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Wednesday, July 01, 2009

starstruck.

.001 - Dreams.

I suppose you could say I was average. Not like, to the point where I was a social reject or anything. I was five six or so, tall and athletic looking, with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. I took the bus to school, I bought really cute outfits in the hopes that someday I would be noticed by a guy that wasn’t a science fair reject, and was convinced that I had the best friends in the world. I think the only special thing was that I moved from Australia when I was in eighth grade to the wonderful and oh so exciting city of Agawam, Massachusetts. All the kids here find it fascinating, say that my accent is the coolest thing they’ve ever heard.

And there you have it. The E! true Hollywood story of Lyric Carrington. My parents are big into music, and named me something that you call words in songs. It’s weird, I know. And I’m pretty sure that could go under the things that aren’t average about me list that we’ve been going on about.

But to go on to the present, it was summer. The dreaded year of being a freshman in high school was over, and I was technically a sophomore. All the disastrous hours stuttering while giving project presentations and tripping while going up the stairs on the way to class were long gone. And I honestly couldn’t be happier about it. But tomorrow I started my summer job, and was going to be putting on my uniform to endure long hours of being paid minimum wage every Wednesday through Sunday. My job wasn’t bad, I had gotten hooked up with a spot on the staff at Six Flags New England, and would be doing everything from dancing around in a bugs bunny costume to serving groups of fifth graders coming from summer camp at Ben and Jerry’s.

And here I was, at seven o’clock in the morning, standing in front of the big iron gates with my bright yellow polo on that had staff written all across the front. Day one on the job was about to begin. I looked up at the giant elevator ride, towering roller coasters and bungee jump poles around me. Being surrounded by this much fun and knowing that I couldn’t be a part of it until five in the afternoon was going to be a nightmare. The gates clicked open, and me and a few other high school looking kids glanced at each other with looks of regret. It was going to be a long day, I could feel it already.

I got my cute little nametag pinned to my shirt as they took role, and the woman in charge said my name wrong. Lie-rick, she had said it. I don’t see how people can mispronounce something like Lyric. It got me so frustrated sometimes. But I said nothing but smiled as brightly as I could without looking like a total cheese ball and went off to my first assignment.

Me and another girl named Jessie had been put to go and run one of the little kid rides. The swinging boat ride in Wiggles World was an obnoxiously bright shade of yellow and green, and I felt myself wake up a little more just being near it. We sat down in the small operators booth and talked, just to get to know each other since we would be spending tons of time together over the next few hours.

I told her about my Australia story, and she thought it was amazing that I had lived in another continent. I just smiled and nodded like I always did, thinking maybe I should stop telling people and pick up an American accent and pretend like it had never happened. She told me about how she used to live in Ohio, and I finally stopped listening somewhere around her dog named Sunshine dying when she was ten.

Finally she got up to go and use the bathroom, and I welcomed the silence that followed. I flipped open my phone to see that it was 9:04, the park had just opened a few minutes ago. Looking up, small families were slowly starting to drift in. I put on my happy worker smile and let the first few toddlers and children on the ride. I closed the gates, made sure they were strapped in and hit the green button. They shrieked and hollered, thinking it was the scariest ride they’d ever been on in their life.

Superman, a two hundred and twenty one foot drop steel coaster, hovered over the park just a few hundred yards away. I rolled my eyes. If I was going to have to deal with people screaming on a ride with a thrill of negative fifteen and a half all day, I would probably go insane. I ran the ride thirty seven more times within that four hours before my lunch break. It was the longest four hours of my life. But I had from twelve to one for myself to do whatever I pleased, and I knew the first thing I was going to do would be to eat something.

I pulled out a twenty from my back pocket, knowing that even with an employee discount I was still going to be socked when it came to food prices, and headed over to the French fry stand. I ordered the smallest size I could, which could still easily feed three people, and headed out into the rest of the park. I was nearly plowed over by three teenagers running towards Flashback, and decided then that I should sit down before my five dollar plate of fries became part of the pavement.

I scooted into a small table covered by a bright rainbow umbrella and pulled out the small package of papers that I had received from my boss that morning. There was so much stuff to learn. How to run rides, do discounts and coupons at registers, safety procedures, directing traffic in the parking lot…I sighed just skimming over it. But then I got to the more fun part of it, my benefits for working here. Ride privileges after work hours, food and drink discounts, free Thursday night concerts…now that caught my eye. I, like my parents, loved music. And to them loud rock, pop and rap wasn’t music. But to me, it was.

I looked over the list of artists coming over the next few months. Daughtry, Jesse McCartney, Bow Wow, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and the Jonas Brothers. Those were the only ones that looked interesting anyway. I thought about t he ones I wanted to go to, and saw that the Jonas Brothers concert was tomorrow night as part of the summer kickoff. I had nothing better to do after work, so I thought I would stay.

I had heard some good things about them, and knew it wouldn’t hurt to just stop inside and take a listen. After all, I got automatic VIP privileges. So, why not? i would just have to make a mental note about it or else i would wake up in two weeks kicking myself because i forgotten about it.

But little did I know, that making this one small decision while sitting at a table in the middle of a swarmed amusement park, was going to change my entire summer. Glancing at the large clock on the building in front of me, I saw that I had six minutes to get all the way across the park to get back to my torturous day of running Captain something or other’s pirate ship in Wiggles World. I sighed, tucked the pamphlet snuggly in my jeans pocket, stood up, and wandered into the oncoming crowd.

- - - - - - - -

.002 - Follow.

“Hey Ly,” My mom said, her accent heavy as always, as I walked into the front door of my house around seven Wednesday night. I glanced at her and sighed. The sound of the music coming from my basement was a bit more comforting, but I still was ready to just pass out on the spot.

“Hey Mom.” I said casually, dropping my Roxy surf tote on the ground next to the coat rack and shrugged off my North Face. It was summer, but the nights next to the river at the park got cold quick. And my paradise of Wiggles World was located smack dab next to it.

“How was your first day?” She asked excitedly, bouncing out of the kitchen with her blonde hair in curlers. “I can’t believe you have your own job!”

“Yeah mom, working for five year olds is just awesome.” I said with an eye roll, walking past her into the kitchen. She sighed, spun on her heel and followed me back in.

“It couldn’t have been that bad.” She replied, noticing my sarcasm. I was standing in front of the fridge with the door wide open, and just glanced at her over my shoulder.

“Oh but it was.” I said, picking up my open can of root beer from dinner last night and taking a sip. It was flat, and I made a face as I walked over to dump it down the sink. I walked across the dimly lit kitchen, still in my black converse sneakers and obnoxiously bright yellow work polo. I stepped on the small tab at the bottom of the silver trash can, causing the top to flip open. I tossed the empty soda can inside and let the lid close with a loud bang.

“Well, what did you do all day?” She asked, pulling out a seat from the small wooden table, causing the legs to make a loud sound against the hard wood flooring.

I was back at the fridge, searching for something that wouldn’t poison me if I ate it. After all, my parents were musicians. Cooking was the last thing they knew how to do. I decided on a glass or orange juice for now, and propped myself up on the counter across from her, letting my feet swing freely. “I ran little kids rides in Wiggles World with the most obnoxious girl I’ve ever met in my entire life.” I said, pulling out my name tag and tossing it out onto the granite surface.

“Oh, well, that sounds…interesting.” She said, studying her long manicured nails.

“Mhmm.” I said, the glass raised to my face. “Mom?” I asked after awhile. She looked up at me with interest. “Just out of curiosity, why did we move? From Australia I mean.”

She sighed, thinking over the way she wanted to put it. “Well, I guess it was for the better. For your father and I anyways, and hopefully you someday. The music industry here is so…”

“Polluted?” I replied sarcastically, referring to all the pointless rap and hip hop songs that were all the rage now a days.

She frowned. “Yes, but it also poses more opportunities for your father and I to get our record deal.” She said, her face changing to a smile. I smiled back weakly. I had heard this story hundreds of times, but I was always hoping that they would stop dreaming so big.

My parents were good musicians. And they had taught me everything they knew. Back home, they had tried so hard to get a record deal. We moved from Sydney last year in October, since my parents were sick of getting rejected time after time. They wanted me to follow in their footsteps, but after seeing my mom’s feelings get hurt so many times I was afraid to even try.

“Don’t worry Lyric,” She said, reading my expression as I was deep in thought. “We’ll get there someday, I know we will.”

I nodded, but felt hollow inside. I really wished she would just give up. They weren’t getting any younger, and their music was amazing, don’t get me wrong. But it just wasn’t what everybody else was in to. It was catchy choruses with cute and well written acoustic guitar solos. No loud drums, electric guitars and amps.

“Speaking of music,” I said, anything to change the subject. “I’m going to hang around six flags tomorrow after work to stay for a concert. As long as its okay with you.”

“Oh who is it?!” She asked, her posture straightening.

“Nobody you would know, teen band.” I said, knowing that she wouldn’t question me any further.

“Oh, well yeah go ahead.” Her face fell slightly. “Just call me when you need a ride.”

The music coming from my parents studio in the basement had started to pick up, with my dad and one of his friends fooling around with synthesizers and techno beats. I could tell my mom was itching to go down there, but didn’t want to walk away and abandon this ‘mother and daughter moment’ so I decided I wouldn’t keep her any longer.

“It’s been a long day, I’m going to go take a shower.” I said finally, bending down to untie my shoes. I tied the laces together and swung them over my shoulder, picking up my tote bag on my way up the stairs to my room. It wasn’t long before I heard my mom jump up from her seat at the table and open the basement door, the sound blasting, before it was closed again. I shook my head and let my hand slide up the cool wooden railing as I walked up the rest of the white carpeted steps.

My room wasn’t much, after all my house was just your average colonial style all American home. It was light blue with navy colored shudders, with two floors and tons of windows. There was a swing set in the backyard from the family that used to live here, along with a bean shaped in ground pool. I loved having a pool, don’t get me wrong. But looking out your window every morning to see that awkward hole staring back at you was just a bit creepy.

I opened the door to my room with a loud squeak, not bothering to turn on the lights. The sun set on my side of the house, causing what little day light that we had left to drip inside the windows. The pale yellow walls were empty except for a few dressers, a mirror and a poster or two of some of my favorite bands like Tokio Hotel and an old Backstreet Boys one that I couldn’t bare to take down. I still liked them, no matter what anyone else said about it. My bed was nice and made up with its plaid yellow and pink covers, and the floor spotless.

It could have been a lot more creative and personal if I wanted it to be, but all those things were packed away in boxes in the basement. We moved a lot, so my parents could try and figure out what they wanted to do with themselves. So sometime after the fourth move across Australia I decided to not bother. I figured we would be moving again within the next few months, so just gave up on it all together.

I used to think moving was fun. Getting to see new places and meet new people. But now I hated it. My parents were going to get nowhere with their careers, whether they chose to believe it or not, and just kept moving me around the country as their roadie because they still hadn’t found ‘the right area that accepted their talent’ just yet. But other than my parents tanking careers and hating to see them fail repeatedly, I didn’t have many friends. Actually, I had no friends at all.

Sure I was the cool kid with the accent from Australia who everyone said hi to in the morning and invited to sit with at lunch during the school year and all that. But come summer, here and now, I had nobody. I didn’t do anything on weekends, I didn’t go shopping with the girls for a cute summer dress or meet up with the guys for a game of Frisbee in the park every Tuesday. I was just Lyric Carrington and nobody else. And being lonely was the worst feeling in the entire world.

I never used to be lonely, I had a lot of friends back in Australia. But they were long gone. I also used to have a sister named Harmony. The key word here being used to. She was sixteen, blonde and beautiful. She and my mother sang and wrote songs together, and I would occasionally join in playing guitar with them. She was amazing, talented in everything that she did. And when she tuned sixteen, she was at the peak of her popularity. My mom used to say that she was the key to the success they had had at the time. Harmony had come along with them to a meeting at a record company, and the papers to be signed were coming in the mail in a couple of months.

By the end of the year it was going to all be set in stone. The deal done. My parents would have their dream and Harmony would be in for the ride. I was happy as long as they were, and had no complaints. And in country like Australia, your name got around quick. Everyone was waiting for the papers to be signed, the album to be started, it was going to be a hit all around.

But then Harmony got cancer. She smoked, a lot. Not drugs just cigarettes. And my parents just thought it was a phase since they had gone thought it too. Smoke in your teens, be cool and be done with it by the time you screwed your head on tight enough. But not Harmony, she was addicted. And she got lung cancer. They caught it, but once they did it was past too late. She could have chemotherapy, but there was only a small change that it would work. And Harmony, being the self centered girl she was, knew she could fight it, and that it wasn’t worth losing her blonde locks. But that was a bad decision. And on December 11^th 2006, she died.

It was hard on us. All of us. My parents tried to pretend it didn’t happen though. They thought that the deal would still pull through and they could continue the dream for Harmony. But when she died, all the strings were cut and we were back to ground zero. So we moved, again.

Up and down the coast, then finally to the United States. Harmony and I were never super close to each others since we were so different. But she was still my sister, and I used to ask for her advice on everything. We sang and played together, and wrote some amazing songs that would have been used for the album. But now she was gone. And I hadn’t even touched my guitar since. It sat in my closet, cold and lifeless. I was afraid to ever pick it up again, fearing that bad luck was somehow attached to it.

I did my best to shake the bad thoughts from my head and sighed as I grabbed my pajamas from the dresser against the back wall of my room. If this was going to be how my days were going to be for the rest of the summer, I might not be able to keep up with it. “Think, new car.” I said allowed, reminding myself that I didn’t be the only sophomore taking the bus again next year.

The car, the concert and how I was going to spend my summer without being trapped in Wiggles World helped get my mind of Harmony for awhile, since thinking about her made my heart hurt. A shower should help. I tossed my clothes onto the bathroom floor and lugged my old radio inside, plugging it into the outlet and flipping on the fan. I threw my annoying uniform into the hamper, turned on the shower head and let the hot steam carry my emotions out the window.

- - - - - - - -

.003 - Routine.

Day two of my six flags adventure had finally begun. It made me wish I had started the job back in June like everyone else instead of the beginning of July because I was known as the new kid with the accent who had no idea what they were doing. As you can imagine, I was less than thrilled. No pun intended since all I said all day was “Have a thrilling day at six flags!” Yeah I know, way corny. Anyways, I entered the park, glum as usual as I passed all the rides. It was too busy to do anything yesterday since I couldn’t just waste my lunch break waiting in line for one ride. I was pretty sure that the only good things about this day were going to be the weather and maybe that concert later. But by this point I was a bit skeptical if I even wanted to stay anymore. I mean who were the Jonas Brothers other than some wannabe boy band anyway?

I sulked over to my station, trying to avoid Jess as much as possible. Luckily she had been promoted to another ride on the opposite end of the park and I had Captain Feathersword’s rocking boat ride all to myself. Nobody to blab in my ear all day, just free to do my own thing. And since I had stopped associating myself with people a long time ago from moving so much, I was pretty sure I would be able to handle being alone.

The park opened, and the crowds slowly started to leak in. I ran the ride twenty one and a half times, having to call park management after it got stuck during the middle of one ride and all the little kids got stuck for twenty minutes, and finally had my lunch break. I bought myself a big chocolate soft serve, not really in the mood for any real food. The thoughts about my sister from the night before were still in my head, and I had a hard time trying to shake them. I really needed to build up some emotional stability sometime soon.

“Lyric?” I heard a voice say from behind me as I sat at a small black table across from the ride Minderaser. I spun around to see my boss standing there with a clipboard in her hands.

“Yeah?” I asked, double checking the time on my watch. It was my lunch break, so I wasn’t doing anything wrong.

“One of our workers who was supposed to run a merchandise stand at the Jonas Brothers concert tonight called in sick, so I’m going to need you to stay and help out.” She said with a sigh, flipping through papers and scribbling things down.

“Are you serious?” I sighed, my shoulders sinking.

“Don’t worry, we’re not going to overwork you. You’ll have the rest of the afternoon off and then we’ll have you come back around six for the concert.” She said. “Sound fair?”

“Yes.” I mumbled as she walked away. I sighed once again, and took off my obnoxious yellow polo that read ‘please keep the park clean because my family comes here too!’ all across the back in giant black font. I folded it up carelessly, stuffing in into my tote bag. It must have been almost seventy five degrees at noon, so having jeans and the tank top underneath my polo would have to do for now.

I was a bit disappointed that I couldn’t just stay for the concert like I had planned and now had to work, but it also meant I had the afternoon off to do as I pleased. And for me that meant using my employee advantages, getting a flash pass and going on as many rides as I could within the next five hours.

Walking around the park by myself wasn’t as bad as you would think. Since I had my flash pass, I got to cut everyone in line. Plus since I was a single rider, I got right on any ride I wanted. As the day started to go on I saw a lot of girls walking around with home made Jonas Brothers shirts that read things like “JB for life!” Or “Kevin is my hero!” I was pretty sure that I learned that there were three guys in the band, named Kevin, Nick and Joe just from all the shirts that I saw.

The line into the grove where the concert was going to be had already starting to form in front of the elevator ride called Scream. I was waiting in line since this ride didn’t take flash passes, and watched as all the girls sat in the heat for hours on end just so they could get a good seat.

Suddenly someone started pushing through the line, making many people shout angrily about cutting them. I raised an eyebrow as he ducked between the line of people, then hid behind me. “Whatever you do, don’t move.” He said, bending down.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. This kid must be insane. “Uh-huh, whatever you say.”

But then I saw what he meant. A few seconds later a group of screaming girls in Jonas Brothers tee shirts ran by, stopping almost right in front of us on the opposite side of the gate of the ride. They looked around, all asking the same question, “Where’d he go?” Then slowly started walking away, still panning the crowd for the boy they were looking for.

Slowly the kid behind me stood up, his hands on my shoulders as he looked around to make sure the coast was clear. Then he sighed and leaned against the gate, “Thanks, I owe you.” He said.

“What was that all about?” I asked suspiciously, leaning over the gate to see where the girls had gone. But they were already out of sight.

“Crazy fan girls.” He shuddered. “I was walking around with my brothers, Kevin and Nick, and they somehow found us and chased us around the park.” He said, still breathing heavy from running.

I raised an eyebrow, but then my mind registered what he had said. “Wait, so you’re one of the Jona-” I started to say, but he slapped his hand over my mouth and put his finger to his lips.

“Don’t say it!” He said with a laugh. “Seriously, if anyone else finds out we’re walking around here I don’t think I’m going to make it to my show alive.”

“Sorry,” I said with a smile. “So if your brothers are Kevin and Nick, you must be Joe right?” I asked somewhat quietly, trying to remember all the shirts I had seen that day.

“Yeah,” He said with a smile. He was actually a pretty cute kid with his short black hair and deep brown eyes and his black skinny jeans, black and green striped shirt and colorful Nikes. “And who can I do my bidding to when this gets written about in my will?” He asked.

I laughed. “My name’s Lyric.” I said with a shrug.

“Lyric,” He repeated. “That’s a pretty name.”

“Thanks.” I smiled, but our little moment was interrupted by the sound of the ride flying down it’s towers and everyone on board screaming their lungs out. “So,” I asked. “Are you on for this ride or are you going to leave before you’re ambushed again?”

“Well…” He said, looking at the ride and then back at me. “I was planning on leaving so I could find those two and then get backstage before it got more chaotic. But I think I might stick around now.” He smiled. At that moment I felt a strange, tingly sensation in my stomach when he looked at me like that. I didn’t know what it was, but I liked it.

We talked some more in line, and I didn’t say much other than the fact that I worked here and moved from Australia. He told me about his brothers and how he was excited for their concert tonight. It was interesting listening to him talk about how hard he and his brother’s had worked to get to where they were now. I gave them a lot of credit for perusing their music like they did, unlike me who had given up when Harmony died. But he didn’t need to know that.

Finally it was our turn to get on, and we both grabbed seats next to each other. We pulled down our lap bars and hooked them on, waiting as they employees came around to check them. Slowly the ride moved upward a little, just waiting in anticipation before it would shoot up to the top of the tower only to drop us back down again.

“You ready?” Joe asked with a smile, swinging his feet back and forth anxiously. I loved this ride, but the anxiety always got to me before it started.

“Yeah,” I said, my heart beating a mile a minute as I clung to the handle bars for life. I hated how they always changed how long they’d leave you there before they started the ride, so you never knew when to expect it. I saw the girl running the ride give the operator a thumbs up, and then the ride shot upwards. I screamed and closed my eyes as we went higher and higher, and then were sitting at the top waiting for it to plummet us downwards.

Looking down I could see the entire park and the cities near by. “Wow.” I said, seeing the people below us that looked like ants on a sidewalk. Joe was laughing, his face lit up like a little boy’s.

“Five, four, three, two…” He said. Then the ride started flying downwards, and we were lifted out of our seats with the feeling of weightlessness for the few seconds that the ride lasted. We slowed to a stop, and finally our lap bars were lifted and Joe and I got off. My legs were somewhat shaky, but I was still smiling.

“So Lyric, where do you want to go now?” He asked, his hands on his hips as he looked around at the rides around us. I looked at him, confused.

“I thought you wanted to go and find your brothers?” I asked as we made our way down the stairs into the superhero themed rides area. Joe was still scanning the crowd to make sure that he could walk through without a problem. I laughed as he pulled a pair of white sunglasses out of his pocket and slid them on.

“Me too,” He smiled. “But surprisingly I find myself wanting to hang around with you for a little bit longer.” He said, looking at me with a smile. I felt myself blushing slightly as I looked away. Was this really happening?

- - - - - - - -

.004 - Heart Attack.

I was about 85% sure I was dreaming. I knew I wasn’t when Joe and I were walking to Johnny Rocket’s after riding the giant twenty story roller coaster called superman eight times and I tripped and fell on the pavement. Yes I was a klutz and was known to embarrass myself in public situations. It was boatloads of fun, especially when it happened in front of incredibly cute celebrities like Joe Jonas.

Being the gentleman that he was, he helped me up. But of course, couldn’t stop laughing the whole time. I was blushing like crazy, and he thought it was adorable.

“Lyric, you’re cheeks are still way red.” He said with a laugh as we sat down at one of the tables in the small restaurant located smack dab in the middle of the park. I had no quick witted response, so I threw a French fry at him, which just caused him to roll his eyes and laugh more.

“Anyways,” He said after he had finally gotten over my blushing problems. “I’ve been telling you everything about myself all day.” He took a long sip of his soda, then set it down and started spinning around the ice cubes with his straw. “And yet I find myself knowing almost nothing about you.” He raised his look to meet mine, causing my heart to disintegrate under his smoldering brown eyes.

“There really isn’t much to know,” I said with a shrug, even though that was a huge lie. My life was one big, dramatic soap opera. “I mean I told you the major stuff, I moved here from Australia a few years ago with my parents, and now I’m here working a part time job. The end.” I said, nibbling on the end of a French fry. But I could tell he wasn’t going to let it drop.

“Come on, there’s got to be more than that…” He said, leaning onto the table and studying me. “Why’d you move then? If you don’t mind me asking…”

“I think I’ll take a pass on that one,” I said, forcing my mind off the subject of my sister. “I’ll tell you some other time.” I lied, kind of. I mean what were the chances I would ever see this kid again anyways? As far as I was concerned, he was on his way to super stardom and I would just spend my summers sitting by the pool eating left over Chinese food and re reading my favorite books over and over again. That’s how every summer went, and this just happened to be a temporary change. After all, nothing that ever happened to me stayed permanent.

He frowned slightly, but respected my wishes. “Okay then, I haven’t seen you with anyone else all day, who’re you’re friends?”

I sighed. Another touchy subject. “I don’t really have any,” I said honestly. “I move so much that it’s impossible for me to keep track of the people I meet. So I just kind of gave up.” I shrugged.

“Ouch, I’m sorry.” He said sincerely. “Well if it helps, I’ll be your friend.” He grinned. I smiled back weakly, putting down the French fry in my hand with a lost appetite. It was the first time I had said any of this to anyone, and the first anyone had even bothered wanting to hear about it.

“How kind,” I laughed. I glanced across the room at the small pink clock on the wall and my eyes widened. It was five fifty, and I had to be at the grove in five minutes ready to go. “Oh no,” I said, slapping my forehead.

“What?” He asked, shaking his hair to the side like guys do.

“I have to leave,” I said, hopping out of my seat.

“What?” He repeated. “Why?”

“Work, my boss is going to kill me…” I said, pushing in my chair.

“But don’t you work here?” He asked, confused.

“Mhmm,” I replied, tugging down my tank top and heading for the door. But he was right behind me.

“Then why do you have to leave so soon?”

“Look Joe I’m sorry, I really am. But it was nice talking to you. Maybe I’ll see you later?” I said, not waiting for a response before heading out the door into the oncoming crowd.

- switching to Joe’s POV -

“Lyric wait -” I said, but she had already left. I hurried out the door not but a few steps behind, but she was gone. I sighed and shrugged. Maybe being with her was too good to be true. But suddenly my little moment was interrupted by someone screaming.

“Joe Jonas!” Came a high pitched shriek from behind me.

“Oh no,” I groaned, turning around to see my fan club from earlier only a few steps behind. I drew in a quick breath and bolted for it, running up the stairs out of the superhero themed area, past the long line waiting for our concert and through security until I was safe.

The crowd behind me shrieked and hollered my name, waving posters and Cds in the air. I sighed. If this was how it was going to be from now on, I would need to find a new career choice. But then I remembered how much I loved performing and quickly let the thought go. I took my time walking down the rocky, beaten path that led to the clearing in the forest where the concerts were held. When I made it to the bridge that crossed a small stream somewhere in between, I saw my brothers.

Kevin, the oldest, was leaning against the railings as he watched our other brother, Nick, hang over the side and throw rocks into its murky depths. Then again, it was only about a foot deep in most parts.

“Hey, there’s Danger!” Kevin said, smiling once he saw me. “We were wondering where you had run off to.”

I shrugged. “It was no easy task getting away from those girls.”

“Dude, tell me a bout it.” Nick said, adjusting himself so he was no longer half way off the bridge railings and was standing against the side like Kevin was. “I thought I was going to be killed.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes, continuing to walk across the bride and further through the trees towards the grove. “It’s crazy isn’t it?” I said as we walked side by side along the leaf covered trail. “All that’s been happening to us I mean.”

“Mmm.” Kevin agreed, shaking his head in disbelief. “I mean did you hear all those people out there? They’re all here for us!”

“I can’t wait for this show.” Nick said enthusiastically, rubbing his hands together. We were silenced once the large, cleared area opened up before us. There were about six pavilions on either side, and some small tents set up in the far left corner of the grove where Cds and tee shirts were being sold. The stage stood a few hundred yards away, empty and set to go.

“Boys, over here!” Came a female voice from the nearest pavilion on the left. I looked up to see my mom, Denise Jonas and my dad Kevin Jonas, standing in front of a small picnic table with folders of papers in front of them. We quickly made our way over, sitting down on either side of the table.

“What’s up?” Nick asked, scanning over the colorful papers that were scattered in front of us.

“Last show of the summer,” Our dad said with a satisfied and tired grin. “We’ll go over the schedule, wardrobe and hair arrangements, and we’ll be set to go.”

