by Fumise Love
Nashville University
Crescent Moon
Fumise Love
Copyright © 2020 Fumise Love
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 9781234567890
ISBN-10: 1477123456
Cover design by: Art Painter
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309
Printed in the United States of America
To Michelle, as I hope that you will be able to find romance that is destined for you.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
About The Author
Nashville University
Chapter One
Gabrielle
‘Are all of your things ready?’
I texted my bestfriend, Samantha, who was going to accompany me in going to the Nashville University Training Camp. She immediately replied back after a minute saying that she already had all of her things ready.
Nashville University Training Camp or NUTC for short was a place for Nashville University students like me and Samantha to spend their summer vacation in the bliss of relaxation. Going to the camp was a way to meditate ourselves from the stress brought by studying. There were different Nashville University campuses that was why there was this huge chance that we would be able to meet new faces and have new friends in that training camp.
It was quite unfortunate that only me and Samantha were the only ones who would go to the Nashville University Training Camp from our campus. Samantha and I were from the Nashville University, New York campus. We were going to stay in the NUTC for the whole summer vacation up until the next semester in our university which meant that we would be away from our houses for a while.
My name is Gabrielle Turner Bailey, 21 years old and I was taking up Accountancy for a course. In the next semester, I would be a senior college student which meant that I only had two remaining years because Accountancy was a five-year course.
If we were talking about my looks, I was of an average height that stood around 167 centimeters. Sometimes, I just wanted to be shorter because I was always placed at the back of the class. I always complained since my eyesight was not that good but I also refused to wear prescription glasses because I most of the time managed to lose them in a blink of an eye. My brown hair was way down my chest and I also dyed the ends of my hair blue which stood out because my skin was quite pale. My figure was nothing close to perfect. I was not skinny nor overweight. My eye color was in the shade of dark brown and pretty boring for all I knew.
I went down the stairs of my house while having a little bit of trouble because my luggage was heavy. Before I went out, I did not forget to say ‘goodbye’ to my parents. Once outside the house, I fetched a cab so I could go to Samantha’s place.
My phone rang and I saw my bestfriend’s wacky face on the screen.
“What?” that was the first thing that escaped my mouth when I answered the call.
“Where are you?”
“I’m drinking coffee in the moon,”
“I’m serious, Gab,” even though I could not see Samantha, I was sure that she was rolling her eyes at my response. I laughed at her reaction. It was always fun to tease her because I was assured that she would not get mad at whatever I did.
“I’m on my way to your house. Chill...okay?”
“Alright,”
After ten minutes had passed, I arrived at Samantha’s house while she was waiting for me outside. The cab driver helped us to place Samantha’s luggage inside the vehicle. My luggage was already in the compartment and it consumed the whole space there that was why Samantha’s luggage was placed in the front seat, right next to the cab driver. Samantha and I had no choice but to take our seats at the back.
Samantha James...my bestfriend and nothing in the world would be able to change that. We were of the same age but I was older than her for two months. We already knew each other ever since we were young because both of our mothers were also the best of friends. Starting from kindergarten up until our college life, we always went to the same school or university. Since both of us were the only children of our parents, we treated each other like we were sisters by blood even though our looks were the complete opposites of one another.
Samantha sported this short stature. Based on my hunch, she was around 152 centimeters in height. She always looked smaller whenever I was around. If my skin is pale, Samantha’s sun-kissed skin contradicted mine. Her jet black hair was just above her shoulders. Even though she looked short, her figure managed to beat the odds. Even though Samantha was a heavy eater, she never was able to gain any weight.
“I don’t want to point it out…” I started the conversation since it was obvious that she was anxious. “But it looks like you are way too excited for this,”
“Ha. Ha. Very funny, Gab,”
“Really?” I acted all psyched up.
“Quit it,” she rolled her eyes.
“Why the hell are you so excited?”
“Because I’m pretty sure that there are some hot guys roaming around there!”
“Don’t trouble yourself with guys,” I sighed. “They are not going to do you any good,”
She frowned, “Why do you still not want to have a boyfriend? You’re already 21 years old but you’re still N.B.S.B., no boyfriend since birth! You need to have a life!”
“Does it look like I’m dead to you? I’m breathing, Sam. Therefore, I have a life,”
“Yeah...a boring one,”
We arrived at the Nashville University Training Camp after two hours. It was near, but the busy streets was obviously not in our favor. We paid a huge amount of money to the cab driver since the place was far plus the traffic. The almost polluted breeze of Los Angeles greeted us when we hopped outside of the cab. During our three years of studying in the Nashville University, we were just able to attend the training camp for only at this moment. I could not help myself but be in awe as I looked at the NUTC building since it looked like a five-star hotel that came out of a magazine.
