CHATROOM
LOVE
Chapter Thirty-One
November
18, 2001
Early Morning
After
the parents left, the kids went on some more rides and played some games. But
after only a few hours, the kids got hungry. Once they met back up with the
adults, Mr. Bergen took them all to a restaurant called White Castle. It was
getting late and Paola said she had to go. They said good-bye to Paola once
they dropped her off at home and promised that they would keep in touch. Back
at the hotel, Ruth allowed them to order a pay-per-view movie. Unfortunately,
everybody was so tired that when Mrs. Bergen came in to say good night, she
found six teenagers snoring in front of a blank TV screen.
*****
Rose
woke up with at start and looked at the clock. It was only 6:49 AM. She
realized that she couldn't fall back asleep, so she got up and made herself a
cup of coffee. Sipping at her warm drink, she curled up with the stuffed bear
Jack had won for her at the midway and stared out at the sun rising over the
city in one of the chairs. The door creaked behind her. Lost in thought, the
noise surprised her so that she jolted upward, spilling some coffee on her top
from yesterday.
"Sorry!"
whispered a voice from behind her. "I didn't know anybody was up. Did I
wake you?"
"No,
I was already awake. Problems sleeping," Rose replied, grabbing a
serviette from the table and trying to get the drink out before it stained.
"Here,
let me help you." Jack put down his portfolio on one of the beds and
wetted a paper towel in the bathroom. "Here."
He
wrung it out and handed it to her.
"Thanks."
She took it from him and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Um…do you mind
turning around so I can change out of this?"
"Oh."
He blushed, realizing when he looked down that she had a blouse flung over one
of her arms. "Sure...yeah...okay."
Jack
picked his folder up off the bed and headed towards the open curtains.
"So
what are you doing here, anyway?"
"Trying
to catch the sunrise and put it on paper." He smiled, stepping out onto
the tiny balcony. "Your room here has a good view of the city!" he
shouted back to her.
"Shh…you'll
wake the others!"
"Too
late."
They
both looked back and saw a frowning Dawn, with messed up hair and clothing from
the previous day all wrinkled, clinging to her body from sweat.
"Ugh…I
don't feel so good."
"What’s
wrong?" Rose asked, looking at Dawn in concern.
"I
don’t know…I have an upset stomach. I think it was that awful turkey sandwich I
ate at White Castle last night."
"Maybe
you should go lie down," Jack suggested.
Dawn
shook her head slowly. "No…I feel worse when I do that."
"Do
you want me to get your mom?" Rose asked her.
"Yeah.
Mom always knows what to do."
Rose
raised an eyebrow. Dawn was often embarrassed by her mother, so she must really
not be feeling well.
"Excuse
me." Dawn clapped a hand over her mouth and rushed back inside.
"Helga! Get out of the bathroom! I need it now!"
"Just
a minute!"
"Now!"
Dawn barged in through the door Helga had forgotten to lock.
"Dawn!
Ew! Gross!" Helga rushed out, her face covered with soap and a sodden
washcloth in one hand.
"I’ll
go get your mom," Rose called to Dawn, hurrying out of the room.
By the
time she got back, Dawn was lying down again, her face pale and sweaty. Helga
was back in the bathroom with the door open, eyeing Dawn as though she was
afraid that she would come back.
"Mom…"
Dawn mumbled, opening her eyes. "I don’t feel so good. I think it was that
stupid turkey sandwich…"
"Paola
told you not to order it," Rose told her helpfully.
Dawn
fixed her with a baleful glare. "Shut up."
Mrs.
Bergen put a hand on her daughter’s forehead. "Did you throw up?"
"Yes."
Dawn leaned back against the pillows, looking miserable. "Mom, it’s not
fair. The concert is tonight. I have to go."
"We’ll
see how you’re feeling later."
"Maybe
you can get me some of that stuff to calm my stomach down. And maybe that stuff
that Grandma talks about…what is it…ginger?"
