CHAPTER 12

We had the whole week off. Instead of our show airing at its normal time on Friday and Sunday evenings its spot had been taken over by the Football's Grand Final. And seeing as were a "reality" show which showed live events we didn't pre-record.

From what I heard, Xavier was on the other side of the country as he promoted his album doing signings and guest performances. But that night I had stalked him on Twitter on one of those Xavier Matthews update pages and there were photos of him at a famous New York clubbing with a pretty blonde girl with long tan legs and a short fitted gold dress and black heels. My self-esteem dropped about a hungred points as the page kept frequently updating with blurry pics of the back of his head and the blonde girl making out.

Slamming my laptop shut I sneaked out of my room with my iPod and ran downstairs and out the back door. I didn't care that I was probably on the security cameras or that it was dark outside. I was just beyond confused. The Xavier I knew wasn't like the Xavier in the media. I just couldn't piece it together.

I ran out and sat on the jetty looking over the lagoon. The full moon's reflection lit up the whole area. Sitting crossed legged on the edge of the jetty I plugged in my earphones and played the next Xavier song which came up. It was called Wanderer in Foreign Lands. Guitar strumming and percussion filled the background with sound effects of, I think, a train. His beautiful sang strongly without the need of auto tune to a slow melody. Which matched his personality. These songs were him, not the songs the world heard.

Four beautiful songs later, around midnight I walked back inside the mansion to my bedroom. Exhausted, I collapsed into bed and fell asleep right away.

There was ten girls left, including me. Unluckily for me I didn't really get along with most of them except for Rose and Taliah. The other girls followed Lindsay around and they all seemed to have a hatred for me. I knew that Elliot favoured a lot of them as arrangements must have been made with him and their rich parents.

Rose didn't really care and shrugged it off, so did Taliah. Instead we went out and walked around the busy streets of LA. Rose had her straightened to perfection and was up in a high ponytail. And her slim legs fitted into skinny jeans a loose white middriff shirt. I was wearing short denim overalls with a white middriff shirt underneath which had daisy's on it and my white Converses and Taliah was wearing a bright floral jumpsuit which looked like a dress.

I didn't realise how popular the show was and how much attention we were getting until today. Our car stopped at one of the main streets and when we walked out a few girls around recognised and started coming up to us for photos and autographs. Some were fangirling about Xavier and others were saying how one of us should win the show. I happily got photos with some girls but I still felt a bit odd about.

One girl, around eight years old, with golden hair which curled at the end and with big baby blue eyes looked up at me filled with awe, "Are you really a princess?"

I smiled down at her and knelt to her level, "No sweetie, but I think you are."

She giggled shyly and opened her arms up for a hug. I hugged her and her mum was taking photos to the side. Soon we were able to leave and walked through the streets stopping along to take some photos on the way.

We found a few cool shops where we bought some clothes but other than that we just chilled the whole afternoon. At some point we ended up at the beach and talked the whole time, getting to know each other and having a ball.

That was until I saw a certain brown headed boy in the distance walking our way. I didn't say anything but when he was closer I saw that he had recognised us.

What was he doing here? I thought he was in New York.

I looked away and turned my back to him. I knew he hadn't seen me yet.

I felt his shadow pass and I looked up and saw him walking past completely oblivious to the world around him. He had his earphones in and his head covered by his faded maroon hoodie.

His figure was slumped as if the weight of the world rested on him and a frown lined his features.

He walked past until he was out of sight. I zoned back into the conversation the girls were having before I realised it was about boys. Zoning back out I wondered why he was here. He couldn't have gotten back from New York that fast.

So why was here and why did he look so upset?

The next night the producers decided to take us all out for a night of fun but this time without cameras. They could probably see we were getting a bit restless in the mansion. A white long stretch limo drove up the massive driveway around five in the afternoon and the ten of us plus some crew members who acted as chaperones boarded the limo with us. A couple cars followed us from the mansion, they were also part of the crew which was excited for a night out. I knew Jono and Jo was coming as well as Charlie, Jono's assistant and Roses crush. I heard through Jono that a friend of Charlie was coming as well.

We arrived at the Bowl-a-rama. The producers had booked out the entire bowling alley and game arcade which we had to ourselves for the night.

Most of us were dressed simply since there were no cameras filming, except for the one or two paparazzi which lingered around the front doors.

We lined up to get our shoes and the staff seemed a bit flustered having all of us in there but they coped with it pretty well. I saw Jono and Jo arrive along with Charlie and his friends. There were two more boys with him; one was African-American with dark skin and a buzz cut. He dressed in baggy pants and an Adidas hoodie and golden Supras. The other boy looked somewhat familiar but yet still different. He was tanned and had blue eyes, his hair was bleached white and he wore 'hipster' glasses. He wore a check shirt button all the way to the top and had tanned chinos on along with white converses.

The three of them didn't hire a pair of shoes but hung along with the rest of us. There were two teams of five and I was with Rose, Taliah, Lindsay and a girl called Ashley who was friends with Lindsay.

Rose, Taliah and I were just joking around and having fun the whole time. Although I was on the same team with Lindsay we just ignored her. I couldn't actually bowl so just as a joke I used the kid's ramp and got a strike. While we waited our turns we talked among ourselves and with the boys. I noticed the looks Rose was getting from Charlie and the flirty looks she sent back.

The next time it was my turn I tried with the ramp and got a gutter ball. On my second bowl the bleach haired kid yelled out, "Keep your arm straight!"

I did as I was told and knocked all over. Except for one which stubbornly refused to move.

We all ate together; hot chips, chicken nuggets, spring rolls and wedges. Lindsay complained that they were covered in oil while Rose and I ate like pigs, Taliah laughing at us and telling at us to be ladylike.

The night was fun and relaxed and I got on well with Charlie and his two friends, the African American one, Lee and the bleach haired one, Tyler.

Rose got along extra well with Charlie. That definitely didn't go unnoticed by me.

Sadly, our team didn't win at the end of the night but seriously, with people like me, Lindsay and Rose on the team that was definitely expected. We, well most of us, were in good spirits. For me, it was good to breathe and just a night of normality.

I found also amusing to finally see the girl's true colours, their true personality. Turns out Lindsay was always like the way she is. Taliah though was suddenly a lot more outgoing, loud and confident especially without the cameras around. She was almost as loud as Rose.

We mingled all together and we talked to the boys a lot. The boys talked to everyone and found it easy to get along with the girls without seeming like they were flirting. Cause they weren't. They were genuinely very nice people.

We talked about the show, about music, about Xavier himself and this time I said nice things about him. Lee was hilarious and was into sports and cars while Tyler was into music and journalism.

All in all I had a really good night. I felt somewhat 'normal' after the craze of events which had happen over the past few weeks but I was also exhausted from everything going on as well.

And when the limo came to pick us up and dropped us back at the mansion I couldn't have been more relieved to collapse back into my bed.

Otherwise known as my best friend.

A/N: Hey guys, I knew this chapter is not my best, incredibly boring and Xavier-less but I wanted to get it out in time while facing a major writers block.

Alexis.

Question of the Update: Favourite subject at school and why?