Author's Note: IMPORTANT! If you normally don't read authors notes, read this one….
If I get enough reviews, I will post pics up of things in the story, like who I think would be the best Casey and Nikki, pics of outfits, cars, and scenes… and review, even if you don't want pics, b/c if I don't get enough, I don't post!
Chapter Five
I had graciously hung up to save Chad from thinking up a snappy comeback. And because I had to shower before going off to the park for my breakfast. Hmm, I might have to turn this into a daily ritual…
I slapped my alarm clock as I stepped out of my bathroom with a towel wrapped around me and my wet hair. I had forgotten to turn it off so it blared annoyingly until I got out of the shower. But it would not stop. So I reached down to unplug it. And immediately retracted my hand. Note to self: never unplug an appliance with wet hands.
I would have to go out and buy myself a new alarm clock as soon as I dried my hair and my hand stopped tingling, so I grabbed my phone, typed in a reminder, and was about to push the button to put it to sleep when I noticed I had a text.
Sonny, I just saw Tween Weekly. I cannot believe u r dating my cousin! So gross. Anywho, I just wanted 2 warn u that CDC is threatening the world he will take revenge on u 4 stealing the spotlight again. And I just bought this new dress for a date tonight; I am going 2 look amazing! OK, getting off topic. The real reason 4 this text was to tell u 2 let Casey know I will be coming down with my sister in a few days.
Tawni 3
(haha do u c what I did there? Tawni Hart? Get it? I am so smart!)
She is quite the character.
I quickly texted her back and went to go finish getting ready for my last school free day for a week.
Tawni, I loved the heart, it was soooo cute. And u just tell Chad that he cannot scare me away, and that he is going to get it. I will tell Casey about you visiting… I never knew u had a sister? And yeah, im sure you will manage to look great on ur date.
P.S. Casey and I aren't officially dating. Yet.
By eleven, I had blown my hair dry and had braided it into two pigtails that hung perfectly over my shoulders, put on a pink So Random, So Cute t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts. I had also put on my favorite cowgirl boots, but, deciding I looked way too much like Tawni's date with Hayden gone wrong, I switched the boots for Nikes and the pigtails for a single French Braid down my back.
I had also thrown my phone and wallet into my short's pockets and accessorized with lip-gloss and an anklet.
I was down the stairs (I could use the exercise) and outside on my way to Central Park by 11:30.
By quarter to twelve, I was approaching the same pastry vendor as yesterday. This time the granddaughter Cecilia was working, while her grandmother was off talking to someone, so I walked up warily.
"Hello, how may I help you?" she asked, looking up. I saw her eyes light up, but her voice remained steady.
"Oh, I don't know, surprise me," I said, smiling. Cecilia's eyes grew even bigger as she crouched down and dug around in the storage cooler.
"Here you are," she said. "I invented this one myself, it's a cherry-raspberry scone with honey glaze. And it's only four dollars," she told me proudly.
"All right, sounds delicious." And sugary. I handed her the money just as her grandmother came back.
"Thanks for taking over the store, Cecilia." She turned and winked at me. "I knew if she really wanted to work in New York, she'd have to get used to celebrities so I left her in charge for awhile," she confided to me as Cecilia skipped away to go throw bagel pieces at the pigeons.
I laughed. "She did a very good job. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with disaster."
"Oh, I saw that article today. Is it true?"
I nodded. "Unfortunately, the press manages to find me wherever I go, and this time was no different. But hey, what can I do?"
She nodded sympathetically. "By the way, my name is Pearl. And good luck with your, um, issue."
"Thanks. And it is nice to finally know your name, Pearl." We shook hands and I walked back to the studio.
I was halfway up the stairs when I realized I had yet to see Casey. He's a guy, he's bound to show up sometime, right?
But it wasn't until seven that night, when I was already in my cozy pajamas and cooking spaghetti that I finally saw him.
