Chapter 8 I had it Coming, All Along…

Because of the excellent opportunity I had gotten from Stierman, half of the day flew by so fast I could scarcely believe it was 3:30 p.m. I was sitting in my bunk; listening to an upbeat and perky pop song in my CD player, when two of my friends, Brynn and Emily, came up to, me holding what it appeared to be a portable DVD player and three DVDs. The names of said DVDs were unknown and alienated to me. Brynn and Emily were both fellow clarinet players. Brynn had short, wavy dirty blonde hair with sparkly blue eyes that seemed to reflect anything and everything. Emily had long, brown hair, which gave the appearance that it was, combed a lot. She had awesome eyes; they were a rainbow of green, dark green, and a very pale red all intertwined with one another to form one solid color.

"Hey Nicole." Emily said

"Hey Nicole." Brynn said

"Hi guys. What is with the DVDs and the DVD player? Are you guys that bored that you must pass the hour and a half or so until dinner by watching DVDs?" I asked

"Yep, that's about it." Emily replied

I sighed, paused for a few moments, and then continued:

"So, what are the names of the DVDs anyways? They really don't look familiar to me."

"Oh, well this one is called 'Dogma,' this one is called 'Die Hard,' and this one is called 'Love Actually." replied Brynn.

"Cool. So, what one did you guys wanna see?" I asked

"Well," Emily began, "Brynn and I were actually thinking of letting you borrow the three of them so that you can watch them whenever you get bored, like tonight when you are with Stierman."

"How does everyone know about that! The only people that know are Stierman, Alysha, and I. Wait, hold the phone, did Danielle tell you guys after breakfast?"

"Yep, she did and she didn't her friend and our arch rival, Sara, told us. However, from what we have gathered in our research, Danielle told her to tell us about your opportunity. Apparently Danielle wants to ruin it in some way." replied Brynn

"Nice. This sucks major monkey balls. Did Sara tell you guys anything about Danielle's plan? I asked hopefully

"No, unfortunately she didn't. The only thing that Sara told us that might be considered a 'hint' is when she said that your night will be a 'living hell." replied Emily reassuring

"Oh geeze. It is not as if I am gonna sleep with Stierman or anything. I mean, who would ever wanna sleep with him?" I said in an innocent-like voice

The both of them gave me a disgusted look that clearly said "In your dreams, Nicole."

"Thanks guys, I appreciate your concern. No, no really I do." I said sarcastically

"So, who wants to watch a movie?" asked Emily in a rushed voice, as though she wanted to change the subject, and fast

"Sure. Did you know that the movie that we watch really all depends on the viewers' mood?" asked Brynn.

"Mood, what do you mean by that? Oh, and yes, I'm up for a movie too." I said

"Well, 'Dogma,' for example will make you laugh if you are crestfallen, 'Die Hard,' will make you become excited with its fast paced action, and 'Love Actually,' well, that makes one feel everything. You can call it the 'Melting Pot of Emotions' or 'The Glass Movie Case of Emotion.' Anyway, that's how you choose a movie based upon your mood." Brynn replied in a knowledgeable voice

"Oh, well in that case, it is fine if we watch 'Love Actually' then? I asked

Emily and Brynn both nodded and so we watched 'Love Actually' using their DVD player and this one preppy, over excited chick's 16in T.V. It was a brilliant movie; well it was a brilliant hour and twenty minutes of one anyway. I really wanted to see the last forty, or so minutes left, but it was about time to go to dinner, so I followed Brynn and Emily up to the shack, where we were met by friends, enemies, and of course, Stierman and Fritz.

