Chapter 3
As I entered the house, Ann must�ve seen a few tears I tried to wipe away. "What�s wrong, Alyssa?" she asked me, taking me in her arms.
"I miss mom!" I cried. She gently stroked my back as I sobbed on her shoulder.
When the tears had left, she asked me, "What happened?" When I didn�t answer, she looked at me straight in the eye. "What happened!?!" she asked again.
"Nothing," I lied, then began to make my way to my bedroom.
"Nothing!?!" she repeated. "I don�t think �nothing� would make you come home from school crying! Now, WHAT HAPPENED!?!"
I looked at my aunt. "Can�t I miss her just because I do?" I wondered. I then walked into my room and closed the door.
* * * * *
(The next morning)
Quietly, I closed my bedroom door and tiptoed past my aunt�s door, so as not to wake her. As I entered the kitchen though, I found Ann sitting at the table drinking some chocolate milk. Upon my entering, she looked up at me and smiled. "How are you feeling this morning?" she asked me.
"Tired," I chuckled. Sitting down, I grabbed some cereal and began to pour some into a bowl. "Ann," I began, after I had finished pouring my cereal. "I�m sorry about yesterday!"
"That�s alright," she said, smiling. "I know how tough it must be. After all, it was your first day at a different school." I poured the milk on my cereal and began to eat.
We finished our breakfast in silence, then I got up from the table, piled my dishes, and went into the bathroom. After I had done my hair, I came out, grabbed my pack, gave my aunt a kiss, and drove to school.
* * * * *
We filed into the auditorium during our last period. "Students, please take your seats!" came the monotonous voice of our principal, Miss Peterson. As instructed, everybody took their seats, and who do you think I got stuck sitting by? That�s right, Matt. "I�d like to thank you all for coming to this assembly. We have some very important guests with us, and they have something they would like to tell you. So, without any further ado, give a warm welcome for NSYNC!"
Screams began to fill the room with a few whistles as five men appeared on the stage. As I looked closer, I saw the blonde curls of the man who had tried to help me and the dark hair of the guy who had held me. "Look Alyssa, your boyfriends are up there," Matt chuckled.
Rolling my eyes, I looked back down at them. "Hello everyone!" the light brown-haired one said. "My name is Lance."
"I�m Justin," said the curly-haired one.
"And I�m Chris!" the one who had mentioned my mother said.
The one with a mustache stepped forward and said, "I�m Joey."
"I�m JC!" the man who had held me back introduced.
Then, all five of them stepped forward and said, "And we�re NSYNC!" More screams irrupted through the crowd and I heard someone yell, "I LOVE YOU JUSTIN!"
The five men smiled. "So, let�s get down to business," Lance said, rubbing his hands together. "We have a contest going on-"
"A very cool contest!" Chris interrupted.
"Yes, Chris, a very cool contest," Lance sighed. "I�ll let JC tell you about it."
"We are looking for someone to sing with us at a concert," JC explained. "This person will get to hang out with us for. . . how long?"
"Um," muttered Joey. "Somewhere between a couple of weeks and a month. . . or two." Screams went wild once again.
"Hey C, how do they win?" Justin wondered.
"We have a sing-up sheet hanging in the main hallway that you need to sign-up. Next week, we�ll call those people down to the choir room where we will hold auditions."
"We�ll ask you some questions, then you�ll sing an Nsync song," Lance continued. "Then, we�ll limit it down to a couple of people and have those people sing infront of the entire school."
"And your peers will be voting, along with us, on who will get to perform with us," Joey said. "So, hurry and sign up after school!"
"Until next time," the all said. "Bye Bye Bye!"
Matt leaned over. "Wouldn�t you love to go with your boyfriends?"
"They�re not my boyfriends!" I insisted, standing up with the rest of the group.
"Oh, I guess they�re your bodyguards then!" he chuckled. Trying to ignore him, I made my way to my locker. "What�s the matter? Are they really your bodyguards? Did your mommy hire them because she likes them? My guess is while you�re asleep-"
I dropped the books I was carrying and turned around. "Take that back!" I demanded.
"Or what?" he chuckled. "You�re gonna scratch me?"
"TAKE IT BACK!" I nearly shouted.
"No," he said through a smile and I lowered my fist onto him.
* * * * *
"What were you thinking!?!" My aunt yelled at me as we drove home. "Why are you fighting at school?"
"He brought it on," I said through gritted teeth.
"I don�t care who brought it on!" Ann was saying. "All I care about is that you were fighting!" I stared out the window, not saying anything else. "Why?" When I didn�t answer, she asked me again. "Why did you fight?"
Tears began to form in my eyes. "He. . . he was talking bad about mom!" I cried. I could feel my aunt�s gaze on me.
She then sighed. "I�m sorry," she apologized. "Next time, try not to beat him to a pulp!" She gave a little chuckle. "At least you�re not hurt."
Chuckling, I said, "I tried to warn him he'd ruin his face!"
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