Chapter 11: A Very Surprising Announcement                 
 

My mother is engaged…to Steve. I can’t believe it. When she told me I nearly burst into tears and believe me when I tell you that they were not the happy kind. I don’t hate Steve like I used to—he’s actually a pretty decent guy. Just cause he’s a nice guy though doesn’t mean I want him to marry my mom. I’m just not ready for this and I have enough stress in my life right now from touring to dealing with fame to being around Justin twenty-four-seven for the next few months. I don’t need this right now. I hope that didn’t sound completely selfish.
 

It’s not just the stress thing though. I just don’t want my mom to get married—I don’t want nor do I need a new dad. I mean I’ve just now finally gotten used to them dating! When she told me I didn’t know what to say. So I did what any good daughter would do—I congratulated her. I fought everything in me that was telling me to run away and hide from the situation and I congratulated them and hugged them both and told them how happy I was for them. And then I did something I don’t think anyone could have predicted. 
 
 

I went to him.
 

I ran right past Joey and my boyfriend, telling them that I was okay, and straight to his hotel room door. I wasn’t even thinking when I began pounding on his door, the tears already beginning to fall. You can imagine my surprise when he wasn’t the one who opened the door. 
 
 

(FLASHBACK)
 
 

“Hi there,” The one and only Cameron Diaz greets with a perfect smile. “Elli right?”
 
 

My breath hitched in my throat the moment my eyes landed on her perfect face. I take a moment to take in what she’s wearing—a rather large sweatshirt, which I can only assume belongs to Justin and very short shorts. I look past her, just over her shoulder, to see clothes thrown haphazardly around the room and a thin strip of light seeping through the small gap at the base of the bathroom door. 
 
 

“Are you okay honey? You look upset.” The blonde asks looking genuinely concerned for me. She reaches out to curl her manicured fingers around my left arm. “Elli?” 
 
 

“I’m fine.” I say snapping out of my trance and forcing and awkward smile. “I was just—uh looking for—um…”
 
 

“Justin?” She fills in with a question mark, dropping her hand from my arm. “He’s in the shower if you want me to go get him.”
 
 

“No…no….no…um that’s okay.” I stutter miserably backing away from the door. “I wasn’t looking for him anyway.”
 
 

“Then what are you doing here?” 
 
 

“I thought this was someone else’s room.” I lie easily. My attention is drawn back into the room when the bathroom light flick off and the door begins to open. Justin steps out just as I step to the right and just out of sight from him. 
 
 

“Can I help you find someone?”
 
 

“No, I have to go.” I answer quickly and literally run down the hall, bypassing the elevator and heading straight for the stairs.
 
 

(END OF FLASHBACK)
 

I don’t think I’ve ever moved so fast in my life. I don’t know what I was thinking going to Justin of all people. I guess the problem is that I wasn’t thinking at all. By now he has to know that I was there. I’m sure Cameron told him. Hopefully they both bought my story that I was at the wrong room. That was a believable excuse right? I would have believed me… I think.
 

“Hey, we’ve been looking everywhere for you.” I look over my shoulder to Joey and offer a small apologetic smile. The worried look he was initially wearing morphs into a comfortable smile as he walks the distance to me. He sits down next to me at the edge of the hotel pool and slips off his flip-flops before dunking his feet into the blue water.
 

“We?” I ask slightly paranoid that Justin was included in that we.

“Me and Heath. What are you doing out here?”
 

“Just thinking. The water relaxes me.” I explain, swishing the water around by making small circles with my legs. “My mom wasn’t looking for me?”
 

“I’m not sure.”  
 

“So I’m gonna assume you’re not taking the engagement as well as you tried to let on?” He asks with a smirk, gently kicking my leg to get me to look over at him.
 

“I just really didn’t expect it that’s all.” I sigh heavily.
 

“I can understand that.” He answers. “So where did you run off to?”
 

“The pool.” I nearly snap, but quickly soften my tone. “Here. I came here.”
 

“But where did you go first?”
 

“How do you know I went somewhere else first?”
 

“You just told me.” He laughs, kicking his feet in the water and sending some spurting up onto me. “I’ve always wanted to say that.”
 

“That was sneaky.” I laugh right back and kick some water in his direction. I get him a little wetter than he did me, but he doesn’t seem to notice. He nudges me with his shoulder, silently asking me again where I ran off to before ending up at the pool.
 

 “This is gonna sound so stupid,” I begin with a nervous laugh. “When my mom told me she was engaged the first thing I thought was that I needed to go find Justin.”
 

“So that’s where you went?” He asks as if he already knows what I found when I got there. I nod and a single tears slips down my cheek, which I quickly wipe away. His arm slides around my shoulders comfortingly. “Did you talk to him?”
 

“He was tied up.”
 

