"So what are the rules, Stardom?" Courtney asks, all business. She knows all about Break Throughs; I've been complaining about it since we were six so she better know. My other girls became familiar with Break Throughs, too, over the last couple of years.

Sasha groans. "Ugh, again?? Can't your dad just let you date and let it go?"

"My first boyfriend was in middle school." Mellisa is fixing her pedicure in the back seat. Bonnie, who's right next to her, hops up and down to the music, making Mellisa frown and growl. "Actually," I say triumphantly, "Daddy says I can date whomever I want as long as I bring said boy to meet him after, at max, two weeks."

I think I can hear jaws dropping.

"What!" Sasha screeches.

"No. Freaking. Way." Bonnie stops jumping.

Mellisa stares at me.

Courtney howls. "Oh my gosh! You're dad is so awesome. He gave us coffee at six years old, let us stick our head out of the roof window of his BMW going forty miles an hour, and now this?" She turns into the mall parking lot, laughing. Mellisa works her lips. "Are you positive that he said anybody at all?"

"Yep!" I say cheerfully.

"And after. Two. Long. Weeks."

"Uh-huh!"

She shakes her head in wonder, pondering how she was given the wrong parents.

Just then a foreign song comes on Courtney's iPod and blasts through the cars speakers. The girls all squeal in delight as they sing with some of the Asian words that they've memorized. "Thank God for K-pop!"

I my head to the side. "K-pop . . . remind me what that is again?"

Courtney answers, "It stands for 'Korean pop'. Come on, we've told you this, like, a hundred times already!"

"How can you listen to songs you don't understand?" I ask. I pull the visor down to check make-up and hair. Courtney pauses in her singing and shrugs. "Catchy tune, hot voices, cute boy bands. Like American songs, only in Japanese and Korean." Courtney turns sharply into a parking spot, pulls the keys out of the ignition, and her all pile out into the summer heat.

* * *

"OMG! Sasha, that's so hot! Red is definitely your color."

"Hey, Stardom, come look at these shorts; these will go great with your long legs."

"Mel, does this shirt show too much cleavage?

"Too much?! I don't see crap! Let's get you a low cut tank . . ." Mel jokes.

Courtney grabs my arm. "Holy crap!" she hisses looking to the left of me. The pretty sun dresses in each of my hands almost fall to the ground. "What?" I ask. "Look at them!" she breathes. "Yummy bastards." I follow her gaze. I raise my eyebrows.

Asian boys? Of course. Only Courtney can track 'em a mile away.

There's five of them, three dark-haired, two blondes. They're all pretty tall and have spectacular fashion sense. One of the blondes has his hair up in a short ponytail. I squint - wait, is that a guy? He's so pretty - or hot. Whatever. Irresistible, even I can see that. One of the brunettes - he seems like the tallest one - starts to run in our general direction. Courtney purrs and whistle under my breath - he is really cute! His long legs stretch as he races past us, calling something in a different language over his shoulder. The other blonde - he has a short Mohawk - runs after, his laughter echoing. The rest of the guys chase him.

By now Sasha, Mellisa, and Bonnie have joined me and Courtney at the shop's entrance and are enjoying the show with us. I feel a breeze that the boys make running by on my face. As the last one passes he glances at our attentive group.

He stops running. I can see now that he's really really something. Him standing twelve feet away is making me self-conscious.

He slides his hand through his floppy thick hair. His shoulders are broad, lean, and he's pretty dang tall. He has a very thin smudge of black eyeliner under his dark brown eyes. In his left earlobe is a big sliver stud. He's wearing a white shirt with buttons that stop halfway down; the first two are undone. Over that he wears a light black jacket thing with a stand-up collar that has big rectangles cut in it. His magenta straight-leg jeans are ripped all over the place but no skin shows.

Then he smiles at me.

Holy . . . !

His smile hits me like a blind person seeing the sun for the first time; a gust of wind on this ninety degree day; water on the Sahara; sun in the Arctic.

It. Is. So. Damn. Beautiful.

Teeth that shine a healthy white and perfectly balanced lips stretch across them. A Heavenly sight for a girl who goes to a high school full of stinky, smelling, erted, leering dogs with garlicky breaths.

He waves at us. "HEL-loooh . . . !" he calls to us. His accent is thick and heavy and the only thing that runs through my mind at his deep voice is 'caramel'. This I think is also related to his cinnamon sugar colored skin. "Hi," I smile flirtatiously and wiggle my fingers back at him. Courtney titters. Sasha and Mel are frantically whispering to each other.

"No, he can't be . . ."

"He looks exactly like -"

"No no no no. This is American; they don't work here."

"Mellisa! He's -"

I tune them out. Idiots. Here's a good-looking guy standing right in front of us - giving us airheads his undivided attention - and they're arguing behind me.

I flip my hair over my shoulder. "What's your name?" I ask him.

"JR," he replies. His 'r' rolls on his tongue.

