Chapter 21: Epic Party Planning (pg. 163)
Characters:
Emma Morgan (Sam and Jason)- 17
Gabe Morgan (Sam and Jason)- 16
Maddie Morgan (Sam and Jason)- 16
Katie Morgan (Sam and Jason)- 14
Josslyn Jacks (Carly and Jax)- 22
Courtney Jacks (Carly and Jax)- 17
Connor Jacks (Carly and Jax)- 16
Jacelyn Jacks (Carly and Jax)- 14
Chloe J Hunter (Maxie and Matt)- 17
Christian Hunter (Maxie and Matt)- 17
Lukas Spencer (Maxie and Lucky)- 16
Leah Zacchara (Maxie and Johnny)- 15
Ava Jones (Maxie)- 14
Daniel Zacchara (Olivia and Johnny)- 17
Mia Webber (Olivia and Steve)- 16
Zack Corinthos (Sonny and Claudia)- 17
Hunter Corinthos (Sonny and Claudia)- 16
Brittany Corinthos (Sonny and Brenda)- 16
Brenna Corinthos (Sonny and Claudia)- 15
Lindsey Scorpio-Drake (Robin and Patrick)- 23
Nate Scorpio- Drake (Robin and Patrick)- 17
Noah Scorpio-Drake (Robin and Patrick)- 16
Paige Cassadine (Nikolas and Emily)- 17
Haley Lovett (Ethan and Lisa)- 16
Addie Lansing (Ric)- 16
Tyler Drake (Lisa and Patrick)- 17
Aubrey Crowell (Nadine)- 16
Brendan Webber (Elizabeth)- 17
Stella Hunter (Elizabeth and Matt)- 16
Matt Zacchara (Lulu and Johnny)- 17
Joey Falconeri (Dante and Brenda)- 17
Ashlyn Falconeri (Lulu and Dante)- 15
Parker Ruiz (Manny)- 16
Ryan Rosco (Faith)- 17
Carrie Corinthos (Michael and Abby)- 15
Jamie Quartermaine (Dillon and Georgie)- 17
Trevor Alcazar (Skye and Lorenzo)- 16
Tanner Quartermaine (Dillon and Lulu)- 16
Julian Quartermaine (AJ)- 15
Grace Quartermaine (Skye)- 14
Emma
First period English hadn't really been the same since the day of the fight between all the seniors. The seats had changed slightly too.
On the left side, the tables were Daniel and Matt, Chloe J and Ryan, Christian and Courtney, and Brendan and Joey. On the ride side, they were Jamie and Tyler, Emma and Nate, and Paige and Zack.
Courtney had been doing pretty well with not forcing herself to throw up. She slept over at Emma's again and only got up twice in the middle of the night. Emma was proud of her and told her constantly, trying to encourage her.
Mr. Magnus watched the group like a hawk, yelling if there was even a dirty look. He had been yelled at by Principal Turner for nearly an hour for not sending everyone involved to the office.
"The assembly is in ten minutes." Nate whispered to Emma as Mr. Magnus started talking about some Shakespeare play. "You nervous?"
At the assembly, the student body president would be announced. "A little." She admitted.
"You'll do fine." He assured her.
Emma looked around the classroom at her friends. She could see that Courtney and Christian were watching some video from under the table with Courtney's phone and they laughed quietly every now and then. Chloe J was painting her finger nails (hot pink, of course) and Ryan was trying to pay attention, though he was distracted by Chloe J every couple seconds. Paige and Zack were whisper-yelling at each other and she wondered what that was about; they had always been the calmest and most stable couple of the Crew and everything was out of whack when they were fighting.
In the front, she could hear Daniel snoring and saw Matt texting. She didn't know what Jamie and Tyler were doing and wasn't going to turn around to look at Joey and Brendan.
"All seniors please report to the auditorium. All seniors!" they all stood after the announcement.
Chloe J took off the blouse she was wearing, revealing a President Emma shirt underneath it. She smiled at her best friend.
"You're gonna win. I know it."
"And what if I don't? What are you gonna do with that shirt?"
"Well, considering I have like, 500 more, I'm going to hold a protest and make everyone wear the shirts."
Emma rolled her eyes, but hugged her. "Thank you for helping me with this."
"It's not a problem, Em."
Emma looked around and realized that everyone else in the English class (minus Joey, Brendan, and Tyler) was wearing President Emma shirts.
"All juniors please report to the auditorium. All juniors!"
The halls became more crowded and Emma could see that all the juniors in the Crew had the President Emma shirts on.
