It’s too late to hide.

Alix and Zee are standing just a few feet away, their surfboards towering over me as they stare down in disbelief.

“I thought you were visiting your aunt in New York for the summer,” Alix says, his voice barbed. “What’s going on?”

“Ash? You know them?” Kitty asks, dropping her nail polish in the sand as I scramble to my feet.

Zee tries to say something, but Alix cuts her off.

“No, let Ash speak for herself,” he says.

“It’s complicated,” I say. “I can explain.”

“Damn right you’re going to explain,” Alix says.

Before I can speak, I feel a hand on my shoulder, gently pulling me back. Alastaire steps between Alix and I, his sun-dazed champagne stupor gone in a flash.

“And who exactly are you, hmmm?” He asks, his eyes hooked angrily on Alix. “What business do you have with my Cupcake?”

“What the…” Alix is shaking his head as he stares at Alastaire like he’s some kind of alien. “Cupcake?”

“Yes, Cupcake aka Ash aka the girl who you were so rudely addressing just a moment ago,” Alastaire says, puffing out his chest as he steps towards Alix. “Aka the girl who you will now be politely saying goodbye to as you leave us the hell alone.”

“Wait,” I say, stepping out from behind Alastaire. “Alix, I-”

“Is this guy your boyfriend or something?” Alix asks, his eyes wide as Alastaire bristles in front of him.

“No!” I say, shoving Alastaire away as he tries to wrap his arm around me. “Please, just hear me out Alix. There’s a reason I told you I was in New York. I’ve been doing something important.”

“Him?” Alix asks, side-eying Alastaire suspiciously.

“No!” I yell, as Zee gasps and raises her hand to her mouth. “Don’t you recognize him? C’mon.”

“What on earth are you doing Ash?” Kitty asks, springing up and attempting to drag Alastaire away. Alastaire, however, refuses to budge.

“Whatever’s going on, I’m sure you three can sort it out on your own,” he says hurriedly, glancing nervously from Alix to Zee to me. “Really, we’re no one.”

“Wait a second…” Alix says, the realization dawning on his face. “You’re… you’re the rock band guy… Aster Castiel-Kensington, right? From… Fable?”

“It’s Alastaire Cassiel-Kensington, actually,” Alastaire says as Kitty moans and facepalms.

“I’ve been helping them record a new album,” I say, stepping closer to Alix, who now just looks more shocked than angry. “It’s a long story, but I’m not just doing it for me. It’s for us.”

“Us?” Alix asks incredulously.

“Yes, for Wild Blue Yonder,” I say, suddenly feeling like a traitor as I say the name of my band. “They’re going to give our demo to BYG Records. It could be our big break. You and Micah are always talking about getting out of Portland and-”

“I am getting out of Portland,” Alix says, his voice suddenly softer. “I don’t need your help with that, Ash. I got into Yale. Something you’d know if you hadn’t been hiding from Micah and me all summer.”

“Yale?” I say, as Alix nods, a slight smile curling the corners of his mouth.

He always said he didn’t want to go to college. His parents can’t afford it, seeing as they sunk what little money they had into buying a video store a year before Netflix came onto the scene.

“I got a scholarship,” he says, reading my mind. “Don’t look so shocked. I’m actually pretty smart.”

“You ok Ash?” Ben asks.

I didn’t even notice Felix, Lyall, Ben and Elliot coming up behind Alix and Zee, still dripping seawater.

“Friends of yours?” Felix asks, narrowing his eyes menacingly at Alix.

“Yeah,” I say quickly. “You met Zee before, at my house. This is her brother, Alix. We’re in a band together.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Alix says, staring at Felix and the others in disbelief. “The whole band’s here? Seriously?”

“Like I said, it’s a long story,” I say.

“I’m all ears,” Alix says, dropping his surfboard down on the sand.

*****

It takes me a good half hour to fill Alix in, from how I met Felix at the Night Owl before Fable’s concert, to how I ended up on the beach with them today. He’s stripped off the top half of his wetsuit, exposing the tanned, sculpted chest that earned him the nickname “the Greek god” at school.

He doesn’t interrupt much, but Zee pipes up every now and again, asking a million questions about what we do every day and how much longer the boys are staying in Portland.

