Chapter Three- Drew's Perspective My parents' apartment was hopping when I arrived home from school. I'll let you in on a little secret. My term final exams were exactly not until the second week of December, but I dropped out of school. I'm fed up with football, with school, but most of all with females. I dated this one girl named Lorna, and she was so amazing. She had beautiful hazel eyes, and the cutest dimples that would appear whenever I made her smile. She was one of those people, who you meet in life, and you have a strong spiritual connection. We spent so much time together, but unfortunately, Lorna moved back to Minnesota and I didn't get to see her in weeks. Her mother is sick with cancer. I miss her so much, although we were only friends for briefly about two months, but I miss her so much. I haven't told anyone about her. There's a reason for that. Lorna wanted me not to tell anyone about our friendship. The reason was because she had a boyfriend. One, I didn't know about. I only found out because my best guy friend told me. I felt crashed and burned, used and abused, but to me, Lorna was such a wonderful person, I forgave her. I only wish she were here by my side. I will never see her again, and that is what makes me the saddest.
"Drew, how are you?" my twin sister Lily asked me, after Chloe had stormed out of the room like a spoilt child.
"I'm okay," I replied, smiling at her. "How are you Sweetie?"
"I'm good," Lily nodded, but I knew she wasn't buying that I was okay. Lily always had such a strong mental sense whenever I am not feeling all right. "Want to talk?"
"Maybe later," I answered, and Lily nodded. I couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked tonight. She was wearing black leather pants, a red tank top, and a nice blouse. Her hair was curly, and she had make-up on. My sister usually wears jeans and sweatshirts all the time. This was the first time I had seen her looking all done up. And the *N Sync guys, especially the Joey guy, were feeling her.
"You know where to find me," Lily simply said, and she stood up, and headed into the kitchen.
"Did you get drafted?" Chris Kirkpatrick asked me, and I nodded.
"I was drafted to the Buffalo Bills," I told him, offering a fake smile. The truth was that I hadn't signed the contract, and I didn't think I would.
"That's great!" Chris contragulated me, and I nodded a 'thanks' in reply. I saw Chloe, Lily, and Sara come into the living room once more, and it looked like they were ready to go.
"Lily, want to be my date for this evening?" Joey suddenly asked her, and everyone saw Lily blush red.
"Well, I don't know," Lily replied, blushing more. "I sort of, um...have someone...um..else."
"Oh, it's cool," Joey gave her a smile, and you got the vibe he didn't really care. Lily looked uncomfortable, and she stayed right near me, as we walked out to the car.
"What's wrong Lil?" I asked her softly, and she looked at me with sad eyes. "Joey only asked me to go with him, because he felt bad for me," Lily whispered back, as I saw tears form in her light blue eyes.

"Lily, how can you even say that?" I wanted to know, a little amazed. I'm really trying to find out why Lily has such a low sense of self-esteem. I mean, if you look at Christian, Chloe, and I, we are all really confident. Even my parents are super confident.
"I don't know," Lily replied, and I put an arm around her.
"You gotta be more confident," I told her, and she shook her head. We walked into the night New York City lights, and saw snow sprinkling down. The traffic lights blinked red and green, and you could really feel that Christmas spirit. I can't believe I just said that! I am usually that aware of the feelings around me. Lily's the writer in the family. As one of my dad's limos pulled up, all you saw was another white limo pull up. The driver, Lloyd, got out of the driver's seat, and settled back to open the back door of the limo. All you saw, was my mother climb out, and then my dad, with my little sister Emma, sleeping in his arms.
"Hi Mom! Hi Dad!" Chloe shrieked, as she trudged towards them in her high heals.
"Welcome home Sweetie," Dad said, as he planted a kiss on her cheek. Mom smiled as well, but you could tell she was really tired.
"Drew?" Mom commented, as she cast her eyes on me. "Don't you have exams now?"
"Yeah," I answered half-heartedly, as I went over to them.
"Why aren't you there then?" Mom barked, and I shrugged my shoulders.
"That wouldn't matter, since I dropped out," I told her, and my mom's eyes clouded over.
"Andrew Whitehorn! What do you mean you dropped out?" Mom shrieked, causing Emma to wake up fully.
"I dropped out!" I emphasized every syllable of the sentence.
"Andrew! You get your butt back to LA and get those exams written!" Mom cried, and I saw my father comforting Emma, because she looked scared. Everyone was staring at us, even *N Sync, and they were in complete amaze at how forceful my mother was being.