"Long live President Emma!" Zack shouted out and then she was being lifted up onto the shoulders of him and Nate and carried down the hallway.
"What is with you two and this 'long live' stuff?" Emma wondered. Nate and Zack had been the ones to get her the 'Long Live Captain Emma' cake after she made cheer captain.
"Zackary Corinthos, put her down!" Paige commanded. "You're going to drop her!"
"Relax, Paige. It's not a big deal."
"Not a big deal? So when we're all in the hospital because Emma busted her head open, it won't be a big deal?"
"Guys, chill!" Courtney interrupted. She reached her hand up and Emma grabbed it, letting her help her down. "What's going on with you two?"
"Nothing. It's fine." Paige pushed ahead, leaving them all behind. When Paige was mad, she would either shut down or lash out. Looks like she was doing the former.
"Sorry, Princess. Don't let us ruin your big day." Zack apologized.
"I don't even know if I won yet."
"I'm sure that you did." Chloe J said. "Now come on." She grabbed her hand and Courtney's and they entered the auditorium.
The sophomores and freshman were called down and soon, the whole room was filled with high school students.
"Let's go Emma, let's go!" Brittany yelled, standing up.
"Let's go Emma, let's go!" Courtney, Chloe J, Mia, and Maddie joined in. Zack, Hunter, Gabe, Connor, Nate, Noah, Ryan, Paige, and Christian were the next to get up, followed by Katie, Ava, Jacelyn, Leah, Carrie, Brenna, and Aubrey. Soon, the whole Crew was cheering for Emma.
"Alright, alright!" Principal Turner yelled once he got to the microphone. "Quiet down!" The Crew was still proudly cheering (minus a few, like Joey).
"Guys, quit!" Emma said to the people around her. But that just made them cheer louder.
"LONG LIVE PRESIDENT EMMA!" Nate shouted, causing a loud uproar. Even Paige and Aubrey, who were normally quiet and followed the rules, were cheering loudly.
"I will give EVERYONE detention if it is not quiet in here!" Principal Turner tried. It didn't work.
Emma got up from her seat and went to the stage. She took the microphone. "All of you be quiet! Do you really want detention?"
"I'll proudly take a detention if I can cheer for you, baby girl!" Zack called back, earning more cheers.
"If you're not quiet now, I will drop out of the presidential race."
And just like that, the room quieted. Emma smiled apologetically at Principal Turner and went back to her seat (which was between Paige and Chloe J).
"Thank you, Miss Morgan." The African American man looked out at his students. "I would like to thank all of you for being so active in the campaigning this year. This was one of the most exciting student body presidential races we have ever had, only two others comparing. Can you all guess what those were for?"
"SAM AND JOSSLYN!" the Crew yelled.
"Yes, Samantha Davis and Josslyn Jacks. It takes a lot to be the leader of a school and only a very dedicated person could handle this job. I am proud to tell you that the student body president this year is," he pulled a piece of paper out of an envelope, "EMMA MORGAN!"
The crowd broke out into cheers. Chloe J and Paige hugged Emma. She walked down the aisle to give her speech and received hugs from everyone in her row, then more from everyone she passed on her way to the stage.
"Seriously?" Principal Turner asked her after it took her over five minutes to get onto the stage. "You are worse than your mother was."
Emma just laughed and grabbed the microphone. "I would like to thank all of you guys for voting for me. Um, thanks to Shelby Lenhoff and Carson Kriss, who were the other two runners. Thank you to Chloe J Hunter for being my campaign manager, the PCH cheer team for doing that amazing routine yesterday, my brother and sisters Gabe, Maddie, and Katie for listening to me talk about this all the time, and my best friends aka The Dream Team for always supporting me. I'm going to try my best to keep this school as wonderful as it is and I hope that you all will trust me to do it. Thank you." She walked off stage.
Maddie and Mia
"Ugh, I just wanna go home and take a shower." Maddie complained. She and Mia were standing at the Nurse's Station at General Hospital, dressed in their candy striper outfits. Today was their first day and after a vigorous cheer practice, neither was really in the mood.
"Hello, girls." Epiphany Johnson greeted the two juniors. "Are you ready for your first day as a candy striper?"
"Not particularly." Mia admitted.
Maddie gave her a big smile (subtly elbowing Mia in the ribs). "Hi, Epiphany. Mia here was just joking; we were born ready for this."
"Okay, so here's what you need to do." The girls listened to the nurse go over every detail of every job they would be doing. Mia was only half paying attention while Maddie tried to absorb everything, knowing she would need to re-explain it to her best friend later.
