Hi guys! So sorry for the late update time... I've been super busy.

I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH. The amount of reviews I've gotten recently is so heartwarming. Literally, I love each and every one of you. :*

I'm sorry if there are any mistakes in this. I took the ending part of the chapter (the part with the clown) from another one of my stories so if Cassia's name is Adriane at any point, I'm really sorry!

Oh, and I don't mean to offend Olive Garden! It was the only place I could think of so please don't yell at me over the internet :(

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!

Enjoy!

Chapter 27:

Nico:

"Are you kidding me?" I ask as we enter the restaurant. "I hate Olive Garden."

"I just like the breadsticks."

"Then why are we here?" I demand. "The food tastes like crap, Cassia!"

"I said I had to talk to you," she reasons.

"Fine," I sigh before a certain creature catches my eye. "As long as we don't sit near that creep."

Cassia turns to follow my gaze and starts laughing. "You're scared of clowns?"

I blush. "I never said that!"

"Aw, you're blushing!" she laughs even harder. "Now I know it's true!"

I roll my eyes at her. "Like you're not scared of anything."

"Footprints," she tells me.

"What?" I cock my head at her.

"I'm terrified of footprints," she admits.

"What? Why?" I ask her. "They're prints your feet make after walking places. What's scary about that?"
"I just hate them." She answers. "It makes me feel like someone's following me."

"Where would they be hiding though?" I question her.

"Are you guys going to get a table or just stand here and bicker the whole night?" an impolite waitress demands.

"We're actually just going to be standing here," I inform her. "We don't want your crappy food."

"Nico…" Cassia glares at me.

"Oh my god…" the waitress screams. "You're Nico di Angelo from the Sirens!"

"Yup," I say. "Now are we getting a table or what? My legs are starting to hurt."

"Right away, Nico." She giggles.

As she leads us to our table, I turn to Cassia and whisper, "I don't get it. Why is she laughing?"

"Probably because she's waiting tables for one of the most popular singers in the world," she says. "That's a pretty big deal for some people."

"Why not everyone?" I ask her. "Our music is amazing."

She shrugs. "Haters gonna hate." We sit down (finally) and she gives us our menus.

"What do you, lovely Nico, want to drink?" the waitress bats her eyelashes at me.

"Uh… Diet coke," I answer.

"What about you, ugly?" the waitress addresses Cassia.

"That's no way to talk to my sister," I tell the waitress. "Come on, Cassia. Let's go." I stand up and act like I'm really mad.

"Oh my gosh, Nico! I didn't realize she was your sister! I thought she was your date! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!" the waitress begs.

"No. Now go get us our drinks!"

"But your sister didn't order yet!" the waitress turns to Cassia as I sit back down. "What would you like?"

"Sprite," she answers. The waitress then scampers off. "That was some pretty convincing acting back there."

"Thanks," I smirk. "I've always loved acting. Now, what did you have to talk to me about?"

"It's about your dad," she tells me.

"Of course it is," I sigh. "Let me guess, he offered you a record deal after not speaking to you in ten years."

"Yeah," she nods. "I have no clue what to do. It's my dream to be a singer and it would put Zach in his place if I actually became famous and he didn't, but it seemed like you guys were in pain when you were with them."

"That's because we were in pain. It was like a new form of torture." I inform her. "And if you're asking for my opinion on what to do, I can't help you there. I'm biased against them."

"I know," she sighs. "It's because they controlled you guys too much."

"No," I shake my head. "Well, kind of. I guess that was part of it. But accepting it will tear you apart. I agreeing to that stupid record deal ruined my life. I gained popularity, but I lost the only thing left that I actually loved; Bianca."

"So you're saying I shouldn't do it?" she asks me.

"I'm not saying that," I tell her. I'm just implying it… "It's your choice. It's whatever you want to do."

"Oh my god…" Cassia looks down. "Don't look but Zach and Ariella are at a table behind us."

"Wait? What?" I ask as I turn around and make direct eye contact with Ariella. I quickly snap my head back around. "Crap! You're right."

"Why would you look?" Cassia pouts. "Now they're coming over here."

"Aren't you friends with Ariella?" I question her.

Before she can answer, Ariella and Zach arrive at our table. Speak of the devils. "Funny seeing you here," Ariella puts on a fake smile.

"I'm feeling the same way," I say awkwardly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are we interrupting something?" Zach taunts.

"Just business," I answer.

"Business? It looks like a date to me. What do you say, Ariella?"

"Hmm…" She thinks about it. "It's weird. You know, it's your ex-girlfriend and my…" she stops talking to think. "…Nico." She finishes awkwardly, because we never really had a title to our relationship.

"They're probably trying to make us jealous," Zach snickers, "by going out on a fake date."

"Can you guys just leave us alone?" I demand. "We're trying to talk about something and you two just barge over here like you own the freaking place! Well guess what! YOU DON'T. SO LEAVE US ALONE."

