Chapter 11:
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You kept me hanging from a string
why you make me cry?
I tried to give you everything
but you just give me lies
Location: Hotel Room. So what else is new?
Occupation: Staring at the telephone
Point of Occupation: None
Every now and then, when I'm all alone
I been wishing you would call me on the telephone
say you want me babe, but you never do
I feel like such a fool
There's nothing I can do
I'm such a fool over you
Goal for the evening: To continue to stare at the telephone and wallow in my self pity
Point of the goal for the evening: None
Better things I could do with my time: Spend it with my family and friends, write a song, call Lulu, watch tv.
Rewind! Call Lulu? WHY IS THAT EVEN ON THE LIST?!
UGH!
I can't take it! What am I waiting for?
Now I still break it
I miss you even more
And I can't take it! The way I could before
I hate you!
But I love you!
I can't stop thinking of you!
It's true! I'm stuck on you!
Current mindset: Stuck on her
My thoughts on myself: I'm totally and utterly pathetic!
(Lyric credit: Stacie Orrico 'Stuck')
---Josh---
"Hey Vic" I said when she walked into the kitchen where I was doing the dishes.
"Hey" She answered as she took a cup from the cupboard.
"Whatcha doing?" I asked, curious as to why she seemed to be stealing our cups...
"Moving out. I'm gonna move in with Mark for awhile. About as long as it'll work without us killed each other "She rolled her eyes "About 15 seconds!"
I felt a pang of guilt "Is this because of me moving in?"
She shook her head as she paused in the doorway "No. I just don't think it would be best for me to stay here, with whats happening now. Kinda arkward you know?" She turned and disappeared down the hall.
I turned back to the dishes and paused. She left me with a question. What IS happening now? And wheres Ashley?
I walked to the front door and began to open it. It was merely open a small crazk when I heard voices.
"What do you mean?!" Ashley asked, her voice catching with what sounded suspiciously close to a sob.
"Ashley" A guy sighed then paused "I once told myself you didn't care about him anymore. But I know better now. Someone who doesn't care anymore doesn't act the way you acted when you thought he was dead. I can't lie to myself about it anymore. I'm sorry, but it's not going to walk."
There was silence, then footsteps as he walked away.
"Mark! Mark wait!" Ashley called, sobbing to herself.
I almost lept a mile when someone tapped on my shoulder. Caught in the act of eavesdropping. "See you later Josh" Vic said with a forced smile as I moved to allow her access past.
"Where are you going?!" Ashley asked Vic, her voice sounding kind of panicky.
I decided it was time to stop eavesdropping and gently pushed the door shut, then went back to the dishes. The stuff that just happened..
Woah!
---Lizzie---
"Yo! Lizzie!" My friend Lana called as she ran down the hallway toward me. I tucked my books under one arm and hugged her with the other. "How was your weekend?" She asked
"Ugh" I muttered as we started down the hall to our first class. "I met my roomates friend. My big sister!"
Lana's eyes widened "You're kidding! What are the odds of that? That's like... freaky"
"You'd be more scared if you met my sister!" I shuddered a little "She's so bossy" I said through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, but big sisters are like that" Lana pointed out "I should know. I am one"
"I wish you were my big sister" I said with a laugh.
"Nuh-uh!" Lana's sister Lisa said emphatically as she walked over and tapped her sister on the head "Believe me you don't!"
"Hey!" Lana said, swatting her on the head.
Lisa laughed and ducked away "Hey Amy. Shane was looking for you"
"He was?" I asked, feeling my heart start to race a little "Looking for me?"
Lisa nodded "Yup. Seems like somebody has a new fan" She giggled to herself as she walked off down the hall.
I turned to Lana who was grinning at me "Don't even start!" I said, putting up a hand to stop her.
She snickered to herself as we continued on to our class.
---Michael---
"Amanda! Amanda! COULD YOU TURN THAT DOWN PLEASE!" I screamed covering my ears.
"What?!" Amanda called back as she bounced around the apartment.
I walked over to the stereo and turned off the screaming cd.
"Hey! I was listening to that!" She scolded.
"5 minutes of peace! Please! 5 minutes!"
She glared at me, then grinned when the phone rang "I'll get it!" She yelled as she raced over to the phone "Hello? Shane! Hey babe! I missed you" Her voice got all sappy and I decided I most certainly did NOT want to hear it.
