instagram; brandon arreaga

thirty eight

"What are you whining about now?"

Valerie looks up from her phone to find Diamond standing there, arms crossed and eyebrow raised. "Brandon hasn't responded to any of my texts for 4 days now," Valerie explains.

"Is he busy?" Diamond asks, sitting next to her friend. Val shrugs. "I mean, yes, but he's been posting on social media, and Fiffany said that he'll reply to her texts."

"I think I may know why," Diamond says honestly. "What? Why?" Valerie questions.

"You've been kind of flirty with Finn Harries on Instagram lately, I think Brandon is assuming something is up."

Valerie groans, resting her head on her palms. Of course it's because of Finn.

Finn Harries had contacted Valerie a week ago, explaining that he and his twin brother, Jack, wanted to do a shoot with her while they were in Los Angeles. Valerie, a fan of their work, agreed to the shoot. But, Valerie and the twins had been texting, and actually became friends in the days leading up to the photoshoot - including Finn and Valerie commenting on each other's posts.

"I'm gonna call Brandon real quick," Valerie says. Diamond nods, leaving the room.

The call rings and rings, before going to voicemail. "He's never going to answer," she mutters, dialing Austin's number.

"Valerie!" Austin exclaims as he picks up. "What's up?"

"Uh, not much really. How's tour going?" she asks. "It's going great, the fans are amazing as always," the blonde boy tells her excitedly.

"Hey, can I uh...talk to Brandon? He won't answer my calls," Val asks. "Yeah, one sec," Austin says.

For a few moments, all Valerie can hear is shuffling and mumbling. "It's management, it's important," she can hear Austin say.

"Hello?" Brandon says.

"Don't hang up, please."

"Are you serious? I don't want to talk to you right now," he sighs. "B, please, just listen to me," Valerie pleads.

"You have 1 minute."

"Answer this question before I start - is it because of Finn Harries?"

Silence. "Yes."

"He and his brother contacted me, wanting to do a photoshoot when they're here in LA next week. I said yes, and we've become friends since. That's why he's hyping up my pictures from another shoot. That's it."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," Brandon rushes out the second Valerie finishes. "I overreacted, and I just didn't know what to think, especially with being on tour and I-I'm sorry."

"Babe, it's fine, I promise. I should have told you, but we wanted to keep it a secret until they got here," Valerie apologizes.

Brandon goes to speak again, but Austin interrupts.

"Okay, I'm glad y'all made up, but...I really want to call my girl so can you guys move this call to your own phones?"

Brandon laughs, telling Austin yes. "I'll call you back, baby."

As Valerie hangs up the phone, Diamond yells from the kitchen.

"God, finally you can stop whining!"