Friday, July 4, 2008

Forcing Love & Friendship - Chapter 10

Back in Joe and Nick's room, Joe was tickling the stuffing out of Sarah. Just as Sarah was about to pass out from being tickled so much, she got a tingling sensation in her brain. Her eyes widened and she gasped.

"My Sarah Senses are tingling!" She yelled. Joe stopped tickling her.
"What?" He asked.
"Gabi's in trouble!" She ran to the lobby with Joe right behind her. They got down and sure enough, Gabi was laying on the floor, seemingly unconscious. Nick ran up to them.

"Sarah! Gabi is-"
"What did you do to her?!" Joe yelled.
"I didn-"
"Nick didn't do anything!" Sarah yelled. She got down on her knees and looked at Gabi. "She's still breathing. I know what happened."
"What is it?!"
"Well, it's hard to explain. See, sometimes she has these... let's call them.. visions."
"What?!"
"Okay, sometimes she just passes out, and kinda... dreams, if you will. She always wakes up and draws pictures immediately afterwards. She always says that she sees pictures. And then, later on, those pictures have something to do with whatever big thing happened."
"Um... okay?"
"To put it simply, she can sometimes see her future. Kinda."
"Woah." Joe said.
"Will she be okay?" Nick asked.
"She'll be fine. Unless..."
"Unless what?!"
"Nevermind, it's nothing important. Just lift her onto the couch. I can't do it, my arms are too weak."

Joe and Nick lifted Gabi onto the couch. Nick was really worried.

"She should wake up in about a half an hour."
"What if she doesn't?" Nick asked.
"Then call 911." Sarah walked away, Joe followed.
"Where are you going?!" Nick asked.
"To my hotel room. I'm gonna wake up Keila and then watch some TV."
"Yeah, I'm coming, too." Joe said.

Nick sat next to Gabi on the couch. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. He hoped she would be okay.

"Oh, by the way!" Sarah yelled after pushing the elevator button. "She usually has a breakdown after she wakes up. Just warning you. I hope you don't mind a soggy shirt!" She door closed, sending Sarah and Joe to the third floor.

After a half an hour of staring at Gabi, Nick saw her eyes flutter open. She groaned and rubbed her head as she sat up. She looked around.

"W-Where am I?" She asked.
"You're at the Fantasy Hotel." Nick said. Gabi turned her head to see a curly haired boy about her age.
"Who are you?" She asked.
"I'm Nick... you don't remember?"
Gabi closed her eyes for a minute, then they shot open.
"...Gabi? Are you al-" Before Nick could finish, Gabi flung her arms around him, hugging him tightly as she cried. Nick wrapped his arms around her.

"It's so weird! Why! Why!" She yelled.
"It's okay! It's okay.." Nick comforted her.

She finally calmed down and pulled herself off of Nick. She sat up straight, still crying slightly.

"What did you see?" Nick asked calmly.
"I saw a big rock sitting around glass pieces. And I saw... fireworks. Beautiful, bright, blasting fireworks. And hands... two hands holding each other. And tears. Tears falling down into a puddle. And a cookie. A huge cookie in the shape of a heart, broken in half. And... a ring. A shiny silver ring. And an explosion. A huge, fiery explosion. And a knife. Just a knife, but it looked like somebody dropped it. And a cup. A cup that spilled... it spilled something red. It.. was more like a goblet."
"Wow..." Nick whispered.
"And... one more thing. I saw..." She was interrupted by a loud shattering noise. They both turned there heads to see a huge rock on the floor near the glass door along with shattered glass. The manager walked in and grabbed the rock. It had a piece of paper taped onto it. He took it off and read the words made from cut out magazine letters:

YOU KNOW WHAT YOU MUST DO!

The manager acted confused. He called the hotel engineer (janitor) to clean up the mess and order a new glass sheet for the door. He walked away with the rock in hand.


Nick turned to Gabi.
"Well, part one of your vision came true." He said, kinda freaked out.
"What do you mean?"
"The rock around glass. That would be it right there." He pointed to the glass mess.
"Oh. I suppose." She was breathing heavily and shaking a little.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes. I'm fine." She actually wasn't sure.
"Do you... wanna hang out? Go some places?"
"Um... okay."

They stood up and walked out the back entrance. Nick took Gabi's hand and led her to a park. There sat a sparkling fountain surrounded by benches. Oh no, we're not gonna go there are we? Gabi thought. Her stomach started churning. Nick led her to a bench and Gabi stiffened. She let go of his hand and kept her head facing the fountain. She started shaking, she hoped he would believe she was shaking because of the 'vision'.

