Chapter 1

     Athalia peered over the people in front of her. She could barely see over their shoulders. She sighed, brushed her hair from her eyes, and crossed her arms over her chest. Why was it so hot that day? She looked up at the sky, using her hand to block the sun from her eyes. Even though she was in shorts and a t-shirt, she was still very hot. With out meaning to, she overheard the conversation of the people behind her.
     “Oh my gosh, this is so exciting!” the one girl said. Athalia glanced behind her and noticed it was a short, stocky woman talking. She had thick glasses with dark square rims that weren’t very flattering to her face. She was addressing her bone-thin friend.
     “Oh, I know!” her friend replied, clenching her hands around her autograph book. “Riordan Kendrick is the best fantasy author around!” Athalia looked away, trying to ignore the two women, who were obviously over thirty, but were acting like thirteen-year-olds.
     “Maggie’s boyfriend’s ex-wife’s sister told her old roommate’s brother’s girlfriend that Riordan is really hot!” the glasses-girl continued. “She got to meet him at his last book signing. And, I heard that he’s single!” The women giggled uncontrollably and Athalia tried to see if the line ahead of her was moving yet.
     She had waited for this day for months. Riordan Kendrick was her favorite author. She read his first book shortly after it fell off the best seller’s list. Not a huge fan of fantasy books to begin with, she read a lot of good reviews and decided to give it a chance. She was hooked from that point on. In her room, she had a whole bookshelf dedicated to the author and the characters in his books. She’d drawn pictures, gotten special editions of the books at auctions, and so on. Everyone at her school thought she was a freak because of her obsession, but she didn’t care. She had Riordan’s books to help her slip away from the real world. 
     She, too, had heard that he was ‘hot’, but she knew it for a fact. She had a framed picture of him in black and white on the top of her shelf. Even though it wasn’t in color, she could tell that his eyes were ice blue. His facial features were strong and his hair was jet black. Athalia’s cheeks grew warm thinking about him. There was just something in his eyes that intrigued her. It was almost like he was saying, “I have a secret…do you want me to tell you?” 
     Athalia first heard about the book signing in her home town from a flyer put up in the bookstore that was hosting the event. After that, the whole city was buzzing with excitement, awaiting the arrival of their favorite author.
Even among the huge crowds of fans, Athalia felt different from them all. Like Riordan held this whole thing for her. She shook her head, trying to clear it. That was impossible. He didn’t even know she existed. She looked around at all his fans. Most of them were women. And most of them had come dressed for the occasion. You knew what each girl wanted.
     The girl next to go into the store was wearing a fancy tank top (one that Athalia had seen on a cover of a fashion magazine) and super short skirt. Fresh from her pedicure, her feet were adorned with flashy sandals that had four inch heels. Athalia watched as the girl checked her perfectly made-up face in her compact mirror before she was allowed inside. Now Athalia wished she had done a little more with herself before she left the house. She couldn’t even remember if she had shaved her legs or not. At least she remembered to grab her special edition of Riordan’s latest book that she bought at a small auction. She glanced down at it in her arms and felt her insecurities about that pretty girl ahead of her in line melt away.
     Just then, Athalia heard her name being called. She glanced around and spotted her friend, Miranda, running towards her.
     “Athalia!” Miranda managed to gasp between breaths. Athalia noticed that her childhood friend had on a skimpy yellow tank top and cutoff jean shorts that were a tad too short. Miranda, always wanting the wrong kind of attention, had the button of her shorts undone and one side folded down, revealing her bikini bottoms decorated with moons and stars. Athalia gave her friend an odd look.
     “What’s up?” Miranda glanced up at her from her bended position as she struggled to put her right flip-flop back on. She had come across the bookstore’s paved parking lot with one bare foot.
     “I can’t believe you came to this thing without telling me about it!” Miranda scolded her friend, standing up to her full 5’ 8” thin frame. Athalia had to look up at her friend, being only 5’ 2” herself.
     “Miranda, the whole town knew about this book signing,” she pointed out. Miranda looked away, knowing that she spoke the truth. 
     “I wanted to scope out this Jordan guy for myself,” Miranda continued.  “Everyone’s been saying how hot he is! Why didn’t you tell me he was hot, single, and the perfect age for me?” Miranda flirtingly giggled to herself and Athalia felt sick.
     “Firstly, his name is Riordan,” she corrected. “Secondly, I have a picture of him in my room and you’ve only been in my room about two hundred times, and, thirdly, yeah, he’s the perfect age…but for a lot of people.” Miranda stuck her tongue out and bobbed around a bit, trying to see ahead. 
     “Oh my gosh!” she cried out. “We are so close!” Athalia’s heart jumped.
     “How close?” she asked, hardly able to contain her excitement. “How many people are ahead of us?” Miranda did some quick counting.
     “Only 26!” she answered. Athalia sighed.
     “Yeah, wow, so close,” she said sarcastically. Miranda didn’t hear her, and Athalia turned away from her. She wished her friend wouldn’t have popped in. She wanted some alone time to think. To think about Riordan, of course.
     Any time Miranda got on her nerves, Athalia would just let her mind slip away and imagine a scene from Riordan’s books. A strong warrior defeating evil. Athalia would be the warrior and the evil would be Miranda’s constant singing along with the radio.
