Wonderwall

by Soars, M. H.

  “I’ve missed you too, Blue. I can’t believe you’re finally here!”

  “Me neither. Pinch me.” I try to but she’s wearing a thick jacket and probably felt nothing.

  Saylor takes a couple of steps back, still grinning, but there’s a delish spark in her eyes. She’s up to something. I know it.

  Suddenly, I’m tackled from both sides and my heart almost leaps out of my mouth.

  “Surprise!” Emma and Kennedy scream in unison.

  “What? Oh my God, you guys came. I can’t believe it.” My adrenaline is still pumping as I hug them.

  “Of course we came. It’s London, baby!” Emma says.

  “What about your father’s wedding?”

  Emma gives me a toothy grin. “I convinced my newest stepmom that getting married during Christmas was tacky. They got married in Hawaii last month.”

  “Man, I envy your powers of persuasion,” I say then turn to Kennedy. “What about you, Ken? I thought you were spending Christmas with your mom in Italy.”

  “I will, but Christmas is only one day. I’m flying to Milan on the twenty-fourth, so I won’t miss your birthday. I’ll come back to London for New Year’s Eve and I’m bringing Chiara and Max with me. It’s going to be epic.”

  “I can’t wait to meet them. And by the way, I want to hear all about your new movie.”

  Kennedy’s eyebrows squish together and her full lips become a flat line. I don’t understand her reaction at all. “We haven’t started shooting yet, but the get to know the cast members’ weekend was intense.”

  Kennedy pushes her trolley forward and I guess that’s the end of the conversation. She’s one year younger than Saylor, Emma, and me, and only moved in with us last year. It was easy to welcome her into our tight-knit group, but from the get go we knew there were many aspects of her life she didn’t like to talk about.

  We start to move away from the crowd, toward the line to buy the bus tickets, when Emma puts a hand on my arm. “I ordered a car to pick us up.”

  I stare at her for a couple of seconds, before shaking my head. Sometimes I forget that Emma has a lot of money at her disposal. Her father is a famous celebrity lawyer in L.A. and he spoils his only daughter rotten. She’s down to earth most of the time, except when she does things like that, ordering a car to drive us to the city.

  I lean closer to Saylor and whisper. “Did she upgrade your tickets to first class?”

  “She sure did, and it was awesome.”

  During the ride, the girls can’t stop firing questions about my life in London. I answer them to the best of my ability while avoiding mentioning anything related to Sebastian. I hate that I have to keep our relationship a secret. It’s such a burden, and I wonder how long we’ll be able to carry on before it blows up in our faces. I’m tempted to tell Emma and Kennedy about it, it would be so much easier, but I don’t know how they will react. Am I selfish for wanting a drama free birthday week?

  The girls are staying in one of the nicest suites the Hollingsworth has, all with the compliments of Mr. Hart, Emma’s dad. When I introduce them to my bento-box room, Emma freaks out and begs me to stay with them. As much as I want to, Sebastian is coming to London in a few days, and if I accept Emma’s invitation, I won’t be able to see him at all. I feel wretched all over again.

  ☂ ☂ ☂

  Sebastian

  I never thought I would say this, but it’s good to be back on British soil. London never felt like home to me. I always felt out of place, an alien among strangers. But today, knowing Liv is waiting for me, it’s the best place in the universe. Home will always be wherever she is.

  The U.S. leg of our tour was a success with sold out tickets in every venue, endless interviews, and invites to the best parties. I’m not going to lie and say all that doesn’t thrill me anymore. It still gets me fired up, but it’s a bitter sweet emotion because I can’t share it with Liv yet. Things won’t be right until we can be together in the open.

  During the tour, reporters pestered me constantly about my relationship with Gretchen, and I came close to telling them the truth. But Oliver was always there to intervene, to divert the questions to another topic when he knew I was ready to blow. My hope is that Liv hasn’t watched any of those interviews.

  It will be better that way, so when I do speak up about my relationship with Gretchen, it’ll be to announce the official end of it. Saying we are on a break would only lead to more speculations, and I’m afraid the tabloids’ hound dogs would eventually sniff Liv out. I can’t let her take the fall for my shortcomings.

