Hey guys! So here is the next chapter of this story. Thank you all for reviewing the chapters before, it means a lot to me. Anyways, on with the story!
Chapter 21:
Mitchie ran and ran and ran. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she headed towards her dorm room. As she passed corridor by corridor, most of the other girls studying at Alfea hurriedly allowed her to pass; having heard and saw Hot Tunes and pitied Mitchie.
However, some of the girls Mitchie passed pointed fingers at her and whispered some things to their friends. That made Mitchie feel worse as she hated being the centre of attention.
She flung the door to her dorm open and made a beeline to her bed. There was no phrase or word which could express her feelings. Mitchie buried her face in her pillow, soaking it with all her bitter tears.
She couldn't believe Shane would betray her like that. If he really liked Emily, he could just break up with her and call off the engagement.... Why taunt her like that? Mitchie cried until she didn't have any more tears.
Knowing that her 6B friends would definitely come looking for her, and that she just needed to be alone for a bit to think, Mitchie swiftly picked up her guitar and song book and headed out the door.
Pausing for a moment to grab a bottle of water from the vending machine, Mitchie walked towards the staircase leading up to the rooftop garden, where she had been many weeks ago when she was upset about Sierra's death.
Now another bombshell was dropped on Mitchie. She settled herself on the same bench she had last been sitting on and sighed. Mitchie played around with the chords, strumming absentmindedly on the guitar. Suddenly, a tune and lyrics struck her, and she scribbled furiously, her pen flying and words forming.
Once she was done with the first verse of the song, she tested it on her guitar, the song matching her mood and her feelings perfectly.
There were places we would go at midnight
There were secrets that nobody else would know
There's a reason but I don't know why
I don't know why
I don't know why
I thought they all belonged to me
Who's that girl?
Where's she from?
No she can't be the one
That you want
That has stolen my world
It's not real, it's not right
It's my day, it's my night
By the way
Who's that girl living my life?
Oh no, living my life
(Hilary Duff- Who's that Girl)
Meanwhile.....
Caitlyn stared at Mitchie's cell phone once Shane had hung up, sighing dejectedly. She knew at once when she saw the Hot Tunes clip that it was not Shane's fault at all! As what Jenna said, Lindsay was the mastermind of everything! The 'plan' Lindsay had mentioned, must be breaking Shane and Mitchie up!
"So what do we do now?" Alexia enquired, biting her lower lip. Caitlyn shrugged and sighed once more. "We have to find Mitchie and explain things to her.... hopefully she would cool down if she knew the truth." Levelheaded and smart Lani said.
"Right!" 18 other voices chimed in unison. As Natalie was about to open the door, it flew open. Shocked, the girls screamed at the top of their voices and backed away. Natalie was badly shaken up; she was trembling. But she relaxed on seeing who had barged in like that.
Headmistress Miss Fleming stood in front of the girls, covering her ears and wincing on hearing the girls' screams. She was panting slightly and had beads of perspiration on her forehead. "Miss Fleming!" Darrell exclaimed.
"You nearly gave us a heart attack Miss Fleming!" Sally added, her hand on her heart. "I am sorry girls, but we have a situation out there; hurry up! We have to get going now!" Miss Fleming announced hastily.
"2 straight rows now! We don't want to knock into others." The headmistress added. The girls compiled and quickly found a partner to pair up with. Caitlyn stood in front with Miss Fleming since Mitchie wasn't there. "Let's go." Miss Fleming and Caitlyn headed out the door, the others following behind.
Students whom the 6B girls passed, upon seeing the headmistress with them, quickly moved aside, giving them a wide space to walk though. It was like walking on a red carpet; with other girls standing on both sides.
Other curious girls trailed behind the group, wondering what was going on. It was not often that an entire form was led by the headmistress! Something was going on!
Miss Fleming led the girls down the main stairs, to the ground level. Nearby was the grand front door. Girls were all looking out of the stain-glassed windows, pointing at something and gossiping. "What are the paparazzi doing here?" Caitlyn and Ella heard a girl state.
The paparazzi! They must have found out that Mitchie and themselves were studying at Alfea College!
As the group neared the front door, Miss Fleming came to a halt. "LISTEN UP ALFEA STUDENTS! YOU ARE TO CLEAR THIS AREA IMMEDIATELY FOR SPECIFIC REASONS." Miss Fleming boomed clearly, in an authoritative voice. Her hands placed on her hips-indicating that she meant business.
"PLEASE STAY CLEAR OF THE MAIN STAIRCASE AREA FOR NOW. I WILL MAKE AN ANNOUCEMENT WHEN IT IS OKAY TO RESUME ACTIVITIES HERE."
At this, the crowd dispersed quickly, but at the corner of her eye, Tori could spot some Alfea girls darting into the washrooms and hide behind the pillars. They obviously wanted to eavesdrop and find out what it was all about. Tori couldn't blame them; she herself was pretty interested on what was going on.
"IF I CATCH ANYONE LOITERING AROUND HERE, SHE WILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH ME LATER ON." Miss Fleming warned, having seen those girls attempting to hide.
The girls came out of their hiding place, their head lower, looking very guilty. They hurriedly scurried off.
"Okay. Caitlyn and Ella will follow me. The rest of you please help me guard this area and ensure that no one, except teachers, is within hearing distance from this. The paparazzi are here and I want as few of my students to be involved as possible. Say that this is an order from me." The headmistress said to the other 17 6B girls.