“Sweet.” Kevin said with a grin, leaning back in his seat. “So Joe what kind of crazy stunt do you have planned for this show?” He asked, looking over at me.

I shrugged and smiled. “I’m sure I’ll think of something. Who’s opening for us?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Girl Authority.” My mom said with a sincere smile.

“Wait, aren’t they like…kids bop or whatever?” Nick asked, making a face.

“Be nice Nicholas.” She said somewhat sternly.

“Mmmooommm….” Kevin groaned, shaking his head. “Why them, why now?”

“Oh get over it,” She said, shaking her head and smiling. It was near impossible for her to stay mad at us for any length of time. “Besides I didn’t plan it, six flags did.”

“We’ll worry about that later,” Dad said, interrupting. “Right now let’s go over the schedule. It’s six o’clock now, so we go back for wardrobe as soon as we’re done here. They’ll start letting everyone in at six thirty, and Girl Authority will go on at 6:45. Then you guys will go on at seven. Sound good?”

“Sounds perfect to me.” Kevin said, clapping his hands together and standing up. “Let’s go.”

-- Back to Lyric’s POV --

“Sorry, so sorry.” I said as I pulled on my fluorescent yellow employee polo and stumbled into the souvenir tent at the back of the grove where the Jonas Brothers concert was going to be held. I was six minutes late, and had knocked over a large pile of tee shirts on my way in. My supervisor, Jane, was less than pleased.

“Lyric, you’re only on your second day here. You’re going to need to step it up if you don’t want to get fired.” She said, eyeing me cautiously. I sighed and nodded as she checked me off for being at my place and then walked out of the tent.

I bent down and picked up the pile of white shirts with large JB crests on the front and started refolding them. Turned out I was the only one working this tent tonight, so I was going to have my hands full once they opened the gate and started letting people in. I dug through some of the boxes underneath the plastic tables and pulled out an old wireless radio. I fiddled with some buttons and was pleasantly surprised when it came to life after my feeble attempt to bend the antenna upwards.

Humming along to Saving Me by Nickelback, my small tasks seemed to go a lot quicker. All of a sudden there was a loud roaring noise, and a huge group of screaming and excited girls started filing in through the far gates from the small wooden path in the distance.

“Wow.” I said aloud, unable to help myself as I watched them all sprint by in their home made tee shirts, carrying giant posters and cameras as they hurried to the stage. They just kept on coming, and I stood there in awe for a good fifteen minutes just watching them. So this was what it was like to be a crazy obsessed fan girl? I was glad I had missed that one.

But yet I couldn’t help but wonder where Joe was. He must have been around here somewhere. After all, it was his concert. I shook the thoughts out of my head. I needed to stop thinking about him. He was in a band, bound to make it to the big times someday. What were the chances he would ever think of me anytime soon?

“Excuse me, Miss…” Came an impatient voice from in front of me. “I said I would like to buy a cd…” I looked up to see a middle aged woman who looked like she would rather be anywhere else but here, holding about five Jonas Brothers decorated tote bags and wearing a tired expression on her face.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” I said, biting my lip and handing her one as she gave me a twenty and took off. The cd was only twelve dollars, but I guessed she had better places to be so I pocked the change. What’s a little self indulgence going to hurt?

‘wow lyric,’ I thought to myself. ‘aren’t you a rebel.’

I sighed, hoisting myself up onto one of the metal framed tables and watched as the impatient crowd baked in the summer heat. Then the lights went down and voices were heard over the microphones. But they weren’t guys voices, and I raised an eyebrow as a couple of little girls came dancing onto stage singing Gwen Stefani’s Hollaback Girl. I had never been a fan of the song, but after hearing the chipmunks on helium version that they were doing, I was for sure deleting it from my ipod when I got home.

It went on for a good fifteen minutes, and I was starting to wish that I was home taking a hot shower and ready to go to bed. It was a pretty sad thought for a fifteen year old girl on a Friday night. But that was me, Lyric Carrington. The girl with no life. I sighed, angry at myself for being such a boring and unexciting person. But then it stopped, and the cheers and chanting suddenly grew louder.

Listening carefully, I heard what they were saying. “Jonas, Jonas, Jonas!” They screamed over and over, their cameras in the air as they waited for their three boys to take the stage.

“We’re the kids, we’re the kids, we’re the kids of the future!” Came three voices from backstage, and the screaming suddenly grew louder and louder. I felt my ear drums pop for a brief second in the drastic change in noise. I leaned slightly over the table to get a better look and saw them

Three boys, one in a tan shirt and grey pants with suspenders, carrying a black Les Paul guitar. I was a huge fan of Gibson’s instruments, and recognized it immediately. I know, I’m a dork. The next one had curly brown hair and was wearing a blue button up shirt with a brown vest and black skinny jeans, holding yet another Gibson guitar. I assumed they were Nick and Kevin, the other two Jonas boys. And then my heart stopped when my eyes landed on him.

He stood at the front of the stage in a light tan colored suit and the same signature sunglasses I had seen him wearing that day. He was holding the microphone, singing his lungs out to the crowd. It seemed like a completely different person then the one I had spent my whole day with. But it wasn’t, it was Joe. I put my hand on my chest, feeling my heart thumping wildly. This wasn’t good. Is this what it’s like to have a crush? Because if it is, I think I’m going to need a paramedic.

- - - - - - - - -

.005 - Starstruck.

-- Joe’s POV --

“Joseph why don’t you go and help those girls in the tent back there clean up,” My dad said after the concert was over. The grove was all cleared out of each and every last person, and we were all just sitting on the stage unplugging guitars and amps and getting ready to leave. We weren’t doing anything super important, but I still didn’t feel like getting up. Concerts made me exhausted, but I knew I should just get up and do what I was told. I sighed, stood up and hopped off the stage, too tired to bother arguing at all.

Humming Year 3000 without even thinking, I started walking across the large lawn area that was now covered with empty water bottles and pieces of confetti. I smiled, all in the aftermath of a good concert. We had pulled off a great one at that, and it was an awesome way to finish off the tour and finally have time to take a break and relax. I looked down at my watch, seeing that it was near ten, meaning the park was still open for another hour. Maybe I would catch a few more rides while I still had the chance.

Nearing the tent in the far back of the grove, I saw that there was only one person in it. They were slowly folding up left over tee shirts and packing them into boxes. The girl I saw was struggling, holding one large box in one hand and reaching for the old beaten radio that had been left behind during last night’s show with the other.

“Here let me help you,” I said, walking over and reaching for the box to take it from her hands. But she suddenly tripped, making all the shirts fly out onto the ground.

“Oh come on…” She said with a sigh, leaning down and picking them up quickly, tossing them back into the box to be folded again. “I am so sorry.” She said. “I really wasn’t watching where I was going.” She said, shaking her head. I wished that the lights had been kept on, since I could barely see her in the dark.

“It’s alright,” I yawned, picking up two or three tee shirts and tossing them carelessly in the old cardboard box and then hoisting myself onto one of the metal tables. I spun sideways so I was laying all across it like a bed, crossing my arms behind my head and just staring out into the night sky.

“Aren’t you supposed to be helping me?” She asked, sitting on the ground and folding the shirts on her lap before placing them back in the box.

I laughed, my eyes watching all the little stars twinkling above us. It was a really nice night. “Technically yes, but I’m just going to sit here and make it look like I’m helping.” I grinned.

“Some help you are.” She mumbled, shuffling the boxes around and giving up on the whole folding thing and just throwing the shirts in the box like I had done.

“Do I know you?” I asked, not bothering to look down since I was too tired to even move. “Your voice sounds familiar.”

“I don’t know,” She said a bit sarcastically. “Probably not, plus I work here it’s not like anyone bothers to talk to employees.” She said with a sigh.

I turned on my side and looked down at her, squinting to try and see her face in the dark. “Lyric?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t about to make an idiot of myself. With my luck, it would be someone totally different, not knowing who or what I was talking about.

“Took you long enough.” She said with a smile, standing up and dusting the dirt off her pants.

I smiled, happy to see her again. “Sorry, I’m just really out of it. I should have realized it was you when you fell, you tend to be a tad clumsy huh?”

She sighed, not answering my question. “Good show tonight,” She said with a shrug, tucking the old radio into the ragged old box and walking over to the supply van and tossing it into the back.

“Thanks,” I said with a smile. “Did you see the whole thing?” I asked eagerly.

“Obviously,” She said, and I could almost hear the smile in her voice. “Right down to your little superman dance at the end.”

“Amazing, I know.” I said with a laugh, spinning myself upright on the table and now fully awake knowing that she was there.

“Mhmm.” She responded, slamming the van doors as the last of the boxes were put away. “Well that takes care of that,” She said, pulling off her florescent yellow employees polo and stuffing it in her tote bag. She dug through it some, looking for something. “Ugh.” She said after a few minutes.

“What?” I asked.

“I forgot my sweatshirt, and I am definitely not putting on that hideous yellow thing again.” She said, shivering slightly in her tank top. “But thanks for your help, you can leave now if you want. I’m sure you have places to be, autographs to sign or something.” She said, pulling her bag onto her shoulder and walking out of the tent.

“Hey, wait up.” I said, walking briskly to catch up wit her and unzipping my Ed Hardy fleece. “Need this?” I asked with a smile.

She stared at it briefly, then looked at me. “You sure?” She hesitated.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” I said with a grin. “They don’t call me superman for nothing.”

She laughed at that, shaking her head and sliding on the jacket. “Thanks,” She said with a smile. “So what are you up to the rest of the night?” She asked. “You said you were tired, and yet you keep following me.” She said as we crossed the small wooden bridge that led out of the grove. The bright lights of all the rides around us suddenly came into view with the all too familiar sounds of people screaming as they flew by.

“Well, I figure I might have to keep an eye on you just to make sure you don’t do anything to my jacket.” I said, hesitating. But it was really just an excuse to spend more time with her.

-- switching to Lyric --

I really wasn’t sure what I was doing. My plans originally had been to check out the concert, hear a few good songs then head home to continue with my broken record routine that had been going on ever since I lost Harmony. Summer would never be the same without her. Or so I thought.

I loved Joe’s jacket, and every time he looked away I would breathe in deeply in hopes of capturing that scent of his. I didn’t want him to leave, I hadn’t had someone to talk to or make me this happy in a long time. “So where are you headed?” He asked me. “You surely can’t be planning on leaving already…”

I sighed, flipping my phone open to check the time. My mom would be coming at closing time to pick me up, and hanging around with him for another hour would sure beat sitting around on the parking lot bench. I looked over at him and smiled. “Well superman,” I said, stuffing my hands in the jacket pockets. “Are you up for another trip to the ride of steel?” I asked, eyeing the large metal coaster that was towering above us.

“I’m game if you are, come on!” He said, grabbing my hand and running towards it. When he grabbed me like that my heart leaped in my chest. The line was short, and luckily no one recognized him in the dark. I had never been on this ride at night before, so I was kind of freaked out. But knowing Joe was there made me feel better. A lot better.

The gates opened and we took our seats in the third row from the front. I pushed down my lap bar, tapping it with nerves. “You scared?” He asked, looking over at me.

“Of course not, I’ve been on this ride tons of times.” I said, him not knowing that the thing that was making me be so jumpy was sitting this close to him again. “I think the question would be if you’re ready?”

He laughed, shaking his head. “Of course I am, after all I am Superman.” He said dramatically. The coaster lurched suddenly, trucking up the hill as all the lights from the surrounding attractions could be seen clearly from above.

“It’s beautiful out,” I said, breathing in the scent of the summer air and looking up at the stars over head. “Whoa okay…” I said once I realized how high up we were and that we were just about to tip over the hill.

“Hands up!” Someone from behind us yelled. I was never one to throw my arms up without a care when I went on roller coasters, I usually gripped the handle bars for dear life. But looking over at Joe with his grinning face and his hands raised high, I just shrugged decide why not?

“Alright,” I sighed, lifting my hands as the coaster plunged over the hill at its incredible speed. My eyes were watering and I couldn’t stop laughing, and a new found exhilaration was found with my hands in the air the whole time. Strapped into my seat by only half a foot of poorly crafted metal as I flew down the screaming metal tracks. But I didn’t care. I felt fearless.

The ride came to a stop almost as quickly as it had started, screeching to a halt before the landing as it slowly inched us back in to get off. Joe and I stepped out of our seats, shaking slightly with the cold air and laughter as we made our way down the ramps and back out into the open park.

“That was insane,” He said with a laugh, running his hand through his hair. “I’m going to grab a hot chocolate, you want one?”

“In the middle of summer?” I asked with a laugh, sitting down at the small two person table that was in front of us.

He smiled. “There’s a first time for everything.”

“Sure,” I said, giving in. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” He said, pulling out his wallet and walking over to the small stand to buy them. He was back a few minutes later and placed them down on the table. He then carefully slid into the seat next to me, careful as to not burn himself. “So,” He said as the clicked off the lid and let the steam pour out. “Any chance you want to talk about what you didn’t want to tell me before? With the whole ‘reason you moved’ thing?” He asked, somewhat cautiously.

I thought about it for a moment, shaking the dirty blonde hair out of my eyes. “I suppose,” I said. For some reason I felt like I could trust him, so I decided that it would be okay to tell him about it. “Well, it basically all starts with my sister, Harmony.” I said, wincing slightly. I hoped he hadn’t noticed since it was so dark around us. “She and my parents were big into music, you know playing and writing their own stuff. They were really close to hitting it big in Australia, getting signed by a big record company and all that.”

“That’s cool,” He said, taking a sip of his drink.

“Yeah, it was.” I said with a frown. “But then my sister, she got cancer. She smoked, a lot. So I guess she kind of had it coming.”

“Oh wow, is she okay?” He asked.

“Well, no. She kind of died back in 2006.” I said, feeling my eyes sting slightly. I wiped the tears away quickly, so he wouldn’t see. I didn’t like people feeling bad for me, so I usually avoided bringing this kind of attention to myself.

“Oh my gosh, Lyric I’m soo sorry.” He said, putting his arm around my shoulder and squeezing me. “I really am, I had no idea.”

I sighed. “It’s okay, I mean its all in the past right?”

“I feel awful,” He said quietly. “I’m sorry brought it up.”

“No, no don’t it’s okay, really.” I said, biting my lip. “I’ve just never told anyone before so it was kind of hard for me to talk about.”

He nodded. “So what kind of music did your parents do?” He asked, changing the subject slightly.

“They still play, it’s this like pop and folk kind of stuff though. Not exactly modern day mainstream.” I said with a smile. “But it’s different. I used to play with them.”

“Used to?” He asked.

“Yeah, I was really big into guitar and my family and I would play together all the time. Not much just weddings and stuff, it was actually pretty corny.” I said with a slight blush. “But ever since Harmony died, I haven’t touch a guitar since.”

“Wow.” He said, leaning back in his seat and looking at me. “There’s a lot more to you then meets the eye, huh?”

I laughed nervously. “Yeah, I guess there is.” But inside my mind was reeling, was it a good idea to tell him so much about myself, my past, my family? The little voice in my head said I was making a mistake, but my heart was too busy back flipping to even listen.

- - - - - - - -

.006 - Emotions.

So my little Jonas adventure had finally ended. I was sitting in my room around midnight on that night of meeting Joe, the concert - everything. There was a mix of emotions. Happy that I had met someone who actually listened and understood and didn’t judge me and didn’t make dumb comments about my accent or asked me if I was related to Steve Irwin. But sad because I was never going to see again. He was done touring, and would be taking a break and vacationing somewhere with his family for the most part. So it was done, over, the end.

It surprised me how much it bothered me though. I kept thinking about him, the songs from the concerts, the way his eyes would shine whenever I looked into them. What was wrong with me? I had never been one of liking guys. I stuck to music and song writing on weekends. I knew I was pretty, but I just was never social enough to ever have someone recognize me for it.

Sitting on my bed, I was staring at the empty space of my closet. The doors were wide open, and a few stray jeans and long sleeved tee shirts clung lazily to the wire hangers. But what I was looking at was my guitar. It sat there in it’s navy blue case, covered in dust and luggage tags from all the flights we had taken when we moved.

I was tempted to walk over and pick it up. To have that feeling again of playing, letting the music just drift off your fingers without even thinking. To hear my voice sing again, since it hadn’t even done anything more then humming in over a year. I sighed, fiddling with my damp hair from my shower I had taken. I was fifteen, sitting here in my Elmo pajama pants and old Abercrombie tank top, staring at a dumb piece of wood and wire for a full hour on a Saturday night. Just goes to show how much of a life I have.

Giving up, I slowly slide off my squeaky bed and walked over to the closet and closed its light wooden doors. My comeback would come soon, just not tonight. I yawned, and walked across the creaky wooden floor and flipped off the light. I carefully tip toed back to my bed, tripping over my sneakers as I went. I groaned, regaining my balance. Joe was right, I was a klutz. And there I go again, thinking about him. “Give up Lyric, will you?” I said out loud, pulling back my covers and slipping into bed. That night I dreamed of him.

“Good morning Mom,” I said, walking downstairs Sunday morning to the smell of chocolate chip pancakes.

“Morning dear,” She said, looking over at me with tired eyes. I slid into my usual seat in the small breakfast nook in the far corner of the kitchen, flipping on the Vh1 top twenty countdown.

“Long night?” I asked as she walked over and set down a plate in front of me. She shrugged, not saying anything and walked back over to the stove top. I raised an eyebrow, but just started to pour maple syrup onto my plate. She joined me a few minutes later, humming along absent mindedly to the song Feels Like Tonight by Daughtry that was playing.

“So uh, how was work yesterday?” She asked, trying to make conversation.

“It was pretty good, I stayed for that concert and stuff.” I said casually, though it made my heart flip flop that weird way it did whenever I thought about Joe.

“Mhmm.” She said, poking at her food.

“Mom is everything okay? You look like a zombie.” I said, taking a sip of my orange juice and throwing my messy morning hair up into a bun.

“Karen called, wanting us to go on tour this summer and I ended up arguing with her because you have school and all that. So I don’t know what we’re going to do since this could be our big break.” She sighed. “I barely got any sleep thinking about it.”

“Mom that’s great! About the tour I mean, not you not sleeping.” I said, smiling at her.

She shook her head in response. “I know hunny, but you would have to come along with us and leave all your friends…” She said. “I wouldn’t want to that to you again.”

I rolled my eyes. “Mom in case you haven’t noticed, we’ve moved six times. I haven’t really had friends since third grade back in Sydney.”

My mom pretended not to hear that last part and continued with her rant. “I wouldn’t want you missing school like that…”

“That’s what they have tutors for. I want you to go on tour mom, I really do. And I wouldn’t mind coming with you at all. Who knows, maybe I’ll start playing again once I see you and dad up there.” I said, knowing that that would send her rocketing. She was always on my back about not playing anymore since Harmony died.

Her face lit up slightly, trying hard to hide her enthusiasm. “Well I’ll have to talk it over with your father of course, but we’ll see.” She said, standing up and scurrying down the hall to find my dad. I smiled, shaking my head. Anything to escape another year here all by myself. And who knows, maybe going on tour could be fun? But I still had a whole summer to get through before I even thought about what was going on this fall. I finished my breakfast, put my dishes in the sink and walked into my room to get changed.

Sunday was my day off, and I was happy to just hang around the house and not do much of anything. I put on my white one piece bathing suit from Delia’s that had rainbow hearts all over in and a pair of short denim shorts. I rain a brush through my wavy golden brown hair and put it into a braid, then grabbed my copy of Twilight by Stephanie Meyer and sunglasses and headed out back to the pool.

It was around eleven, and it had already started to get humid outside. I walked across the cement patio and took a seat on one of the padded lounge chairs, slapping on sun block and then laying down to work on my tan. I laid there for a few three hours, picking up my book or taking a quick dip in the pool every now and again. Around two, my mom and dad came outside.

My dad had a radio in his hands, which was no surprise since my house was almost always full of music. He set it down on one of the small wooden tables and pushed play, the sound of a loud song by the Beatles blasting. I recognized it immediately as the song Eleanor Rigby and smiled, it was one of my favorites.

“So Dad,” I said as he took his seat on the edge of the pool, feeling the water before he hopped in. “Mom told me about the tour you guys were thinking about.” I asked once my mom had gone inside to get a glass of lemonade.

He nodded, smiling from under his Ray Ban aviators. “Yeah, we were thinking about it.”

“Were? Meaning you made a decision?” I asked, crossing my fingers behind my back.

“Yes and no.” He said. “We decided to do the tour, but we’re still contemplating on whether or not we should do the whole thing or just half.”

“Well at least we’re going!” I said happily. “I can’t wait!”

“Easy chica, we still have a few months to go. And you do realized that life on the road is no glamour trip either. Long bus rides, hotels, fast food - all that stuff.” He said, pointing out all the gruesome details. But those things really didn’t bother me much. I loved traveling, and was happy with whatever made my parents happy.

“I know dad, don’t worry about me. I’ll be the best groupie you’ve ever had.” I said with a laugh. “So what kind of tour is it? Full set, opener, closer?” I asked.

“We were lucky enough to have a full set, apparently some of our old seventies stuff got big here and we didn’t even know it!” He said excitedly.

“Wow,” I said, somewhat confused. “That’s nice.”

“Very, we’re in the process of getting an opening act right now. We have a few choices, but we haven’t made a full on decision yet.”

“What kind of people are you looking for?” I asked, rolling over onto my stomach on the lawn chair.

“Well since our music is more of adult and oldies, we’re looking for a young band of some sort so we can get a better age range in to hear our stuff.”

“Have you had anyone to chose from yet?” I asked with a yawn.

“A few. The Veronicas, Aly & AJ and some other band. A boy band of some sort, Something brothers or whatever.” He said with a shrug. My chest jolted, my heart skipping when he said that.

“You mean Jonas Brothers?” I asked, trying not to sound excited.

“Yeah, them.” He said.

“Dad you have to get them!” I nearly shouted.

“Why?” He asked suspiciously. “I’ve never been on for boy band pop music.” He said, frowning.

“These guys are going to be huge dad, I can see it already. I went to their concert last night. You’ll bring in tons of families if they go on tour with us.” I said, crossing my fingers and biting my lip as he thought it over.

“What are you guys talking about?” My mom asked, walking back outside with her glass of lemonade and oversized pink sunglasses. It was quite a site.

“What band we want to open for us this fall,” My dad said. “Lyric thinks we should go with those Jonas boys.”

My mom looked over at me. “Really?” She asked. I nodded. “Well maybe, I’ll have to look into it. But don’t get too excited Ly, it’s still our decision.” She said, reading the expression on my face.

“I know,” I said with a sigh, trying to look somewhat disappointed even though I was praying that they would decide to go with them. After all, who could say no to three incredibly gorgeous boys like Nick, Kevin and Joe?

- - - - - - - -

.007 - Realize.

I was in a weird mood Monday morning as I crawled out of bed at seven sharp. I couldn’t tell whether it was good or bad, so I just kind of went along with it. I had straightened my hair the night before out of pure boredom, and all the sun I had gotten yesterday left it with nice blonde streaks. Not to mention a nice summer glow. My skin tanned easily, and I rarely burned. Just another gift of being an Aussie.

I pulled on my tan work pants and bright yellow polo, and spiced things up a bit with my bright pink, green and orange Nikes. My hair looked decent, so I left it down. But grabbed a few hair ties and fitted them around my wrist just in case.

“Mom, I’m ready!” I said as I hurried down the stairs, stuffing my cell phone in my back pocket.

“Make sure you have something to eat before you leave,” She said as I had my hand on the front door and was about to turn the handle.

“Fine,” I said with a groan, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a multigrain bar off the counter. “Satisfied?” I said somewhat sarcastically as she slipped on her flip flops and grabbed her car keys.

“Yes, now let’s go before you’re late.” She replied, opening the front door and unlocking the car with the small remote. I bounded down the steps and hurried into the car, slamming the door behind me. “What’s got you so anxious?” She asked suspiciously as she pulled her seat belt around.

I shrugged. “I don’t know, the weather maybe?” I replied.

“It’s supposed to thunderstorm all day.” She said with an annoyed tone. I think she was still all up in arms about planning the tour for the fall. I prayed again that she would go for the Jonas Brothers, but didn’t mention it. If I begged she’d know something was up.

“Well whatever, I’m just in a good mood.” I said. It was a long fifteen minute ride, but we finally arrived. I was just in a hurry to get out of the car as we slowly tuned into the parking lot. “Bye Mom, love you.” I said with a smile, hopping out of the car and walking up the steps into the main entrance.

All the other workers had arrived, and I was one of the last ones in. I knew I was cutting it close, and hoped that nobody noticed. I laughed as I saw one of my coworkers named Craig try to catch his friend who was running around in circles with the head of his Bugs Bunny mascot costume. They were snapped at by the park manager, and I did my best to not fall down laughing on the spot.

“Lyric, hold on a sec.” One of my bosses named Jane said as I was about to walk through security.

“Yeah?” I asked, turning around and brushing the bangs out of my eyes.

“We’re going to give you an intern today,” She replied, waving over a girl who was talking with one of the security guards. ‘Oh god,’ I thought. ‘Here we go…’ “Mel, this is Lyric Carrington,” Jane said to the girl beside her with short blonde hair and bright blue eyes. “She’ll be your mentor.”

“Hey,” Mel said with a smile and a small wave. I just nodded. I wasn’t really interested on teaching anyone anything. I just wanted to come, do my job and then leave. Was that too much to ask?

“You’ll both report back to me at the end of the day and we’ll review what you’ve learned, etc.” Jane said, tucking her clipboard under her arm. “Well what are you waiting for? We have a park to run, now shoo!” She said, brushing us away with her hands. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

“Come on,” I said unenthusiastically. Mel gave me a look, but followed. “So is this your first day?” I asked as we passed a few rides and watched her eye them with interest.

“Yeah, on the job anyways. I’ve been here tons of times but I don’t like rides. So I figured it would be a pretty good job since I won’t have the temptation to go on everything repeatedly once my shift was over.” She said with a smile. I raised an eyebrow at the not liking rides part, but nodded. She wasn’t too much of a pain.

“Okay, this ride is pretty simple.” I said once we arrived in Wiggles World at Captain Feathersword’s rocking pirate ship. “You pull this lever here and press the yellow button. You run it for a minute, push the lever back up and press the blue button.” I said, gesturing to the small control panel.

“Why aren’t the red and green? Like green for go and red for stop?” She asked.

“That is a very good question…” I said. “Apparently they like messing with us.”

She laughed at that and gave it a rest run, following my directions perfectly. The park goers slowly started to trickle in, and we ran the ride about six times for a group of college students. It was pretty hilarious. But then we had to kick them off since one kid kept trying to stand up with his superman cape on and sing the sponge bob square pants theme song over and over again.

“I’m going on my lunch break,” I said as I glanced at my phone for the time. “Think you can handle this place on your own?”

“I’ll manage.” She smiled, propping herself up on the small wooden stool in the operators booth.