"Thank you," he said wearily, dropping down onto the couch. I had propped the kitchen door open and was watching TV, while stirring a pot of sauce. He was dressed casually, with a chest-hugging t-shirt and ripped jeans. His hair was a mess, like he had just rolled out of bed.
"What happened to you?" I asked him, reaching over the stove to stir my pasta.
"Didn't I tell you? I work in the church on Sundays for homeless people then go to the gym. Sundays are my no-work days."
I shook my head. "You failed to mention that. But," I said, pointing the spoon at him for emphasis, careful not to drip salt and oil on the floor, "Tawni and her sister, did you even know she had a sister? Because I sure didn't, and I'm getting off track. They are coming soon for a few days."
"Oh well, speaking of failing to mention stuff. And yes, I did know she had a sister, she's my cousin. Um, sure tell her that would be cool, but don't expect me to be babysitting her and entertaining her like last time."
I laughed. "Are you kidding me? Tawni always needs someone to entertain her, if she's not learning lines or putting on makeup…" I trailed off.
"Okay, touché. And usually she brings her sister, Tami. But last time she came, Tami had to go to some shelter or something, and could not take time off of work to come down with her sister."
Wow, it sounded like Tami and Tawni were complete opposites. Tawni had never worked in her life, and would never, ever dream of doing something nice just to do it.
When my alarm beeped at eight thirty Monday morning, I wanted to roll over and go back to sleep. Till noon. Casey and I had watched movies until well after eleven, just talking and laughing, like two normal people, and now I did not want to get out of bed. But I had to, in order to make my eleven o'clock classes and meet up with Nikki.
I crawled out slowly, not wanting to open my blinds and feel the heat of the morning New York sun. The air was on in the room, and my thermometer read 75. Outside, it was already 80. It was going to be hot today.
That did not stop me from cracking my blinds, changing from my pjs to an UnderArmor tank top and shorts, tying back my hair, putting on my Nikes, and going for a jog to Central Park to get my breakfast and back.
It was nearing nine thirty when I got back to the studio. I was sweating, my hair was frizzy from the humidity and body sweat, my feet hurt, but I was satisfied. Pearl and I had talked while I was eating my breakfast, and I got to know a little more about New York, Pearl, and Cecilia. I had also not run into any trees on my run, so I was kind of happy about that too.
I made my way up the stairs, to find that Casey was still not up. So, as I got into the shower, I tried to be quiet, flinching at every loud sound I made, including when I dropped my cell phone and my book on the bathroom floor. Stupid klutziness.
It was ten by the time I got out of the shower, so I figured I had a bit of time. I was still not completely up, so I went into the kitchen, clad in a bathrobe and cow slippers, to make myself a cup of coffee, when I passed Casey's room. The door was open, the bed was made, and he was nowhere to be found.
"Casey?" I called out loudly. No reply. I grabbed my cup of coffee, went into my room, changed into an outfit both appropriate for class and the weather: a white sundress with a silver choker and black Converse. I straightened my hair and put some sparkly eye shadow and lip-gloss on, grabbed my bag, and locked the studio door on my way out, hoping to God that Casey had his key. Or else I would be dead when I got home, if Casey didn't die from starvation since he couldn't get into his studio, along with several other of his students from his art classes.
I walked into the school at quarter till. I had almost missed my subway and then had to unceremoniously run to catch it. But other than that, I had done pretty well. I hadn't gotten lost or anything.
I picked up my map that a lady in the office handed to me and I made my way to the auditorium.
Nikki was waiting for me, as promised. She looked really different then she did at the park. Today she was decked out in a white polo and a denim mini skirt. Her hair was still spiked, but she wore a pair of flip-flops on her feet instead of her Converse. I noticed she had piercings in her ears, three on the top, all filled with different colored studs and one on the bottom, with silver hoops. She wore lip gloss, a silver and pink choker, and a henna tattoo of a Chinese symbol on her ankle.
"I love your outfit!" we said at the same time as I approached her. We both laughed, and walked into the auditorium.
