“But what about-”
“The fights? I don’t know what that’s all about. She just started it and we never stopped.”
“Aaron, you have to tell her.”
“I can’t,” he said simply.
“Why not?”
“Because she thinks I’m just a little kid. She’d laugh and think I’m really dumb. I just...I can’t.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
“Yeah I do.”
Nikki sat listening to the whole conversation. Aaron and I didn’t know it, but she had woken up right before Nick and AJ left.
“I really wish I was at least a year older. I like her so much, Lindsey. She’s really fun to hang out with...well, when we aren’t fighting. We’ve only fought a couple of times today. And when we weren’t fighting, we had a great time.”
“I’m glad, but you’ll never have a chance with her if you don’t talk to her about it.”
“Lindsey, you just don’t get it.”
“Well, then if you won’t talk to her, at least be nice to her so she can see the real you...the Aaron I know. Not the one that insults everything about her and fights with her about every little thing. You’ll have a better chance with her if she sees a different Aaron.”
He smiled, “I guess you’re right.”
Nikki couldn’t believe what she had just heard. She had no idea Aaron liked her. She hadn’t realized it until when they started getting along that day, but she felt the same way about him. The only explanation she could come up with for always fighting with him, was because she didn’t want it to show that she liked him. She thought he was too young for her and that everyone would make fun of her if they knew she liked him. She had it set in her mind that it couldn’t work out. And so did Aaron.
Nikki decided to give up the act of pretending to be asleep before she heard anything else and she accidentally told him that she liked him too. She opened her eyes and sat up.
“Hi!” I said smiling.
“Hey.”
“Are you ok?” Aaron asked sweetly.
“No.”
“I’m really sorry.”
“I know. You’ve said it a million times already.”
“Nikki, he’s just concerned. He feels terrible,” I defended him.
“Well I would too.”
I sighed. Here Aaron was trying to be really sweet and all she was doing was being a brat again. No one responded to her comment so there was a lot of tension in the room.
“So, are you up for riding more rides?” I finally asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine I think.”
“Ok, lets go.” I helped her off the bed and we walked out. “Well I gotta go find Nick and AJ. Are you two coming with me or going off by yourselves again?” I asked, hoping they’d go off alone again so Aaron could talk to her her, but Nikki answered quickly.
“We’ll just go with you guys,” Nikki answered. She didn’t want to be put in a position where she’d have to talk to Aaron about what she had heard.
“Oh. Ok,” I said slightly disappointed. I saw a disappointed look on Aaron’s face, so I asked, “You sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Ok then, come on.” Aaron walked on the left side of me and Nikki stayed on my right side.
“That’s AJ right there,” Aaron said pointing to a guy facing another direction.
“You sure?”
“Just look at him!”
“You’re right,” I laughed and quietly walked up behind him. I covered his eyes with my hands. “Guess who!”
“Umm, Aaron?” he said imitating me.
“Ha ha,” I laughed sarcastically.
“Feelin’ better?” Nick asked Nikki.
“Sorta.”
“That’s good.”
“Shoot! Guys, it’s 5:30, we have to meet up with everyone. We have a show tonight,” I said looking at my watch.
“I forgot about that,” Aaron said.
“Me too. Come on, we better go,” Nick replied.
When we got to the Eiffel Tower, we saw Kevin, Brian, Howie, and Mary waiting. “Ready to leave?” Kevin asked.
“Yeah, we’re ready.”
~*~*~IN THE PARKING LOT~*~*~
Nick, AJ, Aaron, Brian, Mary, and I got back in our same seats in our cars. Kevin got back in the driver’s seat of the car that Brian and Mary were in. Right before Howie got into the passenger’s side of Kevin’s car, Nikki asked, “Can I ride in this car?”
Confused, he said, “Sure.”
“Thanks.”
When Howie got in our car, Aaron asked, “Why isn’t Nikki here?”
“I don’t know. She wanted to ride in the other car.” Aaron frowned and I sighed.
Brian and Mary were talking in the back so Kevin asked Nikki, “So, why’d ya wanna come in this car?”
She stared at him for a minute and figured she could trust him so she spilled the whole story of how she heard everything Aaron said.
“And...you like him him, don’t you?” Kevin stated more than asked. Nikki silently nodded. “So what exactly is the problem if you both like eachother?”
“I...just don’t want him to know.”
“Why?” he asked confused.
“Because then he would want me to be his girlfriend.”
“Ok, I’m really confused. Is there something wrong with being his girlfriend?”
“Yes!” she stated as if it was really obvious.
“What then?” he asked, getting aggravated.
“Just about everything! He’s too young and it would be way too weird. People would make fun of me for dating such a young kid.”
“That really shouldn’t matter, Nikki. And besides, he’s not THAT young. You make him sound like he’s 9 or something. When he’s not fighting with you, he acts older than a 12-year-old.”
“I don’t know. I think it would be better if I stayed away from him as much as I can. He can’t find out.”
“I’m gonna give you some advice. Whether or not you use it is up to you but at least hear me out. You should tell him how you feel. First of all, he deserves to know. And second, something really good could come out of it. You shouldn’t worry about the age difference OR what other people would think or say. It’s none of their business.”
Nikki stared out the window deep in thought. “Just think about it,” Kevin finished.
“I will. Thanks Kev,” she smiled at him.
~*~*~AFTER THE SHOW~*~*~
AJ and I were talking backstage when a middle-aged man approached us. “Excuse me.” I turned my head and realized he was talking to me. “Are you Lindsey Van Fleet?”
“Yes.”
“Hi. My name is Robert Hurd.”
“Hello,” I shook his hand.
“I’m from the Cincinnati School for Creative and Performing Arts. I thought you had an excellent performance. I recommend you audition for our school.”
