All That We Could Be
Chapter Forty Four
Chapter Forty Four
Fallon had been working hard. October had come but the amount of work had not lessened.
The amount of school work had become unbearable at times, but Fallon worked through it to make it manageable. Her labs felt as though they had become longer…although they were still three hours long the amount of work to be done felt as though it had been increased. Luckily Fallon had Michael to help her with them. She was also happy that she and Michael were in the same research group, it would have been hard to work without him close by to brain storm with.
Added to her university course work, was the work she had to do for her upcoming album. At first Fallon had re-thought her plan to write and had begun to think about taking a little time off and just finish with her studies before coming out with another album. Instead she had submerged herself in more work.
“Be prepared, Fallon’s newest single will be released this Friday, until then we still don’t have any word of what it’s called or what it sounds like. That girl has been hard at work; just last month she released a charity single which went to number two. I don’t think she’s taken time off yet.” The DJ on the radio said. They had just finished playing one of her singles from earlier in the year.
Fallon smiled to herself. They would know in time. Just last week she had gone to Craig to confirm the details for the single and its cover, along with the release date. She turned off the radio in her car. She was heading to the track today. She had finished with her classes and needed a little bit of a break.
The car auction had been a great success. They had managed to raise more than $10 000, with the proceeds from the auction and the single combined. The work on the car had been completed a few days before the auction and they had all run tests and checked if the car was in good working condition. One of Lucas’ mechanic friends had even come by to check it for safety and if it was in good running condition. Dallas and Adrian had both called to congratulate Christopher and all of them, they had also complained about not being there to help.
Along with the auction; Cheryl had been dragging an unwilling Fallon to a few Manchester United games. Both William and Christopher had been accompanying them. Fallon had stayed for the matches but would leave right at the end of the game. She was in no mood to run into Daniel.
There was yet another thing on her mind. Craig had called last week to tell her some important news. Fallon thought about it as she drove. “Fallon, the board of directors is going to be reviewing contracts that end this year. Your’s is one of the ones that are up for renewal in the coming week.” He had told her. “Don’t tell me…it doesn’t look good.” She had said. “Actually compared to every other year…this year looks very good. You got PJ on your side, for once, and none of your singles missed being in the top ten. So I’m hoping to put you on a new contract before the release of your album.” He had said. He didn’t sound worried when they had ended the conversation.
Fallon reached the track to see Aidan and Adam about to start. She sounded her horn to make them wait. It would be more interesting if she had someone to go against. They waited for her. She waved to them, they both waved back. Aidan lifted his hand showing three fingers, but just then they saw Alex walking to the starting line. He shouted for them to go.
She sped down the track, taking lead when they had gotten to the wet part. These days the water had been turned off. With the frost coming early this year, it had been decided to turn off the water so that there wouldn’t be the danger of ice. She kept her lead as she got to the uneven terrain, not relenting. Fallon beat them both to the finish line; with Aidan coming in behind her, and Adam straggling a long way behind him.
It was a little while before she left for home. She spent her time talking to some of the guys. They had already started to plan the charity race for next year. There would be one more new comer. William. He had joined in. That mean the qualifying races would need to be held a little differently. Fallon wouldn’t be in the qualifying races this time, along with Dallas and Adrian. They had been the top three, so in the knock out round before the final, they would verse the winners from the heats. Fallon secretly hoped that Adrian would be knocked out. There should be a little upset to make things interesting…-She thought. It wasn’t only that…she wanted to win.
