Internet Girl
Summary- She was his best kept secret. He didn't plan on sharing her with the world. She was his Internet Girl. AU- Smitchie story.
Chapter 16- Take a Step Forward
By the end of the school day, Mitchie never even said a word to Shane, no matter how hard he tried to bring up small talk. Jason tried to persuade the raven haired boy to hang out after school like usual, but Shane politely declined, claiming he had important business to deal with. Truthfully, he was going to try and approach Mitchie like he usually would have done while he still had some confidence in him.
When Shane finally found her, she was once again surrounded by Sierra and Greg, who continued to chatter animatedly. Along with that, Mitchie wore a visibly bored expression on her face, boosting Shane's confidence level.
"Hey can I talk to you?" He started of coolly, but began to panic when 3 sets of eyes turned directly towards him. "Uhh Sierra! Yeah Sierra. Please? Now?" Shane quickly added.
Though she was slightly confused, Sierra excused herself from the group and walked off with Shane until they were out of earshot. "I know what's going on." She blurted out, making the raven haired boy smile half-heartedly.
"I'm not surprised. But I really do want to make it up to her."
"So you really had no reason to talk to me huh?" Shane shook his head 'no'.
"I need you help Sierra."
Sierra sighed deeply, pacing back and forth in front of Shane. After a minute or so, she finally stopped and stared at him straight in the eyes, though he was a good foot and a half taller then she herself was. "I just need to know. Why Shane?" She questioned suspiciously as she advanced herself closer to him. "You've hurt her so many times this past month, how will I know that you're truly sorry for what you've done this time?"
Shane's reply? Nothing. A moment of silence passed and just as Sierra turned to walk away, Shane swiftly grabbed her by the arm, pulling the girl back to his side. "I can't really explain it."
"Then how am I supposed to help you if you don't even know if you want to even be her friend? You're supposedly 'ElRockstar15'- the annoying cocky chatterbox that made my friend Mitchie happier then she has been when she talked to both Caitlyn and I combined. For a 'Rockstar', you sure are clueless on what you want."
Shane let out a frustrated groan, kicking the dirt covered ground with the tip of his Converse shoes. He took a quick glance over to Mitchie, who was now sitting alone and watching them with a confused expression. The moment they both locked eyes, the brunette girl looked away bashfully, but Shane already saw what he needed to see. Her upbeat and vibrant brown eyes were filled with sadness. She still had a smile plastered on her face, but you could easily see through it and tell it wasn't genuine.
"I never said that I didn't want to be with her." He stressed as he turned back towards Sierra. "I just know that ever I saw Mitchie at the diner, I felt like that stupid guy she told me about The inconsiderate jerk who never even bother to give her a chance in life. It makes me feel crappy and downright sick to my stomach that I've ever treated her that way, and trust me, I hate that feeling. Seeing her with Greg Davis, it just shows me that I may have lost a completely incredible person and I absolutely regret every last thing I've done to hurt her."
As soon as Shane ended his little speech, Sierra's lips curved upwards into an earnest smile. "You really like her don't you?"
A slight blush crept onto the boy's cheek, though he attempted his hardest to play it off. "What makes you say that?" He asked, denial evident in his voice. For extra effect, Shane quickly scoffed weakly, but couldn't help but smile cheekily and innocently.
"The way you talked about her just then, and the whole 'not saying you didn't want to be with her' thing." Sierra dug into her backpack and pulled out a small compact mirror, opening it towards Shane's face. "You should really look at yourself right now."
Just as he saw his rosy tinted cheeks, Shane felt the rest of his face warm up. "Well…" He trailed off. "I never said that I didn't like her..."
Sierra held up her arms defensively. "Hey, I never said you didn't." She countered with an amused smile. "No need to be feeling so guilty Shane."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." The raven haired boy grumbled, feeling slightly upset and embarrassed that he was so easily tricked. "You gonna help me or not?"
Back to her more serious façade, the girl quickly nodded. "Good." Shane said. "Your assignment is to get Greg Davis out of the picture. Do whatever you can. Seduce him, bribe him, beat him up, I don't care. I want no interferences with the plan."
