AN: Meh, these chapters are a little short for my taste. I'm gonna try harder to get more out in each chapter. Anyway, read on.
(Jessie)
We shipped out the next day and were in the next arena about 6 hours before the show. So I'm following Chris around like the good little shadow, when all of a sudden he stops me.
"I've gotta go into this meeting."
"Alright, can I come in?"
"Nope. Top secret," he said with a wink. "So, you can just like, chill here or go find Randy and John or something."
"Oh, ok." He walked into the room and waved before he shut the door. I heaved a sigh and looked around. These back hallways were flipping confusing. Deciding that the safest thing to do would be to just go back the way I came, I headed up the hallway. I noticed after a few seconds that there weren't any wrestlers walking around. I guessed that they were all in those top secret meetings or something, and continued on my way. I thought I recognized a hallway, so I turned down it. It twisted a few times, and then stopped at a dead end. I turned around, and then I was officially lost. I pulled my phone, which I usually kept off, out of my pocket, and then realized that I didn't know their numbers. I stared at my phone screen and deliberated over my next course of action, absolutely NOT watching where I was going. So, when I ran into a solid wall of very pale, very tall muscle, I fell flat on my bum.
"Oy there, lass," said a thick Irish brogue. "You'd best watch where yer goin'!"
"Uh, s-sorry Mr. uh, Mr. Sheamus," I stammered. That dude was freakin' scary. He laughed, a deep laugh from his belly.
"It's alright," he said. "Me name's Stephen, not Sheamus." He scrutinized me for a moment. "Are ye John and Randy's lass?"
"Uh, John's cousin," I said. "But yeah, I tag along with Randy, too." He chuckled.
"What're ya doin' back here, then?"
"Well, I was supposed to be following Chris, but he had to go into a meeting or something and I got lost back here." He laughed a little more.
"Yeah, it takes a while to get used to everything around here." He put an arm around my shoulder and steered me down the hall. "Now where were ye headed?"
"I was tryin' to find Randy." Stephen laughed again. What an amiable guy!
"He's probably sleepin' in one of tha private boxes. He sneaks off to do that sometimes."
"Oh," I said with a frown. "Then I dunno where I'm gonna go."
"I was headed out to the ring to practice with Matt Sydal tonight for our match. Ye wanna come watch us?"
"Sure!" I said brightly.
"I never caught yer name?"
"Jess," I told him with a smile.
"Well, it's very nice to meet ye, lass."
We made it out to the ring, and I was more star struck than I usually was. It was absolutely a dream come true for me. The Miz, AKA Mike Mizanin, was out in the ring with JC warming up for their match.
"Hey John!" Stephen called. "I think I found something that belongs to ye!" John looked down from the ring and waved at me.
"Hey, why don't the two of you come on up? We can have a tag match to get ready for that dark match tonight." Stephen laughed and clapped me on the shoulder.
"You can be Randy, since he's MIA," he informed me.
"Sorry dudes," I said, throwing up my hands. "I can't wrestle."
"Bah," Stephen said. He just grabbed me and hoisted me into the ring. "Lesson one. Never back down from a fight."
"Aw, shut up, Steve!" Mike said. He shook my hand. "I'm THE Miz, but you can call me Mike. Stevie here couldn't teach a bird how to fly. You can be on MY team." I nodded, and we high fived.
"Let's do it!"
(Randy)
I woke up from my nap in one of the private boxes to my phone's alarm going off. Naps are always good. I stretched my sore muscles and headed out of the box and down to catering. Time for a snack.
"Hey, folks," I said as I sat down with Chris, Paul, and Steph. After a moment, I noticed that Chris was short one blonde headed teen. "Where's Jess at?" I asked him. He shrugged.
"I dunno. I had a meeting, so I told her to go find you."
"I haven't seen her since we got here," I said. Ted and Cody walked in. "Have you two seen Jess?" They shook their heads.
"Nope!" Cody called.
"Calm down, DAD," Hunter said with a roll of his eyes. "She's still in the arena somewhere. Have you checked with John?" Ted shook his head.
"I saw him about 15 minutes ago. He was headed out to the arena, and Jess wasn't with him." I was getting a little nervous now.
"Well, we've got to find her!" I exclaimed.
"Calm down, Ortz," Cody said leisurely. "She's like 16, not 4. I'm sure she's fine." I glared at him.
"C'mon, Ted, let's go check in the ring and see if John's seen her."
"Alright, alright," Ted said. "I'm sure she's fine, but let's go look."
We hustled down to the gorilla position and I was immensely relieved to see Jess in the ring fooling around with Mike, Steve, and John.
"Shea… Ste… Whatever your name is… LET ME GO!" she demanded. Stephen was standing in the cinter of the ring with his arm wrapped firmly around her midsection while she reached to try and tag in Mike. "This isn't fair!" she whined. "When the girl tags in, the other guy's SUPPOSED to tag out!"
"OH!" John said, sounding offended. "Are you calling me a girl? Well, I was GONNA help you, but I guess not!"
"JOHN!"
"Nope!" She huffed, then jabbed her elbow into Steve's gut.
"Ow!" he yelped. She leaped to tag in Mike, but he stepped to the side and smirked down at her when she missed.
"MIKE! Y'all are all awful. Every last one of you!" Matt Sydal, who had been sitting ringside, hopped onto the apron and whispered something in her ear. A grin spread across her face, and she clambered up the turnbuckle. With a funny yell, she leaped onto Stephen, who caught her with ease and fell to the mat. JC became the ref and tapped out the three count. "Oh, you are SO next!" she yelled at Mike. That's when I got into the ring.
"Not so fast," I said with a frown. "Where have you been?" She blinked up at me.
"Here."
"You were supposed to be with Chris."
"He had to go to a meeting," she explained. "So I was gonna try and make it to catering, but I got lost and ran into Stephen. And he took me here." She shrugged. "Sorry."
"Sorry doesn't cut it!" I said. "Nobody knew where you were!" Stephen stepped in.
"Hold on there, fella," he said, getting in front of her. "YOU didn't know where she was. She was here, safe and sound. You need to take a breather, there." Jess frowned up at me.
"Whatever. I guess I'll just go sit in a corner like a good little girl." She grumbled something about how she must not have enough sense to take care of herself, then refused my offer to help her out the ring. Without missing a beat, she vaulted herself over the top rope and landed gracefully on the ground below. Ted followed her out, trying to console her. I was left getting bad looks from my co-workers.
"What?" I asked. John frowned at me.
"Look, man, I know you care about her, but she's not two like Alanna. She's old enough to walk around backstage by herself."
"Don't you think we should at LEAST know where she is, though?"
"I knew where she was," he said, putting emphasis on the 'I'. Looking around, I knew that I had already lost this battle. With a pout I hopped out the ring and left, too.
I barely saw Jess the rest of that day. When we got back to the hotel that night, she opted to stay with Natalya instead of with us. I went to sleep that night realizing that I had probably just royally screwed up any progress we had made.
AN: Ted is the best, ain't he? Anyway, review, and I'd like to apologize to Tracie, the Mississippi person who reviewed. It's just I personally don't like living there, just like I probably wouldn't like living up north. And I'll be the first to admit that Louisiana sucks. Just think of it this way! If I ever become a professional wrestler, you'll know it's me because I'll get heat by pickin' on the South =p Anyway, happy trails! Ciao!