“Hey Laura!” the producer said the next morning.
“Good morning Tom! What’s on the schedule for today?”
“Well, we’re going to lay the tracks for as many songs as we can get through!”
“Okay, well, let’s get started!” I walked into the booth and slipped the headphones over my ears.
“What do you want to start with?” Tom asked.
“Hmm…what about Boy Next Door?” Tom nodded, and I picked up my guitar. I made sure it was tuned, and strummed the first couple of chords of the song. My voice entered at the right time, and I started singing. Boy Next Door was a soulful song, about finding love where you least expect it. I wrote it after watching two of my friends pretend they were just friends for so many years, and they finally realized that they liked each other, and had finally acted on their feelings. They were currently engaged, and I was going to sing the song at their wedding, which was in a couple of weeks.
We recorded the song about ten times before we were both satisfied.
“Do you want to take a short lunch break now? Susan just went to order some pizzas.”
“Sounds good.” I yawned as I put my guitar back in its case and walked into the main room. I laid down on one of the couches and closed my eyes.
“Long night?” a voice asked from the doorway.
“Oh yeah!” I smiled, and scooted over to give Chris some room.
“Haven’t seen you in a while!” he said, tickling my foot.
“Yeah, what have you been up to?” I asked, tickling him back.
“I’ve been hanging out with the guys from The Calling. I saw them on the beach the other day playing volleyball, and Alex called me over. He remembered me from the New Years’ Eve party I escorted you to last year. We’ve been cruising around for girls and hanging out. By the way, Alex says hi and he hopes to see you soon!”
“That’s cool! So, have you found any girls yet?”
“Nope! Still looking! So, how was the date last night?”
“It was awesome! We went to a carnival and had so much fun! He even won me a stuffed animal! Nick is so much fun to be around! He’s really sweet and he brings laughter wherever he is! He’s a lot like you in many ways!”
“Well, just as long as he remembers that if he does anything to you, he’s going to have his head on a platter!”
“I don’t think that would go over too well with his fans,” I laughed.
“Well, he’s been warned!”
“So, wanna stay for lunch? We have pizzas on the way!”
“Sure! But I’m meeting the guys after.”
“I’m glad that you’re having fun! You’re coming to the game with us tomorrow, right? You have to be on my team! We’re allowed to pick one person that we’ll definitely be with, and then MTV makes the rest of the teams!”
“You know I’d never pass up a volleyball game! We’re gonna kick everyone’s butt!”
“Oh yeah! No one has ever been able to beat the two of us when we’re on a team!” I smiled.
“How’s the album going?”
"It’s going really well so far! We’ve completely laid three tracks, and hopefully we’ll be able to get another one laid today! And they’re letting me put all my own songs on this one! And I get more instrumental solos! I’ll still have a back-up band of course, but they’re giving me more freedom!”
“I’m really proud of you, you know that, right?” Chris asked, taking me hands in his.
“Yeah, I know,” I smiled, looking in his eyes. All of a sudden he leaned in and kissed my lips. I kissed back until I realized what was happening, and pulled away. I heard the door to the room slam, and saw a blur of blond hair. I ran to the door and saw Nick run around the corner. I ran after him and screamed his name.
“Nick! Nick, slow down! Nick!!” I shouted as I saw him get in his car. I banged on his window, and I saw his angry face with tears flowing down. He pulled out of the parking lot and I stood there, not knowing what just happened. I turned around and saw Chris standing in the doorway. His face showed the surprise and uncertainty that we both were feeling.
“What the hell have I done?” I choked out. He pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around me.
“It’ll be okay. We just somehow got caught up in the moment. We both know it didn’t mean anything, and so we should just forget it happened,” Chris said.
“Yeah, but Nick doesn’t know that,” I whispered as tears started falling freely from my eyes.
“Then it’s your job to tell him. He’s confused right now, but I’m sure that he’ll cool down after you explain.”
“I sure hope so,” I said as I continued to cry in his arms.