“Alright, I’ll be back in an hour.” I said, walking down the main ramp and out of wiggles world and into the rest of the park. I went down a flight of stairs into the DC character area and slipped into Johnny Rockets for something to eat. I ordered a small thing of fries and a milkshake before making my way to a place to sit. The small table in the back corner caught my eye, as that was one of the last places I had been with Joe before he left. I sighed and turned around, heading to a different booth.

It felt good to sit after being on my feet all day, and I took my time taking my break so I wouldn’t get back to my shift early like I usually did. I just kind of sat there, alone with my thoughts until the violent vibration of my cell phone in my pocket nearly gave me a heart attack.

“Hello?” I asked with a bored tone of voice when I answered. I wasn’t the most enthusiastic person you’ve ever met when it comes to phone conversations.

“Good news!” My mom said as soon as she heard me pick up, before I even had time to finish my greeting.

“Okay…” I said.

“We’ve signed with the Jonas Brothers for the tour! Turn out your fathers really good friends with their father. Small world huh?” She said.

“Oh my god!” I nearly screamed, feeling my mood completely change. “Are you serious?”

“Yes! They’re coming over for dinner tonight so we can talk tour plans, get to know each other and all that. Sounds fun right?”

“Mom you just made my life.” I said, smiling ear to ear. “When are they coming over?”

“Four, so when I come to pick you up from work you’ll have plenty of time to get ready.” She said with some smugness in her voice.

“Moommm…” I said with an eye roll, but I was still smiling.

“Hey we have to look good for our tour buddies! Make a good impression and all. I have to go now dear, so I’ll see you later!” She said, hanging up the phone. I stood their staring at my cell for a good few minutes, still trying to get over what she had just said. I was going on tour with the Jonas brothers.

“Harmony, I so owe you.” I said, looking up at the sky and thinking of my sister. And when I did I could have sworn I saw I smile forming in the shape of the clouds. Fate has a funny way of messing with you doesn’t it?

- - - - - - - -

.008 - Shot.

Joe’s POV

“Mom you can’t be serious.” I said, throwing my suitcase onto the nicely made bed. Our parents had rented a condo for the summer in Western Massachusetts so we could be near our new tour mates and get to know them better. I on the other hand, was not happy at all. “They’re like forty years old hippies!” I said, referring to the couple we would be performing with this fall.

“Joseph, be kind will you?” My mom said, leaning into the doorframe with her arms crossed. She had a tired expression on her face and I could tell she wasn’t in the mood for an argument. “They’re friends of your fathers, so it’s the right thing to do. Plus, it will give you guys a chance to…expand your fan base so to speak.”

“We turned down going on tour with Miley for this! We could have gotten so popular so much quicker than going with those jokes.” I said, turning and unzipping the suitcase with anger. It wasn’t like me to say rude things about other people like that, but I was really upset that we weren’t going on the Hannah Montana tour anymore.

“It won’t be that bad.” Kevin said, peeking his head out of the walk in closet as he started putting his piles of clothes on to hangers. “Mom’s right, we just have to give them a chance.”

I sighed, shaking my head. “Whatever, I’m going for a walk.” I said, tucking my phone into my pocket.

“Make sure you’re back at four, because that’s when we’re going over to the Carrington’s!” My mom shouted behind me as I had my hand on the door knob. I paused. Carrington. Why did that sound familiar? Lyric? No, there was no way these fools could have anything to do with her.

“Later,” I said casually, opening the door and closing it behind me.

Lyric’s POV

“Mom, for the hundred millionth time, you look fine!” I said, plopping down on my mom’s bed around 3:45, fifteen minutes before the Jonases were coming over.

“Are you sure dear? I don’t want to made a bad impression…” She said, biting her lip and doing a 180 in front of the mirror, smoothing out any possible wrinkle in her plaid Bermuda shorts and casual blue tank top. It wasn’t too casual, but it fit the occasion well.

“Trust me, you look nice.” I said with a smile. I on the other hand had no idea what to wear, and still had to tear apart my closet in order to find anything that would be acceptable when it came to seeing Joe again. “What are we having for dinner?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Oh, glad you asked!” She said happily. I knew that bringing up food would take my mom’s mind off anything since she loved to cook. “Hamburgers and hotdogs of course, it’s like a standard here in the states when it comes to cookouts…” She said, tapping her chin in thought. “Ribs, fruit salad, regular salad, potato, corn on the cob and I have some really good treats in store for dessert.” She grinned.

“Sounds good,” I replied, double checking the time. “I’m going to go and find something to wear, I’ll meet you guys outside.” I said, hopping off the bed and skipping down the hall way to my room. It took all the time I had left and then some, but I finally settled on something decent to wear.

I had on a pair of white fleece Capri’s that that Sydney written down the side in orange font, a black tank top and my zebra striped bikini on underneath. My long hair was in a casual messy bun and I had small diamond studs in. It wasn’t perfect, but then again, I had no idea what I was doing. I had never had to prepare myself for seeing an incredibly cute guy who might actually like me before.

“Lyric, the Jonases are here!” My mom shouted in as I walked down the hall in my flip flops. I could hear loud talking and laughter and held my breath as I neared the sliding glass door that led out to the patio. I could hear Joe’s voice and I bit my lip as my stomach erupted with butterflies.

“There she is,” My dad said as I walked out onto the patio, trying to be casual. “Denise, Paul and boys, this is my daughter Lyric. Lyric, these are Denise and Paul Jonas and their sons Kevin, Nick, Joe and Frankie.”

Joe’s POV

There was no way. No possible way this was actually happening. Every single negative thought that I had about this tour was gone once I saw Lyric standing there. My jaw just dropped, and all I could manage was a single, “Hey,” That even then sounded like I was choking on something.

I watched her walk over beside her parents, and smiled in spite of myself. She had stumbled slightly just as always, and her face was a rose colored pink with embarrassment. I loved how she got that way so easily, it was cute.

Her parents were still talking, but not a single thing they were saying registered in my mind. I just wanted to be near her again. Hear her voice, look in her eyes…anything. I felt almost obsessed with it, and it kind of weirded me out. In a good way though. For some reason I had a thing for her, and that was undeniable.

After our parents walked away to go inside and help with dinner, I was ecstatic. Lyric was over at the small table and chairs off to the side of the patio talking to Kevin. She was laughing, and Kevin was, as always, talking on and on about anything and everything.

“Hey guys, mind if I cut in?” I asked, scooting into the chair beside her.

“No, go ahead.” She said, casting a slight smile my way before turning back to Kevin’s conversation.

“So anyways, the glass breaks all over the stage right? And we go to make this amazing grand entrance and Joe just falls. Like literally takes a face plant in front of thousands of people.” Kevin said, smiling and shaking his head.

Lyric gasped, but laughed at the same time. “Seriously? Awh Joe!” She said, looking back over at me again. “Were you okay?”

I grinned in return. “Just a little blood. But whatever, rock and roll.”

“Nice.” Nick said, sitting in the chair between Kevin and Joe with a big plate of watermelon in his hands.

“Sweet,” I said, grabbing a piece as he gave me a glare. But it was Nick, so I knew he wouldn’t care too much about me stealing food from him.

Lyric’s POV.

My heart was begging to just rip out of my chest and sprint halfway down to Houston. I could feel it pounding so hard that I was pretty sure everyone around me could hear it too. Being this close to Joe again felt electric, and my stomach erupted with butterflies. I almost felt sick, but I loved every second of it. And now knowing we would be going on tour together…I couldn’t wait.

“So how was your guy’s tour?” I asked casually, crossing my legs Indian style in the comfy chair. I scooted in slightly so I was under the shade of the umbrella and not sun burning my forehead.

“Amazing,” Nick said, his mouth full of watermelon. I laughed.

“We did like, what was it, thirty or so shows?” Joe asked, looking over at Kevin.

“Something around there, but that last one kind of topped them all.” Kevin replied with a laugh, shaking his head and thinking about Joe’s superman dance.

“Dude, you are insane.” Nick said with a roll of his eyes.

“I take it as a compliment.” Joe responded, grinning so that his brown eyes sparkled the way I loved.

“Of course you do.” Kevin chimed in.

“So when are we eating?” Nick asked randomly, pushing his empty plate foreword somewhat.

“Nick, you just ate a whole plate of watermelon…” I said with a laugh.

“So? Can a guy eat?” He asked with a smile and a shrug.

“No Nick, you’re not allowed to eat for the rest of the day.” Kevin joked with an eye roll. “Hey, what’s that sound?”

I strained my ears to listen, and heard what he was talking about. In the distance, a faint musical tune could be made out from all the background noise.

“Ice cream truck!” Joe said immediately, hopping out of his seat. He pulled out his wallet, but saw that it was empty. “Kevin, please tell me you have five dollars.” Joe said urgently.

“Here, go crazy.” Kevin said, tossing Joe a five across the table.

“Yes!” Joe said, pumping his fist. “Come on Lyric!” He said, grabbing my hand and running towards the gate to the fence that led to the front lawn. I laughed and followed him, not excited for the fact that we were getting ice cream, but because his hand was laced thoroughly through mine. Being this happy should be illegal.

- - - - - - - -

.009 - Firsts.

- Lyric’s POV -

There was something about summer nights that I just loved so much that I couldn’t even put it into words. No, I’m not talking about that song from Grease. I’m talking real, genuine fresh air and star filled July nights where you can hear the peepers in your backyard and roast marshmallows until they burn to a crisp. Just something about that environment made me so calm and relaxed that I could sit there and just breathe the air in for hours.

It was just like that tonight, except without the calm and relaxed part since the Jonas family was still here. I loved them, and luckily so did my parents. I mean how could you not? They were kind, polite and not one to judge. I was so happy my parents had gone with them for the tour, and was looking forward to every possible second I was going to have with them and more importantly Joe.

We had all been in the swimming pool for hours and were now huddled around the campfire in our soaking wet clothes and towels. The parents had lounges set up and were all talking and laughing, and the rest of us sat on small benches and lawn chairs beside the dancing orange flames.

My dad had brought out stuff for smores along with hot dogs and some long sticks he’d collected from the backyard. Joe was having a ball setting marshmallows on fire, and then took a bag of unpopped popcorn and tossed it in the fire to only watched the kernels explode all over.

I loved being around the guys. Listening to all of their crazy stories about going on tour, the things fans had done to meet them, the girls that had dumped them…I could just sit there and laugh forever. Frankie was such a sweetheart too, and every time he would go to get a new marshmallow he would grab a hand full and chuck them at us from across the fire. But we finally had to stop once one caught fire and nearly burned Kevin’s eyebrows off. I was basically in tears by that point.

Kevin had brought a guitar along, since they almost always had one in their car wherever they went, and was playing it. I just sat there and watched his fingers move and the chords drift into the night. It reminded me of when I used to play, and I felt somewhat hollow inside. He, Joe and Nick traded it off between them, singing acapella versions of a few of their songs for the small crowd of our families. But when Joe started singing the song I recognized as inseparable, my heart started melting on the spot.

He sang so well, and his brother’s voices blended in so perfectly that it was almost hard to believe that this wasn’t all a dream. He would steal glances at me every now and then between verses and I felt my heart flutter. It was that crazy feeling that I had never had before, but for some reason craved. Whenever I was near him it felt like fireworks were being lit off in my chest.

I could tell I had feelings for Joe, but I didn’t know how to tell if he had them back. After all, I heard from numerous people that he was the flirt of the group. But he was always trying to sit near me, touch me even if it was just taking something from my hand and look at me even when I was having a completely different conversation with someone else. I wanted to think that there was a chance of some kind of feelings being there, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high.

“Hey Lyric, what’s that over there?” He asked. I peered over my shoulder to see that he was pointing at the old swing set that off to the side way in the back of the yard.

“Oh, that’s just some old swing set that was left here when we moved in.” I said with a shrug. “Why?”

“Can we go check it out?” He asked, standing up and dusting off his jeans. He let a single hand outstretch in offer to help me up and follow him.

“Yeah I don’t see why not…” I said curiously, taking his hand and standing up beside him.

We walked in silence across the wet dew covered grass, the rest of the group not noticing us leave since they were so caught up in their conversations. I sat down on the red swing, the delicate wooden frame squeaking slightly under my weight. Joe took the blue one beside me, swaying back and forth slightly.

“I miss having swings,” He said, running his hands down the rusted silver chains. “I remember swinging being my favorite thing in the world. Everyday I would go into my backyard and just swing for hours, feeling on top of the world.” He looked over at me, smiling.

“I never had time to actually enjoy them,” I said, pushing my feet back and forth gently. “We’ve moved so much that whenever we had them I would always be stuck going out there alone, and I never wanted to do that.”

“Life’s been hard for you huh?” He asked, looking at the ground.

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat that came up whenever Harmony crossed my mind. “But what can you do but keep moving on, you know?” I said, kicking a small pebble gently.

“I could never deal with being in that position. Losing one of my brothers…” His voice trailed off. “You’re really brave.” He said, his gaze meeting mine again.

“Music was the one thing that kept Harmony and I’s relationship so strong, but ever since she died…I could never find it in me to sing or play a single note again. It sounds horrible, but I’m just afraid. I come across as a emotionally tough, easy going person but inside…” I sighed. “Inside I’m a mess.” Realizing what I was saying, I blushed slightly. “Look Joe I don’t want to dump all this on you, I mean it’s my problem and all…”

“No, I like to listen.” He said, his eyes burning holes in my chest. “You fascinate me Lyric, you know that?”

I shook my head, smiling against the tears forming in my eyes. “Sorry, I’ve never- It’s just-” I sighed, wiping my eyes quickly. “I’ve never told anyone before…”

“Hey, there’s a first time for everything right? Sometimes it’s good to get feelings like that out there.” He smiled.

I nodded in return. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Like the fact that I really like you.” He said quietly, shifting his gaze from the grassy surface of the ground to my eyes.

“Wh-what?” I said, my throat tightening. I wanted to make sure that I had heard him correctly, and looked back over at him.

“I like you Lyric, a lot.” He said more confidently now. “You’re easy to talk to, nice, everything that I love in a girl.”

“I- I don’t know what to say…” I said, my head spinning.

“If you don’t like me back, that’s cool…We can always just be friends.” He said with a shrug.

“No, no. I like you too Joe. A lot.” I nearly whispered. “I just didn’t know how to tell you.”

He smiled as my cheeks flushed that bright pink again, just like they always did when I got stuck in these kind of situations.

“Really?” He asked hopefully, leaning closer to me.

“Yeah.” I said, picking at the rust on the swing chains as to distract myself from the pounding of my heart.

“You seem nervous,” He said smugly.

I laughed nervously and shrugged, trying to play it off. “Well I haven’t exactly had a guy like me before…”

“Like I said, there’s a first time for everything.” He said, listening closer to me so that I could feel his breath on my face. He smelled like old spice, and the scent filled my senses and made my heart swoon.

I laughed lightly. “I guess there is…” I said, the rest of my words trailing off into the night.

He smiled, his hand on the side of my face. He leaned in hesitantly at first, but then slowly. His lips found mine, and I closed in my eyes to take in the moment. I have never been kissed before, but if this was what it was like, then I never wanted to stop.

- - - - - - - -

.010 - Courage.

“Okay, let’s try this again. Five, six, seven, eight!” Nick said at rehearsals on Thursday morning. It was only July, but we were beginning to rehearse for the tour that was kicking off at the end of August. I had been here for four hours, and was nearly ready to pass out with boredom. Don’t get me wrong, I loved watching the boys perform. But now that the chorus to Just Friends was nailed into my head for eternity, I had just about had enough.

“There she goes again, the girl I’m in love with. It’s cool we’re just friends…” I sang along quietly, tapping my fingers on my knee impatiently. I was sitting on a stool off to the side in front of all the guitars, my body following the beat like second nature. I was itching so bad to just pick up one of the Gibson’s and play along since I had memorized all the chords.

“We walk the halls at school, we know it’s casual. It’s cool we’re just…” Nick continued singing. I looked over at my mom who was chatting up with Denise down in the seats. She was gushing about the boys and their talent, no doubt. I felt bad for the guys though. My parents were a pretty low key and unexciting act. The Hannah Montana tour would have done so much better for them. But I kept my opinions to myself.

“Dad, can we please take a break? I’m dying.” Joe said, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. They did look exhausted, and luckily Mr. J was kind enough to let them chill for awhile.

“Do you guys want to go grab something to eat?” I asked as they walked over to me and picked up their water bottles off the nearby table.

“I’m in,” Kevin said, raising his hand. “Plus I think I saw a Starbucks on the way over here…”

“Kevin….” Joe groaned with an eye roll. “I swear you have like, Starbucks GPA or something.”

“It’s a gift.” He said with a smile. I laughed and shook my head, but neither Nick or Joe thought it was that funny.

“We’ll walk a few buildings down to the Summer House. They have the best ice cream, but there’s food if you want it.” I suggested with a shrug.

“I’ll drive if you want, I don’t really feel like walking.” Joe said, pulling car keys out of his pocket and twirling them around his finger.

“No!” Both Kevin and Nick said as soon as the words “I’ll Drive.” Had left Joe’s mouth.

“I think I’ll take this one,” Kevin said with a smile, taking the keys from Joe’s hand. Joe smiled and rolled his eyes, and the subject was dropped as we walked down the seating aisles on our way out. My parents were about to take the stage to rehearse, and I most definitely didn’t want to be around when that time came.

I pushed open the large, metal doors and the blasting hot sun was a rude awakening to my eyes. I searched my pockets for my sunglasses, but remembered that I had left them backstage. “Ugh,” I said, putting my hand on my forehead to keep from squinting.

“So where are we going?” Kevin asked, slipping his aviators on to shield the sun and to keep from getting recognized.

“It’s just around the corner,” I said as we waited to turn out onto the busy street. Once the light turned red for the oncoming traffic, we quickly turned down onto the long street that the Summer House was on. It was like being in a whole different town, since it was located on one of the lesser streets that weren’t traveled on as much.

“Is that it down there?” Joe asked, pointing at the long building with picnic benches and gazebos on the front lawn.

“No, just ignore the giant sign that says Summer House on it.” Nick replied sarcastically, throwing a grin at his brother. Joe slapped him playfully, rolling his eyes. We pulled into the lot and parked the car under a tree and all hopped out, not bothering to even open the doors since we had take the convertible.

“So what kind of music do your parents play anyways?” Joe asked, putting his hands in his pockets as we walked into the line at the front of the restaurant.

I shrugged. “It’s actually kind of lame.” I said honestly. This made him laugh.

“Oh come on, it can’t be that bad.” He said, looking at me with a smile that made my insides melt.

“It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just not the kind of thing everyone else is listening to you know?” I said, biting my lip. “You guys would have been better off on the Hannah Tour.”

“Maybe, but if I was on the Hannah tour I wouldn’t have you.” He said, his eyes burning holes in me.

“Yeah, and that would be such a shame.” I said with a laugh, trying to play it off.

“I think it would be,” He grinned. “But here’s a thought, what if you played in the show too? It wouldn’t have to be much, but it could get you into playing again….” He suggested as we stepped a foot forward as the line inched closer.

“Oh, no I couldn’t…” I said, shaking my head.

“But you’re the one who told me to get over my fears and go for it!” He said, poking my arm.

“Joe, that was a roller coaster we were talking about. This is something totally different.” I said, laughing.

“Why not?” He whined. “I really want to hear you play.”

“Trust me, it’s nothing special. Plus I haven’t touched a guitar in ages…” I said, biting my lip.

“So, conquer the fear.” He said. “What’s the worst that could happen if you started playing again?”

I took that into consideration. What was it that really kept me back? Nothing I could do with bring Harmony back into my life, and me not playing would make her upset if she knew.

“Maybe you’re right,” I said, cocking my head to the side in thought. “I’ll think about it, but I’m not making any promises.” I smiled at him.

“Hey, that’s good enough for me.” He replied, following Kevin up to the window to order his food. We all ordered our ice cream and sat out on a picnic under the large willow tree towards the far end of the deck. I picked at my chocolate soft serve, my stomach not really to handle anything that was going on.

We hung around the Summer house for an hour before deciding that it was time to go back before Mr. J flipped on us for being late. I hadn’t said much the whole time, but luckily the guys didn’t press the matter. Kevin talked ninety percent of the time anyways, so nobody really had time to intervene.

Once we got back to the theater we were rehearsing, I wandered backstage to find my mom. She was standing in front of the mirrors in one of the dressing rooms, adjusting her hair. “Hey Mom?” I asked, leaning in the open doorway.

“Yeah, hunny?” She asked me, her accent thick as always.

“I was thinking that I might want to play a song on tour this summer. Nothing big, just maybe two or three.” I said, holding my breath.

Her face lit up at my words. “Oh really, that would be so lovely! Lyric!” She said, running over and squeezing me. I felt slightly dizzy by the scent of her perfume and pushed her away slightly.

“I said I was thinking Mom, I’m not making any promises yet.” I said, crossing my arms as a sense of security. I was a really insecure person to begin with, and it was pretty easy to tell.

She smiled anyways. “Well let me know when you want to rehearse, I’ll go tell-”

“No, don’t tell anything to dad yet. I just want to keep this between us okay? I still have yet to pick up a guitar and see how rusty I am.” I said, smiling weakly.

“Okay dear, well I have to go. We still have a few things to do on stage, toodles!” She said, blowing kisses and running out the door in her heels. I rolled my eyes and shut the door behind her. There was a lone guitar sitting on a stand in the corner of the room, Joe’s acoustic. It was beautiful with a glossy wooden frame that stood out among the red and white Gibson electric guitars beside it. I walked over to it, touching the strings hesitantly. They felt hot under my skin, but not painful like I had thought. It was only one string, but it was closer than I had ever been to a guitar in years. Joe was right, just conquer the fear. I inhaled deeply and wrapped my hand around the neck and lifted it into my arms.

- - - - - - - -

.011 - Memories.

-Lyric’s POV -Flashback- Sydney, Australia 2006-

“Lyric turn it down will you? I’m trying to go to sleep!” Harmony said with a low grumble, pulling the covers over her head.

“Sorry,” I muttered, setting my guitar down on the end of my bed and closing the notebook I had open in front of me. Writing songs was no day job, and as soon as I thought of a tune I had to get it down as soon as I could. In this case, it involved waking up at eleven thirty to get it written down.

I finally fell asleep, but was then rudely awakened in what felt like seconds later by Harmony’s obnoxiously loud alarm clock. “Harmony seriously, buy a new alarm clock or at least turn the volume down!” I said, shaking my head groggily as I threw a small pillow at her.

She deflected it and stood up, smiling even though her hair was a mess. “Why don’t you just learn to get up at the same time I do instead of sleeping in until the last second?” She said back, throwing her covers together messily in an excuse to make it look like her bed was made.

“5:30 in the morning? Yeah, no thanks. I’d rather wait until 6:45.” I replied, yawning as she walked out of the room with her clothes and cell phone in hand.

“Suit yourself!” She yelled back, closing the door behind her. I was almost about half asleep until the sound of the noisy shower water came on and Harmony’s voice drifted through the walls. Don’t get me wrong, she had an amazing voice, but I wanted to get every last second of sleep I could.

“Lyric, let’s go!” She said as she bounded back into our room, out of breath as usual. Her hair was in a towel, and she was still applying eyeliner. I sighed and slowly edge out of bed. Harmony was a morning person, and I definitely was not.

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” I yawned, stretching. “Harmony are you still out of breath just from walking down the hallway?” I asked with an eye roll.

“Oh leave me alone, I’m getting old don’t you know.” She joked, giving me a wink. “Have you seen my Kools?” She asked, picking up a few piles off the floor in search of her cigarettes.

“No Harmony, I haven’t seen your cancer sticks.” I said rudely. She knew that I hated her smoking, but she merely brushed off my comment as always.

“Ah, here they are.” She said, tucking them in her purse. “Now hurry up will you! We’re going to be late!”

“Well if you got out of here, maybe I’d have time to change.” I replied, pushing her out the door and closing it behind her. I hurried over to my dresser and pulled out a pair of white denim short shorts and a purple tee shirt with three pairs of sunglasses on the front. I tossed my dirty blonde hair up into a messy pony tail and slipped on my black flips flops.

“Good morning dear,” My mom said as I wandered into the kitchen, my flip flops thwacking across the wood floor.

“Mhmm,” I replied, walking over to the pantry and creaking it open in search of something to eat.

“Oh for goodness sake’s Harmony, put that thing out will you?” My mom said, ripping the cigarette out of her mouth and grinding it out in the small ash tray on the windowsill.

“Mom…” Harmony moaned, coughing slightly. “Ew,” She said, wandering over to the sink and spitting.

“Is that blood?” My mom asked as she was standing right beside her.

“Yeah, but don’t worry. It’s been happening for awhile, so it’s no big. I’m sure it’ll go away.” She replied casually, running her hand through her hair.

I just rolled my eyes and poured my cereal into a bowl and went to grab the milk out of the fridge. I passed the large window that overlooked our backyard and saw the giant sail like structure of the Sydney opera house. I smiled. Waking up to that everyday was always a little uplifting.

“Come on Ly, we’ve got to go. After all, today’s the last day before vacation!” Harmony said with a wide grin, checking her mascara in a small, compact mirror.

“Chill out will you, I’m going as fast as I can.” I said, dumping what was left of my breakfast in the sink and grabbing my pink plaid tote bag. “Bye Mom,” I said with a small wave as I followed Harmony out the front door, closing it behind me.

Harmony was stopped on the front sidewalk, admiring her car like she did every morning. “Beauty, isn’t she?” She asked, looking over at me.

“Mhmm, now come on. You’re the one who was complaining about being late.” I said, walking over to the car and hopping over the side. Our high school ran from grades eight to twelve, so Harmony was lucky enough to drive me to school every morning.

Harmony gave me a look, since she liked it when I used the actual doors instead of jumping the sides. But it was a convertible, and I had to make my signature Dukes Of Hazard move sometime in life, didn’t I? But I guess I could kind of see where she was coming from.

Our record company that was signing Harmony onto her first big cd deal had given her the car as a gift. A bright red Ford Mustang Convertible. It was a pretty flashy car, and the guys would always gawk at it whenever we drove into the parking lot. But it was hard to miss us anyways since Harmony was a life size Barbie doll with a voice like Mariah Carey that echoed throughout the entire city as she sang along to the blasting radio on the way to school.

Her song of choice this morning was Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down by Fall Out Boy. I knew the words myself since it was a pretty popular song at the time, and couldn’t help but sing along. Harmony and I were like the equivalent of Aly & AJ here. The Carrington sisters had voices, and almost everyone knew it. Harmony just liked to flaunt it more than I did.

“Hey!” Harmony said as we passed a group of Rugby players that were tossing a ball around in the parking lot. She honked the horn and waved, laughing like she did around guys.

“You’re too much.” I said once we parked and were out of the car.

“What can I say?” She said, pulling out her lighter. “I’m a crowd pleaser.”

“Mhmm…” I said. “I’ll catch you later,” Giving a quick wave, I headed towards the main entrance of the school.

My day went by pretty slow, since the last day of school before Christmas break anxiety was pounding in the air. It was fifth period, and I had Physical Science. My teacher was as dumb as a post, and half the class was spent tossing wads of paper into a Christmas wreath as a basket and tying the student teacher to a chair. Suddenly there was an announcement on the loud speaker, the usual lunch time news.

