Change
"Hey, little sis." Pogue greeted his little sister as she jumped in his arms. Kate laughed as she watched the two siblings reunion. It had only been a couple of weeks since their last visit, but Kate had long grown used to the fact that Pogue would never like the idea of his sister alone somewhere, even if alone meant close to two of his best friends. And Rachel, well, she just loved seeing her big brother. And bragging to him about her dance career, of course.
"Hey Kate!" Rachel greeted Kate with just as much enthusiasm. Kate laughed again and hugged the girl.
"Hey Rachel. How are you?"
"Great, and you?" Before Kate had a change to answer, she noticed the cute little boy in the door opening. "Hello Brian." She greeted the kid.
"Uncle Po! Aunt Kate!" The boy yelled out, even more enthusiast than his mother. Rachel laughed as Pogue stooped down to lift the little boy into the air.
"Your getting big, Brian! Soon I won't be able to lift you anymore." Pogue joked. Kate grinned sweetly.
"Maybe you should train more often then." Pogue glared at her playfully, before handing his nephew to Kate, just as Tyler and Reid appeared in the door opening of the apartment next to Rachel's.
"Hey Pogue." They chorused. Pogue grinned and walked to his 'brothers' to great them. Then Pogue frowned at Tyler.
"What did I hear? You kissed some girl." Tyler groaned softly. He had hoped the arguments about that mistake were over now. Apparently, it was just getting worse. He still remembered 'the talk' Pogue had given him after he started dating Rachel. A talk that included some very graphic ideas about beating him to bloody pulp.
"Pogue!" Rachel called her brother back. "It's dealt with. Don't worry." Pogue muttered something about Rachel being way to forgiving, and then sighed.
"Alright. But consider this to be your last warning." Tyler nodded.
"I know the hallways are beautiful here, but you could consider getting in, ya know?" Lizzie called out of Rachel's apartment. Kate grinned and walked inside, still carrying Brian on her arm. The boy was chattering about a drawing he had made. Rachel promised to get it and walked to the kitchen, while Tyler led their guests towards the small living room. Lizzie followed Rachel to get something to drink for everyone, and just a few minutes later, everyone was sitting in the living room, talking about school and everything that had happened.
"So, are you nervous?" Kate asked Rachel curiously. Rachel shrugged. That evening, she'd have a huge show, where she would both sing and dance. That was the reason everyone was getting together again.
"A bit." She admitted. "But I've done it before, so I'm sure it'll be fine." She didn't sound to convinced, so Tyler quickly jumped in to comfort her.
"I've seen parts of the dress rehearsal this morning. It was amazing." He told his friends. Lizzie nodded in agreement. She also was in the show.
"Trust me, you're going to love it!" She promised.
"Of course we are!" Kate laughed. "You guys are amazing, we all knew that already!" They all laughed, and then the doorbell rung again. Tyler moved to open it, and Caleb and Sarah walked in. Again, everyone hugged and greeted each other before sitting down again. New conversations started, and no one noticed how Kate and Pogue shared a hesitant look. Then they both stood up and took each others hands, effectively dragging the attention to them.
"There's something we want to tell you." Kate started, before looking up at the Pogue, who simply looked back for a few seconds before continuing.
"We're engaged." Sarah, Lizzie and Rachel squealed and the three of them hugged Kate, while the boys congratulated Pogue.
"Let me see! Let me see!" Lizzie shrieked. "I wanna see!" Kate laughed and managed to push the girls a little further away.
"Pogue has it. We wanted it to be a surprise, and we figured the ring would sort of give us away." Pogue saw the three girls turn to him with expecting looks, and he quickly pulled the ring out of his pocket before anyone would attack him like the girls had attacked Kate. Sarah quickly pushed Kate towards Pogue, and the group watched as Pogue put the ring around Kate's finger. The girls awed, and then quickly moved forward to see the ring.
And it was beautiful. It was made of silver, with three diamonds. The middle one was the biggest, but even the two small ones just screamed 'Were expensive! We cost more than your house!'. Of course, Rachel didn't know that much about diamonds.
