Nick’s point of view

“So let me get this straight,” said Kevin. “You went into a chat room, talked to a girl, took her phone number, called her, and then went to her house??” he exclaimed. Now I’m gonna get it.
“Well, in a nutshell, yes,” I said. Remember when I pictured Kev being so mad that his head would look like it’s about to explode? Well, that’s what he looked like then, and this time, I wasn’t laughing.
“NICK! Didn’t you realize the dangers of doing all those things?” yelled Kevin.
I shifted uncomfortably. “Well, I just knew that it was gonna be fine, besides, Bri already gave me the whole you’re-famous-so-you-gotta-be-careful speech,” I said and then saw Brian put his hands over his face.
Kevin turned to look at his cousin. “You knew about this?” he asked. Brian nodded while glaring at me. “Why didn’t you stop him?” asked Kevin.
“Well, I tried, but he wouldn’t listen, so finally I just gave up,” explained Brian.
“I can’t believe this!” exclaimed Kevin throwing his hands in the air. He turned to me again. “Nick, I hope you realize how lucky you are that nothing bad happened from this.”
“I realize that believe me,” I said. Well actually, I realized the lucky part because I met Dawn.
“Good, just don’t do anything like this again,” said Kevin and then left the room. I sighed in relief. Okay, that didn’t go as badly as I had thought it would. The other three guys left after Kevin and soon I was alone in my room. Just me and my thoughts, now that’s scary.

Dawn’s point of view

I was sitting in my bed and reading a book when I heard Stacey come in.
“Hey,” I greeted her.
“Hey,” said Stacey glumly. I frowned.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Dawn, there’s something I gotta tell you and you won’t like it,” said Stacey. Uh oh, this sounds bad.
“Ok, so tell me,” I said expecting some horrible news.
“Ok, so remember when I applied to that university in California?” asked Stacey. I nodded. “Well, I got a letter today saying that I’ve been accepted.” Said Stacey. HUH? I was expecting bad news! I don’t get it, why isn’t Stacey jumping up and down? She’s wanted to go to that university for as long as I can remember!
“Stace! That’s wonderful!” I exclaimed and hugged her. But Stacey’s unhappy expression remained. “Why am I more happy than you?” I asked.
“Because, if I go it means that I’ll have to move to California,” said Stacey sadly. Oh, that thought didn’t even occur to me.
“Stace, you’ve been wanting to go there forever! I think that you should go,” I said determinedly. Stacey still looked unsure.
“But what about you?” she asked.
“What about me?” I asked. I don’t see how I fit into this equation.
“Can you afford living here by yourself?” asked Stacey.
“Sure I can, it will be boring without a roommate, but I’m sure things will work out,” I replied. I looked over at Stacey, who was chewing on her lower lip, something that she always did when she was nervous.
“I don’t know,” she said uncertainly.
“What’s not to know? You got into a great university! You should definitely go!” I told her.
Stacey smiled. “Thanks, and I think I will go,” she finally decided.
“Good,” I smiled back. “When do you have to leave?” I asked.
“It says as soon as I can in the letter,” replied Stacey looking at the letter in her hand.
“Okay, but don’t worry, we’ll organize everything and I’ll help you pack,” I offered.
“Dawn you’re sick,” said Stacey in her best I-know-what’s-best-for-you tone.
“Dawn you’re sick,” I mimicked. “I’m not gonna be sick forever you know.”
“Yes, but you’re sick now and that means that you’re in no condition to help me pack,” said Stacey.
“Do I care? No. I’m gonna help you pack and I don’t care what you say,” I said and to prove it I started to get out of my bed.
“Okay, okay,” said Stacey stopping me. “You can help me pack tomorrow but please stay in bed for the rest of today.”
“Yes mommy,” I said but couldn’t help but suppress a laugh.
“Ha ha,” said Stacey and then got up. “Get some sleep,” she ordered and then walked out of my room. I stuck my tongue out at her but she didn’t see it. Yes I know, I was acting like a two year old, but so what? It was fun.

