Rachel's Valentine Crush (12 page)

“Yes. Yes! I would love to!” Rachel exclaimed.

Brody's smile grew bigger and bigger. “Awesome,” he said. “I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe
you're here. I figured—there's no way she likes me—”

“How could you think that?” asked Rachel.

“It's been such a long time since I saw you last,” Brody replied. “Where have you
been
? Why didn't you come to any of the parties?”

“I
wanted
to,” Rachel said. “But my dad is pretty strict.”

“Maybe I should have e-mailed him,” Brody joked. “The whole reason I kept having those parties was because I wanted to see you.”

Before Rachel could respond, Brody's manager rushed up to them.

“Brody, there you are,” he exclaimed. “I've been looking everywhere. The show starts in ten minutes!”

Then he looked at Rachel and suddenly seemed to understand everything.

“You must be Rachel,” the man said. “I'm Greg Pierce. Nice to meet you.” He glanced over at Brody. “So . . . is everything a go?”

“Definitely,” Brody replied, still grinning.

“Excellent,” Greg said. “Brody, you go warm up. I'll take care of Rachel.”

Brody looked at Rachel like he didn't want to leave.
“So I'll see you in a little bit,” he promised.

“I'll be there,” Rachel said as Brody started to leave. “But, Brody—wait—”

He turned around.

“What
does
L-O-L mean?”

Brody smiled mysteriously. “You'll find out soon.”

“Rachel, come on,” Greg said. “This way.”

Greg led Rachel to the front of the arena, where fifteen rows of chairs were set up right in front of the stage. “Your classmates are going to be in these rows,” he explained. “And this seat is for you.”

Front row. Center. The best seat in the entire arena. And it was reserved for Rachel.

“All the camera guys know that you'll be sitting here, so whatever you do, don't change seats with anyone,” Greg continued.

“Camera guys?” repeated Rachel.

“For the Jumbotrons,” he replied, pointing at the massive flat-screens hanging from the ceiling. “And the webcast and the TV broadcast, of course. All of Brody's fans around the world will be watching tonight.”

Greg turned away to take a call on his headset. “Yeah. Be right there,” he said. “Rachel, I've got to run, but enjoy
the show—I'm sure I'll see you backstage afterward.”

“Thanks,” Rachel said as she sat down, hard, in the reserved seat. It was almost too much to take in. Not just the exchange with Brody outside the VIP lounge—
Did that really happen?
Rachel kept asking herself—but everything else, too: the cavernous arena, the crowds of thousands, the front-row seat that was saved just for her. Rachel glanced around the arena with wide eyes. The band was already onstage, warming up. There were sound technicians stationed at a massive control panel and lighting experts climbing ladders to the spotlights overhead. As more and more people entered the arena, it filled with a constant buzzing hum as their voices echoed off the concrete floors. Somehow over the din, Rachel thought she heard someone call her name. She turned around to see Taylor and Shane sitting five rows behind her. Taylor was waving her rose in the air as she tried to get Rachel's attention. Rachel grinned and waved back. Taylor, looking frustrated, frowned and shook her head. Then she held up her phone and pointed at it.

Rachel understood what Taylor was trying to tell her. She checked her cell and realized that in all the commotion, she had missed several texts.

Rach where r u?

Did u leave?

We r going 2 find seats. Will save u 1.

As Rachel was reading them, another text flashed onto the screen.

Come sit w/ us.

Sorry . . . can't

Whaaa? Why not?

Wait a sec . . .

R u the one?!?!?!?!

Suddenly the arena was plunged into complete and total darkness. Rachel's heart started pounding again.
The concert was about to begin!

In a sudden flash of lights, Brody charged onto the stage and launched right into his first song. The audience leaped to their feet, screaming and cheering. Rachel couldn't stop looking at Brody. Performing in front of thousands of people seemed like something he had been born to do, and she had never been more impressed—or felt more proud.
He's amazing,
she thought.
Brody is so much more talented than any of us even knew.
As the concert continued, Rachel found herself swept away by Brody's music until she forgot what was coming . . . almost.

Then Rachel heard the opening chords of “Secret Crush.”

A surge of adrenaline made her legs wobbly and her chest tight; Rachel was glad that there was a chair behind her in case she needed to sit down right away. As a hush fell over the audience, Rachel could tell that this was the moment that
everyone
had been waiting for.

“I have a secret

It's hidden in my heart”

Everything else seemed to disappear—the screaming crowd, the flashing lights, the roving cameras, the glowing Jumbotrons. Rachel was only aware of Brody and his music.

“And it's only getting bigger

Since we have been apart”

About halfway through the song Brody started walking down the stairs that were on the side of the stage. There was complete silence in the arena as Brody stopped in front of Rachel and their eyes locked. Nothing else mattered. It was just Rachel and Brody, the way it was always meant to be.