"It's beautiful!" She told Kate with a huge smile on her face. Kate nodded in agreement, looking like she was in heaven. Rachel spun around and flew her brother around the neck.
"Congratulations!" She shrieked. Pogue laughed.
And at that moment, life seemed pretty much perfect, Rachel thought.
"I hate this." She muttered softly to Lizzie as they waited backstage for their turn. Lizzie smiled weakly.
"It'll be fine. Don't worry." It wasn't very convincing, so Rachel searched for something to distract her.
"I can't believe Pogue and Kate are getting married." She whispered to her friend. They had to be quiet, otherwise the people on stage, or the audience, might hear them. Although the changes for that weren't to big at the moment, since a rock band was performing. Lizzie nodded in agreement, quickly taking the change of distracting her.
"I know!" She whispered back. "Actually, Reid and I had a bet standing. I thought Caleb and Sarah would be first, Reid figured you and Tyler would win. Rachel laughed softly, but had to admit she agreed with Lizzie.
"It's just weird, you know? I mean, just last week, Sarah spent two hours fixing a fight between them, and now they're engaged." Lizzie nodded.
"But that's just what makes them strong, I guess. I mean, sure, they fight, but they always make up. I don't think either of them could stand a relationship without fighting. They just love it to much." At that moment, the music stopped, and Rachel and Lizzie listened as Lizzie's name was announced, along with James' name. They would dance to Usher's 'DJ got us falling in love again'
"Showtime." Lizzie whispered softly. Rachel sent her friend a quick, reassuring smile. Then she watched as Lizzie jumped on stage.
Since all the dancers wanted to see how their friends were doing, they had a huge television hanging in the dressing room. Rachel headed towards it, and started to smile. It was amazing. Her friend had managed to loos all her previous worry and nervousness, and she and James danced like there was no tomorrow. Rachel could hear the crowd cheering and even managed to forget her own worries for the time being.
But only for the time being. It didn't take very long before it was her turn. She knew this dance was important; there were a lot of important talent scouts in the crowd, and it would be amazing if one of them would chose her for a gig. When the music stopped, and Lizzie and James bowed for the crowd before disappearing in the dressing room again, Madeline, one of Rachel's friends, patted her on the shoulder.
"Good luck." Rachel tried to smile back, and then hurried towards the stage, where she would meet her partner Andy. He gave her a quick grin as they met, and then the lights were turned off. A table was carried to the middle of the stage, and Andy sat down on a chair behind it. Then the music danced and a single spotlight fell on Andy, while Rachel appeared behind him.
And they danced.
Rachel forget about everything, and just listened to the music, doing what she had to do, and allowing the music to touch her soul. It was jazz, not her strongest dance, but now that she was dancing, she knew she could do it. She could.
She sat behind the desk as the music stopped, while Andy lay on the side of the stage on the ground. She panted, suddenly worrying again. Was it good? She had thought so, but she didn't know how it looked. What if she made a mistake and didn't even notice it? Why wasn't there any applause?
And just as she thought that, the crowd started to cheer again, and the applause began. Andy and she both stood up and walked towards the middle of the stage, bowing. Then they walked away again.
"That was awesome!" Lizzie laughed when Rachel entered the dressing room. "You were amazing!"
"You too!" Rachel replied, also laughing. She always got some sort of euphoric feeling after finishing a show. Now she only had the dance they would do with all the students, and the singing left to worry about.
"Alright, well done!" Naomi, on of the choreographers in the school complimented the students. "Now, move your asses to the stage!" Everyone laughed and moved towards the stage. They would dance to Taio Cruz's 'Dynamite'. Rachel loved the song and the dance, so she was sure it would work fine.
There was some sort of balcony build over the stage, and that was were the girls would begin their dance, while the boys would dance on the stage.
And so they danced one last time.
"You were amazing!" Sarah exclaimed as she pulled both Lizzie and Rachel into a hug. The two girls laughed while thanking her, before accepting the compliments of the others in the same way. Reid pulled Lizzie towards him, muttering something in her ear about how hot she had looked on the stage. Rachel quickly moved away from them, not wanting to know more about their relationship than necessary. Tyler gave her a quick peck on the lips.