“Good afternoon SHS, today is the eleventh of the December in the year two thousand six and here are your daily news bulletins. All players interested in playing football next year…”

“Blah, blah, blah…” I said, tapping my pencil on my desk with incredible boredom. Looking at the clock I saw I still had fifteen minutes until I got to go for my lunch.

“…And would Lyric Carrington please come to the main office for dismissal.” I heard at the end of the announcements.

“Hm,” I said curiously, picking up my bag and walking to the front of the room.

“Bye Lyric, have a nice holiday!” The teacher said with a smile as I walked out of the room. I closed the classroom door behind me, the halls seeming dead quiet unlike the room I had just been in.

I walked slowly down the stairs, going over thoughts and ideas on why I was leaving in my head. Last I checked I wasn’t supposed to be going anywhere, but then again my mom was pretty forgetful. I probably had some kind of dentist appointment or something.

Once I entered the main office, I saw both of my parents. My mom kept her gaze down on the floor, and my dad’s expression was stern. “Hi Mom, Dad…” I said. “What’s up?”

“We’ll talk in the car, now come on.” My Dad said, putting his hand on my back and pushing me gently out the door.

“What about Harmony?” I asked. “Are you dismissing her too?”

“We’ll talk in the car,” My dad repeated slowly as he held open the front door for me and hurried across the parking lot. I nearly had to jog in order to keep up with him.

“Is everything okay?” I said, adjusting my bag on my shoulder.

“Lyric I said we’ll talk in the car!” My dad said harshly, his words causing me to stumble backwards slightly.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, casting my gaze down to the pavement as we continued to walk. I opened the door to my parent’s Volvo and slid into the back seat, buckling my seat belt as quietly as I could. The tension in the air was inevitable, and I had to crack a window to remember what fresh air felt like.

“Lyric, hunny,” My mom said with a sigh, turning to look at me. “There was a bit of an incident with your sister in school today.”

“What happened?” I asked cautiously, looking at my dad and cringing in case he fired back at me again for asking a question.

“Well, the nurse said it was during P.E,” She started, playing with the silver bracelet on her left wrist. It was a pearl bracelet that belonged to my Grandma. “…They were playing some kind of game, and your sister was running around. I guess she started wheezing and coughing again and they had to call for an ambulance.”

“Oh my god,” I said quietly, listening more intently.

“We wanted to get you before we went to the hospital.” She finished, turning back around in her seat and looking out at the road ahead. I nodded and just sat quietly, waiting and thinking for the rest of the ride there.

Once we arrived and parked in the ER section of the hospital, I felt my pulse quicken. I wasn’t a huge fan of hospitals, so I kept near my mom’s side so I wouldn’t have to see anything too gruesome.

“Mr. And Mrs. Carrington?” Asked a doctor in a shockingly white lab coat. He was balding, with wide rimmed glasses. He had an American accent, and was holding a clip board in his hand that he seemed to be reading.

“Yes,” My dad said, putting his arm around my mother’s waist. I shied off the side, not knowing if I wanted to hear what they were talking about. But then again, I wanted to know if my sister was okay.

“You’re daughter, Harmony…” He started, taking off his glasses and sighing. “I’m afraid she has lung cancer. It’s too late in it’s development to do anything to stop it, and radiation wouldn’t be much of a help…”

“Lung cancer?” My mom said, a choking sound coming from her throat.

“Yes.” He said, looking down into my eyes. I looked back, seeing the sadness he had for us. But it was his job to deliver news like this, so I was pretty sure it was fake grief.

“Well then what can we do?” My dad asked, slight panic in his voice.

“There’s nothing you can do…” He said quietly, tucking the clipboard under his arm. “I’m afraid that with the severity of the cancer Harmony has, she only has a few hours to live.”

“A few hours!” My mom said, her eyes widening. “Oh, Bruce!” She cried, her head on my dad’s shoulder. I just stood there, feeling my heart had hit rock bottom.

“Can we go and see her?” My dad asked, rubbing my mom’s back as she cried.

“Yes, this way.” He said, leading us down a fluorescent lighted hall. Once we walked in there I saw Harmony, hooked up to all the wires and IVs. The heartbeat monitor was beeping, but slower than usual. My mom sat down on the bed beside her, touching Harmony’s face as thought she was a piece of glass. Her skin was pale, and her bright blue eyes were losing light.

“Mom?” Harmony said, her voice weak. “Am I dying?”

At that point my mom was in hysterics. “Oh Harmony, I love you so much.”

“I love you too Mom,” Harmony said, closing her eyes slightly. “I love all you guys.” She smiled. Suddenly the heart monitor slowed to a low, ongoing beep. It was 12:28 on December 11^th 2006, and my sister had died.

- - - - - - - -

.012 - Scare.

- Lyric’s POV - present day -

It was Saturday, and I was in a really good mood. Joe was on his way over, and we were planning to hang out for the rest of the day. We weren’t officially ‘an item’ yet, but I had my fingers crossed. I had taken a step further in my quest to start playing again this morning. My guitar was still in it’s case, but it was out of my closet. It sat motionless on the couch in the living room, practically screaming for it to be played.

Usually I would have been scared, not wanting to even look in it’s general direction. But today I was anxious. I just wanted to walk in there and pull it open, feeling the familiar wood texture on my hands again. But I wanted to wait for Joe, since he was bringing his over and was going to show me how to play some of their songs.

“Knock, knock.” I heard someone say through the front screen door. I turned from my position in front of the fridge to see him standing there with a smile on his face.

“Hey!” I said happily, trying not to sound too excited. Just his very presence gave me a heart attack sometimes. “Come on in, “

The screen door creaked open loudly then slammed as he came in, kicking off his bright gold and white Nikes. He dropped his guitar in it’s black and white checkerboard case beside mine of the couch and joined me in the kitchen.

“Hey,” He smiled, grabbing my waist and spinning me towards him to greet me with a kiss. I blushed, as usual - but he just laughed. “So,” He said as he hoisted himself onto he kitchen counter, swinging his legs back and forth. “Today’s the big day?”

“Oh totally,” I said with a grin, tossing him an orange Gatorade. He smiled and caught it, twisting the cap off and taking a long drink of it. “I’m actually pretty excited.” I said, closing the refrigerator door with a bottle of water in my hand.

“Me too, I’m dying to hear you play.” He said.

“Trust me,” I laughed. “It’s nothing special.”

“Well to me it is.” He replied simply. I just rolled my eyes.

“Want to just go now? I’m really anxious.” I said, setting my water bottle down on the counter. He nodded, hopping down and following me back into the living room. He unzipped his guitar and sat down on the chair diagonal from me. I just sat beside my guitar case, biting my lip.

“Here goes nothing,” I said, clicking it open. It opened stiffly, since it hadn’t been used in years. I smiled as I saw it laying there, looking just the same as I had left it.

“Wow,” Joe said, looking down at it. “Nice guitar!”

I nodded, smiling as I picked it up. “It was a present for my thirteenth birthday.” I said, touching the long chords diligently. I plucked a few strings and grinned again, happy it was in tune.

Almost like second nature, I started playing. When I had first learned, my dad always had me warm up with one of he and my mom’s old songs. It came easy to me, and I didn’t even have to think about what I was doing. Joe just sat and watched my fingers move, and I hummed the words along. But after a few minutes, I started to sing.

“With stars as bright as the northern lights, every smile of yours fills my night. All I dream is your love, and all I feel is your heart. Forever means more to me than you’ll ever see - forever means you and me.” I sang lightly, not even thinking of the words.

“What song is that?” Joe inquired as I played the bridge again.

“My dad wrote it for my mom for their wedding - it’s called Northern Lights.” I said, looking over at him.

“It’s really good,” He said, picking up his guitar and trying to match up the chords. He watched my hands diligently, slowly catching on. “Like this?” He said, studying me as he played along. I nodded, smiling. “And how does it go?”

I sang it for him again, and within a few minutes he had the chorus down and most of the bridge. “I really like that song, and you have an amazing voice.” He said.

I blushed. “Thanks,” I said, biting my lip. “I’m a little rusty but…”

“No, not at all.” He said, setting his guitar down.

“Now it’s your turn.” I said, smiling at him.

We spent the next hour going back and forth trying to lean each others songs, and I had successfully learned please be mine and hello beautiful. We got off topic of course, spending fifteen minutes debating on what the best episode of Barney was since we both had an obsession with it when we were little.

“But I’m telling you,” Joe said with a laugh as we walked out onto the front porch. “That one episode with the school bus - golden.” He laughed. I shook my head and rolled my eyes.

“Whatever you say,” I smiled. “So who’s coming to pick you up?” I asked, glancing down the street.

“Kevin should be here any minute,” Joe said, glancing at his watch and slipping the guitar off his back. “But uh Lyric, there was kind of something I wanted to talk to you about…” He said a bit bashfully. I smiled.

“Sure, what’s up?” I said, sitting down on the steps and throwing my hair up into a ponytail. “Oh, here comes Kevin.” I pointed to the top of the street as Kevin was turning down, about to pass through the intersection.

He sighed. “I suppose I’ll just come right out and say it-” He started to say, but he was interrupted by a loud crash. We bother diverted our attention from each other to the direction the sound had came from. Kevin had just passed through the busy intersection that led onto my street, and his car was now upside in the middle of the street.

“Kevin!” Joe said, jumping up. I stood up too, my heart racing.

“Oh my god,” I managed to choke out.

The traffic had stopped, as Kevin’s car was taking up both lanes. Joe and I both took off to the top of my street towards the intersection as fast as we could. I felt like my legs couldn’t carry me fast enough, and the car seemed miles away. Once we were there, we saw broken glass everywhere. The car that had hit Kevin was totaled off to the opposite side, and the whole street was silent.

“Call 911!” Someone yelled. I ripped my phone out of my pocket in a daze, fumbling with the numbers.

“Kevin…” Joe said, his hand over his mouth in shock. He edged towards the car slightly, nervous about what he saw if he got too close.

“Yes, we have a car accident on...on...” I said nervously, my mind blanking on the street names. “Catlin way and Plantation lane.” I said, my hands shaking. “Okay, thank you.” I said, closing my phone and tucking it into my pocket.

“Joe…” I said, hurrying to his side and burying my head in his shoulder as he held me close. “I’m so scared, I don’t know what to do.” I said, crying and shaking. I had seen Kevin’s car get hit, the tires screeching, the glass breaking - it was all so terrifying. I had already lost my sister, and I couldn’t stand to lose someone else.

“It’s okay,” Joe said shakily, his head resting on the top of mine as he held me close. “Kevin, please be okay…” He said quietly as the people around us looked on to the accident and the sirens in the distance slowly became louder.

- - - - - - - -

.013 - Worry.

For the next two days I was left in complete and utter darkness about how Kevin was doing. My mind kept replaying the firemen pulling him out of the car and Joe running over to see if he was okay. There were cuts all over his skin and he was burned and could barely stand, but he had still smiled. I wished I could have been at the hospital with Joe and his family, but reality hit me like a train and I was sent back to work the next day.

I felt completely out of it, and kept seeing that other car smash into Kevin over and over again whenever I closed my eyes. Those were the kind of things that you couldn’t forget about. Slowly I made my way across the park early Sunday morning towards my ride station.

“Hey Lyric!” Came Mel’s chipper voice. I blinked in confusion, but then remembered that I was mentoring her for the next few weeks.

“Oh, hey Mel.” I said with a small smile that hurt my face from the permanent sad expression that had taken over for the past twenty four hours.

“You look horrible.” She said, putting her hand on my shoulder as I made my way into the operators booth.

“Gee, thanks.” I said sarcastically, pulling the elastic out of my hair and running my hands through it. There was still a good amount of tangles in it from sleeping the night before.

“Sorry, I just…is everything alright? You don’t seem like yourself…” She said, flipping a few switches and giving Captain Feathersword’s Rockin’ Pirate Ship it’s usual morning test run.

“No,” I said simply, hoisting myself onto one of the cold metal stools.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked, tucking a strand of her light blonde hair behind her ear.

“Obviously not,” I said a little harshly, but she got the point and questioned me no further.

The hours ticked by slowly with ride after ride of little kids laughing away and teenagers hopping on the toddler ride screaming bloody murder. I was getting sick of it and really just wanted to go home. I kept spacing out, thinking about Kevin - but also of something else.

Right as I saw Kevin’s car get hit, Joe had been talking to me. I didn’t remember exactly how it had went - but he said he wanted to ask me something or say something important. I wished I had known what it was, and that I wasn’t interrupted by the accident. But it was too late now, and I was pretty sure Joe had forgotten about it. I tried to push the thought to the back of my mind and focus on what I was doing for a change.

“Lyric…” Mel said, putting her hand on top of mine that had been resting on the start button on the ride. “You’ve been running this thing for three minutes straight - it’s kind of time to stop.” She said, pushing down on one of the levers so the ride started to slow.

“Oh, sorry.” I said, shaking myself out of my daydreams.

“You’re really out of it, aren’t you?” She said, looking at me with concern.

“It’s nothing, really.” I said, waving away her comment.

“Whatever you say…” She mumbled, walking out and closing the gates for the next ride. I was watching the line file in and my eyes caught a familiar head of curly hair among the crowd.

“Nick?” I said to myself. “Mel,” I turned, looking over at her. She glanced up and looked at me. “You got this? I’ll be right back…”

“Yeah, no problem.” She said, hurrying up to the operators booth just as I stepped out. I walked down the ramp and through the gates, wandering into the oncoming crowd. I pushed past a few people, and finally came close enough to talk to him.

“Nick, what’re you doing here?” I asked, pulling him off to the side so we weren’t blocking oncoming crowd traffic.

“Well I was looking for you…” He said, adjusting his red framed sunglasses.

“How’s Kevin doing?” I asked absent mindedly since I had been dying to know all morning.

“He’s okay, he fractured a rib and has a minor concussion but he’ll be alright. He just needs to hang in the hospital for a few days.”

I heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank god,”

“Mmm.” Nick said. “The doctor’s said he was lucky and that it could have been a lot worse. But that’s not the reason I’m here…”

I stared at him with confusion, my head tilted to the side as I waited for him to finish. “What’s up?” I asked.

“Joe’s looking for you. He’s in the parking lot waiting in the car.” Nick said, shaking the hair out of his eyes. I raised an eyebrow.

“Why did he send you in?” I asked.

“Not sure, I guess he just didn’t want to come in the park or something. He’s been acting kind of weird lately - not himself.”

“Oh.” I said, biting my lip. “Well my shift isn’t over for a few more hours, so can you tell him he can stop at my house around seven if he needs to?”

“Yeah sure,” Nick said. “I’ll see you later, Lyric.” He waved quickly before ducking away into the crowd once more. I nodded and wandered back to my ride booth with Mel, still thinking over everything Nick had just said. It all seemed so confusing on why Joe would just show up at the park with Nick and send him to talk to me without coming in himself. Nick was right, that wasn’t like Joe. I glanced at my watch and sighed. It was going to be a long day.

“Who was the curly haired kid?” Mel asked as she started the ride for the millionth time that day.

“Just a friend,” I said casually.

“He was cute.” She smiled. “Looked a lot like Nick Jonas. I’m a huge Jonas Brothers fan you know.” Mel grinned. I just nodded. Maybe when I was in a bit of a better mood I would tell her that the kid she had seen was the real Nick Jonas. But not today.

It seemed like it was endless, but my shift for the day finally ended. I hurried across the parking lot as fast as my plaid converse would allow and found my mom among the swarm of people all trying to leave at once. Looking at the clock I saw that it was six, so I had an hour until Joe stopped by. Or if he did. Deep down I hoped he would since I was dying to know what was going on.

“What’s the rush?” My mom asked as I slammed the car door and hurried in the house.

“Joe’s coming over later … I think.” I said as I nearly danced around on the front step, waiting for her to unlock the front door.

“I heard his brother was in a terrible car wreck the other day, is he alright?” She asked, digging through her purse for her keys.

“Yeah, he’s going to be fine. Fractured a rib and some other minor stuff.” I said as we finally made our way into the house. I hurried down the hall towards my room and walked in, greeted by the usual clutter of clothes covering my floor.

I picked through my closet, trying to find something decent to wear. It was nearly a hundred degrees out and really humid, so I went with a pair of denim shorts and a Hollister tank top. My hair was still a disaster so I threw it up into a messy bun after my shower. I redid my makeup, sprayed on some perfume and took a deep breath seeing that it was 6:50, and I had ten minutes to spare.

But I still wasn’t entirely sure Joe was even showing up. I sat down on my bed and tapped my foot nervously, watching as time passed me by. I picked up my guitar and played around with it, trying to remember the songs Joe had taught me the day before.

It was now 7:05, and still no sign of Joe. I shrugged it off, assuming that if he was going to come, he was just running a little late. I texted him asking him if he was coming or not, but got no response. 7:30 came and went, then 8:00 and there was no sign of him. I sighed sadly, giving up. I didn’t know what was going on with him, but he was acting strange. I stood up and went back into my room, flopping on my bed and turning the tv on. Something wasn’t right with Joe, and I wished I knew what.

- - - - - - - -

.014 - Truth.

“I just don’t get what everyone’s issue is these days…” I said to Mel as we walked out of Six Flags late one Monday night after a long day of work. “My boyfriend’s not speaking to me, my parent’s are acting all upset almost all the time and I feel like I’m the only one who’s being left in the dark about all of this.” I said, knowing that I was being annoying complaining about all of this.

“I don’t know Ly,” Mel said, pushing through the turnstile of the exit gates as we entered the parking lot. “I’ll talk to you later, there’s my brother.” She said, giving me a quick wave and a smile. I smiled back weakly in return and found my mom’s silver SUV among the crowd of cars.

“Hi Mom.” I said with a smile, hoping her mood was altered as I entered the car. I plopped down on the cool leather seat, the air conditioning feeling good on my face after being out in the sun all day.

“Hi dear,” She responded dryly as we pulled out of the parking lot. I rolled my eyes. I had just about had enough with her attitude and wanted to find out what was going on.

“Mom, what’s your deal lately?” I asked. “You and dad are acting like somebody died…”

She winced slightly at my words, and I immediately took them back. “Sorry, it’s just, you know what I mean...no tour rehearsals, no practicing any new songs- nothing. What’s going on?” I asked again.

“Why don’t you go and ask that boyfriend of yours?” She responded, somewhat bitterly. I raised an eyebrow at her response. This didn’t sound like my mom at all.

“Is this about Joe?” I asked. “Because last time I checked you loved him, his family and his music. I don’t get it.”

“It’s not just Joe, sweetie.” She sighed. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“So are you saying that Joe knows?”

“Yes, he does. Like I said, I don’t want to talk about it. So if you want to know, go ask him.” She said, making it clear that the discussion was over.

“Well then can you drop me off at his house on the way home?” I asked, determined to find out what was going on around here. She gave me a sideways look, showing that she didn’t want to, but she nodded crisply. “Thank you,” I said, sliding down in my seat somewhat and crossing my arms.

The rest of the ride was awkwardly silent. Thoughts were buzzing through my head on why nobody wanted to tell me anything that was going on. Was it Kevin still being in the hospital? No, my parents wouldn’t act the way the did over something like that. It had to be something with the tour, I mean they hadn’t been doing anything for about a week since Kevin’s accident. It didn’t really make any sense.

We finally pulled into the Jonases driveway and I felt my nerves escalate a bit. I hopped out of the car, my mom taking off as soon as my feet hit the pavement. I turned to at least wave but she was already off. Seriously, she had some kind of problem. Because this was getting a little ridiculous. I took a deep breath and slowly made my way up the driveway.

I did my best to make myself look somewhat decent, in my white shorts and Hollister flower print tank top. My hair was straightened, but a little frizzed from the humidity. I ran my hand through it, trying to comb out any knots I could before I got to the door.

“Oh, Hello Lyric. What a lovely surprise.” Mrs. Jonas said when she came to the door when I knocked. “Come on in.”

“Thanks,” I smiled, stepping in and closing the door behind me.

“Joseph’s upstairs,” She said, reading my mind. I nodded and kicked off my shoes, quietly walking up the staircase. I followed the sound of loud 80’s music down the hall to his room, where the door was creaked open slightly so that only a small beam of light cast out into the dark hallway. I took my time going down the hallway, passing Nick’s room where he and Kevin were glued to the tv screen and playing Project Gotham Racing on the Xbox.

I smiled seeing Kevin in there. He still had a few bandages on his left arm and a scratch down the side of his face, but he looked a lot better. I made a mental note to go in and see him later. If Joe had been speaking to me, I would have known that Kevin was out of the hospital already. I frowned slightly.

Once I reached Joe’s door, I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. “Come in,” I heard him say over the music, as it was suddenly turned down. I pushed the door open, but didn’t walk in. Instead I leaned in the doorway, waiting for him to turn around.

“Hey,” I said gently. He turned around, a surprised look on his face.

“Oh, Lyric um...Hey.” He said, running his hand through his hair.

“What’s up?” I asked casually, walking in and sitting down on his bed.

“Nothing really,” He lied, walking over to the stereo at the opposite end of the room and unplugging his iphone from the speakers so that the music suddenly stopped. I sighed.

“Joe, what’s going on?” I asked, crossing my legs and looking at him. “Ever since Saturday you’ve been acting really weird, same with my parents. Kevin’s back and fine, but something else is definitely up.”

He sighed, walking over and closing his door. “Your parents know about it…?” He asked, creaking it shut slowly.

“Obviously, whatever this ‘it’ is…” I said, crossing my arms. “Joe please just tell me, I hate being left in the dark like this.”

He sighed and walked over to sit on the floor in front of his bed. “I guess it could be considered my fault, all of this. But I’ll tell you what happened…” He said, looking up at me with his gorgeous brown eyes. It made my heart flip slightly, but then I remembered that I was kind of mad at him. “You know how Saturday I came over and we played guitar for awhile, just messing around with songs and stuff?”

“Yeah,” I said, listening intently and wondering where he was going with this.

“Well, while we were doing that your parents had their record producer over. They were down in the basement working on some stuff and he overheard us.” He said, picking at the carpet.

“So?” I asked, waiting for him to continue. He took a deep breath.

“So…” He started. “He thinks your really good, and your music would go better with the audience they’re trying to reach. He wants to kick your parents off the tour and put you in as the headlining act.”

“What?” I shouted, feeling completely stunned. “Whoa, pause and rewind. They want to take this away from my parents and give me the entire tour based on what they heard when I was just messing around in the living room?”

He nodded.

“Oh my god.” I said, leaning against the wall and running my hand through my hair. I felt completely shocked. “They can’t do that, can they? I mean it’s my mom and dad’s dream to do this tour. Can this guy really just take it all away from them?”

“I guess so,” He sighed. “He said that if you don’t accept the deal then they’re going to cancel the whole tour all together.”

“But - what about you guys?” I asked softly.

“We’re still on as long as you are, but if you bail then we’re signing on to the Hannah Montana tour.” He replied with a shrug.

“Joe I- I can’t just take this whole thing away from my parents like this! It was their dream, Harmony’s dream! I feel horrible!” I said, putting my head in my hands.

He stood up and sat down beside me, his hand around my shoulder. “I know Ly, me too. If I hadn’t come over that day none of this would have happened.”

“Joe, it’s not your fault at all. It was just bad timing. I mean - there’s nothing we can do…” I said, feeling my eyes water slightly. I brushed the tears away quickly, not feeling like this was something to cry over. But it really was. My parents worked so hard to get to where they were now, and in the blink of an eye it was taken from them. “What should I do?” I asked, suddenly feeling like the entire world was on my shoulders.

“I don’t know Ly, the choice is yours. But I’ll be with you every step of the way.” He said softly.

“How come you wouldn’t talk to me these past few days?” I asked.

“Because I thought you had already known and would blame me for it. That’s why I sent Nick into six flags the other day. I chickened out. I was going to come over later but I couldn’t find it in me to forgive myself for taking this all away from your parents.”

“Joe, seriously. Don’t worry about it. It’s my fault more than ever that I wanted to pick up that dumb guitar again.” I said, shaking my head. “So do we have some sort of deadline that I had to tell this guy before he cancels everything? “I asked finally.

“Yeah,” Joe sighed. “You have a week.”

I swallowed, feeling like there were rocks in my chest. I closed my eyes tightly, hoping that this would all be some insane nightmare once I opened them again - but it wasn’t. It was all real. Joe’s touch was comforting, but it couldn’t help remove the sharp pains in my heart.

- - - - - - - -

.015 - Choices.

I sat in my room, shaking my magic eight ball until the blue bubbly water was clouding the small plastic window. “Come on…” I muttered, closing my eyes and exhaling as I shook it again. “Should I do the tour, yes or no?” I asked it again. If your wondering, yes. This is what it had come to. I couldn’t decide what to do about the whole tour thing. My parents told me to do whatever I wanted, whatever I thought was best for me and all that other ‘inspirational’ parenting magazine crap. But deep down I knew that they wanted me to say no. They didn’t want to be outshined by me.

For the record, I thought they were being pretty selfish. I mean if they couldn’t make it, why couldn’t they accept what was happening with me and encourage me or something? My mother used to beg and plead me to play guitar again after Harmony died. And what happens when I do? She gets all upset about it.

I sighed and threw the magic eight ball across the room, watching as it thudded across the pale pink carpet and landed with the words ‘You know it!’ staring up at me. I rolled my eyes and fell backwards onto my bed, pulling a pillow over my face. A few minutes later there was a soft knock on my door. “No.” I replied stiffly through the muffled feathers that covered my mouth. But I could hear the door creak open anyways.

Pulling the pillow down off my face I saw my mom walking in. She sat down on the edge of my bed and looked at me, her expression blank. “Have you decided?” She asked quietly.

“No.” I said again, sitting myself up so I was leaning against the headboard with my arms crossed and a flat expression on my face.

“Sweetie, the deadline is tomorrow.” She said.

“Mom, trust me. I know.” I said. “I’m sorry that I can’ decide on what to do because whatever I chose is going to make you upset in some way or another.”

“What are you talking about?” She asked, looking at me with a confused expression.

“Like you don’t know.” I replied rather harshly.

“No, I don’t.” She said, firing back with the same tone. My mom and I tended to argue like sisters sometimes and it never usually ended well.

“If I chose to do the tour - it will make you and dad upset because I’m taking it from you. If I don’t do it, you and dad will be upset because I let such a great opportunity go.” I said simply.

She didn’t say anything at first, thinking my words over as she stared at the floor. “Lyric-” She sighed, after a long moment of awkward silence. “I want you to do the tour, believe me. I just don’t want to lose you like I did your sister.”

“Mom, how would you lose me?” I asked incredulously, not understanding where in the world she was coming from. “I don’t smoke like Harmony did, I don’t drink or do drugs - I keep to myself. I don’t hand around with any kids that could be a bad influence…as far as I can see, nothing can possibly go wrong here.”

She looked at me, nodding slightly. “You're right,” She sighed. “I’m just … being a mom. But you do whatever you want to do sweetie. James will be by here to find out what your answer is tomorrow afternoon so make sure you think long and hard about it.” She stood up, walking over to the door. “I love you Lyric.” She replied before walking out the door, not giving me enough time to respond.

