We hugged the other band and said, “Good luck,” but the entire time I was thinking about how I’d just kissed Jared in front of all of America. The show rushed us straight into an interview with Ray, so we didn’t even get a chance to talk about what had happened before we were back on camera.

“Congrats on making it into the finals,” Ray said. “Are you surprised you made it this far?”

“Definitely,” Jared said, perfectly calm and collected again. “I mean, we hoped we would, but we never expected this to happen. We’re so thankful for our fans who voted for us and downloaded our songs. We wouldn’t have made it to the finals without them.”

“Well, it’s definitely well-deserved. ‘Locked Out of Heaven’ was a great song choice.” He leaned a little closer to Jared, like he was going to let him in on a secret. “But there’s something we have to discuss or the fans will kill me. That kiss.” The crowd screamed, and I realized this interview was being shown on TV right now and on screens above the stage. “Now be honest—is there something going on between the two of you?”

Here it was. The moment it would all come out. I found myself strangely relieved. No more secrets, no more lies, no more sneaking around. After we came clean, this thing between us could finally be real.

“No, we’re not a couple.” Jared said, without any hesitation. He even gave a little laugh. “I was just as shocked as you when she kissed me.”

“Maddie? Any response?” Ray shoved the mic in my face, but I could only stare at Jared with my mouth open. Was he really going to keep pretending? Even though our kiss had been live on TV in front of millions of people?

When I didn’t answer, Ray turned back to Jared, ignoring Kyle and Hector like usual. “Everyone saw that photo of the two of you together, and now the kiss—but you’re still saying you’re not a couple?”

“No, I’m very single.” He gave the camera a little shrug. “I can’t help it if Maddie is into me though.”

“You do have a reputation of being a ladies’ man…”

I couldn’t take it anymore. I walked away, not caring that my sudden exit was on camera or that everyone backstage was staring at me. The instinct to flee took over, and I shoved the back door open, stomped past the roadies on their smoke breaks, and ducked around the corner of the theater for some privacy. Only when I was out of sight did I lean against the wall and take big, gasping breaths of cold night air.