This is a chapter that explains Audrey, Nick, and Calvin's past... I'll be posting the chapters for the other episodes soon... Enjoy~! \(^_^\)
Ps: I lied XD
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A five year old with chocolate hair and eyes looked around the bright and colourful room.
"Everyone... This is Nicholas Clark, he's a new student..." Said his kindergarten teacher with a giant grin plastered across her face. "Say 'hi'!" She ordered kindly.
"Hi, Nicholas!" All the kids greeted, before quickly getting back to playing their board games.
"Nicholas, you can go sit by Audrey." The teacher spoke softly, "Audrey, raise your hand, please."
A pale young girl with short black hair raised her hand obediently.
Nick walked over to her nervously and sat down in the seat next to her.
"Hi! I'm Audrey!" She beamed.
"I'm Nick. It's nice to meet you." He mumbled.
"It's nice to meet you too!" She smiled at him, turning back to her board game. "When I win, I'm going to get your bag of gummy worms." Audrey stated giddily, speaking to her friend.
*First grade*
"Why, hello!" Nick greeted, sitting down next to his best friend.
"Hey." Calvin greeted. "Are you excited? It's the first day of school!"
"Yup! Hey, where's Audrey?"
"She's over there, that cry baby. She won't let me talk to her!" He crossed his arms and pouted, shaking his head to show his innocent disapproval.
"I am going to go check on her, then, Calvie." Nick mumbled, walking over to his other best friend who's head was rested on her arms and her entire body was trembling from crying so hard.
"Hey, Audrey, what's wrong?" Nick asked, hugging her.
"My daddy is going to fight a war... And my mom is being mean to me and him..." Audrey cried.
"I'm sorry..."
*The December of Audrey, Nick, and Calvin's 8th grade school year*
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" A man in a Porsche yelled because he had to stop suddenly due to Nick and Audrey crossing the street without warning.
"Sorry!" Audrey apologized loudly, running across the street quickly to get out of the way but still trying to keep the same speed at Nick.
"Seriously, tell me what you're moping about, it's starting to freak me out." Audrey demanded.
Nick stayed silent.
Audrey sighed, "you know, that's not fair to me. I bet if Calvin were the one asking you this instead of me- you'd be spilling your guts out with no problem doing so."
"My dad died..." He said, choking back a few sobs.
"Oh my god, I am so sorry, Nick!" She hugged him tightly.
Nick started to let himself cry.
Audrey rubbed his back in a comforting manner.
"Hey guys! You're late! You told me you'd be here ten minutes ago! C'mon we've gotta run, the bus'll be at the stop any second, now!" Calvin called, running out of the house they'd stopped in front of. He slowed down, his big grin shrinking immediately once he'd noticed Nick shaking uncontrollably with tears streaming down his face, his eyes were very red, as he was being held by Audrey. "What's going on?" He asked, very concerned. Never in the entire time he'd known Nick, had Calvin ever seen the boy cry. Not even in kindergarten, when the school bully had stolen his most prized possession. No, even then, not a single tear threatened to streak down his cheeks. He didn't cry, instead he beat the school bully up.
Making Nick cry was like breaking titanium with your bare hands.
After a few moments of silence Audrey spoke up. "Would you like for me to tell Cal, Nicky?"
Nick barely managed to nod, but he did and Audrey turned to face their best friend.
"His dad died."
"Oh shit, bro. I'm so sorry that happened!"
"Hey, I have an idea. It's probably the worst idea I've had, yet. But, desperate times call for desperate measures..." Audrey began, earning a nod from Calvin, signaling her to continue. "Let's ditch school today. Let's take a break from the school work and the stupid kids, okay? Let's head to my place. My mom is at work right now, she works till 6 tonight, so we can hang there..." She concluded her suggestion.
"Sounds good to me. Nick, how do you feel about it?"
"I guess we can do that," Nick sniffled, looking up, "I mean, how often do you hear Audrey tell us to skip?" He attempted to make himself feel better.
"C'mon. I didn't forget the keys this time." Audrey stated proudly as they walked in the direction of her house.