“Here, I’ll drive you to the hotel. You’re in no condition to drive, and the last thing you need is to get in an accident!”
“I can’t leave! I have to record some more!”
“Wait here for a minute!” Chris said as he ran into the building.
I slid down to the floor and waited for him to return.
“Let’s go,” Chris said when he came back and helped me to my feet.”
“But I can’t!”
“Shh, don’t worry. I talked to Tom and he said that he’ll work on completing the songs you’ve already recorded and that I can take you back to the hotel.”
“Okay, thank you Chris,” I said, getting into the passenger seat. My eyes turned to the window and I was lost in thought. My tears had stopped, and all I could think of was Nick’s face through his car window.
“Laura? Princess? We’re here,” Chris’ voice broke through my thoughts. I opened the door and ran into the lobby and up to the elevator. The door opened almost immediately, and the elevator seemed to be moving in slow motion. When the door finally opened, I ran out and hit something. I looked up to see Justin’s worried face.
“What’s wrong?” Justin asked taking my arm.
I pulled away and ran down the hall towards Nick’s room. I started banging on his door.
“Go away!” Nick’s yelled through the door.
“Nick! Let me in! Please! Let me explain!” I cried as I continued to bang on his door.
“Go away you slut!” he yelled.
After hearing that I fell to the floor and curled up into a ball. I felt arms surround me and lift me up. I heard a door open and felt a soft surface under me as the hands disappeared.
“Laura? What’s wrong sweetie?” I heard a voice ask.
“Laura? Shh, everything will be okay,” another voice said.
I felt someone sit down next to me and pull me into their arms. I cried into their chest and the person started rocking me slowly.
“I wonder what happened,” a voice I recognized as Ani’s asked.
“I’m not sure. One second I was walking towards the elevator, and the next she ran into me. Her eyes looked like she had been crying. She pulled away and ran down to Nick’s room. She started yelling in and he told her to go away,” I heard Justin explain.
“Yeah, I heard him call her a slut! How dare he call her that! Ugh! Men suck!” Sayde puffed.
I heard the door open and then close as someone walked into the room.
“What did Nick say?” Ani asked.
“Well, after forcing the door open, I found him crying and tearing up all the pillows in the room. I asked what was wrong, and the only thing he said was, ‘she’s a slut! I thought she’d be different, but she’s just like the rest of them!’ I have no idea what he meant. I figured it was best to leave him alone until he calms down,” Brian told everyone.
I lay on the bed and tried to calm down. The tears stopped, but I just lay with my face in the person’s chest.
“Laura? Are you feeling a little better? JC asked. I looked up and saw everyone except Nick and Chris who was off with the guys from The Calling.
“He’s…he’s never going to believe me,” I stuttered.
“He’s never going to believe what?” Ani asked.
“When I was at the studio, Chris stopped by on one of my breaks. We started talking about my new album and Chris was saying how proud he is of me. All of a sudden, we kissed. It didn’t mean anything because we both felt it was like kissing our brother or sister, but Nick had walked into the room during the kiss. I ran after him but he wouldn’t stop. When he pulled out, he turned to look at me, and I saw the tears and hurt in his eyes. I have no idea what to do! He won’t even listen to me, and he thinks I’m a slut!” I finished, once again crying.
“The kiss was an accident and really didn’t mean anything, right?” Kevin asked.
“It meant nothing! Chris and I are best friends and that’s it!”
“Well, then I’m sure that Nick will understand. Nick is a complete hothead when he doesn’t know what’s happening and I’m sure that he’ll let you talk after he calms down,” Brian said.
“I sure hope so,” I sniffed.
“Well, we should all leave you alone. A nap would be good for you right now,” Ani shooed everyone out. I started to get up and leave JC’s room, but he pushed me back down and said that I could stay there since the girls were all going back to my room. I curled up on the bed and closed my eyes.
“Thank you JC,” I said, drifting off to sleep.
“Anything for you, Laura. Anything for you,” JC replied before closing the door, but I had already fallen asleep.
Chapter 17
Chapter 19
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