It had been a few days and my Mom had let me sign the contract. I got it back to Kelly within minutes of signing it; she smiled and gave me a semi-welcome hug. A semi-welcome hug because it was only a trial contract, but it meant a lot nonetheless.

Brandon had sent me a few text messages, asking if I had made up my mind yet. I had made up my mind. I wanted to talk to him. I want him to explain himself. I want to see the guilt in his eyes.

To Brandon:
Yeah, we can meet up. When are you free?

I didn't expect to hear back from him so quickly.

From Brandon:
Are you busy tomorrow night?

To Brandon:
Not that I know of…

From Brandon:
Cool, where are you living? I'll pick you up.

I didn't him know exactly where I lived; I'm not sure why. I know he wouldn't try anything stupid, but just in case he snapped his brain stem one day…

To Brandon:
Meet me in the Palm Woods park. Six o'clock.

He agreed and I left my phone on my bed before sitting down at my desk. I had been consumed with the contract and my song and hadn't checked anything online in a while. I convinced myself it wouldn't take long, and it wasn't like ideas for lyrics were flooding to me at the moment. So I logged on to facebook and was greeted with multiple types of notifications.

I blocked all the game requests and scanned through the others. Kendall had tagged me in a picture he took from the pool side bon fire night. Carlos and I were sitting close, keeping warm as we roasted our corndogs over the fire. He had an arm wrapped around me and my head was on his shoulder. I smiled, making it my profile picture, and liked it on his post.

Elizabeth Miller changed her profile picture.
Kendall Knight likes this.

A chat box had popped up in the corner of my screen; it was James inviting me to join him for another work out. I smiled and agreed, even though he wore me out last time I was happy that I did it and we had a great time. I got up from my chair and began to change into some work-out clothes when the message alert noise had drawn me back to the computer.

From James:
Make sure to eat before you leave.

He gave me a reminder before logging off. I followed his actions by logging off, "Blah blah blah…" I muttered as if trying to keep from him hearing me. I didn't eat last time and I was just fine.

James had already begun warming up when I got to the gym, "Hey, Elizabeth." He greeted me with a smile.

"Hey, doll." I sighed as I sat next to him on the floor and began stretching.

His smile turned in a little as he reached forward to grab onto his feet, "What's up?" He asked looking to me.

"Well," I started mimicking his actions, "I'm meeting up with my ex tomorrow."

James' foot slipped out from his grip and he fell back landing on the floor. I cringed and hurried over to him. His face was twisted slightly, and he held his hand to the back of his head where he hit the floor.

"Are you okay?" I asked sitting next to him on my knees.

"Uhm, yeah…" He awkwardly sat up, "I'm fine, but…ex-boyfriend; why are you meeting him tomorrow?"

We didn't move much, I sat on my bottom and wrapped my arms around my legs and he leaned back on his hands. I was a little hesitant about explaining this to another person, especially James. I didn't want to have to see the look in his eyes as I told him about the immature ex who referred to me as a barn yard animal. I hadn't even said anything and I could feel the embarrassment bubbling inside of me.

"I don't know. He said he's in town for a while and wants to talk." It's the truth. What more could I say?

"Oh…well. I hope you have a good time." There was almost a tone of disappointment in his voice as he looked forward to the mirrored wall and began to get up.

"I doubt I will. I'm not looking forward to it in the slightest. It didn't end well with me and him. I'm hoping he just wants to clear the air or something." James helped me up. I tripped over my feet and stumbled into him. He caught me, holding me steady in his arms.

I locked my feet to the ground and laughed, "Sorry," I apologized and looked up to him.

He towered over me, having to look nearly directly down at me with those green pools. He adjusted his arms to rest comfortably around my waist and lightly pulled me closer. I didn't know what to do and could find my ability to speak, let alone breathe with my breath caught in my throat. His eyes looked brand new, as if I were seeing them for the first time.

Or…

He's never looked at me like this before. What was it? It was soft and welcoming and his touch was gentle, not that he was ever aggressive with me, but this was all new coming from him.

We jumped apart at the sound of the air conditioning kicking on. Looking back at each other from the air conditioner we laughed it off, "We should probably get started." He said motioning towards the treadmills.

"I didn't do so hot on those last time. Do we have to?" I asked already knowing his answer as we both claimed a machine.

"Now that we know where you're at, we'll start slow." He reached over and set my machine on a slow paced walk, "Every five minutes we'll go a little faster, just so we can get your heart started for the weights."

For what felt like the first time ever, James and I had spent the majority of the time actually talking, getting to know each other. I had been here for months and we were friendly sure, but I was surprised at what I didn't know. His parents were divorced, it had been the guys that had got him to auditions for Gustavo and Kendall that helped him get a deal with the rest of the guys.

We were actually talking – and it was nice.

So I may be writing myself into a corner with this, hopefully my brainstorming partner we be free sometime soon. Til then, how do you guys like the chapter? :) Thanks for reading!