A.J had finally been able to fall asleep, and was far into
the land of nod when he felt a presence in the room. He
shifted a bit, trying to get his tired eyes to open. He
rubbed them roughly with his palms, but by the time they
focused, the person had disappeared. He bolted up from
Amanda's icy hand and rushed out of the room to fallow it.
There was no one. He let out a heavy sigh. His thoughts
returned to his girlfriend as his eyes caught a glimpse of
her body through the door.
"Shit!" he cursed recalling his promise to return to the
tour today. How could he possibly perform when his
girlfriend was as good as dead? No! She wasn't dead, and
she wasn't going to die. She was going to come back to him,
he knew it. He felt it in his heart. He'd known Amanda all of his life, and just thinking about not having her
around felt like... He didn't even want to go there.
Fighting himself, he decided not to say good-bye to Amanda.
Instead, he sent her a silent prayer from where he was
standing "It's not goodbye, it's see ya later" he whispered.
She'd speak those words when ever they'd part. Who knew the
time would come for him to do the same?
**Meanwhile**
Naila slowly began to wake when she realized that Kevin was
beside her. He was so beautiful, so strong... so loving.
Naila began to replay the night's events in her head.
Kevin
and her had a great time at the club and then came back to
his room. One thing lead to another and then boom- here she was waking
up next to him. It was the most wonderful night of
her life.
Gradually, Kevin began to wake and turned to face
her. She was unbelievable. They sat there and looked at
each other with innocence.
Kevin finally broke the silence.
"Last night was amazing" Kevin said as he brushed a piece
of hair away from her face.
"Last night was wonderful for me too Kevin. You were
amazing!" Naila said as she smiled and began to giggle.
"You weren't half bad yourself" Kevin said as he started to
laugh.
The two lay in each others arms, blissful in their own little world where they belonged.
**A Bit Later**
"Are you INSANE??"
"Calm down!"
"I can't believe you did that..." Kristy scram "Naila's
gonna shit bricks when she finds out!"
Laurel's face scrunched at the horrid mental picture, but
quickly shook her head- pushing the thought away "Who cares.
He's my... boyfriend"
Kristy laughed wickedly "Oh boy, you're gonna get your assed
kicked for sure!"
"He's a nice guy" Laurel said as her mind replayed the kiss
they had shared a few hours prior "And his sister's coming
along, so you don't have to worry. She's an adult"
"Just peachy!" Kristy commented. "He's not even of legal
age. Naila's your legal guardian while on tour, so if I were
you, I'd be doing some real brown nosing"
Laurel picked up one of her luggage's and looked around the
dim room "Where is she anyway?"
"Beats me!" Kristy said, checking the room to ensure they
weren't forgetting anything "She had a date with Kevi...."
she trailed off as the realization came to her.
Laurel's lip curled to a grin as she exchanged a knowing
look "OOOOH!!"
The girls exclaimed before falling into a fit of laughter.
**Meanwhile**
I blinked hard as a stared blankly at my own reflection. A
stranger was looking back... And it scared me. I
fought back tears when I heard a knock at the door.
"Come in" I said, fumbling to find a pair of sunglasses to
cover my bloodshot eyes.
The door crept open revealing a very disturbed looking
Alyssa
"How are you feeling?" she asked still in the doorway.
"I'm Ok" I lied pulling my hair up in a pony tail.
Alyssa watched Eli worriedly. Her face was tear stained and
her clothes were wrinkled. Something they never were
"I just thought you'd need some help packing"
"I've packed" I answered, grimly.
"Did you, um, speak to Brian?" She asked.
Acid burned my heart at the sound of his name. How the hell
would I be able to face him after what had happened?
"I didn't tell him" I mumbled.
Alyssa let out a sigh of relief "Good. Don't"
I eyed her strangely "Why?"
"Trust me on this" she said. The truth was that after Alyssa
had heard about Brian's infidelities, she knew that if Eli
would confess, so would he. And that would just tare them
apart...
I pulled my backpack over my shoulders and picked up my
luggage "I don't think I'm going to be telling him anything
for a while."
My muscles ached like crazy from all the throwing up I did,
but right now, that was the least of my worries.
"Alyssa?"
"Yes"
"Why do you care so much about me?"