Then Brody reached out his hand to Rachel and sang:

“And when I think about you

Girl, I know that you're the one”

Brody kept singing as he led Rachel onto the stage. Rachel blinked several times as she tried to adjust to the blinding brightness of the spotlights. When they reached center stage, the music stopped. In the silence, Brody offered something to Rachel: a cluster of green lollipops,
tied up like a bouquet of flowers. He leaned close to the microphone and said, clearly, “I'll always save the green L-O-Ls for you.”

Rachel recognized the lollipops right away, of course. They were LOL Pops—the same ones from choir practice! And if the writing hadn't rubbed off the wrapper of the green one Brody had given her last year, the very same one that was now in her scrapbook, Rachel might have figured out the clue days ago. As Rachel accepted the bouquet of LOL Pops, Brody grinned and sang:

“I think about the best times

Making music together

And how much I miss you

Want to hold your hand forever”

Then he tilted his head to the side and raised his eyebrows as he held the microphone out to Rachel! Rachel knew what he was asking her to do. And, strangely enough, she didn't feel a bit nervous, even though she knew that millions of people were watching. After all, hadn't Rachel already sung those very lines about a thousand times?

Rachel paused, took a deep breath, and sang right into the microphone:

“Maybe it's crazy

To feel the way I do”

Brody moved his head close to hers so that they could sing the final words together.

“But you're my secret crush

And I hope you like me, too”

As the last notes faded away, the crowd went wild! Their screams were deafening as glittery confetti rained down from the ceiling, sending sparkling reflections dancing around the arena.

Rachel and Brody stood together in the middle of the stage, waving at the crowd. She glanced at Brody out of the corner of her eye and realized that he was looking at her. Smiling at her—and only her. What she felt then, Rachel knew, would be impossible to put into words, even in her scrapbook. It was like a dazzling explosion of light and color and pure joy; like fireworks for her heart.

As the spotlights began to dim, Rachel and Brody shared a smile that they would remember for the rest of their lives.

The concert may have been over, but for Rachel and Brody, it was only the beginning!

Here's a sneak peek at the next book in the series:

Isabella likes Ryan.

Does he like her too?

Isabella's Spring Break Crush

ISABELLA CLARK POKED AT HER
salad with a plastic fork. Normally she loved talking with her friends at lunchtime, but today it was just making her depressed.

“And our resort has its own private beach,” her friend Amanda was saying. She was practically jumping up and down in her seat as she talked. “So we can just walk out of the hotel and right onto the beach. And the temperature there right now is eighty degrees! Isn't that awesome? I am so tired of the cold.”

“And the snow,” added Jasmine, glancing toward the nearby window. Mounds of winter snow were piled up in the middle school parking lot and along the walkway. Icicles dripped from the bare tree branches. Snowflake flurries swirled around in the freezing wind.

“It's Chicago. It's supposed to be cold in winter,” Isabella said, repeating something her dad said often.
It never really made her feel better to hear it, though. She loved the summer when she didn't have to bundle up every day. The summer sun just made everything feel happier.

“Well, I
love
the snow,” said Lilly. With her white-blond hair and blue eyes, Isabella always thought she looked like some kind of snow princess from a fairy tale. “I can't believe we're finally going skiing in Colorado! It's going to be awesome.”

Jasmine frowned. “We're not going far at all. Mom's taking us to the Buffalo Lodge. It's kind of lame, but at least they have an indoor pool.”

Amanda turned to Isabella. “So are you guys doing anything?”

Isabella sighed. “You know we never do. My dad says this year I can help out in his office and make some extra money.”

“That's pretty lame too,” Lilly remarked, and Amanda shot her a look. “I don't mean that Bella's lame. I mean her dad is lame, you know, for making her work.”

“It's okay,” Isabella replied glumly. “You're right. It is lame.”

“It's not all that bad,” Amanda said, trying to cheer
her up. “That way you can buy those great earrings we saw at Sparks.”

“Yeah,” Isabella said, and then she started poking at her salad again. Amanda was supersweet, and a great best friend. But nothing she said could get Isabella out of her mood.

It just wasn't fair! She was pretty sure that her family was the only one in the whole school who didn't go anywhere during spring break. Things got complicated for the Clarks during this time of year.

For one thing, even though it was “spring break,” it still felt like winter in Chicago. Isabella's mom was a pediatrician, and this time of year she was bombarded with kids coming down with the flu.

And it's not like her dad could take them anywhere. Mr. Clark was an accountant, which meant he had to help dozens of people do their taxes before April 15. So he couldn't leave his job either.

“We'll make it up to you in the summer,” her mom always said, and it was true—they always went on a nice vacation in the summer. But their last vacation was a distant memory now, and in two weeks all she had to look forward to was filing folders in her dad's office as she
watched the snow fall outside.

“Well, the week goes by fast anyway,” said Amanda.

Jasmine was scrolling on her phone. “Hey, I forgot that Buffalo Lodge has horseback riding! Maybe it won't be so bad after all.”

Lilly leaned in and lowered her voice. “Okay. If you could go on spring break with any boy in our class, who would it be?”

“That's easy. Colin Hancock,” Jasmine replied. “He's so cute.”

“No way!” Lilly squealed. “I was going to pick him!”