“What’s that?” Zach asked.
I tried to look in the same general direction he was looking in.
“What?”
His fingers brushed the side of my face, and I felt the goose-bumps run down my arms. He turned my head to the left. “That.”
It looked like an abandoned building, but I could see lights inside. But I wasn’t ready to admit that I saw it yet, Zach’s fingers still brushing my face.
“Come on.” His hand dropped, and I found myself wanting to grab it back.
But I shoved my hands in my pockets, following him to the hole in the wall. Inside was an old-fashioned arcade.
“Oh, we have to play,” I said, stopping at the coin machine.
We spent over an hour feeding coins into the arcade-style games, going from an arm-wrestling challenge to spinning a wheel for a career choice.
“Schoolteacher?” I questioned, as the light came on. “I was rooting for nudist.”
And then Zach found a strength test.
“How does this work?” I asked, as he inserted his coins.
“There are these two metal arms,” he said, as he extended his arms to grab each one. “And then you push them together and pull them apart. And I guess it gets harder as you go until you max out.”
“Okay tough guy, let’s see it.”
The machine lit up, and Zach pushed the two metal arms together. He shifted his stance, trying to complete the first round.
“Shit,” Zach said, with a laugh. “This is a lot harder than it looks.”
“Let me try,” I said.
I managed to pry the two arms open but was unable to push them back together.
“Okay, wait,” I said, through my laughter, “you grab one arm, I’ll grab the other, and we’ll get this done.”
“Deal.”
I put all of my weight into pushing the one metal arm in, as Zach did the same on the opposite side.
“Now pull!” Zach called out.
We completed four rounds before the game timed out.
“I call that a success,” I said, reaching over to high-five Zach.
“We’ve got to go,” Zach’s bodyguard said. “Sound check.”
Zach reached up and wiped the glisten of sweat off his forehead.
“Oh yeah, that whole tour thing I’m supposed to be doing.”
“I guess we should head back for that,” I said.
We left the arcade, Zach setting his remaining coins on top of the machine for the next guest. I quickly swiped one as a memento from San Francisco. Not that I’ll ever forget this day.
“Before I forget,” I said, holding out my hand, “marker?”
He pulled the permanent marker from his pocket, handing it over. “What’s the plan this time?”
I traced over the fading rest sign on his hand. “When you look at the rest sign, remember that I have one too. And that I’m always here for moral support, whether it be on or off the stage.”
A honk interrupted the conversation, the taxi waiting.
“Thank you for coming on this adventure with me,” I said.
“Thanks for the invite.”
I wanted to remember this forever. The moment that Zach gave me a soft, genuine smile, his eyes focused on me and his serious features fallen away. He looked happy. And I felt like I was floating.
“Even if I did have to wake up at eight,” Zach added. “I’d say it was worth it.”
LAS VEGAS, NV
CHAPTER 9
I hadn’t spoken to Connor since yelling at him in the Portland hotel kitchen. This wasn’t uncommon for us, as we had very different schedules and lives—that’s probably where our dissonance started in the first place. But unlike before, instead of roaming around the same house and avoiding each other, we were now trapped on the same bus. And you can’t avoid someone in a space the size of a mall restroom.
I’d been lying in my bunk, staring at the ceiling for what felt like ever. We were back on the road, making the drive from San Francisco to Las Vegas. It’d been only a couple of hours, the drive scheduled to take over eight, and I was already going stir crazy. I went out into the kitchen area to get some water, where Connor was seated on the couch with a book in his lap.
“Hey,” Connor said.
I grabbed my bottle of water, hoping that I could get back to my bunk before having to initiate a conversation. But luck wasn’t on my side.
“Can we talk?” Connor asked.
Part of me really wanted to say no. But I was too tired to keep fighting, so I turned around and stared at him, waiting for him to speak.
“You seem like you’re up a lot at night too,” Connor said.
“I tend to have trouble sleeping in a narrow bunk bed. But I guess that’s what we do for Connor Jackson.”
He grimaced, and I knew my comment hit home.
“I was an ass. I am an ass. Sometimes I get wrapped up in my own head and don’t take the time to think about how this affects everyone else, especially you. I guess these past few months . . . I guess I lost sight of everything non-tour-related. Including you. Us.
Our family. And I’m really sorry.”
This was the Connor that I missed. And it took everything I had not to run over and hug him, to let everything go. “You really hurt me.”
I gestured around the tour bus. “We’re doing this all for you, Connor.
I’m doing this all for you. But I have dreams and aspirations too.”
“And I’m sorry. But I promise to do better.”
I’d always been known for having a stubborn personality. And today was no different. “Then prove it.”
And with that I went back to my bunk.
Skyline was talking amongst themselves as I approached the stage.
I’d taken to the higher seats, wanting to sit in on some rehearsals today, and Skyline didn’t see me. I couldn’t help but eavesdrop. The seat folded out as I eased down onto it, trying to keep quiet.
“Let’s take five,” Jesse said. “Then we’ll have to run the opening number again.” He turned to face Aaron. “What’s the deal with tomorrow morning?”
As Jesse was talking, Zach lay on the ground, closing his eyes.
