Chapter Text
Time: 8.30 A.M.
Location: Studio, outside
David Archuleta
This was gonna be a blast. We were gonna be touring around America. Everyone's here! Except Hernadez and Amanda. I really miss those two. They were really great people. I'm just so happy to be back with the others. Then again, this is the first time I'm doing something on American Idol without my dad being there for me. He can't go around the country with us, so... (sigh) I'm gonna miss my family. But I'm not gonna be the only one. Michael's gonna be away from his wife. I feel really bad because Michael's like my second dad, and to see him lonely... (sigh)... and then there's Carly--who's become like my other mom--and Brooke, who's just so sweet and bright... they're both gonna miss their husbands. Ramielle's gonna be away from Danny, and she's been really sad about it. I know how much she loves Danny. It's great that I can talk to Ramielle...she's like my buddy from school... but when she gets sad about Danny, I really don't know what to say to her, and that just eats me up inside... I'm really grateful Chikezie's here to talk to her. He's better at giving Ramielle love advice than I'll ever be... and Syesha's here, too, and she and Rami get along really, really well... man, I love Syesha, she's always so full of energy... and her hair's great just the way it is. I've never seen anything wrong with her hair, but she keeps complaining about how frizzy it looks on TV... by the way, I hope she finds the chocolate bar I bought for her. I hope I left in a place where she'd notice it... I know how much Syesha loveschocolate...
Hey, I had just seen Jason running by... he was looking over his shoulder, laughing... and he was holding something, but it was too small for me to see what it was...
And there came Kristy Lee! Man, she's like a big sister to me... I'm always afraid she'll kick my butt if I don't do as she says... and, right now, she was running after Jason...
"JASON! GET BACK HERE!" Kristy shouted at him.
Oh, I guessed Jason had done something to make Kristy mad at him... again. Not mad in a 'really angry' way, but mad in a 'Did-you-hide-my-hairbrush-again?' kind of way, you know... they're like siblings... they like to pick on each other...
"Whoa, what did you do this time, Castro?" David Cook asked, as Jason ran past him, Kristy hot on his heels.
Jason just shrugged and kept on running.
David Cook's like my big brother. He's really daring and funny. Well, I think he's funny. Syesha doesn't agree with me. She dreads listening to David Cook when he jokes... and so does everyone else. But David Cook is cool. He's really great... I still feel kinda bad Ryan announced my name at the finale, and not his...
Anyway, on a happier note--we're all going on tour! This is awesome! And they told us they might make a stop at a Thai food restaurant somewhere, too. Wow! I haven't had Thai food in ages!
"Hey, Archie!" David Cook said, heading over to me.
"Hi," I replied, smiling.
"You wanna hear a joke?" David Cook asked, enthusiastically.
David Cook
"...and so the captain of the military ship says, 'No, we recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the north to avoid collision!" I told little Archie, who was listening attentatively to me with those huge, innocent eyes of his. "And the guy on the radio replies, 'Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the south'. And that's when the captain gets really angry and he says, 'THIS IS THE AIR CRAFT CARRIER AND LARGEST SHIP IN THE FLEET! WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS, AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I, THE CAPTAIN, DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER MEASURES WILL BE UNDETAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP!'..."
Little Archie had already started to laugh. I hadn't even gotten to the punch line yet. Heck, that kid laughed at anything. Archie was always the guy I wanted to tell jokes to the most. He was like my little brother. He made me wanna try more, you know? Made me wanna be better... wanna do better... without him on American Idol, I seriously have no idea how things would've turned out...
Anyway, where was I? Oh, right...
"...and then the guy on the radio responds to the captain, 'We are a lighthouse. Your call,'" I concluded the joke.
Archie laughed really hard this time. He was guffawing so hard he doubled over and almost fell onto the ground.
"What's going on?" Syesha asked, walking up to us, holding this huge bar of chocolate in her hand. Ramielle followed behind her.