"Okay Shane, first of all- eww!" Sierra stated with a disgusted expression. "Greg is weird. Secondly, he's not even 'in' the picture. He's my Biology partner so he suddenly thinks he can bug me and Mitchie. And thirdly, this isn't Mission Impossible, so you need to chill out. Comprendes?"
The raven haired boy scoffed. "That's what you think." He muttered in an incoherent tone.
"And what exactly are you planning to do afterwards Captain Genius?"
"I'm in the process of writing her a song in fact!" He stated proudly, his hands balled into a fist rested on his hips.
Sierra began howling with laughter, grabbing onto Shane's shoulder for support. "You're not seriously going to use the whole 'shattering heart when you frown' thing ate you?" She asked with a humored expression. Upon seeing his baffled and shocked mix expression, the girl quickly added, "Caitlyn already shared everything with me."
Shane scoffed. "Now she's just a doll isn't she?" He muttered sarcastically.
A loud buzzing shook from the inside of Sierra's backpack. She pulled out her cell phone from her bag and answered the text. "Hmm…" She stated with minor surprise. "We're going shopping tonight."
"Who?" The boy asked curiously.
"Now wouldn't you like to know?" Sierra asked tauntingly before holding out her phone to show Shane the text.
From: Caitlyn
To: Sierra
- Me, you, and Mitchie are going shopping right now :P Me and Mitch are waiting for you in the parking lot so hurry up and get your butt over here!!
Do me a favor and tell Shane that he'd better write a good song by the time we're done tonight!
Shane cocked his eyebrow. "They're friends again?" He asked in astonishment.
Sierra quickly nodded as if it were obvious before shoving her phone into the backpack. "Since Sunday afternoon." She confirmed. "Now if you would excuse me, my friends are waiting for me." Just as she turned around to leave, Sierra paused. "Good luck Shane." She said, waving good-bye. Shane returned the kind gesture as the girl walked off to the parking lot.
The boy reached into his pocket to pull out his own cell phone. 'How am I supposed to write a halfway decent song in one day?' He wandered as he scrolled through his contacts list to find his two best friends'. Just as he was going to do a three way call between them, Shane held the off button before thrusting the piece of technology into his pocket. 'I guess I'd better start writing if I want to get it done.' He thought with a hesitant half smile.
Right after his conversation with Sierra, Shane headed to the nearby Starbucks, the same one where he, Caitlyn, and Jason had seen Nate and Mitchie together on their first day. Luckily, the after school craze was ending swiftly, leaving the coffee shop practically empty. All he needed now was a Passion Tea Lemonade, silence, and some inspiration.
"Okay." The raven haired boy muttered to himself. The small table was scattered all over with individual sheets of paper, each used for its own reason. "Let's follow Nathanial's advice for songwriting 101." Resting on the right side of the table was a single sheet of paper entitled 'What I'm Sorry For.' Slowly, but surely, Shane started writing down all the regrets that he could thinking of one at a time.
What I'm Sorry For:
1- I'm sorry for lying to you
2- I'm sorry for hurting you so many times
3- I'm sorry for standing you up
4- I'm sorry for never talking to you before
5- I'm sorry for making you cry
6- I'm sorry for being rude to you
After re-reading the entire list, he had a realization. "They're practically the same things!" He exclaimed, slamming his fists on the table. Shane quickly shrunk back into his seat upon hearing the few customers beginning to whisper not so secretly about him. "This is hopeless!" He muttered to himself in a hushed tone.
'I'm sorry for the lies, that I kept telling her.' Shane thought. 'If this song is to be written for Mitchie only, it should be written directly to her…right?' Shane lifted his pencil and began to replace every 'her' with a 'you'.
"I'm sorry for the lies, that I keep telling you." The raven haired boy smiled. His newest line for the song was already turning up great, and most definitely beat the lyrics from that early morning.
As Shane continued to scribble more words, he felt a sudden tap on the shoulder, jolting him from his train of thought. "Hey what the-" The boy spun around, glaring at the person, who turned out to be a Starbucks worker. "What was that for?!" He asked irritably.
