Hey guys, decided to stick this up ;)

This is a kinda weird chapter, but my longest yet, but a few hundred words.



The next morning I had school. Shane being Shane offered to drive me and I almost declined until I remembered the whole world knew about us now. Caitlyn had stayed over at my house because she'd fallen asleep in the limo on the way home and Nate hadn't had the heart to wake her up and take her home. She ran home half an hour before school to find a new outfit.

I went down to breakfast and my Mum, as usual, had turned on Hot Tunes. I watched as I ate my pancakes.

"For any of you girls who've spent the weekend living under a rock, it's time to wake up to the world. Shane and Nate Gray have girlfriends. Yes ladies, two thirds of Connect 3 are taken and only Jason Gray remains. The lucky ladies in question? Mitchie Torres and Caitlyn Gellar," I gasped as a picture of me flashed up on the screen. It was from last night, me singing my heart out into the microphone on stage. Then there was another picture of the five of us standing on stage smiling. "That's all for now, we're back with the latest celeb news and gossip after…" I stopped listening and looked at my Mum, who seemed far to calm.

"Mum are you okay with all this?" I wondered aloud.

"Yes, honey, it's just a bit overwhelming, that's all." She sat down in the chair next to me. "It's strange for your Dad and I. One day you're our little girl and we turn around and suddenly you're dating a world famous singer and you're on TV singing." I smiled slightly.

"Trust me; I still think I'm dreaming." Mum laughed as the doorbell rung.

"Have fun at school Mitch. Try and do some work."

"Bye Mum, love you!" I said, sprinting to open the door. Shane was standing on the porch step, smiling casually as he waited.

"Morning sunshine," he said as I pulled the door shut behind me.

"Morning," I replied, giving him a quick but passionate kiss.

In his sleek black Mercedes on the way to school, I knew we were attracting a lot of attention. I didn't have to look out of the tinted windows to see the looks of kids from school. In this little neighbourhood, nobody could afford a car this expensive. A few people, being the ones who didn't watch TV, would think a lucky family had won the lottery. Everyone else would guess that it was something to do with me, or Caitlyn.

"You okay?" he said as he tucked into a space.

"Yeah," I said, watching the wide eyes of people in the car park.

"You don't need me to hold your hand and walk you into school, do you?" he asked with a sweetly concerned expression. I rolled my eyes.

"Shane, I'm seventeen, not seven!"

"Okay, just checking." He leant over and kissed me. As usual, I could feel everything around me fading into blackness but he pulled away too soon. My face must have shown my disappointment because he smiled. "Seriously, Mitch, we've been there once; you don't want to go there again, do you?" I blushed, remembering the night in the hotel room.

"Shut up, Shane!" I told him, opening the car door.

"Bye, baby!" he called.

"See you later." I slammed the door shut and paid a lot of attention to the ground as I went to sit on my usual bench. I could feel hundreds of pairs of eyes boring into me so I pulled out my maths book to finish some homework.

"Mitchie, how are you?" said a sickly sweet voice. I looked up to see Cheryl Baker, the bitch of our school. Usually I was below her notice. I wondered why it had changed, and then remembered.

Cheryl was your stereotypical bitch. She had fake long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Her clothes were over the top and revealing. Today, she had swept her cheap extensions into an elegant bun and was wearing a pink boob tube that had slipped ever so slightly. Her denim skirt was just a tiny bit to high at the back and I rolled my eyes mentally at her appearance.

"What do you want, Cheryl?" I asked, looking back at my homework.

"Just a chat with my good old friend!" she said innocently.

"Seriously? You think I'm that desperate for friends?" I said, failing to suppress a laugh. "Maybe if you'd asked me a few years ago, I might have considered being friends with you, but please! I know why you want to talk to me and it isn't working." Cheryl glared at me.

"I know why you're dating him, Mitchie. It's all so that you can climb to the top of the fame ladder, then when you're there, you'll drop him like he bit you. Well it's not going to work, I promise you. As soon as your 'boyfriend'," I could hear the air quotes in her voice. "Sees me, he'll ditch you and Shane Gray will be mine!" I could have laughed.

"Cheryl, do me a favour and fuck off," said a voice from behind her. I looked up to see Caity standing there, holding hands with Nate. They were attracting a lot of attention and now, so was our conversation.