  As soon as the plane touched down, I texted Liv, wishing her a happy birthday. In reality, I wanted to talk to her, hear her voice, but with Hans nearby, I couldn’t take the risk. There’s a burning need in me to go see her right away, six weeks apart have been almost unbearable. It kills me that I can’t. If I was a regular guy, I could show up at her work, take her out to lunch. Sometimes fame is a bitch.

  Liv’s reply takes longer than I can take and I start to feel antsy. I’m bouncing my legs up and down as I stare at my phone.

  “Yo, mate! Are you coming or do you want to fly back to the States?” Oliver asks.

  My head snaps up. “What?”

  “You’d better be calling Gretchen,” Hans says as he walks by my seat. I flip him off. Wanker.

  When Hans is out of the private plane, Oliver turns to me. “No word from her yet?”

  “No. Maybe she forgot her phone in her room or something.”

  Oliver laughs. “You’re whipped.”

  “Sod off.”

  I hear a ping from my phone and my heartbeat kicks up a notch. I’m so whipped.

  LIV: “Thanks. Did you have a good flight?”

  ME: “Yeah, when can I see you?”

  LIV: “I don’t know. It might be more difficult than we thought.”

  My thorax caves in, pressuring my heart, at least that’s what feels like.

  ME: “Why?”

  LIV: “My other roommates Emma and Kennedy came to surprise me. They don’t know about us.”

  “Shit!” I say.

  “Trouble?” Oliver asks. He’s waiting for me, mainly because he loves gossip and he’s getting a kick out of my messed up love life.

  I glance at him. “Liv’s other roommates are in London too and they don’t know about us. But I have to see Liv today or I’ll go nuts.”

  Oliver rolls his eyes. “You’re already nuts.”

  There’s another ping and I look at my phone.

  LIV: “They want to go to the Singing Olive tonight. Apparently, the club moved Throwback Thursday to Wednesday night because of Christmas holiday and it’s a not to be missed outing.”

  “That’s perfect,” Oliver says over my shoulder. It’s when I realize he read her message.

  I frown at him. “How is that perfect? You know Liv and I can’t be seen in public together, not even amongst a group of people. It’s too risky.”

  “Throwback night at the Singing Olive means we can wear a costume, go incognito.”

  I stare at Oliver and an idea begins to form in my head. I text Liv back.

  ME: “Bummer. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

  “What are you doing?” Oliver asks.

  I smirk at him. “Are you up to crashing Liv’s birthday party?”

  Oliver’s smile unfurls slowly, like he’s the freaking Grinch. “I’m always up for crashing something.”

  Chapter 41

  Olivia

  I stare at my phone and I cannot believe my eyes. I don’t know what I expected Sebastian to do—I know he can’t come to the Singing Olive with me—but his reply was so non-committal, so blasé, it makes me feel the size of a tiny ant.

  Lloyd rolls his chair toward my desk, and leans closer, trying to read my message. I close it quickly befo
re he can. “So, have you heard from him?”

  “Yeah, he just landed.” I avoid Lloyd’s gaze, and stare at my computer instead, seeing nothing.

  “Humm, you don’t sound too excited about it.”

  “We can’t see each other tonight, you know why.”

  Since Lloyd already knew about my history with Sebastian, I didn’t see the point of hiding from him that we had got back together. I’m already lying to too many people and I need someone to have my back, to vent to when Saylor isn’t around.

  “You know that’s BS. He can’t party with a group of friends?”

  I chew on my bottom lip, thinking the same. He could join me if he wanted to. Ugh! Here I go gain, feeling insecure as hell. I force a smile to my face. “I actually prefer if he doesn’t come. I’ll be able to enjoy the evening much more if I don’t have to constantly monitor my actions.”

  Lloyd smacks my leg. “That’s the spirit! You don’t turn twenty-one every day. So, do you already know what you’re going to wear?”

  I smile for real this time. “Oh, yeah. Saylor has taken care of our outfits.”

  “Oooh, do tell, I’m intrigued.”