“They canceled,” Aaron said, with a shrug.
“What? Why?”
“Because they want Skyline, not the Aaron and Ross Show.”
Ross laughed. It felt like I was intruding on a personal moment, hearing something that wasn’t meant for me. I slowly stood up to leave.
“Did you offer me?” Jesse asked.
“Yeah, but they want Zach.”
“Offer Zach,” Zach said, cracking an eye open.
“That’s not happening,” Jesse snapped.
My head snapped back to the stage, curiosity getting the best of me. Against my better judgment, I sat back down to listen to the rest of their conversation.
“Why not?” Zach demanded.
“You know why, don’t start this now.”
Zach pushed himself up off the floor. “This is the third show that’s canceled because I won’t come to the interview.”
“He’s got a point,” Ross said.
“Do we have a system?” Jesse asked.
Zach groaned. “Well yeah but—”
“And is the system working?” Jesse asked, interrupting Zach.
“Yeah, but—”
“There are no buts. Mom put me in charge on tour. Zach gets a minimum of eight hours of sleep per night. No external stressors, including interviews. And limited intake of the caffeine and sugar.
We have a system, it’s working, end of story.”
“It’s one interview,” Zach argued.
“We have to be at the television studio at five a.m.,” Aaron said.
“I’m with Jesse here. That’s not happening.”
Zach shook his head, obviously pissed. “I’m not letting another station cancel on us.”
“Let’s talk about this later,” Ross suggested. “We only have the stage fo
r ten more minutes.”
“I don’t need you to watch my every step,” Zach snapped at Jesse, ignoring Ross.
“I’m going to pretend like you didn’t say that,” Jesse answered, his jaw clenched.
“Take the tension down a notch.” Aaron stepped between the two boys.
Jesse turned and walked off the stage.
“Fuck this,” Zach said, and went off in the opposite direction.
“Is the Aaron and Ross Show really that bad?” Ross asked Aaron.
“I mean, I thought we did pretty well during interviews.”
“Go find Zach,” Aaron said, shaking his head. “I’ll go calm Jesse down.”
The two boys disappeared and I tried to make sense of what I’d just seen. As I was comprehending the situation, Mackenzie came out onto the stage for her sound check. Alicia was laughing at whatever Mackenzie was saying. They adjusted Mackenzie’s microphone, and I was able to pick up parts of her conversation.
The stagehand said something to Mackenzie, and she nodded.
“‘Finally Mine’ is in the lineup tonight, we’re axing ‘Let’s Get Crazy.’”
Mackenzie turned to someone offstage. “Are you coming to the studio with me today? I’m putting the final touches on this song to send to the label.”
I thoroughly enjoyed watching Mackenzie’s sound check. Her backup dancers were always energetic, and the three of them had good chemistry together.
As Mackenzie’s sound check ended, I heard Aaron’s voice. “Want me to make a Beans run? I’ll grab you a green tea.”
“That would be awesome,” Jesse agreed. “My throat’s killing me.”
And then their voices disappeared. Thank God my hiding spot hadn’t been exposed.
“Good afternoon.”
A startled yelp escaped my lips as I turned to see Ross standing next to me. Ross busted out in laughter. “Did I actually scare you?”
“Where did you come from?”
He pointed to the righthand staircase. “I wasn’t quiet about it.”
And then Aaron was coming up the stairs. “Hey, Ross, I’m headed to Beans, do—” He paused when he saw me. “You found our hiding spot.”
“I was definitely here first,” I said, gesturing toward the empty balcony.
“We always take over the balconies at the shows,” Ross said. “You may have gotten here first, but you stole our territory.”
“Ross, Katelyn, want anything?”
I felt my heart do a flutter, and I silently cursed myself. When would I stop fangirling over Skyline? I went on an entire adventure yesterday with Zach. That should be enough for my Skyline-obsessed mind.
“No thanks,” I said.
“I’ll come with you,” Ross said. “If we can go to CVS to get supplies for tonight.”
Aaron cocked his head to the side, and the two had a silent conversation. I glanced away, feeling as though I was intruding.
Ross then appeared in my line of vision. “Hello?”
I looked at Ross, who said, “We’re going swimming at the hotel tonight. It’s a Skyline tradition. We’ll come and get you.”
“What?”
“If you’re going to be hanging out with our brother, you should really know what you’re getting yourself into with the Matthews family.”
“Shut up, Ross. Are you coming or what?” Aaron said.
“See you at midnight, Katelyn. I’d suggest a swimsuit,” Ross laughed on his way out.
There was a knock on my hotel room door. I checked my reflection in the mirror one last time. It’d taken me three tries to get my messy bun perfect, even though the rational part of me knew that it would be ruined as soon as I jumped into the pool. I was wearing a T-shirt and shorts over my bathing suit, but since the only thing I owned was a bikini, I wasn’t sure if the T-shirt was ever going to come off. While waiting on the boys, I’d slipped on my comfy socks, and now as I went to put on my slides, I didn’t bother taking them off. Answering my hotel room door to reveal Ross and Zach.
“Ready?” Ross asked, excitedly.