The question appeared to catch Alyssa off guard "What do you
mean?"
I looked back at her "Why do you care?".
"Because you're my friend" she answered searching my face
for an explanation.
I smiled at her "Thanks".
What do you know... I had a friend.
**Meanwhile**
"You jerk, you jerk, you are such a jerk..."
Brian grumbled before rolling over to smash the radio. He
lay in his bed a few moments thinking about how easy it
would have been to be waking up next to Felicity this
morning. He told her that when she was ready, he'd be there
for her. She was ready, and he turned her down. "She must
think that I don't want her" he thought adding yet another
lair to his guilt. "Pull yourself together" he scolded
himself as he got up to dress. He began to plan his day:
- Speak to Eli
- DON'T tell her about Becca.
Before Brian could find a shirt to wear, there was a knock
at the door. He unlocked it and swung it open without even
bothering to see who it was.
"Bri?!" Nick said cautiously approaching him.
"Yeah" Brian responded now facing him.
They both looked exhausted. And they were.
Nick figured Eli hadn't told him about it considering
Brian's fist wasn't in his face at the moment. He came to
him to confess. Alyssa was right. He had to do it if there
was any chance of salvaging their friendship.
"What is it?" Brian questioned.
"I had sex with your girlfriend and I think I'm in love with
her. " was what Nick wanted to say. But one look at the scar
on his best friends chest made his confession mute.
"Nick, what the hell is the matter with you?" Brian asked,
watching his friends eyes glissen with uncertain emotions.
Nick laughed awkwardly "Be down in a few, k man? We're
leaving soon"
Brian pulled the T-shirt he had found over his head and
looked at him "Aight bro"
Nick nodded and left the room. He made his way to the
elevator and banged his head on the panel. "bro".
'You sure fucked up this time' he thought angrily.
**Meanwhile**
Michael and Annie's cab pulled up to the hotel to find
Laurel and Kristy already waiting for them.
"Hey Laur" Annie chimed making her way towards her. She
looked over at Kristy and recognized her as the other
REFLECTION member "Hi, nice to meet you" she said reaching
her hand out to shake hers "Guess we're going to be spending
lots of time together"
"Joy" Kristy mumbled.
Laurel nudged her and grinned at Annie "Thanks for coming"
"Are you kidding?" Annie laughed "I should be thanking you.
What an experience this will be!!!"
A voice was heard from behind Annie "Hey baby" it greeted.
"Hi Michael" Laurel said shyly as her new boyfriend wrapped
his arms around her. She wasn't used to this kind of
affection. She'd never had a boyfriend before, and she
normally would never be bold enough to ask him to tour with
her. Day and night, together...
"So, where's everyone?" Annie questioned happily busting
into Laurels thoughts.
"They're in the lobby. A.J just came back and they're
catching up..."
**Meanwhile**
A.J had arrived a few minutes ago and could already tell
that some serious shit had gone down during his absence.
Everyone had already asked him how he was holding up, but
when they did, they seemed preoccupied with something else.
Naila and Kevin were holding hands. "They must have hooked
up" he figured. Brian wasn't with Eli "Trouble in paradise".
Nick had already gone to seek refuge in his bunk; Howie was
conversing with some woman who looked terribly familiar, and
then there was Alyssa. He smiled weakly at her, but she
didn't return it. Instead she spoke aloud
"I'm going to our bus" she said, coldly.
'not good' he thought 'life sucks'
"Let's go everyone" Naila said walking out to meet the early
noon sun. She walked on to the bus and made her way to the
voices she was hearing. "Hell... Who are they?" she asked agressively,
pointing at the boy next to Laurel and the girl next to
Kristy.
Laurels eyes widened. She stood up taking Naila by the arm
to the Entertainment room "We need to talk"
"Who are those people?" Naila said again, a little
frustrated.
Laurel bit her lip "Well, you see, um..."
"Spit it out!" Naila shouted.
"My boyfriend and his sister"
Naila watched Laurel's face coil in fear of what her
reaction would be
"Oh" was all she said.
What, no speech? No yelling? No cursing?
"What?" Laurel stamered in disbelief.
Naila grinned "Well I guess that you do need a friend on the
road. Might aswell be a guy"
Laurel's jaw dropped "Are you feeling all right?"