Nick’s point of view

I woke up to the buzzing of my alarm clock and looked at it. Six in the morning, it should be illegal to get up at this time. I stretched and then rolled over. I proceeded to close my eyes for what I thought would be just a few more minutes…

ONE HOUR LATER

“NICK! Are you ready yet?” yelled AJ from the other side of my door waking me up.
“Damn,” I said under my breath as I looked at my alarm clock and realized that I had managed to oversleep yet again.
“NICK! Are you even up?” yelled AJ again.
“Yeah I’m up, just give me a few more minutes!” I yelled back and practically ran to the bathroom. Five minutes later I had managed to take a very quick shower and grab some clothes out of my still unpacked suitcase. I was in the process of putting on my shoes when I heard AJ at the door yet again.
“Nick, open the door!” yelled AJ. I made my way over to the door, wearing one shoe and holding the other one in my hand and unlocked it. AJ walked in all dressed and ready to go.
“You overslept again didn’t you?” he asked surveying my mess.
“Yes, go ahead, rub it in,” I said tying my shoe and looking for my hat, because frankly, dealing with my hair was just not an option. I saw the hat and quickly put it on my head. “Okay, I’m ready,” I announced. Then I saw AJ laughing. “What’s so funny?” I asked.
“Have you seen yourself in the mirror?” asked AJ.
“No, why?” I asked suspiciously.
“Come here,” said AJ pushing me towards the mirror in my room. At first I didn’t see anything wrong as I looked at my reflection, but when I looked closer I saw what AJ was cracking up about, in all my haste, I managed to put on my shirt inside out. I turned red with embarrassment and quickly took off and reversed my shirt.
“Anything else?” I asked looking at AJ who had stopped laughing but was simply grinning now.
“Nope, let’s go,” he said. But for some strange reason he was still grinning. I shrugged and followed him out the door.
When we got downstairs, all the other guys were already there waiting for me and AJ. I greeted the guys and they looked strangely at me.
“What?” I asked.
“Did you oversleep again?” asked Howie.
“Yeah so?” I asked still not getting why everyone was looking at me weirdly.
“Oh nothing,” said Howie starting to laugh.
“Nick, did you by any chance get dressed in the dark today?” asked Brian trying not to laugh.
“No, why?” I asked carefully. I’m gonna kill AJ, he told me that there was nothing else wrong with my appearance.
“Look down,” said Kevin, also laughing now. I looked down and saw what they were laughing about; my left pant leg somehow got tucked into my sock and to top it all off, I was wearing two different sneakers. See, this is what happens when you have too many shoes that look alike.
Without saying a word, I quickly turned around and ran back up to my room, silently thinking about some very nasty things that I could do to AJ.
When I returned downstairs five minutes later, I was relieved to see that none of the guys looked at me strangely this time. Maybe it was because they were still cracking up.
“What is this, torture Nick day or something?” I mumbled. The guys proceeded to laugh. “Fine, whatever, I’m going to get on the bus, you four can stay here and laugh all you want for all I care,” I grumbled and went outside to get on the bus. Once inside, I began to sulk. I wasn’t even awake for two hours and this day already stunk. Thankfully there’s no concert today or I’d probably lose my pants on stage or something, courtesy of my wonderful luck.

