Chapter 9
"Hello?" Amanda asked, picking up the phone. Nick was singing, he grabbed onto a light post and swung around it, his arm stretched out. Amanda shushed him, smiling.
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" an angry voice asked on the other end.
"Lance?" Amanda asked in confusion. Lance had not called her all summer, she wondered why he would even ask her where she was now, he hardly cared about her when she was at school.
"No its Mickey Mouse. Who the fuck do you think it is?"
"Why are you shouting at me?" she demanded. Nick was staring at her, he looked concerned.
"Hang up on him," Nick mouthed, but Amanda waved him away.
"Guess where I am right now..." Lance snapped. Amanda wracked her brain. He went to school in Orlando....and had an apartment in Miami, not to mention he had a job on top of that.
"I'm at your dorm room. Your roomate said you haven't been there since Sunday night. Where are you?" Lance said when she had taken too long to answer.
"Lance....why are you at my dorm?" Amanda asked, ignoring the fact that he was being a total and complete butthead.
"Its our anniversary...our one year anniversary. I came to take you to dinner." Lance explained. Amanda's hand flew to her mouth in shock. She had completely forgotten about this in the excitement of Nick's audition.
"Well, I'm out of town...I'm sorry sweetheart."
"Don't give me that crap. Why didn't you tell me you were going away?"
"It was a last minute descision. I'm in New York helping a friend." Amanda explained. Nick was busily waving his arms and mouthing HANG UP.
"Why the fuck are you in New York with Nick?" Lance demanded.
"Excuse me, I never said I was with him." Amanda protested. She was getting frustrated to the point she debated on dumping him.
"Well who else would you be with?" Lance shouted.
"Nick had an audition in the city and I'm here to help him out since I know the area." Amanda said calmly. Lance just laughed, a loud sarcastic laugh.
"Oh....I get it. Nicky needs a babysitter while he's away from home." he said in a mock baby voice.
"Shut the fuck up, Lance. Nick can take care of himself." Amanda yelled.
"He has never lived on his own. He can't do anything without someone holding his hand." he said bitterly.
"Lance, you don't know Nick at all. I hate when you berate him like this." Amanda scolded him.
"Sure take his side, you always have. Well I hope you two have a wonderful time together and make sure little Nicky looks both ways before crossing the street." Lance spat.
"You're an ass." Amanda shouted, feeling more angry than she had felt towards him in a long time.
"I'm done with this conversation and I'm done with you, Amanda. Have fun with your precious Nick." Lance said nastily before hanging up. Amanda stood there with her mouth hanging open, Lance had just dumped her over the phone. Not only that, but it was their anniversary.
"Amanda?" Nick asked, slowly walking over to her. She closed her phone and put it back into her pocket, her brown eyes shimmering with tears.
"Where did you want to go to eat, Nick?" Amanda asked suddenly, breathing in and exhaling as if nothing happened.
"I don't know, are you sure you're up to it? You don't look well. Maybe we should go home." Nick offered. He hated seeing her like this, she looked like she was going to cry.
"I don't want to ruin anything, this is your day." Amanda protested, looking at her feet.
"You know what? Um...I'm kind of tired. We can always celebrate another time." Nick said honestly, picking up his guitar case again. They walked back to the car and drove home in silence. When they got to the house, Nick laid down and slept for a while. He woke up hungry and was sure Amanda was hungry too. Nick looked in the refrigerator and found some chicken. He knew her parents were away and it would go bad, so he decided to cook. After cooking the chicken and some pasta for the two of them, he brought it upstairs on a tray to Amanda's room. Before he opened the door, he could hear her crying....it broke his heart to hear her cry.
"Amanda?" he said softly, knocking on the door and balancing the tray with her free hand.
"Yes, Nick?" Amanda replied, wiping her eyes before he came into the room.
"Are you hungry? I brought you something to eat." he said, holding up the tray. Amanda smiled at him. She didn't want to eat but the food smelled so good she couldn't help herself.
"Wow, this is so good." Amanda commented. She was definitely impressed, was there anything Nick could not do? He was always surprising her...she was blown away.
"I'm glad you like it." Nick grinned, taking a forkful of pasta.
"Where did you learn to cook this? Its amazing." she continued as she ate. Amanda felt that if she could take Nick home to cook for her, she would be happy Lance had dumped her and run off with Nick just for his pasta.
"I just kind of picked it up. I had to cook when I lived with my mom...and Brian's mom taught me a lot of things too." he explained, blushing a little.
"So...you want to talk about it?" he added a moment later when they finished eating. Amanda set down the fork and sighed, the tears threatening to come again.
"Lance broke up with me." she explained in a shaky voice.
"On the phone? What a jerk! Amanda, I don't know why you put up with him, you deserve better." Nick said suddenly.
"Someone like you..." Amanda muttered softly as he hugged her.
"Don't let him get to you, you are far better off without a guy treating you like you're some kind of prize. You deserve to be treated like a princess. He's a fool, anybody would be lucky to have someone like you." Nick told her.
"Nick, I know this is awkward, but would you stay with me again tonight? I feel so much safer with you near me." Amanda said, rubbing her own shoulder. Nick put the dishes in the sink and came back upstairs. The two of them laid in bed together, talking until they fell asleep. Now that Nick had his record deal, all he had to do now was show Amanda he could be good for her. Tomorrow would be the day...the day he told her how he felt. He just hoped that she felt the same way.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Hope everyone likes this chapter. Please don't forget to review!
