She went searching through the bookstore. Doing her best to avoid customers. She’d learned from years of turning on the charm that there was also a way to turn it off. To flip a switch and become the kind of magnet that repelled rather than attracted. She wasn’t sure how to describe this. Other than, in some way, going invisible. She hadn’t realized before she’d started filming for her channel that she was pulling focus, drawing attention. But she’d learned when harnessing that feeling, how to let go of it. How to totally deplete it out of her system and be somebody nobody paid much attention to at all.

It was working for her now.

Nobody stopped her as she moved along through the aisles.

Nobody approached her with more event- or store-related questions.

They didn’t seem to notice her at all.

Rinn climbed the stairs, went under the headless roller girl. She wove in and out of the stacks of books, under the tunnel made out of books, until she found AJ in the dollar-music section. He was putting away a stack of records.

“That can wait until later, you know,” said Rinn.

AJ noticed her and smiled. His smile lit up the whole second floor. “I know. I just wanted to get away from the crowds for a little bit. And I felt bad not doing some kind of work, even if it’s not as important as what you’re doing. I didn’t want to hide and do nothing, you know?”

Rinn did know. She nodded. And for a moment—a second really—she stopped seeing the most beautiful boy in the world. She saw the quiet person who was worried about what to do when their skill set wasn’t what anyone needed at the time.

The moment flashed and was gone. Rinn was still left a little dazed by how handsome AJ was. But Rinn realized that that was the person she wanted to know. The unsure boy just trying his best. She wanted more of those moments where she nearly forgot the effect that his looks had on her. “Hey, AJ?”

“Yeah?”

“You want to draw a poster that I can post onto my feed super quick? Can you work that fast?”

AJ looked startled. Really, honest-to-God startled. “You’d want me to?”

“Yeah,” said Rinn. “As long as you’re cool with me tagging you and your art account.”

“Sure,” said AJ with a slow grin. He reached out, touched the top of her arm.

It was such a simple touch, but it did these horrible things to Rinn’s stomach. Butterflies? Spasms?

Did it even matter at this point?