Page 7 of The Heartbreakers
Eyeing the girls around me, I felt like an impostor in my plain T-shirt and Converses. I patted my hair and regretted not brushing through it this morning. Instead, I had pulled it back in a sharp ponytail that showed off my bright-aqua strand. A few girls glanced at us in curiosity, and I couldn’t tell if they were looking at me because I stood out like a sore thumb or if they were checking out Drew. While being distinct from my siblings was important to me, I didn’t like feeling out of place. I skimmed the crowd to make sure nobody was looking before yanking out my hair band and tugging my fingers through my bangs. Nobody else had a stud in their nose or multiple ear piercings like me, but I wasn’t going to take those out too.
Finally the mob of estrogen rushed forward as the doors to the station were opened. I briefly bowed my head in thanks, but my relief didn’t last long. Once inside, I saw the long, roped-off line that twisted through the huge lobby. We were at the end of it.
“Are you kidding me?” I exclaimed.
Drew started to say something, but he was cut off as an uproar rippled through the crowd. Clasping my hands over my ears, I tried to block out the sudden screams of hundreds of fans.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” a man announced with a megaphone. “Please put your hands together for the Heartbreakers!”
Even standing on my tiptoes, I couldn’t see the group of boys that had caused the commotion. Too many girls were jumping up and down in front of me for me to get a good view.
Another round of screaming made the room shake when a song started blasting through the building’s sound system. Drew pulled his iPod out of his back pocket and put his headphones on. I groaned out loud, knowing that if I checked my backpack, mine wouldn’t be there. I had left my iPod in the car, and Drew chuckled when he saw the panicked look on my face.
“Rock, paper, scissors for it?” I asked with my best puppy-dog face.
“Can’t hear you, Stella,” he said with a smirk. “My music’s too loud.”
He turned the volume up and started to head bob to whatever he was listening to. I closed my eyes in frustration. The rest of today was going to suck.
• • •
My head was pounding. Between two hours’ worth of cheesy lyrics, screaming, and a stuffy room, my brain felt like it was exploding inside my skull.
Cara and I were scary similar in so many ways. We both could quote every line from every episode ofFriendslike we had written and produced the show ourselves. We hated peanut butter because of the way it made your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and neither of us had ever had a boyfriend.
But if there was one startling difference between us, it was our choice in music. As Drew and I stood in line waiting for an autograph, I couldn’t for the life of me understand how Cara enjoyed the Heartbreakers. From the look on Drew’s face, he couldn’t either. His iPod had died about an hour ago, so now we were both suffering.
“She’s totally adopted,” I muttered, which made Drew snicker.
“You’re identical.”
“Irrelevant,” I said and shook my head. “I mean, honestly? Where did she go so wrong?”
“I think it was that girl at the hospital Cara’s friends with.”
“The one with leukemia?”
“Yeah, her. She made mixed CDs for all the pediatric patients.”
“We should sue.”
Drew laughed and rubbed his temples. “Seriously, though. I think this prolonged exposure to musical garbage is wearing on me. You’d think they’d move the line along a little faster.”
“Seriously,” I agreed.
The Heartbreakers’ new CD was playing on a loop, but every time the song changed, another round of screams ensued. By now I could sing along with every song if I wanted.
A girl in front of me turned around. “Oh my God! This is their best song!” she exclaimed, as if we hadn’t heard it a million times already today. “I love the Heartbreakers!”
I restrained myself from rolling my eyes. Every song must be their best song. Closing my eyes, I inhaled a deep breath. “How close are we?” I asked Drew for the tenth time. I still couldn’t see the front of the line, but we had to be close. If we weren’t…well, I didn’t know how much longer I could stand this torture. Drew, who was a good foot and a half taller than Cara and me, craned his neck over the crowd and looked in the direction I assumed the band was sitting.
He smiled down at me. “Looks like it will only be ten minutes.”
“Oh, thank God!” Reaching into my backpack, I pulled out a few of my sister’s belongings—a Heartbreakers CD, a poster, and a tour shirt. If she didn’t go crazy over this present…
As the minutes passed, we moved slowly up the line. The closer we got, the more often I could catch a small glimpse of the band through the crowd. Cameras flashed as people took pictures. Soon we were only a few people away from the front of the line. A group of girls huddled around the table moved away, and—
I could finally see the Heartbreakers. I scanned the table and my heart stopped.
