Here is the next chapter for you, my lovely reviewers! In case any of you didn't notice, I posted my poor attempt at a promo for my newest project. I am going to start on it as soon as I finish this story up! Review on it please and tell me if you are looking forward to reading it when it comes out! Alright, here we go…
"On set! On set! Five minutes 'til showtime!" a man with a headset yelled, running through the backstage area of Windy in the Morning. Windy herself was sitting in her comfortable vinyl-cushioned chair on set while Drew and Jessica were getting the finished touches on their makeup.
"Done," the woman doing Jessica's face told her briskly. "Go on!"
Jessica obeyed, scurrying onto the small, contemporary set of the morning television program. She took a seat in a chair directly across from Windy on her orders, twisting her hands in her lap as she watched the last of the audience's seats fill. Her eyes scanned, but at the same time, somehow avoided the crowd. She was trying to see if there was maybe anyone she recognized, but there were too many people and too much talking for her to really focus. She took long, deep breaths, telling herself to calm down. The last thing she wanted to do was puke on camera and see the headline: Drew Hitley dates Barf Girl! The producers of the show ran away from the hostess, evidently going to get the last details ready before the camera started rolling. She sighed in relief as her boyfriend sat down in a cushy chair beside her.
Drew was completely at ease, leaning back in the chair with his foot resting on his leg. He started whistling absentmindedly, ignoring both Jessica and Windy. She assumed he was just getting into character for the camera. Plus, she was sure if she were able to ignore everyone like that she'd be a lot less nervous. For a distraction, she glanced over her shoulder at the large flat screen television mounted on the wall behind them. On its screen floated the logo for the show, a popular song playing in the background. Jessica turned her head back towards the audience, the loud humming of blending voices making her even giddier.
"Alright! Places, people, places!" a voice exclaimed over an intercom. The audience quieted down as Windy turned to face them, her makeup freshly done and looking politely pleasant. Jessica hoped to God that her face stayed that way and didn't twist up mischievously like so many people of the press's did. "And we're live in five… four… three… two…"
"Good morning to you," Windy said in a pleasant voice, facing one of the three cameras that surrounded them. Jessica was automatically reminded of a newswoman on a news network. "Today is Thursday, December 26 of 2009. I hope you all had a lovely holiday. I know that I did." She chuckled good-naturedly towards the camera. "Now, I want all of you to wake up this morning and give a nice, big welcome to my guests for today's show, Drew Hitley and his newest girlfriend, Jessica Kramer!"
To her surprise, no one in the crowd booed or hissed, but clapped politely instead. However, she could hear the boos and growls of the girls at home watching it on TV in her mind. She smiled sheepishly, waving a small wave as Drew smiled hugely and blew kisses to the audience and to the cameras.
So far so good, she thought nervously.
"So, let's hop to it then, shall we?" Windy asked them, taking a few pink cue cards with the show's logo on the back of them off of her chair arm. "Everyone wants to know about you two. I mean, no one really knew that Drew had another girlfriend until just a few days ago! If I do say so myself, you two make the most adorable couple!"
Jessica smiled in embarrassment, muttering thanks. Drew nodded his head in agreement.
"So," she continued. "As you know, first I am going to read a few of the classic questions like 'where did you meet?' and 'how long have you been dating?' and things like that. But then after I get those out of the way, we take questions from the audience." They both nodded in understanding. "Okay, so, where did you two meet?" A polite laugh came from the people watching.
"We met at my school, Carson High," Drew answered like an experienced professional. "Yeah, she was in the cafeteria the first day I got there, I walked into the room, and like everyone else, she couldn't take her eyes off of me!" Against her better judgment, Jessica couldn't stop herself from snorting. Everyone's eyes, including Drew's 'remember-the-plan' look, was on Jessica. Windy jumped on it before anyone had a chance to blink.
"Why are you rolling your eyes over there, Jessica?" she asked critically. "Is there something you would like to add?"
"Well, uh, no!" Jessica stuttered. "No, no, nothing at all. I just… was laughing at how… many times people have asked us that question!"
"Uh huh," Windy said dubiously, not buying it. She turned back to Drew. "So, Drew, what was so special about Jessica that made her stick out of the crowd for you? I am sure you had hundreds of girls following you around. Why her?" Mumbles of agreement rose from the audience.
"Well, Windy, you want to know the truth?"
She nodded.
