The bell rang loud and clear through the halls of the school, but it wasn''t what woke me up.

    It was Pippa.

    She leaned over my desk, her freshly dyed blonde hair falling to one side as she poked my cheek with a pencil. "Rise and shine, popstar. We''re not in the afterparty anymore."

    I blinked a few times and straightened up. My notebook had a decent imprint of my face on it.

    "What time is it?"

    "End of second period. You''ve been out cold since the bell rang."

    "Now I''m really envying you," she said, looking at me annoyed. "No shame at all sleeping in ss. I had to suffer through thest two periods."

    Pippa paused, nced to my side, and corrected herself. "Actually—I envy you two," she added, nodding toward Sam, who was still passed out in her seat.

    I reached into my backpack and pulled out a chocte bar. Quietly unwrapping it, I leaned over and held it close to Sam''s nose.

    Like a snake, she suddenly lunged forward with her mouth open—but I was quicker. I pulled the chocte away just in time, and she bit nothing but air.

    Her eyes cracked open in confusion

    I smirked, tossing the chocte up and catching it with my mouth. "Nice try."

    Sam groaned. "Gimme."

    Iughed and tossed another chocte to her. She caught it mid-air with a grin, already peeling the wrapper like nothing had happened.

    I stretched and said, "Unfortunately, I could only sleep in ss, not in myfy bed. I already skipped yesterday—I need to protect my precious 25% I''m allowed to miss."

    Pippa was giving me a look like she wanted to burn a hole through my skull.

    She crossed her arms. "Now the admiration I had for you after watching you singst night... is fading."

    "But I was cool, right?" I smirked again."Even Britney said that. She loved my songs."

    Pippa red at me, straight-faced. "How do you lie so smoothly?"

    I shrugged. In this case, it''s because it''s true.

    Then Carly and Freddie walked up to us. "My house today? Paige already said yes."

    "Okay," I replied, slinging my bag over my shoulder. "But I''ll be there a bitter. I want to make the most of what might be myst days with Tasha."

    "What? Did she finally wake up and say she wants to kick your ass?" Sam asked, stretching and looking half-awake.

    "Quite the opposite, she is very thankful to me" I replied. "I helped her talk to Ralph Lauren. She got a temporary modeling job there. As she has family there (NY city), somehow she already convinced her parents."

    Pippa raised an eyebrow, impressed.

    Pepper saw an opportunity. Since we already have a division for singers and actors, she figured adding a modeling contracts branch could help round out our celebrity portfolio. That actually gives me peace of mind—knowing that Tasha is in JD Company, we''ll be able to protect her from the shady types in the industry.

    "Hey guys, before I forget" I said, taking some paper from mybag. "I got Harry Potter premiere tickets for tomorrow."

    Freddie''s eyes lit up. "No way! That''s awesome."

    "Seriously?" Carly beamed.

    Sam just shrugged. "Eh. Wands and robes. I''ll bring snacks."

    ---

    After some make-out time with Tasha, I finally made my way to Carly''s house. As I approached the door, I saw Freddie just about to walk in.

    "Hey man," he said.

    "Hi buddy," I nodded as we both stepped inside.

    "Buenas tardes, muchachatas!" Freddie announced cheerfully.

    "Freddie, we need your opinion," Carly said, arms crossed.

    "And if you can, try not to make it stupid," Sam added.

    "Sam!" Carly shot her a look.

    "What would you think of someone who collects pee wee babies (simr to Beanie Babies)?" Carly asked.

    "I don''t know. Depends," Freddie said, shrugging. "How old is she?"

    "Oh, man," Carly muttered.

    "What?" I asked as I dropped onto the couch beside Paige.

    "She? Why did you have to say she?" Carly asked, half-exasperated.

    "What is going on here?" Freddie questioned, confused.

    "''She'' is Griffin," Sam said, trying not tough.

    "Oh," Freddie blinked. "Yess!" he screamed, making a pose of victory.

    I burst outughing. Paige was trying hard not to do the same.

    "Oh, yeah," Sam echoed.

    "Ha ha," Freddie chuckled.

    "It''s not funny," Carly frowned.

    "It''s kinda funny," Sam said, grinning.

    "Wait, so does he have a special little tool tob their fur?" I asked, in betweenughs.

    "That is so mean," Carly scolded. "And yes, he does," she added, sounding even more frustrated.

    "I think it''s cute," Paige tried to help Carly.

    "You mean the pee wee babies, right?" Freddie asked.

    Freddie and I burst outughing again.

    "We could do a double date, Carly. We''d stop at Toys ''R'' Us, in the ''for girls'' section," I joked.

    "Or you know, you, him, Willy the Walrus and Peggy the Penguin," said Sam, jumping into the joke.

    "Peter the Penguin," Carly corrected."Maybe I should wear a bunny suit on our next date"

    Huh, depending on the si, that line really hits differently...

    "He''d probably ask you to marry him," Samughed.

    "Then we can honeymoon on Pee Wee Ind," Carly joked

    ----

    The next day, we all went to the Harry Potter premiere. I even invited Missy toe along.

    After the movie ended, Paige, Freddie, Carly and Missy went to meet the cast—some of our tickets included exclusive ess to meet the actors.

    "You don''t want to meet them?" asked Sam to me.

    "Nah, they''re a bunch of ten or eleven-year-olds. I have no interest in them... better stay with Tasha," I said, giving Tasha a wink. (zero interest in loli Emma, maybe 7 yearster…)

    "Isn''t he so lovable?" Tasha said, giving me little kisses and hugging me. Sam was looking like she wanted to puke.

    "Here," I said, handing Sam a bunch of notes,"go buy more snacks"

    "At least you have a conscience," Sam replied with a smile.

    I turned to Tasha and kissed her.

    ------

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