah was still grinning at me, looking cheerful. I imagined that if he were a dog, his tail would be wagging ten miles per minute. “Alright, fine,” I responded, letting out a small sigh. “But if you guys have to do any autographs or the like, you’re walking the rest of the way.”

            “Deal!” all three boys chorused.

            Chloe came up behind me, her purse in hand. “I’m going to buy a Coolata.”

            “But it’s like twenty degrees out!”

            She shrugged. “It’s warm in your car.”

            To my surprise, Rian was right. There were exactly three people in the store, if you didn’t include the two workers. To top it off, two of the people were old, and the last one was a businessman. It looked like Gold had got off easy again. I hated to think of what would happen if they ended up going to a public place and getting flocked. It had to be scary…

            “Iris, do you want a chocolate crème?”

            I blinked at Rian, a little bit shocked. “Er, yeah. How’d you know?”

            He grinned. “I figured you liked chocolate from earlier.”

            “Oh, right, earlier,” I responded, looking down at my feet. On our impromptu date, when we’d ended up sharing a slice of chocolate cake after finishing our BLTs. It’d been a little weird, but the cake had been worth it.

            “Earlier when you two ditched us,” Noah interjected, sending me a moody look. “I thought you two had gone off to meet your brother without me.”

            “Sorry, Noah,” I apologized honestly. “Rian kind of forced me to go—”

            “But it was so worth it, right?”

            “The cake was, I guess,” I responded slyly.

            “She guesses,” Noah repeated in a smug voice.

            “At least I’m not pretending to date her while I have a crush on a younger girl. Dick move, dude. Dick. Move,” Rian shot back.

            Noah gave me a sheepish look. “I’m sorry, Iris.”

            I waved my hand at him. “No worries. I’m here to help.”

            “And I’m here to order something to eat,” Luke spoke up, brushing by me. “I guess I’ll order first.”

            Rian pursed his lips at Luke. “Cutter.”

            “Oh, you weren’t going to order anyway.”

            “Uh, yeah, I was.”

            Luke rolled his eyes at him before turning to the cash register. “Can I get a number three combo?”

            Rian gestured for me to come stand in line with him. “Do you want anything else besides a doughnut?”

            “I’m good, thank you,” I responded, fiddling with the end of my shirt.

            “Chloe?”

            Chloe looked at Rian in astonishment. “You’re offering to buy me something?”

            “Yes?” Rian responded, furrowing his eyebrows. “Do you want something or not?”

            “Yes! Oh my god, this is so exciting.”

            “It is?”

            Chloe nodded her head enthusiastically. “It’s not every day a super famous person buys you a doughnut.”

            Rian sent me an entertained look. He was probably figuring that I was thinking that he had bought me lunch, which was better than a doughnut. Not that I was thinking that. He was just bribing me so I would be his Spanish tutor, just like he had bribed me for the doughnut. There was nothing more to it… I made a face. For some reason I felt a little disappointed. But there was no reason to— Rian was just a friend.

            “I don’t know what kind of doughnut you like, so you’ll have to tell me,” Rian continued, now stepping up to the counter.

            “Boston cream!”

            Without any warning, something heavy landed on my back, nearly knocking me off my feet. Usually I’d suspect Noah, but he was standing in front of me. I staggered forward, throwing my arms out to keep my balance. One of these days, I was going to die because of this little stunt.

            “Iris! It’s been such a long time!”

            Bright red hair met my vision as I turned my head, coming face-to-face with the man who had nearly knocked me to the ground. My eyes widened in surprise when I realized whom it was. “Colton?”

            “Bingo,” Colton responded, pushing his shaggy red hair out of his face.

            “What did you do?” I questioned, taking in his appearance. “Your hair…”

            Colton cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t pay attention to magazines do you?”

            “Nope.”

            He laughed, running a hand through his hair now. “I thought it was time for a change in hair color. Blonde was boring…” He trailed off, his eyes narrowing at Noah. “Wait a second… do I know him?”