"Oh, Catherine!" Cheryl sad, batting her eyes at Nate. "I was just having a lovely chat with my new best friend Mitchie!" I raised my eyebrows.

"Charlotte? Is that your name?" Nate said, suddenly getting involved. "Well do me a favour and leave my girlfriend and her best friend alone. Otherwise I might just have to mention to Shane what a bitch you are and that wouldn't go down towel, would it?" Cheryl glared and stalked off without saying another word. I stared after her, pleased.

"Thanks Nate!" I said as Caity sat down next to me.

"No problem Mitch, I could see she was bothering you and then Caity dug her hands into the palm of my hand so hard I swear I was bleeding and I guessed you didn't like her so I stepped in." I laughed. I could feel eyes on us as we sat by the edge of the car park. One girl had already walked past four times; another one was pretending to tie the laces on her dolly shoes.

"Nate, baby, I think you'd better go." Caitlyn said as the first bell rung in the distance. Nate kissed her gently, gave me a quick hug and left.

"God, he's so cute!" Caitlyn sighed as we wandered up the corridor.

Cheryl walked past us a few times that day. I worried at first, but she seemed to ignore us. I also panicked that the whole TV thing was going to destroy school, but apart from the constant whispering, staring and occasional camera, nothing much had changed.

As I nibbled at my chips that lunchtime, I had the unusual feeling that school was going to be fun this week.

xOx

By Thursday, I'd changed my mind. I was bored out of my mind, listening to Mr Wheatley giving a lecture on atoms and particles at the front of the class. Nobody was paying attention to him, I knew. The girls sat in front of me were constantly passing notes, the boys behind me were secretly texting their girlfriends. Caitlyn was bored out of her mind; I could hear her pen scratching on something and looked down to see her diary covered in Nate's name. I nudged her and raised an eyebrow. She just blushed and slammed it shut.

I glanced at the clock. Fourteen minutes, then I would be free and Shane would pick me up and - Thirteen minutes!

I managed to pass the rest of that class staring at the clock and wondering what my Mum was cooking for tea, how long Shane would be able to stay for and whether Caitlyn believed me when I told her nothing had happened that Saturday night in the hotel.

Of course I'd lied to her but she didn't know that. The only people who knew that were Shane and me and neither of us would ever tell. Caity didn't know, wouldn't know and couldn't know because then she would tell Nate and there would be four people who might accidentally let something slip.

As soon as the bell went at three, I leapt out of my seat and sprinted out of the room, barely pausing at my locker before I was out of the doors and into the weak sunshine. It was three weeks until Christmas, school finished in a week and a half. I felt so happy I could scream.

Caity and I usually got a lift from one of the boys but today they had a meeting with their managers so we walked. We chatted casually and I felt my heart aching to tell her the truth. I loved Caity like a sister; she was my sister in a lot of ways. I knew everything about her and she knew almost everything about me. We had never had a serious argument in the two years I had known her.

After school on Friday, Caity was coming round for a sleepover. She bought her favourite PJ's, blue shorts with a spotty top, and the latest Connect 3 album, which I already owned.

We stayed up most of the night, chatting and laughing, but about three in the morning she fell asleep. I followed not long after.

I was woken about three hours later by the sudden desire to be sick. I leapt out of bed and sprinted down the hall, almost tripping over Caity in the process. She groaned but I was out of the room before she had time to wake up.

I sat on the bathroom floor for several minutes, emptying the contents of my stomach down the toilet. I tried to remember how many bags of Haribos we had actually eaten but I couldn't.

After a while, I felt gentle hands pulling my hair back, keeping it out of the way of my face. I heard soothing whispers and a hand was gently rubbing my back. Caitlyn had come to see me, worried.

"Are you better?" she asked as I pulled away from the toilet for the final time, my head spinning from my empty stomach.

"I think so," my dry throat crackled. Caity grabbed a glass and filled it with water from the tap.

"Drink this," she told me. I took it thankfully and drunk it all in one go.

"Mitch, what's the matter? Are you ill?" she asked, worried.

"I don't think so," I replied, standing up slowly. I felt much better now, just hungry. "I think I just ate too many sweets."

"Trust you!" Caity rolled her eyes and took me downstairs.

"Nate's coming over at ten; he said he'd bring Shane." Caity told me as I raided the cupboards for food.

"Good!" I said, smiling. It was only half six but knowing I would see Shane had already made my day.

