CHAPTER NINE: CONFUSED FEELINGS

July 6, 2005

 It’s the day before No Rules leave for Dublin, Ireland. After they finished taping Dare 2 Dream, they filmed the music video for their latest single, Drive. They also had final dance rehearsals.

 By now, Erica has told Ashley that Erica has feelings for Alex; even though he’s with Sophie. So Ashley and Erica decided to look around the West End for a boyfriend.

 Erica had a thing for emo guys, so they hit the emo/punk/goth stores. None of the guys were interested in dating a popstar. When they felt they lost hope, they found a place where the emos go to, a punk-rock lounge.

 After searching around, Erica found a guy who was interested. They hit it off quickly…that it, until he asked her, “So, should we exchange numbers, or what?”

 Erica replied sadly, “I’d like to, but I’m not allowed to give my phone number out to regular people. But I really like you.”

 With that, the guy walked away sadly. Erica met up with Ashley. She asked Ashley, “Aren’t there any emo blokes who are famous instead of regular people?”

 Ashley gave her a hug, and went back to the NR house.

 When Erica went into the kitchen, Alex noticed she looked sad. He decided to talk to her, but have small talk. The kiss still bothered him. He asked her in a monotone, “Is everything ok?”

 Erica sighed and sadly, “No emo bloke wants me, or if he does, I can’t give him my phone number cuz I’m a ‘celebrity’. You’re the only celebrity emo there is, and the public doesn’t know you’re emo.”

 With that, Alex snapped. “Look, I can’t get the kiss out of my head, and I’m in love with Sophie. If you want to see if there’s anything there between us, we’ll kiss.”

 So Alex kissed Erica on the lips, which shocked her. Soon the kiss went from angry to almost passionate. She was feeling guilty, so she pushed him off.

 She told him nervously, “Look, go with Sophie. Okay? I’ll m-move on.”

 So Erica walked off, but Alex strangely wanted to kiss her more.

 She thought to herself, Alex’s such a great kisser, but I can’t be with him.

 As for Alex, he also thought to himself, She’s so good, and I feel sorry for her. I want more. Wait, I’m with Sophie!

 Later that night, Alex decided to talk to Edward. He told Edward that the kiss Erica gave him still bothered him, so he kissed her. Edward was shocked from what he heard.

 He asked nervously, “So, do you fancy Erica?”

 Alex said, “I don’t know, but I actually wanted to go into a heavy snog. Not sex, but I don’t know.”

 “What about Sophie? Do you still love her?”

 “Yeah, I think. I don’t know.”

 “But Sophie practically saved your life, whilst Erica…well, you just met her.”

 Alex reacted angrily, “Don’t you think I know that? God, I’m so confused.”

 Then Alex banged his head on the wall. Edward told him, “Whatever you do, don’t tell Sophie about it.”

 “I won’t."

 At the same time, Erica was talking to Ashley. She told Ashley that Alex came onto her; and instead of kissing out of anger, he passionately kissed her. Ashley was shocked by that.

 Ashley asked, “So Alex fancies you even though he’s with Sophie?”

 Erica said, “Look, I feel really guilty about this. That’s why I’m considering going back to my ex, Evan Mather.”

 “Who is he?”

 “Right after I moved to the East End, I went to school there. I saw this guy who looked extremely lonely, so I decided to become his friend. Then a few days later, Evan told me he was going to commit suicide. I got him to stop by telling him that I loved him, and that I’ll do anything to save his life.

 “I didn’t expect to have a boyfriend whilst living in the East End, but I did. He turned out to be sweetest guy I ever met. That’s why I gained feelings for Alex; he reminded me of Evan.”

 “Then why’d you break up with him?”

 “Evan moved to Essex a few days before my parents were killed. Since then, I was never able to contact him.”

 “Maybe you should try to look for him.”

 Erica agreed.

 It’s about a week later, and No Rules are now in Glasgow, and they just finished their concert. So far, they’ve performed in Dublin, Belfast, and Aberdeen. They’ve sang live on all of their songs. As for their dancing, they’ve gotten praise.

 After the concert, the members were back at their hotel suite. Erica took Ashley aside to talk. She grinned, “I found him!”

 Ashley asked, “You found who?”

 “My ex Evan Mather!”

 Ashley asked excitedly, “OMFG, where?”

 “On MySpace. Evan has a MySpace page, so I messaged him anonymously. I told him I’m one of his ex-girlfriends, and I wanna know where he’s at. He gave me his home address. I wanna meet with Evan so bad.”

 The Ashley came up with an idea. “We don’t leave for Edinburgh until tomorrow. Maybe we can sneak out of Glasgow, and go to Chelmsford.”

 With that, Erica gave Ashley a hug.

 Next morning, Erica was getting her stuff before she left for Chelmsford with Ashley. Alex walked by her room, and noticed what she was doing.

 He asked her, “What are you doing?”

 Erica replied, “Ashley and I are leaving for Chelmsford to meet with a bloke I used to date.”

 Just as Erica was about to leave, Alex grabbed her, and kissed her. She pushed him away, and said, “Go be with Sophie. You need her.”

 Then Erica left Alex’s tight grip.

 It’s a few hours later, and Ashley and Erica arrived at Evan’s house. Erica was nervous since it’s been a few years since she seen him. She knocked on the door, and a older-looking woman opened it

.

 She asked the two teens suspiciously, “You are?”

 Erica said, “I’m Erica Reed of the band No Rules, and I dated a guy named Evan Mather. He used to live in East London before he moved to Chelmsford.”

 The woman said coldly, “Oh yes, you were his girlfriend. Well, he’s busy right now, so goodbye.”

 Erica pleaded, “Wait! Please let me see Evan. I haven’t seen him for ages!”

 Then Erica heard a boy’s voice in the house, so she peaked behind the woman. She called out, “Evan, is that you?”

 The boy came to the door. He looked 17, and had brown hair. He was shocked to see Erica. He asked her “Hannah, is that you?”

 “OMG, Evan!”

 Evan and Erica hugged each other, then they went inside the house to catch up. Ashley also went inside.

 Evan told Erica that he ended up graduating with top honors, and now he’s going to a performing arts college in London. He doesn’t consider himself an emo; he’s now a punk-rocker. Erica told Evan her life after he moved away.

 It’s now evening, and Ashley and Erica arrived back at Glasgow. Once they were at the suite, they told the members about Erica’s new boyfriend, Evan. Ashley showed the pictures of Evan. Alex, feeling jealous, stormed off to his room, whom he’s sharing with Edward.

 A few minutes later, Edward went into his room to see how Alex was doing. As usual, he was writing in his notebook. He asked him, “Alex, are you okay?”

 Alex replied quietly, “How can Erica go with that guy? She should be with me.”

 That made Edward very nervous. He said, “You’re with Sophie, and you should stay with her. Besides, Erica has a boyfriend now.”

 Alex said angrily, “Ever thought that I might be confused? Yea, I love Sophie, but I’m in love with Erica.”

 “You need to get your priorities in order. Stacey’s the one you should be with, not Erica.”

 Alex said quietly, “I know.”

 Then Edward left Alex alone. He had a lot on his mind, so much so that he couldn’t get back to writing in his notebook. Will he stay faithful with Sophie? Or will he go after Erica?

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IN THE PIC IS EVAN MATHER (Grant Guston)>>>