NOTICE ME - Rolemodel

By the time Olive walked through the front door,

it was past midnight, but the living room lights were still on. Lizzy was curled up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, and Ally was already in one of Olive's hoodies, feet tucked under her like she lived there. (Which, honestly, she kind of did.)

They both looked up at the sound of the door.

Lizzy raised an eyebrow. "Sooo?"

Ally didn't even wait. "DID YOU KISS?"

"Oh my god, no." Olive dropped her bag dramatically and flopped down between them. "We literally got fries."

Lizzy shoved popcorn in her mouth and mumbled, "Fries are like... the gateway to hand-holding."

"I hate both of you."

Ally leaned in, wide-eyed. "Was he cute though? Like more cute in person?"

Olive groaned, covering her face. "He's literally worse in person. He's so—smug. And annoyingly funny. And like... casually hot in that 'I didn't try, I just woke up like this and my hair still did the little flop thing' way."

Lizzy cackled. "You are so gone."

"I'm not!"

Ally tilted her head. "Okay, but what else? You look like you're holding something back."

Olive sat up, nervous energy spilling out. "Okay, so... he asked me something."

Lizzy immediately went still. "What."

"He wants me to come on tour. With him."

Both of them screamed. Like, actually screamed.

Olive threw a pillow at Lizzy. "SHUT UP."

"No," Lizzy said, eyes wild. "I will not shut up. That man slid into your DMs and now he wants to take you on TOUR?! This is rom-com behavior."

"Tour as in..." Ally blinked. "Photographer or... tour girlfriend?"

Olive laughed. "Photographer. But like, also, he said he likes having me around and that I make him look cool."

"Oh, baby," Lizzy said, grinning like she was already planning a wedding playlist. "You realize this means you'll be sleeping one bus away from your celebrity crush for like two months."

"I'm going for the photos," Olive insisted, but her face was already burning.

Ally nodded solemnly. "Tour rule number one: no kissing until at least your third state on tour."

"The tour doesn't even start for another three weeks," Olive replied, rolling her eyes. "And he leaves tomorrow to go back to LA for rehearsals, sooo."

Ally gasped dramatically. "She's gonna miss her BOYFRIEND."

"He's not my boyfriend," Olive muttered, but her face said otherwise.

Lizzy, never one to let a moment pass un-teased, walked over and threw her arms around Olive from behind, swaying them side to side. "What am I gonna do without you for four months?"

"Survive. Probably thrive," Olive deadpanned, but leaned into the hug anyway.

Ally grabbed a pillow and clutched it like a microphone. "I'd like to formally nominate myself as Lizzy's emotional support sibling while you're gone."

"Oh my god," Olive groaned, squishing her face into her hands. "You guys are acting like I'm getting deployed."

"You basically are," Ally said. "Except instead of the military, it's feelings and flirty musicians."

"I'm going for work. Work," Olive stressed, shooting them both a look. "Not to fall in love on a moving bus hes basically my boss ."

Lizzy pulled back just enough to give her a knowing smirk. "Sure. But maybe pack a cute outfit just in case. You know, for your third-state kiss."

Olive flopped back onto the couch with a dramatic groan. "I actually hate both of you."

But she was smiling.

Later that night, Olive sat cross-legged on her bed, staring blankly at her laptop. It was open to a tab titled: "Things You Need for a Cross-Country Tour" She wasn't reading it. She hadn't been for at least twenty minutes.

Instead, she was frozen in the middle of an internal crisis.

Ally poked her head into the room, holding a half-eaten popsicle. "You good?"

"No."

She walked in slowly, like Olive was a wild animal that might bolt. "What's happening? You look like you just saw someone die."

"I said yes," Olive blurted.

Ally blinked. "To what?"

"The tour. The entire tour. With a guy I've known for three days." She flopped backward onto her bed. "What is wrong with me?"

Ally climbed onto the bed beside her, laying stomach-first with her chin propped on her hands. "Okay, first of all, it's not like you agreed to marry him. You said yes to a job. That you're really good at."

"Yeah, but also Tucker Pillsbury. I said yes to Tucker Pillsbury. He DM'd me one time and I folded like a lawn chair."

Ally snorted. "You folded the second he looked at you."

"DON'T SAY THAT."

"You did. You were like—" she mimed fainting onto the bed dramatically—"'Oh noooo he's hot AND charming.'"

"I hate you."

Ally just grinned, unfazed. "You don't hate me, you're just scared."

Olive stared at the ceiling. "I don't do stuff like this. I don't randomly follow boys across the country. I take photos of my sister's concerts and post ironic Instagram captions."

"And now you're going to take photos of his concerts and maybe post even more ironic captions," Ally said, nudging her. "It doesn't have to be anything more than that."

There was a pause. Olive turned her head slowly. "You realize I have to live on a bus with him."

"Yep."

"For weeks."

"Sure do."

"What if I fall for him like... actually fall?"

Ally raised an eyebrow. "Then I'll send you a very dramatic playlist and maybe cry at your wedding. But you'll still owe me money for being right."

Olive groaned and threw a pillow at her.

Olive's Phone Buzzes – Unknown Number

Unknown Number:
u pack your "third state" kiss outfit yet?

Olive:
who is this.
also. absolutely not.

Unknown Number:
ouch
u wound me.
it's tucker btw.

Olive:
???
how did u get my number stalker???

Tucker:
lizzy gave it to me
i asked nicely (sort of)

Olive:
rude. invasion of privacy. blocked.

Tucker:
don't lie u saved it already
(probably as "tucker don't be weird")

Olive:
that was one time and you were being weird.

Tucker:
see? now it's accurate.

Olive:
i'll allow it.
but only bc ur leaving tomorrow and i feel bad.

Tucker:
aw. u care about me.

Olive:
bold of you to assume.

Tucker:
see you in three weeks, camera girl.
don't miss me too hard.

NOVA SPEAKS
Hey guys

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