Rewrite The Past.

Chapter 1 - We're Not Kids Anymore, Arielle.

"Ivy, I wanted a decaf", I said to my assistant whilst checking my schedule and tucking my pager into my back pocket. She took the cup from my hand and scurried off. Ivy returned a moment later and gave me what I ordered. I shooed her off and walked over to Linda. "Linda, what's this on my schedule?", I asked. "Oh you've to do a few gigs there and you'll have interviews and things there too. You'll be there for a while dear. Best to leave in a week or so", she said to me. Linda dealt with all my scheduling etc. I immediately felt my hand flutter up to grasp my locket. Tony... I stared down at the sheet in disbelief. After 5 years, I had to return home again.... I suddenly thought of my friends back there and what they might be doing. Probably just doing normal people stuff... I missed that... Anyway enough of that thinking. I had accommodation to arrange.

I got home from the office and phoned my old real estate agent. I managed to find a beach house for sale at a good price for what I was getting so I agreed to go and meet with him the following morning which meant booking flights, a hotel and talking to Ivy. The flights and luxury spa suite were easy enough but Ivy would be difficult to persuade to let me go alone... I wasn't meant to go anywhere without an assistant but I didn't want my first trip home to be me walking around like I own the place with servants at my feet... If I was going to see my old friends, I wanted it to be more informal. I called Linda and left a message for Ivy but by the time she would have gotten it, I would be back in Beverly Hills and it wouldn't matter.

First thing in the morning, I got up and went to the airport. As soon as I was settled into my seat on the plane, I couldn't help but think about how the last time I was on a plane that wasn't my private jet was when I moved here to go to the Academy.... And the time before that, I was with Bennett. For a minute I sat thinking about what he might be doing these days. I wondered if he'd met the girl he'd always wanted or even if he had a family. Bennett was the only one I could bring myself to think about except for Stefan and Johnny... It was too painful to think of the others.

Once I arrived in Beverly Hills, I hired a car and drove straight to the address I was given. The house was gorgeous and furnished enough that I could move in right away. I payed upfront with my credit card and headed to get the essentials - bed sheets, a few bikinis, some flipflops, milk, bread, lemon tea. After that, I called the hotel to cancel the suite and settled in for the night. In the morning, I planned on seeking out Bennett to see what he was doing and find out how everybody else was getting on. I wanted to know how Tony was doing and I thought I could ask Bennett to help me plan a party which we could invite the old gang to. If they still even stayed here that is... After about a month in London, I completely lost touch with Kate and Peyton. I was supposed to call them one night and I forgot so we never spoke again after it.

The following morning, I woke up in my new bed. I sat up and yawned, stretching my arms out as far as they could reach. I opened my eyes and fumbled about on the bedside table for my cell. I picked it up and saw I had 16 missed calls from Linda and 13 from Ivy. I groaned and placed the phone back down again. I got up from my bed and looked out of the window. I was surprised to see an old quince tree, not unlike the one at my old house. I gave a small smile and went to get dressed. I threw on my favourite patterned body-con dress which was black with mint green and coral coloured flowers with my black sandals. I left my hair naturally and headed out with just my phone and keys.

I had already called Linda last night to get me Bennett's address which happened to be only a few miles outside of our old village. I pulled up to the house and sat staring nervously at the building. It was one of 3 or 4 houses in this part if Beverly Hills. Bennett now lived in a really quiet area, quieter than our village of Abbey Mount. I finally plucked up the courage to get out of the car and knocked delicately on his front door. It wasn't Bennett who answered but a pretty brunette girl of about my age. "Yes?", she greeted. "I umm... Does Bennett Collins live here?", I asked. "Who wants to know?", she asked, eyeing me. Before I could answer the snarky brunette gal, Bennett appeared. He looked pretty much the same as I remembered. Same gorgeous curls, same innocent blue eyes. Only now he looked more mature and happier. He didn't seem to recognise me. "Can I help you?", Bennett asked me, placing his hand on the girl's shoulder. " I'm um... Arielle", I said quietly. Bennett's face dropped and his eyes filled with pain. "Talia sweetheart, could you give us a minute?", he said at last. The brunette, who I now knew as Talia, eyed me one last time before disappearing into the house. Bennett closed the door and stepped onto the front porch with me. "Why now?", he asked simply. "I'm scheduled to do interviews and gigs here so I have to stay for a while... I'm sorry for turning up like this but... I was back in town and I wanted to actually know somebody so I looked up your address...", I rambled. "Ari, stop", he butted in, " yeah it's weird you being here after all that time but... We used to be friends and that means something to me. Would you like to come inside?". I nodded, "thank you".