Fallon had just gotten home when the phone rang. Knowing that Cheryl was still at work, Fallon rushed to pick it up. “Hello?” Came the voice from the other end. “Hello.” Fallon answered. “Fallon, is that you?” Said the voice. Fallon sighed. It was her cousin Maria. “No Ria…it’s not Fallon.” She told her older cousin. “You’re so funny…not!” Maria said snidely. “Yea, I’m a ball of laughter. So what’s up?” Fallon asked, with a little laugh. “Not much. I was bored so I decided to call.” Maria told her. “Yea, right! You don’t call unless there is something important. Otherwise you usually text me, write on my Facebook wall, or send me an email. So what’s going on?” Fallon asked, she couldn’t help but laugh. “You know me so well.” Maria said, still stalling. “You’re dying to tell me something so say it already!” Fallon exclaimed. “Alright…alright. Fallon… the big news is…” Maria trailed off. “You’re killing me here! The suspense is killing me!” Fallon said with another laugh. “Okay! Okay! Fallon, I got engaged!” Maria spoke with speed.
That did it for Fallon. She couldn’t help but laugh. When Fallon had gone to visit Maria and her family a few months ago; Fallon, Sophia, and Maria had been talking to Ava on the phone. They had decided to place a bet on who would get engaged next. Fallon had right away bet on Maria as her first choice, and Sophia as her second. Both Maria and Sophia had bet on Sophia, Fallon, and then Maria. Ava had bet on Sophia and Fallon being first, and then Maria. The prize had been that the loser would buy the rest of them a box each of ‘Lindt’ chocolate truffles.
For Fallon this victory over Maria was sweet. When they had been younger Fallon had usually lost bets to Maria. Maria at the time had been a pretty sore winner. Beating Maria this once was worth losing those other bets.
“So when do I get my chocolate?” Fallon asked, after she congratulated Maria. “I was hoping you would forget. I’ll have them ready for you when you come for the winter break.” Maria said, she didn’t sound put out by losing. “So who’s the lucky guy?” Fallon asked. Maria was quiet before answering. It was one of Fallon and their cousin Alex’s old school friends, Nicholas. Fallon congratulated Maria again, telling her truthfully how much she missed not being able to share in the special occasion. “Don’t worry! You’ll be here for the wedding. Or else!” Maria told her with finality. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Fallon told her genuinely. She would miss whatever obligation she had just to attend her cousin’s wedding. For Fallon, it was important for her to be there for her family. They spoke a while longer before hanging up.
When Friday came, Fallon was very excited. The week had gone smoothly, her course work had not piled up, and everything was going as planned. She managed to get to the GM:TV studio early. She would be unveiling her single this morning.
“Fallon, I think it is time to lift the curtain and reveal your new single. Don’t you?” Steven said to her. Fallon nodded. She went to the easel that held a blown up cover of her single; it was draped with a blue cloth. Fallon lifted the cloth to reveal the cover. Her new single was called ‘Rain’. She had written it a few years back, but hadn’t recorded it then. At the time she had felt as though something was missing. In September she had decided to go through some of her work and see what she could release for the new album. This had come to mind. She had fixed it up until she was happy with it, and gone to record it. Both Craig and Fallon were happy about the sound and the way it had turned out.
“Can you explain to us what it’s about? Why did you choose the title to be ‘Rain’?” Emma asked her, as Fallon sat back down. “It’s actually about a girl trying to forget a guy, and she feels like the rain just washes the pain and the hurt away. You know, how rain is so ‘pure’ and it’s about getting over the guy whose hurt you, and just wiping your heart clean of the pain.” Fallon told them. “Is it a song about something you’ve experienced, or is it just about break ups and getting over them in general?” asked Emma. She watched Fallon intently. Fallon tried not to squirm; instead she let out a nervous laugh. “Well I guess break ups in general…I mean the summer is over and you know those summer romances are fizzling out…along those lines…” Fallon said skirting the question.
Fallon breathed a sigh of relief when she got out of the studio. She had been lucky that Emma hadn’t taken that line of questioning any further. Fallon wasn’t prepared to be answering those questions.
