Behind The Camera

Chapter Twenty Nine.

"We can go home" Stacey says, pulling me into the quiet alley way. "No, if I go home I'm just letting them win" I mutter, trying to wipe some of the juice off my top, it was cold, and evidently going to stain. "I admire how strong you're trying to be but we can go home, we can shop another time" She whispers. I shake my head 'no' I wrap my cardigan around myself, pulling the sleeves into a bow and making it look like it was a home made jumper. "See, problem sorted" I chuckle, Stacey smiles at me, pulling me in for a hug. "We will get through this" She mumbles as we head down the busy street to New Look.

I felt like Stacey could spend hours shopping in clothes shops, I was carrying two baskets, Stacey was carrying another two, and I honestly wondered where she was going to put it all. "Have you spoken to Perri today?" Stacey asks, as we look at the shoes, now I know she had way to many of those already. "Not really, with a dodgy phone it's kind of hard" I chuckle. "Well why don't you ring him off mine?" She asks, giving me her phone. I smile at her, and watch as the continues to look at shoes in her size. I put Perri's number in Stacey's phone and dial it, not sure if he would answer with not knowing the number. After a few rings he answers the phone. "Hey" I breath, I hear him chuckle. "New number?" He asks, and I hear him walking on the studio floor. "Well, I do have a new number, I got a new phone earlier but this is Stacey's number, i'll delete it after the phone call, I just wanted to check in" I whisper, twirling my hair around my fingers. "I'm good, I miss you, but Ash has got us working harder, got some exciting news" He chuckles, but his voice drops when he mentions news. "What kind of news?" I ask. "I'll tell you later, do you fancy the studio?" He asks, his voice sounding hopeful. I shake my head. "I cant, I'vie got to catch up on college work, I hate this" I mumble. "Hey, college comes first" he chuckles. "No, you come first" I mumble. "No, Tee, I enjoy spending time with you, but you said yourself you wont get in the way of dancing, so i'm not going to get in the way of college work, we can sort out a day to spend the day together" He whispers, a small smile in his voice. "But I want to spend time with you now" I whisper. "I know babe, I know" he says, sighing. "I'll face time you later?" I ask, trying my hardest to smile. "Of course, Barry misses you" He chuckles. "I miss him snoring too" I chuckle. "Pel?" I hear a voice shout in the background. "That's your que" I whisper. He sighs, "Yeah, i'll speak to you later" He whispers. "Bye Pell" I whisper as I hang up the phone and return to Stacey who is still staring at shoes.

"Is he okay?" She asks, finally picking one pair of shoes. "Yeah, his at the studio, said his got some news, he wanted me to go by later but college work" I mumble. "You're way ahead in college work, don't you think you can take the night off and spend it with your boyfriend?" She asks, giving me the warning look. I shake my head, "I just don't want to get in the way" I mumble, walking to the till with Stacey. "You're not getting in the way, if he didn't want you around he wouldn't ask for you to go" She scolds. I shake my head. "The thing is one day his going to be away for weeks, months, god knows how long, if I don't get used to not seeing him now its going to hurt a lot more when it comes to that" I whisper. "Tee, you're thinking too far ahead, you don't know what the future holds, doesn't that mean you should spend as much time with him now whilst you can" She whispers, looking at me. "I know you're right, I just I feel like whilst i'm there i'm a distraction to him" I whisper. "But you're not, if anything you probably make him work harder" She chuckles, paying for the shopping. "So, we are going to go home and you can have a shower, change your clothes, i'll work my magic on your top and you can go and see him for an hour or two, then you can come home and we will do college work together" She chuckles, rolling her plan out. I shake my head but laugh with her. "This is why you're my best friend" I murmur, pulling her in to a hug.

---

After the shower I blow dry my hair, not really caring how it falls. I grab an over-sized hoodie out of my wardrobe and pull it over the vest I was wearing, I put on some cute ripped jeans and leave my face natural, I wasn't impressing anyone. I give Perri a quick ring off my new phone, he doesn't answer but I just assumed he was busy, which was normal. I take a walk downstairs and Stacey and Sam are watching the college forum news, it was mad to think that the college actually had a channel on the local TV news.

"Tee Smith deletes social media to then get slushed" I roll my eyes, Stacey goes to turn the news off but I stop her.
"Tee Smith was seen to disappear off the social media wave lengths yesterday, negative comments seeming to get the better of her, Tee was then spotted in the town centre this afternoon with her friend, Perri Kiely nowhere to be seen, he is suspected to be rehearsing for upcoming shows with the rest of Diversity. Tee was then spotted covered in a red substance but an eye witness can confirm she was in fact slushed by a group of fans, more to follow on the story as information comes in"

I scoff, "This is seriously news? What is wrong with people!" I exclaim, throwing my hands in the air, and running my finger through my hair. "Calm down" Stace says, turning the channel over. "I did not sign up for this" I mutter, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge, my hands shaking. I didn't know if that was from anger or the embarrassment that people knew what happened today.  My phone was ringing on the side, but for the first time in a while I didn't want to answer it, I didn't want to speak to anyone. Stacey answers the phone. "Hey Perri.." She says, looking at me. "Yeah, I think she just wanted to know if the offer for the studio was still open" She smiles as I roll my eyes. I didn't want to see anyone, not even Perri. "Yeah, i'll let her know, see you later" Stacey smiles before hanging up the phone. "You can go anytime, he cant wait to see you" She whispers, passing me my phone. I roll my eyes. "Stace I don't think its a good idea going out" I mutter, taking another sip of water. "Tee, you cant lock yourself up in your room and hide from everyone, if you don't go Perri is going to know somethings up, which is going to lead to him just coming here anyway" She says, leaning against the kitchen counter. I nod my head, she's right. "Are you having second thoughts" She asks, looking over at me, I shake my head 'no'. "Tee, its okay to feel the way you do" She whispers. I look up. "Is it though? I feel like everyone is just giving me hate, I feel like work feel like I cant even do my job so they've put me doing routines which they know I don't dance, I feel like I cant even make Perri happy, I've got what feels like every teenager in the country messaging me, or looking at me as if I cant do this, looking at me with pity, saying things that are harsh, what is Perri realises that he can do better?" I mumble, looking down. "Perri loves you Tee, just because the word hasn't been said doesn't mean it isn't around, or obvious" She says, "As for the girls, think about the ones who asked for a photo earlier, not everyone is horrible, not everyone is mean, for every bad moment take a positive, you taught me that" She whispers. I nod my head, taking a deep breath. "I'll see you later" I whisper, walking past her and getting in my car, driving to the studio.