They all nodded, and split up in groups, forming a few small search parties.
"As for the 2 of you.... come on! Miss Jenks is out there." Miss Fleming said no more, opened the front door, but indicated for the 2 good friends of Mitchie to follow her out. The mobs of paparazzi were thankfully, outside the school gates. The 3 walked down the path where Miss Jenks stood, trying to chase them away, but with not much luck.
Flashes of light immediately blinded the 3 and microphones were thrust in their directions when they reached Miss Jenks.
"Girls! Amy!" Miss Jenks called out over the noise. Thank goodness you're here. They won't leave the area until their questions are answered!" Miss Fleming nodded her head and looked at Caitlyn and Ella. "Let's get this over with" Ella stated. The headmistress nodded her head and stepped back, motioning Miss Jenks to go back inside the school.
(A/N: Miss Fleming's name is Amy Fleming; that is why Miss Jenks called her Amy.)
"Good choice of not bringing Mitchie along girls; she may not take the blow." Miss Jenks murmured to them before leaving the scene.
Caitlyn and Ella inhaled deeply and faced the paparazzi. "Listen up." Caitlyn spoke. Like a flash, a hush fell over the paparazzi. "We will only answer questions we are comfortable of replying; other than those, we will NOT give you answers." Ella proclaimed.
Immediately, questions were hurled at the 2 girls, most of course, about the incident with Emily Osment and their Shane's engagement. It was super noisy that the 2 could only make out a couple of questions.
"How do you feel about Shane cheating on Mitchie?"
"Is there really an engagement?"
"Are the both of you engaged as well?"
Caitlyn: Ella and I are NOT engaged to anyone.... neither are Jason and Nate.
Reporter 1: So you mean Shane and Mitchie ARE engaged?
Ella: She did not say that. We will not answer that question. Shane and Mitchie should be the one to tell.
Caitlyn: As for Shane cheating on Mitchie.... We believe that he was set up. He would NEVER cheat on Mitchie.... Not on his life.
Ella: I agree. He is head over heels in love with her.
Reporter 2: Then who do you suspect plotted this?
Reporter 3: IF he was set up. (Looks pointedly at Reporter 2)
"We KNOW Shane was set up. We just don't know by whom." Caitlyn hissed out. She didn't want to drag Lindsay into this yet; she wanted to confront her about this first, hence resulting in the lying.
Reporter at the back: How is Mitchie taking the news?
Ella: Mitchie's feelings are not to be shared with the world mister.
Reporter 4: Can we please interview Mitchie?
Miss Fleming: (Steps forward.) I am afraid Mitchie is busy with a project now sir.
Reporter 3: But we need information for the paper and the news! (Points to cameras filming the entire thing.)
Reporter 1: And we want Miss Torres's opinion on this incident!
Miss Fleming: (Getting quite furious) I am the headmistress of this school. Mitchie is currently unavailable right now and it is my wish not to interrupt her. (In a low tone)
A reporter was about to open her mouth to speak out but Miss Fleming cut her short. "Now if you excuse Caitlyn and Ella, they have an extra art program in a few minutes. And you lot better leave my school before I call the police and security." Miss Fleming whipped out her cell phone from her skirt pocket.
"Let's go everyone. We obviously won't get anymore information from them." A man called out. Dejected, the group throng off one by one. There is a saying: Safety in numbers; seeing there were fewer people to back them up, the individual journalist also went off.
Caitlyn and Ella heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed, their shoulders drooping. "Come on now. Let's get inside." The 2 girls compiled at once, not wanting to meet with anymore reporters. Even after 3 years, they still had a deep dislike for the press.
"By the way Miss Fleming, do we really have an extra art program?" Ella inquired, wondering why no one had told her about it. Miss Fleming turned her head away and a small smile was plastered on her face.
"You, Caitlyn and I all know you 2 don't have any program; but the paparazzi don't." The headmistress simply remarked before excusing herself to make the announcement as they entered the Alfea College doors. Caitlyn and Ella shared a weird look but shrugged it off.
The 2 met the other 6B girls at the bottom of the staircase to discuss what they should do next. "We better start on the search for Mitchie. This mess is already getting bigger as we speak. We have to get it cleared A.S.A.P." Malory said.
"I agree. Besides with Mitchie not willing to speak to Shane, we are the only ones who can solve the matter." Priya added. Her friends had the same opinion. "Okay so we split up into pairs perhaps? Then we will have 1 trio. Make sure at least 1 of you has your cell phones with you. Call or text one another when you spot Mitchie." Liana supplied.
"Okay, we will go according to this." Alyssa agreed.
The group quickly paired up with Caitlyn, Ella and Valerie as the trio. As they moved off, Caitlyn quickly sent a quick text to Nate, briefing him about what had just happened.
Nate:
Paparazzi came 2 find us 3. Can u please sent some security or something over here? Thankfully, we managed to get them away. G2g, Mitch ran off now have 2 go and find her. Take care and tell Shane not to worry k?
Love Cait.
Satisfied, she pressed 'Sent' and pocketed her phone. Oh dear god.... why is this happening? She thought, sighing. She then ran off in search for her best friend...
TBC.
I wanted to continue writing.... but this is way too long already..... Anyways, the same old line... please read and review! The next chapter should be up before Christmas so watch out for it! Until then, peace out!
TrixieNancy124