I sank back down onto my bed and stared at my ceiling, counting the small glow in the dark star stickers that had been left there from the family before us. I was on number seventy four before I slowly sank into a deep sleep.

In my dream I was on stage in front of a crowd. It was all the kids that I recognized from Sydney High back when Harmony and I had been there. They all stood like statues, bored expressions on their faces. I was all by myself, guitar in hand. The microphone stood in front of me and the lights burned down onto my skin. “Play something!” One of the kids shouted.

I gulped, wrapping my hand around the guitars chords and started plucking the strings. But the notes were coming out all wrong. They sounded horrible and out of place. I opened up my mouth to sing, but my voice sounded awful. They started booing me and throwing plastic cups full of soda, glow sticks, shoes - anything they had at me. I looked over to the side of the stage and saw Joe standing there, his arms crossed and a stern expression on his face. “Joe,” I said helplessly as I dodged the things flying at me.

“I thought you could play, but I guess not. Way to make us look bad.” He said, shaking his head and walking away.

“No, Joe wait!” I shouted after him. Looking down I saw the approaching crowd start to walk up the sides of the stage. “No, please! I can play, just give me another chance!” I said, walking backwards until I was cornered.

“We want our money back!” Another one of them shouted.

“Kill her now! The Carrington’s don’t need another daughter to taint their music history like this!”

My eyes widened as I sank down into a small ball as they came closer towards me. “Now we can have the tour all to ourselves.” I heard my mom’s voice say, followed by a vicious laughter.

When I woke up I was screaming, hot tears and sweat pouring down my face. I was breathing heavy, and was thankful for the small fan that was blowing cold air onto my face. “Just a dream,” I said to myself over and over again. I was shaking and pulled my covers closer to me for security. I know that everything I had seen would never happen - since my mom had told me how she really felt. But I still couldn’t help but second guess myself.

I looked over at the clock on my nightstand and saw that it was nearly three in the morning. I only had a few hours left to make my decision. Reaching over, I found my cell phone lying on the counter. I dialed the numbers shakily, my head still reeling. “Hi, Joe? It’s Lyric…I just kind of need someone to talk to.”

- Later that day -

“Don’t be so nervous!” Joe said as he came up behind me, rubbing my shoulders reassuringly. We were all sitting out on the patio out back underneath the umbrella - waiting for James, the rep from Hollywood records, to come over. “I know you’ve made the right decision…” He whispered into my ear with a smile. I nodded and swallowed the lump in my throat and he just laughed. “Here, move over.” He said.

I stood up and he slid into the chair, pulling me down onto his lap and wrapped his arms around my neck and pulled me close for support. “Better?” He asked, as he could nearly feel me shaking.

I sighed. “A little.” I said nervously, biting my lip.

“Relax, Ly!” Kevin said with a smile from across the table where he was playing go fish with Nick.

“Gimme a break, will you?” I said with a smile. “I just exactly have never had to decide whether or not I’d like to become some kind of international superstar before.”

“What did you chose?” Nick asked. “Do you have any sevens, Kev?”

“Go fish.” Kevin replied with a smile, and Nick just sighed and reached into the deck.

“She’s not telling.” Joe answered as soon as I had opened my mouth.

“Uh, yeah. I guess I’m not telling. Well until the guy gets here anyways.”

“His name is James, Lyric.” My dad said, throwing me a bit of a ‘dad’ look when he saw me sitting on Joe’s lap when he came over to put the plate of hamburgers and hotdogs on the table in front of us.

I nodded, too shaky to even touch anything. The boys, of course, dove right in.

“Have any twos?” Kevin asked Nick, searching his hand of cards.

“Nah, go fish.”

“I wonder why it’s go fish and not like…go dolphin.” Joe asked.

“You don’t exactly fish for dolphins.” Nick replied dully.

“Some people do.” Kevin chimed in.

“Yeah maybe albino people who live in remote areas of Antarctica who are starving to death and living off snowballs.” Nick said.

“Alright, Mr. President.” Joe said with an eye roll and a smile.

“Knock, knock!” Came an unfamiliar voice through the sliding glass door. I looked over to see a man with spiky blonde hair, ripped jeans and an old rock concert tee shirt on walk onto the deck. He looked like Protozoa from that Zenon Disney movie.

“Hey James! Good to see you!” My dad said, walking over and shaking his hand eagerly.

“Likewise, mate.” He said. He had an accent just like my family did. That made me feel a little better, but not much. “So where is my superstar? Or should I say - soon to be superstar?”

Joe pushed me gently, urging me to get up and go over to him. I took a deep breath and stood up, walking over. “Hey,” I said with a small smile.

“Ah, there she is! Lyric Carrington!” He said, taking my hand and having me to a small spin for him. “Beautiful girl, simply beautiful.” He grinned.

I looked at my reflection just to do a double take. I had just recently gotten my braces off, and was wearing a pair of dark destroyed denim jeans, a light blue Lacoste polo, matching flip flops and my newly highlighted hair was in a high ponytail. Maybe I did look okay.

“So let’s cut to the chase darling…” He said, joining Nick, Kevin, Joe and my mom at the long table on the deck. “Deal or no deal?”

I took a deep breath and looked over at Joe, who smiled and nodded encouragingly. I looked over at my parents who waited anxiously to hear my decision and then over at James, who just sat there with his expression expecting. “I-” I started to say, exhaling. “I’m going to do the tour.”

- - - - - - - -

.016 - Breathe.

“Wonderful love, just what I wanted to hear!” James exclaimed, hopping out of his seat. My parents, Nick and Kevin were all stunned - and Joe was just sitting there laughing at their expressions since he had known my answer when I told him the night before.

“Wow, Lyric. What made you decide to go with it?” My dad asked, blinking his eyes as the words registered in his head. It was obvious he was expecting me to say no.

“I figured it was time for a change, you know?” I said with a shrug and a small smile. “Get out there and actually do something notable.”

“Good for you sweetie.” My mom said, managing a smile on her shocked expression as well. “Well, uh James - where do we go from here?” She asked, looking over at him.

“Well-” He said in between bites of his hamburger. “We’ll have some papers to sign since she’s a minor showing that you give her permission to be on tour and all that.” He said with a wave of his hand. “And then we’ll get her some songs written, in the studio for a single, a music video then kick things off with the tour this fall. It’ll be flawless.”

My eyes widened. Music videos, tours…this really was it. No more dreaming about being on TV or singing in front of thousands of people…it was real. Someone kick me.

“-And of course Disney Channel will want to sign her.” James piped in while my mind wandered.

“Disney?” I gasped. Any artist that had signed onto Disney had become huge, the Jonas Brothers included. My thoughts flickered to Miley Cyrus. I smiled mischievously, kicking her out of the hot seat would be the best thing that could ever happen to well - society will thank me later.

“Yes indeed, love.” James smiled, standing up and pulling his car keys out of his pocket. “I’m going to run to the car to go and grab those papers, be back in a jiffy.” He said as he hurried down the steps of the deck, past the pool and out the gate to the driveway.

“Wow, Ly. Now we’ll be like, seeing each other all the time!” Nick said. “On tour and everything, it’s gonna be insane.” He shook his head, smiling.

I nodded, not able to get words out of my mouth. I stood there, just thinking over and over everything James had said. I was just beckoning for someone to slap me across the face so I would wake up. James was back just as quickly as he had left, a briefcase in hand.

“How soon would we be releasing a single?” My mom asked, sitting shakily back down at the table as James started laying all the documents out in front of her.

“Well if we get her in the studio this weekend, I’m sure we can have the single released in about two weeks and a video in about a month.” He said, tapping his pen on his chin as he scanned some of the forms.

I sunk back in my chair, feeling uneasy on my feet. This was going to be nonstop. As soon as my parents signed those papers, my life was going to be signed away. But for some reason, I didn’t care. I wouldn’t have to work at six flags anymore, I would get to go to awards shows, concerts, movie premieres…well if I made it big enough that is.

Joe’s hands on my shoulders interrupted my daydreams. “Excited?” He asked.

“You have no idea.” I said shakily. He laughed.

“It’s going to be a blast, trust me.” He smiled. I nodded in agreement, glad to know that he wasn’t planning on going anywhere soon.

- the next day -

I walked into six flags on a cool and cloudy morning, my bright yellow work polo in hand. My mom had called in the night before explaining the situation, and they agreed to let me go earlier than my contract permitted.

“Hey, Lyric!” I heard Mel’s voice from behind me. She hurried over, falling instep beside me. “What’re you doing?” She asked, looking down at my shirt.

“Oh well-” I stuttered, trying to figure out how to put this so it sounded somewhat believable. ‘Hey Mel I’m ditching you to go on tour with the Jonas Brothers and become a Disney channel phenomenon’ wouldn’t exactly fly too well. I took a deep breath.

“Well my parents, you know how they had this tour thing they were going to do this fall right?” I asked, knowing I had poured all my problems out to here on our countless hours spent together working. She nodded, looking at me suspiciously.

“It’s not supposed to start until the fall though.” She stated.

“Well yeah-” I said, biting my lip. “But some things got changed around and well, now it’s my show. Like, I’ll be performing and stuff.”

Her eyes widened in disbelief. “You can’t be serious.” She said, raising an eyebrow. I gulped and laughed nervously.

“Well I am. My parents manager changed his mind and I’m in the studio and making a music video for Disney Channel this weekend.” I said.

“Disney? Music videos?” She sighed. “Uhm, wow.”

“Tell me about it.” I said with a shrug. “Look Mel, I’m sorry. If I didn’t have to leave so soon I would stay-”

“No, it’s alright.” She said, shaking her head. “Go and become a huge star, whatever.” She said with a wave of her hand, walking away. I sighed, my shoulders sinking. I wasn’t expecting her to be supportive anyway. I wandered over to the guest relations booth, handed in my shirt and collected my pay for that week. My mom had run off to the grocery store for a few things, expecting me to take longer than I had told her.

Looking at my cell phone, I had forty five minutes until she got back. I sat down on a bench, tapping my foot with impatience. The park was slowly starting to flood with families coming in for the day, and I felt lonely. I curled my knees to my chest and watched them walk by.

Would this be what it would be like a year from now? Would I be carelessly passed by, nobody taking a second glance. Or would I be running from them all as they begged for pictures and autographs? I hoped for the latter. To feel loved by thousands like that - it had to be the best feeling in the world. My phone vibrating in my pocket scared me, and when I pulled it out I saw my mom’s number flashing on the screen.

“Hey Mom,” I said.

“Hey sweetie change of plans,” She said. I rolled my eyes, here it comes…

“Lay it on me…” I said boredly.

“Well James wants to get a single out sooner, so he wants you in studio right now.” She said.

“Right now?” I said in disbelief.

“Mhmm, I’m in the parking lot now so hurry up.” She said, hanging up. I stood there, phone in hand. I didn’t even know what I was going to be singing or anything, but whatever. It was now or never right? I hurried across the park as fast as my flip flops would allow without blowing out on me and made my way down the stairs out of the park.

I saw my mom’s silver SUV and hurried towards it, blasted by a wave of air conditioning as I opened the door. She didn’t say anything but just backed out and made her way out onto the busy main road. That’s What you get by Paramore was playing on the radio and I turned it up slightly, propping my feet up on the dashboard.

“So uh - do you know what song I’ll be singing or any of that stuff?” I asked, breaking the silence.

“What? Oh, yeah. It’s in the green folder on the back seat.” She said, flipping on the blinker and waiting to turn onto the highway.

I looked over my shoulder and reached for it, opening to see a few papers inside. Music video ideas, contracts, wardrobe plans and at last the song lyrics. I studied it carefully, reading over the words. It was called ‘Fine Print’ and was about a girl who always laid her heart on the line for boys to break without reading the rules of handling it. The lyrics were pretty catchy, and the more I read it the more I liked it. It was kind of Aly and AJ meets Flyleaf. Extreme, I know. But it was different.

I started humming it, trying to get it down in my head. After looking at the song I looked at some of the music video ideas. Carnival, beach, arcade, library…all kinds of different settings and scenarios.

“What do you think?” My mom asked as we pulled into the recording studios parking lot.

“It’s pretty good, actually.” I said with a smile, sliding all the papers back into the folder and undoing my seatbelt as we got out of the car.

“I think it’s cute,” She said. “In a non-mom sort of way, of course.” She added when she saw my expression. I rolled my eyes and followed her to the door.

“Hey, that’s Kevin’s car.” I said, noticing the black Jeep Commander sitting a few cars over. Kevin very rarely drove it, but I recognized the license plate since it read K2. “I wonder what they’re doing here.” I said, wiping my shoes off on the carpet once we were inside.

My mom shrugged and walked quickly across the lobby towards the elevators. I nearly had to run to catch up with her. Once we made it up to the ninth floor, we entered a giant room full of white couches and furniture. The farthest wall to the left was covered with floor to ceiling windows that revealed the cloudy and rainy city. “Wow.” I said quietly.

“Hey!” I heard a familiar voice from across the room. I turned to see Joe waving at me from the entertainment system where he and his brothers were playing Halo on the giant flat screen tv. I smiled.

He hopped out of his seat and walked over. “What’re you guys doing here?” He asked, as my mom had already walked away looking for James.

“Starting on the single today.” I said with a shrug.

“Oh so that’s who we’re playing for today…” He said, slapping his forehead and laughing. “I should’ve known.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, cocking my head to the side as I looked at him.

“Change of plans, James told me to tell you.” He said, his smile growing. “Fine Print will be your first single, but the music video song is going to be a duet with us as a sort of tour promotion kind of thing.”

“Shut up!” I said, my expression glowing. “Seriously?”

“I wouldn’t lie.” He grinned.

“Joe, this is amazing!” I said, my stomach nearly toppling with nerves, excitement…everything.

“I know, we were pretty excited.”

“So what’s the song?” I asked, following him back to where the boys were.

“Top secret, James wouldn’t let us see without you here.” He shrugged, sliding back down into his seat between Nick and Kevin.

“Wow.” I said, sitting on the floor next to the couch.

“Ah there you lovelies are!” James said, clapping his hands together which made me jump. Kevin laughed, offering me a hand to help me up. “Why don’t we just get down to it and start! I hope your schedules are cleared, because this is going to take a few hours.”

“Hours?” I said in disbelief.

“With editing and sound effects plus the band and getting everything perfect - hours is pretty short.” Nick laughed, brushing past me and into the recording studio followed by my mom and James. I took a deep breath and walked in.

- - - - - - - - -

.017 - Change.

“Lyric, come on love. Don’t be nervous, you look like you’re going to pass out on us.” James said through the small microphone into the booth where Joe, Nick, Kevin and I all stood in front of microphones and headphones half on our heads. I felt like I was in that episode of Hannah Montana, except twenty times better.

“Sorry,” I blushed. But I couldn’t help it - I was nervous. I wanted to make a good impression, show James that this was a good choice on his part and that I could handle the pressure. “I’m just kinda shaky on the words.”

“Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.” He said, pointing at a teleprompter that suddenly tuned on with the words scrolling down. I sighed, maybe this wouldn’t be too bad.

“Alright boys, from the top.” James said, gesturing for the in studio band to start playing. Joe started off, so I was good for the first few seconds until my part came in. I nodded my head to the catchy tone of the guitars and drums and slowly fell into the music. I took a deep breath and let my voice over come me, a smile forming on my lips as it was coming out the way I wanted it to.

The chorus came up and all our voices blended nicely. The pressure on my shoulders eased. This was going a lot better than I had planned.

- a couple hours later -

“You did amazing Lyric, for a first timer anyways…” Nick joked with me as we sat in a booth at Friendly’s around midnight. I made a face and threw my cherry stem from my sundae at him. “I’m just messing with you, you did really good.”

“I can’t wait to do this music video!” Kevin said, rubbing his hands together and grinning.

“Me either,” I said, tossing my hair up into a messy ponytail and yawning. “James said we’re starting on it this weekend.”

“Seriously? Ah now I’m excited.” Joe said, bouncing up and down in his seat. I laughed and rolled my eyes.

“I wonder what it’ll be like.” I said, running some ideas through my head.

“James planned our videos for Kids of the Future and Hold On, I bet this one will be just as good.” Nick said, taking a bit of his peanut butter sundae.

“I still can’t believe this whole thing,” I said, leaning back in my seat. “A fall tour, appearances on Disney Channel - our concerts are the talk of the town since tickets are going on sale tomorrow morning!”

“Everyone James has signed becomes huge. Miley, Hilary Duff, Lindsay Lohan, Jesse McCartney - you’re just the next big thing, Ly.” Kevin smiled. I sighed.

“I overheard James on the phone saying that he wants to squeeze you in for a performance on the DC Games closing ceremonies sometime next month.” Nick added. “We’re performing, so it would only make sense if you came along.”

My head was spinning. So much was happening all at once, I felt like my head was in the clouds. “Oh by the way, James said he wants to give you a makeover.” Joe added.

“Huh?” I asked, looking over at him.

“Yeah,” He said, swallowing the piece of brownie in his mouth. “We’re meeting up with him tomorrow for shopping and stuff. Then we have a photoshoot for Popstar magazine.”

My jaw dropped instantly. Nick laughed. “Get used to it Lyric, these kind of things will be popping up all over the place once you hit the big time.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “Sorry, I’m just not used to having things to do.” I laughed weakly. “And what kind of makeover?” I asked defensively.

“Not sure,” Kevin said thinking about it. “But don’t worry about it, it’s not like he’ll have you looking like a clown.” He smiled. I just swallowed the rock in my throat and nodded, praying he was right.

- the next morning -

“Wake up!” I heard a voice yell before a ton of weight was thrust on my bed, causing me to bounce up and down slightly. I opened my eyes and saw Joe kneeling there, a big grin on his face.

“Joe?” I said, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. “What are you doing in here?”

“Your mom let me in,” He said, standing up and walking over to the door. “Now come on, we’ve got some shopping to do!” He smiled, before closing the door on his way out. I rolled my eyes and slowly dragged myself out of bed.

I changed into a pair of light wash jeans and a black tank top with a long loop necklace with a large star on the end. I threw my hair up into a messy ponytail, grabbed my sunglasses and my cell phone and was out the door. Joe was driving me to the shops downtown to meet up with James and his brothers, and with the sky clear blue with a few puffy white clouds - the day looked promising.

We blasted songs like Ready, Set, Go! By Tokio Hotel, Dear Maria Count Me In by All Time Low, and countless Camp Rock songs. The music was so loud that wherever we went, heads turned in annoyance. All we had to worry about was the guys getting recognized in town. But James had a plan, and we would all wander off in pairs. If all three of them walked around together, it would be a given.

Joe pulled into a parking space in front of a local Starbucks, where Nick, Kevin and James were walking out. I looked over at him, eyebrows raised. “James didn’t tell us to meet him here.”

“I know,” Joe smiled, unbuckling his seatbelt. “But he’s also with Kevin, and Kevin can smell Starbucks from a mile away.”

“Oh, right.” I laughed, getting out of the car as well. Before I knew it James was nearly on top of me.

“There’s my superstar!” He said, kissing me on both cheeks. “How are we Lyric?”

“I’m, uh, good thanks.” I said, my hands in my pockets as I smiled at him, biting my lip.

“Well what are we standing around for? We have a mighty busy day ahead of us!” He said, motioning for me to follow him. “Nick, Kev and Joe - you guys are free to go as you please. We’ll catch up with you a little later for lunch.” James said, waving them away. So much for the going in pairs idea. “Come on Lyric let’s get you to the hair salon.”

I gulped. “What? Why?” I asked, trying not to sound defensive.

“For a new hair style of course!” He said with an eye roll, speed walking down the sidewalk. I nearly had to sprint to keep up with him. We turned down a few side streets and finally came to a large beauty salon. The large front windows looked right in on numerous people getting hair, nails and eyebrows done inside. It looked like some high end fancy Hollywood spa. Not the ten dollar haircut places I was used to.

“James!” I heard a woman shriek. I turned my head from the long shelves of foreign hair products to see a bleach blonde size nothing twenty something woman hurrying over to greet him.

“Rosalina!” James said in an equally happy tone.

“Long time no see!” She had a heavy French accent and was wearing tight black skinny jeans, silver heels and a metallic silver top. “What do we have here?” She said, looking over his shoulder at me.

“Lyric Carrington, your next big star.” He said proudly. She gave me a once over and shook her head.

“No, no, no, no, no.” She said all at once, tapping her bright red fingernail to her lips. “This,” She said, pointing at me. “Simply will not do.”

I sighed, knowing that this was not going to be very good. “Hair is too short, too light with those horrid highlights - I know what I’m going to have to do. Come along,” She said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me with her. I gave James a look of desperation, but he simply gave me a thumbs up and walked away with his cell phone to his ear.

It was a long hour and a half of cutting, dying and sewing - and I had no idea what was going on. One minute they were cutting chunks of my hair off, the next I was in tin foil having my hair dyed. I was freaking out, thinking I was going to look like some kind of space alien when she was done with me.

“Beautiful!” Rosalina said, setting the curling iron down on the counter and spraying some hairspray on my head. “Don’t look so nervous sweetie, you look amazing.” She said, smiling at me and seeing my nerves all over my face. I smiled weakly and nodded, my hands gripping the chair as she turned me around.

My hair was no longer it’s shoulder length dirty blonde color, but was now deep black and down to the middle of my stomach. My eyebrows were perfectly arched, and looking in the mirror I had no idea who the girl was that I saw. But in a good way. I looked amazing. I touched my hair gingerly, afraid to mess up the perfectly done loose curls.

“Soo…” Rosalina said, taking off the smock and helping me out of my seat. “What do you think?”

“I-” I started to say, unable to get the words out. “I love it! Thank you so much!” I said, jumping into her arms and giving her a hug. She laughed and let me go, adjusting the curls I had messed up.

“Your welcome hun, you look gorgeous.” She said, pushing me back out to the main waiting area where James was. “Now go show James, I’m sure he’s dying to see.”

I nodded and walked out, hurrying over to where he was sitting and plopping myself down beside him. “Hello.” I said casually, smiling at him. He looked up quickly, then back down, and then back up again.

“Lyric? Wow, you look amazing love!” He said, standing me up and having me do a twirl for him. I giggled nervously.

“Thanks,” I said, biting my lip. “So uh, where to now?” I asked as we headed out the door and I pulled on my oversized Prada sunglasses. They had been Harmony’s, and I wore them almost everyday in the summer because Summer was her favorite season.

“Wardrobe time my dear,” He said, taking off down the sidewalk. I rolled my eyes, but still smiled and followed him.

The next two hours were spent in countless stores. Ones I had heard of and shopped at myself to ones that the names sounded so expensive that I wouldn’t even look twice at if I walked by them. James said that my new look was going to be ‘preppy with a rocker edge to it’ to go along with my new hair. I felt like I was in some kind of dream and must have pinched myself a dozen times.

After weighing ourselves down with a million loaded shopping bags with enough outfits that would last me ten years, we dumped them all in the car and headed towards Applebees where we had told the guys to meet us for lunch. We walked right inside, and I was feeling nervous as we headed to their table.

My hair was still all in waves with my sunglasses on top of my head. My makeup was done, and I had on a pair of red skinny jeans, silver flats, a white tank top, a black vest and a long silver necklace and bangles on my arm. I looked like a celebrity, but still had yet to feel like one.

“Dude,” Nick said, elbowing his brother who was laughing at something Kevin said as we walked towards the table.

“What?” Joe asked, looking to see what Nick was staring at. He saw me walking in with James and his jaw literally dropped on the spot.

“Hey guys,” I said, sliding into the seat next to Kevin.

“Lyric? Oh my god.” Kevin said, looking at me and smiling. “You look-”

“Beautiful.” Joe piped in quietly, shaking his head as he looked at me. “Wow.”

I laughed, feeling myself blush. “Thanks.” I smiled as I looked at him. He nodded as to say your welcome, being left speechless.

“Wow Ly, you do look good.” Nick smiled. “Rosalina?”

I laughed. “How’d you know?”

“Demi, Selena and Ashley all went to her too - they looked completely different when she was done with them.” He said, shaking his head at the memory. “In a good way of course.”

“Well that’s my Lyric for you,” James said, putting his arm around me shoulder. “Now let’s hurry and order something - our photoshoot is in two hours!”

I sank back in my chair, staring at the ceiling. The life of a VIP was slowly sinking in. And as of right now, I had no regrets what so ever.

- - - - - - - -

.018 - Lost.

“Wow,” I said as soon as we walked onto the set of the Popstar magazine photoshoot. I had to admit, at first I was a little sketched out since the place we were headed was an old warehouse on the edge of town. But once we walked inside, the whole atmosphere changed. We were surrounded by lights, mirrors, long carts of clothing, makeup counters and show racks. There were countless computers and green screen settings, as well as one in front of a white backdrop with a long trampoline in front of it.

“Welcome, welcome!” Came a balding mad of about forty in a pair of black paint splattered jeans and an old blue plaid shirt. I was meeting so many different people today that it was hard to keep track of what was going on anymore. “My name is Maurice, and I will be your photographer this evening!”

I glanced over at Joe, who simply smiled and shrugged before adverting his attention back to Maurice. “What have you got planned for us today?” Kevin asked excitedly, looking around at all the different sets. I laughed, Kevin got excited easily.

“Don’t worry, Kev. The trampoline shoot is just for you guys.” A woman said, walking over beside Maurice and shaking James’ hand. “Laura Scott - wardrobe and makeup.” She said proudly.

“Nice to meet you,” James said with a nod. “Now let’s get you four ready, off you go.” James said, shooing us away.

“Boys with Maurice, Lyric - come with me.” Laura said. I followed her to a small area towards the back of the warehouse where there was piles upon piles of designer clothes and shoes. “Here - put this on.” She said, throwing a mess of different items at me. I nodded and changed quickly.

Seconds later I was in a pair of bright blue skinny jeans, a long navy blue tee shirt with bright pink designs on it and a metallic cropped jacket. Laura looked at me and tapped her lip. “What size are you?” She asked.

“Uhh…” I said nervously. “Seven to a nine.” I said quietly.

“Hm.” She said, making somewhat of a face. “Well here - take this and put them on and throw that hair of yours into a messy ponytail.” She tossed a pair of matching metallic boots and hurried off to the set. I put them on and followed her, glad to see that I wasn’t alone. The Jonas boys were bouncing up and down on the trampoline, pushing each other off onto the blue mats below.

“Ah, there she is. Now hurry over Lyric, we have a lot to get done.” Maurice said, gesturing for me to join the boys on the trampoline. I stepped on, Joe pushing me slightly so I stumbled to the side. I smacked his arm and smiled and he simply rolled his eyes and smiled back. “Okay, on the count of three I want all of you to jump. One, two, three.” He said. All of us hopped into the air and posed, and the camera flashes went off. It was fun - but little did I know I would be doing it for the next forty five minutes without stopping.

- - four hours later, around seven in the evening - -

I slowly made my way to the back room where all my original clothes were, looking to get out of the uncomfortable outfit I was in. My legs were wobbly from the stupid trampoline, and I felt exhausted. Looking at the pictures though, it had been worth it. It kind of made me excited to be in a magazine.

