Chapter 1 - Where's Macy?
"Hey Macy, how are you doing?"
"Oh yeah, I'm good. How are you? And the boys?"
"Oh my god Macy, this tour is amazing! The set just blows my mind, even if I do keep needing to fix Joe's pants when he singes them from getting too close to the fire. And the boys are loving it! They did their last show in Paris last night, and they're in Belgium tonight!"
"That's great, that's really great."
"Are you okay Mace?"
"Yeah, of course I am silly, I've just had a long day at the store, that's all."
"Well, you're coming to the show when we come to New Jersey, right? There's a backstage pass in it for you!"
"Um, actually Stell, I can't, I forgot when the tickets went on sale, and it's sold out now."
"Macy Misa, forgetting that tickets for Jonas went on sale? I never thought I'd see the day!"
"Well, I guess now you have...Look Stell, I'm really sorry, but I'm so tired and you probably have clothes to mend and stuff."
"Well, okay Macy, if you're sure. The backstage pass is still yours though, even if you don't go to the show. The guys would love to see you."
"I'll see, I promise. I love you, Stells."
"Love you Mace."
That had been the last conversation Stella or the boys had had with Macy, and it had left Stella feeling uneasy, and feeling bad for leaving Macy for so long. The Jonas World Tour had started in the middle of May, just before school broke for the summer, and they had been on the road until the second week in September, a week or so after school was back in session, and hadn't had much time for being at home in between. But they had offered Macy the chance to come as soon as school broke for the summer, but Macy's mom had said no, and whereas Macy would normally fight for the answer to be changed in any Jonas-related fight, she seemed to have just accepted she couldn't go. Things had got even weirder when after that phone call in mid-August, Macy never showed up at their New Jersey concert, and when Stella came by her place above the thift store, she saw that there was a sign on the door saying the store would be closed that weekend, so Stella assumed they had gone on vacation, and that was why Macy hadn't come. That had to be the only reason, after all.
But when Macy still didn't return their calls, and didn't call at all herself, Stella realised what must be happening. Macy was upset she was missing out on all of this. While Stella could tour with them, because it was her job, Macy was stuck at home, managing her fanclub meetings, and having to act just like a normal fan again, finding out gossip from gossip blogs instead of from their mouths, and only being able to see them on videos posted. So as soon as her and the boys had slept for a day or so, to come down from the hype, she was excited for them to go into school, and see Macy. Stella had texted her to let her know they were coming back today, but didn't have a response, and Stella didn't really know what to think about that. Having received their schedules for the new year, Stella, Nick and Joe said their goodbyes to Kevin as he left for his class, and walked in. A few new girls shrieked at the appearance of two of Jonas in their algebra class, but their eyes instead were on the lack of one hyper girl at their presence. Macy wasn't there.
"Where is she?" Joe asked, taking his seat behind Stella.
"Wow Joe, I didn't know I was a psychic now." She replied, balling up a piece of paper and throwing it backwards in the direction of his face, however with her bad co-ordination, it ended up hitting a girl a few rows to the side instead. "Sorry!" announced Stella, silencing herself, while Joe smiled, smugly.
As class ended, their teacher called to Stella, and she frowned at herself. Great, I've been in school for an hour tops, and already Joe is getting me in trouble.
"Look, Mr Foster, that paper ball was not entirely my fault, and I'm sorry for it, but—"
"Miss Malone, that isn't what this is about. I was just wondering if you could take these assignments and worksheets to Miss Misa for me. Tell her that it's okay, and to take her time on them."
"I...I will." Said Stella, frowning considerably as she slipped the pieces of paper into her messenger bag. "Is...Macy sick? I mean, I expected her to be in today, so..."
"Miss Misa hasn't been in since the start of term. Her mother said that she's fine, just has a contagious bug, and she'll be back to school as soon as possible. But in the meantime, she asked for her work to be sent home to her."
"Oh, well. Thank you for telling me." Stella said, smiling politely as she left the classroom, even more confused. A bug? Macy's immune system was always a priority to her, especially once school was in session, and she had her teams to lead to victory. Macy had once told her 'Getting sick is what the summers for. If it really has to be at all'. Macy must be feeling really bad then that she got sick, and Stella mentally decided she would check on her after school. After all, she needed to give her the work she had collected anyway, so it'd be a good time to sit down with her and catch up. During her next few lessons, she was given more work to give to Macy, and she learnt a lot of things that shocked her, and she needed to talk to the brothers as a matter of urgency. As soon as the bell rang for lunch, she rushed through the cafeteria, skidding to a halt at her, Macy, and the brother's usual table. There were a group of freshman sitting there, who moved with one glare from Stella, and as soon as she saw the boys walk in, she ushered them over to her.
"Okay, something big is going on with Macy, and when I say big, I mean...crazy, alien-like, big."
"Oh, the little green type? I'd love to meet them." Said Kevin, grinning to himself. Nick gave him a look, before turning back to Stella.
"Anyway, what's so big that you have to give it such a big dramatic opening?" He asked.
"Macy's handed over her captaincy in all her sports to someone else."
"What?!" Said Joe, looking at her incredulously. "That's insane! Why would she stop playing!"