  “Say, Lloyd, are you familiar with Jem and the Holograms?”

  Lloyd scrunches up his nose. “You’re not talking about that silly teen movie, are you? I swear the only good thing about that disaster is Ryan Guzman. Yu-mmy.”

  “No, I’m talking about the real deal.”

  ☂ ☂ ☂

  “Holy crap! This place is surreal,” Kennedy screams as her gaze darts everywhere.

  The Singing Olive is packed and the waiting line took us almost thirty minutes. For once, Emma didn’t try to use her money to bribe the bouncer to usher us inside ahead of everyone else. She got caught up in the exciting energy surrounding us, too. The first thing we see as we enter the place is a huge mural depicting flying pigs playing harps, serenading the most unusual group of poker players—a goat, James Cameron’s alien, Queen Elizabeth, and a shark wearing a tutu.

  Emma flags a waitress walking by and asks her something. I can’t hear a thing because the music is too loud. From where I stand, I see a group singing Rock the Boat on the karaoke stage, and they’re pretty good. The main area is massive and right in front of the stage, there’s a dance floor where people wearing the craziest ensembles are dancing like no one is around.

  Emma turns to us. “Follow me, girls.”

  Lloyd laces his arm with mine and we weave through the round tables that are already all taken. We stop abruptly by one with six chairs that has an ice bucket with champagne chilling inside and a “Reserved” sign on it.

  “Ta-da!” Emma opens her arms in a grand gesture. “Happy birthday, Liv.”

  “I didn’t know you could reserve a table in this place,” Mellie says from behind me.

  “My father taught me to never take no for an answer,” Emma replies.

  “This is unbelievable.” My voice is all choked up and my eyes tear up. I have the best friends in the world.

  Saylor hugs me sideways. “You deserve it, chica.”

  “Okay, we need group pictures.” Kennedy takes her phone out and then turns to the guy sitting on a neighboring table. “Do you mind taking a picture of us?”

  He eyes her up and down and a sly grin appears on his lips. “For you, luv? Anything.”

  We huddle together and say cheese for the camera. Then we make silly poses. Kennedy gets her phone back and then Lloyd takes pictures of the four of us.

  “All right, enough with the camera palooza.” Saylor sits down and grabs the bottle of champagne.

  I don’t sit right away and take a minute to soak everything in. I want to commit this evening to memory because I know how rare moments like these are. There’s Saylor, my sister from another mister, wearing her Pizzazz outfit. It’s so typical Saylor to suggest we dress up as Jem and the Holograms and then choose to be the lead singer of the Misfits, Jem’s archenemy.

  Weirdly enough, no one wanted to be Jem. Kennedy bought a hot pink wig yesterday and decided to dress up as Kimber, Jem’s younger sister. Emma and I didn’t want to go the wig route, so we used washable color die on our hairs. She has blue stripes in hers, and the tips of mine are purple. I just hope the color does wash off as the instructions said it would.

  “How in the world do you even know what bloody Jem and the Holograms is? You were born a decade after it was popular,” Mellie says.

  Saylor, Emma, Kennedy, and I all stare at each other, but it’s Emma who answers Mellie’s question in the end. “Has Liv ever told you about our school?”

  “No,” Mellie and Lloyd say in unison.

  “Well, DuBose College specializes in creative and performing arts, so it has a pretty unique academic atmosphere. First of all, there are no fraternities or sororities. The campus is shaped like a compass and the student body is divided in different houses—North, South, East, and West.”

  “Oh, like Harry Potter,” Lloyd says.

  “Yeah, and like in the Harry Potter books, the houses compete throughout the year. It instills a sense of belonging, and motivates students to always do better. It’s a pretty awesome system. But anyway, I’m going off topic here. There are games and competitions, and one year, the houses had to put up a show based on a pop icon from the eighties. We chose to do a play of one of Jem and the Holograms episodes.”

  “That’s brilliant. I hope you won,” Mellie says.

  Kennedy pouts. “We didn’t win. We lost to the Northerners. They recreated Michael Jackson’s Thriller video clip. It was freaking awesome.”

