Brenna was completely disoriented when she woke up the next morning at nine o’clock. She sat up before recognizing her surroundings and then slowly laid back down and stared up at the ceiling. She should still be tired since she hadn’t gone to bed the night before until three thirty but after laying there for five more minutes, she got up. All of her boxes from home were already there and she opened a couple until she found the one with her clothes and changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

The house was silent as she went downstairs. Justin had given her a tour of it the night before but she had been so tired that she hadn’t really been paying attention. She knew where the kitchen was though and made her way there.

The house was massive. From knowing Justin, she wouldn’t have expected such extravagance and the size of the house had shocked her.

The refrigerator was stocked full of everything she could have imagined but she opted for a simple glass of milk and sat down at the table. She stared out the window as she drank.

Close to ten o’clock, Brenna heard noise from the front of the house and the sound of the front door opening. Justin had told her that he had friends who had the codes to unlocked the house’s locks so she stayed sitting as she heard the sound of someone walking through the house.

“Brenna!”

She looked up and smiled when she saw Kate coming into the room. “Hey.”

“How was your first night here? Was it everything you had hoped and dreamed for?”

Brenna smiled. “It was alright. I couldn’t really sleep.”

“Yeah, you’re up early considering how late your flight was.” Kate went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. “So what are your plans today?”

“I have no idea. Justin didn’t say anything.”

“I have to go shopping for some new clothes for him. Want to come?”

“Will that be okay? Like do I need to be here?”

“Oh, no. We can just leave a note and if he needs you for some reason he can call. I’m sure he won’t.”

“Okay. Are we going right now?”

“Yeah. Are you ready?”

“Sure.”

A couple minutes later after leaving a note for Justin, Brenna climbed into Kate’s car.

“Did Justin tell you that we’re all going out tonight?” Kate asked as she drove away from the house.

“He mentioned something about that. Where are we going?”

“Not sure. Some club.”

“Okay.”

They drove through the city for twenty minutes before Kate parked her car and they got out.

“What are you buying for Justin?” Brenna asked as Kate led her into a clothing store.

“Just a bit of everything. I wanted to find some new stuff. Something interesting.”

“Do you have his credit card?”

“I have a credit card that I use just for his things?”

“Oh. How much are you allowed to spend?”

“As much as I want. If I get something he doesn’t like I just return it. He trusts me though to get what I think he’ll want.”

They were in the third store an hour and a half later when Kate pulled her over to the women’s section.

“Let’s get you some clothes.”

“Oh, I don’t really have any money in the bank right now.’

“No, I’ll use my credit card. Justin won’t care.”

“I can’t buy stuff with his money, Kate.”

“He really won’t care. Besides, you need some LA clothes. People around here can tell where you come from by your clothes and if they know you’re from a small town, you’ll get taken advantage of. Think of it as job expenditure.”

“I’ll fee so bad using his money.”

“Well then I’ll call him and see what he says,” Kate replied, pulling out her cell phone. She dialed a number and brought the phone up to her ear.

“Kate…”

“Shh.” She turned her attention to the phone. “Hey, it’s me. Me and Bren are shopping for some stuff for you…Yeah, I got some good stuff…Yeah. So is it okay if I get Brenna some stuff too?…That’s what I said but she said she’ll feel guilty….Okay, awesome. I’ll tell her…Yep. Bye.” She hung up. “He says to get whatever you want.”

“I’m still going to feel bad about it.”

“If he cared, he’d say, Bren.”

She sighed. “Fine. I guess I can get a couple things…”

“Perfect.”

Five hours later, they were driving back to Justin’s house after spending the last few hours at a hairdresser where Brenna had gotten her hair trimmed and layered. Kate had talked her into highlighting her brown hair so she now had natural looking blonde streaks going through her hair. Along with her hair, Kate had talked her into four full shopping bags full of clothes from various stores.

“Oh boys!” Kate called as they walked into the house. “Come and behold the beautiful Brenna.”

Brenna felt her cheeks go red and she rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Kate.”

“You look great. Shut up,” Kate replied, dropping the bags in her hands. “Yo, Trace! Justin! Get your asses out here!”

“Damn, we’re coming,” Trace mumbled, coming from downstairs. “What’s the panic?”

Kate pulled Brenna forward. “Look at Brenna.”

“Hey, looking good,” Justin commented, coming up behind Trace. “Where’d you get your hair done?”

“Pink Snip on Sunset,” Kate answered, fingering Brenna’s hair. “Doesn’t it look nice?”

