Embarrassed

Mitchie's phone buzzed on her bedside table. She ignored it, face down in her pillow. It rattled for another 10 seconds, then a beep alerted her of a missed call.

She knew. She heard it. She'd been hearing it for the last week. She knew who was calling. But she didn't want to answer.

56 missed calls on the first day.

"Mitchie, It's me. I know you're ignoring this call. Please, just talk to me…"

"Mitchie, don't do this, you know I love you…"

"How would the public react if they found out I lied? Everything would just be worse if I confessed now…"

'You should have thought of that before you lied in the first place!' Mitchie thought fiercely.

34 missed calls on the second day.

"Mitchie, please, this is agony. You must be hurting too! Answer the damn phone!"

"I FREAKIN' LOVE YOU, MITCHIE. I was trying to protect you!"

"Hi, um, it's Jason. Shane thinks that you should, uh, call him. I mean…What do I mean? Ouch! Well, you talk to her then! I knew this was a bad idea in the first place! GOSH!"

"I'm really sorry, Mitchie. Please, please, please forgive me…"

The amount of times Shane would call in a day grew less and less. And Mitchie would keep ignoring them. There was no way in hell she was going to let that egomaniacal popstar try and talk his way out of this situation. He'd already explained himself. He'd apologised. He'd still refused to go public about their love. And so 'sorry' just wasn't cutting it.

Mitchie moaned and rolled out of her bed. She knew she must smell bad; she hadn't left her room in six days. She had to drive Caitlin to the bus station to send her off. With a concerned hug and a death threat towards a certain young heartbreaker, Caitlin had gotten on the bus worried for her friend's well-being. It was all very well for Shane to go on, living his glamorous life with him in the centre of the universe, but Mitchie was different. She rarely put herself before others. Staying away from Shane and his gutless apologies was going to prove to be a very difficult task for her.

Once she got home from seeing off Caitlin, Mitchie had collapsed into bed, and only got up to drink a few glasses of water. Her Dad was oblivious, saying something about a bad flu going around town. Her mother knew better. She had heard Shane confirming his single status as well. She knew how much it would have crushed Mitchie. But whenever she tried to talk to her daughter, all she got was a muffled response about a stomach ache. Seeing Connie getting a glance of her from the stairs, Mitchie ducked into the bathroom to avoid any probing questions. The last thing she wanted to talk about right now was Shane Gray. Too bad he was the only thing she could think about. She tried not to cry as she felt the droplets of water from the shower sprinkle her face. But one tiny tear slipped out, and it opened the floodgates.

Mitchie sobbed into her hands and she slid down the wall of the shower. How could he do this to her? Did he not know what he meant to her? Of course he did, she had meant the same to him. He had a funny way of showing it though. By refuting her existence in his life to the entire world, he had not only snapped her heart in two, but had completely and utterly humiliated her. Her family and friends knew about Shane. She raved about him. But when push came to shove, Shane completely blew her off. And nothing he could say would ever repair her.

Towelling her hair dry, Mitchie heard a soft tapping at her bedroom door.

"Come in!" She sung.

"Sweetie, there's someone here to see you," Connie's smiling face poked through the door, and Mitchie hurriedly threw on sweats and a tee.

"Surprise!" Caitlin appeared from behind her mother.

"Oh my gosh, what are you doing here?" Mitchie jumped to embrace her friend.

"I wanted to see how you were holding up." Caitlin sighed sympathetically.

"I'm surviving," Mitchie mumbled.

"Uh huh," Caitlin took a step back to stare at her friend's bloodshot eyes and pale demeanour. "Look, why don't we get you out of this house?"

"Caitlin, no, I'm fine…" Mitchie groaned.

"That's bull shit and you know it. Come on, I'm taking you shopping." Caitlin linked her hand with Mitchie's and dragged her out of the room before she could utter any form of protest. She forced Mitchie into the passenger's seat of the car, buckled her in, started the car and exited the driveway of the house, Mitchie pleading not to go all the way. Suddenly, she faltered.

"When did you start driving?" She blurted out.

"I got my permit last week. You would have known that if you had bothered to answer your phone." Caitlin smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Sorry, I just thought it would be…" Mitchie trailed off.

"Shane." Caitlin answered for her.

"Yeah." Mitchie sighed.

"He still hasn't gone public about you?" Caitlin asked, even though she knew the answer.

"There's nothing to go public about anymore, Caitlin! It's over!"

"So even if he did admit to dating you, you wouldn't go back to him?"

"I didn't say that." Mitchie snarled.