I rolled my eyes and walked into my room.
---Melanie---
Now I'm just counting down the hours, counting down
Now I'm just counting down the tears, that I cried.
Cause I always thought we'd be forever, forever
Now I'm just counting down the days since you were here
Lizzie bounced into the room, noisily closing the door behind her. I glanced up and smiled "How was your day?"
She bounced over to the sofa and sat down next to me "Great!" She said happily "I love New York City!" She grinned and folded her legs up under her. "So how was your day?"
I sighed "Pretty dull" I glanced around the apartment "This place gets kind of boring by about mid day"
She nodded "Why not get a job or something? Just for the sake of something to do"
"Yeah" I nodded "I was in a pop band awhile ago"
Her eyes widened and she lept up out of the chair, pointing at me and jumping up and down a little "4 U! 4 U!!!" She screamed like a teeny "You're Melanie from for you! I didn't recognize you! With the hair and everything!" She screamed so loudly I had to cover my ears "Augh! I loved your music! You were my favorite member!" She started to dance around the room singing an old 4 U song.
I watched her do so and chuckled to myself. So I did have fans!
She finally ran out of energy and collapsed back on the couch "Why not go back into music?" she asked when she'd finally caught her breath.
I was silent as I thought about it "I'd actually been thinking about doing that" I said quietly. "Do you think it would work? Would anyone even listen to me"
She nodded her head seriously "No doubt! Melanie. Every single one of 4 U's singles debuted at number 1! They had record success. And everyone I knew either liked you or Malcolm the best. You still have loyal fans, and they'd definitely buy your music"
I nodded as I felt my confidance rising "Maybe I will" I said, allowing myself to smile a little "Maybe I will"
Chapter 12:
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I knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. The loud music coming from the room quitened and I heard footsteps approaching. The door swung open and I came face to face with... Amanda Bynes?
"Hey!" She said,dragging it out a little as she grinned at me "Cuuute!" She said under her breath, but thanks to my supersonic hearing I managed to catch. "Who might you be?" She asked again, this time at a normal volume.
"I might be Josh" I answered "I'm a friend of Michaels. Is he here?"
She nodded and turned, "MICHAEL!" She yelled.
"WHAT?!" I heard him yell back from somewhere in the apartment.
"JOSH HERE TO SEE YOU!" she turned back to me and smiled "He'll be here in a moment."
I stopped covering my ears and changed my wince to a smile "Um.. thanks"
She nodded "Any time!" She said before bouncing off down the hall.
---Michael---
"Josh!" I said happily when I saw him standing in the doorway looking kind of arkward. We half hugged, half patted each other on the back.
"Interesting room mate" Josh said as we walked over to the table.
"That she is" I responded with a laugh "Want some coffee?" Josh nodded and chuckled to himself. "Hows Ashley?" I asked as I put the jug on to boil.
"She's good" Josh said with a sigh. "Melanie?" He asked angelically. I glared at him. "Sorry, guess I'll have to find that out some other way. You wouldn't know huh?"
I slammed the mug down on the bench angrily and turned to him "You wanna say something? Then just do it!"
He backed down "No. Never mind"
I willed myself to calm down and went back to making the coffee.
---Melanie---
I took a deep and shaky breath as I paused outside my old record companys office. From the outside it looked like your average New York building. But in my mind it was a scary dark fortress. I'm being overly dramatic aren't I?
But anyway, I got up my courage and went inside, after a short wait I was talking to the.. whatever his official name is. The guy who'll sign me if they want me..
"4 U was one of this labels most successful bands" He started by saying "Though sales started to drop when you left the group and continue to do so, leading up to their ultimate break up. They were definitely worth the work put into them. But I must be honest with you Melanie. The music industry doesn't want another bubblegum pop band."
You know how you get butteflys in your stomach when you're nervous? Well I think the butterflies are attacking each other...
"And for this album we'd want a different image" He continued "Maybe a Pink meets Avril lavigne cross Michelle Branch. Do you play the guitar?"
I suddenly felt a little overwhelmed and seriously had no clue wether or not I played any instruments "Um... I play a little." I answered "I haven't in a long time"
"Great" He handed me a pile of papers which I assumed was a contract of sorts "You read it over and get back to me when you've made your decision" I nodded speechlessly, stood up and left.