"Ffffuuu---fliiiipp!! My keys are in here somewhere!" She moaned, scavenging her back pack. She'd literally pulled two binders, three thick books, five composition books and two spiral notebooks out of the bag and still couldn't find her keys. Audrey groaned as she pulled a bag that contained her P.E. clothes out of the book bag. "If it's not in here, I swear I'm gonna be so- aha!" Audrey beamed, holding up her house key. Calvin and Nick couldn't help but laugh at the scene that had unfolded in front of them.
"Oh, shut up. Help me put this stuff back in my bag."
"Sure."
Once they were done with that, they stepped into the house.
"It's a bit of a mess, sorry. You guys know how my mom is." Audrey sated awkwardly as they stepped into the household. There were pillows all over the floor as well as papers, bags, plates, shattered glass.
They heard odd noises coming from her mother's bed room. And, to their horror, they heard her bedroom door open and close.
"Hide!" Audrey whispered, quickly running to hide behind one of the couches. Calvin and Nick quickly followed.
Audrey's mom walked toward the kitchen half naked and opened the fridge.
"Need anything babe?!" She asked loudly.
"Dad's home?" Audrey thought.
"No, I'm fine! Get back over here, honey!" An unfamiliar voice called back.
"That's not... That's not dad..."
"I'll be right there!"
Ailene made her way back over to her bed room. Audrey, Calvin and Nick stepped away from the couch. "We should go..."
"This was a bad idea, I'm sorry you guys saw that..." Audrey apologized once they'd left. "We can still make it to school without having them question why we didn't come in with our parents... We'll just tell your mom we missed the bus..."
"Look, it wasn't a total bust-- we're just gonna have to find another place to hang. Don't give up yet. I mean yeah, we were a bit horrified by what we saw, but that shouldn't ruin our day. We ditched so Nicki could have fun and take his mind off things, so that's exactly what we're going to do!" Calvin smiled, "to the arcade!" He announced.
*Two days before their first day of school*
"Hey! You excited for our first day in highschool?" Audrey asked through the minute phone her mother had kindly given to her after a heated argument.
"Nope!" Nick laughed.
"Well I am. A summer with this crazy bitch makes you do things, Nick." Audrey laughed nervously, making sure to keep her voice down in case her drunk mother was listening to the call. "I can't wait to get away from her." She spoke once more, her voice incredibly lower than before. Nick barely heard her.
"You spent the majority of the summer at my house! Even your brother and sister came with us! Hell, they're still here!"
"Don't judge me, one minute with this woman and I have this longing to kill myself. Honestly, I don't even know how I managed to do anything with this psycho bitch either breathing down my neck to check what I'm doing, kicking my ass, or making me do things I'd rather not speak about..."
"You're at home, right?" Nick asked randomly.
"No, I'm at Starbucks taking care of a drunk psychopath." Audrey answered sarcastically.
"Cool, I'll tell my mom to go swing by Starbucks to pick you up. I'll make sure to tell her to say hi to the drunk psycho~!"
Audrey heard fast footsteps heading her way. She panicked. "Nick, I need to hang up, bye. I'll see you later..."
"Hi-" Madison's smile faded and she looked concerned.
"Hey." Audrey spoke softly, standing by the door.
"What happened?" Madison asked immediately, staring at Audrey's black eyes and messed up hair, and the cuts on her face.
"The usual... Erm... I left my stuff in my room... But my clothes and stuff are ready... I'll go get it-"
"No, Andy, I'll go get it, you go wait in the car. Nick came with me so you can talk to him. I might take a while." Madison ordered. Audrey was about to open her mouth and argue against it, but she knew Madison wouldn't listen to her. Audrey simply nodded and did as she was told.
Madison slowly walked into the disgusting house and found Aileen injecting herself with what Madison assumed were drugs.
"Aileen!" Madison called, Aileen head shooting up immediately, spotting Madison standing in front of her. Quickly, Aileen hid the illegal substances she had on the table, even though it was no use, Madison already saw what she was up to.
"Aileen. You need to stop. It's not healthy for you- or most importantly your children-"
"Blah blah blah. You know that bullshit isn't gonna work on me, Maddy." The woman laughed groggily. "What are you doing here, anyway?" She asked, stumbling as she stood up.
"Getting your poor daughter the hell away from you! You know, one of these days, you're going to lose Audrey." Madison began.
"Do I look like I care? I'll still have Jackson."