     A half an hour went by before Miranda was complaining that her feet hurt. Athalia felt no pain, she was way too excited. They were next to go inside! Athalia soaked it all in. She wanted to remember this moment for the rest of her life. Standing there, in the bookstore doorway, she could feel the air-conditioning coming from inside. The security officers were steadfast in their place and a single red velvet rope was holding the two girls back. Athalia couldn’t see inside too well because it was so bright out and very dim inside. She squinted her eyes and tried to get a glimpse of Riordan, but he must have been around the corner or something because she couldn’t see anyone.
Finally, a man in a suit came out of the darkness and placed his hand on the rope. He paused a minute and Athalia thought her heart would explode.
     “Are you two ladies coming in together?” he asked. Athalia feverishly nodded, screaming at him in her mind to let them in. He stared at Athalia for a moment, then finally unhooked the rope and let them step inside. Then, he led them around a huge black curtain that had been draped across some shelve to make a temporary wall.
     The first thing Athalia saw was a huge, life-size, cardboard cutout of a character from his first book. She recognized the beautiful woman as Mercy, a main character. Athalia revered in the beauty and how flowing and bright Mercy’s blue hair seemed to be. To the left of that was another cutout of another character. This one made Athalia’s mouth drop.
     “Oh my gosh…” Miranda breathed slowly. She, too, saw the cutout. It was of another female character…but it looked exactly like Athalia. The man looked at Athalia again.
     “Are you a model?” he asked. Athalia was in shock. “They get models to pose for these pictures…did you pose for that one?” Slowly, Athalia shook her head no, still staring at the picture. The face and hair was exactly like her own, but more flowing and bright, like Mercy’s. The brown eyes of the girl (her name was Twyla in the book) were flashing and seemed to be staring directly at whoever looked at the picture. Also the girl was wearing an elegant pale blue dress with wide sleeves and ribbons of all kinds of colors that flowed down from it. She was holding a glowing orb of light…one of her powers in the book.
     “The likeness is amazing.” Athalia’s heart stopped beating completely. What a beautiful voice! She felt her head slowly turning left. There he was! Riordan Kendrick himself! Staring at Athalia with his cool blue eyes. He took a step forward and gazed over at the poster. Athalia’s cheeks grew hot and she thought she might faint. Miranda nudged her in her ribs, causing Athalia to stumble closer to the famous author. She could feel his presence strongly at her side as he greatly exceeded her in height.
     “Do you want me to sign that?” Riordan asked softly, gesturing toward the book in Athalia’s hand. She numbly glanced down at it. She noticed that he had a dark blue dress shirt on, but the sleeves were unbuttoned and rolled up, making it look more casual. Against black slacks, Athalia thought the outfit was very flattering to him.
     “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Yes, please, I’m sorry.” She felt him take the book gently from her hands, his arm brushing against hers, and a rush of emotion went through her. Goosebumps appeared on her arms. She hugged herself and looked over at the poster of Twyla again. She couldn’t believe how much it looked like her!
     “Wow,” Riordan commented. “Where did you find this book?” Athalia looked down at him. He had sat down behind a table and had pen in hand, ready to autograph.
     “Oh, I bought it at an auction,” she told him, walking over to the table. He looked up at her and she melted.
     “How much did you pay for it?” he asked. Athalia’s heart thundered in her chest and she found herself breathing funnily.
     “Uh, $150,” she told him. He smiled, but exclaimed,
     “You paid that much for one of my books?” He laughed gently and Athalia laughed too.
     “I love your writing,” she complimented. “I have all your books, including the special edition ones, like that one.” She pointed at the book he had before him. He nodded and looked down at it.
     “Thanks so much,” he told her, as he signed the inside of the book. He finished and looked up at her and smiled. Athalia felt herself smiling back and her cheeks flushed.
     “It’s so great to finally meet you,” she mumbled. He stood up and handed her the book. He placed it in her hands, but kept his on it, leaning forward over the table. They made eye contact. Athalia swallowed.
     “It’s so great to finally meet you, too,” he whispered. What did he mean by that? Athalia wondered. Just as his gaze drew her in, he stepped back. Still keeping eye contact, he smiled at her, and she thought she might faint. 
“Ok, move along.” Athalia’s thoughts were broken by the man in the suit, pushing the two girls towards a second door. Athalia stole one last glace at Riordan. They made eye contact again and something inside Athalia stirred. She wasn’t sure what it was, but it was there, wanting attention. The man led the girls outside, back into the hot sun, then disappeared inside again.
     “He totally likes you!” Miranda cried. “Did you see the way he was looking at you?! Oh my gosh! I thought for sure you were going to pass out! That was so cool!” She paused a minute, then looked at Athalia. “Aren’t you excited?” 
     “I don’t know,” Athalia answered. “I’m not sure what to think….what about that poster that looked just like me?”
     “That was totally creepy!” Miranda told her. “But what a compliment, huh? The guard thought you were a model! Ah! I don’t believe it! You’re, like, the luckiest girl alive! Riordan is soooo fine! Maybe he signed his number in your book! Hey, look in your book! What did he write?!”
     Athalia had forgotten about the book. She felt as if her head were in the clouds, disconnected from her body. She lifted the book up and slowly opened it. Miranda read the autograph for her.

