Chapter 10
Chicago
Jacob closed his phone and sat back on his bed. They were in a hotel since they had two performances to do in Chicago. Why had he called her? He knew why: to make her doubt how he felt about her. After what Mike had said, Jacob knew that he had to get back to concentrating on the band again and not Maria Carpenter. No matter how attracted to her he really was. He had never let a girl or a woman interfere with his work before and he wasn’t about to now, either.
Trevor came into the room. They were roommates this time around. He sat down on his bed and looked over at Jacob. "Jake, can I ask you something?"
"As long as it’s not about Maria," Jacob told him. "You know what, Trevor?" he asked, sitting up. "You can have her. I’m through playing her games. I need to focus on the band. Just a word of warning, though: she’s still hung up on that Geoff bastard. She may not act like it, but it’s not over yet, so proceed with caution, dude." Jacob then got up and went into the bathroom. Trevor frowned. What had changed? One thing he knew…he didn’t believe that Jacob wasn’t really interested in Maria.
Connecticut
Maria wasn’t feeling well. The party had ended an hour ago and Sarah had taken off with her friends to go to another party. Joey and her mother were cleaning up downstairs. Maria was in the bathroom, leaning over the toilet. She had gotten there just in time. She closed her eyes as a wave of nausea and dizziness passed.
"’ria? Are you okay?" Joey asked from the other side of the door.
"Not really. I hate puking," Maria answered. When she felt like she could stand without gagging, she got up and rinsed her mouth out with some mouthwash. Opening the door, she sighed when she saw Joey still standing there. He followed her to her room.
"Can I get you anything?" he asked. Maria lay down on her bed, closing her eyes. She shook her head.
"No. It’ll pass. I just want to sleep right now," she said. Joey nodded. He put her notebook down on her dresser.
"These are good. Very well written. They seem like a talented bunch of guys. I’d like to meet them," he said.
"Bullshit. You just want to meet Jacob so that you can interrogate him," Maria said, opening her eyes and looking at him. Joey laughed.
"Maybe. I couldn’t help but notice that his profile is a lot longer than the other four," he remarked. Maria hadn’t realized that.
"He’s a fascinating guy," she said. ‘Whom I shouldn’t have kissed, knowing that he was sick,’ she added to herself.
"I’ll let you rest. See you in the morning," Joey said. Maria closed her eyes again. She was still thinking about Jacob’s phone call and his questioning about whether or not her relationship with Geoff was over. He knew that it was. Maria had told him right before he had kissed her in the pool. Why would he think that all of a sudden? Maria didn’t know.
Orlando
Emily was watching TV. Heathcliff was in a ball on her lap. He had finally come around and he now trusted her…somewhat. Suddenly, there was a rattling sound and the front door opened. Emily looked over, panicked, as a man came in and stopped cold when he saw her. She moved an unhappy Heathcliff off of her lap and stood up.
"Hi. I’m Maria’s boyfriend, Geoff. I didn’t realize that anyone was here. I didn’t mean to scare you." Emily smiled nervously. She pushed her glasses up higher on her nose.
"I’m Maria’s cousin, Emily. She’s letting me stay here for a while." Boyfriend? Hadn’t Kathleen told her that Maria and her boyfriend had broken up?
"I moved out and forgot a few things. I hope you don’t mind my getting them," Geoff said. He couldn’t help but notice how cute Emily was.
"No, go right ahead," Emily told him. Geoff smiled at her and Emily noticed his bruised face. She tried not to stare and sat back down, perched on the edge of the couch. There was a knock at the door. Relieved, Emily ran to open it.
Kathleen smiled at Emily after she had opened the door. "Hi. I thought you might want some company tonight," she said. Emily nodded.
"Geoff is here," she said softly. Kathleen frowned.
"Why?" she asked.
"He said that he had forgotten some things and he’s here to pick them up," she said. Kathleen walked into the sitting room and frowned when Geoff came out of the bedroom. He smiled at Kathleen.
"Well hello. Checking up on the place?" he asked her.
"It’s over, Geoff. Stay away from Maria," she said.
"Do you see Maria? I forgot some of my stuff," Geoff said. Kathleen watched as he carried a box to the door. "Oh, and it’s not over…yet," he said. "I’m not gonna let some boy band loser take her away from me. No matter what she says, she still cares about me." Geoff left, slamming the door behind him. Kathleen shook her head.
"He seems…strange," Emily remarked.
"What he is, is trouble with a capital ‘T’," Kathleen said.