I guess his friends noticed that JR wasn't behind them and retraced their steps because just then they appear behind him a little out of breath. "Hey," one of the dark-haired boys say in flawless English. Huh, I think.

Bonnie suddenly lets loose a shriek. I jerk and glare at her. "What the hell?" I hiss. But then Courtney clutches my forearm so hard her fingernails are digging themselves graves in my flesh. "Hey!" I complain. Sasha pushes forward in our group. "ARE YOU NU'EST?!" she shouts into the boys faces.

They look a little startled. But then they suddenly smile happily, their eyes bright. They glance at each other excitedly. "See?" the one with perfect English says, gesturing at us. "American people listen to us too!" He turns his dazzling smile to us. "Yes, we're NU'EST. My name is -"

"Aron," the girls finish in awed unison.

"Then you know everyone else, yah?"

I step up. "I don't. I don't happen to listen to K-pop - or any foreign music, for that matter."

Aron nods understandingly. "Well, that's just fine. I'm Aron; I'm nineteen. I was born here in America. Los Angeles." He looks at the blond pony-tailed boy. I hear Bonnie choke as he speaks in a quiet, soft, almost emotionless male voice. "My name is Ren. I'm sixteen."

The other blonde grins a goofy, fun grin and says, "I'm BaekHo - The White Tiger - and I'm sixteen also." He cuffs Ren's shoulder playfully. The white - what the heck?? I think, bewildered. The last brunette says kindly, "My name's MinHyun. I'm sixteen years old." JR says, "JR. Just turned seventeen."

There's a pause as the boys wait for us to introduce ourselves. Realizing that the girls weren't going to recover soon enough before we seem lame, I speak up. "It's very nice to meet you guys. I'm Starr. This is Courtney, Sasha, Bonnie, and Mellisa. We're all sixteen." I give them all my most beautiful smile - but, I admit, most of it was directed to JR.

Mellisa spontaneously blurts, "It's Starr's sixteenth birthday!"

JR raises his eyebrows and looks at me. I blush madly and resist the urge to tear out Mel's throat. "Today?" JR asks. "Well, happy birthday, Starr-ssi!" He bows slightly to me as does the other boys. My face heats up like a furnace. Then JR's eyes light up with an idea. He looks back at his friends and says something in a language I've never heard before in my life. The guys must've agreed with JR's brilliant idea because they all nod. Subconsciously it seems, BaekHo rubs his palms together in anticipation. Ren glances around at the strangers around us warily.

JR and the rest look at me. "In honor of your birthday we would like to perform a dance for you," JR begins. "Please don't turn down our offer; since we have nothing else to offer you, I beg that you allow us to do this for the celebration." He smiles, oblivious to the tornado going on in my head.

I'm freaking stunned with this proclamation of breaking out in impromptu dance. For me. As a birthday present.

"What!" I exclaim. There was no way I was going to survive the humiliation of having five amazing-looking teenage boys dancing for me in THE MIDDLE OF THE MALL! "No no no no no, you don't have to do that for me! It's totally fine; we don't even know each other! You don't give a stranger you met five minutes ago a present!" I'm starting to sweat. This is what happens when I'm stressed, excited, scared, or nervous. Right now I'm a delicious blend of everything. Whoopdee-poopy-doo.

Then JR out does himself: he bows at a whole freakin' ninety degree angle to me! "JR!" I screech in mortification. My friends are having the time of their lives - they're giggling and nudging me like I don't already see the guy that is BENT OVER MY FEET begging to give him permission to DANCE FOR ME!! I glance around frantically; people are staring at us! Oooh, he's embarrassing himself - and me!

"Please," JR says to the ground. "Let us dance just one dance for you. It's one of our professional dances. We will not embarrass you."

Courtney has the lovely idea to answer for me. "I wanna see it. You're talking about your 'Face' dance, right? I would love to see that live!" I hear a small chorus of "yah"'s and "totally"'s. I growl low enough so that they can hear me: "Then you es can go to their concert!"

I whip back around to JR. "JR," I whisper frantically. I adjust the purse on my shoulder nervously. "Please stand up. This is too much for someone you don't even know. Please!" Just get out of that damned ninety degree angle!!

"I know that today's your birthday and that I have a present that I want to give to you if you let us."

I explode. "OKAY, FINE!  Just get up, please!"

JR rises with a flushed face and a happy smile. He flips his hair and laughs at my expression. "Thank you, Starr-ssi. As leader of NU'EST, I feel like it's my roll to make our fans - and their friends - happy." Then he nods at the NU'EST members and they get into position.

"Wait!" I throw my hands out, palms towards them, as if to stop them. "Um, maybe we should move to a less crowded area of the mall . . ." I suggest glumly. MinHyun nods at me and JR shrugs. Aron pipes up. "Didn't we pass that fountain a while back?" he asks Ren. Ren nods. "Yah, there's plenty of room there," he answers.

NU'EST train their eyes to me and my posse. Sighing, I link my arms through Courtney's and Sasha's and start to make our way to the grand marble fountain at the center of the mall.