"I've been trying to get your attention for like 5 minutes." The timid looking girl stated.
Shane cocked his eyebrow. "Umm, no offense Ella, but I'm not really…single at the moment." He lied, trying to get his schoolmate to get away from him as soon as possible.
Ella's meek expression twisted into an aggravated stare as she shoved a plastic cup towards Shane. "Your order was about to reach room temperature you dummy."
The raven haired boy muttered an apology to the girl, who shrugged it off. "It doesn't matter." The Asian girl started. "Today's a crappy day anyways."
"Why?"
The Asian girl shot Shane a weak smile, hugging herself in the same process to keep herself feeling safe and comfortable. "Boys suck, especially when they cheat." She whispered before walking off back to her normal position behind the counter.
Shane watched Ella sigh dejectedly by the counter, resting her head in her hands in a mix of boredom and the brink of depression. 'She's not the only girl who's felt that way…" He thought, bringing back some current and some farther back memories of Mitchie and himself.
Flashback:
The date was November 25, 2005. It was Shane's first day of seventh grade at Hollywood High School, and he already felt intimidated. The school was made up of 5 buildings: a size of an elephant compared to Shane's old school, which consisted of only a main building and a science lab shared by the fifth to twelfth graders. If the size of the school wasn't scary enough, everyday, over 3000 students, attended the high school, roaming through the grades seventh to twelfth graders. Luckily, the raven haired boy nearly tripped one of his soon-to-be classmates while trying to fine his locker.
"I am so sorry!" Shane exclaimed before rushing over to the curly haired boy to help him back to his feet.
"It's okay." The other boy chuckled. "I'm guessing you're new?"
The raven haired boy nodded. "Is it this crazy every day?" He asked, half serious and half joking.
The curly haired boy shrugged. "It depends on your definition of crazy. It's usually worse way than this." He smiled as the color drained from Shane's face. "I'm kidding." He reassured. "I'm Nate."
"Shane."
The two boys became quick friends after taking a glance at Shane's schedule. The boy signed himself up for a choir class with his Uncle Brown, brightening Nate's mood. "Out of the 1000 guys in the school, there's only 9 other guys in that class." He explained.
Before Shane could reply, a quiet murmur from the girl behind him caught his attention. "Did you hear what happened between Mitchie and Daniel?" The fake red head asked her friend in a not-so-hushed tone. The girls were a length away before the boy could hear the rest of the conversation, but at the same time, he could hear bits and pieces of others students discussing the same thing.
"And she like totally tried to have sex with him during-"
"Daniel messed up big time after-"
"Mitchie just ran out crying when she-"
"But it wasn't even his fault since-"
"I heard that they were high and drunk cause-"
"Already drawing yourself towards the gossip?" Nate asked with a devilish grin. Embarrassed that he had been caught, Shane simply nodded. "I don't blame you. It's really hard not to."
"So what's up with this whole Mitchie and Daniel thing?"
Taking a quick glance around, Nate pulled his new friend closer to himself so they could speak without others hearing. "There's this ninth grader named Daniel Romano who tries to get a new girlfriend every week." The curly haired boy discreetly pointed his finger at a jocky look teen standing about six feet away, who seemed to be laughing at a joke told by one of his friends. "At the end of every week, he usually dumps them. They're all usually younger than him since all the older girls think he's immature. But anyways, two weeks ago, he asked out a seventh grader named Mitchie Torres." This time, Nate pointed his finger towards a small shaking girl, who was being comforted by a curly red head girl and a tomboyish girl.
"After a week, he didn't dump her, so everyone thought that he was serious with her this time. Well, yesterday, there was a huge party and the whole school was invited. Long story short, Mitchie walked in the party and found Daniel all up on Tess Tyler in the middle of the room." As if on cue, a skinny blonde pranced past the two boys, with an Asian girl and an African American girl quickly trying to catch up to her. "That's Tess."
