Chapter Seven

Feburary 11, 2008

Allison's POV

"The Jonas Brothers are the..."

I groaned and dug my thumbnail into the rubber button on the remote. The tv screen flickered off into darkness and the red light disappeared. I was sick of the Jonas Brothers. I had no idea why, because they used to be my best friends. But, everything was different now. I hadn't spoken to Joe since the other night, I had been avoiding Kevin by claiming that I didn't feel good, and Nick and Miley were too wrapped up in each other to notice what was going on. I grabbed my cellphone and dialed my brother's number. He picked up after three rings.

"Hello?"

I could hear the sounds of a party in the background and I rolled my eyes.

"Hunter, where are you?" I asked.

"At the frat house."

I rolled my eyes again. "Can you come get me?"

"Why? Are you okay?"

"Not really," I told him. "Things are just really weird. I just wanna go home."

"Did you and Joe have a fight or...Yo, Kyle, we're outta beer!...something?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes yet again and switched the phone to my other ear. "Look, can you just come get me? Please."

"Where are you?"

"Vegas."

"Uh...hold on...Tito!...Use a bucket!...Okay, now what were you saying?"

"Ugh! Can you come get me?"

"Okay. Uh...give me a few minutes. I'll be there soon."

"Thanks."

I hung up and leaned back against the fluffy white pillows behind my head. Neon lights shone through the window, creating patterns on the walls and ceiling of the hotel room. Sighing, I stood up and walked over to the window, pressing my face against the cool glass. Flashing signs, bright-colored buildings, and more neon lights stared back at me. Tears streamed down my face until my vision became blurry and the lights melted together into a big, glowing circle. I backed away from the window and ran the back of my hand across my eyes. I glanced at the digital clock on the night stand. Hunter would be here in three hours. I grabbed my suitcase and threw all my clothes and stuff into it and zipped it up. Suddenly, I heard someone knock on my door. I walked over and opened it. Joe stood in the hallway, looking at me nervously.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

I looked at him and crossed my arms.

"Please."

"Whatever," I mumbled and turned my back to him, walking back into the room. I heard Joe close the door and I sat down on the edge of the bed. Joe remained standing and I watched as he cleared his throat and then shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"Look, about the other night..." He trailed off and glanced down at the ugly red carpet covered with green circles. "I made a mistake. Well, actually, it wasn't a mistake. I...I like you Alli. A lot. I might even...love you. I know you hate me, but I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about putting you in that position." Joe reached out as if to hug me or something, but then changed his mind and walked towards the door. I watched as he opened the door and disappeared.

"Ohmygod," I whispered and fell back on the bed. "Joe loves me? Joe loves me. Joe loves me!" I laughed and kicked my feet in the air. "Ohmygod!" I jumped off the bed and flung my door open. Not bothering to close it, I raced down the hallway to Joe's room and banged on the door. The second Joe opened it, I threw my arms around my neck and kissed him. "Guess what?" I said.

"What?" Joe said, taken aback.

"I love you!" I kissed him again. "I love you so much!"

"Are you okay?" Joe asked and grabbed my chin, tilting my head up towards his. "Have you been doing drugs?"

"No!" I said. "I love you!"

"Wow," Joe whispered and pulled me into the room. He shut the door behind him and then walked over to me. "Are you positive you're okay?"

"Yes!" I said and hugged him. "I'm fine. I'm just really happy."

"Me too," Joe said. "But, wait. Does this mean we're, like, boyfriend/girlfriend?"

"I don't know," I said. "Are we?"

Joe smiled and leaned down and kissed me.

I had my answer.

--

Joe's POV

"Ohmygosh!"

I opened my eyes and looked at Alli. "What?" She sat up and grabbed her cellphone.

"I called Hunter and told him to come get me right before you came to my room!" She frantically pressed the buttons on her phone. "Hunter? Hey, are you still at the frat house? Okay. Look, don't come and get me, okay? Yeah. Okay. Thanks. Bye."

"Are we safe?" I asked.

"Yep," Alli said and put her phone up. She laid back down and I kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry," she told me.

"Why?" I asked her.

"For sleeping with Kevin," Alli said. "I didn't mean to." She bit her lip and looked down at the white designs on my t-shirt.

I tilted her head up and she looked inquiringly into my eyes. "It's okay, baby," I whispered. "It's okay. Just forget about it, okay?" She nodded and I gently kissed her lips. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

I smiled and kissed her again. She grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me down on her body, still kissing me back. Just as things were started to get heated, I heard the door open.

"Alli?"

Alli and I pulled apart and stared at Kevin. His face wore an expression of utter shock and he stood as if frozen in place.

"Kevin..." Alli whispered. Kevin shook his head and walked out of the room. Alli sighed and closed her eyes.

"Go talk to him," I told her.

"Are you sure?" she asked, looking doubtful. I nodded and stood up.

"You need to explain. You shouldn't lose your friendship," I said. Alli nodded and stood up. I watched as she pulled her hair back and wrapped a pink elastic band around it.