Madison looked at Aileen with disgust. "Are you seriously saying that you care about that stupid man whore more than your own children?"
Aileen giggled, "yes."
"So, has Calvin told you yet?" Said Nick suddenly, catching the girl's attention as they sat in the back seat of his mother's car.
"Told me what?"
"I have a girlfriend~!"
Audrey smiled, "cool, Nicki! I was starting to wonder if you were gay or somethin'!"
"How's Min Ki doing?"
"Heh... He's fine. He's going to the same school as us, so that's really cool." Audrey paused, and looked over at Nick. "Who is your girlfriend, anyway?"
"Delphina, duh!" Nick answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, flicking his friend's forehead. "Hey, you should get a boyfriend soon or I will start questioning your sexuality. We'll see how you like it."
"Oh, shut up. We all know you're bluffing. You know I'll kick your ass if you do." She laughed, cracking her knuckles in a menacing manner.
"Really? I wish a bitch would!" He laughed as well, pretending to be the bravest person in the world. But he knew deep down, if Audrey really wanted to hurt him, she could. But, she was a lover, not a fighter. Then, he made the worst mistake of his life. "Ultimate Death Wrestle in three... two... GAH!!!"
Immediately, Audrey wrestled him. But then after a few seconds, she awkwardly glanced down at Nick and blushed. Nick blushed as well whilst Audrey quickly scrambled off him.
"Heh... Sorry..." Audrey apologized anxiously, rubbing the back of her neck.
"I'm telling you, dude, this girl is bad news!" Calvin yelled into his blackberry phone, "I can't stress it enough!"
"She's not! I've known her since the seventh grade!" Nick defended the main subject of this phone call, Delphina. Audrey was listening intently, attempting to keep her ear on the other side of his phone, but Nick made things more difficult by flailing his arms around passionately, almost managing to whack the girl in the face.
"Whoops, sorry!" Nick apologized once he saw the venomous look on Audrey's face, which quickly softened and smiled. "It's okay! Now, Calvie, tell us why you think she's bad news." Audrey requested.
"Well, one, she's older than you," He began, causing Audrey to snicker, "and two, I saw her buying drugs from our local drug dealer. The one your mom gets her shit from..." Calvin answered gravely.
Audrey's smirk fell, "Nick, I'm sorry, but basing my stance on personal experiences, I agree with Calvin..."
"Well, has Calvin told you-"
"Nick, that's not gonna change my mind about-"
"That he's a dealer, too?"
"What?"
They heard Calvin sigh on the other line of the phone. "I've gotta go..."
"Nononono, you're going to stay and explain this to m-"
"I'll see you later."
With that said, Calvin hung up.
A few minutes after the phone called ended, there was a knock on the door.
"Calvin, hey! It's been a while!" They heard Madison say.
"Hi, Mrs. C. Are Nick and Audrey here?"
"Yeah. They're in Nick's room."
"Thanks. May I come in?"
"Yes, of course."
Through the very thin walls, they heard Calvin approach and they opened the door before he got an opportunity to knock.
"Look, guys, I- OOF!" Calvin groaned as Nick and Audrey yanked Calvin into the room, causing him to fall on top of the two.
"Owww.... I told you that was a bad idea, idiot..." Audrey moaned in pain.
"You went along with it, though... That makes you even more of an idiot for going along with my idea..."
"So, does this mean you forgive me, Andy?"
"Nope. I still need an explanation. Which means that your fat ass needs to get the heck off of me and shut the door."
Calvin proceed to obey Audrey's rather rude command.
"Listen--"
"We're listening," Audrey interrupted whilst crossing her arms.
"My family is kind of in a sticky situation... My mom just lost her job and we're trying to keep the house... Quick thinking led to a quick solution--"
"Drug dealing? Seriously? Are you out of your fucking mind? And your mother put you up to this?"
"No! Hell no! She thinks I have a part time job somewhere! She really appreciates my help--"
"You really shouldn't be doing this--"
"I know, but this is the smartest thing I've ever done and the most I've ever done to help my mom out with something like this..."
"You need to tell her--"
"NO! I CAN'T! IT WOULD TEAR HER APART!! Please don't tell her! I just want to help out..."
"You're too young to be doing something like this..."