"You were great." He whispered softly. Rachel smiled and then pulled out her phone. Their neighbour, Penny, was babysitting Brian, and Rachel really wanted to know if everything was alright. Tyler grinned softly and pulled the phone out of her hand.
"I just called her. Everything's fine, but I don't think we should call to often. It might offend her." Rachel laughed softly and then leaned into her boyfriend's arms, simply enjoying his touch.
"Anyone want a drink or something?" Caleb asked, and everyone quickly passed on their orders. Pogue went with him, and so Reid and Tyler were left with the girls. Kate pulled out the programme to see what was to come after the break.
"Alright, so we have a four solo-singers, two bands and three dance groups left." Kate said. "Rachel, you're third, right after 'the animals'." Lizzie rolled her eyes as Kate named the band.
"I didn't know they were playing. I think I'm going to borrow someone's earplugs for that part." Rachel laughed and shook her head at her friend.
"They're not that bad." Then she turned to Kate and Sarah. "Their lead singer tried to seduce Reid at some point, so now Lizzie hates them."
"Well, they do suck." Tyler cut in. "Plus, that girl really is a bitch." Kate and Sarah both decided that if someone as sweet as Tyler called her a bitch, she really had to be one.
"Hey Tyler." A girl suddenly called Tyler's name. She walked towards their table, completely ignoring the rest of the group. Tyler put his arm around Rachel's shoulder and pulled her a little bit closer to him. Kate, Sarah and Lizzie simultaneously narrowed their eyes at the new girl, while Rachel looked down to the ground. She still felt like she couldn't handle competition.
"Hello Marina." He greeted the girl in an ice-cold voice. She gave him a flirty smile.
"You didn't call." She pouted. "Why didn't you call me back? I left you at least twenty messages." That was when Lizzie decided the girl was crazy. If a guy doesn't call you back after two times, you should just stop calling. Tyler simply glared at the girl.
"I told you, Marina. I didn't want to see you anymore. You should learn to listen." Marina pouted again, apparently thinking it made her look sexy or cute or something. It was quit the opposite, Lizzie thought.
"You think I can hit her already?" She whispered to Reid. Her boyfriend grinned softly.
"Nah. Give Tyler a change to prove himself to Rachel, than you can have your fun." Lizzie was content with that agreement, and so she smiled. That was until she saw Rachel's face. The girl looked rather upset. Apparently, she wasn't the only one to notice it either. Tyler looked to his girlfriend and grabbed her hand in his. She looked up at him and gave a small smile. He smiled back. Then Marina started talking again.
"Well, at least you came to see me tonight. So I guess you are forgiven for not calling me." Lizzie stared at her, eyes filled with unbelief. Was that girl deaf? Tyler had just said he didn't want to see her anymore, yet she was talking like he was her boyfriend or something.
"Almost." Reid muttered into her ear.
"Actually, I came her for my girlfriend." Rachel looked up and gave Marina a small smile. Marina sneered, and everyone at the table prepared for a fight. It was obvious Marina was about to attack Rachel, verbally or physically, and no one was going to let something happen to the baby of their group.
"And go." Reid said to his girlfriend, while pulling his hand away from her waist. Lizzie jumped Tyler and Rachel and Marina.
"Please stay." She told the girl. Marina blinked.
"What? Who are you?" Lizzie grinned her evil smirk, the one that could make people feel like they were a fly in a spider's web.
"I'm Lizzie. And I said please stay." Now Marina really was confused.
"Why?" Lizzie took a step forward, replacing her smirk with a menacing expression.
"Because you just flirted with my little sister's boyfriend. That gives me the right to beat to bloody pulp. Unless, of course, if you leave. So please stay."
"Tyler?" Marina tried desperately. She didn't doubt for even a second that Lizzie wouldn't come true.
"Reid?" Lizzie asked without taking her eyes off of Marina. "Can I?" Reid smiled.
"Give her some time, sweetheart. Five seconds sound fair to you?" Lizzie nodded happily and Kate and Sarah moved from their chairs to Lizzie's side. They both started counting down.
"Five."