"Do you'll think he'll be mad?" Alli asked as she changed into a different t-shirt with the words Wild Thing written across it in flaming script.

"I don't know," I replied. "He probably will be. But I hope he'll get over it."

"Way to be engouraging, Danger," Alli said sarcastically, using my nickname.

I laughed and Alli threw her flip-flop at me. I ducked and the shoe hit the wooden headboard and fell underneath the bed.

"Get that," Alli said, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

"Yes, your highness," I said. I got up and then knelt down on the floor by the bed and pulled the sheets up. I really didn't want to stick my head under there, so instead, I stretched my hand out and felt around. My hand knocked against something and I grabbed it and pulled it into the light. "EW!!" I screamed and whipped the book across the room.

Alli jumped and turned away from the mirror. "What is your problem?" She walked over to the book and picked it up off the floor. I watched in amusement as she read the title emblazoned acroos the cover. "EW!!" I laughed as she quickly dropped the book. "Who buys a book on The Top 100 Ways To Have Sex?!" Alli screeched. I laughed again as she ran to the bathroom and washed her hands. "EW!" Once she returned, she stuck the top half of her body under the bed and pulled her shoe out. "Well, I'm gonna go talk to Kevin."

"You can do it," I said and hugged her. She took a deep breath and walked towards the door.

"Good luck."

--

Kevin's POV

"Kevin, we need to talk."

I looked up at Alli angrily. "There's nothing to say." I turned my back to her and flipped the radio on. Chris Brown's song "Wall To Wall" blasted out from the tiny speakers.

"Kevin, listen to me. Please."

I didn't turn around, but I did turn the volume on the radio down.

"Look, I really didn't mean to lead you on. But Joe apologized and he told me he loved me. I didn't know it until now, but I love him too. I really didn't mean to hurt you, Kevin. I swear. But we can't be more than friends. Not anymore. I really am sorry."

I stared down at the white cotton sheets beneath me. I could feel anger rushing through my veins but not as strongly as it had been before. Sighing, I turned the radio off and rolled over to face Alli. She looked at me shyly. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I couldn't think of anything to say. Nothing. We stared at each other for a minute before she turned around. I watched as she walked away. She stopped right before she left, her hand around the doorhandle.

"I really am sorry, Kevin. I hope we can still be friends." Then, she was gone. For a long time after she left, I stared at the doorway. I wasn't really seeing it though. Instead, I was thinking about how crappy it felt to lose Alli to Joe. Part of me honestly thought that I had a chance with her. But the other part of me always knew it wouldn't work. Joe and Alli were meant for each other. Everyone knew it, but I simply chose not to believe it. At least, I had tried not to believe it. I stared at the door for a little while longer before grabbing the black remote off the bedside table. I pressed the ON button and the black screen flickered to life.

"But how do you expect me?"

I quickly mashed my thumb into the volume button as Jordan Sparks' voice came blaring out of the tv. Ow. I changed channels and flipped past a cartoon, a Pepsi commercial, CSI: Miami, and Monk before stopping on a baseball game. I watched it for a few minutes, but I couldn't concentrate. I couldn't think about anything except Alli. I shut the tv off and closed my eyes, hoping I would fall asleep. No such luck. Finally, I gave up and just let myself think about her.

There was nothing else that I could do.

--

Nick's POV

"You drive me crazy

I just can't sleep

I'm so excited

I'm in too deep."

I smiled as I heard Miley singing one of Britney Spears' old songs. She was stretched out beside me, flipping the glossy pages of the lastest issue of Vogue and singing whatever random song popped into her head. I turned my attention back to my laptop and my English paper. We were all on break right now, but I had 'forgoten' to do the paper before, so I was stuck doing it now. I frowned at the screen of my computer. So far, I had only managed to write one sentence. Pretty smart, huh? I sighed and tapped my finger lightly against the keys. A flurry of letters raced across the white background and I smiled before erasing them. After a quick minute of thinking, I shut my laptop and stretched out beside Miley. She was examining an article on makeup, but looked up when I laid down.

"Hey," she said. I smiled and brushed a lock of curly brown hair out of her face.

"Hey."

"Did you finish your paper?" Miley asked, shutting her magazine and sitting up.

"No," I said. "I got bored."

Miley rolled her eyes and crossed her legs underneath her. "Want me to help?"

"Yes," I said and grabbed my laptop. "I really need help. Bad."

Miley giggled. "You're hopeless."

--

Miley's POV

"I can't feel my fingers!"

I laughed at Nick's complaint as he shut his laptop. We had finally finished his paper and I was glad. It wasn't easy. I wrapped my arms around Nick and kissed his cheek. "Feel better?"

"Yep," he said and grinned lazily. I smiled at him and then pushed him off the bed.

"Hey!" Nick said in indigtation. "What was that for?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I just felt like doing it." Nick grinned evily and lunged into the bed. I shrieked as he pinned me down and started tickiling me.

"Revenge is sweet!" Nick said.

--