by Maria Writes
She's done for the day and so is Caroline, but Jesse and Jake still have a class to attend to. The four of them parted ways. Caroline and her went to the boarding house where they can hear commotion happening inside. When they opened the door, they house is a mess. Some are playing musical instruments, the others are doing some decorations, while the rest are eating while working on with something on their computer.
"Chloe, Caroline. We already planned the song line up for the concert and those who will perform and those who will work for production. Here's the list, we're just waiting for approval." Finnease, or Finn as he like to call himself, gave her a paper with the list of songs and people's tasks. So far, it's okay, but she crossed out those songs which she knows has explicit content.
So far, everything is going according to their plans. They are now rehearsing for the concert that they will do. The team decided to do a rock concert, that is why most of the performers are boys and of course Britney.
Luckily, they finished everything by Friday night and now it's finally weekend. They are all scattered all over the campus decorating every venue they will use. Most of the alumni agreed to help them which was she was very happy about. They usually help the organization with the funding, but this year, the amount of support they had from them is way beyond her expectations.
On the Red Theater was her, Jesse, Caroline, Tim and Max. They've been decorating the area for the movie viewing. Britney, Barbara, Paul, David, and Ashley are in the grounds fixing everything for the concert. While the rest are out in the campus busying themselves for the bowling and other stuff.
After decorating half of the theatre, Jesse fired up the popcorn machine that they rented to test it. As they wait for it to be ready, they all lied down on the stage to have a little rest. She closed her eyes then a few minutes later she felt a presence beside her. She knows it was Jesse, he lifts her head and made it lay on his arm. He's always been so persistent ever since the talk they had with her father.
There are times when she'll tease him of being so sweet and remind him to stop it because she is not yet his girlfriend. And the result is always hilarious because he will sulk and pout the whole day.
"Are you tired? You should head back to the boarding house if you are." Jesse asked while caressing her hair that made her sleepier. He's also kisses her forehead from time to time which she finds so sweet. But there are times where she tries her best to distance herself a bit. She left like they're rushing things and she doesn't want that.
"No, I'm fine. Where's the popcorn? I'm starving." She opened her eyes and turned sideways. Chloe started at Jesse straight in the eyes. She's getting lost in the depth of his eyes. Her heart is fluttering wildly inside her chest. But before anything funny could happen, a bunch of bags fell on her face making her get up from the floor.
"Geez, you two get a room." Daya said while chuckling to herself. So, they're back from printing their flyers. She stood up and check everything they've printed.
"Why don't you get me a popcorn, over there." And with that she hit her with a tarpaulin on her back. Looking at the posters and flyers, she can't help but feel happy because they'll be doing their first activity for the year. For the freshmen of the team, it is a very big deal for them because it affected most parts of their grades, but for the seniors, activities like this are just like an extracurricular for them.
Everybody is back to being busy. Some are taping posters on the wall, others are fixing the speakers, she's auditing the funds they have left, and the rest were outside. They stayed like that until the school maintenance told us that is time to close the school.
They all head back to the boarding house after checking the set up. They all walk side by side until they reach the boarding house. It's weird looking at them because there's too many of them walking on the dim path at the back of the school. And most of them are wearing black to add to the weirdness.
After they all entered the house, some of them stayed on the living room then the others head upstairs.
"Let's order take-out please. I'm starving." she said while lying on the long table placed in the middle of the living room. Her stomach is grumbling already.
Billy reached for the phone and ordered Chinese takeout for all of them. "When did you even stopped starving, Chloe? I mean you're always hungry. Like, every five minutes."
"Yeah, and how come you're so slim? I ate a lot too but my fats are always building up." Lauren said while opening a can of soda. Honestly, even she doesn't have any idea why she's so slim even if she eats a lot. Maybe it's in her genes.
She heads upstairs to her room and changed her clothes. Chloe removed all her make up, changed her clothes to an over-sized t-shirt that reaches past her knees and a cotton short. Put her hair in a messy bun and went downstairs.
Everyone is already sitting around the living room. The area is already crowded because there's 30 of them, good thing the house is so big for them. But having 30 people all in one place still makes her uneasy because of how close they are sitting to each other.
Camille and Saimone each gave them a can of beer which the drink together with their food. Caroline stood up that made all of them confused. "Everybody, I just want to give us a toast of our first activity. I know it haven't started yet, but I know and I can see that because of the determination we all have, this is going to be a success. So, I congratulate all of us, and to more success to come."
They all said "To more success" and clinked bottles. It is fun seeing them having smiles on their faces. The entire week has been very tiring for all of them. Not to mention all the beef and drama she and Jesse had for the past weeks that also affected their group. She knows, and she's sure, that this family that they are creating will be a success. But still, we never know what the future has in store. There's still a lot of pages to be unfold. But one thing’s for sure, the magic already began.