  “So which house do you belong to?” Lloyd asks.

  “South,” I say.

  “Southies forever!” Saylor raises her glass and we all do the same.

  “Champagne is all fine and good, but we need some shots.” Kennedy flags a waiter. “Six tequila shots please, the best you have.”

  “Six shots? What are you? An amateur?” Emma chimes in. She turns to the guy wearing a muscle shirt and a fluorescent green bow tie. “Bring the entire bottle, mister.”

  “Oh, boy. You do realize we all have to work tomorrow, right?” Mellie rests her head in her hand.

  “But it’s the day before Christmas.” Kennedy sounds surprised and outraged at the same time.

  “We work in events, Ken,” I say.

  “Blah, blah, blah. I don’t wanna hear another word about work. It’s your twenty-first birthday, girlfriend. We’re all getting hammered. Now, how do we get a go on that stage?” Saylor points ahead and I let my gaze travel past the dancing crowd. The stage is presently empty and the music blasting through the speakers is being spun by the DJ tucked into a dark corner of the room.

  “I’m not singing!” Mellie squeaks.

  I’m about to announce the same thing when Saylor looks pointedly at me. “Don’t even try bailing on us, Liv. You’re singing with us.”

  Damn! Saylor knows me too well. I’m not the worst singer in the world, but I can’t compare to her, or Emma and Kennedy for that matter. I need liquid courage.

  “Not before I drink some tequila.”

  “What should we sing?” Emma asks.

  “Oh, I know, I know!” Kennedy raises her hand. “Let’s repeat our Spice Girls number. It was frigging fantastic.”

  “Another houses’ competition performance?” Mellie asks.

  “No, it was a number we put together for my sister’s wedding last year,” I say and then involuntarily remember what transpired after that. I shake my head because the last thing I want to think about is Derek.

  I immediately get a pang in my chest that Sebastian is not here with me. I love my girlfriends, but tonight is a milestone for me and the disappointment that he didn’t even try to come won’t go away. Then guilt mixes in, making my heart feel twice as heavy. Sebastian’s parents passed away almost
a week before my birthday. I know this is a terrible time for him.

  Saylor puts her hand on my arm. “Hey, are you okay?”

  I lift my gaze to meet hers. “Yeah. Everything is great.”

  Saylor narrows her eyes a fraction and I think she’s about to say something else, when Emma interrupts.

  “Yay! Tequila is here!”

  Chapter 42

  Sebastian

  Oliver’s idea of going incognito is for us to wear full blown Kiss regalia, weird wigs and black and white make-up included. No one will recognize us for us for sure, but we look ridiculous. Being in disguise also means we are not granted the perks that usually come with our fame, so we have to wait in line like everyone else to get inside the Singing Olive.

  People stare at us and I find it unnerving that those looks of curiosity are not followed by screaming and camera flashes. When we finally reach the bouncer at the entrance, he looks us up and down, and for a second, I think he’s going to send us away. But he surprises me when he says, “Nice costume.”

  Once inside, Oliver turns to me. “So what’s the plan now, Romeo?”

  A quick scan of the main room ahead tells me that we won’t get a table at this hour. It also tells me that finding Liv will be difficult. I settle for finding Saylor instead, hoping that her current bright blue and green hair won’t blend in with the sea of crazy wigs here. I’m glad Liv has shown me a recent picture of Saylor, otherwise I wouldn’t recognize her either.

  “Let’s get a drink and then walk around the room. Look for a chick with blue and green mermaid hair,” I say.

  Oliver gives me an incredulous glance. “You’re joking, right?”

  I don’t answer him and make my way to the main bar. I haven’t been in this place since our performance of Africa that ultimately landed us in Boys Future. I’m pleased to see that nothing has changed. I know it’s odd, but I’m feeling a bit sentimental now. God, I’m such a pansy.

  Five minutes later and with drinks in hand, we begin our mission to locate Liv and her friends. I wonder if she will recognize me. Gremlins invade my stomach and my heart receives a jolt of adrenaline. I feel like a teenager again, standing in front of Liv’s darkened window, ready to confess my love to her.