"No Mom," I told her. "I don't want to be there anymore."
"So, you just come home and drop out of school, and expect that to be okay with your father and I?" Mom asked me, and I shrugged my shoulders again. "Well, get your bags packed and get out Andrew!"
"Fine," I snapped back, and turned towards the lobby of our apartment building.
"Drew, come back," Dad coaxed me, and I stopped dead in my tracks. "Honey, don't be so harsh!"
"Damn it Gerard!" Mom flipped out. "He dropped out of school! All that money we spent!"
"April, calm down!" Dad replied, as he handed Emma to Chloe. "Let's talk about this later. Emma is tired, and so are you and I. The kids are going out."
"Fine," Mom backed down, and headed into the apartment building without another word.
"Drew, were you drafted?" Dad wanted to know, as he told Emma back from Chloe.
"Yeah, to the Bills," I answered half-heartedly.
"Son, do whatever makes you happy," Dad nodded, and patted my back. He headed in with Emma, after my mom, but Emma started crying.
"Daddy! I wanna hug Drew!" she whined, as she jumped down from his arms. She ran towards me, and wrapped her arms around my legs.
"Hi Emma," I said, picking her up, to hug her.
"Drew, I miss you!" Emma cried, as she put her arms around me tightly, and squeezed hard.
"I'm home now for a long time," I reminded her, and she nodded, a little more calm. Dad came over, and took her from my arms, and headed back in after mom.
"Whoa Drew! You are worse than Lily!" Chloe told me amazed, as we got into the limo. "I mean, she never even went to College, but you went and dropped out!"
"Chloe," Lily warned her, and Chloe stuck her tongue at her.
"Oh, grow up," I snapped, and Chloe stuck her tongue out at me. "Lily, I am not going!"
"Me either," Lily commented, and she shut the door of the limo. One second later, the door opened, and Justin stuck his head out.
"Why aren't you coming?" Justin wanted to know, a little concerned. "We're tired," Lily answered for the two of us, pretending to yawn. "Maybe we'll go some other time. Thanks anyway though!"
"Okay, bye!" Justin waved, and he slammed the limo door. Within minutes, it was slowly creeping down our street, towards wherever they were going.
"Chloe pisses me off so much sometimes," I told Lily, and she nodded sympathetically. "What are we going to do Lil? I don't want to go back up there with dad, and especially not, mom."
"Want we go grab a coffee?" Lily suggested, and I agreed. We ended up walking about one block down a small java shop. It was called *First Cup Coffee Shop*, and we went in. There wasn't too many people in there, so Lily ordered us both large hot cocoa with marshmallows and whip cream, and about half a dozen chocolate chip cookies.
"At least now I can eat this stuff," I told Lily, as we settled down near the window. "While in training, all I ate was steaks and burgers. No fattening stuff."
"How can you survive without chocolate?" Lily asked me, utterly amazed. "I would die if I didn't have some sweets, at least once a week."
"Well, I plan on having a lot over the holidays," I winked at her, and she laughed. "You know Lil, it's so good to be home. I really missed you, Chloe, Emma, Christina, and dad, and maybe even mom."
"We missed you too Drew, especially me," Lily answered. "I even kind of missed Chloe."
"Chloe, she's something else, I'll tell ya," I laughed, imagining my younger sister. "One thing though, it's that I envy her life a lot. At least she's doing what she loves, dancing."
"Yeah, and mom even accepts that she does it," Lily pointed out.
"That's because mom knows that Chloe is not smart enough to make it through College," I reminded Lily, and she rolled her eyes.
"Chloe is smarter than you think," Lily replied, as she sipped her hot cocoa. "Don't worry about mom Drew. I mean, she will get over it eventually."
"Yeah, but what am I going to do with my life now?" I asked her, and she shrugged her shoulders.
"From experience, do what you want to do!" Lily commented. "Who cares what mom says. Besides, it's your life, not hers'. I don't care what she thinks about my book shop and my writing, but sometimes, I'd wish she'd say she would accept me for who I am."
"Same here," I agreed, as Lily looked out the window. "Everything alright Lily?"
"Yeah, I think," Lily answered, still gazing out the window. "And you?" "Well, I'm kind of thinking about someone-," I began, and Lily looked at me. I hadn't told anyone about Lorna and my feelings about her, and Lily was probably the only the one in the world who would understand, and be sensitive to my feelings.