"I mean, do you really want to know?" he asked again, his eyebrows rising for dramatic effect. Windy nodded vigorously again. Drew reached his arm around the back of Jessica's chair comfortingly. "She was so—what's the word—much more direct with her approach than anyone else." Well, he was partly telling the truth.
"What do you mean by direct?"
"Jessica… was… more up-front with me. It really caught my attention. All of the other girls, you know, just were drooling and following me around like puppies."
"And Jessica didn't?" Windy asked, trying to understand.
"Nope," he answered simply, his arm visibly tightening around Jessica. Windy was already very interested.
"Hmm, interesting," she said thoughtfully, an undertone in her voice that Jessica didn't particularly enjoy. The determined hostess turned to Jessica now, wanting to take advantage of her inexperience and get some more juicy and detailed information. "So, Jessica."
"Yeah?" Jessica's posture straightened up, her eyes very attentive now. She squirmed in her chair uneasily.
"Is this true? Did you not act like everyone else? Do you think that maybe that's what attracted this Hollywood heartthrob?"
"Uh… I guess."
"You guess? You mean you don't know?"
"No, no, I know! I'm just… a little nervous."
"It's fine, hon. Relax. We're all friends here, right?" Windy asked the audience, opening up her arms. 'Yeah' and 'tell us!' popped up in the crowd.
"Um, well," Jessica began, looking to Drew for approval before saying a word. He raised his eyebrows slightly in approval. "Drew and I, we had a… different relationship than someone might expect between a teenage superstar and normal girl."
"Oh, really?" Windy asked with interest, leaning forward slightly. Drew shot Jessica a warning look, but she didn't notice. She suddenly felt more confident, more able. She leaned forward towards the interviewer also, smiling.
"Oh, yeah!" she laughed, nodding. "Drew and I… phew!"
"Phew?"
"Yeah! I mean, he comes strutting into the cafeteria trailed by hundreds of girls and I am just sitting there at the table, you know? Like, 'oh, Mr. Big-shot is here. Wahoo'. I mean, come on, he practically was acting like he owned the place, which is what grabbed my attention." Windy smiled in a way that should have warned Jessica to stop talking then and there, but she didn't. Drew cleared his throat loudly, but Jessica just took it like he was actually clearing his throat.
"Really? I can't believe that."
"You can't believe that?!" Jessica echoed, laughing again. "Honestly, you should have seen how self-absorbed Drew was when he got here. He even spoke in third-person, like, all the time. Calling himself 'The Drew' and thinking of himself as 'God's gift to women'. Totally egotistical."
"Egotistical? Ooh, are you sure? That's a pretty strong word."
"More like not strong enough," Jessica corrected her, now talking non-stop, interpreting Windy's determination to get dirt as polite curiosity. "You wouldn't believe what he did."
"What did he do?" Windy asked excitedly, leaning forward even more. She reminded Jessica of a fellow gossiping teenager.
"Since Drew is the kind of Hollywood bad boy that always wants what he can't have, he came after me," she gushed, pointing to herself. "He thought that since I didn't fall all over him like every other girl, that I was insane or something, so he starts following me around!" Windy looked like a child on Christmas morning. "Luckily enough for him, he had six of our seven periods with me, so he had an excuse to stay with me almost every second of the day. He sat as close beside me in every class as he possibly could, trying to flirt and get me to fall for him. He wasn't going to go to rest until every last person in that school was a fan."
"Wow," Windy breathed, egging Jessica on. "I never pictured Drew as the 'I am going to stick with one girl' type."
"You'd be surprised," Jessica chuckled, pointing over to Drew. "There's a lot about us that you don't know."
"Okay!" Drew said quickly, laughing as he squeezed Jessica's shoulder almost to the point of pain. "I think that's enough of Jessica's funny little stories for now. Oh, Jess, you're so silly!" He glared at her, letting her know that she had just done what they were not supposed to do under any circumstances: reveal to the press that they had secrets.
Windy smirked diabolically, clearly reading the look passing between them. She strongly disagreed with Drew. She really liked his new, sweet, completely naïve girlfriend!
"Questions from the audience?" she said quickly, smiling all the while. An assistant climbed into the stands at his cue, giving the microphone to the first person he saw raise their hand, which was almost everybody. A small, shy looking girl stood up out of her seat. "Say your name and your age, dear."
