Books
Simpson shares a very 2000s dating anecdote in her new short story.
Read an exclusive excerpt here.
The giant black Motorola flip phone kept exploding in my purse, making me jump each time it buzzed.
And then there was me.
The outfit did not make the I belong here statement that I thought it did.
I was dodging calls from two boybanders, one from *NSYNC, the other from the Backstreet Boys.
The Backstreet Boy might be at the party, hed said.
I figured I could avoid him.
When I was a teenager, Id stood in the front row of one of his concerts.
Id asked him if he remembered that, and he laughed.
It was probably one of his moves.
The other boybander told me he was living in his car by choice.
Id be fine doing it the rest of my life, he said.
Just keep a few belongings.
Im just gonna put you on hold again, I had said, and hung up for good.
It was early September 2001.
We had dated for nearly three years, starting when I was eighteen and he was twenty-four.
Now he was twenty-seven and was ready to marry me.
But my dad wouldnt give his blessing.
He thought I was too young to get married.
Its funnyIthought I was old enough.
I didnt even know how to date.
My diary entries from those months of being single are full of resolutions about dating.
I need to go out and experience other relationships.
I had no idea what experience meant.
I was still in love with Nick and felt guilty getting butterflies about anybody else.
Even thinking something might be possible with another man felt like cheating, and I never took the bait.
Heck, I didnt know what the baitwas.
Tonight was part of my jobto get as much press as possible for my new single A Little Bit.
I truly thought that meant I was supposed to keep at least one foot on it at all times.
If they knew I was avoiding another famous boybander, they would not be pleased.
That much I knew.
Dating a famous boybander would bring them the headlines they wanted.
Movie Star: They Always Say Theyre Singlewill be available as an ebook and an audiobook on Feb. 1.
This article was originally published onJan.
