Chapter 10: TROUBLE

Still one day before the dance and everyone at Briarwood High are excited about it. That evening at the Rock Porium, Nick, Madison, Chip and Vida are working. Nick was standing behind the counter, Madison is dealing with the stock, Chip is filling some CD's and Vida is looking at some records to play in the store. At that moment, Toby came out of his office.

"Hey gang, hear me out."

The 4 teens stopped doing their chores and walked over to Toby. "What's wrong Tobes?" Nick asked.

"You guys are not gonna believe who's going to play on your high school dance."

"Not Jake Bonebreaker, right?" Vida asked all worried. She knew Toby's a huge fan of the legendary rocker, but to let him play on the dance…not such a good idea.

"Better."

"Well, who?"

"You guys are looking at him now."

The 4 teens were silence for a moment, looked at each other and suddenly shot in laughter. "Oh come on Toby. Seriously. Who?"

"I am serious. Your school called me and the DJ Vida hired cancelled, so I came up with the solution that I wouldn't mind to play during your dance."

The teens stopped laughing and Vida was biting on her lips, hoping that Toby was only joking. "Please tell me you're kidding."

"Tomorrow, I'm gonna be your groovy DJ of the night. I'll promise you, I'll give you the night you will never forget." And with those words Toby disappeared into his office carrying a huge smile on his face. Madison comforts her sister from the news. "Are you alright sis?"

"Do I look alright? My boss will play at our high school dance."

"Come on V, Toby is our friend. He just tries to help us."

Vida turns to Chip. "By being the DJ at our dance? Why doesn't he just shoot me right away? It will go quicker."

"V, you are still the organizer of the dance, meaning you are in charge. So, you can just tell Toby what to play during the dance and what not to play. And I'm sure your party will be an evening no one will forget."

"You're right. I am in charge. I can do whatever I want. Thanks Nick."

"No problem."

Nick smiled at Vida. Glad he could help her out. But then he and Madison stared at each other for a moment.

"God, he is so incredible. That was so sweet of him to assure my sister that her party will be a blast. Now I even love him more. Was it actually a good idea to go with Ben to the dance, instead of hearing Nick first out? No, he goes with LeeLee to the dance. So, it's obvious something's playing between those 2. Then why keeps he looking at me like that? I want to turn away to avoid him, but I can't. His eyes are too irresistible to avoid them."

Also for Nick it was hard to keep his eyes of Madison. But he already wasted his chances and now she's going with someone else. Although he doesn't understand why she goes with Ben, while she's actually in love with Xander. Boy, is Xander not gonna like this. Alright, enough staring and thinking now. Otherwise he goes crazy.

"I…uhm…I need to get back to work." Nick responds to kill the silence between the friends.

"Yeah, me too." Madison quickly answered. Nick and Madison both quickly went back to their chores and left Vida and Chip in the middle of the store.

Chip moved closer to Vida, so the 2 lovebirds wouldn't hear them. "I think things don't go well between Nick and Madison."

"Ya think? If you kept your mouth shut, this all wouldn't have happened."

"Well, excuse me. Next time if you're telling me another story again, be a little more specific. Never tell me an unfinished story."

"I already told you not to tell anyone, but you just couldn't keep it to yourself. And from all the people walking around on this planet, you had to tell LeeLee. What were you thinking?"

"She promised she wouldn't say to anyone about it."

"Chip, this is LeeLee Pimbari we're talking about. The girl who has a huge obsession over Nick. You know she would do anything to get Nick."

"Well, why don't you tell Nick about it?"

"No way. Then I have to tell him about my plans as well and then the surprise of this dance is ruined."

"Like your plan is gonna work. They both are going with someone else to the dance."

"Well, why don't you tell Madison about that fake kiss at school?"

"No way, I promised Nick that I wouldn't tell anyone. You shouldn't even know about it."

"Well, I promised Maddie not to tell Nick about her crush on him either. This is a mess."

"You can say that again. Now what?"

Vida sighs and looked at Nick and Madison, who sometimes stared to each other and then get back to their chores. She knew she just had to do something about it. "We have to talk to them and try to convince to dump their partner, so they will go with each other. You go talk with Nick and I'll talk to my sis. But don't say a word about my plan."

"If you don't say a thing about that fake kiss."

They went their separate ways. Chip walked over to the counter where Nick was standing.

"Hey Nick."

"Hey. What's up?"

"So, Nick. I heard you asked LeeLee to the dance."

"Well, actually she asked me."

"I always thought that she wasn't your type."

"She isn't. It's just a dance. No big deal."

"Well, you could have asked someone else instead."

"Like who?"

