CIARA MARIE-B-Day Blues

"Thanks for coming over guys."

"No prob," Elayne said as they sat on Ciara's bed in her room, with a bucket of ice cream between them, each with big spoons.

"So, tell me why we are having a pit party?" Chrissy asked.

"Boys are dumb!" Ciara said as she stuffed a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth.

"Here here!" Elayne said lifting her spoon.

"No! Not all," Chrissy stated. "Not my X."

"Even the guys you think are great can be stupid." Ciara stuffed more ice cream in her mouth.

"Wait, what? Are you talking about Tony?" Elayne asked.

"Who else!"

"Did you two break up?" Chrissy asked.

"No, but maybe we should."

"What happened?" Chrissy hammered her with another question.

"He didn't even say or do anything for my birthday!" Ciara whined.

"When was your birthday?" Chrissy asked.

"Today!" she whined, lying facedown on the bed.

Chrissy and Elayne looked at each other.

"Huh?" Chrissy said.

"You didn't tell us, skank!" Elayne hit her with a pillow.

Ciara sat up. "I didn't?"

"No!" they both said.

"Oh," she said with a smile. Now she felt embarrassed. Not having friends before a few weeks ago she expected them to know. Even if she never told them.

"So did you tell Tony?" Chrissy asked.

Again, she expected him to know. "Uh...I don't remember."

Elayne threw up her hands. "So how can you be mad at him if you didn't even tell him? Tony is not that kind of guy, he would have said something."

"I thought I told him...and I didn't want to nag him about it-"

"Nag away!" Elayne pushed her phone toward her. "Call him."

"No."

"Call him!" Elayne barked at her.

Ciara would not take the phone.

"Ok, fine," Elayne touched Ciara's phone screen. "Let me get cuzzo."

"What am I supposed to tell him now?" Ciara looked at the phone.

"Figure it out."

Ciara grabbed the phone when she heard Tony say hello. "Hey."

"What's up CiCi?"

Ciara bit her lip and looked at her friends. "Do you know what today is?"

"Uh...Friday?"

"No! It's a special day!"

"Uh...thank God it's Friday?"

Ciara blew out a heavy sigh. "It's my birthday!"

"Since when?"

"Since eighteen years ago when I was born," Ciara said. "I told you-"

"CiCi, if you told me, I would have remembered, written it down, carved it in stone."

"Well, I thought I did."

Elayne grabbed the phone from her. "I told her!"

"Who's that?"

Ciara grabbed the phone back. "Chrissy and Elayne are here."

"We didn't know either!" Elayne shouted out.

"We need to do something. I don't want you to think I don't care enough about your birthday," Tony said. "I'm down at the studio with X."

"Really?"

"Yes, he's recording a song."

"We can do something tomorrow then."

"No! Come on down here and hang with us. Bring my sister and Elayne."

Ciara muted the phone. "Tony's at the studio with X recording a song and wants us to come down."

"I'm in!" Chrissy said.

"Oh, do I have to?" moaned Elayne.

"Tell me where, we are on our way."

TONY JACKSON-Girls are Nothing But Trouble

"Girls!" Tony grumbled when he got off the phone with Ciara. How could she make him look like the bad boyfriend when he was trying his best to do right? Having a girlfriend was new to him. Eighteen and he had commitment issues.

Maybe his parents were to blame for that.

"What's up?" Xavier asked, sitting beside him in the music studio they had been the last hour.

"Ciara and the girls are coming. It's CiCi's birthday."

"And you forgot?"

"No man, she didn't tell me!"

"Not going to win boyfriend of the year with that lame excuse."

"Girls are a headache, I tell you that much."

Now he had to find a gift, take her out to eat, or something special. He could not believe she could forget a detail like that.

"How long are we going to be up here?" Tony asked Xavier and the music producer he sat with.

XAVIER BAINBRIDGE-Music Making

His mother introduced him to the guy that started his record label in Midtown and he wanted to record some demos of local artists. Xavier was the first on the list.

The studio was small, but it was equipped with everything they needed. The first song he was recording the producer had written himself. None of Xavier's songs he wrote were even close to being recordable.

He stood in the booth running through the song when the girls showed up. He smiled big and waved at Chrissy. He could not hear anything from inside the booth, so he motioned for the engineer to stop the music and took off his headphones.