"About who?" Lily raised her right eyebrow.
"Lorna," I replied simply, and Lily glanced at me, a little puzzled.
"Who's Lorna?" she asked, and I sighed.
"This girl I was friends with," I replied, and Lily nodded.
"Where is she now?" Lily wanted to know, and I looked out the window.
"In Minnesota," I answered softly. "Her mom has cancer. She is taking care of her."
"Have you talked to her lately?" Lily asked.
"No," I replied, watching a young couple, across the street, throwing snowballs at each other. I imagined that was Lorna and I, and we were together. I would give anything to be with Lorna.
"You liked her, didn't you?" Lily said, and I looked at her.
"I think I loved her," I answered, feeling tears form in my eyes.
"Did you tell her how you feel?" Lily asked, and I shook my head. "Why not?"
"She has a boyfriend," I answered, and Lily nodded. "And besides, she has to be with her mom right now. I wouldn't want to declare my feelings for her, and get her all worried about it."
"Drew, maybe you could make her feel better," Lily commented. "Do you know if she liked you as well?"
"I don't know," I said. "I remember she would tell me about her mom, and how much it was unfair that her mother had to have cancer and suffer. She always told me she wished her mom had never gotten sick, and she didn't want to drop out of school. She was amazing Lil."
"Drew, contact her," Lily told me. "It's worth a try. Besides, if you don't do anything, you'll never what will happen."
"But, she has a boyfriend," I reminded her.
"So?" Lily raised her eyebrow. "If you love her, you gotta tell her!" Lily winked at me, and for the first time in a month, I smiled back...
************************* "Drew? Wanna go see Santa with me?" I heard a little voice ask me, as I opened my eyes up the next morning.
"Emma, sure," I sat up, and smiled. I saw her sitting at the end of the bed, in pink panda pyjamas. Her black hair was messy, and she was smiling widely.
"Yay!" she clapped, and jumped out the bed. She crawled towards me, and gave me a big hug.
"So, did you have breakfast?" I asked her, and she nodded.
"Rosie made chocolate chip pancakes!" Emma squealed. "They were so good!"
“Emma!” I heard my mother yell, as she appeared at my bedroom door. “What are you doing?”
“Drew’s going to take me to see Santa!” Emma replied, as she bounced off my bed.
“Is that so?” Mom raised her eyebrow, and looked at me. “Well, since you dropped out of school, at least there is something you can do to spend your time constructively.”
“Yeah Mom, that’s it,” I rolled my eyes, as Emma seemed oblivious to the tension growing between Mom and I. “Emma, what time do you want to go at?”
“Very, very soon!” Emma replied, as she jumped off my bed. “Mommy, can I wear my red dress?”
“Sure Sweetie,” Mom replied, as she took her hand and led her out of the room to get ready. I flounced back into my bed, and thought about Lorna. She was the only thing that had crossed my mind over the last few weeks. I care about her so much. I think I even love her, and people think I’m crazy because I was never her boyfriend. I remembered what Lily had told me last night, about contacting her. I wondered what Lorna would do if I called her. She had given me her phone number in Minnesota, and had urged me to call her.
I let Lorna escape my mind, as I realized time was ticking by quickly. I throw my bed together, and went to my suitcase. I turn out a tan pair of dockers, and a nice green, knitted sweater. I showered, and headed into the kitchen to get a coffee. Lily was already up, dressed in her typical sweater and jeans, and was reading over some notes. She smiled at me, as I entered, and helped myself to some coffee. Chloe wasn’t up, and probably wouldn’t be for hours. I was fast asleep before she came home, and I predicted she had probably come home, only a few hours ago. Dad came into the kitchen next, said good morning, and was out the door in a matter of seconds. He was going to oversee the recording of Britney’s new Christmas album.
“Drew! I’m ready!” Emma shrieked, as she pranced into the kitchen. She had on a beautiful red velvet dress, and a flowing skirt. Her hair was curled, and in red ribbons. Mom had even put some blush and light lipstick on her.
“You look great!” I told her, and she beamed. Mom came in, handed me her coat, hat, boots, and mittens, and I dressed her to go. Lily asked where we going, and Emma asked her to come. Lily replied, she was going into the shop for a few hours this morning. I nodded, grabbing my coat, and Emma and I were off to Fao Schwartz.
“Drew, why is Mommy mad at you?” Emma wanted to know, as I took her hand, and we walked through the busy crowds of New York City.
