CHAPTER TEN ~ Revelations

   "Nicole, come on, answer me.  What did he do to you?" Ashley asked again, pulling his sister close to comfort her and trying to take the pain away from her.
    "Ash, all he did was hit me...nothing more than usual," Nicole answered, trying to hide the pain she was feeling.
    When Nicole said this, Jacob realized he shouldn't be eavesdropping on the conversation so he quietly walked back around the corner, and started yelling, "Ashley.....Nicole....we're gonna have lunch now.  Would you care to join us?"
    "Ashley, don't tell these guys about dad, please.  I don't want them to think too badly of our family."
    "I won't, hun.  I don't want them thinking bad about us or our family either," Ashley answered before yelling to Jacob that they were on their way.
    Jacob quickly turned and walked back towards the picnic table to wait for his new friends, and he hoped that at sometime in the near future, they would feel close enough to him to tell him what they wanted to hide from everyone.
    "Hey, thanks for leaving us some food," Ashley said as Nicole sat down next to Jacob and started dishing up some of the salads that they had brought out.  "Hey, are we missing someone?" Ashley asked when he realized that yet again, Ikaika wasn't interested in spending anytime getting to know any of the others.
    "Yeah, Ikaika went and found a phone so he could call Malia again," Paul said as he noticed the shy glances that Nicole and Jacob were exchanging.  As the group continued laughing and joking, Rachel came out to find them because Tyjuan was looking for them as they were ten minutes late for their dance rehearsals.
    "Hey, guys, you're back to your bad habit of being late for meetings...come on, let's get going.  Tyjuan is waiting for you," Rachel yelled hating to break up the bonding session that she had witnessed.  "Nicole, can you come with me for a few minutes?" she asked as Nicole walked into the building.
    "Sure.  What can I do for you?" Nicole asked as Ashley stopped to wait for his sister.
    "Ashley, get going.  You're late enough as it is.  I need to talk to your sister.  I promise, I'll bring her to the dance studio when I'm done," Rachel said, shoving Ashley to get him moving.  As she and Nicole walked into her office, Rachel started the conversation.  "Uhhh...I don't really know how to say this, but...I guess I'll just come out and say it.   Your mom called me this morning, and well, she was hoping there would be someway for you to move to Orlando and stay closer to Ashley.  She mentioned some reason for wanting you to be here instead of at home, but she rushed through saying it, and I didn't really want to ask her to repeat it," Rachel explained.
    "Does this mean that Ashley is going to have to leave?" Nicole asked, scared that she had ruined her brother's chance.
    "No, Nicole...far from that.  It's just that, well, as I'm sure you experienced last night and this morning, those guys can be.....somewhat....goofy, I guess is a nice way to put it, and well, obviously we want the guys to bond without having extra people staying in the house all the time."
    "So, you told my mom there wouldn't be anyway possible for me to stay?" Nicole asked, afraid to go back home to face her step-father's wrath for coming to visit her brother in Orlando.
    "Nicole, please, you're an adult...we can't stop you from doing anthing that you want to do.  Well, what I have been trying to get to is that, well...you'll need another place to stay here...and I've got a huge house, as Ashley and Erik can both attest too.  Well...would you like to move into my house as my roommate while Ashley finishes up the committment to the process he's involved in?"
    "Huh?  You hardly know me, and you're inviting me to move in with you?" Nicole asked surprised.
    "Well, yeah.  I know your brother cares deeply about you, and I can tell that there is something bothering him about you being in California with your step-dad."
    "Can I think about it for a little bit?  I mean, this is a big adjustment," Nicole said, knowing full-well the reason her mom didn't want her back in California right now.
    "Sure.  You will need to be outta the house by Sunday night though," Rachel said.  "I know that you had originally been planning on staying a couple of weeks, but honestly, we do need to sort of limit the amount of time there are visitors staying at the house.  Lou, Mark, and I discussed that this morning while the guys were in meetings.  They are going to be informed of the time limit to visits tonight at a group meeting before supper," Rachel said, hoping she wouldn't make Nicole too upset.
    "I understand, and I think about a week with all these guys may be all i'm capable of handling," Nicole said as there was a knock on the office door.
    "Come in," Rachel said.
    "Hi, you said I had another student here," Ethan Matthews said as he walked into Rachel's office.