As soon as Rami saw me, she ran up to me and wrapped her arms snugly around my waist. "Cookie!"
Aw, man, I felt myself blush. If Archie was my lil brother, then Rami was my lil sister. My really small, really sweet, really cheeky sister... hell, that Danny Noriega had better be treating her right...
"Hey, Archie, I got your present," Syesha said, brightly, holding up the chocolate bar. "Thank you so much. This chocolate is my favorite."
Archie straightened up, cleared his throat, wiped the tears that had sprung in his eyes from all the laughing, and beamed at Syesha, "I'm glad you liked it. I was a little afraid you wouldn't find it..."
"So, do you mind telling me why you were laughing so much just now?" Syesha asked little Archie.
"Oh... David was just telling me a joke..." Archie replied.
"Again?" Syesha said, rolling her eyes. "What, was it another joke about pirates or something?"
"Oh, you'll love this joke, I mean it," I said, eagerly. And I told her and Ramielle everything I had told Archie.
At the end of it, Rami was giggling non-stop into my shirt. Syesha stood there, arms folded, staring at me with her mouth open. Then, gradually, she said, "David Cook... you actually made a joke worth laughing at."
"Yeah," came the Aussie accented voice of Michael John. "Because that joke was actually MINE."
Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten to mention that...
Syesha Mercado
I should've known. Michael was the real joker, not Cook. Still, a good joke is a good joke, and should be given the appropriate receptance. I smirked. Just a little smirk. Nothing more. Little David and Ramielle laughed their hearts out, however. What can I say? Kids will be kids... everything's funny to them...
"Sir, I'm gonna have to sue you for copyright infringement there!" Michael said, faking an indignant look at Cook.
"Oh, yeah?!" Cook growled in reply. "Bring it on, man. Let's take this all the way to court!"
And those two goofballs glared menacingly at each other, standing almost nose-to-nose, fists clenched, chests sticking out in typical macho stance... jeez, this couldn't get any weirder.
And then Jason ran right up to us, thrusted something into David Cook's arms... then he bolted away, looking over his shoulder back and wagging his tongue comically at us as he did.
I take it back. Weirder things always happened when you included Jason Castro in the mix.
"What the...?" David Cook said, holding up the Beanie Baby that Jason had suddenly given him. "What is this...?"
"It's mine!" Kristy Lee declared, irritably, snatching the little teddy bear away from Cook. "I was trying to get it back from Jason!"
"It's so CUTE!" Ramielle squealed, trying to get a better look at the bear. "Awww..."
Kristy calmed down, instantly.
"It's sweet, right?" Kristy said, through gasps for breath. At the look of adoration of Ramielle's face, Kristy smiled and held the teddy bear out to her. "You can hold it for awhile if you want to."
"Really?" Ramielle said, her eyes big. "Yay, thank you!" She took the bear and hugged it tight to her chest.
"Why would Jason steal that bear from you?" I asked Kristy.
Kristy rolled her eyes. "He was napping on MY favorite couch, again. I had to pull his dreadlocks to wake him up and get him off the couch. He saw me holding Little Jamie and the next thing I knew he'd stolen it and started running around the place with it... grrr!!!"
"Aw, his name is Little Jamie?" Ramielle said, hugging the bear adoringly. "Awww..."
"That Jason," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "He's always falling asleep everywhere. Remember when he actually took a nap ON THE STAGE during dress rehearsal a month ago? I swore, someone could've mistaken him for a mop covered in rags and probably stepped all over him if we hadn't forced him to go someplace else..."
"That's our Jason," Michael and Cook said, smugly.
"Hi, David!" Kristy greeted Archie, giving him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Hi," Archie responded warmly, returning the hug.
"Mmmm, you're still my favorite teddy bear," Kristy said, happily, ruffling Archie's hair.
"Um... gosh, thanks," Archie said, making that cute, nervous laugh of his, again.