"TYLER! Are you really gonna let them talk to me like that?" Tyler simply smiled and kissed Rachel and the lips.
"I wonder were Pogue and Caleb are." He mused.
"Four."
"Their still at the bar." Reid answered Tyler's question. "It's a bit crowded, apparently."
"Three."
"Tyler!"
"Did anyone ever tell you, your voice is really annoying?" Lizzie asked Marina. Sarah nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, it's like… I don't know, it's just too high. It hurts my head."
"Two." Kate said.
"And your hair, what did you do with it! You do know you ought to wash it, don't you?" Lizzie really knew to hit a girl were it hurt.
"One." Sarah said. Marina took one last glance at Tyler and then ran away. The three girls moved back to their seats.
"Well, that was fun." Lizzie smiled. Tyler laughed softly.
"Thanks, Liz. Maybe now she understands what I mean with 'go away'." Lizzie made a small bow.
"You're very welcome." Suddenly she realized something.
"Wait, was that the bitch you were talking about the other day? The one who kissed you?" Tyler glanced down at Rachel, worried about her reaction to this. Then he nodded.
"Yeah." He admitted. Rachel placed a hand behind his head.
"Love you." She told him softly, reassuring him at the same time. Tyler smiled back.
"Love you too." And they kissed again. Sarah awed, while Reid groaned.
"That's not cute, Sarah, those are my little siblings." Sarah and Kate looked at each other.
"That sounded wrong, Reid." Sarah then said. Kate nodded in agreement.
"Exactly." Reid simply said.
"Please take your hands off my sister." Tyler and Rachel quickly pulled away when they heard Pogue's voice behind them. The others laughed.
"What was that girl doing here?" Caleb asked while sitting down next to Sarah. He and Pogue had seen the girl talk to their friends, and when they had seen Lizzie standing in front of the girl, they almost returned to the table to stop their friend, before the girl had walked away again.
"That…" Reid started. "was Marina, the girl that has been following Tyler around for the past… How long was it again, Tyler?" Tyler didn't answer. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure Lizzie scared enough to… well, I don't know. Maybe she'll decide to move to Alaska or something." Pogue grinned, clearly happy with that idea.
"If she had been a boy, I'd beat her up." He told Kate. Kate laughed.
"If she had been a boy, this would've been extremely awkward." Lizzie looked on her watch and then nudged Rachel.
"The show resumes in ten minutes. Didn't you have a meeting now?" Rachel grabbed Tyler's wrist, looked on his watch and jumped up.
"Shit! I should've been there five minutes ago!" She ran away and Pogue rolled his eyes.
"Typical." He muttered softly and Kate started laughing.
"Says the guy who can't even remember what day it is." Lizzie immediately looked at Kate, sensing the girl was going to say something funny. She wasn't disappointed.
"Kate!" Pogue whined, but his girlfriend ignored him.
"Last week, he forgot to go to class on Monday. He said he 'thought it was still weekend!" The others laughed, while Pogue pouted.
"I can't believe it." Reid said to his friend. "After all those years listening to my excuses, that's the best you can come up with?"
"So 'sorry, I was locked up in the janitor's closet with a girl' is a better one?" Caleb grinned.
"That wasn't an excuse, Pogue, that actually happened. He was stuck in there for three hours with some girl… Elena, wasn't it, Reid?" Reid quickly glanced at his girlfriend, afraid she would be bothered by this, but she was laughing just as hard as the others, so he grinned as well.
"Hey, don't be jealous just because you couldn't get laid. How many girlfriends have you had again? Two, right? Kira and Sarah." Sarah blinked.
"You dated Kira?" She asked, voice filled with unbelief. "I thought that was just a story to make Aaron jealous!" Kate leaned forward, ready to gossip.
"Oh no, that was true. They dated for almost a year." Sarah turned to Kate.
"What happened?" Reid lifted an eyebrow. It was as if the two girls had completely forgotten they weren't alone. He glanced at Caleb and saw the hurt expression on his face. Not a surprise; as it turned out, Kira had just been using him to get to Aaron. It had taken Caleb two months to finally realize Kira was to busy for dates because she enjoyed Aaron's company better.