He walked out of the booth and put his arms around Chrissy. "There's my girl."

"OMG! You sound so good!"

"You know how I do."

"Bighead," Elayne mumbled.

"Yo, playa! Justin is on a tight schedule and there are no breaks allowed," the engineer said.

"Give me five man, gotta speak to my peeps," Xavier said. "Hey E!" He pushed her playfully in the head.

"Boy!"

"Happy birthday, Ms. Ciara."

"Thank you."

"We might head out early so we can enjoy what's left of her day," Tony said.

"I'm not trying to be in here all night either," Xavier said, kissing Chrissy. "Me and my girl could be anywhere but here."

"I'd rather not at all," Elayne said. "I'm here for Ciara."

"You ain't got to stay," Xavier said.

In walked Justin Scoville, the blonde, blue-eye-eyed trust-fund kid that put his money up to open a record label. He did not know Justin well, but he heard of the family. If his mother trusted Justin, he was fine with that.

"He-ey! Did I say we can have a party up in here?" Justin asked looking around at the girls. "What's this?"

"Oh, this is my girl and her peeps," Xavier explained. "They can hang man, they're cool."

"I thought this was my place to say who's cool or not to be here." Justin sipped from a metal container, hopefully, it was just water and he was not getting turnt in the studio.

"Justin, this is my fam," Tony said. "My girl Ciara, my sister Chrissy, and my cousin Elayne."

Justin turned to look at each as they were introduced, then stopped and grinned at Elayne.

"Cousin, huh?"

ELAYNE VAN RUSSELL-Her Type of Guy

She felt herself blush.

Justin was gorgeous. Her type of guy. Older, blondish hair cut low, blue eyes, tall, maybe five feet eleven or even six feet, slim, dressed like money, and wore an expensive watch on his wrist. Everything he wore was designer down to the shoes, and she knew her fashion. He looked like money.

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong," Justin said, taking another sip from his container. "But T man, you're Black. Your sister looks white, and so does your cousin. Am I missing something?"

"Half-sister," Chrissy spoke up. "And I'm half Mexican."

"And I'm half white," Tony stated.

"Okay, that explains it," he said, moving a bit closer to Tony but Elayne could hear him very well when he said, "I think your cousin is hot."

Elayne laughed.

"I can hear you."

"I wanted you too," he said with a smile at her. "Let me properly introduce myself. Justin. Justin Scoville."

"Oh, I see," Elayne said as a smile spread across her face. Of course, she knew about the Scovilles. They were wealthy until they lost their business. They were almost as well-known as her family.

"What do you see?" Justin asked, looking around.

"Scoville. I'm familiar, that's all."

"Oh really? What do you know?"

"I know my father bought your father's company because it tanked," she said proudly.

"Oh, that's what you think? Wait, so you must be-"

"Van Russell, Elayne Van Russell."

"Oh shit! I have royalty in my house then." Justin smirked at her and picked up her hand. "Come here, your highness, you get a special spot next to me at the mixer."

Elayne smiled big and took a seat.

"We are all like family now." Justin grinned, studying her. "Let's set this place off. Yo X, we are going to get this track down, I have people already asking about it."

"I'm on it!"

JUSTIN SCOVILLE-Man in Charge

He could not believe his good fortune to have a Van Russell in his house of business. Despite what others thought, his family was still doing well. And after he turned twenty-one a year ago, he received his inheritance, he knew what to do with it.

Start his own business.

He never wanted to work for his father's company. Real estate was not for him. Boring. Lame. No excitement. Ever since he was young, he was fascinated by music. He played several instruments and even sang a bit, but his passion was writing and putting beats together.

J. Scoville Records was his baby. He started it three months ago, but all he was able to do was record a few songs with no talented people, and waste a lot of his money. He still was in college, a senior, but was not as focused since starting the record company.

All he needed was one good artist to set him off. He'd been hearing about Xavier Bainbridge for a while. He had quite a following on his social media accounts and was very popular at his old high school Dunlap Academy. Even had a large local following.

But midtown was small and that did not mean a thing. He needed to hear the kid in action. It was not hard to find out his mother was his manager and worked at Midtown University. He made contact and Xavier was in.

He listened to a few of his shows on YouTube and the kid had it. Beyond the vocals, he was an old-school performer, where he set the stage on fire.

