The next day Aubrey came over to Chloe's house and she told her everything that happened. "I do think he was flirting with the other girl Chloe. Tom is such an asshole I don't know why you don't see it." Aubrey stated, and Chloe just sighed knowing that Tom was a good guy, and she couldn't see why her best friend could see that. "How about we work a little bit on school and then on our songs?" Chloe asked to change the topic.

That was how the rest of the weekend went for the two friends and by the time they knew it Monday came around again. She didn't even notice that Tom didn't call or text her all weekend since she was so wrapped up in practicing for auditions. When she got to school Tom was waiting on her to walk in together.

"Hey babe sorry I didn't call or text I was going schoolwork." Tom said immediately, "don't worry about it I was busy with school and practicing my song for auditions." Chloe replied. Tom looked at her like she was talking a foreign language and Chloe noticed. "You know the school is going to perform Phantom of the Opera in the spring, right? You also know I am going to audition for the lead role." Chloe asked him, and Tom was about to object to her spending a lot of her free time at rehearsal, but then he thought quickly that if she is always busy, he can still get with other girls without her noticing.

"No, I didn't realize that, but I think it's a great idea. You should go for it and focus on that, whenever you have spare time just let me know and we can hang out." Tom replied and Chloe thought he was being so thoughtful to let her have her undivided attention to the musical. As they were walking into the school Chloe saw out of the corner of her eye Emily. Then she remembered that she wanted to ask what she was doing in the music room this past Friday.

When Chloe was about to tell Tom she was going to walk over there the bell rang and everybody hurried to class. Chloe missed where Emily went and huffed because she wanted to know, something about the mystery of it all was intriguing to her. Regardless she went on to get to her first class.

The rest of the day flew by, and Chloe never ran into Emily. It was now the end of the day and Chloe was on her way to cheer practice. She decided to walk by the music room to see if they were in there but saw nothing. She hung her head and went on to practice.

The rest of the week went along the same way, and Chloe gave up hope in trying to figure out what they were doing. She figured she had too much on her plate to add snooping on some random kids she didn't even know. Chloe's weekends were filled with homework and practicing her song. She barely had time for Tom, but she noticed he didn't seem upset about that, so she didn't worry.

It was finally the week they were going to audition; time had flown by and both Aubrey and Chloe put in a lot of efforts to prepare for this week. They were in their drama class and Ms. Hall just walked into the room. "Alright class settle down; I know everybody is excited for auditions this week. We will be holding them on Friday after school, so be prepared. Mr. Wilson also informed me that one of his students will be playing the piano for anybody who would like to sing along with that music instead of the tape recording."

At that Chloe wondered who it could be, she has never actually paid any attention to Mr. Wilson's students before to see who would play that instrument but knew in the past there was no piano in the production. "It must be a new student" Chloe mumbled to herself, "what did you say Chloe?" Aubrey asked and Chloe repeated herself again saying it must be a new student.

Both girls nodded their heads and went on to say they were going to cancel cheer practice Friday so they could audition. The football team plays on a Thursday night that week, so it worked out in the girl's favor. The bell rang and Chloe was thankful that the day was over. She and Aubrey walked out of the room and headed to their lockers to grab their stuff for cheer.

On their way they ran into Jesse, and Aubrey knew him from a previous class they had together. He also always went out for the spring production every year, and this was her first time seeing him. "Hey Jesse, are you going to audition for the musical this year?" Aubrey asked, she had a little crush on Jesse but kept it to herself. She always found his boyish smile to be charming.

"Oh, hey Aubrey, Chloe, yeah, I'm going to audition for the role of Raoul. What about you two?" Jesse asked. "I am going to try out for Carlotta, and Chloe is going to audition for Christine." Aubrey replied to Jesse with a smile. "Well, it looks like if we get the parts, we will be practicing a lot together. I am sure you will get it through Chloe. But I must get going I'm meeting some friends in the music room. I'll catch up with you guys later." Jesse said with a wave goodbye.

Chloe was observing the interaction between the two and when Jesse was out of earshot Chloe stated smugly, "you have a crush on Jesse don't you." Aubrey's face paled and then she gathered herself together. "I don't know what you are talking about, but we need to get going as well before we are late to practice." But Chloe wouldn't let it go. "I saw the way he looked at you and how you lit up at talking with him. I don't see why you just don't ask him out." Chloe said shutting her locker door.

"I will ask him out, when you face the facts that Tom doesn't deserve you and you can do so much better than him." Aubrey said and walked away, while Chloe stopped in her tracks and thought about it. She still doesn't understand why Aubrey dislikes the man so much but decided to drop the subject on Jesse for a while.

The weeks just kept going by so fast for the girls and the next thing they knew it was Thursday night. Aubrey and Chloe were getting ready for the game and meeting up with the rest of the girls from the group. Flo, Jessica, and Ashley were also good friends of the co-captains, and they were drama kids as well. "Is nobody going to address the elephant in the room?" Ashley said to the group. "What elephant, I don't see one." Flo returned.

"Auditions are tomorrow, is anybody freaking out about this? Honestly, I don't care what part I get I just want to be in the production." Jessica said aloud. "Aubrey and I have been rehearsing every weekend to be ready, but I am still nervous." As the group walked outside, they noticed Tom was leaning against a wall talking to another girl. Chloe saw this and marched straight up to him.

"Tom, what do you think you are doing." Chloe asked calmly, both he and the girl looked like deer in headlights at being caught. The other girl quickly excused herself and left Tom on his own. Tom quickly recovered and said "Chloe we were just talking about school. Nothing more, you know I only have eyes for you." "Save the lying for somebody who is willing to believe you." Aubrey said right behind Chloe. "Why don't you butt out of this Aubrey this is between Chloe and me." Tom replied annoyed that she said something anyway. But before Aubrey could say anything Chloe cut her off. "Tom this is the second time I have seen you flirting with another girl right in front of me and you keep making me believe it is all in my head. I'm done with you." Chloe said and stomped away, leaving Tom dumb founded.

The girls were quickly there for Chloe as she got upset but decided to focus on cheering for everybody but Tom and to focus on tomorrow. Barden ended up winning 21-14, and Tom went searching for Chloe after the game, but she quickly went home. He called her and texted her, but she never responded. She looked at her phone one more time before bed seeing a text from Tom asking if they were over and that he is so sorry. Chloe ignored the text and cried herself to sleep, thinking how she could be so stupid.