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.