“Sure,” I agreed, stepping outside my hotel room. The door shut behind me, my hotel room key safely tucked in my shorts pocket.
“Nice socks,” Zach said, with a smile.
They both had polka dots on them, but one was neon pink and the other was bright blue.
“I gave up trying to match my socks,” I said, as we reached the elevator. “I’m convinced that my dryer eats them.”
“Sounds like Zach,” Ross said, as we stepped into the elevator.
“He says that about his underwear.”
“Jesus Christ,” Zach said. “Do you have a filter?”
“But you do.”
Zach’s cheeks turned pink.
“Jesse and Aaron are already done there,” Ross said. “Scoping out the place.”
“It’s a pool,” Zach said. “There isn’t much to scope out.”
“Grumpy,” Ross muttered with a smirk.
We reached the ground level and headed outside. Paul was already standing next to the door, and he held it open as we walked out.
Immediately Ross dipped off to the side, and I quickly saw why when both Aaron and Jesse had water guns pointed at Zach.
“Oh no,” Zach said. “Unfair ambush, I call reset.”
Jesse and Aaron exchanged glances, and I ducked behind a chair as they soaked Zach.
“She’s smart,” Aaron said.
“We’re not used to that,” Jesse said.
Ross let out a loud whine. “Hurtful!”
“Where did you guys get water guns?” Zach asked.
“CVS,” Aaron answered, as though it was the most obvious answer there was.
“We’ll put down our guns if you come out!” Jesse called.
“She’s not that stupid,” Zach said.
“We really will,” Aaron added. “Watch.” He slid his water gun across the pool patio.
Jesse did the same.
Seems legit to me. I slowly stood up.
“Backup water guns!” Jesse called out.
Both he and Aaron soaked me with water guns they’d been stiring behind potted plants.
“I’m not even surprised,” Zach said, ditching his shirt before jumping into the pool.
I quickly grabbed the water gun that Aaron had discarded and used it to soak Aaron.
“Dammit!” Aaron called.
Jesse dove behind a chair before I could try to get him too. I took off my shorts and hopped into the pool, keeping my water gun with me.
“Swimming with a white shirt on is counterproductive,” Ross said to me, as he jumped into the pool.
Not my smartest move. There was arguing behind me, and then a loud splash by Ross.
“You’re going to die!” Aaron called out.
“Did you expect chaos?” Zach asked. “Because you definitely should’ve.”
There was a loud yell behind me. Jesse sprinted across the patio and then cannonballed into the pool. With a swift motion, I pulled off my white shirt, placing it on the chair next to the water gun. I hadn’t told the boys yet, but I planned on stealing the water gun to keep as a memento from our Las Vegas stop.
Aaron jumped into the pool last, jumping right on top of Ross.
The two of them wrestled, while Jesse chanted, switching back and forth between Ross and Aaron. I went over and joined Zach on the edge of the pool, away from the action.
“I honestly think I was adopted,” Zach said, as we watched them.
“Or they were secretly raised by wolves.”
“They’re entertaining.”
“That’s a good word to describe them.”
The water rippled as I splashed my feet in it.
“You seem really serious,” Zach said.
“What do you mean?”
“Like, whenever we’re joking around, you lighten up. But when we’re sitting here, you get really intense.”
“It’s hard for me to open up to people sometimes.”
“It’s hard to adjust to new people, to tell whether they want to sincerely get to know me or want to get close to Connor.” But it’s easy with you, I wanted to add. The words felt stuck in my throat, and I quickly glanced away toward the chaos back in the pool, where Jesse was jumping on top of Ross to help Aaron take him down.
“I can see where that would get hard,” Zach said. “People suck.”
My eyes flickered over toward him. He looked as serious as I felt, like he was actually listening to what I had to say and internalizing it.
“Why do people suck?”
“They prejudge you,” he said, a smile spreading across his face as Jesse and Aaron successfully managed to push Ross under. “They think they know you before they know you.”
“Thanks for the help!” Ross called over to us, as he came to the surface gasping and sputtering for air. “You guys are the worst!”
We looked at each other and laughed.
“What are you guys doing?” Jesse asked. “This isn’t sit-on-the-edge-of-the-pool time. This is night swimming.”
“I think we should take him out,” Zach said to me.
“I’m down with that.”
We stood up and jumped into the pool, screeching at the top of our lungs.
PHOENIX, AZ
CHAPTER 10
I pressed my face against the tour bus window, watching as the storm raged around us. We’d been informed on our five-hour drive here that Phoenix was in the midst of their storm season. And I don’t think I’d fully grasped what that meant until the thunderstorm had started. To make matters worse, I’d been scheduled to play a game tonight with the Phoenix Flyers. But by the looks of this storm, the fields were going to be flooded.
“Katelyn?” My mom was standing behind me, a sympathetic look on her face. “I just received news from the Phoenix Flyers’ coach. The game’s been canceled.”
Disappointment seeped through me as I sat down on the tour bus couch with a groan. “Is it too much to ask for one game?”
Mom bent down, kissing the top of my head. “You’re flying out for the Limitless Showcase while we’re in Dallas, that’s not too far off.”
Nearly a week away.
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