Dinner was interesting. There wasn't much interaction between anyone at our table. People clearly wanted to talk, but were afraid that Danielle would tear them apart and use such pleasant phrases like "You suck," You stink," and my personal favorite, "Ewww, that's gross, you're disgusting." After dinner, our break occurred. I decided not to watch the rest of 'Love Actually.' I didn't have enough time to watch it, and if the movie were to make me cry, I really didn't want half the band coming up to me asking me "What happened," "Why are you crying," or "Whatever happened blame Danielle, that way all of your anxiety and tears are indirectly on her, rather than directly on you." Instead, I talked with friends. Our conversation was beyond a shadow of a doubt the most random and craziest one ever. In addition, they were a wee bit inappropriate, so I'm gonna leave it out.

To soon, our cabin made its way to the red brown barn so we could go and march. The entire 2 ½ hours we spent marching on the field went by excessively fast, only because I was contemplating about what to do and what not to do later tonight, with Stierman. Now all I had to get through was full band sectional. This hour of pure music playing and help with playing was officially the longest hour ever of the human existence. It crawled by so slowly that seconds became minutes, minutes became hours, and the hour felt like an eternity. Yet, it did finally end and I officially had 59 minutes and 59 seconds until I would be with Stierman. I put my clarinet away and ran to my cabin. I took the fastest shower on record and after doing so realized I had 45 minutes and 35 seconds until the magical moment. So, I sat out in the big circle of chairs in the courtyard and talked. The majority of them wished me good luck while some of them wanted me to prove that Stierman and Fritz were gay, and only a few people warned me not to get funky with Stierman. Finally, I had 5 minutes and 2 seconds left. I ran back to my cabin, grabbed my bag of clothes for the next day and toiletry items, the DVDs, and made my way back to the courtyard. As I had my hand on the brass door handle, Stierman wearing white pajamas with little teddy bears on them, and a final wave to my friends, and thumbs up from my friends, I went inside the cabin of the teacher's at band camp. Little did I know I wouldn't be coming out the same person…

After I entered the building, all the teachers welcomed me into their humble home. Stierman showed me around the cabin. Each teacher had their very own room complete with a twin bed, in various colors, and a little white dresser, expect for the room in which Stierman and Fritz shared. It had a huge four-poster bed with a light green canopy and dark emerald green sheets and comforter, with two black dressers. It was a beautiful thing, and reminded me of the four-poster beds in Harry Potter, only different colors. For some strange reason it had a huge T.V. with an Atari 2600.

Once touring the two full bathrooms, Stierman showed me the room in which I would be baby-sitting Morgan in and sleeping in as well. I was half expecting a plain, boring room with a simple baby bed and a cot for me, but I was completely wrong. The once wooded walls were pained yellow with light electric blue flowers, rainbows, clouds, and orange music notes that were dotted sixteen notes. There was a spring themed baby bed and a spring themed twin size bed for me with a shelf for my stuff, and in the corner, there was an 18-inch T.V. with a little loveseat that was light blue.

"Nice, isn't it?" Stierman asked with pride in his voice

"Yep, I love it! By any chance does the T.V. get cable?" I asked hopefully

"Yes, actually it does. However, it just doesn't get cable, it gets digital cable." he replied

"Cool. Our family doesn't have it, but I've always wanted it, so now I can watch it." I said

"Well, let me go and get Morgan for you, she is in my wife's room in the cabin across the courtyard. Just make yourself at home and I'll be here momentarily." he said in a friendly tone

"Ok, thanks." I replied

After he left the room, I couldn't contain my happiness anymore. I giggled like a little love struck schoolgirl. I've never felt so lucky in my life. With that thought I sat down at the loveseat, grabbed the remote, and started channel surfing. I past news shows, religious shows, cartoons, movies, VH1, MTV, FX, Spike TV, and other stations until I found a station that looked god. The info button said it was a station called 'TechTV.' The show at 10:30 was ending for it was 10:59. As a result, I watched the 10:30 show's credits and waited for the 11:00 show to begin. According to the info button, the 11:00 show had to do something about technology. Right before I got to see who hosted this show, Stierman came in with Morgan.