Saturday, June 23rd
Maria finished packing. She was feeling better, but she still felt a little weak. Jacob would love the fact that he had gotten her sick.
"Let’s go!" Maria turned to see Sarah standing in her bedroom doorway, suitcase and other luggage in hand.
"What?" Maria asked, confused. Sarah frowned.
"We’re going…you and me. You said that I could go with you," she said.
"I said that you could come live with me when I’m done with my assignment. It’s not done yet, so you have to wait," Maria told her. Sarah’s face fell.
"You said that after graduation, I can go with you," Sarah told her. "Have you changed your mind? Is that it?"
"No, Sarah. I’m not going back to Orlando. I’m meeting up with O-Town in Detroit. There’s still a month left on the tour. You can’t come."
"Why not?" Sarah asked. Maria sighed. Sarah walked over to her. "Please. I’m begging you. I can’t stay here anymore. I have to go with you. We can fly to Detroit together and I’ll get a flight to Orlando the day after or something. Please, don’t make me stay here another day." Maria looked at Sarah’s miserable face.
"I’ll call O-Town’s managers, but don’t get your hopes up," Maria said when Sarah smiled. Maria picked up her phone.
On the way to Detroit
The Mikes gathered all five guys into the front area of the bus. "I talked to Maria. It looks like we’re having another passenger for at least a day," Mike M. told them.
"Who?" Jacob asked.
"I know who it is. It’s her sister, Sarah, right?" Erik said. Mike M. nodded.
"Yes. So, clean out one of the junk bunks. We’re gonna need it," he said.
"You know, it’s nice having all of these women on board, but it’s getting kinda crowded," Ashley remarked as they headed back to the sleeping area to do as Mike said and clean out one of their junk bunks for Sarah.
"I hope she’s not a brat," Trevor said as they began taking all of their stuff out of the bottom bunk below his.
Alex sat in the back of the bus picking at her acrylic nails. The door opened and Dan came in. He smiled at her.
"Hey, Alex. You’ve been quiet. Are you just missing Maria or are those family problems that you mentioned on your mind?" he asked.
"Both," Alex said sadly. "Dan, I’m a good person, right? I mean, yeah, I can be annoying at times, but I’m a nice person, right?"
"Sure. You’re a lot of fun. Why would you ask me that?" Dan asked as he sat down beside her. Alex sighed.
"My brother is being released from prison next week," she said, not looking at him. Dan nodded.
"Oh," he said. Alex looked at him.
"I know that you probably don’t know what to say. I don’t blame you, but it’s just so embarrassing," she said. Dan put his arm around her.
"Why? Just because he got into some trouble, that doesn’t mean that you’re a bad person," he said. Alex smiled.
"I know. I’m just worried about seeing him again. I haven’t seen him in three years. I was the only one not to go visit him in jail. My other brother has even been to see him and he’s younger than I am. But he was close with Carlos. Now, he’s mad that I ‘deserted’ the family." Dan couldn’t really relate, so he just sat and held Alex. Erik came in and frowned when he saw them.
"Hello. What’s going on, Dan?" he asked. Dan got up.
"Nothing, man. She’s all yours," he said with a smile and left. Erik stood, looking at Alex. This is the second time he’d ‘caught’ Dan with Alex.
"What’s up?" he asked.
"I’ve got family issues and Dan was just listening," Alex told him.
"I’ll listen, too, you know. You don’t have to run to Dan," Erik said.
"Erik, I didn’t ‘run’ to Dan. He’s just really easy to talk to."
"And I’m not?" Erik asked. He shook his head and turned around, shutting the door hard behind him. Alex sighed. She didn’t want Erik to think that she was a horrible person by not standing by her family when they had needed her. He was so close to his own family that she didn’t feel comfortable talking to him about her family’s problems. Alex sighed again. She couldn’t wait until Maria got back.
"Don’t bother the guys when it looks like they don’t want to be bothered, understand?" Maria said. Sarah rolled her eyes.
"You’ve been over the ‘rules’ a million times already, Maria. I won’t be a pain. I promise," she said. Maria wasn’t so sure about that. Sarah could be a pain and not even realize that she’s being a pain. As the limo got closer to the hotel where O-Town’s bus would be waiting for them, Maria became even more nervous. She didn’t know if it was because Sarah was with her or because she’d be seeing Jacob again. As much as she didn’t want to admit it to herself, Maria really had missed him.
