Chapter 4

With a closed door between us, I allowed myself to heave a deep breath, trying to piece together and make sense of the events of the past two minutes.

It had become a blur in my head: fuzzy, as if snapshots taken from a dream I'd had last night, not real events.

The odd stranger from yesterday had not been a Brian Fields at all, butDalton Coleman, the very boy my sister would've passed out at the sight of.

What on earth was hedoinghere?

Larkfield was arguably one of the most insignificant towns in Lythoria: not exactly a visiting stop for the high profile.

I was certain no one even remotely famous had ever set foot within a ten mile radius of the town before – and yet here I was, face-to-face with the hottest up-and-coming teenage musician in the business.

And I'd thought I was in for a normal summer.

When he emerged from the bathroom, he'd thrown on a plain white T-shirt and a pair of dark wash jeans, his damp hair still dripping from the shower.

He moved over to the striped sofa in the middle of the living area, opposite the doors that led right out onto the sea-view balcony – the Sunset Suite's prized feature.

We'd spent all summer flogging this feature in our brochures, but only now did I appreciate its real beauty: the sight of the ocean from the hotel's clifftop position.

He gestured for me to take a seat across for him.

"Now," I said delicately, scanning Dalton's oddly familiar features, "how about telling me what the hell is going on here?"

He exhaled deeply, running another hand through his hair: what I assumed to be a nervous habit.

A thought visibly seemed to occur to him then, because he looked back up at me.

"You know, I'm about to spill my guts to you and I don't even know your name."

"Elise."

A ghostly hint of a smile curled the corner of his lips.

"Elise.

That's unusual."

"Yeah, well, so is Brian," I countered, with a sarcastic smile of my own.

"Now, care to explain?"

He sighed again, preparing to dive headfirst into what seemed set to be a lengthy explanation, but appeared to not quite know how to go about it.

"I don't...

I don't really know where to start.

I didn't plan for any of this to happen.

It just kind of... did."

"Weren't you supposed to be in Caverdale, filming a music video?" When he cocked an eyebrow, evidently amused by my sudden outburst of knowledge, I felt a faint pink flush creeping onto my cheeks.

"I mean, that's what my sister told me...

I didn't..."

"Your sister?" He paused, still smirking.

"Whatever you say, Elise." Thankfully, he didn't dwell on my flustering, instead choosing to move swiftly on.

"Yeah, well, I was meant to be there.

And I was, for a bit.

It was... intense, to say the least.

It was a massive shoot for one of the singles that's set for release soon.

I was there, slap bang in the middle of it, being forced to do all this crazy stuff, like scaling the side of a freaking cliff and jump off this speedboat with these girls... none of which hadanythingto do with the song at all.

It was stupid.

"I don't know...

I guess I got sort of overwhelmed, or something.

Things have been pretty crazy ever since I finished up the tour a couple of weeks ago, and I haven't had a chance for a break.

Management insisted I'd be able to have time off this summer, but suddenly they're handing me all these schedules for shoots and interviews and one-off concerts, and that'swithoutall the publicity stuff.

And I'm there, in the middle of the freaking ocean with all these cameras trained on me, being told to do this sceneover and overbecause I can't seem to get it right... and I just kind of flipped.

Like it all suddenly got too much.

I took off as quickly as I could, before my manager and the team had a chance to get all their shit together and follow me.

I didn't know what I was doing until I started packing my bags.

"Basically, I panicked.

Got in my car and drove without any idea of where I was going.

I've never been in this area before, so I had no idea where anything was.

I ended up driving around in circles for hours.

And eventually I stumbled across this place.

I'd never even heard of it before, but it seemed like the tiniest town around for miles.

Quiet.

Peaceful.

Like nobody would make me try to play a guitar underwater because it'd make for ahilariousshot in the video, or prance around in front of a stupid camera.

So I stopped."

His eyes had left me, wandering down to the stripy sofa cushions, tactfully avoiding my gaze.

"I was so paranoid that someone had followed me.

Any minute I was convinced that security would jump out from the bushes and drag me back, or a group of fans would recognise me and my cover would be blown.

I couldn't stand the thought of going back to my manager and the clients and having them scream at me for taking off.

I just had to findsomewhereto stay, and that's when I saw the sign for this place.

"I'd looked all over, but turns out that this little town is crazy popular in summer, because all the hotels were packed.

And the longer it was taking me, the more exposed I felt, convinced that any moment my cover was going to be blown..."

"But it wasn't," I finished for him.

"No.

I'm here.

And nobody except you knows that right now."

All I could do was stare at him, dumbstruck; it was too much to absorb.

"Which is why you can't tellanyoneabout me being here," he added, reaching over to take my hand in his own.

I snatched it back, unnerved by his bold move.

"I'm begging you.

I'm not ready to go back to all that... not to mention my manager's going to kill me.

I'm sick of it all.Please.

Promise me you won't say anything?"

He was staring at me now, a peculiar combination of hope and raw expectancy painted across his baby features.

It was strange, really; all those other times I'd seen his face, a two-dimensional version in printed form, it had been beaming.

He was the picture perfect, airbrushed image of teen pop, his blue eyes as bright as the summer sky.

It was unsettling to watch his face take on such a different form, burdened by the troubles of a real world.

"You want me to pretend that you're just Brian Fields," I stated flatly.

"Just for a little while," he pleaded.

"I just...

I really need this, okay?

I can't go back to craziness right now.

I just need one summer."

"Look, you do realise my little sister is the world's biggest Dalton Coleman fan, don't you?

She'll recognise you the moment she sees you, and I can guarantee she won't keep as quiet as me.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she could smell you out.

There's no way you'll be able to fool her."

"Look, I'll get a better disguise, I swear.

I'll dye my hair brown, change it up completely,something.

Trust me:

I know how to get around without being spotted.

So will you do this for me, Elise?

Just this one favour?"

I didn't know what to say.

Really, I didn't.

When I'd woken up this morning, I had been in no way expecting to be faced with a world-famous celebrity and their bargaining for a favour – and all before lunch.

But here I was, with Dalton's hopeful expression facing my own, and I could feel my tough exterior melting.

As much as I wanted to remain in power over him, to dislike the sugary pop persona I'd been led to believe was his true personality, it was becoming increasingly difficult to do so.

There was something genuine about his pleading, triggering the onset of a compulsion to help him.

I didn't want to be the one responsible for dragging him back to a place in his life he was unhappy with; if he wanted to stay in Larkfield, who was I to say no?

"So what do you say?"

"Okay," I found myself saying eventually, the answer slipping from my lips before I could restrain it, "I won't say anything.

I promise."

And though I didn't know it yet, that, right there, was my summer entry ticket to the crazy, whirlwind world of Dalton Coleman.

It was only just beginning.