"I’ll
see if I can find any."
"You
should be able to get it at the drugstore or the supermarket," Jack told
Mrs. Bergen. "My next-door neighbours in Santa Monica were from India, and
they used it all the time."
Mrs.
Bergen nodded. "I’ll try that." She smoothed Dawn’s hair away from
her face. "Get some rest, honey. Sip some Ginger Ale and see if it’ll stay
down."
Dawn
made a disgusted face, but nodded. "Okay, Mom. I have to be better by
tonight."
"If
you’re really feeling better, you can go. If not, I don’t want you going there
and getting sick. I don’t think anyone would appreciate that."
"It’s
not fair," Dawn mumbled, pulling the blankets back over herself and
closing her eyes. "Why does this always happen to me?"
*****
By
evening, Dawn had stopped throwing up, but she still felt miserable. After
getting up and trying to get ready for the concert, she finally admitted that
she just didn’t feel well enough to go.
When
the others stopped by to see how she was doing before leaving, Dawn was lying
on the bed, clicking through the channels to see if anything about the concert
might be on TV. It wasn’t the same, though. If it was televised, she could have
stayed home and watched it in Canada, or bought the video or DVD later.
"You’re
still not feeling well?" Rose asked her, looking at her sympathetically.
Dawn’s
lower lip trembled. "No. And I really want to go, too. I just can’t."
Tommy
sat down next to her. "Come on, Dawn. There’ll be other concerts."
"I
wanted to go to this one. How often do you get to go to a concert in Las Vegas?
I bet it’ll be great."
"We’ll
take some pictures if they’ll let us," Rose promised. "And Jack will
make you a couple of drawings."
"And
there’ll be a CD of it, sure," Helga told her.
"You
guys will get to see it live, though," Dawn complained. "I hate food
poisoning. I’d kill that virus if I could."
Tommy
looked at Dawn, then back at the others. Finally coming to a decision, he said,
"You guys have a good time. I’ll stay with Dawn."
Dawn’s
eyes widened as she gaped at him in shock. Tommy was a huge fan of Britney
Spears. He even had two posters of her in his room.
"Tommy,
you love Britney Spears. You don’t want to miss the concert."
He
shrugged, looking a little sheepish. "It wouldn’t be as much fun without
you."
Dawn
threw her arms around him. "You’re so sweet."
"Yeah.
I guess."
"Aw…he’s
blushing," Fabrizio teased.
Helga
gave Fabrizio a flirtatious look. "Would you do that for me?"
Fabrizio just stared at her as though she were crazy. Helga smacked him on the
back of the head. "Jerk."
"What?
What did I do?"
Ruth
stuck her head into the room and gestured to them. "Come on, everyone.
Your limo is waiting. You don’t want to be late." She looked over at Dawn
and Tommy, who were stretched out on Dawn’s bed. "Aren’t you coming,
Tommy?"
He
shrugged. "No, I thought I’d stay with Dawn."
Ruth
nodded. "Behave yourselves."
Dawn
groaned. "If I felt well enough to misbehave, I’d go to the concert. He
can’t even kiss me. He might get sick."
"It
would be worth it, for you."
"No,
it wouldn’t. Trust me." Dawn looked at her friends. "You guys have
fun. And you’d better tell me all about it, too."
"We
will," Rose promised her. "It won’t be half as much fun without you
there, anyway."
"Ha.
You wouldn’t have even been sitting with me."
"But
we would have been thinking about you."
"You
can still think about me. Poor Dawn, stuck at the hotel while the rest of you
go to a great concert…"
"Kids,
you’re running out of time," Ruth reminded them. "And don’t forget
that we’ll have to catch the plane home two hours after the concert. Don’t go
anywhere afterwards."
"We’ll
remember, Mom," Rose told her, sighing. She waved to Dawn and Tommy.
"We’ll miss you guys!"
"Yeah,
right," Dawn mumbled, staring unhappily at the TV.