"Is that it?" Sarah asked as the limo pulled around the back of a hotel where a large brown and black tour bus was parked.
"That’s it," she said. The limo pulled alongside the bus and Maria saw the doors to the bus open. The Mikes stepped off. Screaming was heard and Maria saw a bunch of girls standing in the parking lot, looking at the bus. Some cops were keeping them away.
"Welcome back," Mike C. said after he’d opened the door to the limo and Maria stepped out.
"Thanks. Mike and Mike, this is my sister, Sarah. Sarah, that’s Mike M. and this is Mike C. They’re O-Town’s managers," Maria said. Sarah smiled.
"Hi," she said, shyly. After getting their luggage, they headed for the bus. Mike M. boarded first, followed by Maria, Sarah and Mike C. "This is so cool," Sarah said as she looked around.
"She’s back!" Ashley smiled when he saw Maria. Trevor was sitting with him on a seat to their right. He smiled, too.
"Hi, guys. This is Sarah. Sarah, that’s Ashley and Trevor," Maria said.
"Did you like our poster?" Ashley asked, smiling, as he shook Sarah’s hand.
"Yeah, thanks. It was cool," she said. Erik then wandered in and smiled. He lightly hugged Maria.
"Hey," he said. He turned to Sarah. "Wow, you look so much like your sister. Which is a good thing. I’m Erik-Michael."
"Hi," Sarah said. She followed Maria to the sleeping area. Dan and Dianna were in their bunks.
"That’s Dan and Dianna. Guys, this is my sister, Sarah," Maria said. They smiled and said ‘hi.’
"Where’s Alex?" Maria asked them.
"In back, I think," Dan said. "There aren’t really many places she can be, right?" Maria laughed.
"That’s true," she said. Looking down, Maria kicked Jacob’s bunk.
"What the hell?" Sarah looked down and smiled nervously as Jacob poked his head out of his bunk. He looked up at Maria. "What are you doing?"
"Come say ‘hi’ to my sister," she told him. Jacob got out of his bunk and smiled at Sarah. Sarah looked like she was about to faint.
"Hi," Jacob said, holding out his hand. Sarah took it. When she just stared at him, Jacob dropped her hand and looked over at Maria, who shrugged.
"Sarah, this is Jacob, but you have probably figured that out by now," Maria said to her. Sarah shot her a ‘don’t embarrass me’ look. Jacob smiled.
"Um…we cleared out a bunk for you. It’s a bottom one, unfortunately, but I have a bottom one, so it’s cool. You don’t have to worry about falling out of it. It’s right here, under Trevor’s." Jacob showed Sarah where to put her stuff.
"That’s fine," Sarah said, her eyes never leaving Jacob.
"I have a ticket for you if you want to see the show tonight," he said. Sarah smiled at him.
"That’d be great," she said. Jacob laughed.
"Well, actually, we could probably get you in for free, so I’ll hold onto your ticket until a later date. For one of our Florida shows," he said. ‘That would probably work out better." Maria was behind Jacob putting her stuff in her bunk.
"Thanks," Sarah said, smiling too much. Maria rolled her eyes.
"Sarah, you must be hungry. Go see if there’s anything edible up front," she ordered. Sarah frowned, but did as she was told. Jacob turned to Maria, who was looking at him with an annoyed look on her face.
"What’s wrong with you?" he asked.
"I should be asking you that," she replied. "What was that phone call all about? I told you that I wasn’t with Geoff anymore. Why don’t you believe me?"
"Is that what’s bothering you?" Jacob asked. Maria nodded. "I just wanted you to know that he was still pining for you. He’s not gonna let you go easily and I don’t want to be caught up in the middle of it," Jacob told her.
"Oh, gee, I’m sorry. I didn’t exactly force you to kiss me," she said.
"The first time you did," he told her. That was true.
"You didn’t push me away, though, did you?" Maria asked. Jacob sighed.
"I need to concentrate on the band right now. We need to write for the new album and I can’t have any distractions. You’re a distraction," he said.
"Well then, don’t worry, Mr. Musician, because I’ll be out of your hair soon," she told him, right before she pushed past him and out of the sleeping area.
"Good going, Jake. Really smooth," Dan remarked. Jacob looked down at him.
"It’s true. I can’t be distracted from my work right now," he said as he grabbed his guitar and headed for the back of the bus. He found Alex sitting in there looking depressed. "Mind if I play a little?" he asked. She shook her head. Jacob sat down and strummed the guitar lightly. Alex closed her eyes. Why couldn’t anything be easy?
