Dear Miss DelMane,
We at Teen Stars HQ are happy to have you join us on our journey of talent-building and sparkle-filled experiences. You are expected to be at the Teen Stars HQ this Friday by 4pm to claim your starters kit. We're so excited to have you on our team!
"Am I dead?" was the first thing Bella could utter after she'd gotten her breath back.
Beau laughed. "I don't think so." He studied her for a while. "Are you okay?"
She took some time to answer, but eventually said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Mortified, but fine."
"Bella, I'm so sorry. Are you all right?"
Bella looked up at the owner of the new voice and immediately started devising ways to kill a person with the eyes. She would've probably needed a little magic to pull that off, but her eyes did the job just fine, and Ashton cringed. "You," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. "I should've known. Do you want to kill me?!"
"I'm sorry, Bella. I slipped."
"Oh, and it's so natural for the captain of the basketball team to slip. Why were you even behind me?"
"Bella," Beau called, and she turned to him, immediately shutting up. "It's fine. You didn't die so he doesn't have to."
She sent a glareâthat made her look like she smelled something really badâin Ashton's direction and Beau laughed, before gently pushing her to the edge of the pool so she could get out.
The spots Beau had his hands on felt oddly warm in the cool water, and she tried not to focus on it and got out of the water with his help.
Beau pushed his wet hair back when he was out, and Ashton put his jacket over Bella's shoulders.
"Hey, you dropped your phone," the guy she made fun of earlier said, and Bella froze, replaying the sentence in her head again.
Her phone. The water. Oh God!
She turned to him, surprised to see him in the pool and shocked to see him lifting her phone above his head like a swimming trophy.
She had things to do with that phone that weekend. Why was fate so cruel? It was starting to feel like it was against her.
A scream that only lasted a second escaped her, and she felt like stomping her feet in annoyance. How could that have happened?
Ashton!
She looked at Ashton again, her glare deadly this time. The poor guy took a step back, looking down sheepishly, already knowing what his best friend's sister could do for her phoneâeven to someone she liked.
The shirtless boy got out of the pool and handed her phone to her. Bella received it with her both palms, like it was sacred treasure, and her eyes got blurry.
After staring down at her phone for a while, she swiftly turned away from the boys, then headed back into school. Ashton followed, staying a good distance behind her as she made her way to her locker.
Bella grabbed her backpack after angrily putting in her combination and opening the locker, then slammed it shut and made her way to the entrance.
"Hey... whoa! Was there some pool party I didn't know about?" Cody asked as soon as he spotted them. He was leaning against the car with a devil-may-care attitude, but immediately he saw his sister, he straightened up.
"I wouldn't joke about her state if I were you, bro," Ashton said, a little hesitantly. "Her phone drowned."
Cody's eyes doubled in size. "And she tried to save it?" He turned to Bella, who was already pulling the door to the backseat open. "Did you forget you can't swim? Heyâand she's definitely going to ruin my car seat."
"Don't bother her," Ashton warned, moving away from the door before Bella could smash his nose with it. "I pushed her by mistake."
Cody's mouth formed an O, then he opened the door to the driver's seat like nothing happened. Ashton walked around the car to the passenger's side, then got in.
Bella silently fumed as she sat in the backseat, clutching her dead phone in one hand and unintentionally inhaling the cologne from the jacket she had no choice but to wear.
She thought about possible solutions to her predicament as she barely listened to Ashton explain to Cody why he was really at the poolâsomething that had to do with Travonâbut her mental list was short.
The only thing she could think of was her laptop. But it wasn't as easy to carry around as a phone was, and accessing Instagram DMs was so stressful.
Then YWN popped into her head as the car mixed with the other cars on the Los Angeles road, and she couldn't help but wonder who they were.
* * *
Bella sat cross-legged in front of her laptop that evening after a warm shower and two cupcakes, and her nervousness didn't let her stop biting down on her left index finger.
Sometime during the ride home, she realized how rudely she had walked away without thanking Beau. That, combined with the fact that her mom told her she wouldn't be getting a new phone for a whileâsomething about "monthly budget"âwas enough to cause a million butterflies to begin their gymnastic flips in her stomach.
She ran a hand over her face, thinking about how much she had on her plate. The giveaway, the video promise, the date with Travon the next day, Beau, Viola, Amparo, that Fashionella Dirt website, the fact that Jun, Frankie and Fleur had a reason for inviting her to the sleepover, YWN...
She let out a sigh, then combed a hand through her damp hair. Getting out of bed in sweatpants and a tank top, she buried the thought of poisoning Ashton and made her way to her mom's room.
"Mom, can I have your phone for a minute? I have to make a call," she said immediately she knocked, not waiting for a reply.
"Who do you want to call?"
"Um... a friend?"
Almost immediately, the door swung open, and her mom appeared. "Is it that boy?"
"Momâ"
"No." She lifted her hands in surrender. "I'm just asking to know how long my phone's going to be away."