“Yeah.” Justin looked over at the bags on the floor. “Is that all you got?”

Kate rolled her eyes. “Come on, Justin. Do you know me at all?”

Justin smiled. “Trunk’s full?”

“And a bit of the backseat. Come on, Trace. Help me bring it in.”

Brenna watched Kate drag Trace back outside and then turned to where Justin was pulling out the clothes from a bag on the floor.

“Oh, thank goodness,” he said, pulling out a short red skirt. “I was hoping Kate would get me one of these.”

She smiled a bit. “We thought it would go well with your skin tone.”

He tossed the skirt to her. “Good choice. Hey, you got a lot of good stuff. Kate’s the best for finding cool clothing stores.”

“She talked me into getting way too much. I feel bad using your money for it. I’ll pay you back.”

“Forget about it.”

“Justin…”

“I’ll tell you what. Make us all supper tonight and that can be your payback.”

“That doesn’t make up for all we bought.”

Justin shrugged. “Does to me. That’s all the pay I’m gonna take from you anyways.”

She sighed. “Fine. What do you want?”

“Anything. Whatever you feel like making. Something that’ll give us lots of energy cause we’re going out partying tonight. And you’re coming.”

“What time are we going?”

“Ten. So we have lots of time.”

“Okay.”

“Hey, J!” Trace said as he came back into the house with Kate, each carrying bags. “Kate got you a pink shirt.”

Justin’s nose wrinkled a bit. “How pink?”

“It’s not that bad,” Kate said, glaring at Trace. “It’s a nice pink.”

Trace tossed the shirt to Justin. “Nice, bright pink,” he snickered.

“Um…this is really pink, Kate,” Justin said, holding up the shirt to examine it.

“You can pull off pink though. It’ll look good.”

“It’s just so bright and…I dunno.”

“Ugh, fine.” Kate snatched it back. “I’ll return it.”

“Cool.” He went to open a bag. “What else did you get?”

Kate let him start to go through them and turned to Brenna with a small smirk. In a low voice, she said, “So do you think this will mean he won’t go for the pink hat?” to which Brenna only laughed.

* * *

Brenna was completely out of her element as she entered the dark club later that night. She tried to focus on not losing Kate, who was walking in front of her, but the pounding music and lights distracted her. She hadn’t realized she had stopped walking until Justin bumped into her from where he had been walking behind her.

“Keep going,” he said.

She quickly caught up with Kate again and soon found herself at a slightly secluded table. She sat down beside Kate.

“It’s crazy in here,” she said, staring out at everything happening around her.

“It’s LA, baby,” Kate replied, pulling out a compact from her purse to check her makeup. “We never stop partying here.”

Justin and Trace both sat down as well and immediately a waitress was there taking their drink order. Once the waitress was gone, Kate, Trace, and Justin were all talking but Brenna was content to just sit there and watch. She had never been anywhere like this. It was all so high energy and crazy. She felt extremely out of place. Justin had promised she’d have a good time though.

They had been sitting there for about fifteen minutes before Justin and Trace decided they were going to go out and dance.

“Try not to catch mono this time, J,” Kate smirked as the guys got up.

Justin shot her a glare. “I’ll try. Thanks, Kate.”

She smiled sweetly. “You’re welcome, dear.”

Brenna waited until Trace and Justin were out of earshot before speaking. “Does Justin like…make out with random girls a lot?”

“Oh, hardly ever. He’s really good about it, especially considering all the girls out there who throw themselves at him. Of course the one girl he decides to make out with is the one who has mono. He couldn’t have planned that one better.”

Brenna smiled. “No kidding.”

“So are you much of a club person?”

“Not really. I’ve gone to a club maybe twice.”

“It really ends up growing on you.”

“Do you guys go out a lot?”

“Every once in a while. It’s a good way to kick back. Dancing’s a major stress reliever.”

“I can’t dance to save my life. I’m pretty sure I won’t be dancing tonight.”

“One day I’m gonna teach you the fine art of dancing, then. I’ll convert you.”

Brenna smiled. “That should be interesting.”

“Oh, it will be.”

“Kate!”

Brenna looked up as someone called Kate’s name and saw two guys approaching their table. Kate jumped up and gave each guy a hug.

“Hey! I didn’t know you guys were gonna be here tonight!”

“Thought it would be fun,” one of the guys said.

“Cool.” Kate turned to Brenna. “This is Brenna. She just moved here from Tennessee. She’s gonna be Justin’s new PA. Brenna this is Tyler and Drew. They’re both fabulous dancers.”

