Linked (James Graham/Reece Bibby)

Chapter One

"That's five pounds please," I told the woman stood in front of the counter as I placed the cake box on top of the glass cabinet. I watched as she dug through her purse, pulling out some change and handing it to me. She took the cake box, flashed a smile at me then left the shop. I put the money in the till then turned around to push the door open.

"Julie, I'm finished for the day," I told my manager. She looked up from her desk and smiled. "That's fine. I'll see you on Monday," she said before returning her concentration to her computer. I stepped back into the front of the shop and let the door shut while reaching around to the back of my apron. I untied it and hung it on one of the hooks on the wall.

I had worked in that cake shop for one and half years and I loved it. When I finished high school I'd decided to get a job instead of going to college as I really didn't know what I wanted to do. But I was doing just fine at the cake shop and Julie was a great manager.

I had moved out of my mum's house a year ago and now lived in a shared flat with two other girls. Life was okay at the moment. I didn't spend much time wondering about the future. But when I did it only saddened me because I was alone. I hadn't been in a proper relationship before.

The door was unlocked when I got home which meant one of the girls were back from work. "Hello?" I called from the front door. "Oh hey, Jasmine, it's just me," Anna shouted from the kitchen. I took my coat off and hung it up by the door before heading into the kitchen.

"My boss let me off an hour early because I worked late last night," Anna told me as she stirred the food that was in the pot in front of her. "Good. What are you cooking? It smells amazing," I asked, exaggerating the last word. Anna rolled her eyes at me with a smile on her face. "Chilli con carne and don't worry, I've made enough for you and Faye." I grinned as I sat down in one of the stools in front of the breakfast bar. I pulled my laptop closer to me before opening it up. It came to life straight away and brought up my home screen.

"So how was work?" Anna asked as I checked various social networking websites. "Ordinarily boring. Nobody ordered any wedding cakes, just a few jam sponges," I replied, not taking my eyes off my laptop screen. I checked my notifications and messages on Twitter to find that two were spam and one was from a boy I'd just followed. It was a link to a YouTube video and a short message asking me to watch the video and tell him what I thought.

The link opened up a cover of Wrecking Ball he had recorded. I turned the sound up on my laptop before playing it. Anna turned away from the pan she had been stirring for a moment and listened. She nodded and smiled, "wow. That's really good. Who is it?"

"James Graham. I followed him on Twitter and he sent me this link," I answered. Once the song had finished I went back onto Twitter and replied to the message. Hi James, that cover is incredible. Your voice is insane!

"Is he hot?" Anna asked. She'd turned back around so she was no longer facing me. "I guess," I replied. Although I couldn't see her face, I knew she'd be smiling. "Grubs up," she said as she got three plates out of the cupboard. I got down off the stool I was sat on and walked over to where Anna was stood. I grabbed a fork and picked up a plate full of food before sitting down at the table in the middle of the room.

"Good evening, beautiful people," Faye sang as she came into the flat just as Anna sat down at the table. "Ah, you're just in time. I made chilli con carne," Anna replied, sticking her fork into her food. I shovelled my plateful into my mouth at a pace that definitely wouldn't do me any justice. I was an unattractive eater.

Faye dumped her coat and bag on the breakfast bar beside my laptop before sitting down with her meal. "Any news?" she asked, glancing at me then Anna then back at me again. Just as I shovelled another forkful into my mouth, my laptop made a ping noise signalling that I had a message. Before Anna could say anything, I jumped up and clicked on the message icon on the Twitter screen. I smiled as I read James Graham's reply to my message. Thanks, babe. You alright? He wanted to continue the conversation. I made an irritating popping noise with my lips, a habit that both Anna and Faye hated.

"Ugh. Jasmine, will you stop doing that," Faye complained annoyance clear in her voice. I chuckled as I started to type my reply to James Graham. Yes, thank you. You? I wondered about him for a moment, thinking back to the video I had watched of him. Now I'm not one for allowing a boy to bother me so much but James Graham was finer than wine.