"Start out with the filing." Epiphany pushed a huge cart full of charts over to them. Maddie and Mia headed towards the filing room, pulling the cart behind them.
"So, Parker got mad yesterday about the SOS." Maddie told her.
"Really? Why?"
"I don't know. I guess he doesn't really trust me since I won't tell my parents about him. But honestly, my relationship with Parker isn't a huge thing. We've only been dating for two months, so why would I tell my parents? Maybe if we were serious, but right now, we're just having fun."
"Maddie, you've never really been able to just 'have fun'." Mia stated. "The only time you've ever gotten drunk was your 16th birthday party and when your drink got spiked at Trey Sanford's party. You are scared to let loose and actually let people into your life. Live a little!"
"So you want me to go out and get drunk?" Maddie asked.
Mia rolled her eyes. "That's seriously all you got out of that? It's about having fun! Be a kid, Madelyn. You don't have to be so responsible all the time."
"I'll try. Next time there is a party."
"Well, the sophomores will be turning 16 soon, and then it'll be party time!"
Maddie couldn't help her laugh. Mia was always tuned in on parties; she, Hunter, and Brittany practically lived for them, while Gabe, Maddie, and Connor were content with watching out for everyone else.
"Next party, you and me kid. We're getting wasted." Mia winked at her and went back to filing.
Chloe J
"We need to have a party." Chloe J announced. Connor, Gabe, Christian, Paige, Zack, Brittany, and Courtney all looked at her after she spoke.
"Why?" Christian asked his twin sister. They were all sitting in Chloe J's bedroom, listening to her talk about her crazy plans.
"To celebrate Emma being class president!" she answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And I'm not talking just a little Crew party. I mean the entire school!"
"Okay, so that sounds great in theory. But how are we gonna make it happen?" Paige wondered.
"Easy. Rent a place, get a DJ, and get alcohol." Zack told her.
"Wow, thanks for that, Zack. Obviously I know that. How are we gonna get money?"
"You're seriously gonna sit here and fight with me while we're trying to plan one of our best friend's celebration party?"
"Well maybe you'll actually listen to me since you never do any other time!"
"Stop!" Connor interrupted. "What is going on with you two?"
"Nothing!" they both yelled at him, before rolling their eyes at each other and turning away.
"That's definitely not 'nothing'." Brittany pointed out. "Chloe J, why isn't Emma here? Or Maddie, Mia, Hunter, and Nate?"
"Emma's not here because I want this party to be a surprise. Nate had something to do, Maddie and Mia are candy striping, and Hunter was going somewhere with Bella." The blonde responded. "As for your questions, Paige, we'll talk to people in the Crew and find a way. Jamie's our go-to guy for alcohol, so I'm sure he can get some. Money's not an issue for any of us, so we'll all just chip in."
"What about a place?" Gabe questioned. "I would say the Metro Court, but then Carly would probably have people watching us and I doubt she would like her kids drinking."
"What if we did it at the Enchantment?" Christian suggested. "It's simple, plus everyone already knows where it is."
"Gabe?" Chloe J looked at him for approval.
"That would be good." He agreed.
"Haley and Addie know a good DJ. I'll ask about it." Brittany pulled out her phone to text.
"This is gonna be crazy." Chloe J grinned widely. "Now, onto other matters. Paige and Zack, you need to get whatever is going on between you two under control."
"Yeah. You guys are like the parents and we're just the confused kids trying to understand why their mommy and daddy are fighting." Courtney added.
"Ask her."
"Me? You're the one who never listens to me when I talk. I ask you to stop hanging around Stella, what do you do? Eat lunch at her table!"
"I don't see what the big deal is. It's just Stella. We've known her forever." Zack defended.
"And she's slept with most of the guys in school! Don't you understand how that makes me feel?"
"And do you know how it makes me feel when Joey yells at you and I have to find out, not from you, but from Emma!"
"That's seriously what you're mad about? It wasn't a problem!"
"If someone is yelling at you, Paige, then it's a problem!"
"You're screaming at me right now! Doesn't that make this a problem?"
Chloe J, Courtney, Brittany, Gabe, Connor, and Christian watched the couple sadly. They had been the one solid relationship in the Crew and never fought. If they broke up, things would never be the same again.
Zack took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to yell at you. I'm just angry because of everything going on lately with Joey and how he's been treating Emma and I'm taking it out on you. I'm sorry that I haven't been listening to you, but I've got so much on my mind. Can you forgive me?"