CHAPTER 11:
Underneath the Moonlight
The last day of their fund-raising event is finally here. The ground is slowly filling up with the attendees. The amount of funds they've collected for the entire week overwhelms her, not to mention the generous amount given by the alumni and other school staff. It's very enormous that it seems like it will be enough for them to survive the whole year.
Caroline approached her. She look's stunning tonight with her red gothic corseted mini dress paired with a red goth boots. She's one of the performers tonight. Alongside Britney, Jesse, Blake, Celestine, Camille, Dean and Mike. While the rest of the team is either in production or selling junk foods near the stage.
"Do I look okay? I heard Nate is coming here tonight. I need to look fantastic. So? Do I look okay?" Caroline twirl around showing her, her entire outfit. But what she's asking is not what caught her attention, it's who's coming to the concert.
"Nate, as in Nate Tulle? Why is he going to attend? No offense meant; I know the events are open for outsider but why him? Don't tell me something is going on between you two." Chloe is looking at Caroline weirdly. She never thought that Nate and her are actually going to be a thing. There's nothing wrong with the two being close, but she just ended things with Britney, what is Nate is just the same?
Caroline held her hand and gave her some puppy eyes. "Nate and I have a deal, I told him I don't want to marry him. But he asked for one thing, act as if we like each other. We'll do that for a few months then we'll stop it. Just for his mother's sake. I don't want to hurt him but I really don't want to be with him. And what his feeling for me, I know it'll fade. You'll see."
She sighed and just supported her friend's idea. She doesn't get why they still have to act close when they can just tell his mother straight in the face that there's no marriage happening between the two of them. But she knows Caroline always has a brilliant plan in mind. Hopefully, this will end well.
After everyone is settled in the grounds, she heads backstage and see if everybody's ready. The crowd is already wild even if the stage if still dark. There are some of the b
oys working with the instruments they will use. The girls are doing their makeups.
The backstage is so crowded so she decided to go back outside again. There she saw Jesse looking so cute in his black leather jacket with eating pizza. She went towards him and bought a slice as well.
"Hey, you nervous?" she asked while eating her pizza. She can't wait for Jesse to hit the stage tonight. She has something to tell him after the concert, but she decided to do it before he enters the stage to give him more motivation.
"Not really, this pizza relieves my stress. Do you still have tons to do? Looks like you're stressed. You should rest at the back. You slept late last night because of the event. I’ll bring you more pizza backstage, go rest for a while before the show."
He's being sweet again, and she likes it when his like that. So, she went backstage and sat on the chair. Everyone is set for the show. They only have three minutes left. So far, the number of people backstage are already thinning that made her breathe well. She really has an issue when it comes to being crowded. She closed her eyes and rest for a while.
"Hello, has anyone seen Caroline?" someone asked. The voice is so familiar but she never bothered to open her eyes. She needs some rest before the show starts. Everyone was silent for a while until Camille spoke.
"And who are you exactly? Caroline is busy right now, but I'll tell her you're here."
"Tell her it's Nate Tulle. I'm her boyfriend."
That made her eyes opened and searched for Nate around the room and there he was standing by the tent door. He's wearing a simple shirt and pants. Everyone is now looking at him suspiciously. I mean who doesn't? Everybody know that Caroline is into girls. And hearing some guy claim that he's Caroline's boyfriend is very surprising. No one bothered to call Caroline, one, because they are all super busy. And two, they don't believe Caroline has a boyfriend.
The door opened and in goes Jesse with a box of pizza. He stared at Nate for a while before sitting beside. He placed the entire box of pizza on her lap and she instantly took a piece to bite. She was savoring her food that she forgot about the short time she has.
"What is he doing here? Does he need anything?" Jesse asked while eating pizza with her as well. She looked at him then shrugged her shoulder.
Chloe wiped her mouth with the tissue and shouted for Caroline. After shouting her name, she finally showed herself.
"What is wrong with you Chloe--- Oh my god, Nate. You're finally here!" She ran towards him and literally jumped him and hugged for a long time. Everyone is looking at them. She saw Jesse's jaw gritted so she stood up and grab him off the chair.
"Show's starting in one minute. Everybody, get ready." she opened the curtain that will lead them to the stage. "You ready?" she faced Jesse who is at the bottom of the steps. He looks a bit pale and also a bit sweaty. So, she took the handkerchief on her pocket on dried his forehead.
The lights on the stage went on and the crowd went wilder than they were earlier.
"Okay people, this is our last hurrah for the week, and after this we'll rest. Go break a leg out there. And whatever happens, remember the show must go on. Don't let all these people's money go into waste."
All of them applaud and the crew went to their respective tasks, while some of the performers already entered the stage. But before Jesse could step foot on the stage, she stopped him on his tracks and went closer to him.