“Athalia,

You are my biggest fan by far. No one shows more appreciation for my work than you do. I can tell we have a real connection. Thank you for your support. You’re a beautiful girl and I can’t wait until we meet again.

Love,
Riordan”

     Athalia began to feel light-headed, so Miranda led her to a nearby bench. The two sat down and soaked in the message.
     “He totally likes you!” Miranda repeated. “He called you beautiful! Oh my gosh! How great is he!” Athalia was silent.
     “I didn’t tell him my name,” she mumbled. Miranda stopped.
     “What?”
     “I didn’t tell him my name,” Athalia repeated. She was right. She hadn’t once told Riordan her name and Miranda hadn’t called her by name in front of him either. An odd feeling came over Athalia. A feeling that had been stirred up when she met Riordan and now it was growing stronger. She still couldn’t put a finger on what it meant. 
     “Maybe he just heard us talking outside,” Miranda suggested. “I mean, how else could he know your name? Creepy.” Athalia ignored her friend and thought. Something was different, yet special, about Riordan. But what was it?

Chapter 2

     Athalia, hugging her autographed book to her chest, silently walked down the cool sidewalk. She had spent the rest of the day at Miranda’s house in a daze, her thoughts on Riordan the whole time. It was dusk and the sweltering day slowly cooled off. A gentle breeze brushed Athalia’s hair off her face.
     “And just what are you doing walking without an escort?” Athalia jumped and looked behind her. A figure stood against the setting sun and purple sky. She squinted her eyes and the figure stepped forward, towering over her. It was Riordan. Athalia’s heart began to pound.
     “I.…I…” Riordan smiled and held out his arm, indicating for her to wrap hers around it. Athalia did so and the two started walking again.
     “It’s such a peaceful night, don’t you agree?” Riordan asked, his voice soothing Athalia all over.
     “Mmm,” she replied softly. All she could think of was Riordan’s warm arm against hers. She felt the urge to lay her head against his shoulder, but she refrained.
     “You and your friend were the most interesting part of my day,” he went on. Athalia looked up at him and their eyes met. He was smiling down at her.
     “Really?” she asked, almost childlike. He smiled wider and nodded.
     “That poster…of Twyla…. and you….” His voice trailed off. He paused in his casual walk and looked down at the girl on his arm. “I believe this is your stop.” Athalia was confused, but she looked up at the house they stopped at. Indeed, it was her house.
     “But…how did you…” Athalia stuttered. “How did you know where I live? And how did you know my name earlier? I didn’t even tell you.” Riordan smiled and gave her a boyish shrug.
     “How about we talk more over lunch tomorrow?” he asked. Athalia couldn’t believe what was going on. Her head was spinning.
     “Um, sure,” she stammered as a reply. “I’d like that.” Riordan gently patted her arm as she started up her porch steps, and let his hand trail down to her hand as she walked up them. He took hold of the very tips of her fingers.
     “I’ll see you then,” he softly told her, running his thumb over her fingertips. Athalia bit her lip and watched him walk away. As he turned the corner, she let her eyes slide shut and she plopped down onto her porch. Her heart was racing. A smile slid onto her flushed face and she knew she’d get a nice sleep that night.

***

     Athalia’s sleep was sprinkled with dreams of Riordan. Never in her life had she experienced so much emotion in the span of three minutes like she did the day before. Athalia was never one to be too boy crazy. She had a few boyfriends in high school, but no one that made her feel as good as Riordan made her feel just standing next to her.
     The buzzing of the alarm drew Athalia out of her peaceful sleep. She rolled over, shut it off, and sat up to stretch. Oddly, she didn’t feel nervous about having lunch with Riordan. 

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