An hour later, Nikki led me out of the auditorium. My head was still buzzing with all the info the principal had just piled on the students.
"Okay, so I am in your first class, which is voice. Then you have acting 101, which is on the second floor, in one of the classrooms with the stage, I wanna say room 223. I am in your third class, Improv, which I will get wait outside your second class for to take you, because it's really hard to find. The fourth class is right down the hall from Improv, for you it is Studio Arts and Techniques. Lunch is at noon in the cafeteria, just wait for me outside, I have Studio Arts on the third floor, so you may have to wait a little while. And don't worry, they have salad bars, pizza (the good kind), um subs, anything you could possibly want. After that, it looks like you have your academic classes, in order, Math and Science, History, then English. Your last class will be Dance, which is on the first floor all the way at the other side of the building in dance studio E." Nikki finally came up for air. I grinned.
"Thanks, Nikki," I said, walking lazily towards the end of the hallway.
"Um, Sonny?"
"Yeah?"
"It's this way," Nikki laughed, turning, and running into someone at the same time.
"Ugh, watch it, Nick," said the person, who turned around at the same time she did.
Oh man. This guy was really good looking, with blonde hair and natural dark highlights. He had dark brown eyes and wore a casual outfit of jeans with shredded holes and a baby blue polo. A pair of navy Converse completed the look, making him almost unbearable to look at. Okay, I was exaggerating. Maybe.
Nikki, obviously immune to his good looks, snapped a reply. "Why don't you watch it, Miller?"
"Miller" grinned and nodded a hello at me. Nikki pulled me down the hall to our first class right as the bell rang, signaling we had two minutes to get into the class.
Voice class was on the third floor unfortunately, so we had to sprint to make it.
But, luck for us the teacher was not present. So, we just sat around the two large and long tables in the back of the room talking. Nikki was propped on top of the table and I had chosen to sit in one of the few stools in the room.
A group of kids were modeling in the front while others took pictures, one group was singing pop music from Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus, and others were scribbling in notebooks.
"Lyrics," Nikki whispered to me. Wow, this was so cool. I would definitely not mind going to public school.
"Okay, so spill," I said to Nikki. "Who was that gorgeous guy?" She made a face.
"Who, Daniel? Ew, he is so not gorgeous. Is he?" I nodded enthusiastically.
"And besides, I thought you were already dating?" She made the comment sound like a question.
"How do you know about that? I didn't even realize you knew who I was!" I said, a little too loudly. Heads turned and the singers quieted down. I blushed.
"Oh, come on, mind your own beeswax, people!" Nikki said loudly. They went back to what they were doing as I still spluttered indignantly. "Sonny, of course I know who you are. The whole school probably knows who you are; they'd be oblivious if they didn't."
I tried to close my open mouth. "Oh, that changes things, I guess. I automatically assume if people don't run towards me screaming and waving paper, they don't know who I am."
It was then that the teacher came in. She was a modernized librarian: she had muddy brown hair that was not tied in a tight bun, but in a messy one on top of her head, she wore glasses, but they were rectangular and turquoise that showed off her deep chocolate eyes, and wore a jean skirt, white sandals, and a light pink blouse.
"Okay, guys, batter up! We got an invite to the Yankees game next week to sing the national anthem. Sign ups are outside the door, make sure you give me money for a ticket if you're going!" she announced as she walked in the room.
I immediately liked her, I could tell she was going to be a great teacher; her voice was not too loud, but loud enough and had enough authority in it to make everyone stop what they were doing and scramble towards the tables for a seat, despite her casual, yet flirty, and not at all teacher-like appearance, she was respected by the class.
The kids clapped and a good portion of them filed outside to sign up. The teacher walked up to me and held out her hand.
"Sonny, it's an honor and pleasure to meet you and have you in my class, I'm Ms Dyer. If you have any questions, just ask." She smiled at me then turned and walked to the front of the room. "Guys, let's go, we only have half an hour, and this week is musicals!" A cheer rose up from the people in the room.
