Behind

Chapter 29

I lounged around until it was about time for my mom and Nick to come home from work, and set out to take a walk before she arrived. I still didn't feel fully ready to face the situation again.

I weaved street to street, straying farther from my house, only making sure to stay where I found familiar surroundings. It's funny how I could live here my whole life and still find feeling of dismay and unfamiliarity.

I wonder if Nick knows about any of this. I mean, my mom can't possibly hide all of this from him, could she? What am I thinking, of course she could. She kept it from me for a solid sixteen years.

I put in my earbuds and stepped down the street to my own pace. I felt alone and for once, I enjoyed it.

I smelled the fresh and humid air, sighing to myself at the sight of the beautiful weather. No one seemed to be outside today. Considering the weather was perfect today, I thought that the emptiness of the neighborhood was quite peculiar.

Suddenly, the sound of screeching tires sliced through the sound of my music. I ripped my headphones out of my ears and turned to face the road abruptly. 

"Oh my gosh, it is you." A teenage girl in the driver's seat said through the open window. A car full of teenage girls stopped next to the sidewalk and slowly got out. I stood there confused. 

"Can we get pictures with you?" The driver asked, her friends crowding around me.

"Yeah," I laughed nervously. "Sure." I took a selfie with the driver and she looked at it with wide eyes. 

"Thank you so much Teal! We love you, like a lot." I smiled back at her and looked at my phone. This feeling was extremely unfamiliar. I never thought people would want to get pictures with me. Heck, I never even thought that people would recognize me walking down the street. 

"So," the girl that was sitting in the passenger's seat spoke up. "How does it feel to be in Magcon? It has to be so cool hanging out with the guys all the time."

I nodded. "Yeah, they're a riot."

"How did you even get into Magcon?" A girl that was seated in the back seat asked. "Like, did Bart just ask you?"

I thought about this for a second. I know why I got into Magcon and so do the others, but this is obviously something that no one else is permitted to be acknowledged about. 

"Yeah, it was all just really sudden." I smiled. 

The girls smiled up at me, beaming and practically fawning over my existence. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty uncomfortable. I'm not sure how the guys do it. 

Well then again, guys like when girls are all over them. I guess I'd feel the same way if there were a bunch of guys wanting to meet me. Maybe.

I took a few more photos with the girls and felt the urge to keep moving. "Well I'm going to get going, it was really nice meeting you guys." I held my headphones up as if to portray the act of putting the buds back in my ears. 

"No, it was nice meeting you!" One yelled.

"We love you!" The driver yelled again, along with a few of the others.

"I love you too." I laughed.

They turned on the car and I started walking. They passed me and right as I put my earbud up to my ear, I heard a girl from the back seat scream. "And tell Nash I said hi!" 

I stopped walking and blushed. Out of all of the guys that I could be told to deliver a message to, they pick Nash.

I strolled along the same sidewalk, listening to my music once again. The only difference was that my head was now jumbled up with thoughts of being bigger than I really am. It sure is easy to get big-headed in this business. You can't really judge the celebrities until you handle it yourself and realize how hard it is to fight certain urges.

I took my left earbud out of my ear and swung it around in circles while the other remained in my right ear. I accidentally found my feet stepping to the beat of the song blaring in my ears. 

I couldn't stop myself from wondering if any of the fans knew about my relations with Nash, or even my weird tensions with Shawn. Or what about the other flings going on, were they obvious? Carter and Carmina? Aaron and Nicole? I shook my head to myself. Secrets are kept at a mastery level in Magcon. It shocked me that a whole gang could be kept a secret and be covered by a sensational boy group.

"So," a male voice spoke next to the curb. 

I crinkled my eyebrows and turned to face the road. I jumped onto the grass and away from the pavement as soon as I saw JC's face alone in his car.

"You shouldn't be here." I stated lowly.

"I can be where I want." He smiled. "I'm not with the crew, and I'm not going to hurt you." I felt my insides loosen up a little.

"At least, not right now I'm not." He added. My insides tightened right back up.

"What do you want?" I asked as I walked down the sidewalk. 

He drove at my slow pace to keep up with me. "I never really got to meet you." 

I shook my head and kept walking forward. "There's a reason for that."

"And what's that reason? You're not in my group so we can't talk?"

I shook my head again. "JC, you know I'm not supposed to associate with you."

"Not even if I think you're cute?" He asked. I looked over at him and he smiled cutely. 

I turned my head away and blushed. I mentally smacked the red color immediately off of my cheeks. "Not even if you think I'm cute."

His foot accidentally stepped on the break, causing the car to jerk forward. He kept the smile on his face. "It's because of your boyfriend Nash, isn't it?"

I stopped walking. "He's definitely not my boyfriend."

"Is that why he stood up for you like that at the diner?" He cocked his head to the side. "Don't try to tell me that it's all because you're in the same gang faction as him, because that's complete shit."

The scary thing about JC is that he never seemed to stop smiling or looking pleased, no matter his emotion. 

"It's not- he just- I- Just drop it, we're not anything at all." I rolled my eyes frustratedly as I walked forward once again. "You need to leave."

"It's free country, I can drive wherever I want." He turned his wheel and drove slightly onto the sidewalk in front of me. 

I stopped in my tracks and gasped. I backed up and turned to walk towards my house.

He turned his car around and followed me closely again, his car driving on the wrong side of the street. "I'll leave you, sweetheart. I'm sorry for bothering you." 

I nodded and put my left earbud back in so I could hear him out of my right ear. 

"But just make sure to let your little crew know that we're not as stupid as you think we are. And you guys are not as sly as you think you are. We know exactly what you're doing."

I looked at him weirdly. We haven't had anything planned to seek revenge on O2L. At least not yet we haven't.

I didn't reply so he put the smile right back on his face. He looked me up and down and a hint of smirk conjoined with his pleased facial expression. "I'll definitely be seeing you around. Catch ya later, gorgeous."

With that, he drove off. 

I couldn't help but practically sprint home.