Hello, everyone. I finally have a new laptop, so I can update more often. I apologize for not updating for months. I would've updated my other stories the other day, but all of my documents had been deleted when I finally logged back on. I kinda rage-quit for a few days, heh. I'm going to start with this story, and then I'll get back to rewriting and updating all of my other stories. I'm starting with this story because two of my stories are about to end, so I need something to focus writing on once I finish those. I'll be updating The Haunted once I finish The Lightness and Darkness and the Mystery of the Keys.

Gone

Alvin Seville slowly sat up from his bed. He ran a hand through his hair and took a moment to look around his room. His room, painted red, was a complete mess as usual. Well, more than usual. He had gone into an angry fit the night before and tore his room to shreds.

Last night, he had gotten into a fight with his girlfriend. Wait, no. His now ex-girlfriend. Brittany Miller.

He couldn't even remember what they had been fighting about at the moment. It was more than one thing, though. They always fought nowadays. Alvin and Brittany had just graduated high school the other day, and they were trying to decide what to do now.

You see, Brittany wanted to be a model, and she had a better chance at that in New York. She had always dreamed of going to New York, but Alvin wanted to stay in Los Angeles to pursue a music career. He had no doubt that they both could meet their goals if they went to the separate cities, but he also didn't want Brittany to be so far away. He didn't tell that to Brittany, though.

Alvin Seville had never been a touchy-feely type. He wasn't good with his emotions. Brittany didn't like that. Brittany's favorite thing was romance, and Alvin was a very romantic person, but he never tried to be romantic with Brittany. That had always frustrated Brittany, but she would never tell Alvin that.

Alvin tossed his legs over the side of the bed. He looked to his beside table and tensed for a moment when he saw a picture of Brittany. A small smile spread across his face. It was one of his favorite pictures of her. She wasn't wearing any makeup, which was very rare, but she didn't really need make up because she was beautiful. Her hair was down, which was also very rare. She would have killed him if she knew he had a picture of her like this. He had taken the picture when she wasn't looking, so she was looking to her left in the photo. Her eyes shone brightly with the sun reflecting off of them. A wide smile was spread across Brittany's face, and she was even showing her dimples. She was gorgeous.

He saw the broken frame and sighed as he remembered the fight last night. The memories were coming back, and Alvin remembered what exactly they had said and fought about. Brittany had already received a few offers from modeling agencies that wanted her to work for them. Brittany had said that she already decided which one she wanted to work for, but that was a huge problem for him. You see, the offer was from New York City, the city of lights, a place when dreams could be made reality. He had told her that she was not allowed to go to New York, and then she stormed out. That was when Alvin trashed his room out of anger. That was something he needed to work on. Anger always blinded him.

Alvin laid the picture of Brittany down, so he wouldn't be able to see her face anymore. Alvin stood up and made his way to the hall bathroom. He walked to the sink and began to wash his face with cold water. Alvin picked his head up, dried his face, and stared at his face in the mirror. He looked almost...lifeless.

His eyes were dark, his face paled, and his hair was messier than usual. He always looked this way when he fought with Brittany.

"I'll just buy her a present, and we'll make up like usual," he whispered to his reflection. A small smile graced his features. That would do it. That should do it. Brittany was always a sucker when it came to gifts. When working his magic spell of forgiveness, he would hold the gift high above her head where she couldn't reach it, wave it around, and say that she could have the gift once she forgave him.

Alvin walked back to his bedroom and got dressed in a plain, white t-shirt; a deep red, plaid shirt over the t-shirt with the buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up; jeans; and his traditional red cap with a large, yellow 'A' on the front. He walked out of his room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. He scanned the cabinets for something to eat. All the breakfast had been put up already. It was noon when Alvin had first woken up.

He groaned and mumbled, "Whatever. I'll pick something up at the mall."

Alvin grabbed his keys from the rack by the front door, got in his car, and went to the mall.

Alvin pulled into the driveway of the Miller family after stopping by the mall to pick up some breakfast and a present for Brittany. He had chosen a small, silver bracelet with small charms hanging here and there. Alvin guessed girls liked this kind of stuff. He was never good with figuring out what type of jewelry Brittany liked.

He had already decided that he would be completely sweet and kind, and then she would take him back and stay in L.A. with Alvin. They'd move into an apartment together, Brittany would go to college so that if Alvin's music career didn't take off, they would have something to fall back on. They would have a bunch of kids, even though Brittany didn't want to ruin her body with so many children. It would be a great life. He just had to make her see how amazing their life could be.

A car pulled into the driveway. Jeanette, Eleanor, and Ms. Miller exited the car. They all looked like they had been crying. Alvin started to worry when he didn't see Brittany with them.

Alvin climbed out of the car. He called out to the Millers, "Why the sad faces?"

"Brittany's plane just left," said Jeanette.

Alvin froze. "Brittany's what?"

Ms. Miller remarked, "Brittany's plane, dear. She left for New York. Didn't she tell you? I thought she told you she had that modeling contract."

"She didn't tell me she was leaving today!" exclaimed Alvin.

This could not be happening. Brittany and Alvin were in a perfectly fine relationship yesterday morning! She wasn't supposed to leave. She was never supposed to leave.

Alvin whispered, "She's gone..."

Brittany stared out the plane window at the city of Los Angeles. She was going to miss this place, but she had better things waiting for her in New York.

