Page 50 of Celebrities Don't Date Bookworms

Luckily, there wasn’t anyone in line to order, so I went straight up to the counter and ordered my drink.

“Could I get a name for the order?” The barista asked.

“Megan.”

Her typing slowed, and she looked at me closely. “Megan White?”

“Um…” Why did this random girl know my name? I looked to Sloane, hoping that she would jump in and say hi to the girl because it turned out we went to elementary school together or something random like that—she always remembered people better than I did. But Sloane just looked as confused as me, so I turned to the barista again, and tried not to look freaked out. “Why do you ask?”

“Somebody paid ahead for you,” she said. She handed me a gift card with a small note taped to it.

Sorry again for spilling your coffee. Forgive me?

- H.S.

Sloane looked at the card over my shoulder.

“H.S.,” she said. She grinned from ear to ear. “Megan,Hudson Shawpaid for your drink.”

“You don’t know that it was him.”

Sloane rolled her eyes. “Okay—can you think of another H.S. that owes you a coffee, and would go out of his way to pay for it?”

Well, no, I couldn’t, but that didn’t mean anything. Why would Hudson care so much about paying me back for the drink he spilled? Sure, we talked about it briefly this morning, but that didn’t mean anything.

“That doesn’t mean it was him.”

“Well…” the barista said. She looked around, then leaned in to whisper to me, “Actually, itwasHudson Shaw. I didn’t want to say anything out loud, just in case anyone heard and freaked.”

Considering the day I’d had at school, that was definitely a good idea.

“How did he know what I was going to get?” I asked.

“He just paid fifty dollars to cover whatever you wanted,” the barista explained. “I have to ask… how do you know him?”

“We go to school together,” I mumbled.

“And he spilled coffee on her last week,” Sloane added. “She wouldn’t let him pay her back, so I guess he had to get creative.Isn’t it cute?”

“Totally adorable,” the barista said with a nod. “I’m so jealous. I wish I could see him at school every day.”

Want to trade places?

“Yeah,” I murmured. I handed her the card back so she could swipe it. “Guess I really am lucky.”

Was I the only person in the world who wasn’t obsessed with this boy? He was just a person, after all. Sure, he was cute, and I guess he was nice enough, and it was sweet of him to do this for me, but he was still just a boy. A famous one, sure, but did that really make him that special? Or was there something there that I wasn’t seeing?

twelve

When I walkedinto French class the next morning, almost everyone else was there before me. At first, I thought I was late somehow, but Mme. Dubois wasn’t even in the classroom yet.

“Hey,” I said to Sloane as I came in. On mornings when she had cheer practice, we usually met up in class because it was easier than trying to co-ordinate when we got to our lockers. I sat down sideways in my chair, so I could talk to her even though she was sitting at the table behind me. When I came in, I was kind of hoping we would go back to our old seating arrangement, and leave Hudson and Jude to sit together at the empty desks, but I wasn’t surprised to see that Sloane hadn’t gone for that. For one thing, as much as I hated it, it probably made more sense for the boys to sit with their guides and properly integrate into school life. And of course, considering how much Sloane had been gushing about him yesterday, I was sure she wanted to be sitting next to Jude for the whole class.

“Hey,” Sloane said. She was writing something in her notebook, but she put her pen down as she looked at me. “How’s it going?”

I shrugged. “Not bad.” I looked around, and lowered my voice, so that nobody would hear me, then asked, “Why’s everyone here so early?”

“They all want to see the boys for as long as possible before class starts,” Sloane whispered back. She smirked. “And I’m pretty sure that’s the same reason Mme. Dubois isn’t here yet.”

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