"I know... But it's something I need to do... I owe it to her... My dad's working two jobs but it's still not enough to pay the rent... Especially considering it's his first month working this job... Once his job is steady enough... I'll stop..."
"It's not something that you can just pick your shit up and say good bye to... People die because of stuff like that... It's dangerous. You're my best friend, and I don't want you to be in danger..." Audrey cried.
"I know, Andy... I'm sorry... But I have to do this for my ma... I know you understand... Promise me you won't tell my mom..."
Audrey shook her head.
"Please!" Calvin begged until finally, Audrey wiped her tears away. "You're my brother, Calvie... I don't want you to get hurt..."
"I won't get hurt, Andy. I promise. Promise me you won't tell my ma..."
She nodded and closed her eyes once Calvin hugged her tightly. "Thank you..." He said.
"Hello! You must be Delphina, Nick has told us all about you... Come inside, please." Madison said with a smile, moving away from the door for Delphina to enter.
"Thanks, Ms. Clark..." Said Delphina as she entered the household.
"Nick is in his room with his friends, so if you want to hang out with him, that's the place to be..."
"Thanks..."
"Hey- until we meet this girlfriend of yours- in person, willingly stating she's your girlfriend- you're still gay to us!" Said Baek Min Ki, a friend of theirs they'd met in the anime club at their middle school. He had short blonde hair -which was obviously dyed- and big brown eyes. He wore a Naruto shirt that had almost all the characters on it.
"That's totally true! I've been preparing for two years to hear the words 'I'm gay' come out of your mouth. Yet, nothing of the sort has passed your lips." Said Kim Min Ah.
Kim Min Ah is a girl with bright red hair and a cute face, she was also Korean like the other boy. She also met them at the Anime club in their middle school and had been dating Baek Min Ki for over a year now.
"If you're not gay and this girl isn't your girlfriend, you're Audrey's boyfriend." Calvin chimed in.
"Ew, no." Audrey said immediately, her scrunching up as if she'd taken a bite straight out of a lemon.
"You answered too quickly, that means you like Nick!" Kim Min Ah announced, pointing at Audrey accusingly.
"No it doesn't!"
"Yes it does! Nick! Nick! I think we found you a REAL girlfriend." Yelled Min Ki, shoving Audrey right onto Nick. Nick blushed and stared straight into Audrey's eyes.
"Sorry..." Said Audrey, her eyes darting all over the room once she pulled away from Nick's suddenly tight grip.
Min Ah's fan girl session quickly ended once she'd noticed Delphina standing in the door way with a pug face.
"Ahem," Delphina cleared her throat, standing in the door way.
"Hello! You must be Delphina. Nick's friend...?" Baek Min Ki asked with a grin, waiting to see if she'd correct him.
"Girlfriend. I'm his girlfriend..." She corrected him.
"You've got competition!" Said Min Ah, obviously not bothering to think of Delphina's reaction. Audrey instantly glared at Min Ah. In response to Audrey's death glare, Min Ah shut her mouth.
"Well... I guess we really did lose the bet... Here..." Min Ki spoke sadly, breaking the awkward silence, taking two ten dollar bills and handing each one to Audrey and Calvin. "Thank you," Audrey smiled, taking his money and her mind off the awkward encounter with Delphina.
She turned to Min Ah, "where's our money? Pay up." She giggled.
Min Ah sighed and handed over the same amount of money as Min Ki.
"Wait- Hold on... You guys made a bet out of this?" Nick asked.
"Why do you sound so surprised? It's nothing new." Calvin asked whilst laughing, making sure Min Ah gave him the right amount of money since she paid her ten dollars in singles instead of with a ten dollar bill.
"Okay..." Delphina mumbled, rolling her eyes.
"So, tell us about yourself, Delphina..." Madison made a jab at starting a conversation in the dinner table.
"Oh, umm.... I'm a sophomore... I play the French horn in the marching band at school. I listen to K-Pop sometimes--"
"Oh! You should definitely hang out with Audrey, Min Ah, and Min Ki, they love that."
"You have good taste in women, Nicki." Audrey nudged his arm with a smile. Nick blushed softly.
"Okay... Um... I'm sixteen. I love rap and hip hop-"
"Yup. She's definitely perfect for you. Not many girls like that crap." Audrey chimed in.
"You mean YOU don't like hip hop, but a bunch of other chicks do."
