{Song in video: A Day To Remember - All I Want}
Lainey got up out of bed and quickly got ready for school. She was happier than usual because last night she called the café to book a spot and they agreed to it. She couldn't wait to tell Nick and Shayla the news.
She went to the bathroom and took a quick shower. After she got out and dried herself, she put on a black tank top and a blue flannel shirt over it. She also put on black skinny jeans and black converse. She looked at herself in the mirror. "Hmmm...makeup or no makeup?" she asked herself. She stared at her makeup kit for the longest time and decided to put on foundation, black eyeliner, and pink lipstick.
She went downstairs and went to the kitchen. Lynn was cooking bacon and had cinnamon rolls baking in the oven.
"Hey sis!" Lainey exclaimed giddily and gave her a hug.
"Hey," Lynn said and chuckled, hugging her back. She gave her a curious look and raised her eyebrows. "You seem unusually happy today."
"I am! Remember I told you that me, Nick, and Shayla are starting a band?"
"Yes..."
"Well I called up the café last night and they booked us for next week!" She practically jumped and down.
"Really? That's great! Do Nick and Shayla know?"
"Not yet but that's why I'm rushing to school so I can tell them the good news!"
"Wow never heard rushing, school, and good news in the same sentence." She laughed softly.
"I know right? I haven't either; I'm surprised I used those words in the same sentence myself."
"The bacon is now ready." She put the sizzling pieces of bacon onto a plate. The beeper for the oven went off soon after she set the bacon down. "And it looks like the cinnamon rolls are ready too."
Lainey got a plate and put 3 pieces of bacon and 2 pieces of cinnamon rolls onto her plate. She took a bite out of the bacon. "Mmm I love bacon so much!" she exclaimed with her mouth full. She sat down at the table.
"Me too which is why I made it." She took a few bites of the bacon.
"This cinnamon roll is the bomb by the way."
"Why thank you."
They continued to eat their breakfast for the next few minutes. After Lainey was done, she put the plate in the dishwasher and got her backpack to leave for school.
"Hey before you go, you can take some of these cinnamon rolls to Nick and Shayla. We have plenty of them," Lynn said.
"Oh yeah they would like that, especially after I tell them the news," Lainey said and grinned. She took some of the cinnamon rolls and put it in a container. "Bye Lynn! See you later." She waved and walked outside to the car.
She plugged in her iPod, turned it on, and played "All I Want" by A Day To Remember. She sang along to the song while she drove to school. A few minutes later, she parked in the school's parking lot and got out. She quickly went inside the main building and went in the hallway so she could wait for her friends. She looked around and didn't see them yet. She looked at her phone to check the time. No wonder they're not here yet, it's still a little early. She thought to herself. In the meantime, she put in her earbuds and listened to music on her iPod. A few minutes later, she saw Nick and Shayla walking toward her. She put her iPod away and exclaimed, "Hey!" She waved at them eagerly.
"Hey...what's with you?" Shayla said, noticing Lainey is more enthusiastic than usual.
"I've got some news!"
"Good or bad news?" Nick asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Good news duh!" She gave Nick a look but quickly changed her facial expression back to a grin. "I called the café last night and they agreed so they booked us for next week!"
Nick's eyes widened. "That's great!"
"Yeah that's really amazing!" Shayla exclaimed. "I never thought I'd be in a band."
"Me neither!" She paused for a moment. "Actually I did but it's so hard to believe!"
"We've got to come up with a song we can cover though." Her face expression turned more serious.
"Yeah I know. We can try narrowing down our list of songs later." She opened up her bag. "And other good news...Lynn made cinnamon rolls and these are for you guys!" She took the container out of the bag and gave them each a cinnamon roll.
"We're in a band plus we have cinnamon rolls, we're already living the rock star life," Nick said and they laughed.
While Shayla and Nick were eating their cinnamon rolls, Lainey said, "Ugh I'm getting hungry already and I just ate not too long ago." She took out a wrapped chocolate muffin and started to eat it.
"You're eating junk food already?" Nick teased her.
Lainey rolled her eyes. "I ate some bacon and a cinnamon roll too."
After Shayla was done eating, she said, "Mmm tell Lynn that this cinnamon roll was delicious. It's the best cinnamon roll I've ever had, hands down."
"I will." Lainey smiled.
"Did you do Mr. Grotowski's homework?" Nick asked them.
"Yeah," Shayla replied.
Lainey's eyes widened. "We had homework in his class?" she asked.
"Um...yeah..." Nick said.
"Crap!" Her face fell, almost turning into a scowl.
"It's okay Lainey, chill. Here, you can copy my homework real quick." He took the homework out of his bag and Lainey quickly copied it. "Just don't copy it word for word or he'll know you copied."
"I know." She quickly wrote down the answers on her paper. As soon as she was done, the bell rang. "Right on time, give me high-five!" She held out her hand and they high-fived her. She gave Nick's paper back to him and they walked to Mr. Grotowski's class.
They sat down at their seats. After everyone else settled in, Mr. Grotowski said, "Class, please pass your homework towards the front of the room." The class did as they were told.
While Mr. Grotowski was teaching the class, Lainey was looking at her list for songs for their band to cover. She started daydreaming about their band becoming famous and performing at different places around the world.
