Ok...so here's the new chapter...I really like it...especially the first POV...but ya'll be the judges! :D
This chapter is dedicated to Sierra...my real-life schemer and dreamer... +P <<<That's Faye...Sierra's drunken smiley...
Chapter 8:
“Not a chance!” Alyssa spat as I waved three VIP pas.ses in front of her face. It was the 1 a.m. the morning after homecoming and we had just gotten back to Alyssa’s house and slipped into our comfiest pajamas. Even though Mads and I were still mad at Alyssa for what she did to Kevin, we had decided to stick to the original plan of sleeping over at her house since we knew the last thing she wanted was to be alone. We both realized it was not going to help to berate her and it was better to just try to understand, especially after seeing her in tears outside on the bench. We had all laid out blankets and pillows in front of Alyssa’s home theatre system and were getting ready to cuddle up and fall asleep watching 27 Dresses when I decided it was the right time to show Alyssa the boys’ homecoming present for us: 3 VIP passes to tomorrow night’s concert. But apparently, that wasn’t sitting well with Alyssa.
“Oh, come on, Alyssa,” Madeline whined jokingly, “It’s the concert of the year! Who wouldn’t want to go?”
“Me!” Alyssa said stubbornly, grabbing the remote and focusing on fast-forwarding through the previews.
“Alyssa, please,” I pouted. “I want to see my boyfriend!”
“Me too,” Madeline mimicked my pout and we both scooted toward Alyssa.
Alyssa rolled her eyes. You could always know it was bad if a puppy-dog pout didn’t break Alyssa. “You can find some other girl to use that spare ticket on. Just yell out on the street,” she said, still staring at the previews going by at a fast pace.
“Lyssy!” I said, bringing out the cutesy nickname I had made up when I was hyper one day. “You’re my best friend. It would be no fun without my best friend! Please.” I brought out the pout even more and Mads did the same.
Alyssa rolled her eyes again but this time a smile crept across her lips as she pushed our faces away.
Score! Sierra always wins!
“Fine,” she said softly. “But I’m not speaking to Kevin…because he won’t want to speak to me anyway.” I could see tears starting to form in her eyes and I immediately nodded and dropped the subject, satisfied that I had won that round. I scooted close to her and she laid her head on my shoulder as the movie came on and the tears started to flow from Alyssa’s eyes for probably the third or fourth time that night. I peered over Alyssa’s head to give Mads a concerned look and she nodded with the same look of worry in her eyes as in mine before laying her head on Alyssa’s other shoulder. I laid my head on Alyssa’s and with that we fell asleep dreaming of James Marsden and romantic weddings, hoping that tomorrow night would be better for Alyssa and Kevin.
*The next evening*
“Thank you so much, we love you guys!” Kevin yelled into the microphone before we all ran off the stage after both of our encore songs were finished. Nick and I followed behind Kevin to the side of the and as soon as we were out of view of the audience, Kevin whipped around and glared at both of us. “Do you two want to explain to me why you invited Alyssa here?!” he snapped.
“So you noticed?” I smirked, as Nick and I exchanged amused glances. “Couldn’t help but notice those big brown eyes, huh Kev?”
Kevin looked away and began to focus on packing up his guitar. “I’m not talking to her,” he mumbled.
“I knew you were mad at her,” Nick laughed. “She hurt you didn’t she?”
“No!” he demanded, side-glaring at his kid brother. “It’s just…I don’t think she wants to talk to me.”
“Maybe so,” I said, patting him on the shoulder, “but it will certainly be hard to marry her and have kids one day if you two don’t talk to each other.” Nick and I burst out laughing at my clever remark but Kevin was not at all amused and instead rolled his eyes and stormed off toward the warm-up room. That made Nick and I crack up even more because now we were sure we were right.
“You two might want to compose yourself for the ladies,” a deep voice said behind us. Nick and I both spun around at the same time, bumping heads in the process.
“Ouch!” I yelped. “Nick, keep your big head away from mine!” I laughed, rubbing my sore noggin. Then I looked ahead to see Big Rob standing there with Sierra, Madeline, and Alyssa.
“I’m sorry!” Nick snapped before running over to Madeline and taking her in his arms and kissing her gently.
A huge smile appeared on my lips as I saw Sierra’s blue eyes and I ran over to her and wrapped my arms around her waist. “Sierra, Nick hurt me head,” I whined and pouted playfully.
