instagram; brandon arreaga

sixteen

"And that's a wrap!"

Everyone claps and cheers as we finish the photoshoot. After thanking the photographer and a few others involved, I run to my dressing room.

Picking up my phone, I see a text from Brandon.

hey love. call me after the shoot

A smile creeps onto my face as the phone rings, but the smile fades quickly as it goes to voicemail.

Ever since I got signed to Ford Models, it's been getting harder and harder to talk to Brandon. With him on tour and me constantly doing photoshoots, we hardly ever have any free time. And it seems like he's in a new timezone everyday, which doesn't help.

"What's got you down, girl?"

I look up to see Audrey, the makeup artist for todays shoot.

"Just a little upset that I hardly get to talk to my boyfriend anymore," I tell her truthfully. Audrey nods as she sits in a chair. "I know that feeling. What does he do?"

"He's in a boy band, they're touring right now," I tell her, sitting in the chair across from her.

"Ah, touring," she says to herself. "I toured with Little Mix once, and it definitely is hard on a relationship. You're constantly going from place to place, adjusting to changing timezones, you hardly get any free time. And any free time that you do get is usually spent sleeping."

I nod, remembering how Brandon said similar things the last time they had talked.

"I had a boyfriend at the time, and we didn't get to talk a whole lot. It sucked ass, honestly," Audrey laughs. "But in the end, when we finally got to see each other again, it was all okay."

I smile. "What happened to that boyfriend? Like, where is he now?"

"At home with our little girl," she says as she stands up. "Now, I'm not saying go have kids, you're too young. But I wouldn't worry too much about this. It'll all work out." And with that, Audrey walks out of the room.

As I'm thinking about our conversation, my phone rings.

Incoming call from Edwin

I slide my finger across the screen to accept before lifting the phone to my ear.

"Ed, what's up?"

"This is going to sound crazy, but how fast can you get to the airport?"

"Um, probably about 20 minutes from here. Why, is something wrong?" I ask, nervous for the answer.

Edwin laughs. "No, nothing's wrong. Brandon is just a whiny little baby because he misses you, so the guys and I thought that we should fly you out to see our show tomorrow."

"I would love to, but I don't have a ticket or anything, I don't even have my bags packed."

"And that's why Aidan is waiting at the airport with a packed bag and a plane ticket for you. So get your ass into an Uber!" he tells me before hanging up.

I grab my jacket and purse before running outside.

I'm finally seeing Brandon again.