I was speechless. “Wow...uh...thank you very much. I’ll consider it,” I grinned.
“You really should.”
“Thank you. I definitely will.”
“Here’s my card. Call me when you’ve reached a decision.”
“I will. Thanks again.”
“I’ll be waiting for your call. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye,” I said politely before he turned and walked away.
“Wow, Lins, this is great!” AJ engulfed me in a tight hug.
“I know!” I said enthusiastically.
“So you’re gonna audition?”
“Probably. Where did Nick go?”
“Dressing Room.”
“Thanks,” I turned and walked down the hall to the dressing room.
Howie answered the door when I knocked, “Hey! Great show. Is Nick in here?”
“Thanks, he’s in that room,” he pointed to a closed door.
I knocked on the door 3 times and he didn’t answer so I turned the knob and walked in. “Nick?” I walked in and saw him lying on his stomach on the bed. “You up?” he didn’t answer so I walked over to the bed and sat down beside him. ‘Guess not,’ I thought.
“Lins?” he asked groggily after a few minutes.
“Hey,” I said, softly rubbing his back.
“Thanks, that feels good. I’m really sore.”
“Can you get up? We need to talk.”
“Can it wait? I’m so exhausted,” he flipped over on his back and rested his hands behind his head.
“No, it’s important.” He didn’t move. “Come on! Get up!” I said cheerfully.
“Fine,” he said reluctantly.
“Ok. A man from the Cincinnati School for Creative and Performing Arts was in the audience tonight and.....he says I’m really good. He wants me to audition to get in the school!” I said excitedly.
Nick’s face dropped, “Are you...gonna go?”
“Well I was thinking about it. You don’t sound happy.”
“Oh, I am,” he faked a smile.
I hugged him. “Thanks. I’m gonna call the guy and set up and audition.”
“Great..”
I picked up the phone and dialed Mr. Hurd’s cell phone number.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Mr. Hurd?”
“Yes, can I help you?”
“Yeah. This is Lindsey Van Fleet. I’ve decided to take you up on your offer.”
“Fantastic! I have 2 times open for tomorrow.”
“Ok, it would have to be before 3PM because we’re leaving at 4.”
“Ok. How’s...12:30?”
“Perfect,” I smiled.
“Great! I’ll see you then.”
“Ok. Bye.”
“Bye.”
“All set up,” I sat down on the bed next to Nick. He smiled. “You sure you’re happy?” I asked doubtfully.
“Of course!”
~*~*~MEANHILE~*~*~
“How’d I do?” Aaron asked Nikki when he went into my dressing room.
“Fine,” she replied without looking up from her magazine.
“Just fine?”
“Yeah.”
Aaron sighed and went to his room. When he shut the door, Nikki looked up. She kept hearing Kevin’s voice, “Something good could come out of it...don’t worry about what people say.” The words had been haunting her all day.
“What am I going to do?” she said out loud.
“’Bout what?” I asked coming in the room.
“Uh...my hair. I was thinking of getting it cut short.”
“Nooo, I like it long!”
“Ok. I’ll keep it long then.”
“Alright,” I smiled. “Guess what!” I told her about Mr. Hurd and my audition tomorrow.
She was ecstatic, “That’s great!”
“Tell me about it!”
Mary walked in and I told her about it too. She was just as excited.
“Good luck!”
“Thanks!”
~*~*~NEXT MORNING~*~*~
I called Nick’s room and asked him to come to the school with me. “I...uh, can’t,” he lied.
“Oh. Ok, I’ll just ask AJ,” I said disappointed.
“Well, good luck.”
“Thanks.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
I dialed AJ and Brian’s room. “Hey AJ!”
“Hey Red! Today’s the big day, huh?”
“You make it sound like I’m getting married or something! I called Nick to ask if he’d go with me, but he said he was busy. Will you come?”
“Busy? We’re not doing anything today.”
“Oh. Well, maybe he has plans.”
“Yeah, maybe. I’d love to take ya.”
“Thanks come on over.” Before I could say bye, the phone clicked. I shrugged and hung up as there was a knock at the door. “AJ?” I said shocked. “I didn’t mean run over!” I laughed.
“Ready?” he asked.
“You bet. Lets go.”
When we arrived at the school, we had to wait 20 minutes for Mr. Hurd’s other audition to end. When it was my turn, I nervously walked into the room. There were 5 men and women at a table on the opposite end of the tiny room. They’d be judging me.
“Thank you, we’ll call you and let you know,” one of them said when I was finished.
“Thank you.” I walked out and AJ stood up out of his chair.
“So..?”
“I think I did really bad. I was so nervous.”
“No, I heard you, you did just fine.”
~*~*~ON THE BUS THAT DAY~*~*~
“So, how’d it go?” Nikki asked me. Nikki, Mary, Aaron, and I were in the kitchen drawing with markers.
“Bad.”
“Lindsey! You’ve never done bad at anything that’s flute-related,” Mary said.
“I wouldn’t say that-”
“I would!”
“Fine.”
“What are you making?” Aaron asked, leaning over to look at Nikki’s paper.
“None of your business,” she pulled her notebook off the table and went in the back of the bus to watch TV. Mary followed her.
“So I guess the whole being-nice-thing isn’t working out too well huh?” I asked when they were both out of ear-shot.
“No, not at ALL!”
“Sorry. I don’t know what her problem is.”
~*~*~A WEEK LATER~*~*~
Although Aaron had been nothing but sweet to Nikki, all he had gotten from her, were rude remarks and insults. He finally decided he had had enough of her snobby attitude.
“Nick, I need to talk to you,” Aaron said sitting on his bed in their hotel room.
“I’m kinda tired, can we talk later?”
“No, we need to talk NOW,” he said seriously.
“Ok. What’s up?”
“I...I’m going home.”