Inside, Bennett's house was simple. Furbished in colours of browns and creams. Once we entered the kitchen, Talia was there, drinking coffee at the island counter. Even though she could see Bennett was okay with me now, she was still looking at me strange. "Where do I know your from?", she asked me at last. "Arielle Davidson is an actress, singer/songwriter, dancer and model", Bennett smiled, "Did I miss anything?", he asked turning to me. I shook my head and laughed. "Ah that's it! I knew I knew you from the second I opened the door but I couldn't figure out how. You sing that song Distraction, right?", Talia said with wide eyes. I nodded. "I love that song!", she praised. I thanked her and explained that I needed to ask Bennett a couple of things before I had to go.

The three of us went and sat in their lounge. There, they filled me in on what everyone was up to:

-Nathan was working with his dad at their used-car dealership.

-Kate was living with her new fiancé, Tom.

-Jason lived alone but had been dating a girl who worked with Tom at a newspaper company.

-Peyton was married to Nathan's best friend Conor and she was pregnant.

-Johnny and Stefan were still together and had been fostering a 4 year old girl named Lola for the past 18 months.

-Tony lived alone and was single as he had broken up with his long term girlfriend 6 months ago.

And then there was Bennett. He had an apprenticeship working with Nathan and his dad. He had been seeing Talia for 2 months and she moved in with him a week ago. "Wow... I can't believe you're all like proper grown-ups... I mean I knew you would all be older when I saw you but it's scary how different all of our lives are now. Everything's changed and it's not just me... It's all different now", I said after a long silence. Bennett nodded. "We're not kids anymore, Arielle. While you've been off having adventures, we've stayed here having one of our own. I don't know what it's going to be like now that you're back. Things have changed, we're not the tight group we used to be. Nobody's heard from Tony in months and Stef and Johnny are so wrapped up in their life with Lola that we barely see them now.... Now that you're back, I don't know... I just don't see it going back to the way it was if that's what you expected", Bennnett explained. "No, no of course not. I wasn't expecting you all to be waiting on me with open arms. I wasn't expecting you to be the kids we were five years ago. I just wanted to see you all while I was here", I replied, understandingly.

I thanked them for their hospitality, told them I would call them (which with my track record, the wouldn't have believed) and drove home. When I got in, I sat in the living room thinking of what Jamie would have been doing now if he was still here. He would probably be a football coach or a history teacher or something.... Maybe he would have fallen in love.... I stood up and went to go to bed. It was already late and I was still quite jet lagged. No matter what I did, I couldn't shake the thought of my brother out of my mind. Sweet dreams Jamie, wherever you are. I miss you...

[AN:- can you believe it?! Chapter 1 of book 2! Already! Can I just take this opportunity please to say thank you to every single one of you for your support and lovely comments about my work. Writing is what I love to do and when I'm older, I hope to maybe do some of the things we now see Arielle doing on top of my writing (without the modelling, I would not make a good model). So thanks for building my confidence and giving me your ideas and theories!

So what do you think so far?

- what's Tony's deal?

- is Talia a good gal?

- do you wish any of the other characters had ended up together? Jason and Kate maybe? Or Nathan and Peyton? Anyone else?

- has Arielle gotten a bit of an ego or is she the same girl that we loved before?

Get answering these in the comments box! Thanks!!]