Okay, when I first posted this - I couldn't post chapter 8, but I'm reposting it so it looks pretty now :)
<3 Madeline
Chapter 8
Code Red A.l.e.r.t: the following events have been detected as capable of distraction and disappointment; all operatives should be aware of their surroundings and feelings as operation continues; refer back to subject profiles for further investigation
“So, what are all these medals for?” Nick asked as I stretched the white sheets over the couch’s make-shift mattress. Ever since Joe had left us in my room, my heart was flipping rapidly, but I pushed my self to keep my cool. Surprised how well that worked and how I didn’t start sweating when his deep brown eyes landed on me, I managed to make conversation with him. Nick seemed to not want to be alone with me, and I couldn’t blame him. I wasn’t the most interesting person on the earth…but I kind of wished he found me more interesting then the carpet he kept staring at.
I convinced my self that I have not even the tiniest chance with this guy, especially when he practically had every girl in the world to choose from to fall in love with. Smart girls, athletic girls, foreign girls, American girls, hot girls, cold girls…I stopped there when I realized I sounded like Dr. Suess and I hadn’t answered Nick’s question yet.
“Soccer, Baseball, swimming, random stuff like that,” I lied locking my eyes on the sheet I had yet to successfully get over the cover of the bed.
Did I just lie to Nick Jonas?
Of course I lied, but why was I. I just went through a whole poem about why he wouldn’t choose me, so why did I care if he knew the medals were for the national arithmetic, spelling, grammar, Greek, German, and Latin competitions.
“So you are quite the athlete,” Nick said as his voice echoed in my ears and sent shivers down my spine as my cheeks grew hot and I stopped a minute to wipe my sweaty palms on my dark jeans. It was true that some of the medals had come from swimming competitions and maybe a few tiny league baseball tournaments, but that wasn’t the whole truth and my stomach twisted like a pretzel at the fact. I bit my lip rapidly searching my brain for an answer that could get me out of the lie I just told to one of the sweetest, nicest, cutest, most sensitive guys I had every crossed paths with…
Stop, Kati. You are more pathetic than a pig in a purple prom dress…wow…You need to stop watching Hannah Montana…
“Uh,” I hesitated to myself a bit not moving my eye from the white sheets, “Well, I was…”
“What happened,” Nick asked almost immediately after I answered. He snapped his head up to place his deep brown eyes on my face. Heat shot to my cheeks like lightning, but I kept my gaze locked on the white sheets, still fidgeting with the corner of it.
Thanks sheets, you definitely are helping me out with this whole keep your cool thing. I’m sure Nick loves a girl who can’t even get the flippin’ corner of the sheet onto the bed…Wait, why am I talking to the sheets; I really need to get some air, some food, a shiatsu for all I care. I just need to get out of here.
I noticed I was doing a lot more thinking than talking and I quickly flipped my head up to catch Nick’s brown eyes starring at me. My stomach churning when I locked my gaze with his, I felt like I was about to puke every bit of food that was in my body. This boy must have some kind of super power.
“Well, I started acting, and that became my passion,”
Whoa, that was deep
I usually never told anyone that. Never, at all, never ever never. I always would wait till I knew them more and talked with them 24/7. Figuring that since everybody saw me as a geek, a nerd, and just another normal, blend-in girl, I decided I should probably just stick with that. Around my friends and in special occasions, my true, crazy, and passionate personality was on display, but I mostly kept my thoughts of life to myself. Nothing that deep every came out of my mouth except in front of Gabby, yet here I was sitting in front of one of America’s heart throbs spilling my mind out and letting him know what was constantly on my mind. That was out of the box for me. All I knew is that I needed to stop. Even though I had never been in a relationship before, I had watched enough movies to know that nothing that perfect could last.
“Really…I was an actor for a while, you know…I was on Broadway and everything” Nick said looking back down at his shoes as he rubbed his palms on his pants. I laughed to myself. He thought I didn’t know.
“I know” I shot out quickly stopping myself too late.
Shoot, I shouldn’t have said that…Good, Kati, Good, you just let him know that you are a fan that collects random pieces of information.
I glanced around the room noticing my Jonas Brothers posters were still up.
That’s a nice addition to the crisis at hand....
There was an awkward pause. That’s how I knew I was definitely going to be erased from his life once he walked out of this house. I probably freaked him out with my random knowledge about his life…I was a little freaked out myself.
“So, do you want to go anywhere with acting,” He asked me as he stood up and pulled the white sheet cover corner I had been fiddling with for the past 15 minutes over the couch mattress. I caught myself staring at his dark curly hair and shook my head back to reality to answer his question.
“Yeah…yeah, I do” I said quietly recalling all of my life long dreams of being an actress. I wanted to inspire all the kids like me, who just needed a break, a chance, an opportunity to be all they could, and not what they seemed. That was my operation, my mission for life, and I couldn’t believe I just let multi-talented, word-wide famous, able-to-melt-every-girl’s-heart, Nicholas Jonas know that. Nick’s brown eyes gazed at me and I turned to meet his gaze. At that moment my heart stopped as a small smile crept to his face as he looked at me.
“What?” I asked nudging him slightly trying to keep him distracted from my fire red cheeks.
“Oh…Nothing” he giggled slightly as he winked at me. Did I emphasize the WINKED AT ME?
Stop, Kati, Stop…he doesn’t like you, he is just being nice
The electric shock that ran through my body quickly stopped when I reminded my self of that. Sometimes I couldn’t stand my negative thoughts, but I knew they were telling me the truth.
Nick slowly stood up and took a deep breath before turning around to face me. He reached out his arm to pull me up. I took it and squeezed his hand slightly. Energy raced through my body, but I forced it to stop.
I can’t like him, I can’t like him, and I don’t like him
I smiled as I galloped down the stairs to greet Kevin texting in on his iphone in the kitchen. He ran his fingers through his hair and laughed shyly at what was on his screen. Observing the redness of his cheeks and the brightness of his eyes, I knew he was texting Faye. Kevin was sitting next to Gabby who was licking a drumstick ice cream with great precision. Patrick had left a few minutes ago and it seemed like the entire house had become a home of mute orphans – or at least that’s what I thought.
“Heyyy” I said to wake them up from their oh-so-interesting activities.
“Hey,” Kevin said sprightly as he looked up to watch me look through the cupboards for a cup.
“Whatcha doin?” I asked quickly, testing my prediction.
“Texting Faye,” Kevin answered gazing back at the screen of his phone.
Score one for the great Joe Jonas. Who’s good?
“Eating a drumstick,” Gabby answered through licks. I laughed at the sight of the two of them so focused on the things in front of them.
“Where are Nick and Kati?” Kevin asked not moving his eyes from his phone. I chuckled at my brilliant plan.
“Upstairs,” I said slyly, making sure Kevin would want to know more on the subject.
“Alone?” Kevin looked at me raising his eye brow as Gabby’s green eyes shot wide open.
“Yup, all part of the plan,” I said proudly, pouring chocolate milk into my newly found cup. Kevin shook his head and laughed slightly.
“Whatever, but if Nick cuts your throat in the middle of the night, don’t come crying to me,” Kevin laughed moving his finger swiftly to text Faye back.
He won’t, trust me