Written in the Stars

Bonus: Sneakers

Note: This bonus chapter takes place between Boyfriend (ch. 5) and Date Night (ch. 6).

The arrival of this month's Pop Tiger crashed what had been a perfectly calm afternoon at the Palm Woods. Carlos treated himself to another pack of Fruit Smackers from the vending machines, while James and Logan fussed over a magazine ad for a ridiculously expensive pair of Buster Clyde sneakers. Kit and Kendall sat in the chairs opposite them. Kendall had printed out two tickets to the zoo for him and Jo, and Kit was helping him plan the date.

When Katie approached them with the day's mail in her hands, she grimaced. Kendall looked up from his camera at the sight of his youngest sister. The girl pulled something from the stack and tossed it into Kendall's lap. Pop Tiger's November 2010 issue featured a main story with the headline "Hot New Couple."

Kendall picked it up to get a better look. Kit leaned in to read it over his shoulder. It featured a picture of Jo and Jett embracing that looked as if it had been taken from their scenes co-starring in New Town High. Brows furrowing, he read the headline out loud for the others to hear:

"'Jo Confesses: Jett's My Man?'"

The statement pulled Logan and James from their sneakers. They gaped at Kendall, speechless. Kit pursed her lips. So much for having a relaxing day off.

With the magazine in hand, Kendall led the group back to the crib to investigate. He paced the length of the living room and allowed his friends to look at it more closely. James took it from him and held it between himself and Logan. He sat at the breakfast bar with Kit in his lap and Logan in the stool next to them, his laptop open. James pointed to one of the paragraphs:

"It says things got hot on the very first episode..."

Kendall could only shrug in response, lifting his hand away from his lips momentarily.

"And that their on-screen chemistry quickly turned into off-screen romance," Logan read him the rest.

James shut the magazine, careful to keep a thumb in place in case they wanted to reference the page again. Kit frowned. She was beyond confused, and wished she had something encouraging to say to her brother.

Before she could think of anything, Jo burst into the apartment. She didn't need to be asked:

"I can explain!"

Kendall's eyes widened, incredulous. He was dying to hear it.

"Okay," James and Logan demanded, eyebrows raised. "Explain."

"Guys," Kendall cut them off. "I can handle this."

Crossing his arms over his chest, he added: "Okay, explain."

Jo sighed, "I can't."

James and Logan shared a look, unimpressed. Kit blinked at Jo, feeling torn between her loyalty to her twin and to her best friend.

"They told me that photo was gonna be on a billboard."

Logan held up the magazine, gesturing to the photo of Jo and Jett. "Does this look like a billboard?"

Jo gaped at Logan. She didn't know what to tell him.

"Guys," Kendall quieted him again.

Logan let the magazine drop from his hand with a raise of his eyebrows.

"I'm going to see the network publicist right now to get to the bottom of this," Jo assured Kendall.

He nodded in agreement. It was the first useful thing he had heard since seeing the headline.