Chapter 169
Cara looked at me, eyes narrowing with curiosity. "Wait… are you going to sing at Tomorrowland?"
"Not really, they're going to use a recording," I responded.
"Too bad," Lauren remarked, and Pippa also seemed a little down.
"But I think you should be much more popular. Your two songs with Marshmello are really good. And I think if you released the other songs you played at the party, they'd be a big hit," she added.
"Nah, I'm good. In the future I will release them, but for now I'm okay with my fame. My best friends are already famous, that's enough," I remarked, joking with Carly, Freddie, and Sam.
"About that, can I really go see a recording today?" Cara asked Freddie, a little embarrassed.
"Sure," Freddie replied, just as embarrassed.
Sam was making a face like she was about to puke.
"Want to go too, Pippa?" I asked, making her eyes wide open.
"Come on, let's all go!" Carly said excitedly.
Lauren groaned in frustration. "I can't go today... I promised my mom I'd help with something."
Carly turned to her with a reassuring smile. "That's okay. You can always come watch another day. There'll be plenty more chances."
Freddie and Cara left together and would be heading to the studio right after. Sam and Carly went home and said they would meet us there later.
I went to talk with Pippa in a quiet spot away from the school.
"So..." Pippa began, a little embarrassed and unsure. "I like you, and I think you're cute, Jake, but I don't know if I want a relationship right now..."
"Wow, wow, wow, Pip. We just had some kisses, you don't need to think that far ahead," I said, grabbing her hand. "We can go back to being friends. Or we can have more good time," I added with a smirk.
She just rolled her eyes.
"Because yesterday was a little lame — you almost bit my tongue," I joked.
She bumped into me. "You're such a jerk, saying stuff like that."
Before she finished, I kissed her. After a moment, she wrapped her arms around my neck, and we deepened the kiss.
After we pulled apart for a moment, I said, "Yeah, this was way better! But I need more proof," and kissed her again.
---
Later that day, we headed to the studio. Carly, Sam, Freddie, and Cara were already there when we arrived.
And there was someone else too — Paige.
"You couldn't resist the big bad wolf... even sober," she said jokingly to Pippa, making her blush.
"You came to watch too?" Pippa asked Paige, quickly changing the subject.
"Not really," Paige replied with a smile. "I was part of the last recording — a segment on iCarly they called 'Ask the Genius.' The director liked it and told me to come back."
"I prefer the name 'Ask the Bighead,' I even suggested it to the director," I said.
Paige didn't even bother to retort. Then, while she was talking with Pippa, I walked over to Sam. She was holding the episode script.
"Ah, our hard worker," I spoke.
"Yeah, mama needs to work. Can you believe it?" Sam replied with a smile.
I took the script from her hand. It outlined the basic idea of the episode, but most of the details were vague — and for most of Sam's lines, it just said "be yourself."
"Best work ever," she said, smirking.
"The writer is a lazy bum. I even asked the director if it wasn't you who wrote it," Carly mocked as she walked up to us.
"Heyy," I exclaimed, reaching down to pat Bella, Carly's dog, on the head. "Isn't your mommy mean, Bella? You can live with me," I said, hugging her head.
Bella barked, and it honestly sounded like she agreed.
"Stop trying to steal my dog," Carly said, bonking me lightly with her script.
Just then, another person appeared and greeted, "Hi Sam and Carly."
"Mikayla, good to see you," said Carly, while Sam nodded with a smile.
My eyes widened a little when I saw Mikayla. Isn't she Selena Gomez?
"This is Jake, our great friend," Carly introduced, gesturing toward me.
Mikayla smiled, and we introduced ourselves.
"Mikayla Gomez."
"Jake Harper."
"This is the girl you wanted to introduce me to, Sam?" I murmured to her.
"Yes, but you're with Pippa now..." Sam nodded.
"So, what do you do here?" I asked Mikayla casually.
I don't flirt when I'm with another girl...
She thought for a moment before answering, "I'm finishing filming another episode of Wizards of Waverly Place. It's a new series that's premiering this week. I play Alex Russo."
"Nice," I responded, but thought: Huh, what a coincidence — in this world, Selena Gomez (or Mikayla now) still landed the role of Alex Russo. Months ago, I came across the Wizards of Waverly Place script and passed it to Pepper — she handled the deal with Nickelodeon alongside iCarly.
No Hannah Montana or Wizards of Waverly Place for Disney.
---
Everyone gathered around to watch the episode being filmed. Laughter filled the studio as the scenes played out — the jokes landed perfectly, and even the crew couldn't hold back their chuckles.
After the recording, I turned to Pippa "I'm heading out to meet up with Cher and Regina, wanna go?"
Pippa gave me a warm smile but shook her head slightly. "I can't today. I've got something with my family."
---
"I have a brilliant idea. Why don't we throw a themed end-of-year party, like Halloween 2.0?" I said to Cher and Regina
The two narrowed their eyes at me.
"What? The Halloween party was amazing, we could make the end-of-year one a costume party too."
"Ok, say the real reason now," Regina said, crossing her arms.
"I might want to kiss Pippa in that Enid costume," I explained, making a duck face.
They scoffed, then laughed.
"You are impossible, Jake. But we'll do it. Let's already tell everyone about the costume theme," Regina added with a smile.
"What should I wear? Maybe Supergirl?" Cher wondered aloud, already thinking about her outfit.
"I'll tell Brit tomorrow. She keeps dropping hints that she really liked being part of the Halloween party—basically saying she wants to come to all the other ones too," I replied as I started walking. Two hands, one on each of my shoulders, stopped me.
"So the friend you mentioned was coming over tomorrow afternoon... is Britney??" Cher asked.
"Oh man, it was supposed to be a surprise. I wanted to see your funny reactions again," I muttered, regretting it.
They pinched me.
"We are living the dream, Regina. We saw her yesterday at my birthday and will see her again tomorrow," Cher exclaimed.
"You're welcome."
"Isn't our handsome best friend Jake the best?" Cher teased, caressing my cheek.
"He sure is," Regina agreed, making a face and stroking the other cheek. "I'll drive you wherever you want."
"Like hell I want that. Your driving skills are worse than Cher's. And that says something."
Now they stretched my cheeks.
------
Support Link: https://[email protected]/c/MHJunior [Up to 35+ advance chapters]
Please give a Review and Powerstone if you like the novel