A guy shouted. "Ohhhh!" A girl chimed in, singing in harmony.
Another girl and guy sang. "Klaaaaa!"
This time two girls joined in "Homaaaaaa!" We all laughed as Ms Dyer nodded.
"Exactly. Who wants to help pass these out?" She held up a stack of sheet music for the musical Oklahoma.
A few kids raised their hands and in a few minutes, we were all standing up, waving our arms, and belting out the finale song from Oklahoma.
I waited outside the cafeteria for Nikki, just like she told me to, when I spotted Daniel Miller. I tried not stare when I noticed he was with a pretty girl. She was laughing and hugging him around they waist as he fake-struggled and laughed.
As he came nearer, I was able to identify the girl who was with him- Nikki. Doesn't think he's cute, huh?
I casually sidled up to Nikki's side, who was currently putting Daniel in a headlock. "So, what's goin' on with you, Nikki. Anything you wanna tell me?" I asked.
She looked over at me and grinned. "Hey Sonny, what do you mean, anything I want to tell you? Are you feeling okay?" She looked at me curiously while Daniel walked over to the lunch line.
"Okay, what gives? I thought you said Daniel wasn't cute!" I exclaimed, following her to a lunch table in the far corner of the cafeteria.
Nikki wrinkled her nose. "I did. And I still stand by that. Why?"
"Well then why were you hanging around him and flirting?" I asked, feeling very confused.
Nikki laughed. "He's my cousin. My last name is Miller. My uncle paid for this school, which is one of the reasons I was even considered for this school in the first place. Cam comes here for the second half of the school day for acting classes, and my uncle had to pay the principal of the junior high extra just to squeeze all the necessary classes into three hours so he could come over here for the afternoon."
I felt very stupid. "Oh," I said. "So I should be extra nice to you in case I get into trouble with the principal?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood and erase the blush on my cheeks. Nikki laughed again.
"Um, no. The principal has made it very clear to me that my friends and I will not escape punishment. The second week into the school year last year I got into trouble. Like, major trouble." Her face went blank as she recalled the memory and she slowly smiled, turning slightly to look at something.
I followed her gaze to an okay-looking boy across the cafeteria. He had a strong build, dark straight hair that was spiked up in the front and a bored expression on his face. A girl was clinging to him from the side, your stereotypical high school cheerleader, hair so blonde it looked white, pure blue eyes, over-lip glossed lips, teeth so white it hurt to look at them, a salon-tanned body, mascara, blush, the whole make-up bit, and an outfit that looked like it just passed school requirements.
"Who's that guy?" I asked.
"Justin McCaferty. Football player. The clingy girl is Amanda, his girlfriend and captain of the cheer squad. She looks the part, doesn't she?" she added, reading my mind.
I nodded. "Definitely. What happened?"
"Let's just say that it involved screaming, hitting upside the head, karate and ninja moves that would outdo Jackie Chan, a lost football game, and Justin. Oh, and detention for a week," Nikki tacked on as an afterthought.
I grinned and took a bite of my sandwich that I made last night. Just as the bell rang.
"Oops, I'm sorry. I talked so much that you didn't get to eat. Here, gimme your schedule." Nikki motioned impatiently. I handed over my schedule. Nikki proceeded to tell me I could take my lunch with me to my class right after lunch, since the teacher was really nice and didn't mind stuff like that.
And all was fine- until my last period, dance. I walked into the studio, where the teacher directed me to the girl locker rooms. The other girls in my class were really nice, showing me an empty locker and the rack of extra dance stuff, since I didn't have mine.
Mondays were hip-hop, they told me, and handed me a pair of rolled up sweat pants, jazz shoes, and a t-shirt. I had to pull my hair back and remove all jewelry.
I walked out onto the hard wood floor with the other girls, where guys were waiting, already changed into t-shirts, sneakers, and baggy shorts. They really got into the mood here, apparently.
