Gracewood Academy (Hope and Secrets)

Chapter 36- I'm Amelia James

Chase: Meet me on the roof.

I walk onto the roof to find that Chase is not alone. Along with him was Ty, Matt, Anna, Emily, Tom, Simon, Greg, Dan, and Chloe.

"What is going on?" I say warily.

"I dunno. Chase told us to come up here." Ty says, clearly as confused as I am.

"We need their help. I think they should know." Chase explains. Huh? What kind of plan is this?

"What's this got to do with my mom?" I point out.

"It's all part of my plan but they need to understand what is going on in order for it to work." Everyone is watching our exchange looking even more confused.

"AJ just tell them." I turn around to see Ben standing by the roof's entrance.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was in the area. Chase told me what was going on." He smirks.

"Oh my god! You are Ben Daniels!" Anna starts squealing. Oh yeah. My friends are probably even more confused now that we have been joined by a mega movie/pop star.

"Can someone explain what the fuck is going on?" That one came from Emily. Funnily enough that was the most surprising thing that has occurred so far. I don't think Emily has ever sworn in her life.

"Okay! I will explain. Everyone just shut up." Everyone quiets down. "Yes this is Ben Daniels. He is an old friend of mine. Ben these are my friends."

"Nice to meet you." He grins, walking over to stand next to Chase. Everyone else are sitting on benches or on the floor.

"There is something I need to tell you all." I say hesitantly. "I lied. A lot."

"What are talking about?" Ty looks at me, his eyebrow raised in confusion.

"My name isn't Hope Carter. I'm Amelia James." I then go on to explain my past.

I talk about my parents, how I met Chase and Ben. How I had no one I trusted before I came to Gracewood. I tell them about Atlanta, even about me sleeping with Chase when I cheated on Kyle. Though I kept those details to a minimum. I proceed to tell them about my record deal, and how Chase has been helping me produce it. And finally I tell them about my mother's blackmail and how there is a chance that I will be leaving. For good.

"Wow." Anna is the first to speak when I finish.

"Okay, I am no longer Jennifer Carter's biggest fan." Ty announces.

"So you are not mad?" I ask him.

"No. I mean you have had to go through a lot of crap so I get why you had issues trusting us. I still kind of wish you had told us though."

"I know. And I am sorry. Honestly I love you guys, and it was killing me to continue lying to you and to keep all those secrets." Ty gets up and gives me a comforting hug.

"I forgive you." He whispers in my ear. I smile as he sits back down.

"So, uh... Why are we here?" Chloe asks.

"That part I don't know. Apparently Chase has an idea?" I look at Chase and he nods.

"So basically. Jen is threatening to cut Hope off from paying Gracewood's school fees if Hope doesn't stop recording the album. If Hope gets pulled out she misses a lot of key exams and fails school. And Hope cannot really produce the album without a parents consent. Which she obviously doesn't have from her mom and her dad emailed my dad saying that he wasn't going to go against Jen's wishes."

"So what's your plan then?" I face Chase.

"We may not be able to produce your album but we can still record it." He says smugly. I don't get it.

"Isn't that kind of the same thing." I point out.

"Basically we need to record it without anyone knowing but we cannot release it until you are eighteen, or do any promotions or advertising on it." Ben explains.

"So we can't tell my dad. He can't be involved otherwise it is illegal." Chase admits.

"What are we meant to do?" Matt questions.

"It means we have no help. The only ones who can know about this is us. We need to secretly record this album and release it right before Christmas. If your mom doesn't know about it, she can't stop us." Chase continues.

"That's a great idea. One problem though. Mom won't be happy about this once the album is released. She will make me leave Gracewood."

"That is part two of our plan. Legally she can't make you leave once you turn eighteen. But yes, Jen will probably stop paying the school fees."

"Well, it's not like I have any money. My trust fund doesn't come in until I am 21." I point out to Ben.

"Yes, but you get some of it when you are eighteen." Oh yeah.

"That won't be enough to pay for Gracewood though." As it is one of the top schools in the country it isn't gonna be cheap.

"So, you need to get the scholarship that they give out after the exams before Christmas break." This time it was Emily who spoke up.

"Exactly. That will cover most of the school fees and you can pay the rest with your trust fund money." Okay... This could work. "So I asked you all to come cause I kind of need all of your help." Chase continues.

"How can we help?" Ty asks.

"Well we need a band. To help with recording the music. Greg plays the drums, Dan plays the bass guitar, Matt plays the guitar and Chloe didn't you play the piano at the freshman year talent show?"

"Yeah?" Chloe confirms.

"Ben and I will deal with all the music tech stuff." That left Anna, Simon, Emily and Ty. "We need Simon and Emily to help Hope study and ace her exams in order to get the academic scholarship." They nod in agreement. "And Anna, you can help with the cover, hair and makeup and all that stuff."

"I thought we couldn't work on the promotion stuff." I point out.

"We won't be able to until your birthday. But we need to have everything ready to go before that. But we will need to do a lot of promotion in a very short amount of time in order for this album to be a success." Ben enlightens us.

"And what about me? What am I gonna do?" Ty was the only one left without a task.

"Well like we said we have a lot of promotion to do. We need to spread the word fast. And I only know of one person for the job." Chase finishes.

"We need you to find GG."

***

Tada! So a plan is forming... but will it work?

Please comment and vote! x