Boy Band (16 page)

I’d never let her go

No, I’ll never let you go

All:

So meet me, meet me

Where the lights are always shining

Meet me, meet me

On the Midway

Tell me, tell me

That our love will be forever

And we will be together, come what may

On the Midway

Jesse:

You say you’re scared of how you feel

And I can understand

But I know that this love is real

Just let me take your hand...

All:

And meet me, meet me

Where the lights are always shining

Meet me, meet me

On the Midway

Tell me, tell me

That our love will be forever

And we will be together, come what may

On the Midway.

CHAPTER 14

“
It’s nights like these

In the summer

I remember

And I wonder

Are you here with me

Eleven summers

Passing slowly

Do you remember

To remember Jun
e
...”

Song: “Remembering June”

Artist: The Kind of September 

From the Album
:
The Kind of September

Note to self.  It doesn’t matter how cool the American Music Awards after-party is.  If you have to wake up to catch an 8:00 AM flight, you’re going to feel terrible.  I know you thought you could handle it.  You can’t.  

I’m not kidding you.  I didn’t know it was physically possible to be this exhausted.  Honestly, I have no idea how the guys are even conscious right now.  I only attended one after-party.  They were invited to three!  Granted, as Artist of the Year, they deserved to let loose and celebrate.  But three after-parties?  

I’m willing to bet they didn’t even bother sleeping, but I haven’t asked them.  No one seems capable of actually making words.  

This isn’t fair.  I didn’t even drink.  

The only person who is even kind of sort of awake and functional is Joni, but that’s because she skipped all the after-parties and went straight back to our hotel after the awards were over.  She’s been trying to go over the schedule for after we land back in New York, but none of us are listening.  I think I might have heard something about an interview and a photo shoot, but thankfully, no one wants to take pictures of me, so guess what?  

I’m gonna sleep.  

Honestly though, I know I sound like I’m complaining a lot, but I’m really
,
reall
y
happy for the guys and so proud of them.  I know they’re proud of all they’ve accomplished too, and they should be.  Last night was awesome.  This week is going to be spectacular.  If the most I’ve got to complain about is that I only got a few hours of sleep last night, I’d say life is pretty okay.  

“
Sam Morneau’s Secret Affai
r
,” Joni announces out of the blue. 

Wait, that doesn’t sound okay. 

“What?” Sam asks, looking like he just snapped out of a really weird dream and into an even weirder reality. 

“
According to a number of witnesses, notorious heartbreaker, Sam Morneau, was seen flirting and partying with fellow pop sensation Chloe Conley
,
” Joni reads from her phone. 
“
Friends of Conley, who famously dated Morneau’s friend and bandmate, Josh Cahill, confirm that the two got cozy last night at one of the American Music Awards after-parties.

“
‘They seemed really into each other.  It didn’t seem to bother him at all that she’s his friend’s ex,’ claims one source, who requested to remain anonymous. 

“
No word yet on how Cahill, who is often viewed as the most sensitive of the group
-
”

“What?!” Josh exclaims.

“
- is handling this devastating betrayal
.”
 

“Are you kidding me?” Sam groans and leans his head back against the airport benches.  

“Did you see Chloe Conley last night?” Joni asks him.

“For like, two seconds.  We ran into each other, I told her I enjoyed her performance, she gave me a hug and that was it.”  

“See, where you went wrong was telling her you enjoyed her performance,” Jesse remarks.

“Do people really think I’m the sensitive one?” Josh demands.  His brows are furrowed and he looks like he’s trying not to panic.  I’m kind of beginning to think that he and I are a lot alike.  We’re both dwellers.  “I’m not the sensitive one, am I?”

“Right now?  Yes,” Joni answers.  

“I knew it.  It’s the big brown eyes, isn’t it?” 

“And the whiny personality.  Shut up,” Joni snaps.  “How many times do I have to tell you guys to be careful?  You know what kind of person Chloe Conley is.  You guys just won Artist of the Year, and you’re less than twenty-four hours away from your third album release.  This is not at all the time for any sort of bad publicity.”

“Well, it’s a little late for that, apparently,” Jesse comments.  He sounds almost amused.

“Jesse?” Cory says.

“Yeah, bro?”

“Not helping.”  

“Look, I know you think I’m overreacting, and I know that this is just a big joke to you, but don’t you understand what the problem is?” Joni asks.  

The guys respond with blank stares.  I’m not really even sure I understand what the problem is.  Yes, I hate that Sam is the target of yet another fake scandal and I hate that these people persistently spread lies about him and the guys, but in all honesty, I really don’t see any of that affecting their popularity or their record sales.  They never have in the past.

“Is it because some crazy girl and her goons are spreading lies about us?  Because that happens like, every day,” Josh reminds her.  

“But what’s the difference here?” Joni asks.  Again, the stares.  I think Oliver and Sam are actually on the verge of dozing off.  Joni heaves an exasperated sigh.  Surely she’s figured out by now that the guys have talent oozing out their ears, but when it comes to logic and actually having to think, the glass is half-full, at best.  “The difference is that this time, they’re pitting you against each other.”

“So?” Josh asks, shrugging his shoulders.

“How do I explain this?” Joni rubs her eyes with the heels of her hands.  “Mel.  Why do you like reading those stupid young adult novels?”

“Hey, they’re not stupid.”  That’s totally offensive.  I love young adult fiction.  Maybe it’s not as quote-unquote sophisticated as what Joni likes to read, but you know what?  Those books make me happy.  So there.

“Just answer the question,” Joni tells me.   

“I don’t know.  They’re fun.”

“But they’re not all fun, are they?  They’ve all got a bit of drama.  A love triangle.  Feuding mythical creatures.  Maybe a romance with a dead person.”

“What’s your point?” I ask. 

