You looked out the window of the car as nothing but desert pasted by. Exo was beating through your headphones while your parents went on about why you were spending the summer at your grandparent’s house for the umpteenth time. Because it was going to be rehab for spending hours upon hours online. You didn’t see it as an addiction but they begged to differ.

            Two hours later the car pulled into your grandparent’s driveway and your parents got out of the car. You just stayed with your arms folded glaring at the head rest in front of you. Your dad sighed and opened the door and motioned to get out of the car. You clenched your teeth and unbuckled the seatbelt before getting out of the car.

            You dragged your feet up to the front door and waited with your mom until the door opened. Your grandma opened the door and welcomed you in with a smile and a hug. You gave in and hugged her because you hadn’t seen her in a month. Your dad followed inside pulling your suitcase and placed them by the door.

            While they went over the rules with your grandparents you took your bags to the guest room and started to unpack some. You plugged your iPod into the dock and listened more to the music, humming along. Someone knocked on the door before it opened.

            “Here is your emergency phone.” You dad said handing it to you. All it could do was call and text. No Internet. No apps. Nothing.

You took it and started looking through the contacts. “Thanks.” He had put in your friends numbers to keep yourself from “dying” completely.

            “Panda!” Your grandpa said walking up behind your dad.

You smiled and brushed passed to hug him. Panda was the nickname he gave you when you where still a baby and it stuck. You loved it. He kissed your temple and held onto your shoulders, “Let’s go golfing tomorrow, okay?”

You nodded.

            Dinner time rolled around and you sat at the table with your grandparents and parents eating and talking. After the dishes were cleared and food put away you walked outside to the back yard and sat on the edge of the pool with your feet in. You looked up at the night sky and enjoyed the thousands of stars on the black canvas.

            Living in a highly populated area you didn’t see this many stars. But in the desert where your grandparents retired with a country club membership and casinos around in the slowly growing town it was nice. And everyone in the neighbor hood didn’t have the Internet. So you got stuck there for the summer in the hot hell hole for rehab. TV time was limited too.

            In the morning after breakfast you got ready and said goodbye to your parents. After they left you went inside to change into your bikini and pulled on a white v-neck tee and shorts before going out in the back again and lounged in a lawn chair on the covered patio to read the book required for summer reading.

            It was still too early to go swimming and you just waited for the water in the pool to warm. After five chapters you decided to tan a bit before lunch. You pulled off the shirt and shorts and rolled out a towel on the grass and laid down. You listened to your music and rotated for equal tanning time on both sides of your body.

            At lunch you ate inside eating your favorite cold cut sandwich and chips with sun brewed ice tea that was your grandma’s specialty. After lunch you got on the golf cart with your grandpa and you two went off to the country club to go nine holes. When he stopped at the end of the street he got off the cart and let you drive it to the clubhouse.

            You used your grandma’s clubs on the course and after a few rough starts got the hang of it and was almost as good as your grandpa. Who wasn’t that good anyway. But the two of you laughed anyway and went back home.

            By then the pool was warm enough and you hurried to the pool like it was going to go somewhere and stripped off your clothes and set your music on the dock before getting onto the diving board and jumped in.

            The water was relaxing and cool. Perfect for beating the summer heat. You swam back and forth in the pool for a few minutes until your legs got tired. You pulled the lounge float into the pool and climbed on and let it float across from one side to the other. Your music distracted you until the noise from the neighbor next door was too loud.

            “Do they have no respect for others?” You mumbled to yourself before getting out of the pool to ask them to be quiet.

            Upon walking up to the wall fence that separated the yards you saw twelve guys in the other yard. Some lying on lawn chairs, four kicking around a soccer ball and five others horsing around. You cocked your head and stared in silence at them. They seemed familiar. Then it dawned on you that you knew all twelve of them. Your jaw dropped.

            “E-e-e-x-so.” You stuttered. “Oh my god…” You dropped down and slapped your cheeks gently before standing back up and you, in fact, were not dreaming.

            You bent down and hurried to your emergency phone on the lawn chair and called your best friend. “You’ll never believe me when I say this but Exo is right next door!”

            “What the hell are you talking about?”

