Lost In New York

Avery: Welcome to beautiful and wonderful New York City! Lets take a walk in central park and eat some tacos (: Okay, after the chapter, enjoy my friends!

-Moxie-

I could see her in the driveway from the kitchen window, slowly draining the air out of our tires. I should have known her schizophrenic nature would result some form of a horrible disaster. Let the nightmare begin. I stepped out of the kitchen and stood in the hallway in front of the door, arms crossed like an angry mother waiting for her child to walk through the door. That is when Jackie quietly opened the door, hoping to waltz in unnoticed, but she stopped abruptly in her tracks at the sight of me. The "Oh shit" look on her face said the unspoken word travelling through my mind. Busted.

"Please don't tell them." Jackie pleaded.

"Why should I listen to you for even a moment?" I questioned. "You've been wearing the mask of a normal girl since we found you hiding in our car trunk. But that's not you, you are someone who is insane and has been insane since the day I met you."

I was about to turn and leave her standing in the hallway. I would tell my friends about the sabotage Jackie had done to our car, and it all would be dealt with from there. But then I heard her voice, it sounded distant and hoarse, but it was still there.

"Mariana, I know I'm insane." Jackie said, I cringed, I hated my full name. "I cant help it, my mom tells me it's because I'm young and impulsive. I guess I've just never had my way, before moving to Mellowbrook all I ever did was think about others. I did anything people wanted me to do, I completely ignored myself. And, since I never got anything I wanted, I decided to fight for it."

"Well what do you want?" I asked.

"Friends that wont use me for my kindness." she answered unhappily.

"You haven't had any real friends since Rachael died have you?" I asked in realization.

Her head drooped down, and a long frown crossed her face. I felt somewhat bad for Jackie, even if she went as far as taking all the air out of our tires and forcing us to be stranded in New York until we found a solution. All she wanted was a friend, and I don't blame her, without friends who will stand by you during your crucial adolescent years then you might as well go crazy. She had gone through so much trauma and suffering in her short life and never learned how to find silver linings.

"What do you want me to tell them?" I asked her sympathetically.

"I'll figure something out," Jackie said quickly "Just go eat, I'll be there in a minute"

I obeyed her order without questioning, I sat down at the kitchen table with my friends who were already chatting about the rest of the trip. I glanced out the window and saw Jackie talking to some boys on the street, they looked younger then Jackie but older then my brothers. The boys nodded and smirked at whatever she was saying and ran into the closest house, while Jackie made a beeline for the front door. Once she was inside the house Kendall asked what she was doing outside, to which she replied something about how the street reminded her of when Rachael was alive. Ralph talked a lot about musicals, apparently they were a thing with him, he's even a member of a theatre club at the local community center.

"That is awesome," I exclaimed at the mention of musicals. "Not many guys like musicals, unless their gay"

I then eyed him a bit suspiciously, he just laughed and shook his head of sandy blonde locks. They looked so tousled and touchable, I wondered if his hair felt as soft as it appeared. Just imagining it made my face turn red, which is sadly very noticeable on me due to my lack of a tan complexion.

"Well I'm walking over there in an hour if you wanted to join me." Ralph offered with a heart melting smile.

My heart did a flip. I couldn't have said yes fast enough.

()()()

"What the hell happened?" Kick exclaimed when he saw that our car had been egged and our tires had been drained of air. So that's why Jackie was talking to those boys.

"Calm down Kick" Kendall told him gently, placing her hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

He brushed her off. "Why should I calm down Kendall? Our rental car has flat tires and it's been egged! We are no where near Seattle and if you haven't noticed we were supposed to be in Nebraska by now!"

"Kick!" Kendall shouted, then she sighed, calming down. "We'll stay behind, you guys have fun."

She slowly took his arm and guided him back inside the house. I know it was just to calm him down but I cant help but wonder if something will happen. Although enough has happened already, ever since we left Vermont I've caught Mouth and Fiona exchanging the cutest little glances, it reminds me of middle school. Then there's Ronaldo and Christina, who talked as if nothing had ever happened between them, but neither of them had looked Mouth or Kendall in the eye since we found them making out. At least Gunther and I are normal, still friends, still talking like friends. And woe is me, moping over my failed love life, wishing my best friend would like me back. I realize that maybe Sgt. Pepper had it right, maybe I should join his Lonely Hearts Club Band.