"Kate." Kate heard the warning undertone in Pogue's voice, and immediately shut her mouth. When everyone, except for Sarah, looked away, she quickly mouthed 'tell you later'. Sarah nodded and turned back to Caleb.
"Tyler?" Pogue's voice grew serious all of a sudden. Tyler looked at him curiously. "How has Rachel been?" Tyler hesitated before answering.
"She's been having nightmares, bad nightmares. Sometimes she can't even go back to sleep afterwards. She had one last night and she was crying for an hour." Everyone was silent, until Reid started talking.
"But despite the nightmares, she's getting better, I think. I mean, she has made new friends and she stopped shying away whenever a stranger would touch her." Pogue nodded softly, clearly not reassured. Reid knew his friend was worried about his sister, that he thought about moving to New York to watch over her.
"You can't protect her forever, man." He said softly. When he saw the anger on Pogue's face, he knew he had said the wrong thing.
"If I had protected her back then, we wouldn't be having this problem." He hissed, curling his hands into fists. No one knew what to say, and for a couple of minutes everyone was just silent, sitting in their chairs and sipping from their drinks.
"I think we should return to our seats." Caleb finally said with a glance at his watch. "The show starts in one minute."
Rachel had received a small lecture about being late, but it wasn't a huge problem. The meeting before the show was just to make sure everyone remembered what they had to do and when. Plus, Rachel was known to be a serious and hard working student, so she was easily forgiven.
She anxiously awaited her turn, fiddling with the fingerless gloves Reid had lent her for the occasion. Finally it was her turn, and she moved to the stage.
She had wrote the song herself, with a little help from her teachers, and she was rather proud of it, even though she hadn't wrote the music herself. The song was to the tune of Elton John's version of 'Can you feel the love tonight'.
Kayla, a twenty-one year old student, left the stage. When she saw Rachel waiting for her turn, she gave her a quick smile.
"Break a leg." She grinned. Rachel returned the smile, took a deep breath and listened as her name was announced.
"Now, nineteen year old Rachel Parry will sing the song 'Change'. She wrote this song herself to the tune of 'Can you feel the love tonight'." Rachel heard the applause seconds before she actually saw the audience. She tried to ignore their eyes as she walked to the microphone. She closed her eyes, waiting for the music to start. And then she started to sing. Change
To the tune of Elton John's 'Can you feel the love tonight'
Living in the darkness
praying for a way
when it is clear no one will come
she slowly fades away
the will to live is gone now
she just wants to flee
when suddenly an angel show himself
having heard her plea
(Chorus)
and suddenly the world seems bright
like it's faults are gone
she believes in love, she feels the hope now,
knows he'll keep her safe
yeah, suddenly the world seems bright
she will live tonight
because life can change any second now
and that's why it's worth it
life can seem so dark sometimes
but you have to know:
you just have to keep on fighting
and the light will grow
your faith lies in your hands
only you decide
everything you do can change your life.
open your eyes wide
(Chorus)
and suddenly the world seems bright
like it's faults are gone
she believes in love, she feels the hope now,
knows he'll keep her safe
yeah, suddenly the world seems bright
she will live tonight
because life can change any second now
and that's why it's worth it
because life can change any second now
and that's why it's worth it
And here's chapter two! The next chapter might be a bit late, since I'm leaving for France this weekend and my mom as long ago decided that vacation means no computers. I'll try to update as soon as I get back.
I want to thank xxWARxx and Vampir3.S3duction for reviewing. To Vampir3.S3duction: the part on the top was supposed to be confusing, so I'm glad it served its purpose. And actually, I expected it to be Reid as well. Somehow my fingers just ended up typing about Tyler instead.
to xxWARxx: I'm so glad you liked this chapter and your review really made my day. Honestly, I immediately started writing the third chapter, just hoping that would get me a review like that one. It's always nice to be loved :)
Anyway, the third chapter will be especially for you.
Oh, and to everyone: This song actually is to the tune of 'Can you feel the love tonight'. I wrote it myself, and I really hope you guys like it.
PLEASE REVIEW!