            Noah automatically turned his head, as if he knew Colton was talking about him. His jaw dropped automatically. “Holy shit.”

            Now Rian turned around, gazing curiously at me. His eyes widened, the same expression as Noah’s coming onto his face. “Colton? From Chasing Silhouettes?”

            “The one and only,” Colton responded with a grin. “You two are from Gold, right?”

            Noah and Rian exchanged amazed looks, their eyes lightening up immediately. I couldn’t help but laugh at their expressions. Colton moved away from me and towards them, holding out his hand. “Nice to meet you two,” he greeted, shaking Rian’s hand. “I’m Colton. You’re Rian, and you’re Noah.” He turned to Noah, now shaking his hand.

            Rian looked like he was going to pass out. “Nice to meet you too.”

            “Guys! You’ll never believe who I found!” Luke cried in an excited voice.

            I didn’t have to turn around to know whom Luke found. In a matter of seconds, the same thing that had happened earlier with Colton happened with my brother. However, this time I was prepared for it, so I barely even budged when my brother tackle-hugged me. “I thought I saw your car here!” he cried excitedly, squeezing me tightly.

            “Brendon, can’t breathe—”

            “And not only are you here, but you’re here with Gold! I knew you and Noah were dating, but I didn’t think you were coming home with the whole band!”

            I froze, locking gazes with Noah. His expression was reflecting my own— bewilderment. “Wait, how do you know Noah and I are dating?” I demanded, slipping out from under my brother’s arms.

            “What do you mean?”

            Taking a step back, I turned to face him. For a moment I was too preoccupied by his looks to say anything. After a month without seeing him, it was really flooring to see how much we resembled each other. It was like I was looking in a mirror— except my reflection had shorter hair, was taller, and was much manlier. What was exactly same was our shade of Iris blue eyes. Finally reality came back to me and I frowned. “Who told you Noah and I were dating?”

            “I read it in that stupid magazine that all the teenage girls buy,” Brendon responded, furrowing his eyebrows. “Haven’t you seen the article?”

            “Article?” I repeated, feeling my mouth going dry.

            “I haven’t seen any article,” Rian interjected, his eyes meeting Brendon’s. “I’m Rian, by the way.”

            Brendon flashed him a quick grin. “I know.”

            Rian looked a bit taken aback, but still pleased. “What did that article say?”

            “Nothing much. It just pretty much said Iris was Noah’s new girlfriend… And apparently I introduced you two?” Brendon cocked an eyebrow at me.

            I flushed. “Sorry… I didn’t want to seem like a gold digger…”

            “Ha! I get it!” Colton cried, his eyes lighting up. “Gold digger… that’s punny.”

            Noah sent me a smug look. “I see someone shares my humor.”

            I rolled my eyes, turning back to my brother. “We’re not really dating. It was Noah’s stupid idea because he got drunk and kissed me.”

            “So you guys are pretending to date…?”

            “Yes.”

            “That’s lame.”

            Noah winced. “Ouch, dude.”

            “So where’s Chloe?” Colton asked, deciding to change the topic. “I haven’t seen her in forever. Is she still cute?”

            “She’s cute,” Luke responded before I could.

            Colton raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

            I looked around, furrowing my eyebrows in confusion when I realized Chloe wasn’t around. “Wait, where did she go?”

            “Bathroom,” Luke informed me. “And I hate to be a party pooper, especially since Rian look’s really excited right now…” He paused to stare pointedly at Rian, who was staring at my brother intensely with admiration. “But I don’t think it would be best to continue talking here.”

            Rian seemed to snap out of his daze. “Right. Where are you guys headed?”

            “To the grocery store,” Brendon responded, oblivious to Rian’s earlier stare. “My mom told us we were having guests, so we’re doing some grocery shopping.”

            “Looking like that?” I responded, frowning at him. “Remember last time you went to the grocery store without disguising yourself?”