Bella almost smiled, and her mom looked at her affectionately. "Seriously, sweetie, what's going on? You look too stressed for a fifteen-year-old."
"Almost sixteen," Bella corrected.
"What?" her mom asked, looking at her like she just spoke Scandinavian.
"I'm almost sixteen, Mom."
"Isn't sixteen still, like, a month away?"
"It doesn't matter, Mom. But don't worry. I'm a teenager, and teenagers have a lot of stuff to think about. Can I have your phone now?"
Her mom made a big deal of her statement and placed her hands on her shoulders. "Honey, talk to me. I've had enough with Adele to deal with this."
"Mom, I'm fine. I promise." She lifted the small finger on her right hand for emphasis. Her mom didn't seem to be buying it, so she added, "I. Promise. Okay, I will be fineâafter I talk to my friend."
Mrs. Quincy folded her arms and smiled. "What's his name?"
Bella knew she couldn't escape this one, so she playfully rolled her eyesâearning the mind-the-attitude look from her momâthen said, "Beau."
Her mom's eyes immediately grew excited. "Ooh, is he French?"
"Yeah."
"Wow! You could finally learn a foreign language."
This was not happening. "Mom, come on. Your phone, please."
"Five minutes."
She nodded. "Deal!"
Her mom disappeared into the room for a few seconds, then returned with her phone. "Five minutes," she repeated, giving the phone to her daughter, and Bella nodded too much.
"Thank you so much, Mom. I better not waste my five minutes."
She ran down the hallway to her room, shutting the door first, then jumping on her bed. She typed in Beau's number from memory after unlocking the phone.
Bella stared at a tweet on her laptop that talked about burgers while she waited for Beau to pick up. She got scared for a moment and bit down on her index finger again.
"Pick up, Beau. Please pick up," she whispered, pressing the phone closer to her ear.
Almost immediately, he picked up, and she sighed in relief, a smile stretching her lips. "Hello?"
"Beau. Hi."
"Bella?"
She grinned wider, happy he recognized her voice so quickly. "Yeah. Hey."
"Hey. How are you doing?"
"I'm good. You?"
"The same. I hope you're not feeling sick from the water."
"No, no. I'm fine. I just called to thank you for saving me from an untimely death. I kinda rudely walked away. I'm sorry about that."
He was silent for a while, then she heard the sound of a door closing. "You seemed... occupied, so it's okay."
She faked a sniff. "I'm arranging a funeral, Beau."
"Oh no! She didn't make it?" He sounded shocked, playing along with her.
"No. She died of hypothermia shortly after being taken to the ER."
"I'm so sorry to hear that."
"The funeral's taking place at Old Privet Drive."
"Too bad I'm at platform nine and three quarters presently and won't be back for a year or so."
She laughed and he joined her. "Let me guessâyou sell chocolate frogs on the Hogwarts Express?"
"Nah. I got promoted last week. I sell waffles now."
She laughed again, then heard noise from his end. "What are you doing over there? Am I disturbing something?"
"No. I'm just moving some things around. My room's... hazardous right nowâto say the least."
She shook her head playfully even though he couldn't see her. "Why'd you let it get that way?"
"I was feeling lazy."
"'Cause you used up all your strength pulling my one-thousand-pound-weighing self out of the pool?"
"Exactly! Smart girl."
She rolled her eyes, her smile growing even wider. "I'm sure there's a month's worth of trash in there."
"A week's worth, actually."
"And it looks like a World War scene? Interesting."
"I'll clean up later. Talking to you is way more fun."
"Oh, stop it. You're giving me a cavity." She blushed when she realized what she just said. Seriously, Bella?
"You already have a sweet tooth."
"It's in my blood. I can't help the sugar."
He let out a small laugh. "I'm really happy you called, Bella. I asked Cody about you and he told me you were mourning."
"Typical," she mumbled, playing with her hair, and something occurred to her. "Can I ask you something?"
"Is it math?"
"No."
"Then shoot."
"Okay. How did you know I was by the pool?"
"Oh. I saw someone follow you there and just got curious."
She sat up, suddenly alert. "Who?"
"Um, I can't remember her name. It was that girl you were about punching in the cafeteria."
"Amparo?"
"That's her."
She wondered for a moment why Amparo followed her, then said a small, "Oh."
"The way I see it, she's really after something and you should avoid her."
She nodded before realizing he wasn't there. "Okay. I will."
"Awesome. So... you're a great swimmer."
She smiled, despite the beating of her chest at the Amparo revelation. "I'm a natural."
"I guessed right, then." He laughed again, and it really warmed her heart. He seemed to be enjoying the conversation as much as she was.
"Beau," she called.
"Yeah."
"Thank you. You're awesome, you know that right?"
He was silent for a while, then he said, "You're the first person to tell me that."
"I mean it... and I can't wait to see you tomorrow."
"That's strangely how I feel, too, Belle."