Look who's finally updating again! Hooray! Having some writer's block lately, but hopefully it will disappear as I write this chapter :). Ugh, I hate how I make it seem like all the characters' birthdays are so close together. Hope that'll change as I do some more research on zodiac signs :P.
Trina's POV
Dear Diary,
Finally, I have somewhere to brag about myself! I've been stuck in the house all day and haven't been able to go out and tell people about how awesome I am. And you know what else sucks? Gary Pearson, the amazingly hot senior in my science class, took off his shirt during school and I wasn't there to get a picture! God, that boy is hot. He must have a chiseled upper body!
Sorry, getting distracted here. Anyway, my horoscope told me to take advantage of a moment in my life. This morning, I woke up with a killer headache, so I decided to take advantage of this (not) excruciating pain and pamper myself for a day. It seemed like a good idea at first. I painted my nails and toenails and my mom made me all of my meals for me! I didn't even have to go downstairs to eat them; she brought them to my bed!
Do you know how much energy it takes to go up and down the stairs one time? I don't think so. So many stairs… They kill me!
Later on in the day though, I started to feel better, so I tried to drive to my friend Stacy's house (who wanted to show me a picture of Gary's awesome abs), but I couldn't! No matter how many times I told my mom that I was completely healed, she made me go back to my room. So now I'm bored to death and actually wishing that I had gone to school. What madness has this world descended into?! Trina Vega actually WANTING to do work? So funny that I forgot to laugh.
Well, it's 8:00 at night right now. Guess I should go to bed considering I have nothing better to do and I'm a prisoner in my own bedroom. Man, horoscopes suck.
*ahem* I mean… Wow, horoscopes are great! Awesome! Fantastic! (Please give me an A so I can get out of this freaking school!)
Okay, bye. If my headache comes back, I will rip this diary into shreds and throw it in the fireplace so it can suffer and burn for eternity.
Andre's POV
"Andre! The numbers on my clock changed again!"
My eyes snapped open and I groaned. It's 4:30 am. Just my luck. I should've expected this though. She always does this in the morning.
"Grandma, they're supposed to do that!" I shout back at her.
"AAAAH, it happened again!"
I heard something smash and I cringe. She must've used the baseball bat to break it again. Looks like I'll have to get her a new one for Christmas.
I get out of bed and stumble around in the dark. It takes me about two minutes to trip over a pile of clothes, slam into a wall, and fumble around for a light switch. Yeah, I'm not the most graceful person in the world in the morning.
I change into my workout clothes and pack up my gym bag. Hey, biceps don't just appear overnight, you know. And since my grandma always wakes me up so damn early, why not? There's never anyone at LA Fitness at 5 in the morning anyway.
It doesn't take me too long to calm her down, get her to take her meds, and drive the 20 minutes to the gym. Pretty far away, I know, but it's worth it. The owners knew my parents before they moved to Jamaica and left me with my grandmother, so I get to come whenever I want and the membership is free. "Anything for family," they say, giving me that warm smile that reeks with sympathy.
FYI, they're not my family. Just close family friends I've known since I was a baby. They worked with my parents once upon a time in a nonprofit organization that raised money for better education in third-world countries. That's why my parents are in Jamaica now; they've created a company down there that tutors the citizens so they can go on to obtain degrees in college and/or get a good job.
They left me about two years ago; I've only ever heard from them twice since then. They call every Christmas and that's it.
It's like they don't even care I exist sometimes.
Well, maybe I'm being a little dramatic. I know they care. Their work keeps them really busy. They have to travel a lot and don't have much free time to themselves.
It's pretty selfless, I guess. But you'd think they'd have enough time to call up their only child living with his mentally insane grandma to see how he's holding up.
They wanted me to come with them, but I wanted to stay in Los Angeles with my friends. As soon as they left and Tori came to Hollywood Arts, I knew I had made the right decision.
Sophomore and junior year were awesome. We're seniors this year. As much as I'm dreading the day when we all have to part ways, I'm excited for what's to come.
Senior Skip Day, Prome, Senior Week… You get my drift.
I set the clock for an hour on the treadmill. Later on, I'll spend half an hour lifting weights and fifteen minutes cooling off. And maybe go to Jet Brew and and spend some money on a coffee just to reward myself and get some energy before school starts.
I absorb myself in the music blasting in my ears from my Pearpod and focus on the workout. I didn't want to think about school just yet. I have a project due for my Advanced Songwriting class today and I haven't even started it yet.
We're supposed to write a love song. It can't be a ballad, though. It has to make people want to jump up and dance, which frankly I don't get. Aren't love songs supposed to be long, sappy, and slow?
That's why the song isn't even written yet. I don't do bouncy, synthesized love songs like they do on the radio.
Well I have written one fast love song before, but that's when I had inspiration- Jade. My silly little crush on her that lasted for a little over a day. Yes, I'm talking about 365 Days.
