Emma hop-scotched down the steps and sat on the last one, looking out to the cars passing by. Caitlyn and I followed her slowly, too hot to want to do anything. Caitlyn looked over to me and asked, "So what'd they bring you in for?"

I sighed and kicked a very tiny pebble, watching it tumble down a few steps. "Apparently shoving and poking a celebrity is assault," I said and scoffed.

"It is assault Mitchie… you could've hurt Shane Gray! And then… what's gonna happen to his concert? What's gonna happen to the Scavenger Hunt?" Emma said.

I rolled my eyes and sat on the steps above her. "Whatever…" We sat in silence for about five minutes before my Aunt walked out of the precinct. She didn't say anything (yet), just went straight to the car and opened the backseat door. We rose leisurely and followed in a straight line to the car. Emma climbed in first, sitting in the back row and Caitlyn and I sitting in the middle. The door shut and my Aunt walked around to get in and drive away.

We stopped at a traffic light when my Aunt decided to speak. "Emma, sweetie, why didn't you call me that Mitchie was heading to the precinct?" she asked. I saw her briefly look into the rear-view mirror before driving off when it was green. Since my Aunt couldn't see me that well I turned around in my seat to Emma and gave her my 'don't-you-dare' look.

"My phone died mom… sorry," Emma lied. "So I made Caitlyn make the call."

"Aww sweetie, I thought I told you to make sure it was charged –just in case something happened."

"I know mommy… I'm really sorry." Boy that cousin of mine should consider a career in acting. That was a Grammy-winning performance!

They fell into a conversation about the Scavenger Hunt, Caitlyn throwing her word in once in a while. I was too busy looking for a pen and paper to write Joe's number down. When I finally found one, I quickly wrote his number down and shoved the scrap of paper into my pocket. As I was deleting our messages, I felt a pair of eyes on me and looked to see Caitlyn giving me a look.

'I'll tell you later,' I mouthed to her just as we arrived at the hotel.

Caitlyn and Emma got out first and just when I got out, my Aunt stopped me. "You're on thin ice Mitchie," she said lowly, "One more time something like this happens, I have no choice but to send you to Uncle Jon's in Arizona." I sighed. Uncle Jon… how does one describe Uncle Jon. Well, Uncle Jon runs a military school and has a gorgeous, petite wife and three children –Ekon, Kyra, and Lunn. And if you look up what their names mean, you could probably figure out what kind of person Uncle Jon is. It's annoying when they visit or we have to visit them because they're all like little robots. Like the last time we visited Uncle Jon, I was nine, right? And the first thing that happened when we arrived, we had to salute him. That week we spent with him was probably the worst week ever. We had to wake up at 0400 hours and everyone had to be showered and dressed by 0515. I remember what was dignified as fun was reading books and playing military games. Only at seven o'clock could we watch TV and it was for an hour before time to go to sleep. Anyways, the point is: I DO NOT want to go to Uncle Jon's. Going to Uncle Jon's is like –actually it IS- being enrolled in military school.

"Now I love you kiddo, I really do… and I'm here for you… but you seriously need to get your act together, understood?"

I nodded. "Yeah…" We followed my aunt to the front desk where she went to check us in. While she did that, the three of us went to get something sweet from the candy girl.

"Did you know?" she said bursting with excitement, "Shane Gray is staying at this very hotel! And! I bumped into him." She sighed dreamily, "one day, we're gonna get married and have two children –Shane Junior and Athena Gray."

I rolled my eyes as I paid for our treats. This girl is delusional. Caitlyn must have thought so too since she gave the girl a weirded-out look. Emma just went on how Nate's gonna see her in the contest and declare his love for her. Pshh-ya! OKAYYY.

"Girls!" Aunt Connie called and we walked away to where she was with the bellhop. "Caitlyn, here's the key to your room. Emma and I are staying right across from you… a room down."

