Piper

“Scarlett, did you really have to tweet about us going out to lunch?” asked Reagan angrily as we walked down the paved sidewalks of New York City. Five paps were following us, not to mention the dozens of fans who were tailing us. I’d once seen a video of Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson being followed by a bunch of their fans and thought, “Thank God this will never happen to me.”
Case in point; it was happening to me now, just not as bad.
Scarlett shrugged.
“We’re celebrities now, Reagan. We have to tweet, or else people get worried,” she said, her tone matter-of-fact. Scarlett likes to think she has this whole celebrity thing down, but I know better. She’s as freaked out by all of this as we are.
Here’s the thing; we didn’t expect to get famous. We were just five, small-town girls who liked to sing and decided to create a Youtube channel for all the covers we did. We weren’t aiming to be Youtube stars like most singers on the site. We just wanted to have fun. Along with that, we did little video diaries for our “band”, and those got so popular that we started getting this huge fan-base. Eventually, we started getting messages from fans telling us to try out for the X-Factor. We thought, “Hey, why not?”
Not only did we win, we got a record deal, money, and more fame than we bargained for. We moved to New York, we began recording, and we’re set to be touring the world with the biggest boy band of the century, One Direction.
You can see how this can make any of our heads spin.
The flashing lights from the cameras were making me dizzy, so I slid my sunglasses over my eyes to dull out the flash. It didn’t help much, but it did help me feel a bit steadier.
We arrived at a tiny café that we love to have lunch in. The place is run by an old French couple, and their croissants are the bomb. We don’t even have to order anymore; they know us so well.
We sat down at our usual table, the one in the back that was kiddy-corned by the large barista stand. It was the perfect place for us to chat and not worry about being bothered. Already, the café was beginning to fill, and while we were secluded from everyone else, people could still easily view us, which was mildly annoying. I guess when you’re a celebrity, you have to wave goodbye to privacy.
The waiter set down our drinks – coke for me and Skylar, iced tea for Scarlett, and lattes for Reagan and Lucy – and we settled into our usual spots.
I checked my phone. One new message from Erick, our manager. I unlocked my phone and looked at the message.
“Hey, guys? We aren’t recording today. The tech guy’s sick our something. Erick doesn’t know,” I said, looking up at the rest of them.
Reagan leaned in.
“So, what are we going to do then?” she asked, raising one eyebrow. Reagan’s the sexy one in the group. She’s flirty, mysterious, and has a body like a goddess – long, leggy, and well-endowed. Skylar could be like Reagan – they’re only a year apart – but she’s softer, smaller, more cute, but still well-endowed. She’s the baby of the group, well, her and Lucy really. They both have that naivety that makes them so adorable. Scarlett’s the moody one, and then me…what am I? I guess I’m the responsible one, the one who makes sure we stay together. Lord knows what would happen if the band didn’t have me.
Skylar looked up from her phone. She was probably playing Temple Run for all I know.
“We could go shopping,” she suggested. “I need more summer clothes.”
Scarlett rolled her eyes.
“C’mon, you’re closet’s set to burst with all the clothes you have,” she groaned. “You do not need any more clothes.”
“Well, what else is there to do?” asked Lucy, sipping her latte. “I mean, we could go back to the apartment…”
Reagan shook her head.
“No way are we going back. What’s the point of going out to lunch if we’re just going back to hang? Plus, we’re already dressed up,” she pointed out.
“Yeah, you’re right. We got dressed for nothing,” said Skylar, playing with her ice. She’d already drank the entire glassful of coke. “Why don’t we just walk around? Go hang in Central Park. I don’t know.”
Scarlett shrugged.
“I’m fine with that. Plus, I don’t really want to try on clothes right now,” she replied.
Lucy peered out at the window.
“It’s such a nice day. We should spend it outside,” she mused. “What do you think Piper?”
It seemed like every time the girls wanted to do something, they always asked me if it was alright. I wasn’t their body guard, or – God forbid – their management, but it seemed like I was always the one approving things.
“I’m fine with it,” I said honestly. At that moment, our food arrived, and for the next three minutes or so, we busied ourselves with our food.
“Mmmm,” hummed Lucy, biting into her Croque-Monsiuer. “This is great!”
“Yum,” I agreed as I bit into my ham sandwich on a croissant. I glanced at Reagan who was picking at her salad. “You want a bite?”
She shook her head and said loftily, “I’m fine.” As she went back to picking her salad, I eyed her. Lately, she hadn’t been eating that much, and I was getting worried that she might be anorexic. I stored this away for a later conversation though. I didn’t want to embarrass her in public.
When we were done eating, I went up and paid for our meal. About half the restaurant got up to get my autograph when I did. The girls always sent me up to pay because they knew I was too nice to refuse giving autographs or take pictures with fans. I hated that they knew that about me.
After ten minutes of signing and posing, I excused myself so I could get back to the girls. Only Reagan was at the table, and she was flirting with a too-hot-to-be-single guy. I saw her laugh and hand him something as he kissed her on the cheek and left.
“Reagan,” I said with a warning tone as I approached. “What did you just do?”
Reagan looked at me and giggled.
“He was cute! C’mon, Pip, let me have some fun!” she whined.
I was going to ask her again, but Skylar and the rest of the girls came back, and I didn’t want to embarrass Reagan with my questions. I just gave her a warning look as we left the café. I hoped fervently that she hadn’t done anything reckless, but a little part of me knew that no matter how much I hoped, whatever she did probably was stupid.