Seducing Kellin Quinn

Chapter 1

I propped open my laptop and habitually logged onto facebook. There were a few notifications of photos from a friend's party I planned on sifting through but was suddenly caught off guard to see I had gotten a message from an old friend, Lucy.

Hey Mandy! How are things? I was wondering if you'd be free to visit this coming week? I'm going to be in LA shooting commercials and booking jobs and thought it'd be perfect time to catch up. I also may have a favor to ask of you since you've been such a loyal friend..  xoxo Lucy

I reread the 'favor' sentence and became confused as to why she would ask me for anything. Sure, we were considerably close friends during high school but it had been awhile since we spoke let alone did favors for each other.

Regardless, I replied back and said I was excited and more than willing to meet up soon. See, Lucy dropped out half way through senior year to start on her acting career. Not to be rude or anything but she hasn't really made it big or landed a huge job quite yet; only doing jobs for fast food or radio commercials. I guess as long as it makes her happy.

I shut my laptop off and grabbed my keys, realizing it was time to head to work. I hoped into my used black jeep Cherokee and sped off to the downtown area where I was currently working at a small vintage shop. It was a rather fun and easy job in comparison to my exhausting school schedule. With money saved up, some from my parents, and the income from the store I was easily content with my current living situations. Definitely not one of the richer folks in downtown LA but happy with what I had.

I parked and jogged to the store, greeting customers before spotting the owner, Meredith, fixing jewelry behind the glass counter. She was an older woman, mid fifties but such a lively spirit. She was always smiling and joking around; a boss you definitely would never complain about.

"How's it going, Mandy?" She asked, peeping from below the counter. She slid it slowly and locked it before directing her attention to me.

"Busy as always, working on a new project for my video editing class. Can't tell you how many musicians, if you will, contact me when they know my videos are being presented to college professors with connections," I smirked, shaking my head lightly.

Meredith laughed and shuffled over to grab her coat, "You really do have some great talent, don't ever underestimate that. Even more importantly, don't let people take advantage of it. Well, I'm off to run some errands then have to go babysit the grandkids, bye!"

I waved goodbye and dove right into work; helping out customers, tidying things up, and answering phone calls. The hours until 7pm passed relatively quickly, something I couldn't complain about. As I was locking the glass door to the tiny shop, my phone began to buzz wildly.

Incoming Call: Lucy H.

I shook my head with a smile and pressed answer.

"Hey, Lucy," I said cheerfully.

"OH MY GOD, MANDY! You sound great! What's up?" She replied rather excitedly, something I remember had the ability to amuse me; sometimes she just seemed so dense.

"Hah, just got off work actually, how are you?" I began pacing slowly to my car.

"I'm good, I'm good," She sounded distracted, "I was wondering, would you want to meet at Lush, the club off 8th? Maybe around 930 tonight? I really want to see you and have to ask you for a huge favor!!"

I paused momentarily, contemplating what classes I had tomorrow and whether it was a smart idea to go out. Realizing it was just an editing free day I decided to take the chance and see Lucy. God knows I was horribly curious as to what she needed help with.

"Sure, I'll see you round 930,"

It wasn't that shocking to see few cars in the Lush parking lot, it only being Tuesday night. I waited minimally and even didn't have to pay the entry fee, the bouncer half asleep from the lousy night.

There was a group partying on the bottom floor while the bartender looked lazily around. I laughed inwardly and walked the flight of stairs up to the VIP lounge. This bouncer wasn't as keen on letting me in but instead of arguing, Lucy came over and grabbed my hand. I turned around and stuck my tongue out at the bouncer for final retaliation.

"It's so good to see you!" She said spastically, embracing me in a death crushing hug.

I laughed and tried to catch my breath, unable to even put my arms around her. She let go after a few solid seconds, patting excitedly to the open seat next to her. I sat down and ordered myself a beer, smiling curiously at Lucy as she fixed her hair.

"It's been awhile since we spoke," I said simply, "How long are you planning on being in LA?"

She clapped her hands and grinned, obviously already having had one too many mixed drinks for her tiny frame, "Oh get excited! I'll be here for an entire year, auditioning and hopefully booking projects," She squirmed while crossing her fingers.

"That's great! I'm sure you'll score something huge," I motivated, thanking the waitress that placed down my drink.

"You have no idea, Mandy. I can feel it, this is my year. I'm going to be discovered and things will be great!"

We spent the next half hour catching up like so, mostly of Lucy running on a tangent about previous jobs and 'awesome' stories of partying with famous people. I tried to talk minimally about my work at school but everything I mentioned seemed to fly right past her.

"So what was that favor you wanted to ask me?" I said, dying to change the subject from her latest run-in with the Olsen twins.

Suddenly, Lucy's eyes narrowed and she became very serious. She flattened her skirt and ran a hand through her hair subconsciously.

"It's okay if you totally say no, I'll completely understand. It's just, you're the only person I can honestly trust nowadays. Everyone else wants to use me for my name or to cling onto me for fame. You were the first person I figured would be able to take on this job seriously and not lie to me or anything..it's seriously not that big a deal I just.."

"Lucy," I demanded. She sighed and took a deep breath before spewing the favor out.

"Iwantyoutopretendtoseducemyboyfriendandseeifhefallsforit."

I spat my drink out with bewildered eyes, in disbelief that she just asked me to such a thing. Lucy nervously cleaned up the spilt beer with a pleading smile.

"Mandy, it's not as bad as it seems, I promise!"

"Are you kidding?" I laughed aloud, "Try and seduce your boyfriend? How would that even end well? This isn't a crazy modern day soap opera. Why would you even want me to do such a thing?"

She continued to mop up the now clean table while thinking to herself.

"It's just...I want to make sure he's the one. I mean, we seem to be good but I'm worried and just want to test him to be 100% sure he's in it for the right reasons. Mandy, he's a bit famous in the music scene so god knows he gets tempted all the time and it just scares me when we don't see each other for months on end. I just need to know.."

What about having trust within a relationship? I thought to myself. Still, as I stared into Lucy's worrisome eyes, I couldn't help but feel a bit astonished and complemented that she thought me to be the only person she could trust with such a...weird task. I bit my lip pensively and weighed the pros and cons as to what potentially could arise from this.

"How would this even work?" I asked, Lucy smiling brightly as she saw me consider the idea.

"Well...I would tell you where his band would be playing on nights or where they'd be hanging out and make sure you were able to see him and get to talk to him. Then, just try and seduce him. I know you can. You're a bombshell! And if he falls just laugh at his face and run away. And if he doesn't then..we'll see."

I thought it over and just couldn't get over how childish the idea seemed. All the while, Lucy sat there with puppy eyes and a pout. As dumb as the idea appeared, I quickly figured I could try and help my friend out. It might just turn out to be exciting.

"So, who's the guy?"

"His name's Kellin Quinn. He's the lead singer of Sleeping with Sirens,"