"Okay, look, I like rap and hip hop, but I can't stand half the shit they make now, I like the old school one."
"You're sixteen and in the tenth grade?" Madison asked.
Delphina nodded, "yeah... I was absent from school... A lot... So I failed last year... I had good grades, but my attendance was crap."
"Why? Sorry for asking you so many questions, I'm just trying to get to know you since you're dating my son..."
"I was helping a struggling family member recover from their drug addiction..." Delphina spoke timidly.
"Is that family member doing well?"
"He's dead... He committed suicide because we wouldn't let him get back into drugs...."
"Oh my god... I'm so sorry...." Madison and Audrey spoke in unison.
"Don't be...." Delphina answered, glaring directly at Audrey.
*A few months later*
"I want you to stay away from Nick. He's mine not yours. Get that through your thick skull." Delphina stated, pulling Audrey's hair.
"Ah! Fuck!" Audrey screamed, sending daggers at Delphina. "Why do I need to get it in my head, when it's already been embedded in there? He's my best friend, and, in case you haven't noticed, he talks to me. First, you get him into drugs, and now you're chasing his friends away? Honestly, what's your obsession with him? Weren't you cheating on him not even five minutes ago?"
"I'm not chasing them away," Delphina huffed, "tell him about all of this-- and I'll murder you." Letting Audrey go, Delphina barged out of the girls' locker room. Audrey slid down the wall of lockers, sat on the floor, and cried.
"Who's this intervention for this time?" Nick asked as he walked into the quiet room.
"You, dumbass. Sit." Min Ah commanded. This was extremely out of character for her, so Nick knew this was a serious matter.
"We don't like what you're doing to yourself..." Audrey stated suddenly after debates on who should start the meeting.
"What? Experimenting?" Nick snorted.
Audrey glared at him, "no. We don't like the fact that all you do now, basically, is devote your love and time to Delphina. We also don't like the fact that Delphina has got you into doing drugs. Because that's also taking up all your time."
"I didn't think you guys would corner me like this, like I--"
"Nick, cut the victim bullshit. We're fed up with it." Calvin interrupted.
Nick looked at Calvin with hatred in his eyes.
"How can you of all people be telling me this?!" Nick questioned angrily.
All the eyes in the room moved from Nick to Calvin. Everyone except for Audrey was completely out of the loop.
Calvin nervously shrunk down and shut his mouth.
"Look, Nick- I know you're still hurting because your father passed away... But--" Audrey began.
"But what? Now I'm not allowed to channel my emotions into something? Now it's not okay for me to depend on drugs like you depend on me and my family? Now it's not okay for me to be a leech and nothing but a pain in the ass for drugs like you are to us? Why the fuck are you here, any way? You haven't talked to me for weeks! You keep blowing me off! You ignore my calls- my texts!" Nick ranted. She stared at him for a few seconds before sighing and turning to look at Madison.
"You guys can deal with him. I don't even know why I bothered coming back here. Thank you for all you've done for me Madison." She hugged Madison and Alicia, then turned to face Nick.
"Thanks for being my friend up to this point. Good bye and have a nice life." Audrey spoke quickly, grabbing her keys and speed walking out of the house and into her car, driving off over the speed limit.
Madison glared at Nick.
"What are you looking at? Huh?" He asked aggravated at himself for the most part, but his pride wouldn't let him say anything about it.
"An idiot." Alicia insulted, storming off to her room, making sure to bump his shoulder.
"Hello, Audrey." Said Principal Artie.
"Hello..." She answered.
"I heard that you, Nick, and Delphina have been bickering lately... I hope you'll all make up in time for the show...?"
"Yes, sir... I was actually planning on apologizing to them for my rude behavior..." Audrey lied, she wasn't planning on talking to either of them. But, now that she told the principal, she was obligated to do it.
"Great! I'm looking forward to your performance. Ms. Clark has told me so much about how beautiful your voice is and how well you play the guitar, bass, drums, piano-- well, essentially anything you can get your hands on." The principal chuckled, "well, again I'm looking forward to the performance tonight... Have a great afternoon." He then walked off.
"Umm.... Delphina?"
"Yeah?" Delphina turned to face the nervous girl who stood in front of her lunch table. "I-I want to apologize to you f-for anything that I'd done to offend you..." Audrey stuttered. "I um... I hope you'll accept my apology..."