She took a deep breathe before speaking. "Hey, remember what you asked my last night?" Jesse's eyes widen and his cheeks redden a little. "Okay." With that she pushed him on the stage while she went outside to watch the show.
Her task is to moderate the show. She has to make sure everything is perfect from the beginning to the end. While the show is now ongoing, she stared at Jesse who's expertly playing the drums. She can't help but bit her lip as she remembers how red his face was when she said okay. It might be a bit subtle, but she knows Jesse gets what she's trying to convey.
For the past few days, he's been asking her non-stop to be his girlfriend. Chloe knows there is where their story will end, she doesn't want to rush things to be honest. But she's scared that he might change his mind about her. Or someone might take him away from her.
As the show went on, she can't help but feel proud of her team. They've done something incredible for a short span of time. There was a bit of pressure given that they only have a few days to accomplish everything, but so far, it was all good.
Chloe is very sure that everything they'll face for the rest of the year will be a success. If they have the same determination and hard work like what they all showed for the past few day, nothing will stop them from failing.
The crowd was all shouting when Britney entered the stage. This is the first time that she will be performing for everyone in the University. Most of the people shouting for her are boys. Good thing, no one is cat calling which makes her very happy. There are just some timed where boys catcalls a woman just because they can, when in fact, it humiliates women. Britney was so gorgeous as she prepares on stage for her performance.
She's wearing a black tattered mini corset dress, it shows some skin, but not too revealing. She's so proud of how these women know their worth. They don't let criticisms drag them down, but instead they use it to strengthen them more. The crowds noise intensified when she sang in her male voice. It was funny to watch the crowd’s reaction.
They can't believe how a strong voice like that fits a woman like Britney. Well, she can't believe it as well when she first saw her at the auditions. Now it's mostly women who are shouting for her. She feels so proud of her.
Finally, when the show was over, she led everybody out of the grounds and met her parents were waiting for her in front of the stage. They came to watch the show but she was so busy to talk to them earlier. She went to hug both her parents. Her mother was exhilarated, as always, while her father has a grim face. She usually sees that whenever her father attends to watch her works. She never disappoints her, but sometimes she can't help but feel nervous that what if her father didn't like what he just watched.
"So, you organized this?"
She nodded. "Yes that, the entire show. But also, with the help of the other members, of course."
"And the lineup of the music?" her father added, still with his creepy, emotionless face.
"The performers chose the songs, because they'll be the on performing it. But I double checked it, as well as the others to see if there's something we need to change or to add." She getting more nervous as the seconds pass by. Her mother left them and went to talk to the others who are on the stage celebrating.
Finally, her father had emotions on his face that made her let out the breath that she didn't knew she was holding all along. "I was proud of you. So far this is the best concert of yours that I attended to. I'm so proud of you, pumpkin."
Good thing her father liked it, or else she'll disappoint him, and she doesn't want that to happen. She smiled at her father and give him a tight hug. After a few seconds, she freed him from her embrace and head towards the stage where her mom is talking to the rest of the team.
"If you need something, anything, don't hesitate to give us a call or tell Chloe. Her father and I will gladly help. I will also call some of my former colleagues to help as well if they can. But for now, you go back to your house, have a rest, and prepare yourselves for more things like this in the future. You all did great the entire week, and I want to congratulate you for that." Her mom step down the stage and bid their goodbye.
She sat on the stage where the others are. They all look so worn out. But she can still see the satisfaction written all over their face. They all stayed a while in the stage just laying their and stargazing. When some decided to head home, all of them followed.
They were halfway to the house when she realized Caroline is not with them, so she went back to the grounds to see if she's there, only to find Jesse still sitting on the stage. She walked towards him and sat on the space on his side.
"
Why are you still out here? You should head back." she just looks at him and it seems like he's lost in thoughts.
"I was just thinking about what you said earlier. And I talked to your mother about it. She said she's fine about us. But she threatened me."
She looked at Jesse intently who is looking at the trees in front of them. "My mother threatened you? How? What did she say?" Chloe cannot believe that her mother did that.
"See that building right there, with a very pointy thing at the roof?" Jesse said while pointing at the chapel inside the campus. Indeed, it has a pointed roof. "Your mother said, she will stab me on that thing if I tried to hurt you."
"Well, will you?"
Jesse snorted before facing her. "As if I could do that."
Her cheeks warmed at what he said. She scoots closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder. They just stayed silent. Watching the stars and feeling the cool breeze of the night. It chills her and make her shiver, but the warmth coming from Jesse somehow manages to make her relax and they sit on the stage doing nothing.
Somehow, just sharing a moment like this with him already felt intimate for her. She now feels the contentment filling her heart. And in that time, she knows, it's time to work on with her unfinished poetries.