Chloe woke to the sound of her alarm.. She rolled over and looked at the clock. 7:05 flashed in big red numerals. 'Gosh, my head hurts.' She rolled her self off the bed and onto the floor which gave her enough energy to stumble to the shower. As the hot spray cascaded over her face she was slowly able to wake up. She had no idea what time she'd fallen asleep the night before but she knew it was late. She had been thinking of Brady and about what she would say to him today. All night the words from the program echoed through her mind..."I love you, Diva." What would she say? How would this change things? And most importantly, why hadn't he told her he was in New York? All of a sudden she realized that the water was now cold. She quickly rinsed away the rest of the soap and jumped out.. She looked at the clock as she went back into her room and saw that it was now 7:30. 'Wow, I was in the shower for twenty-five minutes!' She dried her hair which took ten minutes and had only ten minutes left to get dressed and put on her makeup. She ran out of her room and made it to class just in time.

She discovered, however, that there seemed to be no point to her being in class because all she could think about was seeing Brady. The day drug on and on and Chloe was finding it harder and harder to concentrate. She looked at her watch. It was only 4:15 and she was not supposed to meet Peter until 5 but decided to leave early. She walked down Broadway, and looked around. She was so happy to finally be in New York, and now to possibly have a friend there...'Damn, my thoughts are once again back on Brady.' She picked up her pace in hope that if she got there early Peter would let her in early. Finally she arrived at the back door of the theatre and her watch said it was 4:50. 'Ten more minutes' she thought. She didn't have to wait that long however because three minutes later, though it seemed like forever to Chloe, Peter opened the door.

"Hey! Good your here. Follow me, don't talk to anyone you don't know. I could get fired for this."

"You didn't tell Brady I was coming did you?"

"No, I just looked him up. Come on" He led her into the backstage area. Chloe was once again in awe but was so intent on seeing Brady she couldn't really concentrate. Peter stopped in front of a door labeled B"Men's Dressing Room. /B"Stay right here. I will go get him." He disappeared into the dressing room and emerged a little while later. "Follow me again. I will take you to one of the rehearsal rooms, he's waiting there...and no I didn't tell him who you were, just that someone wanted to talk to him."

"Thanks Peter."

"You're welcome. But I'm definitely taking you up on your offer to show me around Julliard."

"Of course." She walked around the corner and Peter stopped in front of another door.

"Here ya go. Just knock." He then left her alone. Chloe raised her hand and knocked.

"Come in." Her heart raced at the sound of his voice.

She opened the door slowly and simply said, "Hi". She met his eyes and saw them fill with joy.

"Oh my God! Chloe!" He jumped up and hugged her. "I can't believe you are here! Belle told you didn't she?"

"Belle knew and didn't tell me! I'm gonna have to talk to her! No, I came to the show and saw your name."

"Then you read my message?"

"Yes, I did."

"I do love you, Chloe. I have for awhile.' He looked in her eyes but instead of joy they were full of hurt. Chloe started to cry again.

"I want to believe you I do...but I don't know if I can. I love you Brady, more than anyone in the world. But you have been in New York for such a long time without telling me. But then how could you? You haven't e-mailed me or anything. The last time we spoke was at graduation! I tried to write you but I got everything back. Belle knew my e-mail address even if you didn't. I just don't understand. I'm sorry, Brady...I have to go." She turned and fled the room. On her way out she ran smack into Peter. "Sorry, can you show me the way out?" Peter just nodded. He could tell she was upset and needed time to think. She left and began to walk down Broadway. Meanwhile, Brady sat in the rehearsal room, mentally kicking himself for being so stupid. He'd lost her again.

Chloe walked home once again in a blur of tears. She didn't know what to think. She was surprised to find herself back at her room so quickly. 'Belle, I need to hear from Belle.' She turned on the computer and sure enough there was an email waiting from "tinkerbelle@ucla.com." She opened it and read it. She was glad Belle was so happy, in spite of her not really "being" with Shawn, she knew without a doubt that he loved her and they had had some time together. She hit the reply button.

______________________________________________________________________________

To: tinkerbelle@ucla.edu

From: phantomdiva@julliard.edu

Subject: HOW COULD YOU?!

Belle,

HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME THAT BRADY'S IN NEW YORK? I saw his name in the program and got a friend of mine to let me in the backstage area today and talked to him...He thought you told me, which you didn't. WHY NOT? I thought you were my best friend! You can't be so caught up with your own problems that you don't realize how much I'm dealing with. Then again maybe you can. Let me remember them again...Oh yeah "I know Shawn loves me but we're both being stupid by breaking up." Don't you see that you two love each other and should not let distance matter? Don't you see how lucky you are to have pure, uncomplicated love? I AM IN LOVE WITH BRADY! I love him with all of my heart and it doesn't matter. I found out today he loved me back but I had to walk away. I had to. He didn't tell me he was in New York and hasn't talked to me in three months. So I am now back in my lonely dorm room here where I am all alone. You have Mimi and Philip with you and regular classes. I am at the toughest Performing Arts School in the country and am completely alone but YOU DON'T SEEM TO CARE! SO I now have no one. But what else is new? I've been like that all of my life and knowing you all just made it worse. It made me think I could be socially normal. HA! Like that would ever happen. So why don't you all just leave me alone and let me go back to being "Ghoul Girl." Tell Mimi or Philip your problems, or maybe your new sorority sisters. Goodbye Belle.

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Chloe was now sobbing. She was glad the next day was Saturday so she could sleep in. She lay down on her bed, fully clothed and sobbed her heart out.