Paige stood and went over, sitting on his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry for not considering all the pressure you're under. I know that you love Emma and you want to protect her. Believe me, I know just how difficult she is being about this whole situation." She kissed him. "I forgive you as long as you forgive me."
Zack smiled at her and kissed her forehead. "I love you, P."
"Love you too."
"Yay!" Brittany squealed, earning a pinch in the arm from Gabe. "Ouch!"
"You're ruining the moment!" he whispered to her.
"I don't think they even noticed." The both turned back to the couple, who were now staring into each other's eyes, having a silent conversation.
"And now they're right back to their former level of grossness." Connor stated. Gabe and Brittany laughed.
Emma
"What did you want to meet for?" Emma asked Joey as she stood on the docks. She had her jacket wrapped tightly around her, trying to block out the cold and how uncomfortable she was around her boyfriend.
"I know that we've been having some…difficulties…lately, and I wanted to talk about them." He had his hands in his pockets and was really fidgety.
"Seriously? You hurt my wrist. You owe me a ton of money. You pushed me, and then kissed me when I told you not to. I don't know if those are things I can forgive you for."
"What?" Joey looked into her eyes and she saw something change. It was like he wasn't even the same person anymore. He looked cold and distant and ready to snap at any second. "And what makes you think you have the choice to just end things?"
"We are in this relationship together. That means that if I want out, then I can get out." Emma said.
Next thing she knew, she was on the ground. She put her head up and saw her boyfriend standing over top of her, breathing heavily. His fists were clenched and his face was red.
"We can't ever end this, honey. You are mine." He grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her to her feet. Emma yelped in pain, feeling tears stinging her eyes from the pulling sensation at her scalp. "If you know what's good for you, you won't mention this to anyone."
Emma stayed silent, praying that somehow this was a dream. But after feeling Joey's hand collide with her cheek, she knew it wasn't.
"Did you hear me, Emma?"
"I won't tell anyone." She mumbled.
"What was that?"
"I won't tell anyone!"
"Good." Joey pushed her back to the ground. "I'll call you later." He walked away.
Emma brought her knees up to her chest and just sat there in silence. She heard footsteps behind her and squeezed her eyes shut, praying he hadn't come back to hurt her some more.
"Emma?" But it wasn't Joey.
Christian sat down next to her. "Are you okay? Why are you just sitting on the ground?"
"I'm okay." Her voice was shaky and she sounded weak even to her own ears.
"You don't sound okay." He brushed the hair out of her eyes. "What happened?"
"Nothing. I'm just thinking, that's all."
He knew it was more than that, but didn't push it. Instead, he put his arm around his sister's best friend's shoulder. Emma leaned against him and just closed her eyes, hoping Joey would never come near her again.
Courtney
Courtney paced around her bedroom anxiously, telling herself that she had a problem and that she was actually skinny. She hadn't forced herself to throw up since Emma caught her, but had the urge to. She had called the brunette twice, but she didn't pick up.
"I just need a distraction." She whispered to herself. She grabbed her cellphone and scrolled down her contacts until she found the one she was looking for. She hit send.
"Hey Court." Nate answered.
"Hi. What are you doing?"
"I'm getting ready to go eat with my parents. Why?"
"Oh, never mind then."
"I can blow it off. All they're going to want to talk about is Lindsey's engagement and that's not exactly exciting."
"Could you please?"
"Yeah, hold on." She could hear him talking to Robin in the background. "My mom said that it's fine. What do you wanna do?"
"I don't know, I just need to be distracted."
"Okay. I'll be at your house in five minutes."
"Thanks, Natey."
"Welcome, Courtie." He hung up.
Courtney sighed in relief. Normally, Nate wasn't the first person she would call. But Chloe J was doing something with Maxie for fashion, Emma didn't answer, she didn't want to bother Paige or Zack since they just fixed things, and she didn't want her siblings to guess anything about her bulimia because they would tell her parents.
She heard a horn honk in the driveway and jumped. She hadn't realized that she was thinking for so long.
Courtney went downstairs. Carly and Jax were sitting on the couch, looking over some paperwork for the hotel.
"Where are you going?" Carly asked.
"Hanging out with Nate. I'll be back later." She grabbed her purse and walked out the front door. She climbed into the passenger's seat of his car.
Nate studied her face. "You okay?"
Courtney took a deep breath. "I have something to tell you. Something that only Emma knows."
Brittany and Hunter
"Slide." Hunter slid over so Brittany could sit on his bed with him. "What're you doing?"