"My name is Carolyn, and I am eighteen," she replied, her voice a high soprano. "My question is for Jessica. Okay, it seems like there is more to this story that you aren't telling us. I realize that it might be kind of long, but could you give us a short version?" A few hands went down.
"Uh…" Jessica looked to Drew for approval. He just glared at her and rolled his eyes, staring at the ground. It was too late now. She'd been asked a question and she would have to answer. It was too late to lie! "Well, long story short, Carolyn, Drew and I couldn't stand each other for a while. It was a love/hate relationship I guess you could say. But over time, it started to turn into less hate and more of… love." Carolyn smiled to herself and took a seat, nodding her thanks.
Next, the mike went to a chubby woman who looked extremely giggly for some reason. "Hi, there." Jessica could detect a strong Canadian accent. "My name is Muriel and I am twenty-eight. My question is for Drew." Drew's eyes shot up from the ground. "Jessica seems to be more willing to talk about this whole 'relationship' thing more than you are. She actually tells us what we want to know. Why so quiet?"
"Uh, I'm just a little shocked at how… open she is being," Drew said truthfully, eying his girlfriend again. Jessica kept her eyes away from his, already knowing perfectly well that later she was going to receive an earful. "And I am perfectly open to talking about my emotions!"
"What are your emotions, Drew?" Windy continued Muriel's question.
"Well, right now I am a little aggravated," he mumbled, his stare drilling into the back of Jessica's head. "But for her? Can't really say."
"What do you mean?" Muriel asked, confused.
"I mean, Jessica is so different from every girl I've dated," Drew said truthfully, his icy glare softening slightly. "And I am not just saying that for show," he said directly to Windy, the hostess almost taken aback by his intense look.
"Thanks, that's all I wanted to know," Muriel thanked. The assistant took back the microphone and stood back, examining all of the different hands that were in the air. Finally, he picked a heavily spray tanned-looking girl in the front row.
"Yeah, hi," she said uninterestedly to Jessica, her attention on Drew as quickly as she had snatched the mike from the assistant's hands. "My name is Katie and I am sixteen. My question is for Drew." Drew groaned internally. This was one of the fake-blonde crazed fanatics, he could tell. "You've had so many girlfriends, and you have never stayed with one for longer than about a week. How are you so sure that she's 'different'?"
"Easy," Drew answered without pause. He took a deep breath, wondering if what he was about to do would end up being a mistake or not. Oh, well. Whether it was going to be a big deal or not, he wasn't going to hide his feelings for his girlfriend from the world. It was going to have to come out sooner or later. Better sooner than later, he decided. "I… well, Jessica…" he scratched the back of his head awkwardly, Jessica turning to look at him. His eyes connected with hers, and it had no trouble escaping his lips. "I love her."
Surprised murmuring broke out, Windy watching their meaningful stare with curiosity and somewhat freaked out. She'd never really seen any two people look at each other like that, and she'd had multiple famous Hollywood couples on. Brad and Angelina, Vanessa and Zac, the two Taylors. This was alien.
"Now, Jessica," she began determinedly, "you do realize how many times Drew has said that to his girlfriends, haven't you?"
"Yeah, I know," Jessica answered, not looking away from Drew's swimming pools of sapphire.
"Like I said," the heartthrob repeated, taking her hand and twining his fingers with hers, "she's different." He turned to look at Windy with a somewhat triumphant expression. "Two weeks and counting."
"Two weeks?" Katie breathed, not daring to believe it. "That—that breaks your record by a whole week! You usually would have gotten at least two more girlfriends by now!"
"Yep," Drew answered simply, taking in the girl he loved so much. He suddenly felt fearless, as if nothing that anyone said or asked would bring him down. That is, until the next contender.
"Hey," a familiar snobby voice rang through the room. Jessica and Drew's eyes ripped from one another and looked to the girl that now possessed the microphone. There a tall blonde stood, a small and stubby girl in her wake by her side. They stared in horror as the girl stated her name. "Yeah, hi, I'm Kelley. It's so nice to finally see you two in person!" she said through her teeth, icily sweet. Jessica and Drew played along, knowing that they would have to for the cameras.
"Hi," they greeted her in a similar cold tone.
"I'm seventeen, about to be eighteen. Just wondering something. Either of you could answer this question… actually; I think it would be really cool if you both did." Windy nodded. "By the way, just as a warning for the kids out there," Kelley smiled to the camera, "this is a rated T question."
"That's alright," the hostess assured her, glad that the questions were getting more personal.
