True Colors by Krysten Lindsay Hager

are the people here stuck up?” I asked.
    â€œPeople suck. Aw crap, my chips are stuck.” She hit the machine, and a tall guy came up behind her and expertly tipped the machine making her chips fall down.
    â€œThanks,” she said staring up at him.
    He winked and walked away. “Whoa. He looked just like the singer — what’s his name… um, Mason Fraser,” she said. She narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re not going to tell me your dad looks like him are you?”
    â€œNope, although I just downloaded Mason’s latest song,” I said. “I wonder if the Mason lookalike works here.”
    â€œI think he had a hotel shirt on. We should clog up our toilet and maybe they’d send him up to fix it,” she said. “Of course, it would be kinda embarrassing, but we have to see him again.”
    Later, we went back up to the room and changed into sweats. Devon flipped through the TV stations, and we sat on her bed and ate our snacks from the train.
    â€œYou know what I’m craving?” she asked. “Cupcakes.” We decided to go to the vending machine down the hall, but neither one of us felt like changing into our regular clothes.
    â€œHow bad do I look?” she asked.
    She had on a gray sweatshirt and navy sweatpants. They were baggy, but she looked fine, and she said I looked okay in my sweats.
    â€œShould we risk it?” she asked.
    We peered around the corner, and the hall was empty. We made sure we had the room key and tore down the hall to the machines. We bought cupcakes and bottled water and checked the hall to make sure it was still clear. I dropped my cupcake package, and I heard her gasp.
    â€œAnother junk food run?” The Mason Fraser lookalike was standing in front of her.
    â€œUm, yeah,” she said.
    â€œCupcakes, huh?” he said. She offered him one, and he took a bite and thanked her as he walked down the hall.
    â€œI’m dying,” she said. She narrowed her eyes. “Aren’t you the one who said, ‘Who will see us?’”
    â€œOops.”
    â€œMy hair’s a complete mess from lying on the pillow, too. Oh well. He’s probably too old for me anyway,” she said.
    â€œAt least this guy isn’t as old as your dad,” I said.
    â€œI wish I hadn’t given him a cupcake though,” she said.
    We went back to the room, and she asked if I wanted to watch a movie. I knew we should go to bed, but there was no way I was going to fall asleep. I was too nervous about tomorrow to sleep. Devon found a movie on one of the local channels, and I said one of the actors looked like Nikolas.
    â€œYou mean the guy on our bus?” she asked. I nodded. “Did you know he skipped a grade or two?”
    â€œHe did?”
    â€œYeah, he’s pretty smart, and he’s like only eleven or something,” she said.
    Oh no. Total humiliation. He probably saw the nesting doll keychain on my backpack and thought, “Ooh toys.” Ericka and Tori would have a field day when they found out. Why did I have to go bragging in front of them about meeting him at the mall? Could I be any dumber?
    â€œI have to tell you something, but you have to swear you won’t tell anybody,” she said.
    â€œPromise.”
    â€œOkay, you know how India is in love with Stuart? Well, I asked him if he liked her, and he told me he likes Arianna,” she said. “India said he’s been acting weird around her lately, but I don’t think she knows I talked to him.”
    â€œSo you lied when you said you thought he stunk like moldy burritos?” I asked. She nodded.
    â€œPromise you’ll never talk to a guy for me,” I said.
    â€œToo late, the hotel guy already knows you’re after him,” she said through a mouthful of cupcake.
    â€œHe’s all yours,” I said.
    â€œBut don’t you think it’s better to just go for it? If I like someone then I just