"Mitchie started crying, like really bad and everyone thought that Tess was just being hooker-ish again, but Daniel actually started laughing at Mitchie and told her that he was just playing his new game and that she was his 'hamster.' Everyone else just started laughing too. It was just horrible and humiliating."
"You do realize that's a worse-case scenario right?"
"Not really, it's just how things work around here."
"Wow." Shane let out a surprised sigh. "L.A drama is just like it is on TV"
Nate shrugged. "It's common, but no one stops until they completely tear the person apart."
"Well, I just hope that she never gets treated that way again." The raven haired boy stated as the first bell of the day rung. Students began to head off towards their first period classes, but Shane just stood there with Nate, watching the students flee from the scene of the gossip crime. The two boys decidedly headed down the south hallway and just as Nate started on a new story to tell, they were quickly approaching Mitchie. She had her arms wrapped around herself for reassurance, with her two friends standing by her side.
The brunette girl looked up just in time to catch Shane's gaze upon her. Her eyes, despite their bright red and puffiness, held deep shadowy clouds to show her pain. You could easily tell that she was on the verge of tears from the way she shuddered madly and her frown mixed with lip biting. The boy quickly tore away his stare on Mitchie before hastening his pace to keep up with Nate.
End of Flashback
"I'm such a hypocrite." Shane muttered, taking a small sip from his Passion Tea Lemonade. Thinking back, everything that he wished that wouldn't happen to Mitchie again, happened and he just had to be the one who instigated it. 'Daniel Romano should be sorry for everything he did.' He thought sadly, but suddenly, a smile crept to his lips.
"Shadows in your eyes." He sung quietly. "Your smile's colored black…"
And that was the start of Shane's soon to be ballad.
As the evening sky began to fade away, the raven haired boy was sitting on his front porch, lightly strumming on his guitar to add on to his now finished song. It was rushed. It was sloppy. It was cheesy, and it wasn't his best, but then again, it wasn't his worst either. It was ten times better than his morning lyrics, but most of all, the song showed how he felt, so that was an added bonus.
"I finished, I finished!" Shane sung along to his now random strumming. As he continued to celebrate, the boy's pocket began to vibrate madly and as soon as he picked up the phone to answer it, he heard a familiar voice speak in a hushed tone. "Shane?" The voice asked in a badly camouflaged voice.
"Yes Jason?"
"Operation: Get Back starts now."
"Thanks so much for the shopping trip you guys!" Mitchie exclaimed, throwing her arms around her two best friends. The three girls shared a giant bear hug before pulling away in giggles. "We haven't done this in a while."
Caitlyn nodded. "It's good to be friends again." She grinned.
"I'd better go." Sierra started quickly. "Homework's calling, so I will see you guys tomorrow." She said, giving her two friends a second hug before rushing out of the room.
That left Caitlyn and Mitchie to themselves. "So…" The curly haired girl trailed off. Even thought they were friends again after the countless apologies from the both of them, there was still some awkward tension between the two. After all, Caitlyn was still buddy buddy with Shane. "I'd better get going too."
"Yeah…"
The two grasped each other in a tight hug and just as Caitlyn turned to leave, she quickly spun around. "I almost forgot!" She exclaimed, pulling out a horribly folded Paramore graphic tee from one of her bags. "Just think of it as a little 'I'm Sorry' present y'know? She said, gently passing the lump to Mitchie.
The brunette stared at the gift with a bemused expression. "Thanks." She grinned. "Wow, it's kind of heavy…"
"Ehh." Caitlyn shrugged nonchalantly. "Not all of us are meant to fold like professionals. See ya!" She quickly added the last part before starting down the stairs.
From one of her windows, Mitchie watched her friend rush out of the house without another word. "She is so weird." She chuckled, placing the present with the rest of her newly bought items.
'I'll put those up later.' The brunette girl thought. 'I need to start on homework too."
"Do not fail this, alright Shane?" Nate stated as he finished flat ironing his friend's hair. "But then again, there's no need to start freaking out. Just stay calm and everything will go by smoothly."
Shane cocked his eyebrow at his friends…worrying. "Dude, you're way more nervous than I am."