When my Mum came downstairs at half nine, she was surprised to find Caity and I sitting in the living room watching some hilarious cartoon on TV.

"I didn't expect to see you two up this early!" she commented, eying our fully clothed selves.

"Yeah, Mitch was -" I broke Caitlyn off before my Mum started to panic.

"Caity told me Shane was coming over and I couldn't sleep after that." I gave Caitlyn a look that said don't-tell-her-or-she'll-completely-overreact!

Caitlyn shrugged and turned back to the TV.

The program ended at five to ten and we both leapt up as there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" we shouted together. We were laughing as we opened the door.

"Shane!" I cried, reaching up to give him a kiss. He smiled and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Hey baby." I giggled.

"So what were you doing before we arrived?" Nate asked as we sat in my room.

"Watching TV," Caity told him.

"Cool," There was a few seconds silence, but it wasn't awkward, it was relaxed and happy, all four of us content with knowing our true love was sitting within about three foot of us.

"Mitchie was sick this morning," Caitlyn said suddenly. Immediately, Shane looked worried.

"Are you okay, Micth?" he asked, feeling my forehead. I groaned.

"Yes, I'm fine! Caity knows that!" I hissed as Caitlyn whispered something in Nate's ear and they both laughed.

"Fine, as long as you're sure?" Shane made it sound like a question.

"Yes, just too many sweets last night!"

Or maybe not, I thought as I leant over the loo the next morning. My stomach felt completely hollow, I didn't know where the sick was coming from but it was still coming. I groaned, sitting slowly back as my Mum came in.

"Mitchie! Honey, what's the matter? Are you okay?" Yes, I'm being sick for fun.

"I'm fine Mum, just ate too much I think."

I felt sick most of the morning, and lay in bed groaning, but about lunchtime, I suddenly felt better. Not wanting to push myself too far, I picked up the guitar I kept by my bed and strummed a few chords.

The sickness didn't return so at dinner time I headed downstairs. Mum was surprised to see me up but served me a small portion of chicken curry. I was starving and swallowed it almost in one. Then I was sent back to bed to get a good nights sleep before school.

But the next morning, I was sick again. I began to worry, what was wrong with me? Mum forced me to stay home from school but again, my lunchtime, I felt so much better. I rung Shane, who I knew would be worrying himself.

"Hey, Shane!" I said cheerily as he answered on the first ring.

"Mitchie?"

"Yeah, it's me, baby. I thought I'd let you know I was fine. I feel normal again now."
"Mitchie what's wrong with you?" he asked.

"I honestly have no idea. I think I'll be fine by the morning though, I feel great now, in fact, and I'm going to have to hang up because I need something to eat." Shane sighed and I knew he would be frowning in concern.

"Call me if you need anything, love."

"I will. Love you Shane."

"Love you too, Mitch." He said and I hung up.

On Thursday morning, I began to panic. Yesterday I had gone for a jog in the early hours of the morning so that my Mum wouldn't see when I was sick in the bushes by the park. I had gone to school like it was any other day, except that I felt like a heap of poo. Yet again, it wore of about lunch time and my day carried on like normal, with me laughing naturally and easily and eating my fill at lunch.

Today, I was out again; my Mum had no idea I was being sick. I was worrying though. It was almost a week now, what was wrong with me.

A sudden suspicion crossed my mind. I pushed it away at once, but it kept on crossing my mind as I 'jogged' back home. I had a warm shower to help relax my tight muscles and then called Caity.

"Mitchie!" she complained sleepily. "It's, like, half six in the morning. What do you want?" I stayed silent for a second too long, lost in my own thoughts. "Mitch?"

"Sorry." I took a deep breath, I had know somehow, right? "Look, Caitlyn, I need you to buy some stuff for me. Well one thing actually, but please hurry up about it!"

"What is it?" I bit my lip momentarily, and then told her. I heard her horrified gasp and could imagine the way she would suddenly be sitting up in bed with wide eyes.

"Micthie! You don't think…? Oh my god! Are you sure, I mean…"

"Shut up Caitlyn," I ordered her, more harshly than intended too. "Just hurry up and get here. I'm waiting and we'll see what happens once you're here." I heard a bang from the other end of the phone, like somebody had thrown open their wardrobe and then loud metallic scratches as she hurriedly pulled clothes forward and backward.

"I'm on my way, Mitch!" she promised and I heard the line go dead.

