"Sure, what you want, man?"
"I noticed quite a few letters from different Universities and Colleges on the desk in Nicole's room, and I was just wondering what was up with them," Jacob answered.
"I don't know, bro. Nikki hasn't mentioned them to me at all. I knew she had sent out a bunch of applications before we came out here, and I know that she had notified them of her new address when she came out here with me. But she hasn't mentioned anything about hearing back from any school," Ashley replied, confused as to why his sister hadn't mentioned the letters to him.
Meanwhile, Erik had snuck out of his clean-up job in the kitchen and was eavesdropping on the conversation that Jacob and Ashley were having. "Mr. Estrada, what do you think you're doing?" Nicole asked noticing him lurking outside of the living room.
"Huh? Oh, hi, Nicole. I was just looking for your brother and Jacob," Erik answered, ashamed that he had been caught.
"Well, I highly doubt that either of them are on the floor underneath the door," Nicole said. "Now get your ass back to work."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard her, Erik," Rachel said, having heard the commotion. "You are the reason this food fight got started, and you are going to do your share in cleaning up the mess before we eat," she said firmly.
"Why am I taking orders from Ashley's sister?" Erik asked. "For that matter, what is she still doing down here?"
"She is here keeping me and her brother company, Erik-Michael. Do you have a problem with that?" Rachel asked, realizing that most of the attitude being displayed was because she had decided to not persue a relationship with him.
"Yeah...it's not fair to the rest of us. The rest of us can't have family or friends staying to keep us company for the duration of the group," Erik spat out.
"Erik, get your lazy ass into that kitchen and start cleaning. And don't freaking complain about not having anyone here to keep you company. Your mom and step-dad live fifteen minutes from Orlando. You could see them anytime you chose too, you never did," Rachel yelled back, alerting Jacob and Ashley to their presence in the hallway.
"Hey...what are you three doing out here?" Ashley asked, wondering what they had been yelling about.
"Just convincing Erik that he needed to get his butt back into the kitchen to finish cleaning up," Rachel answered quickly as Trevor and Ikaika came out of the kitchen announcing that the cleanup was complete.
"Good. Nicole, are you going to wow us with your culinary expertise?" Rachel asked.
"Sure...but I'll need some help with the salad and desert," Nicole answered.
"I'll help ya, Nic. It'll be just like home," Ashley offered. "Now everyone else, go find something else to do...we'll let you know when it's done."
"If you need to go to the store, here's the keys to my car," Rachel said as she herded the rest of the group out of the kitchen and into the living room.
"What are we gonna do until they finish cooking?" Erik whined, still upset about Rachel's decision.
"Here's a brilliant idea....y'all can PRACTICE," Rachel suggested. "You have your first official performance in just about two weeks."
"We can't practice without Ashley," Erik continued.
"Well than figure out something else to do. I'm not a social director, ya know," Rachel snapped, wondering what it was that had attracted her to him in the first place.
"Woah, sounds like someone needs to get laid," Trevor joked with Jacob so no one else could hear him.
"Naaaa...I think she's just getting frustrated with Erik's attitude," Jacob whispered back. "I know, let's all play a game of some sort," he suggested to the group.
"Like what?" Ikaika asked, not sure he really wanted to play a game with the kids he had been stuck working with in the group.
"I don't know...charades?" Jacob suggested.
"How about strip poker?" Erik suggested, wanting to see Rachel get naked.
"How about NOT, Erik," Rachel replied, while the others all agreed with her about not playing strip poker.
"Do you have any games?" Trevor asked.
"Well, I think I've got Trivial Pursuit around here somewhere," Rachel answered. "Or there's always Pictionary or Twister."
"Let's play Twister," Trevor suggested, not wanting to embarrass himself by showing his lack of drawing talent.
Everyone else agreed, so Rachel went upstairs to see if she could find the game. "Alright, I'll be the spinner until someone else falls out," she said as she set the mat out on the floor.
"That's no fun," Jacob complained, thinking of some of the interesting positions that they could find themselves in.
"Well...take it or leave it. I do have other things I could work on," Rachel replied realizing that Jake just wanted to having Nicole playing the game with him.
"We'll take it," the other three said simultaneously.
"Alright, first spin," Rachel said as she started the spinner. "Right foot Green." As Rachel continued calling out directions, everyone was successful in not falling down, although they ended up in a very tangled web of limbs. "Good job you guys. I woulda been out by now...and probably taken everyone else with me," she said as she spun again.
Meanwhile, as he was helping his sister prepare the meal for everyone, Ashley broached the subject that Jacob had mentioned earlier. "So, heard anything from the schools you applied to?"
"Ash, what am I gonna do?? I've been accepted to every school I applied to...but I don't want to be that far from you...and with you in the band..." Nicole started, as tears started rolling down her cheeks.
"Nic, I don't want you to be that far from me either, but come on. You can't waste your chance for all these college scholarships. You know you're gonna be our class Valedictorian. You can't waste the opportunity that's gonna provide you with," Ashley said.
"Maybe, but I'm not motivated to go to school right now. I've got a full time job working with Rachel for as long as I want to...I can always go back to school later, when I figure out what I want to do," Nicole said, hoping that her brother would understand.
"Nicole, think about this...seriously. Do you really think, you're ever going to decide to go back to school...and if you do, you're gonna miss out on the scholarships that you're going to be offered when your grades are released to the schools."
"Ash, I can save the money I make working with O-Town. And what's the point in going to school if I don't know what I want to do?"
"I'm not goin to argue with you....but give it some serious thought, Nic. Maybe just go to the University here in Orlando...to keep yourself in the groove of the school thing....so when you decide to go back, it's not major culture shock for you."
"I'll think about it, Ash. But if I don't know what I want to do??"
"Nic, just take the basics....and kind of sample the different course offerings. See if that helps you decide what you want to do."
"Right now, I just want to enjoy having this semester off of high school, and helping make you a big success," Nicole said.
"Alright...I just wanted to see what was going on...I actually got an acceptance letter to Cal State last week," Ashley admitted. "I'm just happy to know that I can get in to a school that has a good drama department. If this doesn't work the way we all think it can, I know I've got something to fall back on."
"Yeah, I guess," Nicole said, giving serious thought to Ashley's suggestion.
"Hey...are we having cajun for supper tonight?" Rachel asked poking her head in the kitchen when she started to smell something burning.
"No, why?" Nicole asked.
"Because there's a strange burning smell coming from in here...and I see quite a bit of smoke," Rachel answered as Ashley and Nicole both realized what was happening.
"Guess we gotta go out again tonight," Nicole said, upset that she had ruined the planned dinner.
"Don't worry about it," Jacob said, giving Nicole a hug. "Things happen...it's not the end of the world."
"My Malia wouldn't have burnt our supper," Ikaika threw in. "She's the best cook in the world."
"Whatever!" the rest of the group said as they discussed what they wanted to do about supper that evening.