She started thinking about all the things she left behind.

She was going to miss her mother so much. Miss Miller had always been there for her, and now Brittany was just leaving forever. Brittany would come to visit, but it would never be a permanent thing.

Brittany had spent most of her time trying to calm her baby sisters back at the airport. Brittany had always been the leader of Jeanette and Eleanor. Of course they would be lost without her! Well, Brittany assumed they would be. She was supposed to watch over them for forever, but now she couldn't from all the way in New York. She would be way on the other side of the country from them.

Brittany then remembered the Seville family. Dave had always been her father figure. She would miss her "dad."He had always been so kind to her and her sisters.

Brittany would also miss Simon and Theodore. She had a small conversation with Theodore and Simon a few days ago. Brittany remembered how she asked them to watch over her sisters and their blushing faces at the question. Brittany smiled.

And then there was Alvin.

Brittany remembered all of the time they spent together. The laughter, the tears, the fights, the makeups, the breakups, and all of the pains and joys that consumed their entire relationship. The way he smiled and laughed when she was in a foul mood and was being a grumpy little thing. The things he said that made her so angry that she screamed in his face and stomped on his feet. The way he kissed her when she was so furious at the world that she couldn't take it anymore. The way he smiled when his gaze happened to land on her. Him...

Brittany shook her head.

She needed to forget him. She was out of his life for good, sadly. They didn't need each other at all. They've been separated before. He was so attractive that he would find another girl in less than an hour. Hopefully he could find someone who could keep up with him, someone that was willing to give away all of their hopes and dreams just so he could be happy.

Tears started to brim her eyes. It hurt to think about Alvin with another girl, but it was necessary. It would help her move on. She needed to move on. She was gone already.

:::

Alvin's phone began to vibrate. The loud vibrations could probably be heard down the long halls of his huge house. Alvin Seville, now a famous solo musician, was rich beyond his wildest dreams. His home was one of those houses that you would see on television. It was pure white with circular windows on the outside. The grass in the yard was bright green and healthy. Alvin's home had large backyard porch and an even bigger swimming pool. The house was way too big for one person alone, yet only one person lived there.

A groan escaped Alvin's lips as he blindly searched for his phone with his eyes shut. Alvin looked even more annoyed once he realized his phone was out of reach on the bedside table. That meant he would have to expose his eyes to the bright morning sun.

Alvin's eyes slowly began to open. He hissed at the light in the room and shut his eyes once again. He sighed. Alvin knew he would have to face the sun. Why did the sun have to be so beautiful that it literally burned your eyes to look at it? He opened his eyes. They began to water, trying to adjust to the brightness.

Alvin wiped his eyes on the sheets of his bed. He gazed around the room. Bright red walls, yellow furniture, guitars hanging on the walls, the usual. He picked his phone up. He had a few missed calls from his agent and an unread text message. Alvin opened up the text message. It read:

Alvin, we have business to discuss and recordings to finish. Be at the studio by noon. Don't be late.

Alvin lazily looked at the time on his phone.

Uh-oh.

Alvin should have been at the studio an hour ago!

He quickly tossed the covers off of his body. He searched the floor for some clothes to wear. He slipped on an old pair of jeans. Alvin picked up a regular red t-shirt. He sniffed the shirt, gagged, and slipped it on. Cologne. Cologne would get rid of the nasty smell of his shirt. He really should wash his clothes more often.

Alvin ran into the bathroom. He began to get ready for the day.

His manager was so going to kill him.

Brittany sat in front of a mirror. The makeup artists and hair stylists were all yapping about something she didn't care about. She watched how they laughed in the mirror. Someone must have told a funny story or cracked a joke. She just wanted them to focus on her and make her look perfect for her photo shoot. She barely understood them anyway. They were all speaking French.

Currently, Brittany was in Paris. When she headed off to New York years ago, it was to talk to the head of the agency. She was moved to France by the company after a few months of living in New York. Brittany had lived in Paris, France for a few years by now. Yet, she still barely understood the language. Usually, Brittany had a translator with her or the people working on her could speak English. Though, today her translator was busy with a family thing or something.

It infuriated her to no end that her translator wasn't here today. She actually really liked the gal. It just made her so angry that the girl couldn't have made it to her last photo shoot to say goodbye before Brittany's trip. Why did the translator get to be with her family? Brittany hardly got time off to just take an hour off. She barely had the chance to return home and see her sisters and mother often.

Today was her last day in Paris for the moment. She would be moving back to America early in the morning tomorrow. After a few days in her home and seeing a few friends in New York, Brittany would be heading back to her mother's home to visit for awhile. She had been planning the whole trip to see her family for months now.

Brittany had two apartments: one in Paris and one in New York. She regularly traveled between both, which was quite annoying. She never had the chance to stay in one place for too long. But, hey! That's what she signed up for! (Literally.) But she really did enjoy her job and was always excited to go to work, no matter where she was.

A sigh of happiness escaped her lips. She couldn't wait to be able to communicate with people again.

Brittany suddenly realized that the people doing her hair and makeup were trying to get her attention.

"Am I done?" she questioned.

"Oui," commented one of the people behind her.

That was probably the only word she knew besides "bonjour."

Brittany got up, inspected herself in the mirror, and walked off to the scene that had been prepared in front of the cameras.

Now, I'm going back to working on my other stories.

-no1nosme