At seven, I heard a knock on the window. I looked out and saw Caity sitting on the roof. It was easy enough to get onto if you were tall enough to stand on the fence.

"What are you doing?" I asked, opening the window and shivering in the cold breeze.

"Well I didn't want to explain to your Mum what I was doing with these," she held out a plastic bag. "So I figured I'd be safer coming through the window."

"Clever," I told her, not really caring. I couldn't take my eyes off of the plastic bag. I was dead, I was dead, I was so dead. When my Mum found out… when he found out… I stopped, making myself a promise. If I was, if my suspicions were correct, then he would never know. I would make sure he never found out.

"Well?" Caitlyn asked.

"Well what?"

"Go! Mitchie just go, waiting won't make a difference. If you're-"

"That's enough!" I hissed, not wanting to hear it said out loud. I already felt like crap, I didn't want to be reminded of the possibility. I grabbed the bag out of her hand and hurried into the bathroom, locking myself in.

xOx

"Mitchie, Mitch, it's alright, you'll be fine!" Caitlyn soothed as I lay crumpled against her chest, sobbing. Each breath was painful, my eyes stung from all of the tears but I couldn't stop. It was over, it was all over. I was going to be hated by everyone I knew. I was even sure that Caitlyn felt sick just being in the same room as me, and here I was, sitting in her lap ruining her top with my tears. I took a long, deep breath and pulled away.

"Go, Caity." I ordered her.

"What? Why?" she said, hurt.

"I know you're embarrassed to be friends with me so just leave and pretend like you were never here!"

"What the hell? Has this affected your brain, Mitch? I love you like a sister, I could never leave you when you're this upset. Who could? You look so sweet and sad."

"I know someone who will," I mumbled under my breath, wiping a tear from my eye.

"Who? Oh no! You think he'll leave you when he finds out?" she laughed. "You idiot! He loves you Mitch. He might not be hyper about it, but he loves you and he couldn't leave you ever, not even if he wanted. All that's happed is things have started a little earlier than expected, that's all. But it's fine, just a few years early. Everyone knows you'd have ended up together anyway, it was going to happen eventually."

"What do you know, Caity?" I shot at her. "It's not you with this problem, it's me! I'm the one who's going to be a Mum at the age of seventeen, not you! I'm the one who got drunk and slept with my boyfriend, not you! He's a teenage boy for gods sake! Boys always choose their careers over their personal life! He's only nineteen, he's not going to give up on his dream, not now. Just forget it! I'm leaving before he knows and he is never going to know!" Caity raised her eyebrows at me.

"You're leaving? And where will you go? How will you get there? What will you do when you're there? How the hell are you going to pay to support two lives, Mitch?"

"I don't know!" I cried, crying again. "But Shane can never know, okay? You have to promise me you'll never tell him where I went, or why." Caitlyn sighed.

"Mitchie, you're not leaving!"

"Yes I am! Leave. When Nate comes to pick you up from your house, don't tell him. I'll tell him when he picks me up because I'll need his help."

"Fine, Mitch, but he'll never agree to it. Nate's not like that!"

"You're what?" Nate shouted, slamming the brakes on. The car skidded to a halt and the three of us just sat in silence for a few minutes.

"I'm pregnant, Nate. You know, it means I'm going to have a baby. And I'm leaving, running away somewhere. But I'll need your help. I can't do it alone." He was silent for so long that I thought he'd fallen asleep. Then:

"Fine."

"Huh?"

"I'll help you, Mitch." My heart almost stopped.

"Thank you so much, Nate!" I said, tears running down my cheeks again.

"But when? Where to?"

"I don't know. Can you call Jason and tell him to meet us at my house in" I checked the time. "Half an hour?"
"Sure." He pulled out his phone and paused. "What about Shane?"

"He can't know, Nate. He can never know. He'll leave me. I know he will."

"Mitchie! You can't think that-"

"Don't even bother," Caitlyn said in a dry voice. "I already tried. She's got her heart set on this stupid idea and nothing's going to change it!" I looked at my friend and saw tear tracks on her cheek.

"Caity?" I asked in a low voice as Nate spoke to Jason. "Caity what's up?"

"I just can't believe that you're leaving, Mitch! You know I love you, right?" I nodded.

"I love you too, Cait. But this is my only choice, so I'm going to have to start getting used to it." Caitlyn suddenly hugged her best friend, tears pouring down both their faces.