"Bet you like the girls swooning all over you, huh, Archie?" Michael said, teasingly.
Archie blushed, furiously. "N-no, I don't...!"
I laughed myself. Same old Archie. Too cute for his own good...
Then--
"GOTCHA!"
Carly Smithson
"GOTCHA!" I yelled, as I sneaked up behind little Archie and tickled him in the sides.
Just like he's always done, little Archie let out this cute sound, like a cross between a yelp and a squeak, and leapt around, trying to escape whoever was tickling him from behind. Yes, little Archie is extremely ticklish. Ah ha ha ha... tickle tickle tickle...
The other burst out laughing as I tussled around with little David. I couldn't get enough of the cute noises this little boy made. I loved his laughter... loved it when he squeaked because he was too petrified to speak... loved everything about him... oooohhh, I just wanted to squish that little boy until those drop-dead-cute eyes of his popped out...
"S-stop!" Archie managed to gasp through gales of laughter. "C-Carly, come on! S-stop tickling m--!" he dissolved into another round of laughter.
"Come on, Carly, stop it," Syesha said, although she was clearly enjoying what she was seeing, too.
I eventually stopped tickling little Archie, and gave him a huge, crushing hug in greeting.
"Ooooh, I could just eat you up, you little darlin," I told him as I pulled away.
Archie laughed nervously, again.
Ooh, how I loved his laugh...
"What, no hug for us?" David Cook asked me, pretending to be hurt. That goof...
"Aw, I ain't got no hug from Carly, either!" Michael wailed, pretending to sob.
"Come on, man, I'll give you a hug," Cook said, turning to Michael, still pretending to be sad.
"Alright, mate," Michael replied, turning to Cook.
And those two jokers grabbed each other in a huge, brotherly hug.
"I'm outta here," Syesha said, with another roll of her eyes. She turned to leave, but I quickly held her back.
"Wait, I've got a message for you guys from the producers!"
"What message?" Kristy asked, curiously.
"Oh, just stuff about when the bus is gonna come to pick us up for the tour... and other stuff like that," I said. "Does anyone know where Jason, Chikezie and Brooke are? They need to know the message, too."
"I don't know here Jason is," Kristy replied. "But when I find him, he's SO GOING DOWN!"
Hmmm... I can only wonder what Jason and Kristy have been fitting about this time...
Chikezie
I was hanging with Jason--he'd been running a marathon for some reason--when the others came looking for us. Carly had a message from the producers for us.
"Where's Brooke?" she asked, first.
"I think she went to use the bathroom," I said.
"Huh, that's weird," Kristy said. "The last time I saw Brooke, she had to use the bathroom, too."
"Same here," Ramielle said, worriedly. She was holding a teddy bear with her. OK...
We were distracted by Jason and Kristy.
"ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?" Kristy demanded, crossly, her hands on her hips.
Jason, who'd been humming to himself and staring dreamily into space for the past few minutes, blinked and looked curiously at Kristy. "Um... no."
And before Kristy could reply, he fell back into that bizarre, happy-go-lucky trance of his, again.
"Oh, forget it," Kristy huffed, crossing her arms. "Just know I'm gonna get you good one day!"
"Whatever..." Jason mumbled, before tuning out, again.
Kristy looked ready to hit him, when--
"Hey, y'all!" Brooke said, walking up to us. "Are we having some kind of group discussion?"
"Brooke!" Ramielle said, excitedly, running up to Brooke and giving her a hug.
"Oh, hey, Rami," Brooke replied, patting Ramielle on the head.
"Where've you been, Brooke?" Cook asked. "Haven't see you since morning."
"Sorry, guys, it must've been something I ate last night," Brooke said, continuing to stroke Ramielle's hair. "I had this need to keep doing a No. 1 the whole morning."
"Whoa, TMI," Jason said. He'd been listening? Huh, you never know...
"TMI?" Michael repeated, blankly.
"Too Much Information," the rest of us explained in unison.