    "Yeah, thanks for stopping by, Ethan.  This is Nicole Angel.  She's the sister of Ashley, and you'll be working with both of them," Rachel said.
    "It's a pleasure meeting you, Ms. Angel.  You certainly live up to your name," Ethan said, taken in by her beauty.  "It will be my pleasure teaching you and your brother," he added.
    "Well, since the tutoring sessions will be starting next Monday, I think that I'm gonna take Nicole down to watch her brother in dance rehearsals," Rachel said, not feeling comfortable with the way that Ethan was looking at Nicole.
    "Thanks for getting me out of there, Rachel.  I wasn't comfortable with the way he was looking at me."
    "I wasn't really happy with that either.  Listen, if he keeps making you feel that way, let me know, and I'll find you a new tutor, alright?" Rachel said.  "Ahhhh...here we are, let's go watch the guys," Rachel said leading the way into the dance studio and over to a couch that was left in the room.
    "Wow, they are all pretty good," Nicole said, particularly impressed by the dancing that Trevor was doing.
    "Yeah, most of them are pretty talented both vocally and dance skill wise," Rachel commented as Erik, who was part of the group not actually dancing at the moment came over and sat down next to his secret girlfriend.
    "Hi Erik.  How has Ty ben treating you?" Rachel asked trying desperately to calm her nerves.
    "It's been the same as all week, not that you've cared before," he said jokingly.  "Hi Nicole, I hope you enjoy watching all us hot guys sweat for ya," he added as the entire group was called up to learn the next part of the dance routine.
    "He is just a little full of himself isn't he?" Nicole asked.
    "Well, yeah, I guess he can be.  But he's really sweet too," Rachel said, realizing that what Nicole said was the truth, but she knew that the previous night she had seen a side of Erik that he was probably trying to hide from the others to avoid teasing that she was sure he had experienced because of his caring attitude while he was in school.
    "Yeah, well I haven't seen the sweet side of him yet," Nicole said.  "Hey, I know that Trev said something this morning about needing to find somewhere to stay, because he wasn't included in your rearrangment plans.  Have you figured that out yet?"
    "Nope, actually, after he left to ask me, your mom called, and I was thinking more about that then anything else.  I better go figure something out," Rachel said as Ty gave all the guys a fifteen minute break.
    "Ummm...Rach, I don't mean to be pushy, but have you figured out where I'm gonna be sleeping?" Trevor asked when he noticed that she was watching their practice with Nicole.
    "Actually, I was just trying to solve that little problem. I should have it figured out before y'all leave here for the day," Rachel said.  "Hey, Ashley, can I talk to you for a minute?"
    "Sure...what you want, Rach?" he asked as she led him away from the others.
    "Well, you know about our little problem as far as sleeping arrangements are concerned for all of you?" Rachel asked, and when he nodded his head in the affirmative, she continued.  "Well, I was sorta wondering if there was a guy you would be willing to allow to share a room with you and your sister?"
    "Well, really, I suppose I should say Bryan, Ikaika, Mike, or Erik, since none of them seem interested in her romantically, but actually, I'd have to say that if one of the others is going to share a room with us, I'd rather have Jacob," Ashley said after thinking about it for a few minutes.
    "Alright, then I'll let everyone know the new arrangement at the pre-supper meeting tonight.  Oh...and I'm going to tell you right now, and I've already mentioned it to your sister, Lou, Mark, and I decided that there needed to be a limit on the length of stay for any visitors to the house," Rachel said.
    "But...I want my sister to stay until the final decision is made," Ashley said, trying to find a way to keep Nicole close to him.
    "Ashley, don't worry.  I've got a way for her to stay, but she can't stay at your house here the entire time the cameras are taping y'all," Rachel said as they joined the others.
    "Well, I guess that is most of my life story," Nicole said as Jacob and Trevor both sat by her side totally engrossed in whatever tale she had been telling.
    "Aweeee...that's soooo sweet," Jacob said as Tyjuan came over to get the guys back to work.  "Will you make sure that we ride home together?" Jacob asked Nicole before he went go get into his line for dance practice.  "I want to have some more time to get to know you better," he added.
    "I'll talk to Rachel and see what I can do," Nicole said, blushing because she sensed a major attraction to Jacob, even though she just met him.

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