The teacher paired us up- the assignment was to complete a dance to the assigned music with a partner of the opposite gender, then perform it for a grade by the end of the class.
Unfortunately, my partner had to be Daniel Miller. Dance was the only class I had with him, apparently, and my luck got me partnered up with him.
Yeah, he could dance (I had scouted him out during warm up), and so could I, since I took classes when I was littler, but I would not be able to concentrate on dancing with him as my partner.
So when the teacher instructed us to go to a separate area in the studio (which, just so you know, was humongous) with our partners and she came over to give us our song, I could not stop staring at Daniel.
"So. I'm Daniel. You're Nick's friend, right?" he asked. I shook my head slightly to focus.
"Um, yeah. You look nothing like her," I blurted out, mentally kicking myself.
"Thanks," he replied, grinning. "She looks like her mom, but I'm related to her through her dad."
I nodded thoughtfully as the teacher came over, quietly since her jazz shoes muted her footsteps.
"All right, you two. Pick a piece of paper from the hat, on it will be your song. Make it good," she said over her shoulder as she walked to the barre for the next group to pick a song.
I unrolled the piece of paper I had drawn. "Oh boy," I commented. Daniel tried to peer over my shoulder.
"It's Get Low by Lil' Jon," I told him. Daniel's face broke into a grin.
"I love that song! This dance has got to be amazing."
I agreed.
"Okay, Nick's friend, can you dance?"
I spluttered indignantly. "My name is Sonny, not Nick's friend. And of course I can dance. Yes, real hip-hop," I added, as Daniel opened his mouth to comment.
He nodded, satisfied. "Show me what you got, Sonny." I walked over to the locker room, took my laptop out of my bag, and brought it back to where Daniel was waiting.
I typed something in and Get Low played from the speakers.
I made my dance up as I went along, but I think it was pretty good.
"Not bad." Daniel said as I finished. "I think we could work with that."
The class clapped and whistled as Daniel and I body rolled into the final note and took a bow.
He hugged me and I smiled. "Good job, I don't think I will mind being your partner again," he said and walked away to the group of guys sitting that had already performed.
When I found Nikki talking with Cam outside the school, I went up to her.
"Oh my gosh, your cousin is amazing!" I told her. She rolled her eyes.
"Not you too," she said. "You need a ride?" A limo was pulling up to the front of the school.
"You're kidding me. That's your ride?" Cam laughed and hopped inside.
"You wonder why our uncle paid for this. You should see his house. Our parents work around the world as nature photographers, so we live with him while they are away. Normally, I drive a Mustang that he got me for my birthday, but now he's insisting he doesn't trust my driving on the busy streets of New York, and has had a limo pick up me and Cam for the past three weeks."
She hopped into the limo behind me. Cam had already turned on the TV and was skimming through channels, with a remote in one hand, a bottle of water in the other, and a bag of Goldfish on his lap.
"Pig," Nikki commented as she reached across her brother to grab a tea for me, and soda for her. She told the drive my address and sat back on the seat, watching the channel Cam had finally chosen.
I thanked Nikki and the driver profusely as I climbed out of the limo.
Casey was in his studio bent over a table and an older woman's canvas, teaching private classes.
"Hey, you," he said, not getting up but smiling at me as I made my way through the door. "How was school?"
I laughed. "You sound like my mother."
I threw my books and bag down on the floor right next to the door.
I went straight to the kitchen, on a mission for a snack.
I stopped when I went through the swinging door and backed up a few steps.
A guy no older than twenty was lounging on the couch, a bowl of popcorn on his lap and sports on the television behind him. He had turned around and was staring at me. I sensed that he wasn't doing it to be disrespectful or curious, just because, well, he seemed to be waiting for something.
"Who are you?" I asked. The guy didn't answer; he just turned around to face the TV.
A few minutes later, when I had forgotten I had even asked him anything, the guy spoke. "Andrew."
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