            “Exo! You know! Exo! My favorite k-pop group. All twelve of them are here!”

            “Liar.”

            “ I’m serious!” You almost shouted. You jumped up and saw that Exo didn’t noticed.

            “Then prove it!”

            “I can’t right now! This phone can’t send pictures and there is no Internet around anywhere!”

            “Then you’re a liar.”

You grunted. “Fine I’ll get pictures and find a way to send them to you.”

            “What ever.”

            You went back to the wall after talking on the phone with a camera and a note pad and started snapping pictures and writing down what you saw and heard. After an hour of them going in and out of the house they ended laying on the grass tanning. Sweat started to bead up on each of their chiseled bodies and you gulped.

            Tao, your bias, began to do a few sit ups and you couldn’t hold it in. You squealed and that they heard. All twelve heads turned to your directions and you ducked down again.

            “Hey!” Chanyeol called.

. You thought.

            “Hey you!”

You hung your head and slowly stood up. You felt your face turn red and you tried to hide it as you turned to face them.

            “How long have you been there?” Kris asked.

You peered through your hair and saw all of them walk up to you on the opposite side of the wall. “A while.” You peeped. You heard laughter. In anger you look up and saw them laughing at you. “What?!”

            “We aren’t mad.” Joonmyun said giving you his killer smile.

            “Really?!” You blushed. God that smile.

            “What’s your name?”

            “Uh, Panda.”

            “Really?” Zitao asked folding his arms.

            “No…but you can call me Panda.” You smiled.

            “Alright, Panda. We are-” Kris began to say.

            “I know who you are.”

They looked at you blankly.

            “We are one. We are Exo.” You said giving them a thumbs up before throwing up the M and K hand signs they sometimes use.

            “So you’re a fan?” Jongin asked.

You nodded biting your lip. You noticed Sehun and Luhan fanning themselves before you started to noticed the sweat again dripping down their abs. You gulped again. “Do you; want to come for a swim?”

            “Can we?” Yixing asked beaming his dimpled smile.

            “Yes!” You said all too quickly. You cleared your throat and motioned to the house. “I’ll meet you at the door.”

            “Alright, we’ll be there in a couple minutes.” Kris said as they turned to grab their shirts and towels.

            You turned around and ran to the house carrying the notebook and camera. You told your grandparents that the neighbors were coming over and they just shrugged it off thinking it’d be only a few people until the doorbell rang. You opened the door and let them in.

            Your grandma stopped walking out from the kitchen and looked at Exo file into the house. She looked at you and you just smiled. They greeted her and followed you to the back. They took off their shirts and jumped in the pool. Your grandpa walked out and looked between them and you.

            You explained to your grandparents about them and they sighed. And told you they’ll be keeping a close eye. But you didn’t care. Exo was in arms reach of you for the first time in your life and it wasn’t a dream.

            Grandma brought out her sun brewed tea set and let it brew while she sat in the gazebo with her book looking up from it from time to time watching the twelve boys and you while Grandpa was t his rose bushes, also looking to you from time to time.

            The sun moved along in the sky and you got a glass of tea for everyone. You had been swimming and talking with Exo more until everyone was tired. They all laid on the grass letting the sun dry them off. You were next to Zitao and you slowly turned your head to face him.

            His eyes were shut and his breathing was slow. You bit your lip as you looked across his features. He was perfect. Your eyes landed on his collar bone and you almost lost it but his eyes opened and you turned your head away and felt your cheeks turn red again.

            “EXO!” Someone shouted. All twelve boys jumped up and ran to the wall.

            “Yes hyung?” Baekhyun asked leaning on the wall.

            “Why the hell are you over there?”

            “She invited us.” Sehun said pointing back to you.

            “She?”

You walked up to the wall and waved at their manager. “Hi.”

            “Hi.” He hesitated. “It’s time to get ready for the dinner party. Get your butts back over here and get ready.”

            “Yes hyung.” They said in unison.

            Exo turned back and grabbed their stuff. You lead them back to the front door and opened it. To your surprise as they left one by one they hugged you and thanked you for letting them swim. When Zitao was left you felt your heart pound out of your chest. And you could have sworn you felt his as well.