Tyler kissed her cheek. “You’re too kind. You two here alone?”

“Justin and Trace came with us. They’re out macking it up on the floor.”

“So can we sit?”

“Yes please,” Kate smiled, sitting back in her seat. Tyler sat down beside her and Drew came around the table to sit by Brenna.

Brenna stayed mostly silent as they all talked, still trying to absorb it all in. After about ten minutes, Tyler dragged Kate up, insisting she was going to dance with him.

“So you haven’t said much,” Drew said as Tyler and Kate disappeared into the crowds of people.

Brenna turned to him. “Yeah, sorry. I’m still trying to get used to this place.”

“Kate said you’re from Tennessee?”

“Yeah. Shelby Forest.”

“That sounds familiar.”

“Same place as where Justin grew up.”

“Right. So you’ve known him for a while?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s cool. When did you get out here?”

“Last night. Actually I guess it was this morning.”

“Oh, so you really did just move out here. How do you like it so far?”

“It’s good. I think I’ll really like it.”’

“Once you move out here it’s hard to move away. LA’s great.”

“Yeah, that’s what everyone’s been telling me.”

“It’s the truth.”

“So how do you know Kate?”

“I was doing backup dancing on a video she was the wardrobe stylist for like two years ago. We’ve been friends ever since.”

“Tyler too?”

“I introduced them a couple months ago. They both have crushes on each other.”

Brenna smiled. “Really?”

“Oh yeah. They’re probably both out there working it right now.”

She laughed a bit and leaned back in her chair. Drew began asking her questions again and she lost track of time as she talked to him. Eventually Justin and Trace came back to the table and then later, Kate and Tyler.

Close to one thirty in the morning, they decided to leave and Brenna was glad, simply because she was so tired and her eyes had started to burn from the cigarette smoke in the air. After saying goodbye to Tyler and Drew, they left the club and got into Justin’s Escalade.

“I heard you have a crush on Tyler,” Brenna said as she and Kate got into the backseat, quiet enough so Justin and Trace couldn’t hear.

Kate laughed. “Is that what Drew told you? That rat bastard.”

Brenna smiled. “He might have mentioned it.”

“You were with Drew all night. What’s going on with that?”

“Nothing. We were just talking.”

Kate smiled. “Think he’s cute?”

Brenna felt her cheeks go hot. “Maybe.”

“Hey, he’s a cutie. And very single too.”

“Really.”

“Oh yeah. You should go get that hot commodity.”

Brenna laughed. “Uh huh.”

“Well tomorrow you have to come with me. We’re going over to Tyler’s apartment to watch movies.”

“Okay. Where does he live?”

“About five minutes away from me. I’ll come pick you up.”

“Okay.”

“I’m sure Drew will come too. You know, I’ve never seen him go to a club and not dance with ten different girls. He just sat with you allllllll night.”

Brenna rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

“Whatever? Oh is that all you have to say? Must be too busy thinking about having how monkey sex with him to think up a good response.”

“Hot monkey sex?” Justin questioned from the front seat. “What are you guys talking about?!”

“Um…nothing,” Brenna replied, shooting a look at Kate.

“Who’s having hot monkey sex?”

“You probably did with some girl on the dance floor tonight,” Kate shot at him.

He snorted. “Sure, Kate. Like you’re someone to talk. You were so virginal tonight dancing with Tyler.”

Kate smirked. “Yeah, I sure hope I don’t get mono from it.”

Brenna shut her eyes and leaned her head against the window as Justin began to respond. She had grown accustomed to Justin and Kate’s constant insulting back and forth. Neither were ever serious but it still had the tendency to go on for a long time. Instead of listening, she blocked them out.

“Brenna, wake up.”

She opened her eyes and slowly lifted her head as someone spoke to her. “What?”

Justin had her door open and was standing in front of it on the driveway. “We’re here.”

“Where’s Kate?” she mumbled, undoing her seatbelt.”

“Already dropped her off at her apartment. You slept through it.”

“Oh.” She took his outstretched hand and let him help her get out of the car. She yawned as she followed him and Trace into the house. “I’m going to bed.”

“Get lots of sleep cause tomorrow you get to learn the joys of being a PA,” Trace said, flipping on the lights in the hallway.

She squinted at the sudden lights. “Uh huh.” She started towards the stairs that led upstairs. “Night.”

“Night,” both Trace and Justin echoed behind her.

It took her five minutes to get ready for bed and when she finally fell onto her mattress, she was asleep almost immediately.