A lot of people considered it strange that Brittany and Hunter were so close. They shared the same father, Sonny Corinthos, but different mothers (Brittany's is Brenda, Hunter's is Claudia) and are both 16. The two of them choose not to think about how Sonny had cheated on Claudia with Brenda.
"Facebook."
"Lame. Chloe J wants to throw a huge congratulations party for Emma on Friday. Gabe said it could be done at the Enchantment. I volunteered to talk to Jamie about alcohol. Will you come with me?"
"Sure." Hunter closed his laptop and sat on the edge of his bed so he could get his shoes on. They walked out to Hunter's car.
"Haley and Addie are getting their DJ friend to come and do that. Courtney and Connor are in charge of food. Paige and Zack are doing decorations."
"Is this a Crew-only party?" Hunter asked as he focused on the road.
"Nope. It's a whole school party. And I mean the whole school. Chloe J, Christian, and Gabe are handling invitations."
"So you guys had a Dream Team plus Christian meeting and I wasn't informed?"
"No, it wasn't like that. Emma wasn't there because it's supposed to be a surprise and Nate, Maddie, and Mia weren't there either."
"Oh. Okay." Hunter pulled up to the Quartermaine mansion. "It's a good thing Brenda is your mother. It makes the Quartermaines love you so much more."
"That's the only thing she's good for." They got out of the car together and went to the front door. Brittany knocked.
"Miss Brittany! What a surprise to see you!" Alice greeted.
"Hi, Alice." She hugged the maid. "You've met my brother, Hunter."
"Good to see you again." She acknowledged him with a nod, which he returned. "Come in."
The two teens walked into the house. Hunter looked around; the Quartermaines had always fascinated him. Brittany seemed unaffected by the grandness of the mansion.
"Are you here to see Edward?" Alice questioned.
"No, actually. Is Jamie here?"
"Mr. Jamie is up in his room. Feel free to go up."
"Thanks, Alice." Brittany headed towards the stairs and Hunter followed. As they walked down the hallway, she banged on a few doors. Hunter was confused on what she was doing. Then, she made it to another room, knocked, and then entered.
"Hey Jamie." She said, walking in. Hunter followed silently.
"Hey Britt! What's up." He pulled the headphones out of his ears and turned in his swiveling chair to face her.
Hunter looked towards the door as Julian, Tanner, Trevor, and Grace came in.
"Great, you're all here! Meeting time." Brittany closed the door, kissing Trevor's cheek as she walked by. The two of them had been dating for a year, despite Sonny's disapproval since Trevor's father is Lorenzo Alcazar.
"What are you doing here, Brittany?" Tanner asked. His parents are Lulu and Dillon, so he was familiar with her because of Lulu's marriage to Dante, who is Brittany's older brother's father, and he is also dating Mia.
"Chloe J wants to throw this huge, whole school party to congratulate Emma for winning student body president. All of you are invited, obviously. But, we need help getting alcohol." She turned to Jamie. "That's where you come in. Can you help out?"
"For sure, but I'm going to need some money. A major party like this needs major alcohol and I don't think I can get enough money without making Grandfather suspicious."
"Obviously we'll all chip in. I can get money from everyone and get it to you tomorrow. Is that okay?"
"Party's on Friday?" she nodded. "I'll see what I can do. I'll make some phone calls."
"Thank you!" she hugged him. "How much are you gonna need?"
He gave her a rough estimate, which she realized was a lot more than she had thought. Brittany turned to Hunter.
"Text the Crew, minus Emma, and get them to the Enchantment. We are gonna need some help."
Emma
"Thanks for bringing me home." Emma said to Christian, wrapping her arms around her midsection. She still couldn't believe that Joey had hit her.
"No problem. Are you sure you're okay?" Emma looked into Christian's blue eyes and found herself getting lost in them. She shook her head; she could like Chloe J's brother, could she?
"I'm fine." They stood there awkwardly looking at each other. "Um, I better go inside now."
"Yeah." Christian hugged her. "If you decide that something is wrong, don't hesitate to call."
Emma smiled. "Thanks, Chris." She turned and went into the penthouse. Maddie, Mia, Gabe, and Katie were all getting ready to leave.
"Hey, Em." Maddie smiled at her and walked passed her and out the door. Mia, who was struggling to get her shoes on, grabbed Gabe's arm and stopped him, holding onto him for support. Katie walked passed them.
"Where are you guys going?" she questioned. She noticed the awkward look shared between the two best friends.
"To get ice cream!" Mia said a little too loudly.