“Well, maybe if it wasn’t so big…” she giggled, wrapping her arms around my neck.
I stuck my tongue out at her. “My head’s not big! But it does need a kiss,” I pouted again, pulling her closer to me. She giggled again and leaned forward and kissed the sore spot on my head. Then I leaned forward and pressed my lips to hers, feeling like it had been twelve months instead of twelve hours since I had kissed her last.
After a moment, Sierra pulled away smiling then nudged her head toward Alyssa, who was standing aside alone looking at the floor. I nodded at Sierra and let go of her waist and walked over and pulled Alyssa into a hug. She pulled away after a second and smiled appreciatively before Nick came over and gave her a hug as well.
“I think she needed that,” Sierra whispered to me soft enough so Alyssa was out of ear-shot.
“How are we going to get her and Kevin to talk to each other?” I whispered back.
Sierra flashed me a surprised look and elbowed me softly in the ribs. “Are you telling me you don’t have a plan?”
I grinned and wrapped one arm around her waist. “I always have a plan,” I whispered into her ear.
I sat in the back of the boys’ bus with Nick, Sierra, Joe and Alyssa. We were savoring the time we had together before the boys’ bus had to depart for Arizona by watching a movie in their back lounge. We were also waiting to launch Joe’s plan to get Alyssa in the same room as Kevin, who was, according to Big Rob, playing Guitar Hero in the warm up room until Alyssa left. I had volunteered to supervise and make sure everything went well while Frankie was more than happy to be the bait.
I felt Nick softly squeeze my hand and I looked at him to see him nudge his head toward Joe and Sierra. I turned to look and them and saw Joe nod at me and nudge his head at Frankie. I looked at Frankie and he nodded and thus the plan was set for take-off.
“Nick,” Frankie looked at Nick and fake-whined, “can we play Star Wars on the X-Box?”
“Frank, we’re trying to watch a movie,” Nick played along, “but I’m sure you can go play in the venue until we leave if you take someone with you.”
With that, Frankie got out of his seat and scrambled over to Alyssa. “Would you like to come play with me, Alyssa? I could teach you how!”
Alyssa smiled at Frankie but shot me and Sierra each worried looks, obviously a little anxious about the possibility of running into Kevin inside the Venue.
“It will be fun, Alyssa, you should go,” I told her enthusiastically. She nodded and stood up. Frankie took her hand and started to lead her out of the room.
Just as choreographed, Frankie paused to turn around one last time, “Anybody else want to go with us?”
“I’ll go with you, Frankie. I always wanted to learn to play X-Box anyway.” I replied as I stood up.
“Good luck,” Nick whispered in my ear, squeezing my hand. I smiled at him as I let go of his hand and followed Frankie and Alyssa off the bus and into the venue.
As we walked through the door of the venue, I spotted Big Rob and nodded to him. He nodded back and started to follow us.
“Are you three off to the warm-up room?” Big Rob asked casually.
“I guess,” Alyssa laughed, still being pulled along by Frankie “I’m going wherever Frankie is taking me.”
Big Rob laughed deeply and nodded. “I’ll make sure you get there safely.” Alyssa nodded back as Frankie rounded the corner and stopped at a cream-colored door.
Frankie opened the door and peered inside. You could here the sound of Guitar Hero coming from the room and I prayed silently that the sound wouldn’t tip Alyssa off too quickly. Frankie started to pull Alyssa inside quickly, apparently realizing the urgency of the situation.
That kid sure catches on fast.
“Hey Fra—“ I heard Kevin say from inside the room, obviously pausing when he saw Alyssa enter the room with him.
“Now, Frank!” I yelled before Alyssa or Kevin had the chance to really react. Frankie came bolting out from the door and he and I slammed it shut, holding it shut as Big Rob quickly locked it with a key he had strategically acquired from the venue management. With that, all three of us ran down the hall and out the door of the venue and onto the bus, leaving Kevin and Alyssa behind to talk out there problems.
“How’d it go?” Sierra asked bright-eyed as we came into the back lounge panting.
I flashed her a thumbs up as I sat down next to Nick, lying my head on his shoulder so I could catch my breath. And with that, we turned our attention back to the movie and waited until it was time to leave.
Dear God, please let this work!
Thanks for reading! More really soon because I really kind of hated ending the chapter like that...
~ Faye