"Here." Nick said, handing her a piece of paper. She took it and read seven numbers. His phone number?! She shoved it in her pocket.
"Thanks." She said purposely with no emotion whatsoever. There was suddenly an awkward silence. Then Gabi's cell phone rang. She let out a breath of relief.

"Hello?" She asked.
"Hey, Gabi. Heard you had a vision." The voice said.
"Um.. yeah, I did."
"So what'd you see?"
"Um, could I tell you about it later?"
"Yeah. Why? You on a hot date right now or something?"
"No! No, I just don't feel like talking about it at the moment."
"Whatever you say. So who ya with?"
"How did you know I was-"
"Ah, I know things."
"Nobody in particular. Just a friend."
"Okay then. So... where are you?"
"Miami. On vacation."
"Oh. When you gonna be back?"
"Sometimes in August. Look, I gotta go. Talk to you later?"
"Kay. Bye, Gabs."
"Bye." She closed her phone.

"So who was that?" Nick asked.
"Is it really any of your business who I talk on the phone with?!" Gabi snapped. She was shocked at what she said.
"No, I guess not. Sorry."
"It was my cousin, Luke."
"Oh."

Gabi's phone rang again.

"Hello?" She answered a bit annoyed.
"What?!....Oh no!....Kay, be right over!" She closed the phone to a confused Keila.
"I gotta run. Sorry!" She ran away from Nick and back into the hotel. She ran to her room and opened the door with wide eyes. Sarah and Joe were kissing on the couch.

"Ohh...Sorry..I guess I'll go away now.." She said. All three of them were blushing. Gabi closed the door behind her and heard Sarah giggling. Gabi was confused. Sarah never giggles! She looked through the peephole and saw Joe whispering something in Sarah's ear, making Sarah giggle. Gabi shrugged it off and opened her phone. She dialed the number and waited.

"Hello?" The person answered.
"Hey, Keila. Sorry for earlier. Now... what did you want?"
"I wanted you and Nick to meet me and Kevin at Goose Park."
"Ohhhhh. Whoops. Hehh... um, okay then. Bye." She closed her phone and headed down to the lobby.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Forcing Love & Friendship - Chapter 9

The next morning at 7:28 AM, Sarah's eyes fluttered open. She glanced at the clock sitting on the small table beside her bed.

"WOAH!!" She yelled as loud as humanly possible as her body shot up. "It's 7:30! Get up, get up, get up!" She shot up out of bed and ran through the large hotel room as she yelled. Gabi and Keila groaned as they dragged themselves out of and got dressed. Sarah got dressed in black shorts and a red graphic guitar t-shirt with red converse shoes. Keila got dressed in tan capri pants with tons of pockets and a light blue tank top with random lyrics written all over it. And Gabi dressed in jean shorts, and a red tank top with stars, with black and white Adidas shoes.

By the time they were done getting ready (and getting granola bars from the vending machine), it was eight o' clock. They waited on the couch in the lobby. After a few minutes, Kevin, Nick and Joe came walking in. The girls thought the boys looked more attractive than usual. And the boys thought the same about the girls.

"Alright! Let's go!" Joe yelled and grabbed Sarah and Keila's hands and pulled them as he ran out of the hotel. Nick and Kevin laughed and walked out with Gabi. They walked over to the place the concert was going to be held.

"You girls can sit in the chairs down there while we rehearse. You can see how well we do." Nick said and smiled. Gabi and Keila sat in the front row and Sarah sat in the very back.

"I'm just seeing how well you sound from here!" She yelled. Joe smirked and they started playing Just Friends. Nick kept looking at Gabi, and Gabi kept looking at Nick. Gabi started feeling uneasy, so she moved to the middle section. Sarah, being the Curious George she is, went to the seat next to Gabi.

"Anything wrong?" Sarah asked.
"I don't know..." Gabi couldn't remove her eyes from Nick.
"Do you.. like him?"
"I don't know..."
"I think he likes you."
"How can you tell?"
"He keeps looking at you and smiling. Plus, he looks at you when he sings Just Friends and When You Look Me In the Eyes, and Hello Beautiful and...
"I got it, Sarah! Thank you; that's enough."
"My point is, he thinks you're wonderful."
"How do you know?"
"Joe told me that Nick said he thinks you're wonderful." Sarah smiled.
Gabi was silent.
"You know, Gabi... I think you should talk to him."
"I've talked to him!"
"I mean, a one on one conversation."
"How can I manage that?! I can barely go an hour with him without feeling weird in my stomach."
"Well... that could mean a lot of things. It could mean you don't like him, you do like him, he smells weird, you're too darn nervous all the time..."
"I get it!"
"Well, you should..." She was interrupted by Joe yelling through the mic.