I’m pretty vague about where in Portland we’re staying, and I see Kitty side-eyeing me nervously from time to time as I come close to mentioning the cabin or Forest Park.

Kitty insisted that the boys give Alix and Zee and I some privacy, and they’re meant to be building a bonfire on the beach a few yards away from where we’re sitting. Lyall and Ben are cracking jokes and messing around like always, and Elliot and Kitty are off gathering more wood and kindling – but Felix and Alastaire are both quiet, listening in on our conversation as they stack up and strip the fallen spruce branches.

“Ok, so let me get this straight,” Alix says. “Your, and Zee’s, favourite band of all time just happens to be in Portland. You just happen to meet one of them. Then they just happen to be in Portland recording their new album, and they just happen to need an acoustic guitarist. And that just happens to be you. Is that right?”

I nod, aware of how stupid it all sounds.

Alix looks thoughtful.

“Ok,” he says, nodding. “It’s a crazy story, but it’s almost too crazy to make up, I guess. But still, you could’ve told me. I would’ve understood.”

“It had to be a secret,” I say. “No one was meant to know.”

“I get that,” he says. “It’s cool, I’m not bleak with you or anything. You on the other hand…”

He arches his eyebrow and punches Zee hard on her arm. “You knew all along and you didn’t tell me. Even when Mrs. Leyton came over. I never knew you were such a good actress.”

“Mrs. Leyton visited you?” I say, picturing the eccentric old spinster who visits the Night Owl every single day for tea and cake. The last time I saw her, she was with some creepy old guy, and told me that she was once engaged to Bea’s brother. She said that Bea blames her for his death. And the guy she was at the Night Owl with… he was wearing a silver ring.

What could Mrs. Leyton want with Zee and Alix?

“She wanted to know if Wild Blue Yonder wanted to play at the July Jubilee,” he says, running a hand through his dark, damp hair. “Don’t ask me how, but she figured out we’re in a band. She said you’d already told her you’re going, and she didn’t believe me when I told her you were in New York. She said she’d seen you at your parents’ coffee shop. I just put it down to dementia. Guess I was wrong.”

I nod, remembering how Mrs. Leyton mentioned she was helping organize this year’s July Jubilee. My whole school’s likely to be there, even though it’s summer break and not compulsory – there are always cool bands playing, and the teachers turn a blind eye to risqué fancy dress costumes, so it’s a great excuse to dress up as a sexy firefighter or a playboy bunny front of your crush.

“This is perfect!” Zee suddenly shrieks out, tearing her gaze from the Fable boys making the bonfire behind me. “Now that Alix knows, the band can still play, right? You’ll do it, won’t you Ash?”

Alix smiles at me, punching me softly on the arm.

“C’mon, just say yes,” he says. “For old times’ sake. I’m leaving for Yale in the Fall anyway, so it’ll be our first and last official gig. Let’s do it.”

It’s happening next Friday. The Fable guys might even be back in England by then. There’s no reason not to.

“Ok, I’ll do it,” I say, which causes Zee to jump forward and crush their air out of me in a flying hug.

“Lets get out of here, Zee,” Alix says, dusting off his surfboard. “Ash, be at my house early on the 31st. We’ll get in a full day of practice before we play. C’mon Zee.”

He tries to tear Zee off me, but she clings to me, wrapping her arms rightly around me.

“Just one more hour, pleeeeeasssseeee?” She begs. “I haven’t seen her in forever.”

“Really, it’s Ash you want to stick around for?” He asks suspiciously. “Not the guys whose posters you have stuck up all over your walls?”

Zee’s face turns bright red, and she quickly looks over to see if the guys heard – from the sniggering I hear behind me, it sounds like they did.

“Hey, blondie!” Alix yells, causing Alastaire to freeze halfway through stacking up branches on the bonfire. “Yes, you. Mr. Tipsy. What have you got to drink around here?”

The others burst into laughter, while Alastaire mutters something about hiding the champagne.

“We’ll stay for an hour, ok?” Alix tells Zee sternly, stripping off his wetsuit entirely until he’s down to just his bathing shorts. “Just an hour.”