“Because she is,” I answered half-heartedly. “So, what do you want for Christmas Em?”
“For Mommy to like you and Lily,” Emma answered, looking at me with big brown eyes. “I heard her tell Daddy last night, that she wants you and Lily to move out.”
“Oh really?” I questioned, and Emma nodded slightly.
“I don’t want you and Lily to leave,” Emma told me, as she squeezed my hand tighter.
“I don’t want to leave either,” I agreed with her, and Emma looked away from me. We walked twenty more minutes to the magnificent toy store in silence, as Emma hummed some Christmas tunes softly. She tugged my hand, and stopped, as I realized we were right in front of Jive Records.
“Can we go see Daddy?” Emma asked me, and I nodded. We walked into the front doors, and were greeted by the receptionist, who was obviously new. She didn’t know who I was or Emma for that matter, and even called security when I persisted I was Gerard Whitehorn’s son. My dad’s head security guy, named Jerome, came out.
“Teresa, this is Drew and Emma Whitehorn,” Jerome stood her, and face went a ghostly white.
“I’m so…so sorry,” she stammered, as she almost had tears forming in her eyes.
“Not a problem,” I assured her, but I was a bit pissed off. Emma looked scared, and even asked Jerome if her and I were going to get arrested. Without any further problems, Emma and I were allowed to walk to the bottom floor elevator, and ride to the third floor, where my dad’s office was. Emma got over the security scare, as we walked off the elevator, and right into Britney Spears.
“Hi Britney!” Emma sang to her, as she stopped to give her a hug.
“Hi Emma,” Britney grinned, and I couldn’t help but admire how attractive Britney is. “How are you? You look adorable!”
“Drew’s taking me to see Santa!” Emma told her excitedly.
“Is that so?” Britney winked at me, causing me to blush. “Well, I gotta go! I’ll see you later Emmers!”
“Bye Britney!” she sang, and took off in full speed, towards my father’s office. I called to her to stop running, in case my father had an important meeting going on, but Emma was through the doors. To my surprise, my father was in on a meeting, but with all the Backstreet Boys.
“Hello Emma!” my dad grinned, as his eyes crinkled with happiness. Emma ran to his arms, and jumped onto his lap.
“Daddy, Drew’s taking me to see Santa!” Emma informed him, as she took a piece of spare paper and started drawing something. She, immediately, jumped off my dad’s lap, and climbed into Nick’s.
“Hello Drew!” my dad said, as I stepped into the room. “How are you this morning?”
“I’m okay,” I answered, as I smiled at the BSB. “And you?”
“Just peachy!” Dad answered, as Emma started singing Shape of My Heart, extremely loud.
“She’s better than us,” Brian commented, as they all stood up, except for Nick.
“Well gentlemen, the record is coming along nicely!” Dad told them, as he shook each of their hands. “I’m very glad that you have sold over five million albums in the first week, and that’s in the US alone!”
“We are very excited!” Howie exclaimed.
“Oh, is Chloe going along on your tour in February?” Dad asked, and Kevin nodded.
“Fatima wants her for sure!” Kevin assured him, and Dad nodded slightly.
“Well, this meeting is adjourned,” Dad said. “Excuse me gentlemen. April and I are going Christmas shopping!”
“Have a nice day,” they chorused, and everyone left the room, but Nick.
“Did you get drafted?” Nick asked me, as I sat down beside him.
“Yeah I did,” I nodded, as Emma showed me her picture. “Beautiful!”
“I’m going to give it to AJ!” Emma said excitedly, and she chased AJ down the hall.
“What team?” Nick wanted to know, as we both stood up. “The Buffalo Bills,” I replied, and Nick nodded. “You don’t sound so thrilled,” Nick noticed, and I shrugged my shoulders. I saw a beautiful blond-haired girl enter the room, and go straight to Nick’s arm. For some reason, she reminded me of Lorna.
“Hi Nicky!” the beautiful blond commented. “How are you?”
“Wonderful Mandy,” Nick answered, as he kissed her cheek. “Mandy, this is Drew, Gerard’s son. Drew, this is my girlfriend Mandy!”
“Nice to meet you,” I told her, as Mandy just smiled, and all of a sudden, I saw her big, blue eyes go big. “What’s wrong?”
“You must be my cousin Lorna’s friend!” Mandy exclaimed, and I stared at her, speechless, beyond belief…