A few hours later, Maria was at the front of the bus writing her article when Ashley came and sat down next to her. The show had gone well. Sarah had had a good time. She hadn’t been able to take her eyes off of Jacob while he had been performing, which had Maria a little worried. She didn’t want her sister to become infatuated with a guy that Maria was, what? Infatuated with? It was an uncomfortable situation. Maria didn’t want Sarah to know what was going on between Jacob and herself, though…if anything was, in fact, going on. Jacob had pretty much been avoiding her.
The group was now on its way to Cincinnati. Dan and Dianna were excited to be returning to their home state and it just so happened that they would be making trips to both Twinsburg and Cleveland while they were in Ohio.
"How’s the article coming?" Ashley asked her. Maria looked at him.
"Good. I don’t even think I’ll have to sit you all down for more of the group interview since you all pretty much talked about each other during your individual interviews. I can cover enough ground with what I’ve got, I think. I may have to speak to each of you a little more, but the outline for the article is there. I just have to put all the information together," she told him. Ashley nodded and leaned toward her.
"Don’t take anything that Jacob says seriously," he then said softly. Maria frowned at his sudden change in topic.
"What do you mean?" she whispered.
"Mike told him that it would be better if you guys remain ‘professionals’ and not get involved," Ashley answered. Maria had a sudden feeling of déjà vu.
"He told me that he was kidding about that," Maria said. Ashley looked confused.
"It just happened a couple of days ago," he told her. Maria thought about that. ‘Oh really? It had probably been the day that he had called me.’ Very interesting.
"Thanks, Ashley," Maria said, returning her attention to her article. Ashley smiled. He got up and headed for the back of the bus to watch a movie.
Ten minutes later, Maria put her notebook down and went to see what everyone else was doing. On her way to the back of the bus, Trevor stopped her. He got out of his bunk and smiled nervously at her.
"Uh…Maria, I was wondering if, uh, you would wanna maybe do something sometime. You know, after the tour is over, I thought that we could, um, get together," he said. Maria smiled at him.
"As friends, right?" she asked. Trevor’s face fell a little.
"Well, yeah, of course," he said. Maria nodded.
"Sure. I’d love to do something with you," she said. Trevor smiled, but it looked a little forced. He turned and walked to the front of the bus.
"You should go for him." Maria frowned and looked down at Jacob’s bunk. He pushed the curtain open and looked up at her.
"Really? Why?" she asked.
"He likes you and he’s a great guy," Jacob answered.
"I wouldn’t want to distract him or anything," she said. "You’re a liar. You pretend to be all honest, but when it suits you, you lie." Jacob stood up and faced her.
"What have I lied about exactly?" he asked. Maria crossed her arms over her chest.
"I’m not a distraction. Mike told you to be a professional where I’m concerned, so you all of sudden pretend to not be interested. Why weren’t you just honest with me instead of calling me and acting like you still think I’m hooked on Geoff or telling me that I’m distracting you from your writing? What’s the deal?" she asked him. Jacob looked at his feet, then back up at her.
"You are a distraction and I need to concentrate on the group right now. I don’t want to get into another relationship," Jacob told her.
"Who’s talking about relationships? I’m not and I didn’t think that you were either," Maria said. "I thought that we were just having fun."
"Look, I don’t want to play games here," Jacob said. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You want honesty, fine. I like you. You know that. I’m attracted to you. That’s obvious, especially after what happened in the pool, but my career comes first. We’re working on our next album and I have to be focused on that right now. With you around, it’s not happening. I’m sorry. That’s just the way it has to be." Maria had to admit it: she was a little hurt, but she wouldn’t let Jacob know that.
"Thank you for being honest with me. I have a job to do too, and I need to concentrate on that, so I guess it’s better if we remain professionals. After everything that happened with Geoff, it’s probably a good idea. So, we’ll just be friends, then?" Maria asked, sticking out her hand. Jacob looked at it. She was taking this extremely well. He had hoped that maybe she would…what? Beg him to be with her? It would never happen. She wasn’t the ‘begging’ type. Maybe she had been ‘playing’ him after all.
Jacob took her hand and looked her in the eye. "Yeah, we can be friends," he said. Maria flashed him a knee-weakening smile as they shook hands. She walked by him and disappeared into the back of the bus. Jacob sighed. No woman, not even Janie, had affected him the way that Maria was currently affecting him. And she was going to be around for another month. Jacob sighed heavily. It was going to be a long month.