Rounding the corner, I heard the sound of voices getting louder. I slowly stopped, listening in. I knew it was bad to eavesdrop, but I recognized James right off the bat. Listening more carefully I could tell that he was talking to Laura from wardrobe and makeup.

“…I’m telling you James, you’re going to have to say something to her.” Laura said simply.

“Give her a break, will you? She just got signed last weekend - you can’t expect perfection over night.” James fired back in a harsh whisper.

“She’s too big for this industry, you want good role models don’t you? Size seven isn’t going to cut it around here. Get that girl to be a size two in two months and maybe we’ll talk.” She said, brushing past him. I held my breath and pinned myself against the wall as she walked by, exhaling as she hadn’t seen me. My stomach sank when her words registered in my head, and I slowly walked into the room to get my clothes.

“Hey James,” I said, searching through some baskets for my things. Joe’s jeans, Nick’s wallet, Kevin’s shoes - finally my shirt.

James turned around and ran his hand through his hair, a troubled expression on his face. “Oh, hello love.” He said weakly. “Enjoy the photoshoot?”

I nodded, collecting my things and walking out as quickly as I could to avoid the bomb being dropped. I knew it would come sooner or later, but I didn’t want to hear it right now. I changed quickly, snatching Joe’s grey zip hoodie and pulling it on.

When I walked out into the rest of the open area of the warehouse, I saw them all sitting on the furniture placed off to the side. Joe was on the couch, Nick in a wooden chair and Kevin in the loveseat. They were crowded around a small coffee table, playing a game of some sort. Once I got closer I saw the familiar clear dots and bubble of the game Trouble sitting in front of them.

“I found Lyric,” Nick said, not looking up from the apparently all too intense game they were in. Joe looked up quickly and smiled before looking down again.

“I was wondering where my jacket had gone to.” He said, his brown eyes making me melt. I nodded and managed a weak smile before sitting down beside him.

“Alright guys, let’s get going.” James said as he walked out from one of the back rooms. “Anyone up for Pinkberry?” He asked.

“Oh, me!” Joe said, nearly jumping out of his seat.

“Same,” Nick smiled.

“Yeah, why not?” Kevin asked, looking at his watch.

“I’ll pass.” I said weakly, biting my lip and sighing. James looked at me, but shrugged it off.

“Well you're welcome to come along anyways, love.” He said, holding the door for me as we walked out. I simply shook my head and smiled somewhat.

“No, it’s alright. Could you just uh - drop me off at my house?” I asked. Joe gave me a somewhat disappointed look that I wasn’t coming, but I just pretended not to see. The ride home was somewhat silent, and I just stayed curled up against Joe’s side. He didn’t question me on what was wrong, but I could tell he was dying to ask. James had dropped all my clothes from our shopping spree earlier off during our photoshoot, so I didn’t have anything I needed to carry in.

“Thanks for the ride, James.” I said as gladly as I could before I got out of the car. “Bye Joe,” I said, kissing his cheek quickly. He took my hand before letting me go and looked at me.

“Call you later?” He asked. I nodded, knowing that was coming.

“Bye,” I said with a small wave as they backed out of the driveway. I hurried up the front steps to my house, the tears free flowing now. I opened the front door, thankful that it was unlocked.

“Lyric?” Came my mom’s voice as I ran up the stairs to my room and slamming the door. Once I got in, I flipped on the light and was instantly shot by my reflection in the mirror on my wall. My long black hair looked fake, my skin red and blotchy and my bright green eyes were dripping mascara and eyeliner as I cried. I shook my head, flopping down on my bed and burying my face in my hands.

“Sweetie?” My mom said, walking in. “Oh my goodness - look at your hair!” She said, sitting down beside me and touching it lightly. “It looks beautiful sweetie.”

“Yeah, but I don’t.” I mumbled through the blankets.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

I sat up and looked at her. “The wardrobe stylist at the Popstar photoshoot said I needed to lose weight - that I was ‘too big’ for this industry.” I said angrily, making air quotes.

“She what?” My mom asked, surprised. “Oh hunny that’s horrible.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I said with a sigh, hugging a pillow to my chest.

“Well I hate to say it, but this is what your going to have to put up with in this business, Lyric.” She said sadly. “Not everything is glitz and glam.”

“I know,” I sighed, closing my eyes as a few more tears spilled out. Suddenly my phone started ringing in my pocket, the sound of burnin’ up playing loudly in the room. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw Joe’s picture flashing. I took a deep breath and flipped it open, preparing for the conversation that awaited.
I told him everything that had happened, and he was sympathetic. I just wish I could have had him here in person instead of telling the whole sob story over the phone.

“I know you’re feeling like you’re under a lot of pressure right now Lyric, but trust me. It’s all just a test. They’ll want to see what they can throw at you and how you’ll handle it. Everything will be just fine. I promise.” He said. I sighed.

“Thanks Joe.”

“Anytime.” He said, and I could almost see him smiling. “And oh, by the way - we start filming for our music video tomorrow.” He added quickly.

“What?” I said, a little too loudly.

“I know, I know. It’s a lot. But I’ll see you tomorrow morning, bright and early! Love you, bye!” He said, hanging up to avoid another one of my mental breakdowns. I just sat there staring at the phone. I was beginning to have second thoughts on all of this.

- - - - - - - -

.019 - Fame.

“Here’s a good question -” I said to Joe as we walked together out onto the boardwalk we were on towards the set for our music video early Saturday morning. “How are our tour dates selling out so fast when nobody even knows who I am?” I asked him. It was around seven in the morning and I was exhausted. We had been shipped out to Cape Cod for the week to film our new music video and I could barely keep my eyes open.

“Oh well nobody knows who you are sweetie, they’re just buying tickets to see the boys.” James said, coming up from behind us and brushing by as he speed walked towards the set so he could catch up with the directors.

“Well that’s reassuring.” I said, taking a sip of my coffee coolatta and tucking a strand of my deep black hair behind me ear.

“Relax Ly,” Joe said, putting an arm around my shoulder. “Everyone’s going to love you, I know I do.” He smiled.

“Thanks Joey,” I smiled back, leaning into him as he kissed the top of my head. “That photoshoot and article in Popstar might do me some good too.” I shrugged.

James came walking toward us again, and snatched the drink right out of my hand. “Sorry love, too many calories.” He said, nodding and tossing it into the nearest trashcan. I just stood there, my hand in the same position as if it were still there and sighed.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll buy you another one on our break.” Joe said with a grin.
I just shook my head. “No, it’s alright.” I mumbled, not really feeling so hungry anymore.

Joe and I finally made it to the set, a carnival on the boardwalk is where the first scenes would be shot and then the final ones would be on the beach below. “It’s beautiful.” I said, looking around me at all the towering rides plastered against the crystal clear sky.

“Alright lovies, let’s get this video moving!” James said, clapping his hands. I simply rolled my eyes and zipped up my black and white printed hoodie to stop the harsh sea breeze that was blowing in. “All of you in hair and makeup, chop chop!” He said, whisking us away.

Joe and I met up with Nick and Kevin and headed towards the small trailer off to the side where we would be made ready for the filming.

The first four hours went smoothly, and I hadn’t even touched a crumb of food - and I was proud of myself. We were all hanging around, waiting to film some more scenes as the directors and James scrolled through the ones we had already done. I had picked up one of the guitars that was hanging around and started plucking at some chords - ending up playing realize by Colbie Calliat.

“Lyric will you stop that racket? We’re trying to listen in over here.” James called over. I immediately stopped playing and set the guitar down, curling my knees to my chest and sighing. I felt somewhat lightheaded from not eating all day, but didn’t care. If it made the pounds go away then I was all for it. All of a sudden all of this didn’t seem so nice and innocent anymore.

-- later that night --

“I call the bed by the window!” Kevin said as we all stumbled into our large, high class hotel room around eleven that night. I was too tired to even think about where any of the beds were. I just found the one closest to me and threw my suitcases down, collapsing face first into to the pillow.

“This is suicide.” I moaned, my stomach rumbling as I rolled over to stare at the ceiling. “Nonstop work, all day everyday.”

Nick shrugged. “We’re used to it, I’m sure you will be in no time. Who wants to order room service?” He asked, picking up the phone on the nightstand in between two of the beds.

“I’m in,” Joe said, falling down onto the bed next to mine and flipping on the flat screen tv on the wall. “Hey look, I’m on tv.” He grinned, gesturing to Camp Rock that was playing. Kevin rolled his eyes as he unzipped his suitcase.

“I’m all set thanks,” I said simply, pulling my red soccer shorts and a long sleeved gray tee shirt from my bag. “I’m gonna take a shower, I’ll catch up in a few.”

“Awh come on Ly, we’re ordering sundaes!” Nick said, putting his hand over the mouth piece of the phone as I walked away. I just smiled and waved as I made my way across the suite to where the bathroom was.

An hour later I came out of the bathroom, my hair in long braids that went down to my stomach. This hair was getting a little hard to handle. “Hey guys,” I yawned as I walked in. All three of them were sprawled out across their beds, empty ice cream dishes in front of them with the movie The Covenant playing loudly on the tv. “This is my favorite movie!” I said excitedly, walking over to join them. Their eyes stayed glued to the screen, but Joe moved over some. We made it about three- fourths the way through the movie until we all just passed out in our spots.

-- the next morning --

“Ugh turn that stupid thing off.” Nick groaned around five thirty that morning. Joe’s eyes slowly opened as he stumbled upright and slammed his hand onto the small black alarm clock to turn it off.

“I call shower first,” He yawned, grabbing a towel that had been left by room service off the table and wandering over the bathroom.

I slowly sat up and stretched, then got a wicked cramp in my lower leg. “Ahh, corkie!” I said, grabbing my leg. Kevin just glanced at Nick, who laughed.

“Lyric, what are you talking about?” Kevin laughed. I sat up and shook my leg out, the pain slowly going away.

“Leg cramp, you know, corkies?” I said like it was an obvious statement.

“Charley horse?” Kevin asked.

“What in the world is that?” I asked.

“Apparently we’re not hip to Australian slang.” Nick said with a smile. I just rolled my eyes and threw a pillow at him.

“Alright guys, enough fooling around. We don’t have much time until James wants us in the dining hall…” Kevin said with a sigh, walking over to the bathroom door and pounding on it. “Hurry up Danger!”

It took at least an hour, but all of us were finally dressed and ready to go downstairs. Cutting it close, all of us slid into our seats at 6:59 am, James looking at his watch as we walked in.

“Cutting it close, I see?” James said, a bit of annoyance in his voice.

“We’re here now,” Joe piped in.

“Mhmm,” James replied, folding up the newspaper in front of him. “Well we’re here to discuss music, strictly.” He added. All of us exchanged glances. “Boys you needn’t worry,” He said, noticing our expressions. “With two sold out tours and a platinum album, I think you’re doing just fine.” The boys all exhaled, the pressure off for them. “But that leaves you, Lyric.” I swallowed hard. “The music you play currently is a little too mellow for the sound we’re looking for…” He started, tapping his chin. “So we’re going to start writing all your music for you. Give it a little bit more of an edgier sound.”

“Whoa, James…” Kevin said. “Can you do that? I mean, the whole reason you signed Lyric was because you liked her sound…”

“Wrong, Kev.” James said, holding up a finger. “I liked her voice, and she’s a decently looking girl. Give her a makeover, give her music to play that sells and pay her $100,000 with her contract - that was the deal.”

“$100,000?” I asked, slightly dumbfounded.

“And that’s only for this month love, but I’m afraid we’ve already had to take the expenses for the music video and hotel accommodations out. Along with you performing at six flags this weekend. So that leaves you with, oh maybe $2,000 now?”

My stomach dropped as I thought back to a lesson we had in one of our English classes a few months back. Artists were the last to get paid out of anyone, so large paychecks could easily diminish in the blink of an eye. “Oh, well, that’s only eight thousand gone…” I said, trying to think of something positive to come out of all of this. “Two thousands a lot, right?” I asked Joe, but his gaze was cold on James.

“Not really, I’m starting to get suspicious of this dude.” He said to me only. “We’re getting paid six times as much as that and he never remixed us…I don’t get what his problem is.”

“Just shake it off man,” Nick whispered in. “We’ll figure something out. Maybe James had a bad breakfast or something.”

“We’re eating breakfast now you moron.” Kevin said. Nick just threw a glare at him and shrugged.

“I’m just saying,” He said.

“Guys, don’t worry about it.” I said. “So, uh, concert at six flags?” I asked, looking back over at James. He nodded, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Big fourth of July concert. You’ll have to spend it away from your family, which is most unfortunate, and the boys have their summer tour starting as well.” He said.

“Burnin’ up tour…” Kevin said. “I almost forgot.”

“So what am I doing this summer?” I asked, feeling my heart sink.

“You’ll be staying right with me love. Recording your new album and all that.” James said proudly. “Anyone like some pancakes?” He asked, sliding a plate past me. I had expected he wouldn’t offer me any anyways.

“Uh, no thanks. I’m going to uh - take a walk.” I said, sliding out of my chair.

“I’ll come too.” Joe said, hopping at the chance to get away from James. Kevin and Nick gave him a look for leaving them with him, but Joe just shrugged it off.

We wandered out the large French doors at the back of the dining room that were left wide open to let the sea breeze drift in. We walked down the deck stairs past all the people eating their breakfast on the patio and down onto the soft sandy beach. I kicked off my flip flops and left them by the stairs, figuring I would come back for them later. Joe slid off his bright pink and orange Nikes and followed.

“About what happened back there,” Joe said as we walked along the waters edge, the waves crashing up onto our feet. I shivered slightly with the icy waters feel. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s gotten into him.” He said, referring to James. “He never used to be like that.”

“Like what? Controlling?” I said back, tucking some of my long wavy hair behind my ear. He looked up at me and sighed, nodding. “You never told me that you guys were planning a huge tour this summer.” I said, looking up at his face. He turned, looking in my eyes, but looked down at the sand again.

“I know, I should have told you a long time ago - but I didn’t want you to be upset.”

“Well I’m pretty upset now that you kept it from me!” I said, crossing my arms.

“Lyric come on, it’s not that big of a deal. We’ll only be gone for a few months-”

“A few months?” I said. “Joe, who knows what James could do to me in that amount of time? I’m afraid of what he’s going to do to my career! He’s changed the way I look, my music… I don’t want all of this to result in me ending up as a changed person.”

“Then don’t let him.” Joe said simply.

“Oh cause it’s that easy.” I said sarcastically. He just sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Lyric this is stupid… I don’t want us to get into an argument before we leave.” He said, looking down at me.

I sighed. “You’re right, I just don’t want you to forget about me while you’re gone on tour.” I said quietly.

“Lyric,” He said softly, stopping in his tracks. “Don’t even think like that. I could never forget you.”

“Promise?” I asked, feeling my eyes tear, I brushed them away quickly, since I wasn’t one to cry that often.

“Of course I do.” He said, pulling me into a tight hug.

- - - - - - - -

.020 - Price.

It had taken all week and tons of rude comments from James - but the music video was finished. I never thought something that looked so much fun on tv could be so much hard work in real life. Once the directors clapped for everyone and said ‘that’s a wrap!’ I nearly keeled over with joy.

We were now back in the hotel room, packing what was left of our things. Today was our last full day out on the cape, but I couldn’t wait to get away from James. Joe was watching him like a hawk, and it was starting to get really annoying.

“Joe, you seriously need to relax.” I said, sitting down on my nicely made hotel room bed with my suitcase down and packed on the floor next to me. He sighed and walked over, sitting down across from me.

“I know, I just can’t help but wonder why he’s acting the way he is.” He said, his gaze casting downwards. “I don’t like it.”

I put my hand on top of his and waited until he looked up at me. “Please stop worrying so much.” I pleaded. “I can handle him, no sweat.”

“Then why have you been throwing all your meals away without even touching them?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. “Come on Lyric, you can’t let him get to you like this.”

I but my lip and looked down. “I know, Joe. It’s just…” I said, my voice trailing off. Suddenly Nick and Kevin walked in, big smiles on their faces.

“Hello party people.” Kevin said excitedly, dancing into the room.

“What did you do to him?” Joe asked with a laugh, looking over at Nick.

“Big beach party tonight at the directors place.” Nick responded, opening his suitcase and looking through.

“We just came from Mom and Dad’s room and they said we could go.” Kevin said, holding up two different pairs of shoes. “Which ones?” He asked.

“The sneakers, definitely.” I said with a smile. He nodded and kicked off his vintage dress shoes.

“Anyways, this place is a mansion. Biggest beach side house I’ve ever seen.” Nick said, shaking his head.

“Sounds cool,” I said with a shrug.

“Oh, but it is.” Kevin chimed in, still grinning.

“Wanna go?” Joe asked, looking at me. “It’ll help you get your mind off everything. Plus we’ll have some more chance to hang before we leave tomorrow…” He added. My heart sank, but I knew it was coming.

“Sure, why not?” I said with a smile.

“Yes!” Kevin said. “Meet out at the car in twenty?” He asked, looping a tie around his neck. “I’m going to go grab a red bull.”

“Later,” Joe said as Kevin walked out the door. We all spent the next fifteen minutes tearing apart our well packed suitcases in search of something to wear. I finally settled on a denim mini skirt, a dark blue Lacoste polo and some matching old navy flip flops. I threw my long, dark hair into a messy ponytail and sprayed on some Vera Wang perfume.

“Ready?” Joe asked, walking into the living area in jeans, a bright green tee shirt and a white leather looking suit type jacket with the sleeves rolled up half way. He was wearing checkered vans and his hair was swooped across one eye. I nodded, not able to let any words come out of my mouth. He still took my breath away every now and again.

We hurried down the stairs since the elevators were broken and bolted through the lobby before we were seen. We saw Kevin and Nick sitting in the teal oh six mustang convertible and jogged over to greet them. “Hey guys,” I said, opening the door to the seat in the back. Joe ignored the door and just hopped over the side. Skyway Avenue by We The Kings was blasting through the speakers and we tore out of the parking lot, the tires squealing slightly.

“My bad,” Kevin laughed as we took a right out onto a small side street and then a left onto the freeway.

“So where is this place?” I asked, brushing the hair out of my face that was flying all over from the wind.

“Wellfleet, near Truro.” Kevin said, looking at what he had written on the back of his hand.

“Nick Kev,” Nick said with an eye roll.

“Hey, do you want to get to this party or not?” Kevin fired back, but still smiling. I just kind of sat in the back seat and didn’t say much of anything.

“Whoa, is that it?” Joe said as we pulled up a long street of obnoxiously large houses that had the beach as their backyards. There must have been twenty cars lined up out front and there were pink and green lights all over the bushes. Music was blasting, the song shake it by metro station blasting loudly.

“Yeah,” Kevin said as he parked along side the road next to a bright red Ferrari.

“Wow.” Nick said, gazing up at the blindingly white marble faced mansion with its monster lawn full of trees and flowers with a small waterfall off to the side.

“You could say that again.” I laughed, shaking my head. Loud laughter and talk came into our hearing as we got closer, a large security guard stopping us before we headed out back.

“Names.” He said simply.

“Nick, Kevin, Joe Jonas and Lyric Carrington.” Nick said. The guard flipped through the papers on his clipboard, nodded and let us in.

The large backyard opened up before us with a large in ground pool that was being lit tons of different colors from the lights in the water. A large fire was off to the side, the flames green in the sky. People could be seen all over. On the deck, in the pool, by the fire or on the large balcony up above. It was like a scene from an old Hollywood movie, but so much better.

“This is amazing…” I said, taking in the whole atmosphere.

“I heard there’s tons of famous people here tonight.” Kevin said. “Randy was talking to James about it at breakfast.”

“Randy meaning the director?” I asked. Kevin nodded.

“Famous meaning who?” Joe asked eagerly.

“Derek Jeter, Zac Efron, Eva Mendes, Jessica Alba, Curt Shilling, Orlando Bloom…”

“Shut up. Orlando Bloom?!” I nearly shouted, slapping my hand over my mouth.

“Someone say my name?” Came a British accent from behind us. I turned around slowly and was face to face with the man himself. He was deeply tanned and his dark hair was cut short for his latest movie.

“Oh yes, sorry.” I said with a smile, keeping my cool.

He laughed, his smile dazzling. Wow he was hot! “Nice to meet you erm-”

“Lyric, Lyric Carrington.” I said with a smile as I stuck out my hand. He smiled and took it.

“Ah, the girl James was talking about. He has high hopes for you.” He said with a nod. “Best of luck, but I have to get back. I was in a conversation with Johnny and he hates when I abandon him.” He winked, walking away. “Nice to meet you Lyric.”

I nodded. “Wait, Johnny Depp?” Kevin asked. Orlando turned around and gaze a puzzle expression.

“Well yes, who else?” He smiled. I think my heart stopped. I watched him walk away and slapped both my hands to my chest as my heart was ready to take off into the ocean down below us.

“Beachside parties, mansions, meeting celebrities? I think I might be able to get used to this famous thing. “ I laughed nervously. Joe looked at me and smiled, rolling his eyes playfully.

The night was long, as our curfew was midnight according to the Jonas parents. We mingled with the crowds, catching up with other A list VIPs and talking to everyone and anyone about anything that was going on in the fast lane. Gossip, scandals, conspiracies - it all sounded so bad but you couldn’t help but listen anyways.

“You okay Ly? You’re looking a little pale.” Joe said to me around ten thirty. We were standing by the pool chatting to some up and coming fashion designers, Kevin listening intently about their plans for a new shoe line.

I nodded slowly, but I was feeling really dizzy. I hadn’t eaten anything all day and kept feeling my weight shift every once and awhile. “Alright, but if you want to leave just tell me.” He said, his hand on my shoulder.

“Yeah, sure.” I said weakly, smiling as best as I could. Joe adverted his attention back to the conversation, but I could feel Nick’s eyes on me like a hawk. I held it together decently for fifteen more minutes, but then my vision started going hazy. Suddenly everything went dark and I fell backwards into the pool. The lukewarm water over came me, until I hit something hard. I had fallen in the shallow end of the pool. My head collided with the deep blue bottom almost instantly, and my lungs filled with water as I was knocked unconscious.

- - - - - - - -

.021 - Fault.

- Joe’s POV -

“Lyric!” I shouted, watching her fall backwards into the pool.

“What happened?” Nick asked, whirling around to see the her now floating at the bottom of the pool.

“Here, take this.” I said, pulling off my jacket and diving into the pool and swimming towards her. Everyone at the party had now turned to see what had happened, all talking in hushed tones and saying all the same things. ‘What happened?’ ‘Oh my goodness, is she okay?’

I pulled her out of the water and walked as quickly as the water would allow me to the stairs, gently placing her down onto the pavement. I leaned over, putting my ear to her chest. Her heartbeat was faint. I started to panic.

“No, Lyric please. Don’t do this to me now.” I said, brushing the hair out of her eyes. “What do I do?” I said frantically.

“Someone call 911!” Kevin shouted, as he was now at my side.

“Do you know CPR?” Nick asked, looking at me. My mind was racing as I shook my head to the side to get the water out of my ears and the dripping hair out of my eyes.

I put both my hands on her chest and pushed down, leaning again to hear no changes. I took a deep breath and put my mouth to hers, blowing in as much oxygen as I could.

“It’s working,” Nick said, seeing Lyric’s chest rise and fall. Suddenly the sirens grew louder and the paramedics were right there with us. They questioned everything that had happened, and my mind was spinning with all the things happening at once.

“Let me come with you,” I said, following the medics as they hooked Lyric up to oxygen and wheeled her out to the ambulance.

“Sorry kid, not enough room.” The balding man of about forty said to me.

“No, come on!” I said, feeling my eyes well. “You have to!”

“Look kid I said no!” The medic said, lifting her eyes into the back of the ambulance and slamming the doors in my face.

“Kevin, got to find Kevin.” I said shakily, pushing through the crowd of onlookers in search of my brother. We suddenly ran into each other, literally, him looking for me too. “Kevin, we got to get to-”

“The hospital, I know. Where’s Nick. Oh you’re right here, okay, come on.” He said, pulling his keys out of his pants pocket and jogging across the lawn with us towards the car.

- a few hours later - Lyric’s POV -

“Lyric, come on sweetie, we need you to open your eyes dear…” A familiar female voice flooded my senses, and I slowly opened my eyes. “Oh thank goodness.” She said, touching my hair gently. I looked around the blinding white room - my head throbbing.

“Who’s Lyric?” I asked.

“What did she say?” A boy who looked about seventeen or eighteen said, appearing at the woman’s side. He had long, deep black hair and really pretty brown eyes. He was kinda cute.

“Who’s Lyric…” The woman repeated, her expression blank.

“You don’t think…?” A second boy said, standing up from a chair across the room. He looked older than the other boy, and had short curly hair.

“Oh she’s awake? Good.” A doctor said, now walking into the room. “Lyric, how are you feeling?” He asked me.

“Who’s Lyric? I don’t get it.” I said, blinking my eyes. “And who are all of you guys?” I asked, pointing at the Jonas family.

The doctor sighed. “I had feared this would happen…”

“Feared what? What’s going on?” I asked nervously, sitting up somewhat.

“Do you know who you are?” He asked, leaning in closer to m.

“Obviously not, I’ve only asked that twice. And my head really hurts…” I said, touching the side of my head gingerly. My hair was slightly damp.

“Lyric, come on, please don’t do this to me.” The boy who looked about eighteen said, his eyes full of sadness.

“Do what?” I asked sadly, feeling for him. Whoever this Lyric chick was, he was pretty upset at what she was doing to him.

“She’s suffering from partial amnesia.” The doctor sighed, shining a small light in my eyes. “She’s lost most of her memory. She remembers basics, but I’m afraid she’s lost memory of people and faces…” He said.

“Partial?” The eldest boy asked. “Does that mean she’ll get it back, like after a few days or something?”

“It’s a possibility, but the chances are very slim. She hit her head pretty good.” The doctor said, writing something down on his clipboard. “It’s possible that hearing or seeing something that held a strong memory might trigger all the old thoughts to return, but I can’t make any promises…”

“Can someone please tell me what’s happening?” I asked, scared at the words that were coming out of his mouth.

The woman looked at the younger looking boy and nodded, before taking the eldest and walking out of the room with the doctor. He looked at me, biting his lip and looking cautious. Like if he went anywhere near me he would hurt me. “It’s okay…” I said, looking at him. He nodded and sighed before sitting on the end of my hospital bed, crossing his legs Indian style and looking deeply into my eyes.

“Do you know who I am?” He asked hopefully. I searched my head, but I had no clue whatsoever.

“No,” I said quietly. His head fell slightly, and he took a deep breath.

“Well, I guess I better start from the beginning. Your name is Lyric, Lyric Carrington.”

“So the girl you’ve all been talking about is me?” I said, cocking my head to the side. He smiled weakly, studying me.

“Yeah. That’s you. Your parents are Bruce and Sandy - does that sound familiar?” He asked. I shook my head slowly. “You had a sister named Harmony, but she uh, she died.”

“Really? That’s sad…” I said sadly, pulling my hair into my hands and tossing it over my shoulder. “Was she nice?”

