CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE ~ Doing the Right Thing...Or Not
"Guys, lets not believe everything that Ikaika and Malia are saying just yet," Trevor whispered. "You know how they hate Nicole, and will do anything to hurt her."
"I don't believe a damn word they say, but I don't want Ash to get hurt, so lets just keep this from him right now," Paul suggested.
"Guys, they are set out to hurt Nicole, and like it or not Ash is going to hear this sooner or later. Wouldn't you rather he hear it from you, his friends, then some tabloid? Don't put it passed Ikaika to spread this rumour to the public. He has camera's recording his every move, and I wouldn't be surprised if he just accidently let this little secret slip," Carrah finished as Jacob joined back up with the group followed closely by Nicole.
"What rumour guys?"
"Oh, Jacob, nothing don't worry about it," Trevor put an end to the conversation. "We'll talk about it later, but right now we have to get back to rehersal."
"Jake, before you go, I want to know how your meeting with Rach went. She didn't forbid you to see me did she?"
"No, she didn't and she had then I would have broke that rule too. She's just got me on house arrest for a little while which means your going to have to come and visit me A LOT!" Jacob leaned in and kissed Nicole.
"Jake, stop sucking face with my sister and come join the rest of us for practice," Ashley hollered.
"I'll talk to you during our next break, alright pumpkin?"
"Sure," Nicole turned around and started walking out towards the parking lot. She found a tree off by itself and went and took a seat under it so that she could think further about what Rachel has said earlier. "He's here for a reason, don't jeopardize his chance by being a distraction for him, alright." Rach's words repeated themselves over and over in Nicole's head. "Am I really going to jeapordize his career? If he doesn't get choosen to be a member of O-Town am I the reason? Should I let Jacob go before things get to serious and everyone gets hurt? Do I really want him to risk everything to be with me or am I simply being selfish because I think we were meant to be with each other?" Nicole thought outloud to herself as tears started rolling down her face. "The best thing for me to do would be to leave, so that I wouldn't be there to tempt him to break any more rules. Maybe I could leave until the final five are choosen and then come back and rejoin them once O-Town is a legitimate group."
"Nicole, is everything alright?" Carrah interrupted her thoughts.
"Everything is fine," Nicole quickly wiped the tears away from her face, and forced a smile. "Did you want something?"
"Ash, saw you take off and was a bit worried so I agreed to come look for you. Are you sure everything is alright? You look a little bit upset."
"I'm just thinking about last night and some things that Rach said this morning."
"Would you like to talk about it?"
"Thank you Carrah, but I'd rather not talk about this morning. It's kind of a personal battle that I think I've already made a conclusion about."
"Well, what about last night? Did you and Jacob have a good time?"
"It was one of the most wonderful nights of my whole entire life. The dinner, the dancing, the company..."
"The make out session.," Carrah joked.
"We didn't really make out, just kind of shared a few passionate kisses, but yes that was wonderful too, and to wake up this morning on the beach in his arms gave me the most amazing feeling."
"It sounds like you two really like each other. He's already sharing his clothes with you," Carrah smiled looking at Nicole's jersey.
"Yeah, I really do like him," Nicole thought again. "And since I really like him I'm going to leave so that I don't hurt him," she thought quietly to herself.
Back in the studio, the guys were taking a five minute breather to catch their breath and get a quick drink of water if they wanted. Jacob, Ashley, Paul, Trevor, Mike, Bryan, and Erik were all standing in one corner talking when Ikaika joined them, a sly look on his face.
"Hi, guys! 'Sup?"
"Not much," Trevor answered for everyone knowing that Ikaika was looking to cause problems.
"Underwood, congrats man. I heard your bed was really rockin' last night."
"What!?!"
"Well, you were with the 'Angel Slut', and you weren't exactly quiet."
"I have no flippin' clue what your talking about, man, but what you heard was not me and Nicole, and if it was you have no right inquiring about it," Jacob lunged forward.
"You know if I were you I'd stop talking about my sister the way you have been or your going to pay for it, Ashley yelled, being held back by Mike.
"Hey, I can't help it if your sister is sleeping with Jacob," Ikaika grinned slyly knowing that camera's were recording every word he was saying.
"Alright guys back to work," Tyjuan yelled as he sensed the boys getting a bit rowdy.
"You better get checked out by a doctor Jake. You never know what kind of diseases those Cali girls could be carrying."
"You flippin' better watch your back man," Ashley growled. "Just be careful of what you say and who you say it too because you never know when a seemingly nice boy can turn nasty!"
Nicole and Carrah sat and talked for a while longer before both girls got up and headed inside the building. Carrah turned to the right to head back to the rehersal room, while Nicole went straight down to Rachel's office. "Rach, do you have a minute?"
"Not really, Nic. Can we talk later?"
"Rach, I swear this will only take one minute."
"Fine, come in. What is it?"
"Rach, I'm going home tomorrow!"