MMMMMkay guys! This chapter is very hintish on what is to happen next, I actually noticed I'm pretty far along in the story! This is a bit boring because it IS a transition chapter :) Sorry bout all the time I took, If you are super dissapointed with this chapter, you can PM me a question about what is going to happen next of something about a character or whatever so I can make it up to you. I'm not saying that I'll give you the entire outline...but hey, you might get some info that makes you want to read more :D HORRAY!
NEWAYS! Here is 23, ENJOY ;) :)
<3 Madeline
Chapter 23
Pulling the moist air through my nose, I stared at Gabby biting my lip then glancing at the clear door in that opened up into the arts center. Gabby’s eyes gleamed with the same stress that caused the o-so-annoying pit to form in the bottom of your stomach. The air streamed throughout my body fueling every bit of energy I would need to walk through the door. Staring up at the sky I watched the rain drops plop down onto my nose then glanced at my watch.
3:55
My mom had been extremely sympathetic today…in fact; she was so sympathetic it scared me. She had let Gabby and I stick together and skip school. She said we needed a day off, but I could tell she saw the hurt in my eyes from what had happened the night before mixed with the longing to see Nick at least once more the minute I walked through the door way after saying goodbye to the boys. Gabby and I had mostly been silent all day except for the occasional question about something that was happening on TV or the asking of what the other one wanted to do. I tried to sleep the whole time since every time I opened my eyes I found something that reminded me of Nick…it got so ridiculous that when I saw waffles or something totally irreverent I would immediately think of Nick’s eyes or his voice singing Hello Beautiful. However, my mom was just sympathetic enough to let Gabby and I stay home from school, but not sympathetic enough to let us skip acting class…not that I ever wanted to skip acting class…it was just…everyone would be staring at me and Gabby and ask us every detail of why we weren’t there on Sunday not to mention that there would be constant talk floating around the room about the audition. Personally, I wasn’t ready for it, and by watching the way Gabby stared off into the distant and shook her head ever so often to erase the thoughts in her head, I could tell Gabby felt the same way. Glancing down at my watch again, I bit my lip and looked up at Gabby who was soaked with rain water and staring through the doors into the hallway.
3:57
“We better go in…” I said softly through the rain breaking the nervous silence as I locked with Gabby’s nervous green eyes. Slowly Gabby grabbed the handle on the clear glass door and pulled it open. Following her through the door, snippets of the screaming the echoed through the halls last night raced through my head. I nervously kept walking rubbing my thumbs against the seams of my jeans determined not to turn around and sprint back out to the courtyard.
You can do this Kati…you can do this…you can-
My thoughts jerked to a holt as Gabby swung open the class room door and 8 pairs of eyes locked on me and Gabby.
I can’t do this
Starting to turn I felt a hand sternly grab my shoulder. Gabby pulled me subtly into the classroom. Not a sound was heard in that room…not a buzzing of a fan…not even the steady sound of breathing…for a moment everything stopped and I wished I was back in Nick’s arms listening to the sound of his voice telling me everything was alright. The air swirled around us as the usual flowery smell of the classroom overwhelmed me. Gabby let go of my shoulder and made her way toward an empty pair of chairs, mentally pulling me with her. As I slowly sat down on next to Gabby on a red plastic chair in the back of the room, I fixed my eyes on the wall ignoring the silence of the room and the shaking of everything in my body. Swallowing harshly I took in a deep breath of air and closed my eyes.
“Hey guys,” Devon’s voice broke the awkward silence making my eyes snap open and Gabby to whip her head around to look at Devon’s concerned aqua eyes.
“Hey,” Gabby said sharply as I closed my eyes again placing my elbow on my knee and resting my head into palm. I had no idea why we were so nervous to talk to them, they were our friends and would be just as understanding as anyone else…but I think the scariest thing was just that we were in the room with some of the future stars of the big screen and had almost nothing in common with that fact…other than we had the potential. Biting my lip harshly I punished myself for missing that audition…
That never should have happened, I shouldn’t have to worry about this…I shouldn’t have to wait for another audition, I should be organizing a plane ticket to Hollywood and living my dream right now…
Tears formed on the edge of my eyes as I whipped my head up to watch Ms. Catherine walk through the door and stop slightly when she saw us. I glued my eyes on the ground and prepared myself for hyper focus on everything acting. Girls flooded the red plastic seats as I pulled in on last breath cleared all thoughts out of my head.
How am I going to survive this…?
Suddenly the pocket of my light washed jeans buzzed making me slightly jump as Ms. Catherine started to congratulate all of the girls on an awesome audition. Slipping my phone out just enough so I could see the screen, I pressed “open message”.
I’ll make everything up to you…I promise
I miss you
- Nick
Well…That was crazy good timing
Smiling slightly, I slipped my phone back into my pocket as a new surge of energy swept over me as I looked back up at the back of the heads of all the girls who didn’t miss the audition last night, who had all the opportunities ahead of them right this moment. Though I wasn’t part of that group just yet….I knew something would get me through it, and that something would be Nick Jonas.
Taking my ear buds out of my ears and laying my ipod on my bunk, I shook my head slightly to wake up and rolled my shoulders as Joe walked through the isle toward the lounge.
“Hey Joe,” I called out as he hastily pas.sed by.