"That's what you say now." Jason piped up from the boy's bed. He held the job of properly re-tuning Shane's guitar so it could play the song in a perfect melody. "But karma's gonna bite you in the butt one day."
Just as Caitlyn entered the room, the raven haired boy rolled his eyes at the older boy. "If you keep rolling your eyes, they're gonna fall and then you can't impress Mitchie." She pointed out as she tossed down a small, but heavily packed book bag."
"What took you so long?" Shane asked, ignoring the girl's comment. "Nate's having a panic attack."
"No I'm not!" The curly haired boy barked back. "I'm just concerned."
Caitlyn let out an exasperated sigh, running her hand through her curly brown hair. "I don't know how your parents deal with you two." She muttered. "You finish the song Shane?"
"Yup!"
"Did you use your 'special lyrics?'"
"Nope!"
"Good, put this on then." She said as soon as Nate finished putting the final touches of hair products on Shane's hair. The curly haired girl handed Shane an odd looking headset. In other words, it was an arched piece of metal with padding for comfort with a solid black walkie-talkie taped, tied, and glued on.
"What exactly is this…thing?"
Caitlyn grinned. "Why , I'm very glad you asked that Shane! You are looking at the first of many 'Caity-Talkies!'"
Seeing the massive head equipment, Jason wrinkled his nose. "That's my walkie-talkie!' He exclaimed with an upset pout.
The girl shrugged. "The toystore was out."
"You owe me new ones." The older boy muttered before turning to Shane with a happier expression. "Tuned Guitar- check!" Jason exclaimed as he delicately handed the musical instrument to Shane.
"Hair- check."
"Outfit- check."
"Song- check."
"Caity-talkies- check."
"Y'know, maybe they should be called Jasey- talkies. It has a nice ring to it don't you think?"
"No." Caitlyn, Nate, and Shane answered in an aggravated unison.
The raven haired boy let out a heavy sigh. "So this is it huh?" Without an answer, Caitlyn tugged Shane to his feet by the arm. "Let's just get this over with before you and Nate have a heart attack." She tilted her head towards Nate, who was nervously chewing on his fingernails.
"I'm fine." The curly haired boy stated with slight hesitation. He swung his arm around Shane's slump shoulder, trying to cheer up his friend. "You sure you wanna do this alone? The rest of us can do backup or something."
Jason shook his head. "Come on Nate. Shane's a big boy. Let him woo his woman back by himself." He winked jokingly at his friends. "Things might go faster that way."
"You boys are so lame." Caitlyn rolled her eyes as she pushed through the three boys. "Can we just go now?"
"Yes mother."
"Who even uses pi?" Mitchie muttered to herself as she continued to work on her Geometry homework. "Oh you need a pi dosage of medication today. There is a pi chance of rain today." She mocked.
"The brunette glanced at her laptop screen to see the current time. In the lower right corner, it read 8:30 P.M. "I'm hungry." She stated as she got up. Just as she was heading out of her bedroom door, Mitchie heard a familiar voice singing.
'I'm sorry for the lies, that I kept telling you…'
A/N: Eep sorry for the taking so long!! I hope this chapter was good enough to make up for it, and last time lol! :D So yeah, I'm pretty sure that the next chapter is the last, but I'm having a bit of a difficulty wording it how I want it without making it into a cheesy love story xDD Oh, and it may be short for your likings ^^; Sorry
So, now I must thank MaddieTheSilentWriter for encouraging me to continue. I probably wouldn't have updated til a month later if it wasn't for her :D As well as that, I owe a huge thank you to lovelovelove-TS for helping me find Shane some good song writing inspiration as well as encouraging me to finish off the chapter.
So, that's pretty much all I have to say lol! Who here likes Lines, Vines, and Trying Times so far? I personally like What Did I Do To Your Heart, Before the Storm, Turn Right, Paranoid, and World War III :D What about you guys? Oh and is Peggy's last name Dupree or Warburton? I was thinking it was Warbuton in the books, but I'm not sure! XD
Disclaimer- I own nothing Dx