Delphina smiled and nodded. "You really don't have to apologize about anything... I was being a total.. Ahem... Bitch because I spent a whole week without doing drugs... I don't want to end up like my uncle... So, I'm planning on quitting."
"That's great, Delphi," Audrey smiled back.
"Um... Listen, about Nick--"
"Hey, don't worry about it... I won't tell him... Or talk to him af--"
"Andy... We're not together anymore. And whatever I said to you in the locker room, it was not me. Ignore whatever I told you. Do what you want to do."
"Oh... Well, that's not gonna change much... The damage is done..."
"Well, go apologize to him!" Delphina yelled suddenly, startling Audrey. Audrey slowly nodded. "Umm... I'll see you at the show..." She said before disappearing from Delphina's view.
"Nicki..."
"Now you're talking to me?" Nick asked cynically, not bothering to look at his ex-bestfriend.
"Listen... I'm sorry..." Audrey apologized.
Nick raised his eyebrow and looked directly at Audrey. "What'd I tell you about apologizing to people that don't deserve it."
Audrey's eyes widened as Nick stood up and gave her a hug. "I missed you."
"Welcome parents and everyone else! Welcome to the little show we have organized. I am the principal of this school and I'm proud to present to you, some of the most talented children in here." Principal Artie announced proudly whilst standing on the stage in the school's auditorium that had been -shockingly- filled with people.
Alicia looked up at the stage and then looked toward her mom. "Where's Audrey? And Nick! Where's Nick?"
"Where do you think they are? Look at the stage." Madison answered with a soft smile plastered in her face.
Audrey, Nick, Calvin, and some other kids they all assumed were their friends, walked onto the stage.
The majority of them appeared to be Asian, but there were a few black and Latin kids mixed into the group, and they were all wearing some what matching outfits.
Nick, at the time, had longer hair than he did now. So long, he had to put his hair in a bun to make sure it'd keep out of the way.
Among the group of teenagers was Nick's girlfriend who was also Audrey's enemy/friend, Delphina.
Delphina was a thin girl with very short hair and tanned skin. She wore ripped jeans and an "EXO" sweater.
"Are you guys ready?" Principal Artie asked, looking toward the group of kids.
They all grinned at him, "yes, sir!"
"Thank you all for coming, this song is called 'Sherlock' by SHINee." Said an Asian boy with dark hair, almost pitch black as a matter of fact.
They all quickly got into a line, making sure their movements matched with the leader of the line as the music began playing.
They danced exactly how they saw the group the performed the song dance.
Before moving onto their next segment, they danced to "Call Me Baby" by EXO, "Mr. Mr." by Girls' Generation, "PONPONPON" by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, "Mama" by EXO followed by "History" by EXO, "Sing" by Ed Sheeran, and "Don't" by Ed Sheeran.
"In a few minutes, we're gonna play a few songs that should sound familiar to all of you!" Delphina announced once she grabbed the mic that sat on the stage floor.
When they came back on stage, there was a drummer already set up for them. Audrey was a holding her guitar even though she had her strap on. She was also wearing a black tank top and baggy black pants that had lots of pockets.
Audrey's guitar was black, but each string was purple as well as the frets and the designs (skulls) on the otherwise black guitar.
Nick had a blue and green bass, it was similar to Audrey's guitar when it came to the string and fret color (which was green), but everything else was completely different. This design on his bass was somewhat like graffitti.
Calvin's guitar was red and orange. Of course, the designs on his guitar were orange flames.
Delphina went to the drums and a blonde white boy walked up to the stage.
With the blonde being the lead singer, they played some Rage Against The Machine songs from the "Battle of Los Angeles" album, "New Millennium Homes", "Ashes in the Fall", and "Testify."
After that set, the blonde walked off the stage and his brother walked up. His brother had dirty blonde hair and a scrawny body.
With him as the singer, they played "Pretty Fly for a White Guy," "You're Gonna Go Far Kid," and "Self Esteem," by The Offspring.
An Armenien boy walked up to the stage and performed "B.Y.O.B.", "Spiders," and "Radio/Video," by System of a Down.
A Dominican boy walked up to the stage and sang "Enter Sandman," "Master of Puppets," and "Sad But True" by Metallica.