“Hey Kevin, um…have you seen Nick?” Joe asked pausing in the isle and rocking back and forth on his feet…he could never stay still…but I didn’t blame him….it had been about 9 hours since we left Kati’s house, and we only had the bus to move around in and trust me…if you added all the space up…it was about the size of a backyard pool.
“No…” I said thinking back to when I had last saw Nick which was when he got on the bus this morning after we said goodbye to Kati and Gabby. I jumped up from my bunk noticing he had practically left the girl he was crazy about for who knows how long…I hadn’t even thought about that. He was probably an emotional wreck right now and all I was doing was listening to my ipod completely ignoring that he needed some help.
“Let’s go,” I said quickly heading toward the lounge giving Joe a concerned look. I knew if I had to leave Faye that long…and not even know if I was going to see her again…I would completely break down. The horrible thing was that it would hit Nick even harder and there was no way I was leaving my brother to tear himself apart any longer. Squeezing past Joe, I searched every inch of the bunks for Nick while heading for the door way or the lounge. Hearing Nick’s voice I immediately stopped and crouched by the side of the doorway leaving Joe to smash into me.
“Ow, why did you do that…?” Joe started rubbing his nose that had jammed into the back of my head as I stopped in front of the door.
“Shhhhh,” I said motioning him to come squat next to me. If Nick was up to something important, he would immediately stop when we came in the room…and I had a feeling we needed to hear this. Joe squatted on the other side of the door while we both peered out to see Nick’s back toward us as he paced in the lounge as he held his iphone up to his ear.
“Hi…um…I was wondering if I could get the acting profiles for Kati Chase and Gabriella Adams…” Nick said as he stared at his shoes and ran his fingers through his curls.
What is he up to?
“Yeah…I’ll hold,” Nick said wiggling his shoes frozen in on spot in the middle of the lounge.
“Hey guys, why are we all smallish and by the door…” Faye questioned as she walked up behind Joe and I making our gazes snap up to her curious green eyes. Grabbing her hand and yanking her down next to me I sent her an apologetic glance as Joe held his finger in front of his mouth.
“You barely ever talk and you decide NOW is a good time, shhh, or I’ll have to poke you,” Joe laughed turning his eyes back to Nick who still stood with his back toward us. I giggled gazing at Faye embarrassed smile while I interlaced our fingers and gently rubbed her hand with my thumb.
“What is he doing?” Faye whispered to me as Nick turned to look out the wide windows of the bus as he bit his lip then returned to watching his shoes. His brown eyes were glazed over like he had been deep in thought for the past 9 hours. A rush of sympathy sped through my body. Nick didn’t seem like his relaxed, charming, artistic self he seemed confused, flustered, and lost…which was unbearable to watch... I shrugged my shoulders to answer Faye in silence before Nick started to talk to his phone once again.
“Yes, my name is Nicholas Jonas and I…yes, I’m a Jonas Brother…but I was wondering…I was wondering if I could get the…acting profiles for Kati Chase and Gabriela Adams….I owe them a favor…yes…I’ll hold” Nick let out a frustrated sigh as Joe, Faye, and I exchanged glances.
Why would he need their acting profiles…?
The person on the other end of the phone was obviously giving Nick a hard time because his eyes glazed over more and more every time I saw them and he kept on wiping his sweaty hands on his jeans.
“What is he doing?” Faye whispered fixing her eyes on the back of Nick’s head.
“He’s probably going to plan a terrorist attack on the acting studio that wouldn’t let Kati and Gabby in,” Joe said with a quite serious yet joking look on his face.
“Cause that would make since,” I said a little louder than I should have.
“Hey, I’m serious; Nick is a very violent person. One time he…” Joe was cut off when we heard footsteps get closer to us. We snapped our heads up to see Nick towering above us with his eye brow raised trying his hardest to make the situation funny, but you could tell through his eyes that he was trying to deal with something very important and didn’t want to be bothered. Just one quick look at his drooping face and red eyes you could tell Nick wouldn’t be able to handle being without Kati giggling beside him.
“Heeeeeeyyy,” I said casually like we hadn’t been ease dropping on the conversation. Nick put his hand over the microphone on his iphone and kept silent waiting for an explanation.
“So…who are you talking to?” Joe asked raising his eyebrows and sucking his lips in curiously.
“Someone,” Nick said stubbornly turning around and collapsing on the lounge couch as Joe, Faye, and I slowly stood up and followed him into the room.
“Why do you need Gabby and Kati’s acting profiles?” I asked sitting on the couch next to Nick who yet again ran his fingers through his curls and let out a small sigh.
“Yeah, what are you going to do with them?” Joe asked plopping down on the other side of Nick.
“Something that I owe them…last night was all my fault and I had an idea that I was going to…” Nick paused whipping the phone back up to his ear.
“Yes. I’m here…um, I believe it is K-A-T-I C-H-A-S-E, yes, that’s the one,” Nick side smiled at the mention of Kati’s name, “and what about Gabriela Adams, yes…I’ll hold,” Nick locked his eyes on his shoes and bit his lip in concentration. What ever Nick had up his sleeve, I knew it would be the best plan yet because it was for Kati, and right then I was sure of one thing.
Nothing is going to stop this boy from seeing Kati again…
Operation Revived: data detected for operation, backup process in progress – outcome: about 23.5% sure of saving
reader note: an acting profile is like a resume that actors send to casting directors and such