Celebrity Status
Chapter Seven
(Ross's P.O.V.)
"You really didn't have to take me out for lunch you know? The cafeteria food isn't that bad."
I laugh at Laura, as she and I walk through the door of my favorite pizza place. The best damn pizza place in Colorado in my opinion. Man, it had been forever since I'd last been in here.
"Like I said before, I've got a lot of Ross and Laura time to make up for," I reply.
"So, what you're gonna squeeze four years of absence all into one day? I don't even think you can pull that off." I lead her to a table in the back and we sit across from each other.
"On the contrary, I'm Ross Lynch. I can do anything."
Laura scoffs at me.
A silence falls on the both of us. It's not all that uncomfortable really. Or maybe it is. With Laura, she's so characteristically awkward anyway, sometimes it's hard to tell. The fact that I don't know wether it's uncomfortable or not makes me uncomfortable and I quickly shift my position on my chair.
"You know, last time I was here it was for your birthday," I say, not really thinking. I was so desperate for conversation I didn't filter my thoughts before they came tumbling out of my mouth.
Laura looks up at me quickly. Her mouth forms into a small 'o' shape, her eyes flash a pained expression at the thought of that memory. I didn't even have to clarify. She knew what birthday I was talking about.
"I'm sorry, Laura, I- I shouldn't have-"
"No, no, it's okay." She throws me a half-hearted smile in attempt to convince me she's okay, but I can tell otherwise. If there's one person she couldn't fool, it was me.
"You sure?"
Laura nods. "Yeah, I'm fine."
The waitress comes to get our order and after she's gone, we suffer through another long period of silence, but I try this time really hard not to say something stupid.
Laura looks around the place, a look of intense thought and curiosity is etched into her facial features. Finally, after a few minutes of examination, she leans back in her chair and crosses her arms over her chest, smirking at me. "My party was kick-ass FYI."
I grin back at her. "I'm sure it was. You and your stuffy old relatives all piled in you house eating barbecue bacon cheeseburgers."
She shakes her head. "You know my family so well."
I take in a deep breath, finally relaxed, and sink into the chair as well. "That was the night we found out about the record deal offer. We came to this very restaurant that night to celebrate." I shake my head at the memory. Something that had happened so long ago, it felt like a different person had experienced it, was one of my least favorite memories as of the moment. "If only I had know what a hell hole my life would turn out to be," I continue sharply.
Laura's expression changes. She looks at me, brows knitted together, genuinely confused. "What do you mean?"
My lips form into a thin line and I comb my fingers through my hair. I open my mouth to explain, but the waitress comes over with our drinks, and interrupts our conversation.
After she's left, Laura, sensing my discomfort with the particular topic, decides not to bring it up again.
"So, what's up with this whole Show Choir thing?" I ask her. I'd rather talk about anything, no matter how uncomfortable, than have awkward silence.
Laura snorts loudly. She take a sip of her drink before speaking. "It's just this dumb talent show that my school holds every year, right before winter break."
"Are you going to be in it?"
"I don't really have a choice," she answers, and as a result of my confused look she adds on to it. "My composition teacher wants me to. He actually had the principal call me into his office just to talk to me about the whole thing."
"Why?"
She groans. "We had to do these musical pieces for his class and he thought my stupid piece was good so he wants me to perform it in the show," she says, sounding rather forlornly.
I laugh at her. "Why do you sound so distressed over this? If your teacher wants you to perform your song in the school talent show that means it's probably pretty damn good."
"The End Of Year Show Choir is for rich kids and show offs. I'm gonna look like a poser going up there and performing. Everyone knows that's not my thing," she whines.
"Since when does Laura Marano care about what others think?" I question.
"I don't," she mumbles. "But I do care about what I think."
My expression softens from teasing to understand at the look on her face.
"Ross, I'm gonna feel like a fraud going up on that stage! I don't perform in front of people," she slumps back in her chair again, frowning intensely. "I'm suppose to be the girl who doesn't give a shit. I don't get upset over things. I know I look tough, but I don't want people to find out that I'm really not."
My lips quirk upward into a smile at that one, even though I know she wasn't trying to be funny. "Don't worry, we'll keep that one between you and me," I place a hand on her forearm.
She just stares down at the ground. She won't even look up at me. Only on rare occasion, does Laura Marano ever open up about her insecurities and allow herself to be vulnerable, that's how I knew it was serious.
"Laura," I say softly, "you're gonna be fine. I promise you. You're gonna rock everyone's socks off and blow them away."
She laughs lightly. "Really Ross? "Rock everyone's socks off?""
"Absolutely." I beam brightly at her. She just shrugs in response.
"And hey," I comment, grabbing Laura's attention so that she finally looks up at me, "you've got me." She smiles up at me.
"I do, don't I?"
"I swear," I assure her. "No running away this time."
She looks up at me, nodding slowly and smiling. Her eyes shine with an emotion I'm not quite sure of. Revelation, as if she's realizing something for the first time.
Once again, things are silent between the two of us, but its not uncomfortable. This time, it's just quiet, leaving us to our own thoughts for a little while. Laura stares out the window and watches the snow flurries swirl around like they do in a snow globe before falling to the earth. She looks at ease, a peaceful look in her eyes. And for a moment, here with her, everything is okay.
"I don't know what happened in L.A." She starts, turning to me and looking me straight in the eyes, "but I'm glad you learned from your mistakes."
I nod. "Me too."
A/N
Well, there you have it! Another chapter in Ross's point of view as per requested by one of the reviewers ( I think it was a guest, I'm not really sure) its not my favorite because honestly, I find Ross's p.o.v. Kinda hard to do, but I like it better than the last one. Maybe I'll do more in Ross's and probably more in Laura's. What do you guys think?
A story outline has been made for this story and the final number of chapters will be 19 (including the 7 that have already been uploaded) plus the prologue and epilogue which makes the final number 21 chapters. Trust me, it's gonna be a good story :)
Thank you guys so much for reading my story and reviewing. I love you all so much and I'm never gonna stop telling you guys that! Whenever I have a bad day at school, I can come home and see that people have reviewed my stories or favorite and followed them and it really makes me squeal with joy! :D it may not be the most popular stories, but I'm am so very grateful for the amount of attention it has received. A couple years ago, I would have never thought about sharing my writing with anyone else. It was hobby just for me, but you guys have given me the confidence to share my stories with you and I love writing these stories so I'm glad you enjoy them.
Although I would like to bring to your attention the fact that I have THREE stories in process right now and that's a lot more work than it seems like it would be, so please just be patient with me and I'll try not to make you guys wait to long.
Thanks to Citylights at Midnight, duckiemomo1231, writermeAL, Scittore Ombra, Dont-Stop-Believin, xxSmileYoureBeautiful, pen names are for the weak, and all the guest who reviewed! :) love you!
Oh, did you guys like that Austin and Ally line I put in there? ;) I do that sometimes because, eh, why not? They're subtle but they're in there. Sorry, I like references. Who's excited for Austin and Alias tonight? I AM!
Alright guys :) until next time!
Kthanxbai!
Morgan :)