"I don't know. Madison for example."

"Madison is going with Ben. Besides, wasn't it Vida's plan of this dance to bring them together?"

Chip hated to lie, however he couldn't tell either. He promised Vida to tell further to anyone about her plan. He had done enough damage for the week. "Yeah, but what if it was just some rumor. I mean, you know that LeeLee would do anything to get to you. Even tell things that aren't true."

"I know, but you had to see them this morning. It's so obvious she wants him back and I don't blame her."

"Are you telling me that you wanted to take her instead?" Chip asked with big grin on his face.

"Maybe," Nick denied. "I actually thought Xander would take her to the dance."

Chip shocked when he heard that. How could he forget Xander? He likes her as well. Aw man, this is getting too complicated. He can't tell Vida about it either, because he knows that she likes him and if she finds out that her crush is in love with her sister, she'll be crushed.

"Chip, are you alright? You're kinda sweating."

"I'm alright, I'm alright. No worries."

Meanwhile, the Rocca sisters are in conversation. Vida tries to convince her sister to change her mind about taking Ben to the dance.

"But I thought you like Ben." Madison responds all confused.

"I do, but we both know that he's not the one you wanna take to the dance."

"If you're talking about Nick, forget it. He's already taken."

"Yeah, with LeeLee. He doesn't even like her."

"They kissed each other at school, V. How would you explain that?"

"Maybe she kissed him and he was surprised or something."

"For 15 seconds long? I don't think so."

"Actually it was 10 seconds."

"What?"

Vida didn't realize what she was saying. She promised Chip to keep it for her. "I'm just guessing."

"If he wanted to go with me, then why didn't he ask me?"

"Maybe he's shy like you."

"Nick? Shy?"

Vida knew that it was a lame excuse. Their fearless leader? Shy? Even Madison knows that those 2 words don't go together. "Well, maybe he would have asked you if you didn't say yes to Ben in the first place."

"Why do you want me and Nick going together to your dance so badly anyway?"

"Because…I just want you to be happy, sis."

"Well, going with someone, who happens to like someone else, is not exactly going to make me happy."

"Sis, you just have to give him a chance."

"Why?"

"Because I know he doesn't like LeeLee at all. You gotta believe me."

Madison sighs. Vida sure knows how to convince her. "Are you sure about it?"

"Positive. Just go to him. Talk to him. Ask him yourself and I guarantee you that he will tell you the exact same thing I just told you."

Madison looked at Nick who was talking to Chip and sighs. She would never just give something up, and definitely not someone she likes for so long. "Alright. I'll talk to him."

Vida embraced her sister all excited. "That's my sis. Now go."

Vida pushed her sister towards the counter where Nick was standing. Madison slowly walked over to him. This is the moment of truth. Will she go eventually to the dance with Ben or will it be with Nick? Nick saw Madison walking towards his direction. The smile between the 2 teens just kept growing as Madison came closer. But before Madison could even greet, they were disturbed.

"Hey Nick." Nick, Madison and Chip all looked who was standing at the entrance of the door.

"Oh, hey LeeLee."

"So, what you're doing now?" LeeLee asked as she moved closer to Nick, which made Madison jealous.

"I'm going home, since I'm off now."

"Great, then you can take me to the mall."

"The mall? Why would I go to the mall?"

"Hello, it's for the high school dance. We still need a custom."

"Can't we do that tomorrow?"

"Nick, the dance is tomorrow already. Now, come on."

"Wait."

"Why?"

Nick looked over to Madison quickly, who was standing next to Chip. "Well, Madison wanted to tell something."

"Well, she better hurry up. The mall will soon close."

All eyes were fixated on Madison, who was getting nervous. She wanted to talk to Nick alone, but seeing LeeLee hanging on him, made her decision clear.

"I…uhm…I wanted to tell Chip that he should mark those records. They're 5 discount off."

"I'm sure Chip will do that. Let's go Nick."

Nick sighs. He took off his working blouse and grabs his jacket and put it on. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Alright. We'll see you tomorrow then." Chip answered.

"Bye Maddie."

"Bye Nick."

Nick looked at Madison one more time and left with LeeLee. Vida saw what happened and walked over to Madison.

"Maddie…"

"Don't. I made my decision. I'm going with Ben. End of conversation."

"But…" Vida tried to reassure her, but Madison soon left to the back of the store. "This is just great."

"I'll go talk to her for a moment." Chip offered and he walked to the back of the store to find Madison. Vida walked over to the counter to check some records. At that moment, Xander enters the store.

"Whoa, this place looks deserted. Where is everyone?"