"Yeah, ice cream. What kind do you want? We'll bring it back for you."
Emma could tell they were trying to hide something from her, but she was too tired to try and figure out what. "Chocolate's fine. I'm gonna go shower." She went upstairs.
"Ice cream?" Gabe whispered to Mia as he opened the front door. "That's all you could think of?"
"Sorry! I wasn't really prepared for her to walk through the door!"
"She could tell we were lying. I wonder why she didn't say anything." Gabe glanced towards the stairs, worrying about his sister.
"I'm sure she's fine. Let's go."
Maddie and Katie were waiting by the elevator. "What took you so long?" the latter wondered.
"We have to make a stop on the way back for ice cream now." Gabe answered, sending a look towards Mia. They all got on the elevator.
Emma got into the shower, feeling exhausted all of a sudden. She sunk to the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees, letting herself cry.
She couldn't stay with Joey and live like this, but if she broke up with him, she might not get to live at all. He was scary when he got mad and she didn't know what she could do.
Crew Meeting
"You want how much?" Leah asked.
Brittany sighed. "300 dollars each is not that bad, guys. It goes towards drinks, food, paying the DJ, and decorations."
"Yeah, but there are 56 of us in the Crew, 55 without Emma." Carrie pointed out. "That's about…well that's a lot of money!"
"It's $16,500. That is a little ridiculous, Britt." Paige agreed.
"Now is not the time to be cheap! We all need to chip in or this party will suck!" Chloe J stepped in. "It's really not that much. $2,000 on decorations, $1,000 for the DJ, $1,000 to get moving guys to get everything valuable out of the Enchantment, $1,500 on food, $1,000 on drinks."
"That's only $6,500. What are you planning on doing with the other $10,000?" Christian wondered.
Chloe J grinned. "Two words. Bounce house."
Everyone burst into laughter at that. Chloe J Hunter, who never wore less than 3 inch heels, wanted to get a bounce house?
"That won't cost that much, CJ." Connor reminded her. "Probably only around $500. That's $7,000 all together."
"Fine then, everyone can pay $150 each. Will that work out, P?"
Paige did the math quickly on her phone. "That equals $8,250. You'll have $1,250 left."
"We can buy something cool for Emma." Maddie suggested.
"Or!" Mia interrupted. "The remaining money can go to getting uniforms so we can have more cheerleaders! That would be something Emma really liked. And then, we wouldn't have to get money from our parents and all that."
"Good idea, Mimi." Courtney praised.
"Everyone agree?" they all nodded. "Then get working on getting money. Get it to Brittany TOMORROW! If it's any later, you will not be on the guest list." Chloe J commanded.
All of them started to file out. Chloe J grabbed Ashlyn's arm, pulling her aside.
"Hey Chloe J." the sophomore said, a little confused.
"Hi. Are you gonna be okay going to this party? You know, with, um, your situation." Her eyes briefly went to Ashlyn's stomach.
"Yeah, I should be fine."
"Good, I really want the whole Crew to be there. That includes your brother. Could you talk to Joey, who apparently doesn't think he needs to come when a Crew meeting is called?"
"I'll talk to him."
"Okay. Thanks, Ash." She let her leave.
Leah, Lukas, and Ava were still sitting, waiting for her to be ready to leave. Chloe J looked at them with a huge grin.
"This is gonna be epic!"
Maddie
"Hey Emmy." Maddie crawled into her older sister's bed. "What are you doing?"
Emma was staring blankly at the ceiling. "Thinking."
"About what?"
"Everything." Emma turned to face her. "Can you sleep with me tonight? Please?"
"Yeah, of course." Maddie wrapped her arms around her. Emma had tears in her eyes and she looked terrified. "Em, are you okay?"
"I don't know." She whispered.
The door opened and Maddie could feel Emma's fingers digging into her arms. Her breathing was rapid.
"Hey guys." She seemed to relax when she realized that it was Gabe. He went around to Emma's other side and layed next to her.
"Where is everyone?" Emma wondered.
"Mia's in the shower, Katie's doing homework, Sellie's sleeping, and Mom and Dad are watching TV downstairs."
Maddie shot him a look over Emma's head, silently asking if he knew what was wrong with her. Gabe started to play with Emma's hair.
"You seem different, Em. Are you okay?"
"Just tired." She mumbled. "Can you sleep in here too?"
"If you want me too."
Emma turned so that her head could rest on Gabe's chest. Maddie was on her side, facing them and rubbing Emma's back with her hand. Together, the three of them fell asleep.