Samantha and I quickly went inside the training camp. There was no one familiar inside the building and we already expected it since as I said earlier, Samantha and I were the only ones who planned to come here from our campus back in New York. But even though the New York campus only had two representatives, many students still came to spend their summer vacation here.
“I feel so stupid that we only decided to come here after almost three years…” Samantha’s jaw looked like it was going to drop on the
floor. The whole place was well polished that I would not be surprised if it sparkled. The walls were in the color of white and there were paintings on the walls placed in different areas of the building and let me tell you, the paintings looked so expensive. There were also a lounge and a concierge at the center of the floor.
“Because we didn’t want to waste our money before, remember?” I answered her question. Going to the Nashville University Training Camp was not for free. Going to this training camp was priced the same as our course fee for one whole semester. The difference was we were sure that we were going to have fun here because in this place, we were not required to study anything.
“Hey,” a figure approached the two of us. I looked at his direction and saw that he would somehow pass for a celebrity because of his good looks. His undercut-styled hair looked better on him than those guys from our campus. His jawline was sculpted perfectly and it was obvious that he was someone with a different bloodline running through his veins because his eyes looked Asian. A Filipino, maybe? His hair matched the color of his eyes which was in the lightest shade of brown. He stood around 187 centimeters and his lean body made heads turn to look at him.
I was not the type of girl who minded about guys’ looks but I could not deny the fact that the looks of this guy was too stunning to see in reality.
“H-Hi,” Samantha stuttered. It was obvious that Samantha could not believe that it was like she was looking at a famous movie star in person. “I’m Sam James and she’s Gab Bailey. We’re both from the New York campus,”
“I’m Jeffrey Reyes,” he introduced. “Just call me Jeff and I’m from the Philadelphia campus. I’ve been going here since my freshman year,” Jeffrey shook hands with me and my bestfriend. “If ever someone here tells you that I’m called the ‘Dirty Dancer’, please just ignore them,”
“Dirty Dancer?” I repeated, curiosity was obviously hiding behind my voice because I was anxious to know why he was called the ‘Dirty Dancer’.
“It’s hard to explain so just ignore them, okay?” Jeffrey avoided my question. “I just really like dancing...so, how about the two of you? Any hobbies that you particularly excel on?”
“I’m a swimmer,” Samantha responded a little too quickly. Samantha was a varsity in our university and I still did not know why I never learned how to swim even though I was a childhood bestffriend of a good swimmer. “Gab here is a musician. She can sing very well and she’s knowledgeable in playing an awful lot of instruments,”
“Really?” Jeffrey’s eyes were widened. It was like he admired me for my hobby based on his reaction. Samantha was right that I was a musician because I knew how to sing. When it came to playing the instruments, playing the guitar and piano were my forte.
Before I could answer Jeffrey’s question, my eardums were nearly damaged due to the loud screaming of the girls inside the building. When I looked at their direction, I saw that they were crowding around a guy who stood on the same ground as Jeffrey when it came to physical appearance. He somehow looked like Jeffrey in a weird way but the difference was obvious in their eyes since Jeffrey’s eyes looked Asian while this new guy’s eyes looked just like one of ours...but in a more dazzling way. I could guess that he stood an inch shorter than Jeffrey but slightly buffed than the guy who was with us.
HIs arrogrant way of dressing was kind of appealing in an odd way. He was also wearing a black earring on his left ear.
“It seems like Johanne’s going to spend his summer vacation here again,” there was obvious disappointment in Jeffrey’s tone of voice. I could not be wrong when I heard it. “I thought that my eyes were just deceiving me when I saw the name of their band on the schedule. There’s no doubt that they are going to play on the opening of the ceremony,”
“And it seems like you hate him,” I pointed out. “Why is that and who is he?”
“Mark Johanne Rivers. He’s from the Philadelphia campus like me and he’s obviously known as the ‘Campus Heartthrob’ because of all the girls who are going crazy for him,”
“Mark Johanne Rivers?” Samantha tilted her head to the right side. Apparently, she was enjoying the looks of the guys here in the Nashville University Training Camp. “Isn’t Rivers an Australian famiy name?”