Mr. Tucker said that it had to be original. 365 Days is original- heck, I was the one that wrote it, after all. It was just written a long time ago. But hey, I need that A.
After my workout, I've made my decision- I'll turn that in today. I've got no other choice.
I make some small talk with Mr. and Mrs. Slinkovski, the owners I mentioned earlier, and rush home to take a quick shower and grab the sheet music and the CD I made with 365 Days on it. I throw on a blue t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers before I dash out the door and drive to Jet Brew. It's a little shorter drive in the opposite direction- only about five minutes- and it's located just two miles away from Hollywood Arts. How much more convenient can you get than that?
I walk in and give my order to the cashier up front: a blueberry muffin and a Candy Cane latte. It's Jet Brew's special drink for the holidays this year- coffee mixed with sugar, cream, and peppermint flavor with whipped cream and a candy cane hanging on the side. I've had it before and it's literally heaven in a cup. It's so good that I would drink it for the rest of my life if I could.
I look for a table to sit at and I see a familiar head of hair peeking over one of the booths from my peripheral vision. Black hair with purple streaks. That's definitely Jade.
Her head jerks up from her Pearphone as I sit down across from her. "Hey Jade. What's going on?"
She frowned. "Could you give me a ride to school?"
"Uhh… Sure, I guess. What happened?" I take a sip of my latte, enjoying the minty flavor on my tongue.
As soon as I put it down, she takes it from me and drinks out of it. "Ugh," she gags. "Too sweet. How can you drink that stuff?"
She obviously doesn't want to talk about why she doesn't have a car. Oh well; I'll ask later. "Three words. Huge sweet tooth. Regular coffee is too bitter for me."
"Oh, man up! It's not that bad," Jade chuckles and slides it across the table. I catch it before it can fall into my lap.
"Hey, my coffee, my business," I joke back at her. "To each his own."
I see her sigh and take a bite of her red velvet muffin. She looks exhausted. She has black circles under her eyes and she barely has any makeup on, which is very rare. Jade West loves her black eyeliner and eye shadow. She must've had a long morning. "Okay, what's up? To be perfectly honest, you don't look so good right now."
She gives me a glare. "I had a fight with my dad and left my house in a hurry. I got here, parked, and it wasn't until five minutes after I got here that some idiot backed up into my car. They took it away and told me I would have to come pick it up tonight. If I don't, they're going to charge me $100 more than the insurance covers."
"Dang girl, that sucks. So you don't have a ride because they towed it?"
She rolls her eyes in irritation. "Didn't I just say that?" She reaches over the table and pushes my shoulder. "You gotta wake up today, Harris."
Now it's my turn to sigh. "Sorry, my grandma woke me up early again. I don't get enough sleep nowadays since the doctors prescribed her new meds. They don't seem to be helping."
"Man, so it looks like we've both had a shitty morning so far," Jade comments. She finishes her food and stands up to go. "You coming or what?"
"Geez Jade, be patient. I'm not even done my muffin yet!" I protest.
Jade smirks. "Well, if you don't hurry up, I'm leaving without you." She jiggles something in front of my face. "I have your car keys."
"Hey!" I reach up to grab them, but she pulls them back quickly and puts them in her pocket. "How did she…" I trail off and follow her before I lose her, hurriedly wrapping up what's left of my muffin and chucking it into the nearest garbage can.
We don't talk the whole entire drive; we just sink into our melancholy moods and stay that way until we enter Hollywood Arts. Since we both have Sikowitz together first period (with the rest of the gang), we walk together side by side, simultaneously drinking our coffee.
Sikowitz's is the same as usual. I take a seat next to Tori and Jade reluctantly takes the only seat left next to Beck. She gives him the same glare she had given me earlier, only this time it's darker and filled with hatred instead of annoyance, and crosses her arms in front of her. Poor Jade. Girl's going to have a rough day today; I can just tell. A silly acting warm-up, a quick recap of method acting, a few more scenes of improvisation, and the class is over.
I don't have Advanced Songwriting until fourth period with Jade, Tori, and Cat. By that time, I'm so nervous that I'm shaking in my shoes. The only person who knows about 365 Days and who I really wrote it for is Tori. If Jade ever found out, god knows what she would do to me. Skin me alive, probably.
I'd prefer to keep my skin on my body, thank you very much.
We hand our songs in at the door and sit down. My seat is next to Cat's in the front, Tori sits on the other side of the room, and Jade sits alone in the rightmost corner of the room- just the way she likes it.
"Andre!" Cat squeaks and waves at me. "Hiiii!"
"Sup Little Red," I say offhandedly. The teacher gives us a few minutes to chat while he takes a quick look at our songs. Cat tries to make small talk with me, but I'm so distracted that all I can do is mutter one-word answers and stare at my shoes.
While feigning distraction, I take out my phone and check my messages, and I see that I had received one from Sikowitz this morning. Huh. I guess I was too preoccupied to see it.
Sikowitz: Andre! You start the horoscope project today! Good luck and may coconuts bring joy to your life!
