Confessions on Hotel Paper: Chapter 9
"Oh, this is Mitchie's closet?" Shane asked bewildered, completely lacking persuasion. Not that it was plausible for him to randomly end up in someone's closet anyway.
"Mitchie, you have some explaining to do!" My mum demanded of me.
I sat up in my bed, now being able to see Shane and my mum's furious face, "Well…you see…umm."
"Mitchie!" She exclaimed, clearly furious.
"Mum, please don't freak out…but Shane and I are together." I admitted, getting out of my bed. She looked at me momentarily before finally speaking.
"I am going downstairs and making myself a cup of coffee, I expect you down there to speak with me in five minutes." She said rather sternly, before leaving my room.
I looked at Shane who stepped out of my closet and I was shocked to see that he looked hurt.
"So your mum doesn't even know about us." He said, obviously sensing my confusion.
"We agreed not to tell anyone." I whispered pathetically, only realising how dumb I sounded as the words left my mouth.
"They are your parents, how could you not tell them? I told mine about you the first time I saw them after camp."
"Shane…I'm sorry, I guess it's kind of hard to say 'Hey mum and dad, I am dating an international celebrity'."
He let out a sigh, "Look, I don't want to fight. I'm going to go, I'm sorry for pulling you out of school, I didn't want to get you in trouble."
"I know…and I am really sorry too. I am going to go tell my mum everything now."
I leant up on my tiptoes to kiss him, but he moved his head so I kissed his cheek instead of his lips.
We came downstairs together and my mum was sitting on the couch, already with a coffee in her hands.
"Nice seeing you again Mrs Torres." He said politely.
My mum gave him a weak smile and I opened the front door for him, he kissed my forehead before leaving, "I'll talk to you later." He said softly.
I watched him walk out of sight before closing the door reluctantly, knowing that my mum was going to be extremely pissed off. Slowly, I made my way over to the couch, sitting down besides my mum.
"I hope you know how disappointed I am in you right now." She said rather calmly.
"I'm sorry."
"For what? For skipping class to see your boyfriend or for not telling your father and me that you had a boyfriend?" She asked sarcastically.
"Both."
"Mitchie, how could you not share this with us? How could you not talk to me about this? He seems like a lovely young man but he is an adult and you are a teenager. Age asides, he is a famous singer in a band that travels all across the world. I don't want to see you get hurt Mitchie."
"Mum, Shane and I agreed at camp that it would be best to keep things a secret. He is already a little upset with me as he assumed I told you and dad but I stupidly didn't. That was a mistake."
"How can keeping your relationship a secret be for the best? The media is reporting that he is dating Peggy, is he dating the both of you? Is that why you are the secret girlfriend? Is sounds like he is just going to string you along and hurt you."
"They aren't dating, just publicly because his label wanted them too for promotional purposes. He isn't with her or anything really, they are friends."
"And you are comfortable with this?" She asked me incredulously.
"I trust him." I replied simply.
"Mitchie, his fame aside he is twenty years old! You are only sixteen, you are a child!" She exclaimed.
"Mum, I am not a child! I am sixteen years old; I am a teenager and almost an adult." I raised my voice, getting up off the couch, "You need to trust me and you need to allow me to make mistakes in life so I can learn from them."
She stood up at this, setting her coffee down on the coffee table, "It's not you I don't trust; it's Shane. You know what he was like before the summer; you know that's why he ended up being sent to Camp Rock. He is no good Mitchie, he is going to hurt you."
"The only person who is hurting me right now is you." As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them.
"You're grounded for the week for skipping school." She said more calmly, "Your father and I will talk to you about this together tonight."
…
"Mitchie!" I heard my dad shout angrily from downstairs not long after he arrived home from work.
I made my way downstairs as slowly as possible, knowing that my mum had already filled him in on everything due to the anger in his voice.
"Hi dad." I greeted him sheepishly, walking into the kitchen where he and my mother were.
"Sit." He instructed me, folding his arms across his chest.
I did as I was told and waited for him to go on.
"You are to break up with him."
"What?" I asked, completely shocked.
"That lead singer that wears those tight jeans, you are to end things with him. He is four years older than you; you are only a child. It is illegal for the two of you to be together."
"We aren't sleeping together, dad, it's not illegal," I defended Shane and myself, "He has a purity ring for one and for two he wouldn't rush me into anything that I wasn't ready for."
"He is a lead singer in the biggest band of the decade, the purity ring would just be for show." He retorted.
"Dad, he has told me about it. He is a Christian and stands by his beliefs."
"Regardless Mitchie, he is too old for you and as your mother has told you, you will just get hurt."
I stood up at this, "You can't stop me being with him. You saw me perform with him at Final Jam; you saw how at ease we were with each other, how natural we were. He makes me happy and nothing you say can make me stop seeing him. Nothing you say can make me change my mind."
"You are grounded for another week." My dad told me.
"Fine!" I shouted, storming out of the kitchen and back up to my bedroom.
I would not break up with Shane; my parents couldn't make me.
…
Other than going to school that week, I was only allowed to go to work, I wasn't even allowed to go to my dance classes. I didn't bring up Shane to my parents and they didn't bring him up to me either.
I spoke to him every night on the phone and he still seemed slightly annoyed that I didn't tell my parents about him, he showed sympathy though when I told him they wanted me to break up with him.