“He’s half-Australian because his mother came from the Philippines,” Jeffrey cleared. “Just don’t make the mistake of going anywhere near him because your life will be ruined in the process for sure,”
“But he’s looking right at our direction,” Samantha whispered. “He’s looking at you, Gab,”
“I don’t care,” I turned my back because I believed Jeffrey’s warning. “Just ignore the guy, Sam,”
“So...what now?” Jeffrey cleared his throat. “Let’s unpack first, then meet up in front of the auditorium after?”
“Sure,” I nodded. “See you later, Jeff,”
After that, Samantha and I went to the concierge to look for our names and to claim the keys to our separate rooms. Another good this about this training camp was that we individually had our own rooms and thankfully, both of our rooms were located on the third floor of the building.
Chapter Two
Johanne
The moment that I stepped inside the Nashville University Training Camp, girls surrounded me like they were insane. It was nothing new because it was always like this whenever I went here. I was the type of guy who always had girls flocking around him. What was happening now was enough of a proof.
My name is Mark Johanne Rivers, 22 years old. I’m half-Filipino and half-Australian. I took Accountancy for my course program and I would be a senior college student after this summer vacation. Mostly everyone had said that I already had everything going on greatly with my life. As they had said, I had the looks, the riches, and the brains. I could sing and play the guitar. I was currently the vocalist and the lead singer of the band who was going to perform in the opening ceremony later. I also had an older brother but our relationship was kind of rocky. There was no use if ever I told you anything related about him aside from the fact that he was also a talented human being.
At the corner of my eye, I saw Jeffrey Reyes talking to two newbies. I knew that they were newbies since this was the first time that I had seen them during my three years of going to this training camp.
I caught the girl with blue dye on the ends of her hair staring at me but turned her back to me right after. She was wearing this all-black clothing...which was the same as me. I did not know why I even noticed that small detail.
But what the hell was her problem?
I could not care any less since this was the first time that I had seen her, and I was sure that it was the same for her.
There was no use in wasting my time thinking about it. I should just answer the questions of these fangirls who were surrounding me.
“Are you dating someone right now, Johanne?”
“No,”
“Can we go out on a date?”
“No,”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes,”
It was like I was answering a never-ending sea of questions. Others said that I was a playboy, a casanova, but with the way I entertained these girls? Those were obviously false accusations. I was not gay and I was sure for myself that I was only attracted to girls...but I was not the type who would take advantage of girls’ feelings or someone who would make them cry.
After I answered all of the girls’ questions, I went straight to the music room, the place where me and my bandmates decided to meet up.
“Bro! How are you?” Paul Bond greeted. He was the drummer of the band. The both of us were from different campuses because I was studying in the Nashville University, Philadelphia campus while Paul was studying in the Seattle campus. Even though we were from different campuses, there were no boundaries when it came to our friendship.
“I’m good,” I responded. “How about you?”
“How about me? No one’s going to ask how I’m doing?” Matthew Burgundy, t
he bassist and the last member of the band, interrupted. Matthew and Paul came from the same campus in Seattle and they were blockmates. Even though they were a year younger than me, they knew how to get along well with me and give respect at the same time.
A whole hour went by and we did not even practice our song for the opening ceremony since we spent the time catching up with what was happening with our personal lives. I learned that Paul was on the verge of failing one major subject in their course program. I still could not figure out why Paul was still pursuing to study Civil Engineering even though he really wanted to take the course program Culinary Arts in the first place. Matthew on the other hand was considered as one of the most intelligent students in their campus that was why he did not have a problem when it came to failing a subject since he could literally pass every subject without even trying.
The formation of our band was just a new one but our friendship was solid as a rock. Our band started here in the Nashville University Training Camp. We mostly met up with each other every weekend so we could practice and perform in mini-gigs.
I should not ignore the fact that since we were in a band, our sex appeal went up in the perspective of the girls. Even though Paul was not that tall, his tanned skin matched well with him. Matthew was a buffed guy and stood almost the same height as me. He somehow resembled a bouncer because he regularly worked out to impress girls. He always sported this army cut and not once in my life had I ever seen him grow his hair any longer.
“We still haven’t practiced! We only have one hour to go!” Paul yelled at us.
“You go and choose the song since you’re the one who’s going to sing, Johanne,” Matthew suggested. The band did not talk about what we were going to play since we were not going to be paid for playing in the opening ceremony in the first place.
“Let’s just sing ‘Your Guardian Angel’ by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus,” I recommended the first song that came into my mind.