Caitlyn took the key and stuffed it in her pocket. "Well where's my key?" I asked.

"Mitchie…" My aunt warned.

"But that's not fair," I said trying not to make a scene. We boarded the elevator and watched it close. Then we headed up for the twenty-third floor.

"Oh Mitchie grow up. You only have you to blame. Wherever Caitlyn goes, you go. Wherever you go, Caitlyn goes too. End of discussion," she said, "You only got one key… don't lose it."

I rolled my eyes and the rest of the ride was quiet. We got to our hotel room, and the bellhop placed mine and Caitlyn's bags inside before assisting my aunt. I sighed and went to the bathroom to put on the counter my toiletries. I turned around to exit and almost jumped out of my skin when Caitlyn stood there, leaning in the doorway.

"Hi," she said.

"Umm… hi?" I said and walked around her into our room. I dragged my suitcase over to my bed by the window and sat on the floor with it. I unzipped my suitcase and tried to find something to wear. I have to take a shower. I feel gross.

"So who was that you were texting on Emma's phone?" she asked.

"What?" I said looking up at her.

"On Emma's phone… you were deleting messages… who were they from?" Cait asked again.

"Oh!" I said and picked up my favorite black laced camisole. "Some kid Joe I met at the hotel. We went out for ice cream and came back."

"So that's where you ended up going?"

"Yup…" I said and grabbed a pair of gray plaid shorts. I also took whatever else I needed before venturing off to the bathroom.

"Mitchie wait!" Caitlyn called before I shut the door for my shower. I peeped out of the crack at her as she said, "we're going to the pool, by the way… Emma wanted to, so..."

I sighed heavily and headed back to my suitcase. Oh Emma…

I was so exhausted and so hungry. I took a quick shower and when I got out, I told the guys I was going to the hotel's restaurant for dinner. Like a good bandmate and brother, I asked them if they'd like to join me, but they declined. Nate was going to head out with one Tess Tyler. Honestly, I don't know why he's hanging out with that blonde witch. Oh that's right… for publicity means. Tess got a small part in some big movie and being seen with Nate is going to amp up her rep apparently. And lovely Jason is going to some movie premier with this girl Danielle that he just met about a week or so ago. They're really good friends and are going to meet up with Selena and Justin.

So that makes me flying solo.

I grabbed my room key and uttered a "later" as I headed out. I walked smoothly as I headed towards the elevators and waited patiently for one to come. I took out my phone and glanced at the time. It was almost nine.

The elevators opened with a ding and I climbed on with a family of four –mother, father, and their two sons. Their sons recognized me instantly and were pretty cool. Though, their mom was chastising them for asking too many questions. But I didn't mind. They seemed like some cool beans.

We got off on the ground floor and the boys asked me to sign something. Quickly I did before they exited the hotel and I proceeded to the hotel's restaurant. The hostess freaked when she saw me and rambled about the different tables I could sit at. A little freaked out myself, I asked for a private table in the non-smoking section.

"Booth or table?" she asked with a permanent grin on her face.

"Uh… booth," I said. The hostess happily grabbed a menu and led me to my table.

I couldn't help but notice the little stage they had on the far side of the room. It was really far from where I sat. I sat in the far left corner of the room, where no one would see me, unless they decided to walk around the entire room. Anyways, there was this banner above the stage in big capital letters,

OPEN MIC NIGHT!

Well isn't that just dandy? I sighed and took a seat.

"Shane Gray… I-I think it'd be a great honor if you signed up for Open Mic Night. The crowd would be honored!" the hostess said.

I bit my tongue from saying something I could possibly regret. "Uh thanks… but I think I'm a pass up on that offer. It's been a long day, and I'm kinda tired?" I lied. Well it wasn't that much of a lie. I was tired, I just didn't want to do it.