"How'd we do?" He yelled.
"You were awesome!!" Sarah yelled back way louder.
"What did you think, Gabi?"
She tried her best to smile and gave a thumbs up.
"Great! Keila?"
"Well, you were very loud from here." She said in her normal voice and smiled.
"Awesome!"
"Whaaaaat neeeeext?" Sarah yelled.
"Next is Burnin' Up." Nick said.

Gabi sighed and looked around as they started playing. She sunk in her seat and closed her eyes as she listened to the song. Sarah melted during Joe's part. He winked at her and she slid down her seat with a smile. Keila enjoyed the song. She was one of the few people who thought of them as just a band; meaning, she didn't have any weird crushes on any of them.

Gabi couldn't stop wondering about Nick. Did he really like her? Did she like him back? All the questions running through her mind. She opened her eyes to see Nick singing the chorus to Burnin' Up. She felt her heart flutter as she watched him. Maybe she did like him.

They finished an hour later. The boys had the rest of the day off until six o' clock. So they eventually decided to go to Flamingo Gardens. Flamingo Gardens was a 'Wildlife Sanctuary' filled with a bunch of beautiful places to see. Birds, flowers, 'wildlife', etc.

They arrived there and decided to split up until one o' clock. Sarah went with Joe, Keila went with Kevin, and Gabi went with Nick. Gabi was a bit silent in the deciding conversation, and somehow got paired up with Nick. She wondered how she would do, considering she always felt kinda sick around him.

Sarah and Joe pretty much just goofed around wherever they went. They made each other laugh so hard, people stared at them with weird faces as they passed by, which made them laugh even more. They had such a wonderful time together; they didn't want the time to pass as quickly as it was.

Keila and Kevin had fun wherever they went. Even at the boring places, they would do something to make the other laugh. They became pretty good friends by one o' clock.

Gabi and Nick didn't talk that much. Gabi chewed on gum to avoid a number of things. When they got to Flamingo Island, Nick admitted to her that he liked her, which caused Gabi to swallow her gum. Gabi talked even less pretty much the whole time.

At one o' clock, they met up at the Cafe place and ate lunch together. They decided to go see a movie after they finished eating. They saw Get Smart. Joe and Sarah sat up front, Keila and Kevin sat in the middle, and Gabi sat in the very back, Nick sitting next to her.

During the funny parts of the movie, everyone laughed but Gabi. She smirked a little, but didn't really laugh. Nick noticed that she looked a bit unhappy.

"It's okay to laugh." He whispered. Gabi sighed.
"Not when you don't feel like laughing." She whispered back, not turning her head away from the screen. Nick knew that something was wrong. He didn't know what, though. And he hoped to find out soon.

By the time the movie was over, Joe and Sarah were holding hands. They liked each other, and they weren't afraid to admit it. During the movie, Joe had kissed her on the cheek, sending shivers down her spine.

They left the theater and went back to the hotel at 3:51 PM. Kevin decided to shop for random things, Keila went to take a nap, Sarah and Joe hung out at Joe and Nick's hotel room watching TV and stuff. Gabi sat in the lobby thinking of what to do. Nick watched her from behind. She looked sad. She sighed multiple times. After a while, she finally planted her face in her hands, letting small tears slowly roll down her cheek and soak into her hands.

Nick walked over to her and sat next her on the couch.

"What's wrong?" He asked her sweetly.
"Nick!" She said quickly as she lifted her head up and sniffed. "Nothing's wrong."
"You don't just cry for no reason."
"It's happened before..."
"Come on, Gabi. You can tell me."
"Nothing is wrong!" She stood up and started to walk away. Nick stood up and gently grabbed her shoulder and turned her around.
"Gabi..." He started to say, but stopped. More tears flowed down Gabi's face. She took off her glasses and put them in her pocket. She wiped her tears and looked at Nick. He smiled and Gabi fell to the floor.

"Gabi! Whats..." Nick's voice faded. Everything blurred way more than usual, and went black. She saw pictures. She saw fireworks, hands, falling teardrops, a broken heart cookie, a ring, an explosion, a knife, and a spilled cup. The images slowly spun around in her mind. She was having what some people call a vision.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Forcing Love & Friendship - Chapter 8

The next day, Keila, Gabi, and Sarah packed up and got ready for their flight to Miami. Keila and Sarah told Gabi to find out what hotel the Jonas Brothers were staying at. So she went out the door and immediately bumped into Joe Jonas.

