Bullies [Reed Deming Fanfic]

Part 33

BEEP! BEEP!

I sit up in the hotel room and yawn. Jeez, I'm awake early!

The competition progressed smoothly. I stayed in round after round. It was now the Semifinals, (the top 5: The Swon Brothers, Danielle Bradbery, Bailey Howard, Amber Carrington, and Michelle Chamuel) and my performances so far were:

Drops of Jupiter (Train)
Going Nowhere (Little Mix)
Downtown (Lady Antebellum)
Lego House (Ed Sheeran)
Hey Soul Sister (Train)
Little Talks (Of Monsters and Men)
Everything Has Changed (Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran)
Falling For You (Colbie Calliat)
I'm Yours (Jason Mraz)
Royals (Lorde)

And my songs for this week were an acoustic cover of Wake Me Up by Avicii and Ho Hey by The Lumineers.

I have 114k followers on Twitter and, according to Shakira, am one of the the remaining most qualified contestants for the win.

Here's the interesting part: things between Reed and I are actually getting much better. We've had a few conversations via texting and via Twitter, and I'm starting to sort of trust him again. I mean, yeah, Willow's being annoying. And Caroline and Keaton still keep in touch.

And yet another interesting part: Luke and I called things off. We never see each other and we hardly even talk anymore. So my status is single again, though Luke and I astill good friends. It's not even awkward.

I jump out of bed and walk over to my closet. I got moved to a different room a while ago after Caroline went home.

It was so quiet and so early that everyone's doors were still closed and it was still dark outside.

It's the day before the show. There are rehearsals today and I am ready to kill it.

I get dressed in the beanie my mom sent me, a baggy sweatshirt that says 'I Wish I Was As Cool as a Chicago Person-Thing', black leggings, and brown, leather boots after I shower and brush my wet hair through. I take the beanie off momentarily to blow dry my hair, and then I brush my teeth and I'm ready to go.

It's 6:00 when Im out the door. A sleepy Danielle appears in the silent hallway at the same time as me. She rubs her eyes and whispers, "Morning."

I chuckle and whisper, "Remember that Blake asked us to meet him for breakfast at 7:00 at Denny's?"

And with that she's wide awake and rushes back into her room to get ready. Colton Swon comes out moments later and says, "Guess you're up, too."

"What happened to your brother?" I ask.

"Ah. You know him. Still asleep. I tried to get him up but of course that didnt work."

I laugh and say, "Well at least we can head down."

As we do, my stomach starts feeling weird. Not like I'm sick, but it's like one of those feelings you get while watching the beginning of a movie where everything's calm but you know something bads about to happen. But I ask myself, "What could possibly happen?" and I feel better...sort of.

The elevator dings and we arrive.

The day progressed smoothly, breakfast, rehearsals, and everything. Although i never really relaxed. I dont know what's wrong with me.

It wasnt until I went down to dinner that the feeling came back.

"Something wrong?" Michelle Chamuel asks me when she sees me clutching my stomach.

"Nah," I shrug.

"Certainly doesn't look like everything's fine."

"Just...nervous, I guess."

"About dinner?"

"About something I'm not really sure of. I'm probably just nervous that the shows tomorrow. Yeah, that has to be it."

Michelle eyes me skeptically and says, "Come on, Bailey. We've all been here for a while. It's kind of hard to get so nervous that your stomach hurts before a show. I'm used to it."

"Apparently I'm not," I sigh. "Either that or it's something else, but what could it possibly be?"

Michelle shrugs and is about to say something when the elevator doors open and we step out, just to be joined by Danielle, who of course immediately asks about it.

"Stomach hurt?" Danielle asks.

I nod and Michelle glances at her, apparently explaining with her eyes.

"Ohhhh," Danielle says. "Nervous about something."

"How'd you know that?" I ask.

"Michelle," Danielle shrugs.

"But she didnt say anything," I blink.

And of course right before she gets the chance to explain, we arrive in the busy cafeteria and they run off, eager to get food.








I decide to take a walk to help me chill. It was nighttime and I probably shouldn't still be outside, but it really helps someone clear their head, you know? I smile at the park scenery with the memory of meeting Luke. Except this time I actually watch where I walk.

Nobody was still in the park. Just me. Juuuust me. It finally occurs to me just how long I've been surrounded by people. Busy people and noise and drama. And now I'm finally alone, and it feels good.

Even my stomach was starting to feel better. I climbed a tree to see the distant bustling city lights. Even if I'm not that far from them and not that far up, it still really makes me feel better. More relaxed.

I feel my eyes start to close I begin to drift off...

Only to be interrupted.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but this tree's already occupied," I hear a familiar laugh.

I leap to my feet, almost falling out of the tree, and whip out my pepper spray, spraying the person.

"Ack!" his hands fly over his eyes.
And then the realization hits me. I stop spraying and ask, "Reed, is that you?"

"Would've been nice if you realized that a little earlier," he groans.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," I say and can't help but laugh at him.

He opens his right eye slightly and asks, "Jeez, why do you have pepper spray?"

"I'm a fourteen year old girl wandering around a park alone at midnight," I say.

"Oh man," he laughs at himself. "Should've seen that coming. After all, you are Bailey Howard."

"The one and only," I laugh.

Reed grins and puts his hands down. "It'd be nice to have some water, you know."

"Just be glad I brought a water bottle, Deming," I say, handing him it.

He dumps the water on his face, getting his hair wet.

"Oh wow that felt better than I thought," he sighs and smiles.

"You are such a strange child."

"Well, not every 'child' gets shot in the face with pepper spray by another child," he chuckles.

"That makes you special."

"Oh thanks."

He relaxes a little, laying back on the branch next to me.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"Ill answer that when you put the pepper spray away."

I laugh and slip it back into my pocket. "Now what are you doing here?"

He shrugs. "Eh."

"Answer or the pepper spray comes back out."

"Okay, okay, ill try," he says.

"You'll try?" I ask.

"It's...embarrassing," Reed says, his face going bright red.

"I won't laugh I swear," I say, shocked at what I say next, "You can trust me."

He hesitates, but blurts out, "I missed you, so I came here!"

I blink.

He immediately buries his face in his hands and whispers, "Oh my gosh..."

I do something that shocks me again. I find myself with my arm around his shoulder.

"Reed, are you...crying?" I ask quietly.

He sighs and then looks over at me with his stupid yet adorable grin and says, "My eyes hurt."

Moment gone. But not for much longer.

I find myself telling him, "I missed you too."

He looks up at me, his smile gone.

"Promise?" he asks.

"Promise."

He leans in, and so do I.



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


I had a sudden stroke of brilliance with the pepper spray thing xD
So long story short, there was a time skip to the Semifinals and Reed and Bailey kissed and Lailey's over. Think of it as my early Christmas present to you.

HAPPY 22ND BIRTHDAY LOUIS TOMLINSON I LOVE YOU HEAPS

ALSO MERRY CHRISTMAS TO MY AMAZING READERS I LOVE YOU JUST AS MUCH AS I LOVE LOUIS AND ONE DIRECTION AND MORE IMPORTANTLY I LOVE YOU AS MUCH AS REED

SO HAPPY HOLIDAYS REEDLINGS LUV U ALL

~iliveademingfullife