"Oh… well, the sign-up sheet is over there, if you change your mind," she said and handed me the menu before walking off. I tried not to roll my eyes as she walked off and looked at the menu. The waiter came by and got my order for a drink before walking away. I sighed and the lights dimmed slightly. Not so much where you couldn't see the menu anymore, but you could tell the lighting changed.

"Welcome, everybody to our Open Mic Night!" It was the candy counter girl from this afternoon. She was hosting the event. She flipped her messy blonde curl over her shoulder and straightened her purple top. She was dressed nicely, clearly in bargained clothing. But, it works for her I guess.

"Anyone who would like to sign-up, there's a clipboard right here. Don't be shy! You could have the worst voice in the room, but it doesn't matter because we're all here to have fun right?" A low applause sounded. "Alright! Before we get this show started, I'd like to thank…" My does she have such a perky voice and attitude. I sighed as she began to list people and continued to look through the menu. But suddenly I stopped and my head looked up when I heard,

"First up! We have Miss…Mitchie Torres! Come on down Mitchie!"

"What!" came from the booth to my right. I looked over and almost pissed in my pants when I saw that Mitchie and her family was sitting right there.

"Go Mitchie," her family encouraged.

"No!" Mitchie protested. "I'm not going up there. I repeat not!"

"Come on Mitchie," this girl with light brown hair said.

"No!" she persisted. "I don't sing anymore…"

Now I know it's wrong to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help it. She sings? Err, sang?

"Mitchie, please go," her aunt –from what I can recall she's staying with- said. "Do it for Mallory."

Mitchie stood her ground, but you can tell the walls were crumbling down. She then sighed and got up, heading for the stage. A few gave an applause –including me- as she got up on that stage and sat at the piano.

The candy counter girl wasn't so keen with keeping the mic away from her mouth or lowering her voice when she said, "What song would you like to sing?" Mitchie's mouth moved, but you didn't hear what she said. The candy counter girl reintroduced Mitchie before placing the microphone on the stand and heading off stage.

"Umm…this is a song I wrote… a long time ago," she sighed and looked at the piano before looking out to the audience. "It's called uh It's Not Too Late." Mitchie repositioned her hands before looking up to the ceiling. Then she began to play.

"Hmm…

Here I am

Feels like the walls are closin' in

Once again

It's time to face it and be strong

I wanna do the right thing now

I know it's up to me somehow

I've lost my way

If I could take all back I would now

I never meant to let you all down

And now I've got to try

To turn it all around

And figure out how to fix this

I know there's a way

So I promise

I'm gonna clean up the mess I made

Maybe it's not too late

Maybe it's not too late, oh

So I'll take a stand

Even though it's complicated

If I can

I wanna change the way I've made it

I've gotta do the right thing

Now I know it's up to me somehow

I'll find my way

If I could take all back I would now

I never meant to let you all down

And now I've got to try

To turn it all around

And figure out how to fix this

I know there's a way

So I promise

I'm gonna clean up the mess I made

Maybe it's not too late

I'm gonna find the strength

To be the one

That holds it all together

Show you that I'm sorry

But I know we can make it better

If I could take all back I would now

I never meant to let you all down

And now I've got to try

To turn it all around

And figure out how to fix this

I know there's a way

So I promise

I'm gonna clean up the mess I made (mess I made)

Maybe it's not too late

I never meant to let you all down

And now I've got to try (got to try)

To turn it all around (all around)

And figure out how to fix this

I know there's a way

So I promise (I promise)

I'm gonna clean up the mess I made

Maybe it's not too late

Maybe it's not too late

Whoo-oo

Yeah."

hey hey! Boy am I such a horrid person! Sorry for lack of updating... life continues to go on with more and more drama -_- not cool. And the drama is just stupid and -i'm a stop there because it has nothing to do with this story! o.o

Thank you guys for reviewing my story... seriously, you guys deserve some serious cookies :D

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P.s. who loves that song? I know I do! And Skyscraper! Heard it the other day and it was really interesting to listen to :)