"I can't believe you dragged me to that carnival," Lilly complained as she returned to Miley's house with Miley and Jake.
"Why are you whining? You won a cute little monkey," Miley pointed to the stuffed animal in Lilly's arms.
"And Jake won you a giant stuffed penguin," Lilly pointed to the humongous plush Miley was dragging behind her.
"Oh yeah..."
The best friends collapsed onto the couch. "But you've got to admit," Jake said, "you had fun."
Lilly shrugged, "As fun as being a third wheel could be."
Miley sighed, "Can't you get with Joe already? I'm getting tired of your depressed mopey-ness."
"Whatever…Hey do you think the JoBros got the audition yet?"
"I don't know. I'll text Nick right now!"
Based on how the other bands played, the Jonas Brothers definitely had the audition in the bag. The record deal practically had 'Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas' written on it. Everyone already knew who was going to win. Even the judges were starting to lose interest in the other bands. There was only one final band to perform. The Jonas Brothers were already getting congrats from nearby people in the audience. No one paid much attention to the last band.
But the band just happened to be the Happy Medium.
The first impression you got of the band was their variety of randomness. The drummer was an all-out punk rocker with the blue Mohawk and piercings and eyeliner and skinny jeans and high top shoes and the look on his face that makes you wonder if he is in pain. The guitarist was a cowgirl dressed in plaid and jeans and boots with a cowboy hat which matched perfectly to her curly strawberry blonde hair. The bass player looked like your average teenager, a boy who had on a plain white t-shirt and gym shorts with messed up hair that looked as if he had just rolled out of bed (which he probably did). And finally, the lead singer was a dainty girl wearing a pretty white sundress with a flower in her hair and a pair of thin-rimmed glasses resting on her nose.
All in all, the drummer was scary looking, the cowgirl was pretty looking, the other guy was tired looking, and the girl was genuinely cute looking. They were four people that you would never expect to see together. Standing up there on stage, the Happy Medium looked like four sore thumbs.
But then they started playing. And suddenly, they all fit together.
Within seconds, the audience was captivated. Soon, the judges were beginning to quickly scribble on their notepads and whispered to each other. Cheers erupted from the crowd. The Happy Medium was amazing!
"Wow, they're good!" Lola whispered.
"Good? They're flipping awesome!!" Oliver yelled. "I mean…not that you guys weren't great…"
"Nice try," Nick shook his head.
The Happy Medium finished their song and received a long, loud applause. One of the judges got up on stage and spoke into the microphone: "Well, it's a unanimous vote. The winner is the Happy Medium!"
The Jonas brothers sighed. They almost had it. They basically had the record deal in their hands. But they got it snatched away from them.
"It's okay," Hannah said, giving them all hugs, "You guys were fantastic!"
"But not good enough," Joe said.
"Oh, who needs a recording deal anyways," Hannah scoffed. "I'll ask my friend Mike if you can play on his MTV show."
"You know Mike Stanley?!" Kevin exclaimed.
She just laughed, "Come on, Kevin. I'm famous, remember? I know everyone."
After giving the Happy Medium congratulatory hugs and giving all the other bands 'good-try' hugs, the whole gang headed back to Malibu.
"Seriously guys, you were awesome!" Oliver tried to cheer up the three brothers as they all rode in Hannah's limo.
"Yeah! Don't be so sad. It's not your fault the Happy Medium was that much better than you." Lola added.
Joe shot her a look, "Not helping."
"It's not your fault the Happy Medium were insanely amazing!" Hannah said. Then she realized what she said. "No! That's not what I mean!"
"Maybe the judges were biased," Lola said. "Maybe they were bought over by the Happy Medium's choice of clothing. Oh my god, did you see the girl's dress?"
"I know, she was so pretty!" Hannah agreed excitedly, "And the drummer's intense hair!"
"And that cowgirl totally nailed the guitar solo!" Oliver nodded.
"If you are trying to cheer us up," Kevin said, "You guys suck at it."
Hannah, Lola, and Oliver dropped their conversation and replied together, "Sorry."
"Just please," Nick pleaded, "We are kind of upset, so no one mention this audition again."
Everyone nodded in agreement just as Nick's phone went off. It was a text from Miley.
Did you guys win the audition?
Nick threw his head back and groaned loudly. And Hannah just laughed.
Miley picked up her ringing cell phone and read her new text message from Nick:
No, we didn't win the audition.
But everyone's at the beach.
You should come.
She replied:
Oh...Sorry :(
And me, Lilly, and Jake will be right there.
"Come on guys," Miley stuck her phone in the pocket of her jeans and pulled Lilly up from the couch.