"Nick's off, Toby is making some phone calls inside the office and Madison and Chip are…checking the stock at the back." Vida doesn't want to involve Xander in the mess as well. She also knew that Xander's the worst in keeping secrets.

"And they left you in charge? Congratulations V."

"Can it. What are you doing here anyway? Don't you have something better to do? Like finding a date for the dance."

Xander was laughing at Vida's comment. "You're very funny V. Looks like it's just gonna be me and you. You and me. Dateless at the dance."

"Who? Me? That makes only you dateless, since I have a date for the dance."

Xander stopped laughing when he heard that and couldn't believe he heard. "You have a date? You're messing with me, aren't you?"

"I'm not. This morning, someone asked me to the dance."

"Someone did?" Xander was shocked when he heard that. He should have been the one asking her to the dance. "Who?"

"Chip Thorn."

There was silence between them. Suddenly Xander shot in laughter. "What's so funny about that?"

"Chip? Chip Thorn? Our Chip? The one who wore a superhero custom to the Homecoming Dance?"

"And what is wrong with that?"

"Are you sure he really asked you to the dance?"

"You think I can't get a date for my own High school Dance, which I'm organizing?"

"V, that's not what I'm saying. I mean, maybe you misunderstood him for some reason."

"You know what…I don't need to listen to this."

"V, I didn't mean it like that. Would you just listen to me?"

"No, you listen to me. I might not be Homecoming queen like my sister, or pretty like LeeLee, but some guys don't care about looks or how girls dress or how much make up they wear. So, I don't need to hear this. Especially not from you."

Before Xander could respond, Chip enters the store. He heard the yelling from the back and could see the tension between the 2 friends. "Uhm…am I interrupting?

"No, Chip. Xander and I finished talking." Vida responded as she looked at Xander. "What is it?"

"Well, I just talked to Madison. I think you better go and see her. She could use some support right now."

Vida looked at Xander. Unlike Madison, Vida could perfectly control her tears and she didn't want to show Xander that he hurt her feelings. "Now if you excuse me, my sister needs me now."

Vida quickly walked to the back, leaving Chip confused. He walked over to Xander. "What was that all about?"

Xander looked at Chip with angry eyes. "Why don't you tell me?"

"Huh?"

"I thought you were my friend."

"I am your friend."

"Oh yeah? Well, friends don't suppose to betray each other."

"I didn't betray you. What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Vida. Is it true that you're taking her to the dance?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Is that all you can say?"

"You know Xander, if you just explain me what the heck you're talking about, then maybe I can understand as well what I might have done wrong."

"Remember the time at school when I told you the story about my friend?"

"I know it was about you Xander. What do you think I am? An idiot?"

"You still are. How could you do this to me?"

"Hey, don't blame me. It wasn't my fault that Ben asked Madison first. Why don't you go shout at him?"

"What's Madison and Ben got to do with this? I'm talking about Vida. You knew I like her and now you're taking her to the dance while I wanted to ask her."

Chip was silence for a moment. He couldn't believe what he just heard. "Wait a second. You were talking about Vida? The whole time it was her you liked?"

"Well, who do you think I was talking about?"

"Oh, wow." Chip then realized that he made another huge mistake.

"I really thought you were my friend. I guess I was wrong."

"You don't understand it. Just listen to me."

"Forget it. Have fun. Both of you. I'm sure the 2 of you will have a blast at the dance. I will find someone else to go with."

"Xander, wait!" But Xander didn't want to hear him out. He was to upset to stay and listen. "Oh boy, this is bad. Really bad."

Chip knew he was in big trouble. After he made a mistake with Madison and Ben, he thought things couldn't get worse. He wished! He mixed up both the Rocca sisters. He thought Xander has a crush on Madison, while he was talking about Vida all long. Not only he made a mistake with Xander, he also gave Nick the wrong info. Things already didn't go well between Nick and Madison, now he only made things worse. Hopefully it isn't too late to fix the situation.

End Chapter 10.

LOL...Updating again after such a long time...Yeah...I know you guys hate cliffhangers, but it just keeps you guys coming back for more! LOL. Anyway, the story almost comes to an end. Just a few chapters more and then it's finito! Hmmm...as you probably just read, another confusion has been cleared up! Except it has cost Chip his friendship with Xander. I told you there was going to be more Chip/Vida/Xander in here!

Oh, by the way...this fanfic has been nominated for the fanfic of the month March at Rangerboard. So, if you really like and enjoyed this fic, please vote for it! Just don't forget the title of the fic! LOL.

I will post soon again...that depends ofcourse of the number of reviews I will receive from you guys! Hope you can wait a little longer!

And don't forget to VOTE!