Chapter 7

                                    

                                          
Sky's fiery red hair popped up from the stairs. He stopped so quickly that he almost fell backwards when he saw what he was interrupting. 
                          
A sly smile crept on to his lips, "Ooh I'm so sorry. Carry on. I won't watch."
                          
Ben hopped over and messed up Sky's hair, causing him to complain. "Come on. They're shutting the lights off in 5 minutes." 
                          
Sky walked in front of Ben and I back to the hotel, when I realized what I forgot. "Sky, where's Alexa?" He took his hat off and turned it around, but continued walking. "Sky?!" 
                          
"Don't worry about it," he said completely calm, "she went back to the hotel with Jordan and Morgan." 
                          
I sighed in relief, but I texted her just in case to make sure that she was ok. 
                          
Me - Sorry I ditched u. You're with 
         Morgan right?
                          
Alexa - np. I'm hanging out with Josh 
            frEAKING Burrage so I'll be 
            fine eventually. Have fun with 
           benjamin😏
                          
Ben squeezed my hand. "Go ahead, Sky. We'll be there in a bit." I looked up at him curiously. "I was thinking we could go get some ice cream."
                          
"I'LL RACE YOU!" I yelled, sprinting down the street towards the ice cream shop a couple of blocks away. 
                          
I could hear him running after me. "CHEATER!" He called. Sitting casually inside, I laughed when Ben came in a couple seconds after me, catching his breath. "No *breath* fair *breath*." he panted, "I just did a 2 and a half hour show."
                          
We got our ice cream, and slowly walked back to the hotel. 
                          
"The show's gonna be in Des Moines in a couple months," Ben said quietly, "I was thinking we could see each other then?"
                          
I smiled, "Of course; I would love to." 
                          
The last few minutes of the walk we somewhat awkward; we weren't that close yet. A doorman greeted us as we walked into the hotel, and we found a quiet, newsboy free spot in the corner of the lobby. 
                          
He grabbed my hand, entangling our fingers. "So, I guess this is it." 
                          
We both sighed. 
                          
"Text me. A lot." I said quickly, hoping he didn't think I was weird. I felt my face get red, "I mean, i-if you want to."
                          
From out of no where he wrapped his arms around me, and I did the same, and rested my head on his shoulder. This is so perfect. Ben is the most amazing guy I've ever met. I don't want him to leave. "I know we just met, but I'm really gonna miss you." He whispered into my ear.
                          
I eventually pulled away, breaking the perfect hug. 
                          
He's right though; we've only known each other for a day. Nothing could ever happen between us, no matter how much I want it to.
                          
My lips curled up into a weak smile. "Bye, Ben." He pulled me into a hug one more time. 
                          
"Bye, Lillian."
                          
I turned away and walked towards the elevator. I know that he said we could hang out again when the show comes to Des Moines, but he would probably forget about me before then. The elevator doors closed just as Ben was sitting down, his head in his hands. 
                          
~ ~ ~
                          
My room was empty, which surprised me. I assumed that Alexa would be back by now. I took a shower, and laid in the comfortable hotel bed watching tv. A few hours later, I heard the door fly open, and in came Alexa, smashing her lips against someone whose face I couldn't see. 
                          
I stood up, completely in shock. Alexa was a shy person, who never raised her hand in class, or liked to ask for extra ketchup at a restaurant. She would never kiss someone she just met. 
                          
After about 30 seconds of Alexa and the mystery guy making out, I couldn't take it anymore. Clearing my throat, both of their eyes popped open and Alexa immediately pushed away the guy. Nick. She was lip-locking with Nick Masson. Holy crap. 
                          
"Ok. Um. I'm just gonna go." Nick mumbled, sprinting out of the room. The door closed shut and I immediately burst into laughter. 
                          
She stuck her tongue out at me and went into the bathroom to take a shower. I went onto Instagram and saw that 4 more of the newsies followed me: Josh, Sky, Zachary, and Anthony. Scrolling through the endless posts, I came across Alexa's. 
                          
It was a highly edited picture of her and Nick; they were sitting on the floor and her arm was slung over his shoulder. They were both laughing hysterically, and you can see two other boys in the background (neither of whom I recognize) also laughing. She captioned it with a simple "new friends☺️" and it already had 5 comments, all from people in the show talking about how much they love her. 
                          
zsayle - so nice to have met you lex!
keenemorgan - NEW FRIENDS ARE 
       THE BEST❤️❤️
joshuaburrage - 💖🤑🤑
demariusr_copes - come visit newsies 
        square soon!
sky_flaherty - nice to meet you!
                          
She was already more popular with these guys then I was!
                          
Alexa came out of the bathroom and I stifled more laughter. "Shut up!" She yelled, "Anyways, you should be jealous. He's a hella good kisser."