Page 30 of The Spotlight Effect

“So does the great Grayson Archer have any plans tonight?” Alexia asks.

“Get my sister from our mom’s,” I answer, clearing my throat. Good thing my jeans are baggy or else she’d see my boner.

“That’s sweet,” Alexia says.

“Oh yeah, being in a car with Kenan, Charlie, and Nevea is totally fun,” I say sarcastically.

“They go with you?” she asks.

“Yeah, they love seeing my mom and we don’t get to go often with everything going on,” I answer and grab my bag to leave, but my phone vibrates in my pocket so I pull it out. “Speaking of Charlie, he's calling me.”

As we start to leave the room, she puts on her red chrome bookbag. Alexia goes to wait outside the room waiting for me as I listen to Charlie ramble. “Charlie, slow down, what do you want?” I stop him.

“I think you should bring Lexi to your moms. By think I said you would bring her, and Bee wants us to play some songs before we leave,” Charlie says.

“You must be joking,” I state flatly.

“I was sucked. Zara talked about when she met and then others wanted to meet the girl that has you all tongue-tied. Pretty please. Please. Please. Please. We will drive ourselves. Please. Please,” Charlie says, starting to beg.

“Fine,” I say. Charlie starts to celebrate on the other side of the phone, and I hang up causing the cheering to stop.

I can’t believe this. I’ve never had a girl meet my mom before but then again, I’ve only ever had one girlfriend. I just never got the guts to let Jazzlyn meet my mom, she never cared to either.

I sigh and walk out of my dressing room door. Alexia turns around to me as soon as I do. “You’ve been invited to come over. The band wants to meet you and you’ll be meeting my mom and sister,” I tell her.

Alexia’s eyes widen and I see the excitement fill her face. Oh lord. I feel the need to say something, but she holds her finger up meaning for me to hold on. She pulls out her phone and types, then waits and replies before putting it up. She reads her phone and slightly jumps up and down before calming herself, which I can tell she’s forcing herself to do. Her giddiness tells me all I need to know. “My mom said I can go,” Alexia says. I knew it.

“You sure you wanna come?” I ask.

“I didn’t text my mom for no reason,” she states.

“What if I try to kill you?” I ask and she gives me a side look.

“I’d murder you first, Popstar,” she replies and walks off in front of me.

Somehow, I keep ending up with her. Thanks a lot Charlie.

We go back to her dressing room, and she grabs her oversizedSOURzip up jacket and comes back out, then we head to the parking lot to my black Mazda. “How many cars do you have?” Alexia asks, randomly.

“Five,” I answer.

“Why does a twenty-one-year-old need all those cars?” she asks, as I open her car door for her. I don’t answer because she gets in and I close the door.

“I like cars,” I tell her as I get in on the driver's side.

“You didn’t have to open the door I could have,” Alexia says while putting on her seatbelt.

“Don’t be an ass. Appreciate the fact that I'm being a gentleman,” I state as I back out of my parking space.

Charlie’s name flashes on my phone as we make it about halfway to my mom’s house. “Gray, I think I’m going crazy or maybe the world is ending,” Charlie says freaking out.

“Charlie, you should calm down,” Alexia says.

“I can't, I just ran out the house,” he says.

“Damn, is the house about to blow up or something?” I say, giving Alexia a strange look. Charlie breathes out heavily.

Another notification flashes across my phone and it’s from Nevea. An image has been sent which is strange, but I have to stop for gas. “Okay, Charlie, I’m about to pull over for gas, hold on,” I tell him as I pull over to the gas station.

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