Eventually, a tall, teenage Nigerian walked up to the stage with his own guitar as Nick set his guitar down and took the mic. "Well, these next songs are dedicated to a girl I've known for quite a while now. Our relationship has been quite rocky lately due to certain circumstances and I want to make things right and tell her how I feel."
"Pft, what a wuss." Alicia and Audrey said aloud with a laugh. It was quite odd how they could be in different places and manage to think the exact same thing. Hell, it was odd how they could think almost the exact same thing twenty four seven. It was nearly supernatural.
After laughing hysterically at the comment Audrey had made- causing Audrey to get anxious- Bisi, the Nigerian boy that had been holding his blue acoustic guitar for what seemed like forever, began playing. Saving Nick from embarrassment.
Immediately everyone recognized the song that had just begun being played-- "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls.
Everyone sang along like they did for all the other songs they played.
At the end of the song, Nick pulled Audrey toward him, careful not to break it, and kissed Audrey lovingly. Audrey kissed him back and grinned once they pulled away from eachother.
The very last songs were sung by Audrey. She sang "Bury Me Alive" by We Are The Fallen, Lacuna Coil's cover of "Enjoy the Silence" by Depeche Mode. "So, my friends have been telling me I look like Amy Lee... Might as well show you guys I can sing like her, too..." She giggled into the mic. "Um... This song is a song that I listen to whenever I feel down and stuff... It's a song with lots of meaning to me... So if you see me crying, or shuddering, try not to worry." Finally, she played "Lithium" by Evanescence on the piano while singing.
"Audrey! You did great!!!" Alicia complimented. "Like, I'm being serious, you gave me the chills!!!"
"Hehe... Thanks... I almost cried when I was singing the first and last song, I had to stop myself. I love those songs." Audrey giggled nervously, wiping her eyes as she started crying.
"Are you crying?" Madison asked, laughing.
"Yeah, I guess I am..." Audrey sniffled.
"I almost did that while you were up there, myself." Said Madison and Alicia in unison.
Audrey then felt a rough tap on her shoulder.
"Your stupid father is here." Said Ailene.
Audrey looked past the insult and smiled once she saw her father walking over.
"Dad!!!" She yelled, bear hugging her father. That's when she really started crying. "You will not believe how much I missed you..."
"I missed you too, Scorpion..." Derek, her father, hugged her back.
"I see how it is, you spoiled brat. You won't even bother saying 'hi' to me? Your own mother? You see what I deal with everyday?" Ailene complained.
"Sorry, mom.... Hello, mom..." Audrey spoke softly, turning to face her mother.
SMACK!
Audrey held her cheek with her hand whilst attempting to remove her mother's hands from her hair as Ailene yanked it. Everyone's attention turned toward them. Nick was fuming with anger. Madison had to hold him as tightly as she could to keep him from fighting Ailene.
Derek immediately pulled Ailene away from his daughter.
"Don't you ever touch my daughter like that again! I don't give a flying fuck who you think you are. She does not deserve to be treated like this by you at all! So stop!"
Madison's attempt to contain her son was of no use as Nick went lunging at Ailene. Thinking quickly, Audrey stepped in front of the woman, shielding her, causing Nick to stop dead in his tracks.
"Nicki... She's not worth it..."
"She needs to learn, Andy."
"Yeah, but-- AHHHHH!!!!!" Audrey screamed as Ailene stabbed her in the back of her neck. There was blood splurging everywhere. Ailene couldn't help but laugh and, almost instantly, there was a sea of people calling 911. Audrey lost consciousness in a short amount of time. Luckily, she arrived at the hospital in time.
It had been an entire week, yet Audrey hadn't woken up.
Nick was lying on the hospital bed next to Audrey, unable to fall asleep. She slowly began to wake up, although, if she had to be honest, she really didn't want to.
She managed to hear bits and pieces of what the doctor had been saying to Madison after stepping into the room.
"... Very lucky, she is.... Missed her artery and her spinal cord by a centimeter..."
"When will she be waking up?"
"I don't know... Could take months-- years!"
Audrey groaned, her eyes fluttering open.
"Seconds..." The doctor mumbled as everyone else in the room- except for Nick who'd been lying next to her- immediately ran over.