The weekend brought more good news. Fallon’s single had been climbing the charts to get into the top ten spot. Cheryl also had exciting news. “Fallon, we’re having a masquerade ball at Lively!” Cheryl had told her. “That sounds awesome!” Fallon said truly interested for once. “Yea, it’s going to be on Halloween. So you are going to come with me, and we’re going to have fun!” Cheryl said excitedly. “Okay, as long as I don’t have too much homework.” Fallon told her. “Fallon, for once you are going to come without me having to drag you. You can get your homework done during the weekend. Halloween is on a Friday this year. You could always finish it before Friday too.” Cheryl told her, she wouldn’t hear of any dissent from Fallon. Fallon decided to comply with Cheryl’s wishes without being difficult for once.
The new week began without anything out of the ordinary. The bouquets had continued, but Fallon was used to them now. It was disconcerting for her that she didn’t know who was sending them.
Wednesday brought luck for Fallon. Fallon had found out the night before that her class had been canceled. This year Wednesday had been her lightest day. She only had a three hour lecture for Thermodynamics. Apparently her professor had gotten too ill to teach, which allowed Fallon to stay home.
It was around noon when things started to take an odd turn. The doorbell rang. Fallon went to answer it. It was Christopher. “Shouldn’t you be at work?” Fallon said, slightly baffled. She led him to the living room. “Yea I was, until Craig called me. He spoke to my supervisor. I had to go meet him.” Christopher looked a little bit worried. “Okay…Why did he need to see you?” Fallon asked. “He wanted to ask me about how my father would have felt if…” Christopher was interrupted. Cheryl had just stepped in the door.
Cheryl looked equally confused and worried as both Fallon and Christopher. “Fallon have you been outside? What’s with all the commotion? Why are they all saying that…” She too was interrupted.
The phone was ringing. Fallon got up to answer it. “Hello?” Fallon said as she answered the phone. “Hello Fallon.” It was Craig. “Hi.” Fallon replied. “Fallon, I’m sorry about doing this over the phone.” He told her. “Sorry about what?” It wasn’t making any sense to Fallon. “Fallon the board of directors came to a decision…and there wasn’t very much I could do.” He said to her. The words the he said next seemed to slow down as they reached Fallon. “Fallon, I’m really sorry, but you’ve been dropped.”
Fallon had been working hard. October had come but the amount of work had not lessened.
The amount of school work had become unbearable at times, but Fallon worked through it to make it manageable. Her labs felt as though they had become longer…although they were still three hours long the amount of work to be done felt as though it had been increased. Luckily Fallon had Michael to help her with them. She was also happy that she and Michael were in the same research group, it would have been hard to work without him close by to brain storm with.
Added to her university course work, was the work she had to do for her upcoming album. At first Fallon had re-thought her plan to write and had begun to think about taking a little time off and just finish with her studies before coming out with another album. Instead she had submerged herself in more work.
“Be prepared, Fallon’s newest single will be released this Friday, until then we still don’t have any word of what it’s called or what it sounds like. That girl has been hard at work; just last month she released a charity single which went to number two. I don’t think she’s taken time off yet.” The DJ on the radio said. They had just finished playing one of her singles from earlier in the year.
Fallon smiled to herself. They would know in time. Just last week she had gone to Craig to confirm the details for the single and its cover, along with the release date. She turned off the radio in her car. She was heading to the track today. She had finished with her classes and needed a little bit of a break.
The car auction had been a great success. They had managed to raise more than $10 000, with the proceeds from the auction and the single combined. The work on the car had been completed a few days before the auction and they had all run tests and checked if the car was in good working condition. One of Lucas’ mechanic friends had even come by to check it for safety and if it was in good running condition. Dallas and Adrian had both called to congratulate Christopher and all of them, they had also complained about not being there to help.
Along with the auction; Cheryl had been dragging an unwilling Fallon to a few Manchester United games. Both William and Christopher had been accompanying them. Fallon had stayed for the matches but would leave right at the end of the game. She was in no mood to run into Daniel.