"Shane, I'm not going to break up with you." I assured him yet again on the Thursday night, "Regardless of what my parents want me to do."
"Once again, I am sorry for getting you grounded." He apologised.
"Only one more week after this one. I'm sure I'll manage."
"That means I'll be going two weeks without seeing you."
"Well I can just Google your name to see you." I laughed.
"Not fair, I don't even have a picture of you."
"Well maybe next time I see you, we will have to take a picture together." I suggested.
"We will have to." He agreed.
"You should just come see me tomorrow night if you are free."
"I am free, but you are grounded. I'm not going to sneak you out your house again and get you into even more trouble."
"Well you could sneak in," I proposed, "That way I am still at home grounded."
"I don't think I should, your mum caught us out last time."
"Please?"
"Fine," He agreed reluctantly after only a few seconds, "But I can't be held responsible if we get caught again."
"Deal."
"I am guessing at like midnight then?"
"Yeah, that's if you are up for it." I laughed.
"I am up for it." He laughed with me.
"You do realise you probably will have to come in through my window?"
"I figured."
"You are lucky there is a ladder against the side of my house."
"No, you are the lucky one, Mitch." He corrected me, "You get to be blessed with my presence."
…
The following night after work, I had a shower and got changed into my pyjamas. My parents said goodnight to me a little after eleven and I got into my bed, waiting for Shane.
A little before twelve, Shane tapped on my window.
I quickly opened the window up, letting him inside.
"Hey." He greeted me, kissing me sweetly.
"Thank you for coming, I do plan on getting a car soon and my dad is opening his store in LA soon. So I will be able to come and see you more."
"I don't mind driving here to see you, I get to see you in pyjamas." He teased me.
I sat down on my bed, "My parents are down the end of the hallway, so we'll be able to hear if they are coming." I told him as he sat down next to me.
"Next time, I hide under your bed." He chuckled.
"My parents still haven't brought you up since earlier this week." I told him, "They clearly still think you are too old for me and that you are going to hurt me."
"I promise to never ever intentionally hurt you, Mitchie."
"I know." I smiled at him.
"By the way, you know we have been together over a month now?"
"Wow, its gone kind of fast."
He kissed the side of my head, "Yeah and you owe me a photo." He reminded me.
"Looking like this?" I laughed.
"You look gorgeous." He complimented me, making me blush slightly.
"Shut up."
"Make me." He laughed, pulling out his cell phone. Before I could object, he had a arm around my shoulder, "Smile." He instructed me, skillfully taking a photo of us with his phone. We took a few and then Shane sent them to me so I could have them also.
"Can you tell me about your sister? I know you have one because of the media, I just want to know more about her from you though."
"Her name is Summer, she's fifteen and a sophomore in high school. She has black hair like me, she's about your height and she loves sports. Yet, she is an annoying girl at the same time that obsesses over makeup, clothes and boys and such."
"I always wanted a sister, maybe I can steal her." I laughed.
"Feel free too." He told me amused, grabbing my hand and playing with my fingers absent-mindedly.
I didn't say anything for a moment, just feeling happy to be in his presence. I studied his face, noting how the corners on his mouth pulled up in a smile when he was with me, the way his fringe swept across his face and how he'd do a slight hair flip to get it out of his eyes.
He left me speechless most the time; he left me breathless.
"I hope you know how much you mean to me." I said softly, meeting his gaze.
He smiled brilliantly at this, captivating me with his amazing eyes, "You mean a lot to me too." He spoke warmly; "I wouldn't drive for an hour at midnight and sneak up into a bedroom for just anyone."
I leaned against him and he wrapped his arms around me in response, "I've never been happier," I admitted, "I never thought I was the kind of girl who needed a guy to be happy…but you proved me wrong. I can't imagine being happy without you in my life."
"I can't believe I walked away from you back at camp, I can't believe I thought you didn't care about me enough." He murmured, kissing the top of my head.
"It's because you are stupid, Superstar." I teased.
"That is quite hurtful, Mitch." He feigned hurt.
"I was joking." I rolled my eyes playfully.
"I know." He laughed, leaning back with me in his arms, so we were lying on my bed together.
"My parents would kill you if they walked in right now." I said softly, snuggling into his side.
"I'd die happy, because I am here with you right now."
I smiled at this, "I overheard my parents talking earlier tonight, my dad is going up to LA for the first time this weekend to work on his store. I'm going to try and persuade him to let me go up with him."
"But he wants you to break up with me, I doubt he'll let you."
"Won't stop me from trying."
"I hope he lets you, you could come see my place."
"Which means I could see Nate and Jason again."
"I knew it, you are using me for them." He laughed.
"They are just an added bonus." I teased.
…
"Mitchie, you are falling asleep."
"No, I'm not." I said groggily, "I'm awake."
"Then why are your eyes shut?" I heard Shane laugh.
"I'm just resting them." I yawed, opening my eyes.
"It's after two, I think I better leave." He told me, getting up off the bed.
I got up as well and walked over to the window with him, he brought me into a tight hug.
"I'll call you tomorrow." I yawned again.
"Get some sleep." He told me, clearly amused at my drowsiness.
He leant down and kissed me goodbye tenderly.
Goodbyes weren't so bad if they involved him kissing me like that every time.