"Of course" Naila smiled, patting her on the back "I'm happy
for you"
Laurel watched Naila hum her way out of the Entertainment
room to introduce herself to the 2 new passengers. "Man"
Laurel thought "She needs a new boyfriend more often".
**Later That Day**
"I don't think I could D" Dawn said twirling the phone wires
around her fingers "I've got a lot of work to do"
"That's Ok" Howie said, trying to fake enthusiasm in his
voice after Dawn had turned down his clubbing proposal.
"I understand completely. It gets lonely on the road
sometimes, so if you ever need anyone..."
"Thanks" Dawn smiled. God, he was so sweet. She would have
wanted to go out with him that evening, but how would she
explain all those nice little bruises Eric had so generously
decorated her with.
"Howie"
"Yes?!" Howie responded anxiously. He had given up on getting
into a romantic relationship with her, but platonic was still an option.
"I..." 'beep' Dawn sighed heavily "Hold on, I have another
line"
"Hello?"
"Where are you?"
Dawns blood ran cold "Eric"
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU????" he yelled infuriated
"Honey, I told you that I was going on the road with the
girls" Dawn reminded, trying to clear his memory and calm
him down at the same time.
Eric thought that sounded familiar, but it wasn't enough
"So you're leaving me again. What kind of a girlfriend are
you? Why am I with you..."
"Oh please don't say that" Dawn pleaded. Every time she'd
leave, he'd throw the same fit and he knew it hurt her "I'm
sorry. I would rather be with you than here, and you know it. I love you"
"I love you too" Eric said honestly "I'm sorry if I hurt
you".
Dawn smiled "It's Ok. It was my fault"
**Same Time**
Howie held his breath waiting for Dawn to come back on the
line. When he'd start turning blue, he'd hang up. 'Okay' he
thought. After a few long seconds he exhaled, looked at the
receiver and hung up. "I tried"
"Tried what?" Kevin asked entering the kitchenette and taking a seat next to the window.
"Talking to Dawn" he said sadly "Something's up with her."
"That's nice" Kevin said dreamily staring off into space.
"And then the monster came and ate her"
"Hum, I see" he sighed lovingly
"And then then we all pulled down our pants and that won us the Grammy"
Howie persisted, awaiting a reaction.
"Good"
"Kevin!!" he yelled "You could at least make an effort at
not listening to what I'm saying"
Snapping out of it, he smiled "Sorry man, I was just
thinking about Naila"
"You really like her, don't you?" Howie smiled
Before Kevin could answer, A.J walked in wearing only his
boxer and a T
"Hey" he said sitting down at the table with them.
Kevin and Howie exchanged looks of concern before one was
bold enough to ask "How are you?"
"Would everyone stop asking me that>" A.J snapped bitterly "I feel
like shit, and that won't change till I know Amanda's gonna
be Ok. Until then, life must go on"
"Sure pal" said Kevin "If you need to talk about it, we're
here"
A.J nodded "Say, would any of you know what's wrong with
Alyssa? She seemed real pissed at me for some reason"
"Probably just PMS" said a voice joining them.
A.J laughed "That's your answer to everything, Nick"
"Could be" Nick asserted. He got bored in his bunk, and was
tired of being in a constant depression.
"All of my past delemas with girls could be pin pointed
to one problem: PMS"
"And that would bring your grand total of experience to
what, 0?" Brian joked as he to decided to stop wallowing
in self pity.
"Ha!Ha!" Nick laughed sarcastically.
They all looked at each other for a moment. It had been a
while since they had all been together like this.
"So, how's your love life going cuz?" Kevin asked.
That was something Brian didn't exactly feel like talking
about, but he felt the need to. "Not too good. I think that
Felicity is keeping something from me" Of course he left out
the part about him cheating on her...
Then he looked around "Hey Nick, maybe you would know"
Nick jumped "Who me? I-uh-why-why would I kkknow anything?"
He stammered.
"Because you two seem close" Brian said, puzzled about his
reaction.
"Oh" Nick uttered stupidly "No, I don't know"
"Maybe PMS" Kevin teased, impersonating Nick.
But by that time, everyone's else's mood had soured, and
no one felt like laughing. They couldn't leave their woes
behind for more than five minutes. How sad. But it was good,
while it lasted....
