The Spotlight

The lack of sleep was already getting to me, and we hadn’t even left for the tour yet. The past week or so have been extremely intense, between making appearances everywhere to get word out about the tour A.S.A.P., practicing dance routines, and all sorts of other things.

But in the end it will all work out for the better, Jack won’t have to go back to Florida, and we’ll all be together as a family for once. And the best part that was if this tour did amazingly well as predicted he could even afford to open a record store in L.A. which would make it so much easier to stay with us in California. In all honesty though, I definitely needed to catch up on my sleep before we leave for the first stop on the tour. Tours could tire anyone out within two days.

“Do you want to come with me to get some coffee?” Nellie said, peeking her head through the door to my room. “I figured it’ll give us all that kick-start we need, to finish up whatever is left before we head to dance practice tonight.”

“Sounds amazing.” I said, slipping on a pair of sweats that were tight to my body. They made me look good and were comfortable. I grabbed a T-shirt and put it on before I walked out of the room.

When I got downstairs Nellie was waiting for me by the door, and I could see the two eldest siblings dragging suitcases into the hallway near the door. It scared me a little bit to think about how that wasn’t even half of the stuff we were bringing on tour with us. I hope we got a big bus. Nellie and I waved goodbye as we walked out the door into Jack’s car. Why not ride in style? I clicked on the radio as she drove us towards the closest Starbucks. I watched as the trees and houses passed by in a blur as we left our gated community. After a few minutes of driving Nellie pulled into a parking lot, but it was not to a Starbucks. We were parked in front of the mall.

“I wanted to pick Joe up a little gift before we leave, something for him to remember me by. He’s so traumatized about me leaving for tour, he is the sweetest thing. Thanks for introducing us Chloe.” She said smiling, and I returned the smile. Honestly, I was happy that I introduced the two of them as well, they were adorable together, and it was most definitely going to be hard for the two of them to last without each other. Ever since they started going out, they’ve been spending almost every minute together. He’s even snuck into some of our interviews without getting caught by the paparazzi just to spend some time with her. Joe wanted to see her as much as physically possible before we left for tour. And for once, I was glad not to have a boyfriend. I wouldn’t have been able to leave him behind. It would have been way too much for me.

“That’s a good idea, let’s go look at the Hallmark Store first, maybe we could get him a picture of you two or something. How does that sound?”

“I knew we were related!” She cheered and I laughed.

The two of us walked into the mall and over to one of the maps. All malls in L.A. are huge, so it takes forever to learn your way around the mall perfectly. And forever hadn’t quite come for Nellie and I yet. We found Hallmark and began heading towards it, having to hop into an elevator to get to the third floor, where the store supposedly was. Once we were in the elevator a girl next to me kept giving me and Nellie weird looks. She turned towards another girl who seemed around the same age and they whispered to each other. Both girls had to be around 14 or so.

“Hi, can I help you?” I asked.

“Yeah, are you Chloe and Nellie Johnson?” The taller of the two girls asked.

“Yep.” I said, with a bright smile on my face.

“Oh my gosh! Ah! I cannot believe I’m seeing you in person right now! I have tickets to your world tour!” The second girl practically shouted, freaking out.

“Really? Wow, I’m so glad that you’re coming, it’s going to be great. We’ve been practicing like crazy.” Nellie said, throwing in a small laugh.

“Wow. Can we like, have a picture and autograph?” The taller girl said.

We both nodded and after getting out of the elevator, took pictures and signed autographs for the two girls. Wow, I can’t believe a fan actually realized who we were. I have to admit, that’s one of the cooler things that has happened in my life, quite possibly the coolest. I walked into Hallmark and we picked out a gift for Joe, then we decided to come back once the pictures were printed to get it, so we headed to the clothing store and picked out some clothes.

“Here, try this on.” Nellie said, handing me a cute rocker like outfit. “You could wear it for opening night with those new heels we bought the other day.”

I nodded my head and changed into the outfit, it looked good, but it was in need of some accessories to go along with it. I looked nice and I twirled around for Nellie so she could look. “Go change back into your clothes, we are so getting this! You look so cute.”

We bought the outfit then headed back to pick up Joe’s gift. We got that and began our drive towards Starbucks. The two of us walked in and ordered a 3 drinks, figuring that Jenna would want a drink as well. I ordered 3 Vanilla Bean Frappachinos for all of us. Once we received our drinks we headed back out the door only to see my bestest friend in the whole entire world! Not.

“Chloe, how nice to see you again. I spoke to Nicholas about that little accident you two had. Maybe you should learn how to control yourself when you’re drunk. It might be a smart idea.” Claire said with a snotty accent that made me just want to knock her lights out.

“Well, I don’t know, Nick seemed to like it. But then again, I wouldn’t be giving out advice when I can’t even control myself when I’m sober.”

“Oh, and I forgot to mention how sorry I am about your mom. But I’m sure she’s a druggie just like you, Nellie. At least she’ll be out of your hair, unlike some people who refuse to just leave.” She said, stepping towards me, and then I was immediately infuriated. How. Dare. She. Then I did something I don’t normally do, I acted upon my impulse. Next thing she knew, there was my very tasty Vanilla Bean Frappachino dumped all over her little prissy self. Oops.

“Whoopsies! I should be more careful next time.” I said, and then stepped closely to her. “And maybe so should you.”

Nellie and I snickered and walked towards the door, hearing Claire shout out after us. “Don’t you threaten me, you should be the one who’s scared!”

“To bad I’m not.” I called out, behind me as I stepped out the door. Nellie and I got into the car and began the quick drive home. It was quiet, until Nellie burst out laughing. Definitely, because of the incident at Starbucks. I started laughing as well, at Nellie’s face. I thought she was going to implode from laughing so hard.

Claire’s face was priceless. But then again, I bet she didn’t expect me to throw my Frappachino all over her. I wouldn’t have expected it either. What’s a day without a few surprises? Completely and totally boring. I glanced at Nellie who was still laughing. She looked so carefree and happy. It was another moment that I wished I could just freeze and live in forever. Then my laughing stopped when I saw a pair of bright lights heading towards us at a dangerous speed.

My scream pierced the air as I braced for impact. My body felt like a rag doll, being thrown around as the two cars collided. I felt a bunch of pressure on my body, everywhere. And then my eyes turned to Nellie. Oh god.