There was yet another thing on her mind. Craig had called last week to tell her some important news. Fallon thought about it as she drove. “Fallon, the board of directors is going to be reviewing contracts that end this year. Your’s is one of the ones that are up for renewal in the coming week.” He had told her. “Don’t tell me…it doesn’t look good.” She had said. “Actually compared to every other year…this year looks very good. You got PJ on your side, for once, and none of your singles missed being in the top ten. So I’m hoping to put you on a new contract before the release of your album.” He had said. He didn’t sound worried when they had ended the conversation.
Fallon reached the track to see Aidan and Adam about to start. She sounded her horn to make them wait. It would be more interesting if she had someone to go against. They waited for her. She waved to them, they both waved back. Aidan lifted his hand showing three fingers, but just then they saw Alex walking to the starting line. He shouted for them to go.
She sped down the track, taking lead when they had gotten to the wet part. These days the water had been turned off. With the frost coming early this year, it had been decided to turn off the water so that there wouldn’t be the danger of ice. She kept her lead as she got to the uneven terrain, not relenting. Fallon beat them both to the finish line; with Aidan coming in behind her, and Adam straggling a long way behind him.
It was a little while before she left for home. She spent her time talking to some of the guys. They had already started to plan the charity race for next year. There would be one more new comer. William. He had joined in. That mean the qualifying races would need to be held a little differently. Fallon wouldn’t be in the qualifying races this time, along with Dallas and Adrian. They had been the top three, so in the knock out round before the final, they would verse the winners from the heats. Fallon secretly hoped that Adrian would be knocked out. There should be a little upset to make things interesting…-She thought. It wasn’t only that…she wanted to win.
Fallon had just gotten home when the phone rang. Knowing that Cheryl was still at work, Fallon rushed to pick it up. “Hello?” Came the voice from the other end. “Hello.” Fallon answered. “Fallon, is that you?” Said the voice. Fallon sighed. It was her cousin Maria. “No Ria…it’s not Fallon.” She told her older cousin. “You’re so funny…not!” Maria said snidely. “Yea, I’m a ball of laughter. So what’s up?” Fallon asked, with a little laugh. “Not much. I was bored so I decided to call.” Maria told her. “Yea, right! You don’t call unless there is something important. Otherwise you usually text me, write on my Facebook wall, or send me an email. So what’s going on?” Fallon asked, she couldn’t help but laugh. “You know me so well.” Maria said, still stalling. “You’re dying to tell me something so say it already!” Fallon exclaimed. “Alright…alright. Fallon… the big news is…” Maria trailed off. “You’re killing me here! The suspense is killing me!” Fallon said with another laugh. “Okay! Okay! Fallon, I got engaged!” Maria spoke with speed.
That did it for Fallon. She couldn’t help but laugh. When Fallon had gone to visit Maria and her family a few months ago; Fallon, Sophia, and Maria had been talking to Ava on the phone. They had decided to place a bet on who would get engaged next. Fallon had right away bet on Maria as her first choice, and Sophia as her second. Both Maria and Sophia had bet on Sophia, Fallon, and then Maria. Ava had bet on Sophia and Fallon being first, and then Maria. The prize had been that the loser would buy the rest of them a box each of ‘Lindt’ chocolate truffles.
For Fallon this victory over Maria was sweet. When they had been younger Fallon had usually lost bets to Maria. Maria at the time had been a pretty sore winner. Beating Maria this once was worth losing those other bets.
“So when do I get my chocolate?” Fallon asked, after she congratulated Maria. “I was hoping you would forget. I’ll have them ready for you when you come for the winter break.” Maria said, she didn’t sound put out by losing. “So who’s the lucky guy?” Fallon asked. Maria was quiet before answering. It was one of Fallon and their cousin Alex’s old school friends, Nicholas. Fallon congratulated Maria again, telling her truthfully how much she missed not being able to share in the special occasion. “Don’t worry! You’ll be here for the wedding. Or else!” Maria told her with finality. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Fallon told her genuinely. She would miss whatever obligation she had just to attend her cousin’s wedding. For Fallon, it was important for her to be there for her family. They spoke a while longer before hanging up.
