Fangirl by Ken Baker

going again?” Peter grumbled, grabbing the iPad from his dad.
    From: [email protected]

    To: [email protected]

    Hot Hollywood’s Contest Winner Surprise Appearance

    Peter will be appearing at Lawndale High School in Bakersfield on June 4. Limousine pickup at 8:35 a.m. I will meet you there. At 9:00 a.m. Peter will be surprising the winner of Hot Hollywood’s “Sing It to the Maxx” contest. Jackson Phillips and his crew will meet you at the front entrance and will escort you inside. You will hand the winner a certificate to an all-expenses paid trip to see Peter in concert. Hot Hollywood will have all the winner information upon your arrival, but attached is a link of the winner’s video. Will wrap at 9:30 a.m. and you will be driven directly to the airport.
    â€œDad, have you seen the video?” Peter asked.
    â€œNo, but Abby told me it’s a good one. And she’s pretty cute. Take a look.”
    Peter clicked on the contest winner’s video submission. A pretty girl started singing a song she said she wrote just for him.
    When you’re just a kid and Mommy says good-bye
    You hug her, try not to cry
    Then Daddy wakes you in the night
    Says we gotta go, I don’t know if she’ll be all right
    â€œSo this girl wrote this song herself?” Peter asked.
    â€œYep, well, that’s what they tell me.”
    Bobby could see Peter’s face twisting into knots.
    â€œWhat’s wrong, buddy?”
    â€œNothing.”
    â€œSon, c’mon. You can’t fool the fooler.”
    â€œIt’s Sandy,” Peter said.
    As the car pulled into the school’s parking lot, Bobby wrapped his arm around Peter. “We’ll talk about it,” he said, turning up the volume on the iPad.
    Their angel’s been taken, makes Daddy yell
    Please don’t go . . . don’t go . . . don’t go
    Only God can rewind
    But I’m here to remind
    You before it’s too late, or you’re too old
    Kiss and hug and hold
    And sing your song
    â€™Cuz the trip ain’t so long
    Breakin’ hearts is always wrong
    Before you walk, please hear my song. . . .
    Peter stared out the window at the kids walking around the campus, their daily lives trudging along, lives moving on.
    â€œDad, I really want to cut this song.”
    â€œMmm-k. We can make that happen.”
    â€œNo, for real,” Peter added. “I need to record this song.”

9
    â€œYou did not get your picture with Peter Maxx,” Josie declared. “No friggin’ way.”
    â€œSorry, but I did.” Ashley giggled. “Swear. To. God.”
    As the pair walked out of first period, Josie was practically hyperventilating, kicking herself for not finding a way inside the meet-and-greet with Ashley after the show. But her mom wouldn’t let her ride in someone’s car past midnight, and she couldn’t take that risk. Josie could have sworn Peter made eye contact with her in the crowd a few times, especially when he walked down the catwalk and strummed a guitar solo right in front of her during the second encore. She was just five rows away from him and, to Josie, it looked as if he—possibly maybe—cracked a smile.
    But, still, she couldn’t believe Ashley got to meet Peter Maxx! Plus, she got a picture with him. Not good at all. Sort of the story of her life: another missed boy opportunity. Just like the time when Frankie, her shy but cute neighbor, invited her to prom on Facebook. Stupidly, she didn’t check her messages for a week. Result: she missed the dance. Or like when her dad gave her the option of spending last summer vacation with him in Canada, and she decided instead to stay home and be there for her little brother, since he got depressed when at home alone.
    â€œSo was he nice?” Josie asked.
    â€œOhmigod. So nice.”
    They plopped down on a patch of grass in the quad. “And, please, please, please don’t hate me,”