            After the door closed you squealed and danced awkwardly there in the hall. You turned back around and saw Grandma standing in the kitchen watching you and trying not to laugh. You skipped over to her and started to go off on how hot they all were.

            “This is the best day of my life! If I die right now I’d have no regrets.”

            “You sure about that?” she asked raising a brow.

You nodded.

            “Alright. Go wash up. We’re going out to dinner.”

            “Okay.” You said skipping to your room to grab fresh clothes.

            When you finished showering the chlorine off your body and out of your hair, you got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around your body while you stood in front of the mirror and dried your hair. You walked to your room and got dressed before returning to the bathroom to apply a little make up.

            You picked out your favorite Panda face watch and put on your Exo necklace and Zitao’s power ring. Two pieces of Exo merchandise you couldn’t wait to get your hands on after hours of surfing the Internet for them.

            You got in the backseat of the car and you and your grandparents went to dinner at the buffet at the casino. You noticed yourself getting the more Asian styled food at the buffet and bounced in your seat as you ate. You were still riding on the high of Exo being at the house next to your grandparents. That the fact you talked with them. Swam with them and bathed in the sun with them.

            Back at home you stayed on the porch drinking what was left of the iced tea and kept glancing at the house to the left. Exo’s house. Wishing for them to come back out but the house was dark.

            “Panda, it’s time for bed.” Grandpa said opening the door from the kitchen.

            “Okay.” You sighed getting up taking the empty glass with you.

            You rinsed it out in the sink and went to the bathroom to wipe off the make up and brush your hair. In your room you changed into your pajamas and laid on the bed staring up at the ceiling fan, trying to follow the same blade as it turned. You grew tired and dizzy but your brain wouldn’t shut off.

            “Why are they even here?” You asked yourself.

            You tossed and turned all night at that question. In the morning you lightly picked at your breakfast and got dressed in a bikini, t-shirt and shorts again and sat outside in the sun reading again keeping and ear out for any of Exo to come outside.

            By lunch time you sat in the grass tossing cards into a hat eating a salad. You’ve been waiting all day for Exo to appear and when you heard the door in their yard open and shut you jumped up and ran to the door. Jongdae and Minseok were wearing loose pajamas and were stretching.

            “Afternoon!” you called.

They turned to face you and both smiled and waved.

You waved back.

            “Afternoon.”

            “Do you want some sun tea?”

They nodded.

            “Just a minute.” You said before turning and ran to the jar of tea that had been brewing since that morning. You poured two plastic cups full and went back to the wall to hand them down to the two Exo members. They took the cups and sipped the sweet, warm tea.

            “How was your night?”

            “Tiring.” Jongdae said his lips.

            “How so?”

            “Just was.” Minseok answered.

            “Oh, well if you all want to come over again and swim you’re more than welcome too.” You smiled.

            “We’ll keep that in mind.” Minseok said smiling back, “Thanks for the tea.”

            “Yeah, thanks.” Jongdae smiled.

            “You’re welcome.”

            They turned and walked back into the house and that was it. No other members came out for tea or to talk which made you a little sad. But none the less you wrote notes and started drawing in a sketch pad and read more of your summer book until you felt like tarring your hair out.

            You went inside and sat down in the TV room with Grandpa who was watching a golf program.

            “Hey Panda.”

            “Hi.”

            “Bored?”

            “I really want to read my e-mails.”

            “How about we watch some TV instead.”

You sighed, “Okay.”

            The both of you sat for an hour in the cool house watching an episode of CSI. Grandma walked in and asked if there was anything you needed from the store before she went and you jumped up begging to go with her. Grandpa chuckled as you followed her to the garage to the car.

            While you pushed the cart for Grandma, following up and down the isles at the super market you spotted you’re favorite Japanese candy. You stopped walking and picked up the box of Pocky. Grandma turned back to place something in the cart and saw you holding the box. She told you, you could get a box and you smiled before putting it in the cart.

            At checkout you saw Exo’s Manager walk into the store and grab a cart. He started throwing bread into the cart before moving onto the produce where you lost him. As you walked out to the exit doors you looked back and saw him put bananas in the cart. Which gave you an idea.