When Friday came, Fallon was very excited. The week had gone smoothly, her course work had not piled up, and everything was going as planned. She managed to get to the GM:TV studio early. She would be unveiling her single this morning.
“Fallon, I think it is time to lift the curtain and reveal your new single. Don’t you?” Steven said to her. Fallon nodded. She went to the easel that held a blown up cover of her single; it was draped with a blue cloth. Fallon lifted the cloth to reveal the cover. Her new single was called ‘Rain’. She had written it a few years back, but hadn’t recorded it then. At the time she had felt as though something was missing. In September she had decided to go through some of her work and see what she could release for the new album. This had come to mind. She had fixed it up until she was happy with it, and gone to record it. Both Craig and Fallon were happy about the sound and the way it had turned out.
“Can you explain to us what it’s about? Why did you choose the title to be ‘Rain’?” Emma asked her, as Fallon sat back down. “It’s actually about a girl trying to forget a guy, and she feels like the rain just washes the pain and the hurt away. You know, how rain is so ‘pure’ and it’s about getting over the guy whose hurt you, and just wiping your heart clean of the pain.” Fallon told them. “Is it a song about something you’ve experienced, or is it just about break ups and getting over them in general?” asked Emma. She watched Fallon intently. Fallon tried not to squirm; instead she let out a nervous laugh. “Well I guess break ups in general…I mean the summer is over and you know those summer romances are fizzling out…along those lines…” Fallon said skirting the question.
Fallon breathed a sigh of relief when she got out of the studio. She had been lucky that Emma hadn’t taken that line of questioning any further. Fallon wasn’t prepared to be answering those questions.
The weekend brought more good news. Fallon’s single had been climbing the charts to get into the top ten spot. Cheryl also had exciting news. “Fallon, we’re having a masquerade ball at Lively!” Cheryl had told her. “That sounds awesome!” Fallon said truly interested for once. “Yea, it’s going to be on Halloween. So you are going to come with me, and we’re going to have fun!” Cheryl said excitedly. “Okay, as long as I don’t have too much homework.” Fallon told her. “Fallon, for once you are going to come without me having to drag you. You can get your homework done during the weekend. Halloween is on a Friday this year. You could always finish it before Friday too.” Cheryl told her, she wouldn’t hear of any dissent from Fallon. Fallon decided to comply with Cheryl’s wishes without being difficult for once.
The new week began without anything out of the ordinary. The bouquets had continued, but Fallon was used to them now. It was disconcerting for her that she didn’t know who was sending them.
Wednesday brought luck for Fallon. Fallon had found out the night before that her class had been canceled. This year Wednesday had been her lightest day. She only had a three hour lecture for Thermodynamics. Apparently her professor had gotten too ill to teach, which allowed Fallon to stay home.
It was around noon when things started to take an odd turn. The doorbell rang. Fallon went to answer it. It was Christopher. “Shouldn’t you be at work?” Fallon said, slightly baffled. She led him to the living room. “Yea I was, until Craig called me. He spoke to my supervisor. I had to go meet him.” Christopher looked a little bit worried. “Okay…Why did he need to see you?” Fallon asked. “He wanted to ask me about how my father would have felt if…” Christopher was interrupted. Cheryl had just stepped in the door.
Cheryl looked equally confused and worried as both Fallon and Christopher. “Fallon have you been outside? What’s with all the commotion? Why are they all saying that…” She too was interrupted.
The phone was ringing. Fallon got up to answer it. “Hello?” Fallon said as she answered the phone. “Hello Fallon.” It was Craig. “Hi.” Fallon replied. “Fallon, I’m sorry about doing this over the phone.” He told her. “Sorry about what?” It wasn’t making any sense to Fallon. “Fallon the board of directors came to a decision…and there wasn’t very much I could do.” He said to her. The words the he said next seemed to slow down as they reached Fallon. “Fallon, I’m really sorry, but you’ve been dropped.”