“The point is that those books wouldn’t sell half as well if there wasn’
t
conflic
t
.  These gossip columnists and reporters are the same way.  No one wants to read a news article about a band who gets along.  There has always got to be some kind of back-stabbing or friction, and if there isn’t any, they’re going to find a way to create some.”

“Okay, that might be the case, but there is no friction.  There’s no inner turmoil.  Sam didn’t betray anyone.  They can write that stuff all day long, Jo.  It doesn’t make it true,” Jesse says.  

“It’s not true this time,” Joni says, folding her arms across her chest.

“What, are you saying you think Sam is that guy?  That he, or any of us, would actually do something like this?  Come on, Joni, I thought you knew us better than that.”  

“Stop,” Sam raises his voice.  “Look, if Joni’s right and the media wants to stir up some kind of tension between us, then they’re doing a pretty good job.  Jesse, you know that Joni is just trying to look out for us.  Give her a break.”

“Thank you, Sam,” Joni says.  

“You’re welcome,” Sam tells her.  “And look, I’m just as sick of these lies as you are.  But if we let them get to us, then the tabloids and everyone behind them win.  And yeah, it’s upsetting to think that some people will actually believe I would do this to a friend - ”

“Not as upsetting as it is that people think I’
m
devastate
d
by this so-called betrayal,” Josh once again interjects.

“
–
howeve
r,
we have too much going on this week. Too muc
h
goo
d
stuff.  And I think that’s what we need to be focusing on.  Not this.”  

I’m not sure I’ve mentioned this, but Sam can be very eloquent when he wants to be.  I mean yeah, most of the time, he’s kind of gross or kind of silly or sometimes even mildly inappropriate, but he’s got his head and his heart in the right place.  That’s not something I can say for a lot of people.  I’m not even sure it’s something I can say for myself.

“You know it’s still going to come up,” Joni warns them.  “In all these interviews.  They’re going to be asking about this and not the album.”

“And we’ll deal with it,” Sam assures her.  “We always do.”  

“And as always, we’ll charm them with our ravishing good-looks and devil-may-care charisma,” Jesse says.  

“And make it very clear that I a
m
no
t
the sensitive one.”

“Josh, let it go.”

⋯

While the guys are at their photo shoot, I’m taking the time to do some last-minute studying for my finals.  And by that, of course, I mean I’m browsing all the social media sites to see how the fans are responding to the Sam/Chloe/Josh non-triangle.  

It’s funny.  I always thought that drama like this ended in high school.  But clearly, that’s not the case.  In fact, I’m tempted to say it only gets worse.  In high school, all you have to worry about are grades and whether or not a cute boy likes you.  Out in the real world, there are stupid things like money and reputations and status that make people go out of their already ridiculous minds.  

Don’t believe the lie, kids.  There is no magical line that people cross once they reach the age of eighteen that magically transforms them into mature adults.  They’re all still the same, crazy, dramatic people, but with the legal ability to vote.  Yay, America.  

As before with the
#
Melive
r
debacle, there are fans who are jumping to Sam’s defense.  However, there are others who are accusing him of being a player.  Several are in denial.  A few are begging the masses to mind their own business.  Unfortunately, those precious few are often lost beneath the hundreds of thousands of fans bemoaning their existence.  

This time, however, I’m also noticing a bit of a new trend: th
e
We Hate Chloe Conle
y
trend.  

I can’t believe that @MsChloeConley would do this to Sam. I used to like her music. Now she makes me sick.

Chloe Conley’s new album is coming out next month! No one buy it! 

@MsChloeConley is literally the worst person I’ve ever heard of.  #SupportSamMorneau

Even though I know Sam appreciates his fans sticking up for him, I also know that he would be the first person to tell them not to blame Chloe.  I’ve never met her, so I have no idea what she’s really like, but from what I’ve heard, it’s the people working for her who fuel these continuous flames of fraudulence.  Granted, that kind of means it’s still on her for not firing them, but she doesn’t seem to be a bad person.  Even if she was, Sam still wouldn’t want to see his fans criticizing a fellow musician.  None of the guys would.  

But while the fans aren’t really saying anything new, the media is taking the reports to the next level.  

Sam and Chloe’s Backstage Passion!

The Ultimate Betrayal: Sam Morneau Hooking Up With Bandmate’s Ex!

Is This the End of TKOS? Sam Morneau and Josh Cahill Feuding over Pop Princess Chloe Conley!

And wouldn’t you know it?  They’re all the top news stories. 

Joni was right.  Angst sells.  Too bad for the press, none of it’s true.  Well actually, it might be a good thing for them.  If The Kind of September did happen to break up, then all their dramatic source material goes out the window.  They’d have to rely on other celebrities to stir up trouble, and let’s face, it, no one else does anything as scandalous as TKOS.  Supposedly.  

You know, it’s kind of weird to think that for once, Tara isn’t behind all this.  Unless she got jealous that she wasn’t invited to the awards themselves, let alone the after-parties, and went to all the news outlets as some sort of ill-conceived attempt at vengeance.  But to tell you the truth, I don’t think she’s that smart.  

Unfortunately, Cory still hasn’t figured out that she isn’t that smart because he’s still dating her.  Or maybe brains just aren’t that important to him.  Either way, Sam just texted me to let me know that Cory’s invited her back to our hotel for the evening since, and I quote, she hasn’t seen him in three whole days.  Why can’t he just go back to her hotel?  Because the album is being released tonight at midnight and he wants her to be a part of the celebration.  

Honestly, I don’t know how much celebrating will be going on, since I got more sleep than all of them last night and I can barely stand up straight.  But they’re guys.  Even when we were kids, they seemed to have more energy than us girls.  I don’t know why.  Maybe the estrogen slows us down or something.