Chapter 8
"Dirk, stop it!" a woman shouted as another fist came down on her. "Why are you doing this!?!"
Without answering, the man lowered another blow to her. Then, he pulled out the knife. The woman stared at it, horrified. "Goodbye, sweetheart!" he said, stabbing the knife into her stomach. He raised the knife and brought it down on her heart next.
"Daddy, stop it!" The man looked up, startled, as he saw a figure emerge from behind the couch.
Leaving the knife in the woman�s body, the man stood up. "Come here, child," he said. The girl began to back away. "I said come here!" She now ran out of the house and into the yard of her next door neighbor.
Without warning, the girl was jumped on and brought down. A fist was lowered on her, and she began to scream for help. Another fist came down on her, and then another, and another until. . .
I sat upright in my bed, sweat pouring down my face. "Are you alright?" Looking beside me, I saw JC.
"Yeah, just a bad dream," I answered. "What happened?"
Just then, my bedroom door opened and my aunt stepped in. "Thank goodness!" she exclaimed, hugging me. "Are you alright?"
"Yes!" I said again. "Would somebody mind telling me what happened?"
"You were fighting with your aunt and ran out of the house. When we went after you, we found you being beaten by a guy. When I called to him, he ran away," JC explained.
Memories of the last night swept over me. "Thank you, JC," I said, then I turned to my aunt. "I�m so sorry about last night, it�s just-"
"No, I�m sorry," Ann apologized. "Justin explained everything to me."
"Did somebody call me?" Justin asked, coming into the room. "I�m sorry about last night, Alyssa."
"That�s okay." I tucked my hair behind my ears. "What time is it?"
"Eight-fifteen," JC said.
My eyes widened. "Oh my gosh! I�m going to be late for class!" I began to get out of bed, but JC pushed me back down.
"We�ve already called and told them you won�t be going."
"But I feel fine!" I insisted.
"I wouldn�t be complaining!" Justin laughed. "I HATED school!"
"I guess you�re right, it�s just�I don�t know."
There was a moment of silence, then Ann spoke up. "Would you boys excuse us for a moment?" Without hesitation, they closed the door behind themselves. My aunt stared at me. "Are you sure you�re alright?" I nodded. "Was that your father that was�"
"Beating me up?" I suggested and she nodded. "No. I don�t think he knows where we are yet. He�s not that bright." My aunt and I laughed. "So, you actually said I could perform with them? You do know there are probably going to be reporters there, don�t you?"
"Yes, and yes," she answered. "As long as you�re with someone, especially those five guys, I don�t think he�ll be able to touch you!" I chuckled.
"Can I get out of bed now?" I asked.
"Yes," my aunt laughed. "Hurry and get changed, I think the guys want to hang out with you today." Ann left my room.
Sighing, I pulled back the covers and went to my white dresser. After getting changed into a pair of jeans and a blue T-shirt, I stared at myself in the mirror. My left eye and cheek were purple and my lips were cracked. I quickly put on some cover-up, then went outside.
As I entered the living room, the men stood up. "Are you feeling okay?" Lance questioned.
"Yeah." I sat down next to my aunt.
"How did your face heal so quickly!?!" Chris asked. The rest of the guys looked at him with one of those this-isn�t-the-time-or-place looks.
"It�s amazing what women can do, isn�t it!" Ann and I chuckled.
"Are you hungry?" she asked once we had stopped laughing.
"Not really," I answered. Just then, my stomach gave a little rumble.
"I think your stomach would say otherwise!" Chris laughed, and we all began to chuckle.
"Would you like to have breakfast with us?" JC invited.
"Sure," I said. I stood up and the six of us exited out the door.
* * * * *
"We were at the movies this one time and Joey fell over backwards!" Chris laughed. "He spilt popcorn EVERYWHERE!"
"That wasn�t as funny as the time JC�s fly was unzipped!" Joey exclaimed. "We were performing and nobody told him until after we performed like FOUR songs!"
"That was EMBARRESING!" JC said, blushing. "Everybody could see my whites!" We finished laughing and I took a sip of my orange juice. JC stared at me. "What�s your most embarrassing moment?" he asked me.
I thought back, trying to think. "I can�t think of anything!"
"Yeah right!" Chris said. "Girls do the most embarrassing things!"
"Think of a time you were at a party or with your friends or something," Lance said. "Were you ever dared to do something? Like run around naked or anything?"
"No." I said, taking another sip of the juice.
"I find that extremely hard to believe!" Justin exclaimed. "Come on! We�ve told you our most embarrassing moments!"
"Justin, I seriously can�t think of anything right now!" I exclaimed. We finished our breakfast, then left for the limo. "Where are we going now?" I wondered.
"Shopping," Joey replied.
I stared at them. "Shopping?" I repeated with a chuckle.
"Yeah," JC said. "We�re going to pick out some outfits for the performance."
"I don�t have any money on me!" I exclaimed.
"We�ll pay for it," Justin said.
We were dropped off at the entrance and entered JC Penny. "So, are we looking for your guys� outfits first?" I asked.
"Actually," Lance started, "we already have ours. All we need are a couple of outfits for you!"
"Look, here�s a cute shirt!" Chris said, picking up a polka-dotted T-shirt.
"Um, Chris?" He looked up at me. "We�re in the kid�s section!"
"I knew that!" he said, placing the shirt back on the rack. We walked through the children�s section and entered the women�s department.
"Now this is what I�m talkin� about!" Joey said, picking up a black, back-less shirt.
"I�m not wearing that!" I exclaimed.
"Why not?" Chris asked. "Afraid to show a little skin?"
"I�m not going to wear anything back-less or shoulder-less!" I informed them.
"Why?" Joey asked.
"I have my reasons," I said.
"Would you care to tell us those reasons?" Lance asked.
"No."
"Can�t you at least try them on so we can see if it looks good?" Justin pleaded, sticking his bottom lip out.
"No." I repeated again.
"Will you at least wear this, then?" Justin asked, holding up a pair of black leather pants.
I contemplated. "Okay," I finally sighed.
We looked for a few more pairs of clothes and then we went to eat lunch. "It is so EXHAUSTING shopping with women!" Chris said. I laughed.
"Uh-oh!" Justin said, staring to our left.p
"What?" I wondered.
Everybody followed Justin�s gaze and their faces began to turn pale. "Alyssa, can you run?" JC asked me. I nodded. "Then run!"
The guys took off running and I ran after them. Within no time, I heard the shouts of girls behind us. Oh great! I thought to myself. They ran into a men�s restroom and I stopped.
"Where did they go?" I heard a girl cry.
Thinking fast, I pointed to my left. "They went that way!" I lied.
"Let�s go!" a brown-haired girl said.
After catching my breath, I knocked on the bathroom door. "Coast is clear!" I breathed.
Joey poked his head out and they all came out. "Thanks, Alyssa!" Lance breathed.
"Don�t mention it."
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