Michael groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. "That's it. It's official. I'm getting old."
The rest of us spent about a minute or so assuring him that he was still a part of us 'young' ones...
"Oh, come on, I'm gonna be thirty soon," Michael said. "I mean, Archuleta said it himself, I'm like a dad, here..."
At this, David Archuleta went pale and spluttered, "I'm sorry, I d-didn't mean it that way...!"
Michael quickly slung an arm around him, "Oh, come on, now, I was just kidding!"
Archie smiled uneasily. He still looked sorry. Come on, kid, just chill...
"So, what's this message we gotta hear, Carly?" I asked, directing everyone's attention away from Archie.
"Right," Carly said, drawing herself up. "The bus is gonna arrive at ten o'clock. Eat something before the bus comes because once we hit the road, we won't be stopping for another TWELVE long hours..."
"Mmm, already doing it, girl," Syesha said, taking another bite from the huge chocolate bar she had in her hands. Oh, yeah, Syesha has this huge craving for chocolate...
"...and whoever wants to take last minute leaks, had better do it now, too," Carly continued. "That's basically it."
"Uhhh..." Brooke suddenly looked worried. "I think I need to go, again."
"Oh, honey, you don't have to go because of what I said..." Carly told her, but Brooke had scurried off even before she had finished her sentence. "Right, that was quite awkward..."
Brooke White
It wasn't just the trips to the bathroom. There was the morning flu, and the pain in the stomach that would come every now and then. What was wrong with me?
Oh, should I talk to my husband about this? Should I talk to the producers about this?
No... no, this should be nothing to worry about... it must've been something I had last night, that's all... hmmm, what did I have last night, anyway...?
I finished taking a leak, cleaned myself up, then hurried out of the bathroom.
I hardly noticed where I was going, which led me to running smack into somebody a head shorter than me. I was gonna apologize to this person, but he beat me to it.
"I'm so sorry!"
I blinked. "David?" Little Archie! What was he doing here?
"Hey, Brooke," he said, with that sweet, shy smile of his. "I was just wondering how you were doing?"
Oh, little Archie was just so sweet... I had never met a sweeter, kinder person than David Archuleta... and, ooohh, how much I wanted to tell him what was wrong with me... but I couldn't. He was just a kid...
Oh, this was pathetic. Here I was, having a kid ask me if I was OK, when it should be the other way around...
"Oh, I'm fine, Archie," I said, trying to act as normal as I could. "How about you, David? Are you ready for this tour?"
"Oh... yeah," David said, nodding happily. "Yeah, I'm doing great... look, are you sure you're OK, Brooke? Do you need me to get anything for you?"
I couldn't help but hug him. "You're sweet, Archie. But I'm OK. Now, why don't you run along and play with Kristy and Ramielle or something...?"
David laughed. He was so adorable when he laughed. "I'm 17! I can't exactly run along and play anymore..."
I laughed at myself. It was still hard for me to believe this unbelievably adorable, unbelievably loving young boy I was talking to was already 17... still he was the one to beat in American Idol. What am I saying, he IS the American Idol!
Ramielle
Little Jamie is SO CUTEEEEE!!! Ooooohhhh!!! Hug hug!
I wonder what's wrong with Brooke. She seems pretty sick. Oh, get well, Brooke!
And I miss Danny... I love him so much... XOXO, Danny, wherever you are!
Jason Castro
Why is the sky blue? I forgot the answer to that. And where did I leave my MP3 player? Probably on Kristy's favorite couch... again. I'll get it back later. I wonder if I should take a leak. Carly told us we'd be stuck on a bus for twelve straight hours... hmmm, maybe I should go to the bathroom...
Oh, wait, is that a pasta bar I see? I like pasta...
There'd better not be onions or pickles in them... I hate onions and pickles...
Wait, I should go to the bathroom first?
Or what if I eat now, then go to the bathroom later?
Will it make a difference?
Hmmm...