"Lainey Reynolds!" Mr. Grotowski barked and Lainey snapped out of her daydream.
"Huh, yes?" Lainey said, looking around and wondering what's going on.
"That's the third time I had to call your name." He glared at her. "Now tell the class what I've been teaching the past few minutes." He crossed his arms.
Lainey's mouth felt dry and her face turned red. "Uh..." she started to say.
"Never mind that. You will have homework tonight while the rest of the class doesn't." He stormed up to her and gave her a worksheet. He went back to the classroom and said, "As I was saying..." and droned on.
Lainey groaned. "I'm having such a good day, why does he try so hard to ruin it?" she mumbled to herself.
Nick turned to Lainey. "If you want...I could help you with your homework later. I can go to your house...or you can come to mine," he said and scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah that would help actually. Thanks." She smiled at him. "I'll just come to your house."
For the rest of the class, they wrote a few essays and turned them in after the bell rang.
---
"Hey Lainey, come on in!" Nick exclaimed as he opened the door for Lainey to go in.
"Why thank you sir," Lainey said jokingly and they laughed.
"So you're having difficulties with the poems we're learning in class?"
She was looking through her bag and pulled out sour gummy worms. "Finally!" she exclaimed, opening the bag and eating it.
"Uh hello Lainey? I asked you if you were having difficulties-"
"Yes I heard you. I just needed some snacks, but yes I'm having a hard time with those poems. I don't understand it. Heck I don't think it's even English!"
Nick chuckled. "It's English, just written back in the 1800s."
"Why don't they translate it into modern English?"
He shrugged. "I guess for it to be used in English class."
"Ugh." She ate a few more gummy worms.
"Let's get started."
They went into the kitchen and sat down at the table. They took out their papers and English book. "We have to analyze this poem. What do you think it's about?" Nick said.
"Ugh I don't know. I don't understand it at all," Lainey said, looking frustrated. "I'm more of a music person...speaking of music..." She took out her iPod out of her bag. He snatched it from her. "Hey! What are you doing?" She shot him a look.
"No music until after we're done." He tried to keep a serious look on his face.
"Music helps me with my schoolwork." She crossed her arms.
He sighed. "Okay you can turn the music on, but please keep it on a low volume." He gave her back the iPod.
She grinned. "Yes!" She turned it on and played music.
"Since analyzing the whole poem at once is too difficult, maybe we can analyze each line, step-by-step. After we've done all the lines then we can piece it all together."
"Sounds like a plan."
They worked on the poems for an hour.
"You're doing great Lainey," Nick said, smiling at her.
"Really? I don't think I am but I'll take your word for it," Lainey said.
They looked into each other's eyes and gazed at each other. Nick was smiling at her and Lainey felt herself blush and a weird feeling in her stomach. When they looked at each other for too long, Lainey quickly spoke up, "Uh we should probably take a break." She shuffled some of her stuff around, looking flustered.
Nick cleared his throat. "Oh...um yeah of course." He nervously brushed his hair back and he felt his face turn red. Hmmm...what exactly was that about? He thought to himself, feeling confused.
What was that weird feeling I had just now? I never felt like that around Nick before. Maybe I thought us staring at each other was awkward. That was strange, like there was some weird connection or something. She thought to herself. She shrugged off the feeling. "Want any candy?" she asked him, holding up a few bags of M&M's and Skittles.
"No thanks, I'm good."
An awkward silence fell between them. Why does everything feel so different the past few minutes? Lainey thought to herself.
"I need to go walk my dogs," Nick spoke up. "You can help me walk one of the dogs if you want."
"Yeah I'd love to."
They went outside to where the dogs were. "I'll walk Max and you can walk Piper since you're small and short yourself," Nick said.
"Hey I'm not THAT short," Lainey piped up and crossed her arms.
"I didn't mean that as an offense." Nick chuckled. "I think it's cute actually." His eyes widened and his face flushed when he realized what he just said. Did I say that out loud? Maybe she didn't hear me. He thought to himself.
Lainey's mouth opened in surprise and she felt her face flush. Did he just say what I thought he said? Did he just subtly say that I'm cute? No he couldn't have. He's my best friend; he was probably just being nice. She thought to herself. "Oh...uh...cool!" She winced at what she said back. She couldn't think of anything else to say. Did I just say cool? Maybe I was supposed to say thanks...no that could have made things weird. It probably wasn't meant in that way! She thought.
"Uh...here's the leash." He handed the leash to her and she took it. They put the leash around the dogs and walked down the street. I probably just made things very weird. He thought to himself.
"This neighborhood is quiet and peaceful." The small dog, Piper, started barking. "What is it girl?" She asked her in a baby voice.
"Piper's just like that. When she does bark, it's usually for no reason." They laughed.
"So Max never barks?"
"Only when necessary."
They kept talking while they walked a few streets. They both still felt a bit awkward but it went away when they got back to the house. They got the leash of the dogs and went back inside.
"So let's get back to work," Nick said and they sat down.
"Okay," Lainey mumbled. She didn't like the assignment but being around Nick made it better. They worked on it for another hour and then they were done.
**********
A/N: So Lainey, Nick, and Shayla's band, The Thunderbolts, are booked at the cafe!
What do you think of Lainey and Nick when he helped her with her English homework? Anything happening there?
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