---Zac---
Could someone please tell me whats up with my brother? He's been acting so strange! Like, more so then usual anyway. WAY more! Last night at dinner he barely ate a thing! This is Taylor we're talking about. He usually eats enough for four! Plus it was his favorite meal, Pizza!
I just don't get it.
Mary-Kate thinks it's because he's lonely. I don't see how he can be. There's no time or space to be lonely when we're on tour. She just said 'not that kind of lonely'
So could someone tell me what's going on?!?
---Lizzie---
I was over at Lana's dorm. We were 'supposed' to be studying, but it wasn't really happening.
"Don't you think Jordan is the cutest?" She asked.
I shrugged "Don't you think we should be studying for that test tomorrow?" I asked, trying to get back to studying.
Lana made a face and threw a cushion from the sofa at me "Come on Lizzie, we have all evening to study. Lets have a little fun first! You want a soda?" She asked as she stood up and started over to the kitchenette area of her dorm.
"No thanks" I said, frowning at the book I was trying to read "Ugh! This stuff just doesn't make sense!" I turned the book upside down and frowned "Wait a minute! I get it now!" I pretended to grin then grimaced and threw the book onto the coffee table "Not"
The phone rang and Lana skipped over to answer it "Hey, no we're not doing anything" she grinned at me and I made a face "Sure! Come on over!" She hung up the phone and did a little dance.
"Uh-oh" I muttered "Lanaaaaaaaa" I whined, dragging out her name. "What did you do?"
She smiled "I invited Shane over. He should be here any moment"
Suddenly I felt REALLY nervous!
Chapter 13:
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"So how are you doing?" Mary-Kate asked as we waited in line at a 24 hour supermarket. We'd just finished our concert and had decided we were hungry. So while our expecting parents, Ike and Kirsten went home. Zac, Mary-Kate and I went to get ourselves something to eat.
"I'm doing fine" I answered as I took an apple from a bowl of fruit.
"That's good" Mary-Kate said, she reached for a chocolate bar and put it on her tray then kept walking.
"Woah, wait a second" Zac said, moving forward he took the bar from her tray and put it back on the display.
Mary-Kate turned to him indignantly, putting her hands on her hips "Excuse me? But what do you think you're doing?" She asked.
Zac shrugged casually, but I know my brother and he looked nervous "Putting back the bar and getting you um.." he reached over and grabbed an apple "An apple?"
She eyed the apple dubiously "Why?" She asked shortly.
"Because. It's better for you..." He trailed off.
Her eyes widened and her face turned red "Are you trying to tell me I'm FAT?!" She snapped.
"No! NO!" Zac jumped to his defense "I just meant an apple was healthier. And it's important to eat healthy when you're traveling. Honey? Honey" He called as he watched her storm away "Aw, come on Mary-Kate. You're overreacting. I did not call you fat!" He insisted as he raced after her.
I chuckled to myself and continued up the line.
"Hello" The pretty girl behind the counter said when I finally reached the end of the line.
"H-hi" I answered. Oh help, I can't believe I stuttered!
She smiled at me, in a 'I'm not laughing at you, really! I'm just smiling' kind of way. I inwardly kicked myself as I walked back over to the table and my apologetic brother and his still rather annoyed wife.
I'm a rock star right? I'm 'the cute one' right? Girls scream so loudly at the concerts that we're in the guiness book of world records for it! And yet.. I still stutter when I talk to a pretty girl.
No wonder I'm still single!
---Lizzie---
With a relieved sigh I closed the door behind me and hung up my jacket. I'm home. I'm safe. And when I get the chance (And theres no witnesses) I'm going to KILL Lana!
No! Wait! Don't look so scared! I was kidding!
Anyway... where was I? Oh yeah! The evening was torture! Shane is so cute! And I think he likes me. I'm just not sure I'm reading for a new relationship yet.
But the hours of flirting and exactly not studying are finally over!!
"Hey Mel" I said as I followed the cooking sounds to the kitchen.
"Hey Lizzie!" She said as she moved a pot from the stove and brushed her hair out of her face. "How did studying go?"
"Nowhere!" I answered as I turned off the element for her.
We finished up dinner together then sat down to eat "Hey Liz, I've been thinking" Melanie started after a few minutes of silence "Maybe you should try talking to Ashley again"
I almost chocked on a piece of brocolli "What?! No way!"