"Okay, as we all know, Drew is a Hollywood bad boy, known for being a player and popular with the ladies. Is Jessica different from all of the other girlfriends in another way, too?"
Jessica and Drew continued to act oblivious, although they both knew what was coming up and tried to prepare themselves for it. A soft blush tinted Jessica's cheeks just thinking about it.
"What do you mean, exactly?" Windy pushed to get the words out.
"Have you two 'done the deed'?" Kelley smirked. Everyone's attention was glued to the couple immediately, not sure of what to think. Part of them wanted to think, 'of course they have! Drew Hitley doesn't date without it!' and the other part of them said, 'hmm… I just can't picture it. They look too… innocent'.
"Uh, you see…" Drew started, "we, um—"
"Yeah," Jessica nodded, "Drew and I…"
"Jessica is old-fashioned, something else completely new to me," Drew finished finally, deciding that sounded like the most sophisticated answer. "And believe it or not, I don't have a problem with that."
Some people gasped in shock, others were muttering 'I knew it', and some just smiled at the sincerity of it all. And Kelley and her faithful sidekick, Lea, scowled at the failed attempt of humiliating them on live TV.
"We are a united front," Jessica told the audience and a crestfallen Windy. "Drew and I stick by each other no matter what, right?"
"Completely," he grinned at her, his eyes gleaming. A couple of 'aw!'s erupted from the crowd. Jessica laughed loudly at the cheesiness of it all.
"Are we the cheesiest couple or what?" she asked him, still giggling. His eyes were alluring as they could possibly be, the television studio's lights seeming to just enhance it.
"Completely," he repeated, chuckling softly. Some more sighs and 'aw!'s filled the silence as only Lea and Kelley gagged. Then the crowd began to chant something else.
Kiss… one person suggested lightly, smiling at the young lovers.
Kiss! another exclaimed in agreement.
Kelley and Lea looked at each other fearfully, horror written all over their faces. No, they couldn't kiss! Whatever they did they could not kiss. It would ruin their plan! It would ruin EVERYTHING they had worked so hard to plan out!
Kiss! Kiss! KISS. KISS! the whole crowd was chanting now, some pounding their fists in the air. Windy just copied the crowd, knowing that she was going to have to go along with the popular suggestion if she didn't want to come out as the bad guy.
Jessica turned to Drew, blushing as the chanting grew more and more in strength. She realized now that even the cameramen and maintenance crew that was watching was chanting it, too. Soon enough, the hormones triggered by simply looking into the other's eyes were screaming the same thing. Drew kept his eyes locked with hers as he slowly brought her hand up to his lips, kissing it gently. She was unable to keep herself from smiling as some of the hopeless romantics in the audience started squealing as everyone continued to use the repetition of, KISS! KISS! KISS! KISS!
They leaned towards each other slowly, the current roaring as it always did. It was odd. The more and the louder the crowd chanted, the lightning surged with ever more strength. Jessica's heart raced as the smallest trace of a smile shaped his lips, his sweet breath overwhelming her senses. With a loud 'yeah!' their mouths melted together, the viewers going into hysterics that surprised them themselves. Kelley and Lea watched in silent terror as they kissed, wanting to go into angry tantrums, but not able to find the breath to do so. Well, there went their plan!
The couple's kiss turned from sweet and innocent to a little more passionate, earning a few whistles and 'whoop!'s from the cameramen who had a closer view than everyone else. No one, however, had the view that Windy had, who hadn't spoken much of a word in the past few minutes. She watched them, unsure of what to say. For the first time, Windy Blaine was at a complete loss for words. Their innocent little kiss became more passionate still, making it a little bit uncomfortable for the onlookers now, a few still cheering but some clearing their throats. Finally, they broke apart, but only because they needed to breathe. The room was full of hollering again as Jessica scratched the back of her head while flushing, many audience members giving her winks and a thumbs-up.
"Well, that's our show, everyone," Windy said to the camera, the certain quality it had possessed that morning gone. "Have a great day, and remember, it's always Windy in the Morning!"
Thunderous applause filled the room, the metal roof making the sound ricochet and echo every which way.
"Well, that was an interesting interview," Drew smiled at her, trying to get the thoughts out of his head that the kiss had forced in.
"It was my first," she reminded him, "and I'll always remember it, that's for sure."
Review! PM me any ideas! I made this a little longer for all if you. Hoped you enjoyed it!