Little delay once more between chapters, I've been on the busy side but I have time free now so I figured I'd try and get a new chapter out
I don't have enough money to get home... what am I going to do? I miss my bed I miss my mom I miss my dad I miss my friends I... I WANT TO GO HOME!
I knew what was coming, I could feel it coming, my eyes were filling and soon the hot tears were spilling over and down across my cheeks, I was so scared. I had never been this scared before, like we all get scared I know but this was so far beyond normal fear, this was cataclysmic.
All I could do in this moment of powerlessness was throw myself down on the bed, bury my head in the pillow and sob, terrified, wanting nothing more than to go home.
Okay... I'm going to close my eyes and when I open them I'll be home okay? okay... its not working!
"Mom...Dad...Tori...Jade...I wanna go home...I want my mom...I want my dad..."
By this point I was pretty much throwing a full blown tantrum, I was screaming into the bed in between loud painful sobs, repeating the same few words over and over in my mind "I want to go home" I felt so helpless, so defenseless, so scared and so alone.
Then, I heard a few knocks at the door, I froze on my bed, THE bed, this is not my bed... "who is it?" I asked feeling another heavy sob trying to push its way out.
"Cat its me Derrick" I slowly rolled over and got off the bed, wiping my eyes eagerly in an attempt to conceal the fact I was crying, but it just made it worse making them all red and puffy, and the makeup running down my cheeks wasn't exactly helping either.
I opened the door and looked down at the floor, "can I come in for a moment?" he asked so I simply moved aside to let him, "I'm sure you're hungry so I thought you could use a meal" he said pushing a trolley into the room, turning to look at me as I hadn't yet moved from the door, still staring at the floor.
"You okay there?" he asked coming over to me, "I thought you were going to have a shower and relax? I mean no offense but... you do need it" I looked up at him, managing the slightest of smiles at his little remark, and as our eyes met he realized I had been crying, he took some tissues from the trolley and came over handing them to me, putting his hand on my shoulder.
I clutched the tissues tightly and pressed them into my eyes, feeling powerless I sobbed and pretty much collapsed into him, sobbing loudly into his chest, he put his arms around me and held me close, "Cat? what's wrong?" he asked, "I... want... to... go... home" my breathing was really fast and I let out another loud sob as I said the word 'home', holding onto him for dear life.
"Okay... okay... don't worry, sit down" his voice was soothing and he led me over to the bed and sat me down, getting down on a knee in front of me, I sat before him like a helpless little girl, clutching the now balled up tissue like my life depended on it.
"What's got you so upset sweetheart?" he asked looking me in the eyes with his hand on my knee, "I miss my home" I said biting my tongue to keep yet another sob inside.
"Well its not like you're trapped here is it? you'll see them again, why don't you give them a call?" "Because... I...I... forgot my phone..." "Really? a teenage girl forgot her phone? I find that hard to believe" I giggled a little but it was quickly taken over by you guessed it, another sob.
"You'll be okay Cat, you've got a roof over your head, a bed to sleep in, three meals a day, we'll take care of you, you're in London after all, one of the busiest cities on the planet, curled up in bed crying is not the best way to spend time here you know" I suppose he's right.
"You've just had a rough day, how about you have something to eat, have a nice hot shower and get some sleep? see how you feel tomorrow? if you really do want nothing more than to go home, I'll do everything in my power to help get you there" "there um... there aren't any flights for um... two days" I felt myself dangerously close to bursting into tears again and he reached up to wipe a stray tear that had just crept over my eyelid and gently ran down to my cheek.
"Well... that gives you a day to explore London, I'll get you a car to take you anywhere you want to go" "but... I don't have enough money for the ticket" "Cat... its my job to ensure our guests enjoy themselves, and you crying your heart out is... well bad for business and... painful to watch, and like I said I'll do whatever I can to help get you back home so don't worry about the money, it'll be okay I promise"
He stood up and went over to the trolley, "I thought you needed a proper British welcome so..." he lifted the cover to reveal a plate of fish & chips, honestly that excited me, "you eat this, have a shower and get yourself some sleep, if you need anything I'm downstairs honey I promise"
I stopped him at the door and gave him a hug, "thank you..." "my pleasure"
The door closed and I heard him head off down the hall, I turned around and looked over at the trolley, or more importantly the meal, I sat at the foot of the bed in front of it, added a little salt, and dug in.
Before I knew it I was laying back looking at the ceiling with a full stomach and a much better outlook on life, its amazing how food can do that, and what a meal it was, I see now why its a traditional British dish... its fantastic.
Now I think I should have a shower, I know I need it.
I left my clothes discarded on a chair, not sure how I was going to get them clean, or what I was going to do as I didn't have a bag but... I could have sworn I left the house with one?
The door knocked and I quickly threw a robe on and went to answer it, it was Derrick and he was holding that bag I knew I had when I left but must have forgotten it.
"I believe this is yours?" he asked as I let him in, "where did you find it?" I asked "the airport called, they said they had an unclaimed bag with a name tag on it, that name was yours, they always call us first since we're the closest hotel, so I went over to pick it up for you"
"Thank you so much" I exclaimed excitedly taking the bag and opening it, the first thing I saw was my stuffed giraffe, something I couldn't help but hug tightly.