“I uh, I wouldn’t know. I didn’t know her…” He said, playing with the fringes on the end one of the blankets on my bed. “But I should probably tell you who I am…”

I nodded. “That would be nice.”

“I’m Joe Jonas. I’m kinda your boyfriend.”

“Oh, wow.” I said, my eyes widening. “Really?”

He laughed weakly. “Yes, really. That other guy in here, that was my brother Kevin. We have two other brothers, Nick and Frankie. The lady in here before was my mom, Denise.”

I sat there, taking it all in. “Did I really know all you guys?” I asked. He nodded solemnly. “I’m so sorry,” I suddenly said. “If I could remember… oh my goodness. This is so bad. I can’t even remember my own family, friends…” I exhaled, putting my hands over my eyes. “Oh my god…”

“No, no, it’s okay.” He said slowly, putting his hand on top of mine. It felt warm and comforting. “We’ll find a way to get through this somehow, I promise.”

I nodded, swallowing the rock in my throat. “Now can you tell me everything I’ve just told you?” He asked, looking at me intently.

“My name is uh, Lyric. Lyric Carrington.” I said slowly. “My parents are Bruce and Sandy, and I have…well I had a sister named Harmony.” I looked up at him, and he nodded with a small smile. “You’re Joe Jonas, my b-boyfriend.” I was having a hard time believing that this really cute guy was even talking to me.

“You have two - no three brothers. Kevin, Nick and Frankie. Your mom is Denise…” I said finally.

“Good, really good.” He said, relaxing a little. “Do you know how you got here?”

“Well the doctor said I hit my head…” I said. He nodded, taking yet another deep breath. He seemed really tense.

“Here’s what happened…” He said, preparing to tell the story. “This guy, his name is James Lawson, and he’s your manager.”

“Manager? Of what?” I asked.

“You’re a singer, and I really good one at that.” He said, smiling at me.

“A singer? Wow.” I said, shaking my head. “Am I famous? Wait. Are you famous?”

He laughed. “I guess you could say I’m kinda famous, and you are a bit too. Not much, but you will be.” He smiled. “Anyways, we were at this really big party. You actually got to meet Orlando Bloom.”

“Orlando Bloom?” I interrupted. “Hold on… pirates of the Caribbean?”

“You remember?” He asked excitedly. I nodded.

“Yeah, I think I do…” I said, my mind a little clearer. At least I didn’t feel totally in the dark.

“Do you remember anything else?” He asked hopefully. I shook my head. He looked a little disappointed, but held it together. “James was really hard on your image. He told you that you needed to lose weight.” Joe said quietly.

“Oh, I don’t like the sound of that…” I said.

“Neither did I.” He said, his expression hard at the thought. “I told you not to let him get to you, but you did. You stopped eating, and got really lightheaded and dizzy at the party. It caused you to pass out and fall backwards into the pool. You kind of hit your head on the bottom and were out cold.” He told me, looking scared at the memory.

“Wow. I’m sorry I scared you like that.” I said, my eyes filling with tears. “I just wish I could remember…”

“Me too, Ly.” He said softly, leaning over and brushing the tear off my cheek. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly in a hug. He touched my hair gently, rocking back and forth slowly. “Me too.”

- - - - - - - -

.022 - Hope.

“James you have to cancel the concert, she can’t remember a thing!” I heard shouting in the hallway outside my hospital room. I was changing into a pair of denim Bermuda shorts and black tank top, with my black and white zodiac print hoodie. Today was the day I got to go home, the doctors saying that since it had been twenty four hours with no immediate memory recovery - there was little hope I would get it back. I felt horrible, wishing that I knew who Joe was, who I was and who all my family was. It was the scariest feeling in the world.

“I can’t cancel this show, it cost me ten thousand dollars!” A loud voice with a strong British accent rang through the walls. I was guessing it was James, but I couldn’t tell since I didn’t even know who this James was guy was. But according to Joe, we didn’t like him. Suddenly a woman, who I vaguely remember as being Denise, entered the room.

“You ready, sweetie?” She asked me. I looked up and nodded, taking a shaky breath. Her face should be familiar to me - why was this so hard? Everyone felt like strangers and I hated it. I followed her out the door into the hallway, seeing Joe and the boy who I assumed was Kevin. Beside him was a younger looking boy with short, curly brown hair.

Joe pulled me close, kissing my forehead. “Hey, how you feeling?” He asked me softly. I shrugged, biting my lip as I looked up at him. His brown eyes got me every time. “Come on, let’s get back to the hotel…” He said with a sigh, taking my hand.

The brown haired boy walked up to my side and nodded, giving a weak smile. “Hey,” He said.

“Sorry, I just, have we met?” I asked, feeling stupid.

“Yeah,” He laughed weakly. “I’m Nick Jonas, Joe’s brother.”

“Ohh. Nice to meet you - again.” I said with a small smile.

“You too Lyric,” He grinned in response.

We got back to the hotel, the Jonas parents booking us another night since I wasn’t fit to travel. But this small fluke meant that they would be going straight from here to Ontario for their first concert of the burnin’ up tour tomorrow night.

“I feel really bad Mrs. Jonas, I’m sorry that all of this happened…” I said to her as we walked down the long hallway to our rooms. I didn’t know where we were going, but I just followed Joe. He wasn’t letting me out of his sight anyways.

“Don’t dear, it’s not your fault.” She said, pulling out a small card from her purse and sliding it into one of the doors. The small light above the lock turned green and the door clicked open. “We’ll see you guys in the morning.” She said, kissing all her sons goodnight.

“Night Mom,” Joe said as we walked into our room across the hall. “That bed is yours,” Joe said, pointing to the long single bed next to the door.

“Thanks,” I said weakly, setting my things down and sitting on its comfy white surface.

“You should get some sleep, we have to leave pretty early tomorrow morning.” Joe said, pulling his tee shirt off and walking towards the bathroom. I nodded, kicking off my flip flops. I turned to the suitcase that I assumed was mine and opened it, looking for something that looked like sleepwear.

All the clothes were unfamiliar to me, so I grabbed a pair of red soccer shorts and a long sleeved gray shirt. I changed quickly, sliding into the warm bed. Joe walked back in, turning off the bright overhead light. Kevin’s face could be seen glowing from the light of his cell phone, Nick sound asleep in the bed beside him.

“Goodnight Lyric,” Joe said quietly from the opposite side of the room.

“Night Joe.” I said quietly, pulling the blankets up to my chin. I rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling. I was exhausted, but couldn’t find it in me to sleep. Finally my eyelids caved on me and I fell into a deep sleep.

In my dream I was floating. I was surrounded by water - but it was dark. There were faint lights in the distance, and voices could be heard in the distance. I strained my eyes to hear - but nothing made sense. I couldn’t see anything, and I felt like I was drowning. I opened my mouth to yell for help, but my lungs flooded with water. I tried to scream, but nobody could hear me.

I sat up suddenly, breathing heavy as I woke from the nightmare. I looked over at the clock, seeing it was three in the morning. I put my hand on my chest, feeling my heart beating wildly. “Just a dream.” I said to myself, my hands shakily brushing the hair out of my eyes. “Just a dream.”

- the next morning, at six am sharp -

“Wake up boys, we’ve got a plane to catch!” Came a man’s voice as he walked into our room that morning, pulling open the curtains so sunlight poured in.

Nick pulled his pillow over his face, rolling onto his stomach. “Dad…” He groaned.

“Come guys, let’s go! Burnin’ up tour starts tonight! We’ve got to move!” He said, already grabbing the suitcases and wheeling them into the hallway.

“Burnin’ up?” I asked in confusion. “What’s that, a boy band?”

Kevin laughed, standing up and throwing the covers off himself and back onto the bed. “Nope, we’re the boy band and we’ve got a big opening show tonight.” He smiled.

“You never told me you were in a band.” I said, looking over at Joe.

“You never asked.” He said with a smile, holding his arms out for me to take to pull me out of bed. I rolled my eyes and took them as he pulled me so I stood up. He suddenly flung my arm around his neck and lifted me into his arms. I squealed in nerves as he lifted me off the ground and carried me into the hallway.

“Joe, what are you doing?” I said, burying my face in his shoulder.

“We can’t afford to have you fall again anytime soon.” He said, smiling down at me.

“Put me down.” I said with a laugh, slapping his arm playfully. “I may have forgotten who you are, but I haven’t forgotten how to walk. Plus, Kevin said you are the clumsy one.”

He rolled his eyes and set me down, but kept an eye on me anyways. “So where are we going?” I asked as we walked down the stairs, through the lobby and out to the parking lot.

“You’re coming with us to our first show in Ontario tonight.” Kevin chimed in as he loaded our suitcases into the trunk of the SUV.

“Canada?” I asked.

“She knows?” Nick asked.

“Well yeah - I mean, it’s not even our country.” I responded. Nick just shrugged and looked over at Joe.

“I don’t get it. She remembers little things, but not the big stuff. Like who we are or anything.” He said, opening the car door and hopping into the back seat.

“I know,” Joe sighed. “I don’t really get it either.”

“Get what?” I asked, getting into the seat beside Joe and slamming the car door.

“Nothing.” They both said at the same time, pretending that they hadn’t been talking. I just pulled my knees to my chest, looking out the window at all the unfamiliar buildings and people passing by. It made me wonder if at one point, I had known one the people walking by. Or if one of the stores had my favorite clothes or the best shoes I had ever worn. But I might never remember, and the thought of that was still scary to me.

There was a small rumble of thunder, and rain slowly started pouring down. I watched as the people on the sidewalks started running, holding newspapers and briefcases over their heads. A woman walking a dog jogging under a bus stop to stay dry. All these people had lives and people they knew and loved…and I didn’t. It all seemed so fake. I squeezed my eyes shut, and opened them again to see if all of this had just been one really bad nightmare. But it wasn’t. It was real.

We showed up to a small airport where a small jet like plane was waiting for us. “What’s this?” I asked as we all got out of the car, blinking against the rain.

“Our private jet.” Kevin smiled.

“Oh. Wow.” I said, looking over at Joe. He smiled weakly and held out his hand for me to take. I felt bad because he was obviously upset about the situation. But there was nothing I could do. “Wait, won’t my parents need to know?” I asked to no one in particular.

“We told them you’d just be coming for tonight’s show.” Denise said to me, her hand on my shoulder. “But if you’d like, you could stay for a few of them. You have all your things with you, so you’re welcome to stay with us on the tour bus.”

“Really?“ I asked, giving her my best smile that I could manage. She smiled and nodded as we neared the plane. We walked up the stairs and all took seats in the large, recliner like chairs. There were small TVs in front of each of us, and I took the window seat in the third row. Joe slid into the seat next to me, talking to Kevin about something, him toaking the seat diagonal from us.

We drove down the runway and took off, soaring up into the sky. I wondered if I had ever been on a plane before. “Hey Joe,” I asked him, once he and Kevin had stopped talking. “I know this sounds totally stupid, but how come when I talk, I have a different accent from you guys?”

He laughed. “Oh, I guess I left that major part out.” He said. “You’re from Australia. You moved to the states a few years ago.”

“Seriously?” I said, leaning back in my chair. “God, I’m such an interesting person - and I can’t even remember any of these things that you’re telling me. Who knew I was so cool?” I laughed slightly.

- Joe’s POV, an hour later on the way to Toronto, Ontario, Canada -

I looked over at Lyric sleeping on the plane in the seat beside me. It killed me to look at her now, knowing that she couldn’t remember me at all. I felt like somehow, this was my fault. Not bringing her home when I should have when she didn’t look too well, or having to be standing near the pool talking to that guy. There was always something I could have done differently, but didn’t. I was lost in my thoughts when all of a sudden Nick’s head popped up from the seat in front of me.

“So you know how the doctor said that something might trigger a strong memory or whatever?” He asked as soon as we were high enough in the sky to undo our seatbelts.

“Yeah,” I replied, raising an eyebrow and trying to figure out where he was going with this.

“Well, maybe tonight, one of our songs might make her remember.” He suggested. “Haven’t you sang her one at one point or another?”

I leaned back in my seat, thinking. “Well yeah, Gotta Find You when I was telling her about Camp Rock.” I shrugged. “But that’s not even on our set list-”

“So we’ll add it.” Nick protested. “Come on Joe, we’ve got to so something to make her remember.”

“How do we know it will work?” I said, looking at him with the look of defeat in my eyes. “I mean, how do we know that it will even do anything? What if her memory is gone forever-”

“Joe.” Nick said simply.

“What, Nick?” I fired back.

“You’ve got to have hope…” He said with a sigh.

I thought it over, but wanted to argue my point. “Fine.” I sighed. “We can try…” But deep down, I had my doubts. But then I looked over at her and felt my heart sink. This had to work. It just had to.

- - - - - - - -

.023 - Whirlwind.

- Lyric’s POV -

“Wow, when you said you guys were popular - you weren’t kidding.” I said as I marveled at all the girls lined up outside of the arena. It was still four hours until show, but they were going insane.

“Hey, can’t said I didn’t tell you.” Kevin said with a smile as the bus slowed to a park in the lot behind the arena. We all got off quickly, since it was important that the boys weren’t seen, and headed inside.

The stage was all set up, and the empty seats seemed to stare you down once you walked out to face them. I stood there, taking in the atmosphere. It must be amazing to experience the rush of being up here, pouring your heart out to the thousands who had come to listen.

“Crazy, isn’t it?” Joe said, coming up behind me.

“Breathtaking.” I said, sitting down and just looking. He sat down beside me.

“I still sometimes can’t believe it myself. Standing up here knowing that all these people are here just for us. We’re not the opening act, stalling so the big guys can come out. We’re it, and it gets me every time.”

“You love performing, don’t you?” I asked, looking over at him.

“Yeah, I do.” He nodded, tracing circles in the nonexistent dust on the black stage floor. “You did too.” He added quietly. I bit my lip and looked down, not knowing how to respond.

“Time to head backstage boys, Demi needs to do her sound check.” Mr. Jonas said, peeking his head out from around the corner. We both stood up and slowly walked off. I took a little longer, just watching as the arena slowly faded away.

The scene backstage was hectic. People were running around with microphones, drumsticks, tape, clothes, hairspray - everything and anything that could possibly be needed.

“Am I going to get to see you perform?” I asked Joe as I slid onto the countertop in front of the large light up mirror in their dressing room. He was having his hair straightened, and I was just hanging around watching as Demi’s voice slowly drifted through the corridors from her sound check.

Joe’s gaze cast from the mirror to me then over to his mom. She shrugged and said, “Sure, why not? There’s a second time for everything.” She smiled.

“So I take it I’ve seen you perform before?” I asked with a slight laugh.

“Yeah, at six flags about a month ago.” He responded.

“This lost memory thing is starting to get really old really fast.” I said dryly, hopping down off my seat as the boys were getting ready to go out and do sound check.

“You have no idea.” Nick said, clapping me on the back as he and his brothers and I all filed out of the room back towards the stage.

- Joe’s POV -

“Sound check is done, we go on in five.” My dad said as he rushed around backstage, making sure every little detail was taken care of. He made sure each show was perfect - right down to the dust specs on the stage floor. I was leaning against one of the large support beams that held up all the lighting equipment, listening to Demi finish up to an all too excited crowd. But my heart wasn’t in it, and I knew that I needed to get my head in gear.

All the lights went out, and strobes started flashing all over. Everyone screamed, the noise overcoming me. I felt my heart beat fast, the energy of the crowd filling the room. The opening chords rang out, loud and clear in the arena. I took my microphone, its cool frame electric under my fingers. I took one deep breath and walked out onto to the stage.

The crowd erupted, the floor shaking beneath me. I could see Lyric standing off to the side in front of front row in the area where security and camera men stood. She was looking around, taking everything in. We opened with That’s Just The Way We Roll - everyone in the room singing along. Lyric nodded her head to the beat and smiled. I could tell she was trying hard to remember the song.

“Change of plans.” I said into the small microphone that we used to talk to Jack, Greg and John during the show. They were the rest of our backup band and we always kept earpieces in so we could talk in-between songs.

“Oh no, what’s Joey got planned now?” Came Kevin’s voice. The crowd just kept screaming as we pretending to take drinks of our water instead of keeping secrets.

“This is going to be just a little something for you uh, Camp Rock fans out there…” I said into the other microphone, the crowd yelling at the sound of the words ‘Camp Rock’ as soon as they left my mouth. I picked up one of the acoustic guitars that was sitting on a stand off to the side and pulled a stool over to mic stand. Nick nodded, sitting down on one of the many leveled platforms. Kevin caught the hint and backed away too.

A spotlight cast down onto me, and I could see the slightly confused look on Lyric’s face, the set list in her hand. She leaned over and whispered something to my mom - who simply shrugged. I smiled at the crowd as the cameras started flashing, and looked down at my guitar and started playing.

- Lyric’s POV -

“Why does this song sound so familiar?” I said quietly to myself, even though it was hard to even hear myself think in a room as loud as this.

“…I need to try to get to where you are. Could it be you’re not that far? You’re the voice I hear inside my head, the reason that I’m singing. I need to find you, I gotta find you.” Joe started singing. I felt my body go rigid, chills up and down my spin. Why was I reacting like this to a song I had never heard before? “You’re the missing piece I need, the song inside of me. I need to find you, I gotta find you…”

All of a sudden it felt like a tidal wave was washing through my head. Voices, faces, memories, pictures and music all rushed around like fast forwarding in a movie. I stumbled back slightly, blinking my eyes. How did I get at this concert? I looked up at the stage and saw Joe singing Gotta Find You. There was a piece of paper in my hand, and it had the entire song list for the show on it. The song he was playing wasn’t on there.

“Hey Mrs. Jonas,” I said, leaning over to her. “When did the burnin’ up tour start? I feel like all of a sudden I just showed up here.” I said with a laugh. “And why is Joe playing Gotta Find You? I don’t see it on the list.”

Her eyes went wide. “You remember me? And Joe? And the song? Oh Lyric!” She said, throwing her arms around me.

“Uh yeah?” I laughed. “How could I ever forget you guys?” I said with a smile.

“Oh we’ll have to tell you about that later, just enjoy the show for now.” She said, her face glowing. I looked back up at Joe, who was looking directly at me as he sang. His voice sounded beautiful, echoing through the deathly quiet stadium.

And then I remembered. Hitting my head in the pool, losing my memory… it all made perfect sense. “Can I have a mic?” I asked one of the stage managers who was working the light booth off to the side.

“Uh, yeah I guess…why?” He asked, handing it to me cautiously.

“Just watch,” I grinned, flipping the small switch so it turned on. Joe slowly finished up the chorus, and I stepped out onto the stage. “You’re the remedy I was searching hard to find, to fix the puzzle that I had inside.” I sang, changing up the words a little bit. “Painting all my dreams the color of your smile. When I find you it will be alright…” He looked up at me, his jaw literally open with shock.

“That’s Lyric Carrington, that new chick who‘s going on tour with them this fall!” Somebody screamed. All of a sudden the rest of the crowd joined in, my voice barely audible over them. But it didn’t matter, Joe heard me. And that’s all I cared about. He lifted his guitar off, and Kevin started playing to keep the song going.

“I need to try to get to where you are,” He sang, slowly walking over to me. “Could it be you’re not that far?”

We both joined in on the chorus, our eyes locked the whole time. It was as if we were afraid to come near each other, and I started crying. I couldn’t help it - but something just made me so emotional. I felt like for some reason this was more important than anything. My favorite part was coming up, and it now had more meaning to it than ever before.

“Been feeling lost, can’t find the words to say. Spending all my time stuck in yesterday…” I sang, my hand slowly meeting his.

“Where you are is where I wanna be -” He sang, his eyes teary as well. It was such an insane moment and so emotional for everyone, that the whole room seemed to fall in step with how we were feeling. “Next to you. You next to me…”

When the song finished, I hugged Joe as tightly as I could as tears poured down my cheeks. “I can’t believe I forgot you.” I whispered.

“I forgive you,” He said with a smile. “But I think we’ll have to talk later,” He pulled away from me, gesturing the crowd that was still screaming. I laughed, slowly letting go of his hand and walked off the stage.

- an hour later, after the show on the tour bus -

“Wait - so you’re saying that I forgot everything?” I asked for what must have been the millionth time.

“Everything,” Nick said, cracking open a can of sugar free red bull.

“Oh my god, I feel so bad!” I said, putting my hands on either side of my head in defeat. “How could I ever forget you guys…”

“I was asking myself the same thing, I’m a hard person to forget.” Joe said with a smile, putting an arm around my shoulder. I picked up the closest pillow and smacked him with it. Kevin looked up from his blackberry and rolled his eyes.

“It was the weirdest thing though,” I said. “You started playing that song and all of a sudden everything came back to me.”

“I told you!” Nick said. I looked over at Joe, confused.

“The doctor said that something that held a strong memory like a picture, song or whatever could bring it back.” He said.

“And…” Nick chimed in. “I suggested for him to play Gotta Find You tonight and it worked!” He said, proud of himself.

“You coming on stage and joining along was awesome too.” Kevin said. “It was totally unexpected - and that was the beauty of it.”

I laughed. “Why thank you. I’m just glad to have my memory back.” I said, smiling up at Joe as he pulled me close.

“I would answer in words about how happy I am, but I think this explains it better.” He said, leaning in and kissing me. I smiled against his lips, my heart beating loudly in my chest.

Losing my memory and nearly losing my career, forgetting the love of my life, missing out on a concert of my own and almost getting fired by my manager. I guess you could say it was one heck of a week.

- - - - - - - -

.024 - Forward.

“I can’t believe you lost your memory and made me cancel that stupid concert!” James said, yelling at me over the phone. It was four in the morning, and he was apparently so seething with anger that he had to call me right away. He was also completely wasted - which was easy to tell by how his words were slurring together.

“James,” I yawned, shaking slightly as the tour bus went over a bump on the highway. That was nearly two weeks ago. You’re going to have to get over it sooner or later…”

“Shut up! Don’t tell me what to do-” He started screaming. I just rolled my eyes and flipped my phone shut.

“What’s with all the shouting?” Joe said from the bunk underneath me.

“Don’t worry about it, go back to bed.” I said, smiling and throwing one of my teddy bears that he had given me down onto his face. He just rolled his eyes and rolled over in his bunk, face first in his pillow marked ‘Danger’ in red right across the front.

I lay in my bunk, staring at the short ceiling that was only about a foot above me. I couldn’t sleep, as I had way too much on my mind. We were on our way to Detroit for the next show, and we still had a ways to go. I pulled down one of the small tv screens from my bunks ceiling and plugged in the headphones, deciding that a wizards of Waverly place rerun would have to do for now.

- the next morning, still on the tour bus -

“Good morning!” Mrs. Jonas said brightly as I was the last one to walk out to breakfast that morning. The boys were wrapped up in a game of guitar hero Aerosmith and Joe was losing miserably to Nick.

“Morning,” I smiled, reaching into a cabinet and pulling out the box of fruit loops.

“Poned!” Nick shouted, raising the guitar high over his head. “Lyric - I challenge you.” He said darkly. I laughed and rolled my eyes.

“I think I’m going to have to take a pass…” I said, trying my best to pour the cereal into a bowl without the bowl sliding away from me. I sat down at the small booth off to the side, watching them play and tapping my foot a long to the familiar beats.

“So what’s on the agenda for today?” I asked Joe, who was now sitting out as Kevin and Nick played. He looked over at me a shrugged.

“Oh you know, same old stuff. Meet and greets and noon, interview at three, sound check at five and concert at seven.” He said. “But I think we’re going to go bowling later.” He grinned.

“Seriously?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Kevin said, obviously eavesdropping. “Our dad came up here once for some work thing and found this cool little disco bowling place.”

“Awesome,” I said with a smile.

“Well it depends if we have time, honey.” Mrs. Jonas said to Joe. “You know how busy we are…”

“Yeah I know,” He said with a shrug. Suddenly there was the sound of a cell phone ringing. Everyone immediately pulled theirs out of their pockets, checking to see who’s it was.

“It’s mine,” Mrs. Jonas said, flipping it open. “Hello? Oh hi there Dianna!” She said with a smile. Everyone had gone quiet, now listening in.

“Who’s Dianna?” I asked Joe.

“Demi’s mom.” He replied automatically.

“Why are we-?”

“Shh.” Nick said, putting his finger to his lips. I just rolled my eyes and kept my mouth shut.

“Oh really?” Mrs. Jonas’s face suddenly fell. “That’s too bad…”

“Uh-oh.” Kevin said, looking over at Joe. Joe just bit his lip and shrugged.

“-Okay, I’ll be sure to let the boys know. Thanks Dianna, bye.” She finished, closing her phone and tucking it back in her pocket. “Bad news guys,” She said with a sigh.

“What’s up?” Nick asked, taking the guitar hero guitar off and placing it into a cabinet above the tv.

“Demi’s sick and can’t perform tonight. Her mother said she really wants to, but the poor thing can’t even get out of bed.” She said, tucking a piece of dark curly hair behind her ear.

“So what do we do for an opening act now?” Kevin asked, sinking down onto the couch. “We can’t just reschedule everything. We have plans with interviews and stuff during her performing spot.”

“I know, Kev. I’m trying to figure something out.” She said, frowning slightly.

“Well what about Lyric?” Joe asked.

“What about me?” I asked, throwing a look at him.

“Well you performed last night, who’s to say you can’t do it again?” He said with a shrug.

“It’s a thought…” Mrs. Jonas said.

“Woah, I don’t know guys…” I said, holding my hands up in front of my chest to show that I wanted them to stop for a second. “On stage with you guys? Fine, cool. But all by myself…don’t think so.”

“Lyric you have an entire tour coming up this fall…” Nick said. “You’re going to have to get used to performing alone sooner or later.”

“But I don’t have a set list or anything-”

“We can have James fax yours over for the fall tour.” Joe interrupted. “Come on Lyric, please?” He begged. I bit my lip and thought it over.

“Fine,” I sighed. “But just as long as it’s only tonight. I don’t want people getting mad at me for taking Demi’s spot or something. That’s the last thing I need…” I said, twisting a piece of my long black hair around my finger.

“Yes!” Joe said, pumping his fist in the air. I laughed shakily and got up, heading back to my bunk. I needed some more sleep if I was going to perform in front of thousands of people tonight.

- a few hours later, backstage preparing for the show -

“Lyric, you look like you’re going to pass out.” Nick said with a laugh, reaching over me to grab his drumsticks off the counter.

“Shut up, I’m nervous!” I said with a smile, tapping my fingers nervously on my legs.

“You look great,” Kevin added with a nod.

“Thanks Kev.” I laughed. Demi had helped me pick out my outfit, since she was feeling a little better than this morning. But she had lost her voice completely so there was a lot of pointing and hand waving. We were both cracking up the whole time, me because she couldn’t talk and every time she went to laugh no noise came out and Demi on knowing how ridiculous she looked.

I was wearing black skinny jeans and a metallic silver top with these crazy matching boots. I had on long, bright pink and green necklaces and felt really…vibrant. But I did look kinda cool.

