New York, New Ariana (Ariana Grande, Nathan Sykes, & Jai Brooks)

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ariana’s POV

I tossed and turned all night worrying. About school, about why Frankie had flipped, and about my mom’s sad far off expression when he stormed off. He really wasn’t taking the move well. I was the first one up so I got to the bathroom first. After a quick shower, I blow dried my hair and curled the ends before tying it up in a half ponytail. I padded back to my room in my bathrobe and changed into my school clothes; jeans, nude ballet flats, and a boxy floral print tee. I added a thin black headband to my hair and stepped out into the kitchen.

    “Morning Mom,” I said trying to sound cheerful.

    “Morning,” She turned and set a plate on the table. “I made pancakes, since it’s your first day.”

    My stomach growled after essentially skipping dinner the night before. “Thanks,” I sat down in front of the plate and dug in. Sprinkle and chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream were always my favorite since I was little. Frankie emerged from his room, already dressed as well. He dropped his backpack on the floor and sat at the table.

    “Morning Frankster,” I smiled. Under the table, I kicked him when he didn’t respond. He looked up at me and I mouthed to him: ‘could you mope a little less, I heard her crying all last night.’ His expression changed and he shifted in his seat to be more upright.

    “Morning Booper,” He used the old family nickname for me. “What smells so good, Mom?”

    I saw her smile a real smile and slid a plate in front of him. “Pancakes.” He smiled back at her and began attacking his plate. I was relieved that he’d cooperated and felt more at ease as I finished breakfast.

    Frankie stayed at the table talking to Mom about the school while I hurried back to my room where I did the small amount of makeup I did everyday-- a tiny bit of tinted moisturizer and mascara. It wasn’t a lot at all, but it made me feel more confident. I grabbed the bag I had already packed with all my school supplies, tucking my phone away into one of the pockets, and padded back out to my mom and Frankie.

    She handed us each our lunches; his in a paper bag and mine in a lunch box. “Thanks Mom,” we chorused, shutting them away into our bags.

    “The bus should be around soon, you should head down,” Mom told us. Frankie rose from his seat and we walked toward the door. “Good luck, love you!” She called back to us.

    The bus’s meeting spot was the corner furthest from the park. By the time we walked up, there was already a pretty good crowd. Butterflies consumed my stomach with nerves. I stood next to Frankie a couple of feet away; I saw Jai, Luke, and Beau at the bus stop but they were talking with a crowd of people I didn’t know, and I wasn’t that confident.

    “Ariana?” A deep British voice startled me again. Nathan, his glasses now absent, walked over. He still had the huge book in hand. “You’re going to the performing arts school?”

    “Yea,” I nodded. “Oh, this is my brother Frankie. Frankie, this is Nathan. I met him at the park yesterday.” Frankie’s eyes lit up with recognition of last night’s conversation.

“Hey,” Frankie said. Nathan waved awkwardly for a second with two fingers.

“What’s your performing art?” I asked, just to make conversation.

“I play piano and sing a little bit,” Nathan answered.

“I act and sing too, Frankie’s a dancer,” I shared since it didn’t seem like Frankie would say anything else.