Lilly groaned, "Where are you dragging me now?"
"We are going to meet everyone at the beach. It's Saturday. Quit being such a party pooper."
"Wait," Lilly halted, "when you say 'everyone', does that include Joe?"
Jake chuckled while Miley rolled her eyes, "You can't avoid him forever, Lilly. You love him."
"Yeah, so?"
After a quick talk, some moral encouragement, a little blackmail, and a lot of persuasion, Lilly finally agreed to go. She trailed behind Miley and Jake with her feet dragging in the sand, not looking forward to rejection at all.
"Well would you look at that? Nick and Hannah got back together," Jake said to Miley and Lilly as they walked towards their friends on the beach.
"How can you tell?" Miley squinted her eyes under the sun, trying to get a glimpse at the reunited couple.
"Believe me," Jake laughed, "From the way they are sitting together, I would be worried if they were 'just friends'."
"Oh no…oh no oh no oh no…" Lilly stopped in her tracks when they got a few yards away from the group on the beach.
"What's wrong?" Miley asked, concerned.
"I can't do this. I know you just gave me like a five minute pep talk and I know I should just go and tell Joe how I feel and get it over with and I know and I know and I know…" Lilly trailed off, "…but I can't do it."
"Why not?"
"Joe looks hot."
Miley and Jake rolled their eyes, went behind Lilly and literally pushed her forward against her will while she protested endlessly.
"Okay, so it's settled then. I'll see you next week. Bye, Mike!" Hannah hung up her phone and smiled at the Jonas brothers, "Mike Stanley has agreed to let you guys perform on his show next week!"
"Sweet!" Joe screamed. "I love the fact that my brother is dating a celebrity."
Hannah and Nick smacked him at the same time.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"I am not just someone you use," Hannah snapped.
"Oh, don't mind him," Kevin said. "Joe always says the wrong things at the wrong times."
Everyone laughed from their spot on the sand. They were all sitting in a shaded part of the beach. Nick and Hannah sitting together on one side, Lola and Oliver sat on a giant rock, Kevin sat leaning against the side of the rock, and Joe laid sprawled out in the middle.
Then, Miley and Jake walked over towards the group with Lilly in tow. "Hey guys!"
Lola elbowed Oliver's side, "Here comes Lilly. Now is your chance!"
"Now?" Oliver questioned skeptically.
"Now is a good time as any. So get off your butt and go tell Lilly how you feel!" Lola said with fake excitement, while she tried to keep herself from falling apart on the inside.
"Okay. I will!" Oliver nodded. He got up, took about a quarter of a step then turned back around, "How do I look?"
Lola smiled, "You look fine. You look…pretty sexy."
Oliver laughed. But the thing was: Lola wasn't joking.
He started walking away again, but suddenly, Lola felt Oliver's back at her side with his arms around her. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"Thanks Lola. For boosting my courage," he smiled.
Lola had never looked at Oliver so close before. Can you say gorgeous eyes? "No problem. What are friends for?"
And Oliver got up to walk to Lilly. And Lola was left sitting alone, with the feel of his embrace still lingering on her skin.
"…Lola?"
She turned around and jumped at how close Hannah was to her face, "Hannah! You startled me."
"Did you not see me walk over and climb onto this rock?"
"I must have been distracted."
"Thinking about Oliver?"
"Possibly."
Hannah sighed, "Why did you do that, Lola? Why did you send the guy you love to confess his love for Lilly? He was all set on giving her to Joe, why did you have to make him change his mind? Why didn't you take him for yourself?"
"Because…because he loves Lilly."
"And you love him."
"But I could never do that to him," Lola said as she watched Oliver make his way over to Lilly. "I could never steal him away knowing that his heart belongs with Lilly. So maybe I love him. But when you love someone, you don't get in their way of what their heart wants. When you love someone, you put them before yourself. When you truly love someone, you let them go."
And Hannah couldn't argue back. Because after all, didn't she just say those exact words less than 24 hours ago?
Sorry for not updating in a while. This chapter lacked inspiration.
I realize that my story is really confusing…even for me. The story is currently on Saturday, right after the audition. Next chapter will be a continuation of this chapter, so it will still be Saturday. The story will end on Sunday since it's all supposed to happen in one week. So, I guess Love Me Not is going to end soon. But I might just split Sunday into 5 chapters, you never know. :)
Since LMN is almost done, I have created a new poll with my new story ideas. I've got Hannah Montana, High School Musical, Twilight, and original FictionPress ideas as well as a huge crossover story idea. And speaking of crossovers, how about that new crossover feature, eh? Just in time for my story!! So go vote now. After you review.