            Brendon laughed sheepishly. “I rather not… But if you really want to know, Colton and I have nice fake mustaches in my trunk.”

            “And masquerade masks,” Colton pitched in with a broad smile. “We’re doing the whole ten yards.”

            “So will you be back later?” Rian inquired, gaining Brendon’s attention again. “I have so many questions I want to ask you.”

            Brendon smiled. “I’m going to take it you’re a fan?”

            “You’re my inspiration,” Rian responded without hesitation.

            “In that case, ask all the questions you want,” my brother responded, looking happy. “I have a few questions I want to ask you too. Gold is a pretty popular band. And I admit, your music is good.”

            “You think?” Gold responded simultaneously, sounding genuinely shocked.

            Colton and my brother laughed. “You guys remind me of when Brendon and I started to become famous,” Colton commented.

            Rian grinned. “I hope that’s a good thing.”

            “Definitely.”

            “Okay,” I cut in. “We should probably get going. Mom’s going to get worried. We’ll see you two when you get home later, okay?”

            Colton frowned. “Come to the grocery store with us.”

            “No.”

            “No fun.”

            “Gold doesn’t have anything to go incognito in, Colton,” I told him, shaking my head. “We’ll see you two later.”

            With excellent timing, Chloe emerged from the restroom, whistling to herself. When she caught sight of my brother and Colton, her eyes widened. “Hey guys!”

            “Chloe!” Colton cried, moving forwards to give her a giant hug. “How’s my best friend ever?”

            Holding in a sigh, I turned to Noah and pointed towards the exit, then did the same to Rian. They gave me resentful looks, but went anyway. When I turned to Luke, I was thrown off guard by the glare he was giving Colton. Luke noticed I was staring at him and quickly dropped it, giving me a sheepish grin.

            “Meet you in the car…” he said, slowly moving towards the exit.

            I stared after him, narrowing my eyes in confusion. Was that a jealous look? What was there to be jealous of? Unless Luke liked Chloe… No, that was impossible. Luke would have made it more obvious. Unless he wanted to keep it a secret. My eyes widened slightly. Did Luke like Chloe?

            “Um, come on, Chloe,” I ordered, moving forwards to grab her arm and tug her away from Colton. “Gold is waiting.”

            Chloe gave me a downhearted look, but she quickly got over it. “I’ll see you two later, right?”

            “Right,” my brother and Colton responded in unison.

            Chloe and I headed for the exit, only pausing to say goodbye again before stepping outside. A grimace made its way across my face when I realized they boys were fighting over the front seat again. Currently, Rian was pulling Noah by his feet out of his car, while Luke waited by patiently, ready to swoop in and claim the front seat when Noah was gone.

            Not wanting to wait ten minutes again for them to solve this on their own, I marched over to the car, pulling Noah away. “Noah and Luke, in the back. Rian gets front.”

            Noah pursed his lips at me. “You’re favoring him.”

            “No I’m not.”

            “Yes you are.”

            “Noah, just get in the back. Why can’t you be like Luke and just follow my commands blindly?”

            Luke made a face. “Don’t make me sound like a dog.”

            Rian had a smug look on his face as he slipped into the front. “Iris likes me more than you guys.”

            “Rian, don’t be an ass,” I warned, rolling my eyes. “You bought me a doughnut, so it’s only fair.”

            “Think what you will,” he responded, turning his head up. “But I’m going to think that you let me sit in front because you like me better.”

            Noah scoffed, but slipped into the back seat next to Chloe. “Arrogant.”

            “Yes I am, thank you,” Rian responded cheekily.

            I shook my head, moving to the driver’s side. Hopefully we’d be able to make it home this time without any more distractions. The only thing I wanted at the moment was to be back at home so I could see my mom and dad.

            “Aw, shit. I spilled my Coolata.”

            I slumped my head on the steering wheel. Perfect.

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