“So you met Cameron?” He asks though it comes out more as a statement than a question so I don’t bother to answer him.
 

“Why did I go to him? We’re barely speaking.”
 

“I thought you agreed to try the friendship thing.”
 

“We did, but that was just two days ago. I shouldn’t have gone to him. I should have gone to you or to Heath, anyone but him.” I say through a quivering voice.
 

“Well,” He begins but then hesitates briefly as if he’s trying to come up with something to say. “he was around when your mom and Steve started dating and you went to him for comfort then so you probably just relate those feelings to him.”
 

“You really think so.”
 

“Sure.”
 

I guess that kind of makes sense. Doesn’t it? I mean why else would I go to the man that I’ve barely said an entire kind sentence to for three years? I relate my feelings about my mom’s relationship with Steve to Justin because he was there for me in the beginning. That totally makes sense. When did Joey get so smart?
 

“Here comes you’re boyfriend.” Joey says very singsong like as he lifts his feet from the pool and plucks his flip-flops up off the floor. He pats my head affectionately and smoothes his finger through my ponytail before leaving me alone with Heath.
 

“I’ve been looking for you. I was worried.”
 

“So I heard.” I say standing from the edge of the pool and taking his hand as he leads me over to lounge chair. We sit close so that our legs are touching and his arm is around my back and one of my arms leans against his thigh. “Sorry I worried you.”
 

“Are you okay? You seemed upset.”
 

I look up into his amazing russet-colored eyes and for a moment I feel like spilling my every thought and feeling about this whole situation with my mother. But for some reason my words fail me and all I can do is simply stare at him.
 

“I’m fine.” I force a smile and give his knee a reassuring squeeze.
 

“You’re sure?” He questions doubtfully.
 

“I’m sure.”
 

“You’re mum told me you haven’t always gotten along very well with Steve.” He says, rubbing his hand up and down my arm. “She’s worried that you’re upset about the engagement.”
 

“I was just surprised that’s all.” I shrug.
 

“So you’re sure you’re not upset about it?”
 

“Look I really don’t want to talk about this right now.” I snap pulling away from him. “I said I was fine and I meant it so let it go.”
 

He stares at me for a moment with his mouth just slightly hanging open before his jaw clenches and he stands from the lounge chair. “I’m sorry. I was just trying to be supportive.”
 

“Heath!” I call after him as he walks away from me. He holds up one of his hands to silence me, but keeps on walking until he’s out of sight. I slump over on the chair and rest my head in my hands, pulling at my hair in utter frustration. 
 
 

~*~(Meanwhile)~*~
 

“Who was that?” I ask as Cameron closes the door and steps back inside the room. She moves to sit at the edge of one of the queen size beds and I sit on the other as I run a towel over my head.
 

“Elli,” I instantly perk up at the sound of her name. Dropping the towel from my hands it lands on the floor to collect with the other random garments on the floor. My mother would skin me alive if she saw what I slob I was on tour. Even Cameron, who’s not the neatest person, complained about my clothes being all over the floor.
 

“What did she want?” I ask trying to sound as nonchalant as possible, but I’m sure I failed miserably.
 

“I don’t know but she looked really upset.” She answers, again peaking my interest. What was Elli doing looking for me? I would think that I would be the last person she would seek out if she were having a problem.
 

“Why didn’t you come get me out of the shower?” I say, annoyance lacing my tone.
 

“She said she wasn’t looking for you.” Cameron answers back haughtily, not appreciating my tone. “She claims she came to the wrong room.”
 

“She knows which room everyone’s in.” I mumble more to myself than to Cam.
 

Oh, by the way, I invited Cameron to come visit me right now because I honestly just can’t deal with having Heath around. We’re not dating nor have we or will we ever. I love the girl, but just not in that way. So she’s here sort of as moral support for me. She knows all about my past relationship with Elli and the lingering feelings still here, so it’s quite comforting to have her around and to know that she’s on my side.
 

“You want to know what I think?”
 

“What?”
 

“I think she was looking for you and then got jealous when she saw me.” Cameron explains, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees.
 

“Jealous?” I echo with a sarcastic laugh. “Elli can barely stand to be in the same f**king room as me and you think she was jealous of you?”
 

“I was wearing your clothes,” She says counting off on her fingers with every reason she spouts. “you were in the shower, there were clothes thrown all over the room—she doesn’t know you’re a slob and they’re just really all yours—and she was completely thrown off kilter when she saw me. Put the pieces together Justin. She. Was. Jealous.”
 

Could she really be jealous? Here I am thinking I’m the only one who could possibly be jealous and then I get this tidbit of information. I’m almost tempted to push this just a little farther. If Elli did get jealous just because of her run in with Cameron, just imagine what would happen if I say…. pretend to date Cameron.

TBC.....