We get dressed and get in the van and go into vocals with Nikki.
"Bright and early for the daily races. Going nowhere. Going nowhere." I sing and she nods. "I'm feeling more anger than vulnerability Nicola. What are you thinking about?" She asks and I look at her. "My dad. He didn't want me. He came back into my life when I was eight and then left again. He asked my mum to get an abortion." I say and look at the microphone. "Ohh Nicola." She says to me and goes to get out of the booth. "I'm ok." I say and put my hand up. She nods and sits back down. "You ready?" I nod and hold the bottom of the microphone.
I sing it again and she smiles. "That was a lot better." She says and I smile. I get out of the booth and go through the fire escape. I stand outside and lean against the wall. I bow my head and take out my phone.
TO: Mrs O'Driscoll
I'm ready to take you up on your offer. Nicola
I send it and walk back in to them. "You ok? We were wondering where you got to." Cameron says to me and Samuel looks up. "Yeah, I'm fine." I say with a smile and sit beside Lindsay. I get a text and look at my phone.
FROM: Mrs O'Driscoll
No problem Nicola. Ring me when you're back.
I nod at it and Alex breaks down when he walks in. Emily hugs him and brings him over to Matheus and Hannah. Lindsay leans on my shoulder until she is called in and I sit up on my chair. Samuel keeps reading over his lines and I play with my ipod. She walks back out and looks at me. She sits on my knee and I hug her. "She is soo two-faced." whispers and I look at her. "One week she is saying that I am screeching and the next she wants to hug me?" I nod. "Yep. Showbiz babe." I say and she laughs. She moulds herself into me and I look at Samuel when he is called to go in. He smirks at me and walks in as Damian walks out. He sits beside me and sits back in the chair. "She ok?" He whispers and I nod. "Yeah." I say and he touches her hair. He smiles at me and I wink at him. He laughs a little and she reaches out for his hand. He grabs her hand and I take a picture of their hands. I post it on twitter and Hannah walks over to us. "We're going to take Alex back to the house, he's pretty torn up." I nod. "Take Cameron and Marissa, they're exhausted." Lindsay muffles into my neck. "I think you should go to Lindsay." I say and she looks at Damian. "We'll wait on Samuel." Damian says and she nods.
They take him out to the van and Lindsay falls asleep. "How'd it go?" He nods. "Yeah, arright." I smile and look at Lindsay sleeping. "Not exactly sixth form at college, is it?" I ask him and he laugh. "Just a lil' different." He says and Lindsay moves. "I don't know, if I want to take them home." I say to Damian and he smiles. "Think about it, you think they're gonna take any shit?" He asks and I laugh. "No, but I don't want them to take any." He nods.
"Go to my school, your school, Blarney stone..." He says and I laugh. "It'll be fun. He says and Lindsay moves again. "I'm going to take her outside, wake her up." He nods. "Ok." She opens her eyes and I smile. "Come on Lindsay." I say and she gets up. I put my arm around her and we walk outside. "Ugh. I am so sick of her." She whispers and I nod. "She just wants to be in control." I say back and she walks around in circles.
"Just, play along and you'll seem like the perfect contestant." I say with a wink and she nods. We walk back in and see the boys smiling at each other and I hold her back. "I think they're gonna make out!" I whisper shout and they laugh. "C'mon." Damian says and we walk out. We get into a taxi and are driven back to the house. We walk in and see Marissa sitting by herself in the choir room.
We walk on by and see Cameron. "What's wrong with her?" Lindsay asks and he scratches the back of his head. "I don't know, she asked to be alone." I nod and look in at her. Samuel and Damian look at us and I look at Lindsay. "Come on." I say and we walk in. "You guys stay here." Lindsay says and they stand outside the door.
"What's wrong?" I ask and she shrugs. "Nothing, i'm fine." I look at Lindsay and she nods. "Ok." Lindsay says and we wrap our arms around her. "You don't have to tell us." I say and she just bows her head in shame. I look up and see Samuel and Cameron. I shake my head. They nod and walk out. I look at Lindsay and she half smiles. I hear Marissa's stomach growl and put a smile on my face. "Someone's hungry." I say and she half laughs. "Let's see if the guys will go and get us some Roo." Lindsay says with a smile.
We get up and Marissa walks ahead of us. Lindsay's eyes go wide and I nod. "I think so too." I whisper and she nods. We go in to the guys and they look up. "Can we order some food? We're starving!" Marissa says with a smile and the guys nod. "Yeah, we'll go get it, what do you guys want?" Samuel asks. We look around and tell him what we want. He nods and goes to get a jacket. He walks out with Damian and we hang arpund the house.
"So, you ready for tomorrow?" Cameron asks and I nod. "Yeah. You?" He nods. "Yep." I nod and we see Alex appearing from the guys dorm. "Hey." I say and he half smiles. The boys get back and we spread out the food. We start eating and Samuel kicks me in the leg. I look up at him and he glances towards Marissa, who hasn't ate much. I nod and continue eating. "How's your food 'Rissa?" I say and she looks up. "It's nice." I nod and look back at Samuel and my phone bleeps.
"Is she ok?"
I look at Samuel.
"I'll tell you later."
I say back and finish eating. "We'll do the dishes." Damian says and I nod. "Wanna go outside?" Samuel says to me as he finishes his food and I nod. "Sure." I say and we walk out to the fire escape. I sit opposite him and our feet touch and we just sit looking around and at each other for a while. He ties his dreads back and I nod.
"Sam." I say and he looks up at me. "We think, she was-" I say and shake my head and look up. "What?" He asks and I put my head down. I whisper the rest and he moves over beside me. I lean my head on his shoulder and he rubs my neck.