"Well, I see you know how to work the T.V. Hey what are you watching anyways." he asked while putting Morgan in her springy baby bed

"I really don't know, I just know that this show is called, 'Judgment Day' I think." I replied

"Oh! I love that show. Fritz and I love watching the three hosts make fun of each other and society. Oh, there you go, that's what they look like." he said, pointing at the screen for me to look at the three hosts.

The three hosts of Judgment Day were two males and a female. One of the males had black hair, was kinda on the shorter side and skinny. He had piercingly blue-grey eyes, which gave him an overall 'come hither' look. He would have looked like the adult version of Harry Potter, with the exception of his eyes and the lack of the scar. The other male host had light blonde hair, was tall and of medium build, had light periwinkle colored eyes, and appeared to have the body of a lifeguard. The final host, the female, had dyed black hair, was pale and was obviously the male eye candy for this show, for she had a good appearance and had dark, mysterious brown eyes.

"So, what exactly is this show about?" I asked

"You know, I never really figured its purpose out. Mostly I just watch it to make fun of the two guys and stare at the female." he replied while trying to stifle a laugh

"Oh, I see." I replied now entirety persuaded that Stierman watched Judgment Day just to stare at the female host.

"Well, I'm gonna hit the hay. Morgan really shouldn't be any trouble," he looked over at Morgan and continued," if anything she is asleep. Well, good night Nicole."

"Night, Mr. Stierman, hope you sleep well." I replied

Before turning my eyes toward 'Judgment Day,' I walked over to Morgan's bed. She was fast asleep, all curled up in a jumble of the pale blue flowery sheets of her bed. She was adorable. About the age of two or so, she had black hair, like her dad, and strong little arms and legs, and probably had the same eyes as her dad or mom, obviously. After looking at Morgan for a few moments, I went back to sit down on the light blue loveseat and watched this new show that I stumbled upon. The first ten minutes of it was kinda dumb; the two male hosts, or at least the lifeguard look-a-like one, was talking about how beautiful women are in video games, even if they are just pixels. The other male host, sided with the other male but drove a hard argument that video games weren't just about the women, it was about the actual game play, the complex story, the fast paced dialogue, and the innovative graphics within the game. The female host, on the other hand, really did not say much. She sat there until the Harry Potter look-a-like said his take on video games and as if doing so automatically, sided with him. Nevertheless, I watched it, barely concentrating on it, until after the commercial break was over. When the show cam back, the hosts introduced their next segment in which each of them talked about a video game that was recently released and reviewed it from a 1-5 scale. This was much more interesting. The reviews were completely brutally honest, random, and refreshing.

Before I knew it, it was 11:30 p.m. 'Judgment Day' was on again. I finally figured out what their names were, the lifeguard look-a-like was Kevin, the Harry Potter look-a-like was Daniel, and the female was Morgan. I then realized where Stierman got the name of his daughter. Therefore, I watched it, because I really didn't feel like going to sleep. All three of the hosts were dressed up as if they were going to a wedding or a prom. Morgan was wearing a beautiful dark purple dress, that came up to her mid thigh, black stilettos, had her hair crimped, had excessive make-up on, and had the coolest gold peacock-like earnings on ever. Nevertheless, she looked absolutely stunning. The two guys had on black suits and they looked good as well, however, one of them looked drop dead fucking gorgeous in his suit, as though that suit was custom tailored just for him. Obviously, they were all dressed up for a reason, but I didn't know what for, at the time. Thankfully, I found out. It was for the Electronic Entertainment Expo awards, which I later found out is this huge place, usually hosted in a huge conviction center in Los Angeles, which major companies like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft show off new video games or new merchandise. I found this episode to be a lot better than the last one. The new and weird material that was at E3 (what it was actually referred to as) along with really sexy outfits and the awesome personalities enhanced this experience even more.

During the commercial break, my mind was plotting something that I really didn't want to admit openly to myself. The only way that I saw to stop this overtake was to have a conversation with myself.

"Look, I don't like him, why would I anyway, and besides, Stierman is better." I whispered.