"Andy!! You're alive!" Andrea cried, burying her face in the crook of Audrey's neck, hugging her older sister tightly.
Audrey winced in pain.
"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, I didn't think it would hurt! Umm... What do you need? Am I hurting you now?" Andrea babbled, sniffling.
"Sweetie, I'm okay. Don't worry about me..."
"It's kind of hard not to when your big sister got stabbed in the neck."
Audrey giggled tiredly.
Nick laid there, listening to every word Audrey said.
"Are you going to say anything?" Audrey asked with a smile, looking- well, trying to look- at Nick.
"I'm just really glad you're okay," he answered, tearing up.
"Where's mom?"
There was a long pause.
"They're questioning her about..." Alicia hesitated. "Stuff..." She finished, her eyes darting from place to place.
"Who's questioning her? About what?" Audrey asked suddenly.
"Don't you remember the night of the performance?" Madison asked.
"Yeah. But I blacked out after feeling a sharp pain in my neck..."
"Your mom stabbed you. In front of everybody." Said Calvin.
"Oh..."
"Your dad is pressing charges against her." Said Min Ah.
"I don't want him to..." Audrey mumbled.
"She stabbed you!" Nick yelled, growing frustrated.
"So? What's your fucking point?!" She snapped.
"What I want to know, is why the fuck you even bother putting up with this lady! She doesn't love you- she doesn't deserve you! She stabbed you in the back of your neck with a pen she had in her purse, for god's sake! I love you Audrey, and I hate to see you continue to destroy yourself like this. I say, fuck Ailene, let your dad press charges. I hope she has a fucked up time in prison!"
"I'm not destroying myself-- she just doesn't deserve this!"
"Oh? And you do?"
"YES!" Audrey screamed, "I deserve every little thing I get from her. As a matter of fact, I should've died-- I want to die. But, I don't deserve to get the things I want, so I'm still here."
"You don't want that..." Nick stated softly. "You don't want that-- you don't know what you're saying..."
"Well, my mother doesn't know what she's doing, either!"
"Audrey, we're not going to stand here and deny that your mother is a fucking nut. We're not saying that she doesn't have mental issues, but she knows exactly what she's doing. And she feels great about it-- the fact that you're letting her push you around, makes her feel even better than she already does when she's trying to make you feel like shit." Madison paused, "but please. I'm begging you. Don't use that as an excuse for her to treat you in such a terrible way. I hate to see you like this... You're like a daughter to me. You know what, you are my daughter. I don't care what anyone says. I don't feel comfortable whenever you go back to that house, whenever you're near her, and I know you feel the same... I think you should come and live with us..."
Audrey didn't want to argue with anyone at the moment. "Okay... Fine... But what's gonna happen to them?" She asked, pointing at Andrea and Justin.
"We're gonna be fine. You know mom doesn't do anything to us... Our main concern now, really, is you. You almost died. And I'm not sure you heard him say this, Audrey, but mom missed your spinal cord by a centimeter and an artery by -at maximum- three inches. She almost fucking killed you. There is no excuse for that type of behavior. The place she stabbed you- the way she stabbed you- she was going in for the kill. To be honest, I want you to be safe. The only way for you to be safe- is if you get the hell away from that house and never turn back. Don't worry about me- or Justin. We'll be fine." Andrea spoke her thoughts.
"What if she does something to you guys?"
"We'll kick her ass. The same way we should've done for you, but we were big cowards."
"You guys weren't cowards..." Audrey mumbled. Looking over at Nick, Audrey softly stroked his hair. "I'm sorry, Nick."
"I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that..."
She smiled, "I shouldn't have snapped, either."
*Senior Year*
"Wow, you got into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Juliard, and Berklee? Congratulations, Audrey! I'm so proud of you!" Madison said, hugging Audrey tightly.
"Yeah... But they're all out of state..."
"So? There's nothing here, anyway!"
"Congrats, babe..." Nick spoke with a smile.
"Are you going to be okay?"
"About what?"
"About me going to a school that's on the other side of the country..."
"I'm gonna say something cheesy, but it's the truth... As long as you're happy, I'm happy."
"Are you sure? I can always apply to the college you're going to."
"I'm sure-- You don't have to worry about me going back to doing drugs, I promise you I won't."