"Looks like you enjoyed the meal" he said with a laugh, I just nodded my head, watching him collect everything back on the trolley and get ready to take it back downstairs, "I'm glad, oh and we can wash those clothes for you too"
I once again waved him off and heard him head down the hall, this time I locked the door and headed through to the en suite bathroom for a much needed shower.
The second I stepped underneath the warm, running water I felt a wave of sensation take over my body and I froze, standing there just letting the water run over me, as if it were washing my stress and my troubles away, sheer bliss.
After my heavenly shower I settled myself down in a nice warm bed and let myself drift off to sleep, knowing tomorrow would be a new day.
*No P.O.V*
"You guys I'm really worried about Cat" Tori sighed sitting down for lunch, looking at the empty space to her right that Cat would no doubt be sitting in.
"Why? she's missed a few days of school before" Jade gave a half hearted response while typing out a text message, "Beck's not here and I'm not worried" she said now reasoning with the worried Tori.
"Yeah but... we didn't see her at all after lunch yesterday and now she's not at school, what if she's hurt?" Tori asked, sending a little shiver down the spine of the usually tough as nails Jade, she was always the tough, cold heart of the group, but not even she could deny the charm and love that seemed to radiate off that special girl with the red hair.
"Tori, you're worried over nothing, Cat's probably at home in bed, she'll be fine" Andre tried to reason with her now, "are you sure?"
"How about you just leave it until the end of the day, if she still hasn't been in touch we'll go to her house? see if she's alright?" Tori nodded at the idea, giving her phone a nervous glance, "I guess..." she sighed putting it away.
The final lesson to end the day was a dull, quiet one, usually there would be at least three outbursts from Cat telling everybody a crazy story about herself or her brother in some unimaginable situation, like being stabbed by a clown on the bus, who knew what went on inside her mind.
After class Tori eagerly checked her phone while she headed for her locker, nothing, no texts, no missed calls.
"Where are you Cat..." she sighed to herself typing out another text message, scrolling up reading through the texts she had sent her since yesterday.
"Hey Cat, where are you? we got an A on our film! and we were gonna get sushi to celebrate but we're waiting on you"
"Cat? Jade is getting tired of waiting for you, where are you? call me!"
"Cat come on... answer your phone!"
"Cat what's wrong? I know you and I know you'd never go this long without answering your phone, please call me"
"We're heading to get sushi now, meet us there"
"Really Cat? we spent two hours there and you still haven't texted or called me? what's going on?"
"Cat, I'm really worried about you, you haven't answered any of my texts today, please text me when you get the chance Cat, please"
"I'm going to bed now, hopefully I'll wake up to a text from you, goodnight Cat 3"
"Morning... still nothing from you? you're really starting to scare me Cat"
"I'm headed to school now, hopefully I'll meet you there?"
"Cat I'm at school by your locker, where are you?"
"Cat call me please"
"Cat!"
"Cat where are you?!"
"Cat... I'm scared"
"Cat I'm coming over to your house to make sure you're okay"
That was the last message, the one Tori had just sent, she put her phone in the back pocket of her jeans and closed her locker, heading off to go find Jade.
"Jade you ready to go?" "go? go where?" "Cat's house? remember?" "oh, right I have homework to do" Jade said closing her locker, "Okay, Andre? Robbie? you coming?"
"I can't I need to finish this new song by Friday" Andre said, "and my grandmother needs help with her computer" Robbie said.
"So none of us have heard a thing from Cat since yesterday and you're not at all worried? you're just going to carry on with your lives like its all okay? what if she's not?" Tori felt herself getting angry so she stormed off before any of them could even reply.
She walked out putting her jacket on since it was a little cold, she crossed her arms tightly and began to walk, looking over her shoulder hoping one of, if not all three of Jade, Andre and Robbie would have come after her, but no one did, she shook her head and just carried on walking.
She arrived at Cat's house and noticed the light in Cat's bedroom was on, she breathed a huge sigh of relief and went over to knock the door.
"Hi Mr. Valentine is Cat home? she wasn't at school today and I just wanted to check she was okay"
"I don't know Tori, she's locked herself in her room and she won't come out, she wont even say a word" he explained, Tori looked at him with a concerned stare, getting more and more worried by the minute.
"Can I... talk to her?" she asked and he stepped aside to let her in "please, come in" he said so she walked in, shutting the door behind her.
Tori went upstairs and stopped at the door which said "Cat's room" in pink letters, she took a deep breath and knocked the door, but didn't get an answer, so she tried again but still no answer.
"Cat, its me Tori, can you open the door please?... I don't know what happened or if everything is okay but I really want to help Cat, please open the door... if not could you at least say something so I know you're there? I'm really worried about you" Tori kept her hand pressed against the door, fighting back the tears.
"I hope you're okay Cat"
But what Tori didn't know was on the other side of that door, was an empty room.
That's all for now, what will Tori do? what will Cat do for that matter? I hope you enjoyed it and I hope to get a new chapter out soon