Now to make a hit record out of him.

The icing on the cake was the lovely Elayne beside him. Sure she was rich, but money wasn't everything, it was the power behind it.

"So, you go to Dunlap Academy like X?"

"Sure do."

"Senior too?"

"Nope. Only a junior."

"Really?" He looked her over. She was barely legal, but he was thinking of things he wanted to do to her.

"Aren't you supposed to be paying attention to X?" she asked him.

"I can admire you and listen as well." He grinned at her then cut the music off to talk to Xavier as he ran through the song. "Perfect X, we can run through this one more time then we are laying it down."

"So, how long have you been in music?" Elayne asked him.

"All my life," he said, adjusting the dials on the mixer board. "My dad thinks music is not a career. My mom was a singer but gave it up to be a mom. She died when I was young, so I am living her dream. She would want me to be happy, you know, decide my fate."

"I agree."

"You? Into the family business? Going to work for the dynamo Van Russell store?"

She shrugged. "Maybe, I don't know."

Justin stopped the track. He was listening to Elayne and very interested, but also his ear was tuned to the music, listening to every detail. Xavier was really in pocket with the song, a little number he wrote about a girl he could not get over. Maybe Elayne Van Russell was the girl he needed to get over her.

"X, for the real deal, give me some more soul, brotha man," Justin said with his hood voice.

"You said what now?" Ciara said as the girls giggled.

"Soul!" Justin stood up from his seat. "Sing from the heart. The song is about heartbreak, I need to believe it. Listen."

Then Justin sang the song for them, just a few bars. He did it to impress Elayne. He even sang it to her, and she could only smile and blush at him.

"Wow!" she said when he finished.

"Okay, Just, I got this," Xavier said and sang the song better than he had before.

TONY JACKSON-A Little Jealous

He was not impressed with Justin Scoville coming on to Elayne. In fact, he did not like that Elayne was acting all giggly and blushing over the dude. He did not have a right to be jealous, but he was.

When Xavier told him about Justin and asked him to tag along, he immediately did not like Justin too much. He was a little cocky, had a lot of arrogance, and was too controlling. Sure, it was his studio to do what he wanted, but he had X working on the same damn song over and over. His boy nailed it in one take if it was up to him.

"I think Elayne likes Justin," Ciara whispered to him.

Tony continued to look on while Justin, in full-player mode, kept Elayne engaged while still handling the engineering board. He would brush back her hair, touch her arm, or give her once-over stares. It was game! He was running a game that Elayne was falling for.

"You still want to head out and do something?" Ciara asked.

He wanted to keep an eye on Justin and Elayne.

"It's your day, we can do whatever."

"How about a double date with X and Chrissy," she said. "Or if Justin is down, he and Elayne."

He did not think so.

"No, just us."

ELAYNE VAN RUSSELL-Had Me at Hello

Justin was smooth, she had to admit that. After they recorded the song, Tony and Ciara headed out. Justin needed Xavier for some tweaks, so she and Chrissy stayed.

When they were done with that, Xavier and Chrissy headed off, but she stayed.

"You need a ride back home?" Justin asked as he powered down his equipment.

"You can take me."

"Oh, it's like that? Bossy!"

"Well, you gotta know what you're in for."

She was definitely up for dating someone like Justin. She needed a boyfriend and she chose him. Sure he was a bit older, but not that bad. She was seventeen, he was twenty-two. She was so sick of seeing Ciara and Chrissy all coupled up and her all alone.

"You might be a little young for me."

Elayne stood and sat on the edge of his music board. "I'm very mature for my age."

She leaned close to him and kissed him. First, he did not kiss her back, then he put his hand on her hips and pulled her close to him. She was putty in his hands. Gorgeous, rich, older, and a great kisser. Win-win for her.

"I like your style, girl," he said, nibbling on her lower lip.

"You're hot, Justin." She rubbed her hand through his long locs of blonde hair.

"Me? You're scorching my equipment."

Justin pulled her away from his board and sat her down on his lap.

"Are you going to be mine?"

"You know it!"

Hey Readers!

Justin...he could have any college girl his age. Why Elayne? Her money maybe? The Scovilles are one of the top Midtown families, now we have met two members, Justin and Jessica.

And Tony doesn't like this at all.

XOXO

Kimberly