"Well, she hasn't, she just said she doesn't want to captain the teams anymore. But she loved doing that, that's what I don't get. But maybe it was stress, I know she wasn't playing a lot of games just before we left for the tour. And um... there's something else."
"Don't tell me it gets worse!" Gasped Kevin.
"Oh, you can bet it does." She said, leaning in closer. "Macy...disbanded the Jonas fan club." There was silence around the table, as no-one quite knew what to say to that.
"...Shut up." Joe said at last.
"It's true, Fred told me." Stella said, frowning. "She said that she just couldn't do it anymore. Didn't even hand the presidency to anyone else, just declared the club closed.
"Doesn't she like us anymore?"
"It can't be that, Kevin. I'm pretty sure Macy liked us more than she liked breathing." Nick spoke suddenly, looking up from his brooding. "And now she's not at school?"
"That's because she's sick. Allegedly, that is. She hasn't been in since the start of term."
"Stella, don't you think you're taking this whole thing...a little too seriously? I mean, so what she misses a little school, big deal. We miss school all the time. Just calm d—Ouch, what was that for!" Joe said, rubbing his arm.
"Because you know Macy would never stop caring about her sports, or you guys, or school!" Stella narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm going to have to take a rain check on coming over today, is that okay?"
"But there's no rain forecast..." Kevin furrowed his brow, looking around at Stella, Joe and Nick.
"She means she can't come over tonight, because she's going to go and check on Macy. Really we should all go over, I mean, if she's upset it's because she couldn't come on the tour, right? And she's probably feeling left out, so we should all go over and try and make her feel part of the group again. Just like normal." Nick said.
"I like your idea," said Stella, thinking about it for a second. "But I think right now, if she's unhappy, she's gonna want some girl time, and in case you hadn't noticed, I am a girl."
"That's debatable... Ouch! Stella, will you quit doing that!" Said Joe, glaring at her.
"As I was saying, I'll go by, see what's up, and then you can go and see her some other time. Does that sound okay with everyone?" Stella asked, looking around the table to see if there were any complaints. "Okay, good! So unless you're Joe, and I'm forced to be in class with you, I'll call you tonight!" Getting up from the table, she shot Joe another look, before leaving for her locker.
With a bag full of Macy's work, Stella walked towards the thrift store, ringing the bell on the front desk, and leaning on it, waiting for someone to answer. It had barely changed at all in the store, even some of the displays of clothes were the same, and Stella made a mental note that with the ensembles that the mannequins were wearing, it was no surprise the clothes weren't selling. There was a display in the window of Jonas items, and Stella really hoped that they weren't Macy's. Normally she would just go straight through when she knew that Macy was there, but as she was sick, she was probably in bed, and she didn't want to go straight up in case her mom didn't want her to. She drummed her fingers on the desk, waiting for someone to answer. Her mom never normally took this long.
"Hi! How can I help--" The peppy voice Stella heard a second ago suddenly changed. "Oh. Stella, hi." Came a shy, awkward voice, and Stella looked up surprised to see Macy was standing there.
"Macy, what are you doing here?"
"I'm just covering the store. Mom had to run out to collect some clothes from the retirement home."
"But sweetie, you're sick, you can't be working when you're sick, you need to be getting better." Stella's voice was full of concern as she frowned at her best friend.
"No I just..." Macy cut herself off, deep in thought. "Just, don't worry. Did you wanna see my mom for something?"
"No, I came to see what was wrong. You haven't called me since August, you're not at school, you're not even the team captains anymore, you disbanded the fan club..."
"Stella it's nothing, I swear. I just...need some 'me time', you know?"
"Me time doesn't include disbanding a fan club, or...Selling your things." Stella motioned to the Jonas display, and when Macy made no attempt to deny they were hers, she frowned. "We waited for you at the New Jersey show..."
"I went away for a while. With my mom and nana." She said, her voice seeming slightly robotic, not like Macy at all. As if she had rehearsed that line in the mirror for a long time.
"Well...Alright." Said Stella, her eyes deep with concern. "Okay well...how about you close the store for a little while and we can go upstairs and talk? We haven't done that in forever, and I have so much to catch you up on! We can make ice cream floats, I can give you stuff to update your website... The guys want to come over and see you tomorrow anyway. And if you really insist, I have your homework, and we can make a start on it?" Stella watched Macy's face, hoping one of her suggestions would lighten it.
"My place is a mess right now, I really don't want you to see how untidy it is, and plus, I did promise my mom I'd watch the store for her." Said Macy, obviously forcing a smile. "But thank you for coming to see me, you are so sweet." She walked around the counter, and hugged Stella. "I love you, you know that right? You're my best friend."
"Aww, Mace. I love you too." Stella smiled. "Well, feel better okay? Have some more me days, I'll come and see you?"
"I'll call you." Said Macy, not giving a yes or a no, which only concerned Stella more.
"I'll hold you to that." Stella said smiling, and leaving the store. Once she left, she saw Macy pace over to the front door, flip the sign to a closed one, and she watched through the window as Macy glanced over at her Jonas items, rubbed her eyes, and turned to walk back up the stairs to her apartment. Stella knew that whatever was wrong with Macy, it was going to take more than ice cream and gossip to solve.