"Oh, hey Gabi!" He said with a smile.
"Hello." Gabi said, not sure how to ask.
"Okay, so I just came to say goodbye to you."
"What?"
"Oh, we're leaving in an hour for Miami."
"Oh. I see."
"So... goodbye!" He hugged her.
"Oh! So, just wondering, but.."
"Yeah?"
"What hotel might you be staying at?" She bit her lip.
"Oh. Okay... we're staying at the Fantasy hotel. Actually, we've made reservations at the Fantasy hotel for each of our stops."
"Really?!" Her face lit up.
"Yeah. Why?"
"Oh, no reason, really." She lied. "I was just curious."
"Oh okay. Well, bye, Gabi. See you someday soon?"
"Oh, sooner than you realize."
"What?"
"Nothing! Bye!" They hugged again and Joe walked away. To not seem suspicious, Gabi walked to the Soda Machine and got a Coke. She walked back into her room and Sarah ran up to her.

"Well?" Sarah asked anxiously.
"Oh. Fantasy Hotel. For all the cities, actually."
"No way! Sweet! You didn't happen to find out what room number, did you?"
"I'm not sure they know their room number yet."
"Well, I'm sure luck is on our side. And just in case, I'm wearing red!"
"Why red?"
"Because, red is the luckiest color!"
"None of us were wearing red the day we got here."
"Well, now we need to push it! Now put on some red!"
"Whatever you say..."

They got on the plane later that day and arrived in Miami. They checked into the Fantasy Hotel. They stayed in Room 57. Sarah snuck into the hotel office to confirm that the Jonas Brothers were staying there, too. They were, but this time Kevin had his own room on the first floor (14), and Nick and Joe shared a room on the second floor (31). Sarah had made the decision that they should all lay low until tomorrow, to avoid suspicion. So they stayed cooped inside the hotel room all day. They ordered room service to keep themselves occupied.

At 11:21 PM, Gabi decided to go out to the vending machine and grab a soda, since it was late, she figured the boys would be sleeping. She walked to the elevator, pressed the button, listened unwillingly to the faint jazz music playing, and walked out to the hall that led to the vending machine. She entered the little 'room' place where the machines and stuff were. She pressed the button for Sprite, slid the dollar in, waited, heard a BANG!, and reached down to her soda. As she held the slightly wet can, she heard a familiar voice.

"Gabi?!" She voice asked.

Her eyes widened, then shut tight as she froze in her weird position. Oh no! He found me! What to do, what to do?! She grabbed her soda and straightened up, keeping her head down, letting her hair fall over her face. She hoped he would believe she was not Gabi.

"Gabi, is that you?" The person asked. Gabi shook her head and walked away. Unfortunately, her plan took a sudden U turn. She tripped and fell flat on her face, still gripping that Sprite. The person helped her up.

"Are you okay? Do you and your friends have falling problems?" He smiled.
"I'm fine. And no, we do not!" Gabi said, refraining from looking at him. She knew it was Nick.
"Okay, sorry. What are you doing here?"
"Oh. It's... part of our vacation! See, we're going to.. some concerts. All over the place. For the whole summer." Gabi barely got that out of her.
"I see."
"Well, bye!" She quickly turned around and started walking away. But she was stopped by a hand gently grabbing her arm. She turned around.
"Come hang out tomorrow?" Nick smiled at her. Gabi half froze.
"O-Okay. When?"
"Come to the rehearsal with us? You and your friends? At eight?"
"Sure."
"Great!"

Gabi quickly went back to her room. She opened the door, walked in, closed the door with her back to it, closed her eyes, and sighed.

"What happened? You took way longer than any normal person!" Keila was suspicious.
"Oh. Nothing. Let's just say, we're going somewhere at eight."
"What? Where are we going?"
"To watch a certain band rehearse."

Gabi walked over to the couch and sat, casually sipping her Sprite. Keila and Sarah looked at each other with wide eyes. They turned to Gabi.

"What happened?!" Sarah asked loudly.
"Nothing!"
"Gabriella Montez!"
"Uh, my last name is Rodriguez..?!"
"Don't you know when I'm being silly?! Just tell!"
"Okay, fine! I was getting a soda and Nick found me there!"
"Aaaaaand...?!"
"And he asked if we could come with them to rehearsal at eight."
"Alright! Soooo..."
"What?" Gabi looked scared.
"Did he... look at you?"
"What?!"
"Did he look at you?!"
"Um, yeah...?"
"I mean... how did he look at you?"
"Well, I tried my best not to look at him... for fear of.. barfing. So I didn't really see. But he kept smiling at me..."
"Yes! La la la la la!" Sarah started skipping around.
"Sarah, are you hyper or something?"
"Yyyyeeeeeeessss!!" She yelled loudly. She was now jumping on the couch.
"WELL, I'm going to sleep." Keila said.
"Me too." Gabi said.
"Yeah, ok, fine, I'll sleep." Sarah said. And they all went to sleep. (After, of course, thinking of the random thoughts in their heads.) Tomorrow was going to be great!... Or was it?