"If that's what you want," Ariella glares at me. "Then fine. Have fun on your little date." She says before leaving with Zach on her trail.

"That's why I didn't want them to see us," Cassia tells me.

"Right," I say, finally understanding why.

We ordered our food, but we start filling up on the breadsticks. It's Olive Garden. The only good thing about this place are the breadsticks.

"Oh no…" I feel myself beginning to shake as that creepy clown from before starts to approach us.

"Wazzup?" the sketchy clown slurs, and I could tell by the sound of his voice that he is definitely drunk.

"Nothing." Cassia replies, not looking up from her plate of breadsticks.

"I'm Rob," the clown manages to say, stuttering furiously.

"What do you want?" Cassia snaps, obviously noticing how much his presence was bothering me.

"Can I have that ketchup?"

"Don't you have your own?" she responds.

"I chugged it." He licks his lips loudly. "Rob likes him some ketchup."

"Why don't you just ask the waiter for a new bottle?" Cassia asks.

"I wanted to ask you, honeysuckle." The old clown attempts to flirt. It fails. Anyone who ever calls someone honeysuckle will fail.

Cassia shifts uncomfortably, and hands the clown the ketchup. But instead of leaving, he sits down right next to me. Oh gods, I panic, this is NOT happening…

"So, my lovely lady, who is this punk?" Rob the clown puts his hairy arm around me, and he reeked strongly of tuna that went bad months ago. I look from between my fingers and reveal the toothless face of probably the scariest man I've ever witnessed. A thick unibrow sat above his eyes.

"My brother," Cassia sasses. "Leave. Now."

"My, my, my! We've got a feisty one tonight!" the clown replies, fanning himself. I notice that he is perversely sweating. His face is dripping his white face paint and… is his unibrow moving? Oh my gods, it is! His unibrow is sliding right across his face. What is that?

My answer is clear when he pulls the unibrow off his face, revealing bare skin, and places the unibrow into his mouth. He simply swallows the unibrow without chewing. I then realize that the unibrow was actually a caterpillar. A real-life caterpillar. I almost throw up.

Cassia glares at him, feeling much like I do. "Leave."

"Not before giving you my number!" the clown reaches into his pocket and pulls out a dirty business card. I get a glimpse of it before he hands it to her. It says:

ROB CHECKERMAN

CLOWN / MALE STRIPPER

HIRE ME FOR PARTIES

… ANY KIND OF PARTY

888-888-8888

"Why is your phone number all eights?" Cassia stares at him.

"I had a frog in my throat when they asked me to pick my number. The only sound I could make was 'ay!'" Rob wiggles around.

"I hate sore throats!" Cassia responds. Why is she being so friendly? MAKE HIM LEAVE, CASSIA!

"No. Literally, I had a frog in my throat." The more this creep talked, the weirder things got. "I was at the pond before, and I guess I swallowed a frog."

"NO ONE CARES!" I finally scream at him and I push him away from me, and he lands on the floor.

"That foxy lady seems to care," Rob points to Cassia.

"I really don't," she tells him.

"Leave!" I demand.

"Can I have that ring first?" the clown points the skull ring on my finger. My dad gave it to me when I was little. You know, when he actually cared about me.

"NO!" I shout at him. I get up from the booth we were sitting in, grab Cassia, and storm out the restaurant.

"Wait!" the clown races after us.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" I turn around to see that he is pant less. Thank the gods, he is wearing underwear.

"You're Chico!" he bellows.

"Chico?" I raise my eyebrows at him.

"Yeah, from that band, the Ambulances!"

"No. My name is Nico. Not Chico. And we're the Sirens. Not the Ambulances…" I correct him.

"Will you sign my pants?" Rob completely ignores me and hands me his pants and a marker.

"If I sign them, will you leave us alone?" I demand.

"Yeah."

I sign the pants and try and hand them to him. "TAKE THE STUPID PANTS!"

"Sorry, not give backs," Rob runs away, and I throw his pants on the ground.

"YOU PICK THOSE BACK UP!" the clown turns around.

"You pick them up," I challenge.

"I can't," he tells me.

"Why?" I ask, desperately wanting to leave.

"They're not mine to touch," Rob sasses.

"They're not mine! They're your pants!"

"Then why did you put your name on them?" the clown crosses his hairy arms.

"YOU ASKED ME FOR MY AUTOGRAPH!" I yell at him.

"Gasp! I did no such thing!" Rob gaps.

"What are you talking about?" I demand.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, CHICO?" the ground shakes as Rob the clown runs over to me, shaking his fist. Except the fact we wasn't really running, he was more like wobbling.

"Cassia, get in the car now." I tell her and we dash to the car and drive away, with the clown following us. This day couldn't have gotten worse.

So, reviewers, what should Cassia do? Take the record deal or deny it? IT'S YOUR CHOICE!