"We ready to go?" Ralph asked, he was staring right at me, a look that made my face turn crimson. I shyly nodded as he opened the door to his car, allowing me to climb into the passenger's seat. I turned on the radio and slouched in the seat as Bon Jovi blared in the speakers, lightly tapping out the beat on the dashboard with my fingers.

"Do you play drums?" Ralph asked me.

"Guitar," I replied "And I used to play piano when I was younger."

"Cool." He replied, but his voice was stale and awkward. That meant either he didn't have much experience with girls or he's just awkward.

"She is an amazing singer." Jackie said from the back, trying to salvage our conversation.

"Really?" Ralph replied, sounding interested.

"I sing a bit." I said flatly.

"A bit? Moxie doesn't stop singing." Mouth said. I looked at Ralph and blushed.

"Well," Ralph said, smirking slyly. "I cant wait to introduce you to the theatre girls, you'll love them"

Theatre girls. A room full of theatre girls, that is all I thought. What if Ralph was dating one of them? Or two of them? What if he was a player that had a new bimbo on his arm every day? If he were the only strait guy in his theatre club then all the girls would be chasing him, literally. What if he was like the guys back home? Most of them were cocky athletes and juvenile delinquents, most of them were likely to fail out of high school. Moving around so much I realized one thing, guys are himbos. They may as well all be named John Tucker. And if Ralph was a cute, irresistible, John Tucker I was not prepared to kill him. Yet. We pulled into the community center parking lot, a bunch of children were screaming and laughing on the playground, and through an open window I could smell the delicious treats of what was most likely a cooking class. Ralph held open the large glass door for us to enter, I think I caught him staring at me as I walked in.

"The theatre is this way," He explained as he walked down the hallway. "There's some classes in progress, it's best that we don't make a lot of noise so no one is disturbed."

So he was creative and respectful? The John Tucker status I unfairly gave him was slowly melting away as I followed him down the hallway. Fiona grabbed my arm and pulled me aside.

"You don't think he'll make us perform, do you?" She whispered timidly.

"Probably not if you don't want to." I explained softly. Ralph didn't seem like the type of guy that would force a girl to do something that they didn't want to do, however some boys could be a little persuasive.

"You guys coming?" Gunther's voice called from a large double door down the hallway that was propped open. I assumed that Ralph, Ronaldo, Christina, and Mouth were already inside.

"Yeah." I called back, running ahead with Fiona close behind me.

-Kendall-

"I am not tying wet nylon tights around my head." Kick yelled at me as he lay on the sofa massaging his forehead.

"It will help your headache," I snapped sternly.

He rolled his eyes and grabbed the cool, damp, tights and wrapped it gently around his head. He mumbled something about me being a smart ass before closing his eyes in an attempt to rest. I sat down on the armrest and stared at Kick's face for a moment, he looked so peaceful and tranquil, like a little kid. My eyes then scanned the walls where a family portrait was hung, holding the smiling faces of four people. The mother and father smiled happily at the camera, they looked warm and inviting, like the friendliest people in the world. The two children looked almost identical, both of them had sandy coloured hair and crystal blue eyes.

"She was beautiful wasn't she?" Asked a kind voice from behind me.

I spun around quickly and saw Jennifer in the doorway with a tray of freshly baked cookies, her smile was just as beautiful as the picture of her family.

"She was," I responded kindly. "I'm very sorry for your loss."

Jennifer's cast her gaze down and smiled sadly. "She would have wanted Jackie to come back, I'm sure that she always wanted too but after the incident I didn't blame her for being afraid."

"What happened exactly?" I asked curiously.

"She was out with Rachael and they met up with Rachael's girlfriend, Liza." Jennifer explained, her voice cracked a bit, hurt by the memory. "A group of girls ganged up on them, one of them almost shot Jackie. They thought Jackie was another lesbian."

"They couldn't tell that Jackie was four years younger?" I asked in disbelief.

"No," Jennifer explained. "When Jackie was nine she hit a big growth spurt, if you didn't know her then you would assume she was thirteen, and Rachael was so small for her age."