"She loves you Lizzie! She was concerned about you. Being a big sister and all that"
I scowled "It's my life" I muttered.
Melanie frowned
Chapter 14:
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Ashley was pretty quiet as we made our way to the Ice Cream place. Not so much as a smile as we walked inside, not even when I offered to shout her a chocolate Sunday, her utmost favorite.
"Is something wrong?" I asked as I closed the door behind us.
"Just thinking about..." She trailed off and froze, her eyes fixed on a table to our left "Lizzie" She whispered.
Just then Melanie glanced up at as and waved, if she was acting surprised her acting needs work! Maybe she just forgot this was supposed to look unplanned.
"What?" I asked, trying to seem surprised. Now I'm doubting my acting abilities too.
"She's who you were on the phone with!" She spat angrily "Ugh! I can work out my own family problems with you interfering! Hello! You're not EVEN family! So you have no right!"
Now that stung. It was like she's punched me in the stomach, but she didn't even notice. Didn't realize she'd just classed me as absolutely nothing to her. Not even a friend.
"I'm leaving" She snapped, and started to push past me.
I snapped from my shroud of pain just quickenough to step to the side and block of her escape route "No you're not!" I said firmly. She tried to push past again but I caught her arm and literally held here there "Now grow up!" I growled "And talk to your sister!"
I guess I'd been holding her arm a little tighter then I thought, cause she winced in pain and pulled away. She looked at me and her eyes were full of surprise and shock. Then without a word she turned and waked over to Lizzie and Melanie's table.
---Michael---
I was sitting on the sofa watching tv when Amanda walked up behind it and leaned against the back 'Watcha doing?"She asked.
"Watching tv?" I responded.
She rested her elbows on the top of the sofa and rested her chin in her hands while watching me "Mopey!" She finally declared.
"Excuse me?" I asked as I turned to face her. Wow, this girl never ceases to amaze me.
"Thats what I'll call you! Mopey!" She said happily.
I opened my mouth to retaliate but words failed.
"Come on Mopey! You need cheering up! Lets get some Ice Cream!" She said happily as she pulled me to my feet and dragged me towards the door.
It wasn't till we were in the elevator that I finally managed "I'm not mopey!" in a very sulky voice.
She nodded "Right! And I'm Hilary Duff!"
---Ashley---
"Hey Mel!" I said when I reached their table "Lizzie" Greetings were returned and then silenec.
"Hey Mel" Josh said "You're the Ice Cream professional, help me choose which to get"
Mel nodded and stood up, motioning for me to take her seat. I opened my mouth to say I was going to get an Ice Cream too when Josh, reading my mind, guided me to the seat, pushed my shoulders till I sat down and said "I'll get yours for you" Angelically, like he was doing me a favor or something!
I sighed and glanced at Lizzie after the two left "So.. hows school been?"
She nodded "It's ok" I could tell from the look in her eyes that she saw right through it.
"Look I'm sorry I got all in your face but you're young and should think before you make decisions!" I explained.
"So you just assume that I didn't think? That I just decided 'Hey! I'm going to move to New York City' and then packed me things and did it? Thanks a lot Ashley! I thought it over for weeks! Anyway, who are you to talk?" She spat "Miss. I think I'll just go and elope. Forget the fact I promised my little sister she could be a bridesmaid at my wedding when she was 10 years old!"
"Oh Lizzy! I'm so sorry! I forgot!"
"Yeah! You just FORGET! You go to the other side of the country and forget all about me! You lock me out of your life as if I didn't even exist!"
From the corner of my eye I saw Josh and Mel walked back to our table.
"I mean did you ever plan on telling me about this?" The absentminded motion toward my stomach proved my theory that she was talking about my pregnancy. "I get to know I'm going to be an Aunt when the kids what? 5! And whatever you do Ashley! Don't tell Mum and Dad!" She said sarcastically. She ran out of energy then and just sat back quietly.
I was painfully aware that Josh was standing right there and had heard the whole thing "Ashley?" He asked, his voice tinted with anger "You told me you told your parents"
"I...I..." I was sinking fast. My procrastination in telling my parents and family back home of my pregnancy had finally been found out.
Saved by the bell! And one of those annoying over the door bells too. And surprise suprise, much to Melanie's shock and obvious discomfort in walks Michael with.. Amanda Bynes?
Chapter 15:
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