Gem and Jack walked down the street towards Tibby's. Gem turned around still holding Jack's hand in a friendly manner, "Jack did I ever tell you what a wonderful friend you are and how much I loved you?"
Jack was a bit taken back by her saying she loved him, "You've never told me you loved me before." He said to her.
"Well I do." Gem turned back around and walked next to him now.
"You do?" Jack asked swallowing hard. He had hoped that she did and it wasn't just him liking her. Jack could feel his heart beat faster. He stopped them where so the others at Tibby's wouldn't interrupt them or make comments.
Gem stopped and looked at Jack, "Well, yeah," She felt her cheeks grow warm and looked at the ground. Gem watched the feet of the people who passed them. It was her turn to be nervous now, "When I close my eyes and picture my future I see you right there next to me." When Jack didn't say anything she looked up at him.
"Really, cause when I do the same I see you right next to me also." Jack smiled. Gem relaxed a bit and smiled back. They stood there for a few seconds just looking at each other.
Then Gem jumped onto Jack's back, "On wards to Tibby's." She said to him hugging him slightly. Jack laughed and wrapped his arms around her legs. Tonight would be the night he would ask her to be his girl. He began to plan out everything.
The two of them reached Tibby's and Gem slid off Jack's back, "About time!" Race called to them waving them over. Jack nodded a slight hello to Race and then motioned he would be over in a minute.
Gem walked over to where Race was sitting. Blink and Mush were also there, "How are my three musketeers?" She asked standing at the end of the table with a huge grin plastered across her face.
"We're good." Mush said to her looking up and over at her, "What's with the grin?"
"You guys are never going to be able to guess this and you won't believe it!" Gem couldn't smile any more then she was.
Blink looked at her, "Jack asked you to marry him?" He joked.
Gem didn't wait for them to make any more guesses. She knew most would be jokes and what not, "No, I am going to sing at Carnegie Hall tonight! And all of you are invited!!!"
"Hey that's great." They all said, "We can't wait to hear you sing." Every one in the lodging house mostly knew that Gem wanted to be a big time singer.
"Oh…" Gem frowned a little. Not at them wanting to hear her sing, "I don't have a dress. I can't wear this." She looked down at her clothes and pulled at the legs of her pants.
"I bet ya Medda will have something you can borrow." Blink suggested.
"Yeah, if you want Blink and I will go with you." Race said, "There's a girl there that Blink's gotta thing for and he said she has a friend."
Gem laughed and nodded, "Alright you two can come with me." Gem finally sat down next to Blink. They began to talk about tonight. They stopped when Jack walked over with a worried look on his face.
"What's wrong?" Gem asked him. Race stood up and got another chair for the table. He didn't like the look Jack had.
"I just heard that The Bombers are gonna give us trouble." He said to them sitting down in the chair Race had gotten, "They are headed to Manhattan so I want you all to be careful." Jack warned them and looked over at Gem. He rested his eyes on her for a few moments. She smiled softly at him.
"Don't worry Jack. You're a good leader and everything will work out." Gem said putting a hand lightly on his lower arm. Jack nodded, most of the time Gem was right when she said everything would work out.
The five of them ordered lunch and talked about other things to keep Jack's mind off of the Bombers. As soon as they finished Gem decided that she should head over to Medda's. Jack told Gem, Blink, and Race to be careful he was going to go find every one else to warn them about The Bombers and tell them that they were invited to hear Gem sing tonight.
Race, Blink, and Gem walked through central park taking the short cut across, "So what are you gonna sing?" Blink asked.
"I am not sure yet." Gem pulled at the corner of her purple shirt.
"How about that one you're always singing at the Lodging house?" Race suggested, "That one's real pretty."
"Yeah, maybe that one." She smiled slightly, "Guys I am really nervous. What if I mess up?"
"Then we'll be sittin there cheering for you any ways." Blink assured her. Race took her hand from her shirt and squeezed it lightly then let it go.
"You'll do fine." He said with one of his famous grins.
"You're right. I shouldn't be nervous I have sung in front of people before." 'Only it wasn't Carnegie Hall ' She thought to herself.
Soon the three reached Medda's and went in. Gem explained to Medda what she was going to do, "Ah come with me my dear I have the perfect dress for you." She said to her. Medda led Gem off to get the dress. Race and Blink went to go talk to some of the other girls who were there getting ready for the nights work.
A few moments later Gem appeared on stage wearing a beautiful white lace dress. It accented all the right places tastefully. The dress was trimmed with the palest pink ribbon. The dress just barely touched the ground. Gem's long black hair was pulled on top of her head and curls cascaded down around her face. Her make up had been done just right. Race and Blink both stopped what they were doing and looked up at Gem, "Wow…" Race said and couldn't get any other words out.
Blink smirked, "You look really beautiful Gem. Real professional."
Gem smiled a full smile at them, "Thank you guys."
"So how about a little preview of tonight's performance?" Blink asked. He nudged Race with his elbow lightly to get him to stop staring.
"Alright." Gem said to them. She started the song softly and the melody floated through the theater filling the air. Towards the middle it grew stronger. Every one who was there had stopped to listen. Gem was at the crescendo of her song when there was a loud blast. It was over powering and no other noise could be heard. The whole place began to shake. There was a second and third explosion and before any one knew it the whole place began to come down around them. Gem let out an ear piercing scream and then a few moments later all fell silent.