"Come on, at least partake in some retail therapy with me." Caitlin smiled as she parked in front of the local mall.

"Fine." Mitchie muttered, unclicking her seatbelt and stomping out of the car, missing the mischievous smile that crossed Caitlin's face.

"Caitlin! You just walked straight past the record store! What is wrong with you?" Mitchie exclaimed as she rushed to keep up with Caitlin's brisk pace.

"I heard there was a really good shop right around here." Caitlin mumbled as she turned a corner.

"You've never even been here before! How would you know? This just leads to the food court and performance stage!" Mitchie exclaimed.

"Good, I'm hungry!" Caitlin cried quickly, too quickly.

"Alright, missy, what is going…" Mitchie faltered as Caitlin waved to a curly haired boy on the stage. That's when she realised that they were not the only ones here. Teenage girls were clustered around the performance area, excitement and impatience clear on their faces. They were squealing at the same boy Caitlin had waved to.

"What is Nate doing here?" Mitchie demanded, as he turned around and animatedly gesticulated to someone offstage.

"Cover your ears." Caitlin warned, before a wave or screams erupted as two more dark haired boys joined Nate on stage.

Mitchie turned on her heel and started to walk in the opposite direction. "Wait!" Caitlin yelled, and grabbed her by the arm.

"I cannot believe you! I'm not interested in what he has to say! There is no excuse for what he did!" Mitchie screamed at her.

"I know, Mitchie, but please hear him out! It's not an excuse!" Caitlin begged, freezing as Shane stepped up to the microphone and began to speak.

"Hey guys, we're Connect Three, and we're so glad to be performing for you guys today. But before we start, I have something I want to say."

Mitchie slowly turned and stared at the boy onstage. It was like looking into an emotional mirror. Lines of sadness creased his face, and he looked as if he hadn't eaten properly in days.

"One week ago, I made the biggest mistake of my life. I told you that I was single. Well, I'm not. I am in love with an incredible girl, and I broke her heart when I denied we were dating. Even though I was just trying to protect her from paparazzi and tabloids that I knew would come sniffing after her, I still never even asked her opinion. I never even asked her if she wanted to be known as the girl who is in love with Shane Gray. And looking back, I don't think she would have minded."

"Duh." Jason muttered, unfortunately into the microphone, so the entire audience could hear him.

Caitlin choked back a snort of laughter, unconvincingly hiding it as a sneeze. Mitchie didn't even notice. She had eyes for no one but Shane.

"So I don't know if she's here or not, her friend said she would be, but I at least have to try and let her know." Looking out over the spectators, Shane bellowed in a loud voice.

"I LOVE YOU, MITCHIE TORRES. FORGIVE ME!"

Silence.

"What's the magic word?" A soft voice floated over the crowd, and Shane face split into a grin.

"Please, please, please, Mitchie, I am so sorry!" Shane jumped into the crowd and tore away from the grasping hands of fan-girls to make his way to where her voice came from. The crowd parted, and there she stood, Caitlin smirking at him over her shoulder, giving him the thumbs up.

"You are a huge jerk, you know that?" Mitchie scowled.

"I know. But that's why you love me, right?" Shane smiled hopefully. "You wouldn't be here if you didn't love me?"

"Actually, I would. Caitlin has the force of a Jedi."

Shane's face fell. "You're freakin' lucky that I do love you then." Mitchie giggled, grabbing his face in her hands and kissing him full on the mouth, a motion which he gladly returned.

A loud cheer drew them apart; Nate and Jason were applauding onstage, egged on by Caitlin and other girls whooping. Mitchie giggled and blushed; she was so embarrassed. She had been so caught up in Shane, she had completely forgotten about the hundreds of other people witnessing a celebrity gossip story in the making, their eyes boring into the couple, snapping pictures and yapping into their cell phones. They would probably be on the front page of every tabloid tomorrow. But as embarrassing as suddenly being thrust in the Hollywood spotlight may be, Mitchie was glad that at least Shane would be in it with her.

HOLY CANOLI. The reaction to this story is beyond incredible! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed/favourited/alerted!
I would love any other feedback! Just review or PM me! BTW, what is everyone's opinion on Jaitlin(JasonxCaitlin)? Coz I'm writing one. Oh yeah, I think OUTSIDE the box.
Coz I just love Jason, and Caitlin was the best female character (plus there is no way in hell I'm breaking up my Smitchie) So yeah, let me know what you think!

P.S. I NEED A LAST EMOTION FOR MY FINAL CHAPTER! I don't want to do confused anymore, it's too confusing. Anyone have any suggestions? (Don't worry, I'll credit you!)