"Maybe so, but Stierman doesn't look like that in a suit." replied my relationship muse, in a squeaky voice that had a British accent

"

"Geeze, I haven't seen him in one yet. So, how can I possibly judge who looks better in a suit when I haven't seen Stierman in one yet." I replied

The show returned and the camera angle swung to the two guys talking about 'What Would

Be New and Hot to Video Games this Year.'

"HA! Now look who is eating their words!" shouted the muse in an octave higher than usual.

"Wait a minute, when did I supposedly say that I like him or not." I replied

"HA! Funny Nicole, you didn't say it, you thought it. I got word from your self-conscience that you thought that and they sent it to me. If that wasn't enough, that thought is still in the confinements of my territory, which it will remain unless you can prove to me that you honesty don't like him like that. Oh, an if you lie, I will be able to tell, I do like in your min from Cranium's sake." the muse said darkly

"Well, you see, um, I-I really don't l-like him. Um, just 'cause he l-looks good in a suit doesn't m-mean anything." I stammered

"Fine I believe you. But, feel free to admit your crush any second now." the muse said sarcastically

I watched more of the show, not soaking in any of the words that any of the hosts were saying, but just staring, staring at him. Finally, after reassuring myself, I'll feel better after I say it; I checked my watch and spoke in a very soft, but very clear whisper:

"I, Nicole, do declare this night at, 11:45 p.m., that I fin one of the male hosts on the show entitled Judgment Day to be spiffy in every conceivable way possible."

"That took a while, now, can we say his name, to make this 'declaration' valid." said the muse in an exasperated tone.

"Oh, fine, the host who I have this crush on is-"

"Come on with it, I haven't gotten all night!" barked the muse

"Daniel." I replied in a tiny, barley audible voice.

"Hmmm, what I didn't hear you. Can you possibly say it again?" asked the muse sweetly

"I like Daniel!" I screamed

'That's better, I think the entire camp heard you, but now go and drool over him now." the muse said sleepily

I don't remember when I exactly fell asleep, but the next thing I knew, it was 6:30 a.m. I look up from the bed and found that the ceiling of the room was a midnight blue and it had little white stars that encircle the huge white moon near the far left corner of the wall. Then the previous night's events played like a movie in my head. I was filled with guilt. The problem was I didn't know why. I knew it was perfectly fine if anyone liked two or more people simultaneously. Then it hit me. Guilt flowed through my veins, because I felt as though I was cheating on Stierman. I know I wasn't married to him, but I felt as though I used him to get better things. I only accepted the baby-sitting job so I could be around Stierman more, not for the actual baby-sitting, although I did want to baby-sit. I knew that I liked Daniel, but I didn't want to keep liking Stierman in spite of the fact if it wasn't for him I would have never watched Judgment Day and would have never laid my eyes upon Daniel.

"No, I thought, I mustn't waste my time over two frickin men. I neither betrayed my crush on Stierman nor am I confused about which one of these guys I like more. I mean, I don't even know Daniel personally; I don't know how he acts in real life, his likes, his dislikes, whether or not he is married or single… Just because I like his personality, his hair, his eyes, and the fact that he looks too good in a suit doesn't mean anything. I still like Stierman more.

I looked over at the clock and found it to be 6:40 a.m. I decided to get up and get ready for the day. As I was leaving to go to the shower house, Stierman passed me and the guilt along with a host of other miserable feeling inundated me, almost choking me. I decided right then and there that it was gonna be a long day.

I know that Chapter was long. I didn't intend for it to be that long, but it was. I hope you all enjoyed reading it and please review, because they make me happy. Oh, Judgment Day is a real show, but it isn't the show that I had in the story. I sorta changed it a little bit and invented some characters that are based upon real people. And as for the Harry Potter reference, I don't own anything Harry Potter, well besides movies, games, Legos, etc. Nevertheless, J.K. Rowling owns him, I don't, oh well.