I sigh and take a few minutes to open up the horoscope app and plug in my information.
Full name: Andre Harris
Birth Date: May 9, 1995
Birth Time: 3:45 pm
Birth City: New Orleans
Birth State: Louisiana
Birth Country: United States
My horoscope for the day pops up a few moments later.
Whoops - There It Is!: You'll be dealing with your share of nervous energy, which could be a bit disconcerting to others. Too much tapping of the fingers and watching of the clock could make anyone nuts. Besides, isn't there something you really need to say? If that's what's causing all this, just say it!
I look behind me and see Tori giving me a bizarre look. She must've noticed how weird I've been acting as the school day progressed. "What's up?" she mouths without making noise. Her eyebrows crinkle with worry and her lips purse into a frown.
Holy crap, these horoscopes don't lie. But what the heck do I need to say?
"I'll tell you later," I mouth back just as Mr. Tucker begins to talk.
"Alright, everyone! I just scanned over your songs and they look fantastic! Definitely a huge improvement over last semester's final project."
"That's awesome!" Cat exclaims. I shake my head amusedly. Oh, Cat; always finding the littlest bit of joy in the simplest things. "What are we going to do now?"
"I'm going to give you each a copy of another student's song and you will grade them based on how accurately they complete the assignment. Did they assign the right tempo with the melody and the harmony? Is it a love song? Is it original and unique? Etc., etc." he says while handing a piece of paper to each student.
I get one from a girl named Emily and I flip through it really quickly. Fast tempo, all about unrequited love, but not very original. It sounds like one of those bad break-up songs that Taylor Swift writes about her exes.
Not that I listen to her music or anything like that. I just made those assumptions on a whim.
I gave it a B+ and set it aside. I see Cat giggling as she reads from a crumpled piece of paper that looks like a dog mauled it. Tori is chewing on her pencil's eraser as she looks at a blue piece of paper, and Jade is analyzing a sheet of music that has eraser marks and red marker bleeding through the back of it.
Wait a second. I can recognize that piece of paper anywhere.
Jade is reading 365 Days. The song I wrote for her. The red marks are from the sharpie marker that I crossed out all the times where I put "Jade" instead of "baby."
Shit! What if she figures out that it was me that wrote it? Oh no, here comes the wonk again!
I sneak over to Tori while the teacher isn't looking and tap her on the arm to get her attention. She jumped and almost dropped the song she was reading. "Oh my god, Andre!" she exclaimed and put a hand to her chest. "You scared the fudge out of me!"
"I need your help. Something bad just happened!"
Before she can even respond, I'm already at Mr. Tucker's desk asking him if I can go to the bathroom. As soon as he says yes, I rush over to Tori, grab her wrist, and yank her out the door.
"Whoa, Andre! What's going on?! Let go of me!" she shrieks as I drag her to the janitor's closet.
I let the door close gently behind me and then I have a panic attack. "Jade read 365 Days."
"Wait, WHAT?! How?"
"I couldn't think of a fast love song to write, so I turned in 365 Days instead."
"You can't be serious. Andre, why would you do such a thing?!" she cries out and throws her hands in the air.
"I don't know! I didn't think the teacher was going to let us grade them! And I sure as hell wasn't expecting Jade to read my song!" I lean against the metal shelves and moan. "What am I going to do?"
Tori chews on her lip and crosses her arms. I know that look- it's her thinking face. She has an idea. "You're still feeling guilty about writing the song about her while she was with Beck, right?"
"Yeah…" What is she trying to say?
"Well, in order to stop feeling wonky about this whole thing… You're going to have to tell her the truth."
My eyes widen with fear as I freeze, aghast by her bluntness. The reality of what has to be done hits me head-on. "No… I can't…"
"You have to tell her that you wrote the song about her."
Eeeeks… Definitely not one of my best chapters :P. Haha at least I ended it on a cliffhanger :). I'll either continue this day (Friday) in the next chapter or include a flashback in Andre's diary entry so you can see what ends up happening. Oh, another thing- Stupid fanfiction won't let me cross out words like Microsoft Word lets me do, so the words in parantheses in Trina's diary entry were supposed to be crossed out (as if Sikowitz wasn't supposed to read them but she wrote them in there anyway).
So how about that new episode yesterday? It was ok, I think. They rushed the ending a little bit, but it's nice that Bade is back together- and the Cabbie subplot was really cute! But guess what came after it that was 100 times better than Tori Fixes Beck and Jade? (In my opinion, at least) The promo for One Thousand Berry Balls. Robbie kisses Cat. ASDGTDLHKL;HGDAL! I've never been excited for a TV episode in my life… or at least since I stopped watching Disney Channel two years ago. I have no idea how I'm going to survive this week until then… *sigh.*
Please review! I love reviews! They brighten my whole day (hint hint hint). And hopefully I'll be able to get another chapter up soon since Christmas break is coming up in a few weeks and I have a study hall now :).