Dawn’s point of view

I woke up feeling totally great. I felt no trace of my flu. I quickly jumped out of my bed and ran into Stacey’s room.
“Hey guess what?” I exclaimed waking Stacey up.
“What?” she asked sleepily.
“I’m not sick anymore!” I announced and grinned.
“Really?” asked Stacey sitting up.
“Yep, I woke up and it was all gone,” I said. I can’t believe it’s gone; this is the best day of my life so far! Okay, after the one where Nick came to my house of course.
“That’s wonderful!” exclaimed Stacey finally fully awake and able to share my enthusiasm.
“And one more thing,” I said sitting down. “Remember Lana?” I asked. Stacey nodded. “Well, I spoke to her a couple of days ago and she said that she was looking for a place, preferably with a roommate!”
“Really? That works out so perfectly!” said Stacey her smile getting as wide as mine.
“I know, I can’t wait to call her and tell her the news, I just hope she hasn’t found an apartment yet,” I said.
“I’m positive that she didn’t, it’s impossible to find a decent apartment in New York,” said Stacey laughing. I joined in, it felt so great to laugh and not worry about my stupid throat. “Now get off my bed! I gotta go take a shower and stuff,” said Stacey almost literally pushing me off of her bed.
“Okay, okay, I can take a hint,” I said scrambling off her bed and heading towards the door. I wonder how Nick’s day is going. I took a quick look at Stacey’s alarm clock and saw that it was only 7:50 am. Well, Nick should be up by now, and I’m sure he’s having a great day, I mean, it’s only morning, how bad can things be?
I got back to my room and tried to find Lana’s phone number on my desk, which, might I mention, was a huge mess. I finally located it under some papers, which I’m sure were still from my high school days, and took my phone. I contemplated whether or not I should call her. I mean it’s not even eight yet, but then again, Lana was always a morning person. I went ahead and dialed her number and waited for her to pick up.
“Hello?” I heard Lana’s cheery voice.
“Hey, what’s up?” I said just as cheerfully.
“Nothing much, how’s your flu?” asked Lana.
“All gone. Listen, the reason I’m calling is that I might have a great idea. Did you find an apartment yet?” I asked, crossing my fingers and hoping that she hasn’t.
“No, did you know that it’s impossible to find an apartment in New York?” asked Lana in frustration. I giggled, that’s exactly what Stacey was saying minutes before.
“Well, I might have some good news,” I said. “Stacey got accepted into a university in California, which means that she has to move there. So I was wondering, if you want, you could move in with me in Stacey’s room,” I said and hoped that Lana would take me up on my offer.
“Are you serious??” exclaimed Lana. “That would be absolutely wonderful!” she said her voice full of happiness.
“Great!” I said enthusiastically. “So start packing your stuff, and I’ll call you back either today or tomorrow and tell you when Stacey is supposed to move.”
“Okay, and thank you thank you thank you!” exclaimed Lana.
“You’re welcome you’re welcome you’re welcome,” I said laughing. “So I’ll talk to you later okay?”
“Yep, later, bye bye,” said Lana.
“Bye,” I said and hung up. I ran back to Stacey’s room but found it empty. “Stace?” I called. “Are you in the bathroom?”
“Yeah, did you call Lana?” she asked.
“Yep, and she hasn’t found a place and she is totally psyched about moving in!” I yelled.
“That’s perfect!” said Stacey coming out of the bathroom drying her hair with a towel. She looked around her room. “So how long do you think it’ll take us to pack up all my junk?” she asked.
“Hmm, I don’t know, it took you a year to unpack it,” I said laughing.
“Not really, six months tops,” grinned Stacey. “But seriously, I’m planning on moving on Sunday.”
“But that’s only two days away!” I exclaimed. “How are we supposed to pack your stuff in two days? We’ll need an army!”
“No, I’m sure that if we work fast, we’ll be done in no time,” said Stacey surveying all her stuff thrown all around the room.
“I hope you’re right,” I said and then went back to my own room to take a shower and change.