I understood perfectly well, me and Jackie were the two tallest girls in the grade. Which might have been a little intimidating to some of the boys since we were both taller then them. It was never fun being taller then everyone else in the fifth grade, I was so tall, and so thin, and I had the body of a thirteen year old. Moxie's mom looked at me and kept telling me how lucky I was, telling me that I was so pretty. I didn't believe her at all, my strait hair was very thin and limp, and my eyes were the colour of dark chocolate. It wasn't until high school that I grew slower and other people caught up to me, it's better this way, I'm no longer the tallest girl and neither is Jackie.

"You know Kendall I think Jackie took her death the hardest," Jennifer explained solemnly. "Jackie had a wall up when her dad left, she completely blocked everyone out, but Rachael was always there for her, always her friend."

I smiled a bit, but it was a bittersweet smile. "So Rachael was her only friend."

"And Ralph," Jennifer added. "But I'm glad that she now has you as a friend."

Jennifer smiled at me as she walked out of the room, I tried my best to smile too but I couldn't. I had never been nice to Jackie, I mean I had done everything from threaten to sew her face to the ground to apparently stealing her man. Did I really just think that? I had always thought that if Kick had to choose between me, Jackie, and a bloodthirsty zombie he would have been fully prepared to die. I sat on the sofa by Kick's feet and turned on the TV and flipped through the channels until it landed on Gilmore Girls, which I hadn't seen in a really long time. It was such a funny show, there were little things, hidden references, that made this show a classic. The theme song had just started when I heard a deep, smooth, voice.

"This is a good song" The voice said. I turned my head and saw Kick lying there with his baby blue eyes wide open, staring at the TV screen.

"Yeah, It's a great song" I replied.

"What's it called?" He asked, as he sat up and moved closer to me.

"I don't really know what the song is called." I replied, I had half the mind to move away from him and half the mind to get closer, I stayed put.

"Do you watch shows like this?" He asked. I gave him a curious glance, he had never been interested in what I liked before.

"Yeah," I replied with a smile. "I've always liked these shows."

We both turned our attention back to the television screen and watched the show, I was surprised by how much Kick seemed to enjoy the show. He had been so stressed, it was good to see him laughing and enjoying himself. Not that I care or anything. But it's unhealthy to be so stressed out, yet I don't think I have ever seen him be so stressed out.

"What was the whole freak out over the car thing about?" I asked him. His head turned slowly and his baby blue eyes locked with my light brown orbs. He kept his gaze for a moment before turning his attention back to the television, mumbling something under his breath.

"What was that?" I questioned, he didn't answer. That's when I grew livid. "Kick!"

He jolted strait up and looked at me. Then he sighed. "Your mom thinks I'm a distraction, my mom even told me to stay on her route just to please her and currently we are way off course."

I felt the sudden need to say something, to reach out and touch him, to hug him. I fought it though, I couldn't let him know I felt sympathetic. I had always known that my mom hated Kick, ever since we were little kids. My mom liked elegance, poise, equity, she wanted a daughter that would take charge, one that would be on the honour role, one that would live a pure life. She gave up on Ember after she got to middle school, she let her grades drop, she wore skirts that were the size of handkerchiefs, and shirts that showed way too much cleavage. After the fiasco with Ember my mom made it her mission to make sure I never became like that. My mom picked out what she called "Sophisticated" outfits for me, she tutored me on the importance of studying, equity, and respect. That is also why my relationship with Ronaldo was secret, my mom didn't want me to date boys so young. In my mothers opinion boyfriends at young ages led to impurity at young ages, what could I have possibly been doing at twelve years old? Besides accidentally kissing Kick twice. My mom thought that Kick was the complete opposite of poise and equity, that he couldn't be a proper man even if he tried. My mom didn't know him the way I did, the way that he could go from an extreme daredevil without rules to a friendly and likeable guy. Wait, did I just call him likeable?

"Kick, I know your mad about what happened to the car," I told him sympathetically. "We are going to get through this small roadblock, and we are going to get to Seattle."

He smiled at me, it was a real, genuine smile. "Thank you Kendall."

Thank you Kendall, never thought that I'd hear those words come out of his mouth. We both turned our attention back to the television and watched the rest of Gilmore Girls in silence.

Avery: I apologize for my absence but I have a very good excuse: Exam week. I barely had time to do anything but today there was so much snow that they cancelled school so I got to write the chapter today, Yay! Sorry there is no play list, but the next chapter will make up for it, I promise.