"I'm gonna miss you, Mitch!"

"I'll miss you more!" I countered. "But quit crying. As soon as my Mum's out, I need my Bessie to help me pack."

"Sure, without me you'll spend the rest of your life in a fashion crisis!"

"Thanks!"

xOx

"What the hell is going on?" Jason asked, barging through the front door without knocking. I was thankful that both of my parents were out. "I was fast asleep and then Nate wakes me up with some stupid phone call telling me to come here!"

"It's about Mitchie," Caitlyn said in a subdued voice. Jason finally seemed to notice how depressed we all were and looked around, frowning slightly.

"What's up?" he asked, vaulting the back of the sofa and landing next to me.

"I'm… going to have a baby…" I admitted in a low voice. Jason froze next to me.

"What?" I just shook my head.

"Mitchie!" he gasped, hugging me. "Does Shane know?"

"Don't start!" Nate warned.

"Seriously, don't!" Caitlyn told him.

"What?"

"He doesn't know, Jase. And he's never going to know. I'm leaving, running away. I'm not ever going to let him know, and neither are you. Any of you," I added, looking up.

"We won't!" Caitlyn promised, running over and hugging me as well.

"I'll never tell!" Nate said, joining the hug.

We sat for a few minutes, Caity crying into my shoulder. I would miss these guys; they were like family to me. But mostly I would miss Shane. God, who was I kidding? Not being with Shane would probably half kill me, but not nearly as much as him breaking up with me would.

"I've got to go pack," I said finally, sitting up. Jason gave me a quick squeeze and let me go. Caitlyn followed me upstairs and I pulled out my huge suitcase. Wordlessly, she handed me neatly folded clothes and I packed them into my suitcase, barely noticing what I was doing.

When we were done, I looked around my room, the room I had lived in since I was born. I mentally said goodbye to it, picked up my guitar and my suitcase and left the room for the last time.

xOx

"So, which flight are you catching?" Nate asked as we stood in the airport, looking up at the boards. I glanced at the boys and would have laughed if I wasn't so sad. They had on dark sunglasses and wide brimmed hats pulled down low over their eyes. They were also wearing thick coats with their collars turned up.

"I don't know," I admitted. I patted my pocket. "Whichever one I can afford."
"We're paying, Mitch," Jason told me. I sighed, we had had this argument in the car.

"No, I can't let you do that, Jase."

"Look, Mitch. Since you're leaving, it's the last we can do." Nate told me, squeezing Caity's hand as she held back tears.

"Fine, whatever!" I gave up. I caught sight of one of the notices which had just changed. "That one!" I said too loudly, attracting lots of curious glances. "The one to England. Shane will never find me there!" The other three shared a look but didn't say anything.

"If it's what you want," Caity said slowly.

"It is," I lied. What I wanted was to stay here and live with Shane forever, but it wasn't going to happen.

"Fine." Nate went to buy my ticket for me. I watched him and thanked him when he came back, handing me all of the paperwork.

"It leaves in two hours," Jason told me. I nodded.

"I love you guys," I whispered, my voice breaking. I felt Caity wrap her arms around me and the boys join in and I wished that this moment could last forever. I was deliberately cutting myself off from everyone I knew. My Mum would get home that night to find a long and heartfelt note pinned to the fridge. The only ones that knew were Caity, Nate and Jase.

As we broke apart, I felt in my pocket and pulled out two phones. My old one and the iPhone the boys had forced on my when I decided I needed a new number. Again, only these three knew my number and I intended it would stay that way. They had all saved me under the name 'Michael' so Shane couldn't find me.

My heart was pounding as I clicked on speed dial one. It rung once, twice, three times and then I heard his melodic voice answer.

"Mitchie?" he was confused. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"I'm not in school, Shane." I said, tears running down my cheeks.

"Then where are you?"

"A-At the airport," I breathed. I knew he could hear me crying.

"Mitchie? What's the matter? Why are you at the airport?" I sobbed. "Mitch, baby? What's up?"

"I love you Shane, always remember that!" I said, and then I hung up. As I flicked my phone closed, I distinctly felt my heart break in two.


So what did you think? Personally I thought it was a bit fast but I had nothing else to fill this chapter with.

Read and review guys!

Thanks

~Spwarkle

PS - add me on /spwarkle