Nick’s point of view

Well let’s see, can this day be any more horrible that it already has been? No, I don’t think so. Let me recap, after my nice waking up incident, I managed to knock over my own microphone stand and Brian afterwards during rehearsal, I forgot the lyrics to a song that, ironically, I wrote, and I completely forgot about the Z100 interview and I just sat there going “Um…um…um…” like a total moron. Ugh, I wish this day would end already! I mean I’ve had bad days before, but this is ridiculous! But on the bright side, and the only bright side, I am going to see Dawn today; I hope she’s feeling better. I haven’t even had time to call her because of everything that’s been going on.
“Nick are you okay?” asked Brian.
“Oh yeah, I’m just peachy,” I answered sarcastically, and turned to look into the window.
“Come on Frack, it wasn’t that bad,” said Brian. Oh yeah, way to be comforting Bri, you didn’t knock anything over.
“Bri, this is quite possibly the worst day of my life,” I said still not looking at him.
“Now you’re overreacting,” said Brian.
“I am not,” I retorted.
“Are you going to see Dawn today?” asked Brian trying to change the subject.
“Yeah, I’m gonna go over to her house after I change clothing, carefully this time,” I said, the thought of Dawn instantly lifting up my spirits.
“Yeah you do that,” said Brian chuckling. He saw the non-amused expression on my face and cleared his throat. “Yeah, okay, so have fun Nick,” he said and went to watch some TV with the rest of the guys in the back of the bus.
When we got back to the hotel it was already around three o’clock. I quickly showered, changed my clothing, and dialed Dawn’s number as I was already out the door.
“Hey,” I said when I heard her pick up.
“Hi, what’s up?” she asked. Wow, he voice sounds so much better. She sounds like she’s perfectly fine. “How do you feel?” I asked.
“Great!” said Dawn enthusiastically.
“Really? You’re not sick anymore?” I asked amazed.
“Nope, I’m one hundred percent healthy!” she announced and I could feel a smile appearing on my face for the first time today.
“That’s wonderful!” I exclaimed. “So what are you up to?”
“Well, Stacey got into this university in California and I’m helping her pack because she wants to move on Sunday,” explained Dawn. “Hang on a second,” she said. I could hear he calling out to Stacey, something about folding clothes before packing them. “Okay, I’m back,” she said about a minute later. “It total mayhem around here.”
“So I hear,” I said laughing. “You need any help?” I offered.
“You mean from you?” she asked.
“Well yeah, do you hear anyone else offering?” I asked.
“True, then yeah, it would be great if you could help,” said Dawn accepting my offer.
“Okay, cool, so I’ll be at your house in about five minutes,” I said, then looked out the window of the car and realized that I would be there sooner than that. “Um, make that two minutes,” I said correcting myself.
“Nick, are you in a car?” asked Dawn.
“Yep, and almost at your door,” I said, smiling as her house came into view.
“Oh really?” she asked slightly amused.
“Yep,” I said and got out of the car and walked to her door. “Dawn, can I come in?” I asked laughing.
“What?” she asked and then got what I was saying. I stood in front of the door and a few seconds later it opened and Dawn stood there with her cell phone still in her hand. She looked absolutely beautiful. She was wearing light-blue jeans and a white tank top, and yes, while to some people that might not sound like model material, to me, she was breathtaking. She turned off the phone and looked at me.
“Hey, you hung up on me,” I said pretending to be hurt.
“Aww, I’m sorry,” said Dawn grinning at me. “Now come on, we’ve got a lot of work to do!” she said taking my arm and pulling me into the house.
“Okay, I’m coming,” I said laughing as she almost literally dragged me through the kitchen and into the living room.
I whistled. “Wow, this place is a mess!” I said looking around. There were boxes as far as I could see; various articles of clothing were thrown all over the place, and other things, which I presumed were Stacey’s, were lying on the furniture and the floor. “You weren’t kidding when you said that it was mayhem over here.”
“Yeah I know, believe me,” said Dawn laughing. “Now grab a box and follow me,” she directed. I grabbed a big empty box closest to me and followed Dawn into Stacey’s room, which, if it was possible, was an even bigger mess than the living room.
“Hey Nick,” I heard.
“Stacey?” I asked unsure of where the voice came from.
“Yeah, I’m in here!” she said more loudly this time and I realized that it was coming from the closet. I stepped over a chair and made my way over to the closet. There I saw Stacey rummaging through a pile of clothing and shoes.
“Need this?” I asked holding up the box.
“Yes! Desperately!” said Stacey grabbing the box from me. “Thank you!”
“No problem,” I said and laughed as she began throwing things into the box.
“Stacey, don’t you remember what I said?” asked Dawn when she saw Stacey throwing stuff. “Fold clothing before you pack them, they’ll take up less space!”
“She’s right, take it from a person who’s packed many suitcases in the past eight years,” I said. Stacey looked back and forth from me to Dawn and surrendered.
“Fine, in that case, help me fold this stuff,” she said dumping out the contents of the box. Dawn laughed and knelt down beside her friend.
“Nick, while me and Stacey pack this, can you pack those?” asked Dawn pointing at the pile of stuffed animals on Stacey’s bed.
I nodded. “Sure, no problem, just point me to the box they’re supposed to go in and it’s as good as done,” I said. Dawn pointed to a box lying near the bed; I picked it up and got to work.

chapter 2 chapter 4