“You ready Miss Carrington?” A stage hand asked, knocking on the door and just walking right in before anyone let her in. I nodded, sliding down off the stool I was sitting on in front of the large light up mirror. “We told the crowd what the deal is with Demi, and they seemed pretty excited to see you. I guess you’re all over some of those crazy teen magazines now? I don’t know. Well here’s your mic, have a great show!” She said, talking a mile a minute, throwing a microphone in my hand and pushed me towards the stage.

I stumbled slightly, peering over the side to see the exploding crowd. My stomach lurched in nerves as the opening chords to my song started playing. I took a deep breath, knowing this was now or never. If I was going to make a good impression on people - tonight was my night.

The adrenaline suddenly started to fill me and I ran out onto the stage, the spotlights all shining on me. The crowd roared as I started dancing around and singing. It was the most incredible feeling in the world. I let the music take me and fed off the crowd’s energy. If this was what performing was like, I think I could definitely handle my own fall tour. Watch out Miley - Lyric Carrington is in town.

- - - - - - - -

.025 - Suspicions.

- Lyric’s POV -

“Hey now, hey now! This is what dreams are made of!” I sang along to the radio that was blasting backstage after the concert. Demi and I were fooling around with the guys, waiting to go out bowling for a few hours. “Come on Joe!” I laughed, pulling his hands to come and dance with me. “Open your eyes, shout to the sky! When I see you smiling I go oh, oh, oh. Yesterday my life was duller, now everything’s Technicolor.” I sang, spinning in circles. I had loved the Lizzie McGuire movie for years and memorized all the songs. Someone had turned on radio Disney and I had nearly screamed when the song came on.

“You guys ready to go?” Mr. Jonas asked after coming out of the light and sound booth to make sure he had thanked everyone for their work that night. That was one of the great things about the Jonas family, they were so nice to well - everyone.

I nodded and turned around to walk towards the exit when I ran into someone - literally. I looked up to see James’ eyes blazing into me. “Uh-oh.” I heard Kevin say from behind me. “I have a - thing to take care of with that thing you know, back there…” He stuttered, hurrying away so he wasn’t involved.

“I better uh, go help Kevin.” Nick said, walking quickly away. Joe was the only one who stayed.

I took a deep breath, biting my lip. “Uhm, hi?” I said cautiously.

“We need to talk.” He said darkly, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from the rest of the group.

“Ow, hey!” I shouted, but he put his hand over my mouth. “What are you doing?” I gave a muffled scream. He whirled me to face him, his hands firmly gripping my shoulders so I couldn’t get away.

“Never perform without my consent, do you understand?” He said, his face inches from mine. “My clients don’t become superstars by being replacement opening acts, they have their own damn show and are the headlining act. They don’t go underlined by ANYONE, you hear me?”

“James you’ve got to be kidding.” I said. “You’re pissed because I performed without telling you and as an opening act?”

“Yes!” He hissed. “Don’t you EVER do it again!”

“And what if I do?” I said, my eyes narrowing. I wasn’t letting him push me over this time. He growled in anger and grabbed me, dragging me out the exit with his hands over my mouth again. I kicked and tried to scream but I couldn’t get away. He shoved me into the back seat of his car, slamming the door.

“What are you doing?” I screamed at him.

“You were a waste of my time!” He shouted, speeding out of the parking lot. “I gave you everything and then you go and ruin everything tonight!”

“They loved me out there! I don’t understand why you’re doing this!” I said, suddenly feeling really scared. “Where are you going?” I asked.

“The river.” He said.

“Wh- James!” I screamed, trying to pull open the door. But it was locked, and he was driving way too fast. “What are you going to do to me!” I said, my eyes welling with tears as my heart beat quickened in fear.

“Nothing anyone will be able to prove.” He said with a smile at me through the rearview mirror.

“Oh my god!” I screamed, crying hysterically. “You’re gonna kill me!”

“That was the plan - it would put an end to this little problem you created.” He said simply. “Your parents won’t have anymore kids to deal with and can have the tour all to themselves, just like they wanted. Nobody to stand in their way. And they sure as hell won’t screw it up like you did.”

I just sat in the back seat, my head in my hands as I cried. We were suddenly off road, driving up to an old railway bridge above the river. It was dark, and I couldn’t see anything. He walked over to my side of the car and ripped the door open. “Get out.” He hissed. I stood up and tried to run, but he caught me just in time. “Get over here.” He grabbed me, tying a thick scarf around my mouth and nose so I was gagged. He roped my hands and ankles together tightly, and I felt myself shaking.

This couldn’t be happening. These kind of things happened in horror movies and in towns that nobody had heard of. They didn’t happen in real life - not to people like me. I closed my eyes, praying that this would all be just a horrible nightmare.

- Back at the arena, Joe’s POV -

I looked down at my watch, wondering what was taking Lyric and James so long. I had seen them go around the corner to talk, so I decided to peek over to see if they were still there. As I neared, I didn’t hear any voices. I raised an eyebrow, walking right over to where they had been. But there was nobody there. I looked around, trying to find some kind of sign as to where they would be. But there was nothing.

“Hey Dad, have you seen Lyric?” I asked, walking back to the small lounge area where we had all been about twenty minutes earlier.

“I saw her and James leave about ten minutes ago, why?” He asked.

“No reason.” I said, turning away. Something was wrong, and I could feel it.

- - - - - - - -

.026 - End.

- Lyric’s POV -

“Want to sing Lyric? Is that it?” James said, sitting down on the edge of the bridge below the raging river - looking down at its dark depths with a smile on his face. I just stood there, tears running down my cheeks as I struggled to get free. He ripped the gag out of my mouth and threw it so the wind took it away. “Then sing Lyric Carrington! Let the whole world hear what you want them to hear!”

“No.” I mumbled, blinking once.

“Sing or else you’ll be fish bait.” He growled. I looked over at him, my expression scared to death. I took a deep breath and slowly opened my mouth. The words to This is me by Demi Lovato came to mind shortly after I had been singing them with her only an hour earlier.

“This is real, this is me. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be now.” I choked out.

“Rejected.” He said simply, giving me one giant push so I started falling. I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out. I was engulfed by the cold water of the river, darkness over coming me as I started to move with the current. I kicked as much as I could to raise my head above water, coughing and sputtering. I could hear James laughing loud and clear above me.

My teeth started chattering and I took a deep breath and went under, pulling at the ropes around my ankles. It took work against the current, but I got them untied. I kicked myself above water again, gasping for air. I untied my wrists and was finally free, but felt like a paper doll in a hurricane fan. I looked around at the land around me, seeing as much as the moonlight allowed. I took another deep breath and started swimming parallel to the waves - praying I would make it over before I got too far. It had already been twenty minutes and I figured I had gone at least six miles down river. This was looking bad.

- Joe’s POV -

“I’ve called her eight times and she still hasn’t picked up.” I said, sliding my iphone back in my pocket. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

“The way James was yanking her out of here didn’t seem right either…” My dad said, standing up and brushing his hands off on his jeans. “I don’t know Joe.”

“Hey - James gone?” Kevin asked, peeking his head out from around the corner.

“Yeah, and he took Lyric with him.” I said with a frown, twirling a random drumstick around my fingers in nerves.

“Why?” Kevin said, walking in with Nick following behind.

“I don’t know, but he was like - dragging her out to the parking lot. I couldn’t see much because it’s dark, but I didn’t like the looks of it.” I said.

“Well why didn’t you do something?” Nick asked.

“Well duh Nick - it’s James, her manager. You would think that I would be able to trust him and assume he wasn’t going to drag her off and like, throw her off a bridge or something.” I said with an eye roll. “But I’m getting the feeling that I can’t trust him.”

“How long has she been gone?” Nick asked, undoing the tie he had been wearing for the show.

“About half an hour - and she won’t pick up her phone.” I said. Just then someone walked in, looking through the dim light of the room I saw that it was Garbo.

“Hey - I just saw James with Lyric up on that old Rockwell bridge up the road on my way over. It was kinda weird.” He said, looking at all of us. Nick, Kevin and I all exchanged glances. “What?” Garbo asked, looking confused.

“I knew it.” I muttered. “Kevin - can I have your car keys?”

“What? Why? You can’t possibly be thinking that you’re going up there…” He said, looking at me like I was crazy.

“Joseph don’t - it sounds dangerous. Let’s just call the police or something.” My dad said, trying to talk me out of it.

“No, dad. I want to deal with James myself.” I said angrily, grabbing the keys from Kevin’s hand and walking out the door. I was still wearing what I had worn during the show, black skinny jeans and a black tee shirt. It wouldn’t suit the current time of day well - but I didn’t exactly have time to change.

I hurried out to Kevin’s green Jeep Commander, getting in and sticking the keys in the ignition. It took a few tries, but the car finally rumbled to life. “Yes.” I said to myself, relieved that the car had started.

It wasn’t hard to find the bridge, since it had been abandoned due to construction on a newer bridge right beside it. I looked to see James’ silver Volvo in the moonlight, sitting on the bridge. There was someone laying on top of the car - looking like they were tanning themselves in the darkness. I raised an eyebrow - but drove right over as quickly as I could. James sat up at the sound of the car approaching on the gravel - and grew an amused expression when he saw my face.

“Why hello there Joseph! Lovely evening we’re having isn’t it?” He asked, smiling.

“James, where’s Lyric?” I sighed, rolling my eyes and praying that this was just going to be some kind of sick joke. I already felt like I was in a bad action/horror movie as it was.

“Somewhere down there.” He said simply, gesturing boredly to the raging river below us.

“Funny - now where is she?” I asked, not believing him. I refused to.

“Like I said, down there.” He repeated dully. “She chose not to listen to me and performed without permission. Little brat. So I took care of her - and now Lyric Carrington is no more!” He laughed, clapping his hands.

“You killed her?!” I shouted, my eyes widening.

“That would be the goal - yes.” He said with a smirk at me, sliding off his car and walking over to me. “But uh - let’s just keep this in-between you and I huh?” He said, tapping the side of my face. “Good man.”

“You killed her.” I said again quietly. “James - I can’t let you get away with this. I’m calling the cops.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket, shakily searching for the buttons on the touch screen.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” James said simply, leaning on the side of his car.

“And why not?” I asked, my body still shaking with fear.

“Because…” He said, standing up and walking towards me again. “I wired that whole arena before I kidnapped your precious little pop princess. Do as much as lift a finger to rat me out - and your whole family will be imploded.”

“There’s no way…” I said, shaking my head.

“Au contraire, my good man, there is.” He said, taking out his phone. “I press speed dial number one and my good friends down in pyro can make all those special effects and fireworks at your concert tonight look like a bad accident.”

I said nothing, sliding my phone back in my pocket. “Everyone knows it’s you. They all saw you leave with her.” I fought back, trying to find something to hold against him. His eyes flashed in fear for a second, but hardened quickly.

“Impossible - it was too dark.”

“James - everyone saw you. The stage hands, my family, staff - there’s nobody else to blame but you.” I said, gaining hope and walking towards him. He started backpedaling, taken aback that one small detail in his plan may have failed.

“No - they won’t catch me.” He said, crossing his arms.

“Murder James. You could be fined millions of dollars, sentenced to death yourself…you lost, it’s over. You’ll have to live with this forever. A multi-million dollar career down the drain because you’re stupid and greedy.” I said, my eyes misting with tears. “You killed her. My girlfriend. Think of her parents! They already lost Harmony - and they thought they could trust you with Lyric! What will they think of you when you crawl back and ask to manage them again?”

“I- They…they won’t know, they can’t know…” He said, looking around nervously as he continued to step back from me. “You have to help me Joe, make them forgive me! What have I done!” He screamed, whirling around turning to run. But the night caught him, and he couldn’t see the edge of the bridge coming. He tripped and started falling, yelling before the loud splash of the river caught him.

I ran to the bridges edge, peering over to see if there was any trace of him. But I couldn’t see anything in the swelling currents below me. I panicked, and got into my car - driving as fast as I could back to the arena.

- Lyric’s POV -

Land. I had made it. I had no idea where I was and was breathing so heavily from swimming against the raging current. It was cold, and I was shivering. My leg stung, and looking down at my jeans I could see a blood stain from where I must have caught a rock wrong on my way up to the side. But I didn’t think about that. I was alive, but barely.

I stood up, pulling my cell phone from my pocket. It was water logged and sparking from short circuiting. I let go of it quickly, letting it fall to the ground. “Great.” I murmured, wringing my hair out and pulling off the soaking wet jacket I had on. I wished I knew what time it was, where I was - anything. But all I knew was that I had been taken down river by some stupid river in the middle of nowhere in Canada and was lost.

Taking a deep breath, I turned around and saw that I was surrounded by deep woods. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I said aloud, looking around to see nothing more than dense areas of trees. I sighed, knowing I didn’t have much of a choice, and started walking.

- Joe’s POV -

“Mom! Dad! Someone!” I shouted, running into the back door of the area and down the long aisles along the many rows of seats.

“Joe?” I heard a voice say, seeing Demi Lovato walk out on stage. “Joe, what’s going on? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” She smiled.

“Demi - James. He…He…” I gasped, collapsing into a chair in the front row, my head in my hands. Her expression turned to concern as she hurried down the side stage stairs and over to me.

“Joe - what happened?” She asked, sitting down beside me. I couldn’t help it and I started crying - completely overwhelmed by the situation. “James. He killed Lyric.” I said quietly.

“What!?” She nearly shouted. “Oh my god, Joe, are you sure? What do we do? How did she-?”

“Kidnapped her from right under our noses. I should have done something…I should have known…” I said, shaking my head. “Brought her to Rockwell bridge, pushed her off…”

“What’s going on out here?” My mom said, coming out onto the stage as well and looking down at us. “Joe, hunny, are you okay?” She asked, hurrying down the stairs to where we were. I didn’t respond.

“James killed Lyric.” Demi said softly.

“You’re kidding. No, there’s no way…” She said, her hands going over her mouth. “Paul! Paul!” She yelled for my dad, who came out onto the stage as well to see the three of us.

“What’s with all the yelling?” He asked.

“James! He killed Lyric! Oh my goodness…the poor little girl. What do we do?” She said, her voice rising in panic.

“Mom.” I said quietly. “James is dead too. He fell off the bridge by accident, and I remember Lyric telling me that he couldn’t swim…Lyric…” My voice sounded heavy.

“Joseph, I’m sorry. We’ll figure something out…maybe she’s still out there.” My mom said, sitting down on the other side of me and rubbing my back. I stood up, shaking with anger.

“She can’t be Mom! Didn’t you hear what I said? He killed her! She’s gone!” I shouted, walking away from them all. “She’s …she’s dead.”

- - - - - - - -

.027 - Revenge.

- Joe’s POV -

“Joe, sweetie, are you sure you want to leave? I mean…there’s still a chance.” My mom said to me as we finished packing our things onto the bus to get ready for the next stop on the tour.

“No Mom - there’s not. I just want to get out of here as quick as possible.” I said quietly, brushing past her. It was near ten in the morning - almost twelve hours since Lyric had disappeared. I couldn’t even stand to think about her anymore without my heart breaking. Nick and Kevin walked onto the bus, Kevin with a newspaper in is hands. The headline was haunting me every time I closed my eyes. ‘Up and Coming Pop Sensation murdered’ it read, her picture with us from a few weeks back gracing the front page. Sliding into a chair at the small booth in the bus kitchen, my expression was blank and my eyes empty. I looked away and put my head in my hands. The bus slowly grumbled to life and we made our way out onto the highway and away from the city - passing Rockwell bridge on the way.

- Lyric’s POV -

“My life sucks, everyone think’s I’m dead…” I sing-songed to myself as I wandered through the thick amounts of trees. I had been walking for a few hours, completely lost. Suddenly the amounts of forest started to lessen - a patch of grass appearing in the distance. I blinked, thinking I was imagining things. An above ground pool came into view, a house shortly after. “There’s no way…” I said to myself, walking quicker. Sure enough I had somehow stumbled into a nearby neighborhood. I walked closer, hearing loud music and the sound of voices from the pool.

I wanted to just run right over and beg for help, but I worried I would freak someone out. After all, my face was all scratched up from rocks and tree branches, my clothes were filthy and my hair was thrown up messily on top of my head. Maybe it wasn’t too bad. I took a deep breath and the two voices came in clearer from inside the pool.

“…I know, I feel so bad. I wish we could have gone to the concert - but we have the one in Connecticut in a few weeks so it’s not like we’re totally missing out.” One of them said.

“I still can’t believe it. Lyric Carrington…dead! I was watching some of her videos on Youtube and she was really good! I was looking forward to seeing her on tour with the Jonas Brothers in the fall.” The second replied. My heart stopped. Everyone did think I was dead. Oh this sucked - majorly.

“Well - whatever. I mean, what can you do? I just feel bad for the guys - they must be taking it pretty hard.” The first continued. “It’s too bad they left so fast.”

My shoulders sank. So that was it, they just left without me. I sighed and walked up to the side of the pool to see one girl sitting on the pool deck and another on a float in the water. “Uh - excuse me?” I asked, biting my lip. The girl with the blonde hair looked over at me and her eyes widened.

“Oh my god-” She said, falling off the raft and into the pool water. The one sitting on the deck just kind of stared at me, not knowing what to say.

“Sorry, sorry.” I said, backing away slightly. “I just - I was wondering if you guys could help me? I could kind of use a change of clothes and maybe a few band aids…”

“You’re Lyric Carrington!” The blonde girl shouted suddenly after surfacing from underwater.

“Well - yeah but-” I started to say, but they seemed all too overwhelmed to let me talk.

“But - you’re and you - bridge and…” The brown haired girl on the deck said, standing up and pulling on a pair of soccer shorts. “Of course we’ll help you-”

“You’re supposed to be dead!” The blonde girl interrupted.

“Liz!” The other girl said, glaring at her friend. The girl who I now knew as Liz slowly climbed out of the pool and wrapped a towel around her waist.

“I’m sorry I just. Wow.” She said, brushing the hair out of her eyes. I just kind of stood there and shrugged.

“So can you guys uh - help me out?” I asked.

“Oh my god yeah, Mae can you go open the gate? I’m gonna run inside real quick.” Liz said, hurrying across her deck over to the sliding glass door. I walked up onto the deck and sat down at one of the chairs around a long glass table.

“I hate to bother you guys…” I said, pulling a leaf out of my hair and frowning as I let it fall to the ground.

“No, no don’t even think that! It’s not a problem at all - really.” Mae said, smiling at me. “It’s just uh...well..” She walked over to the stack of papers that was lying on an end table near a long chase lounge on the deck and brought over the front page. She handed it to me and I scanned the headline, seeing my picture right there underneath it.

“Oh no.” I said sadly, slowly opening the pages to read the cover story. “Oh no this is bad, so, so bad.” I said, shaking my head and folding it back up and handing it to her. Liz suddenly came outside with a woman I was expecting to be her Mom.

“See? Isn’t it crazy? She’s not dead!” Liz said, smiling and jumping up and down.

“Oh my god hunny, you better come inside. Liz will have a change of clothes for you. And you must be starving…” She said, one hand on the side of her face as she looked at me. “Are you alright? Should we get you to a hospital?”

“No, it’s fine.” I smiled, standing up. “Just a little shaken is all. Thank you so much for helping me out.” I said genuinely.

“Not a problem.” Liz’s mom smiled as we walked inside the house.

- Joe’s POV -

“Joe, come on. We’ve got a radio interview in ten minutes.” Nick said, banging on the bathroom door of the hotel we were now in. We had made it to Detroit and were preparing for the next stop on the tour. I on the other hand was not ready to perform at all. Not with Lyric dying only the night before. But I knew I had to suck it up for my fans.

“Coming, coming.” I mumbled, splashing some water on my face and looking in the mirror. I had dark circles under my eyes from not sleeping at all and my hair was a mess. I shook it out, running my hand through it a few times until I looked somewhat presentable. I walked out of the bathroom and spotted Kevin, Nick and my parents with Frankie getting ready to leave.

Nick was standing in front of a mirror, adjusting his tie. Kevin was lying on one of the beds with a guitar, humming along to the chords of love bug. My mom looked over at me, her eyes to hurt to see I was so upset. “You ready?” She asked softly. I just nodded. I hadn’t said much of anything since the previous night. We all made our way out to the limo waiting for us as quickly as possible, trying to make our way through the attacking crowd that was waiting. They screamed my name, cried once they saw me and held their cameras high just wishing to get a glimpse of my face. But I kept my sunglasses on and my eyes cast downward - not ready for them to see me.

The ride to the radio station was silent. Kevin texting and Nick just looking out the window. My stomach was growling - but I couldn’t find it in me to even touch anything. We pulled into the gates and into the parking lot, slowly making our way inside. There was screaming in the distance - and I knew we could only expect yet another mob of fans waiting for us.

We were introduced to the morning DJ named Robin and settled into our sets for the interview. I pulled on my headset and leaned back in my chair, tapping my foot boredly while looking down at my hands that were permanently curled into fists.

“We’re live in 5, 4,3,…” Robin said, the last two numbers inaudible as she held up her fingers. “Hey there teenage Detroit, Michigan! We’ve got your favorite boys here in the studio this morning Nick, Kevin and Joe Jonas. Hey guys!”

“Hey!” Kevin said into the mic.

“So your latest tour has just started - the burnin’ up tour. How’s that been going?” She asked.

“Awesome, you know it’s so good to see all the fans out on the road and to have a chance to play all our new songs for them. We played our first show last night and we’re already pumped for the next.” Nick said with a smile and a nod.

“Good, good. I know I’ll be there. My daughter and I have tickets and are very excited to see you play.” She smiled. “Now down to business - I couldn’t help but catch you guys on the front of the paper this morning with another up and coming pop sensation. The murder of Lyric Carrington has been all over the news, how are you guys taking it?”

I felt myself freeze. I wasn’t ready for a question like this, but I knew it was my turn to answer. That’s how all our interviews usually went. But I didn’t know how to respond. Pity flashed on Kevin’s face as we all fumbled with words to say.

“Well, you know…” I said, my voice cracking slightly. “It’s been hard on all of us, but you’re going to have to move on and continue the tour even when these kind of things happen.”

“…Our deepest sympathies go out to Lyric’s family and we’re very disappointed that we won’t be able to tour with her this fall.” Kevin chimed in. I gave him a look of thanks and he nodded.

Robin nodded. “We’re going to take a quick break, so don’t go anywhere!” She said, pushing a few buttons so burnin’ up started playing on the radio and the small light above us that said ‘on air’ flipped off. I stood up as quickly as possible.

“I need to get some air.” I mumbled, walking out of the room and away from everyone. This was getting harder by the second.

- Lyric’s POV -

“Oh uhm…wow?” I said as I walked upstairs to Liz’s room, better known as Jonas Headquarters. Her walls were plastered with posters from floor to ceiling of the boys, and it kind of creeped me out. But I thought it was cute at the same time, even though Mae and Liz were the same age as me.

Liz walked in and laughed, handing me a brush since I had just gotten out of the shower. “Yeah, Mae and I kind of have OJD.”

“You’re so lucky that you’re going to tour with them this fall…” Mae sighed, collapsing down onto Liz’s bed. “What’re they like?”

“Oh they’re a handful.” I smiled, pulling out all the knots in my hair and then throwing it back up into a messy bun on top of my head. “But they’re sweet guys, I love them to death. It just sucks cause they all think I’m dead and left for Detroit without me.”

“Here - how’s this? It’s not much, but it’s all I have right now.” Liz said, tossing me a pair of lacrosse shorts and a red sox jersey.

“It’ll be fine.” I smiled. “Do you have a phone I can borrow? I should try to call Kevin.” I said simply. Their faces broke into wide grins.

“You’re going to call Kevin Jonas? Right now? In my room on my phone?!” Liz shrieked.

“Uh, yeah?” I asked with a small laugh. “Thanks.” I said as she handed her phone to me. I dialed in Kevin’s number, since I couldn’t think of Joe’s off the top of my head. It rang once then went straight to voicemail. “Ugh.” I said, hanging it back to her. “Thanks anyways.”

“So what are you going to do now? Since they left and all?” Mae asked, studying me. I shrugged.

“I don’t really know.” I said, biting my lip. Liz went over to her computer, scanning the headlines on the yahoo! Homepage.

“Hey, check this out!” She said, waving us over. “New leads found in Carrington murder case.” She read aloud. It was still creeping me out to see that half the world thought I was dead. “A body was found in the Moose River earlier this morning and is believed to be that of James Murray, former manager and alleged killer of pop sensation Lyric Carrington. Witnesses say that Carrington, 15, was kidnapped from an arena where she was seen with the superstar band known as the Jonas Brothers. Murray, 42, was said to have taken Carrington against her will and driven her away from the building. It is unknown what happened to her between the hours following, but it was reported that Carrington was thrown from the bridge and is suspected to be dead of drowning. No new leads have yet to be found.”

“Eerie.” Mae said, shaking slightly. “You were pushed off a bridge?” She asked, looking at me. I nodded. “Wow, that sucks!”

“A little.” I laughed nervously.

“Oh wait there’s more!” Liz said, scrolling down. “No comments have been made directly by the Jonas Brothers, who were set to tour with Lyric in the fall, but a source said that one of the brothers is very upset by the incident as he had close personal relations with her. The source will not inform us on who, but it is heard that the song ‘A little bit longer’ will be dedicated in Lyric’s memory at tonight concert in Detroit.’ Awh!” Liz said.

“Close relations? With who?” Mae asked eagerly.

“I can’t tell!” I laughed. “Plus, it’s nothing like that. They’re like my brothers - seriously.” I said, repeating the line I was told to give whenever I was asked if I was dating one of the boys.

“Liar.” Liz grinned. “We have to get you to that show tonight.” She said.

“Are you crazy?!” Mae said. “We can’t go to another Jonas Brothers concert! We’re only allowed to go to one this whole year. And plus, our parents aren’t going to drive us all the way out there!”

“Hm.” Liz said, clicking off the internet and spinning around in her chair. “Well we have to do something to get Lyric back. I mean hello? It’s Lyric Carrington!” She shrieked slightly. I winced. “Sorry.” She laughed. “A little star struck.”

I nodded. “Thanks for your guy’s help, but I think I might be able to get this fixed.” I smiled, picking up her cell phone and making a few phone calls. Luckily I still had my credit card, so there was a chance that a potential disaster could be averted. We all made our way downstairs as I waited for the cab I called to come.

“Awh. Leaving so soon?” Liz asked. “I never even got your autograph!”

“Know what?” I said, smiling. “Give me your guy’s phone numbers. I’ll call you once I get a new cell and I’ll figure something out so I can thank you for all of this.”

They exchanged glances and smiled, writing their numbers down and handing them to me. “Thanks. I’ll talk to you guys later?” I grinned, walking down the front steps out to the bright yellow cab that was waiting for me. They waved as they watched me drive off, and I waved back. It was good to know that there was still good people out there these days.

“Where to, Miss?” The cab driver asked, looking at me through the rearview mirror.

“The closest mall please.” I smiled, pulling a silver piece of plastic out of my pocket. If James was dead, then I had free will to spend all the money he left me. Who said payback is a bad thing?

- - - - - - - -

.028 - Imperfections.

- Joe’s POV -

“Nick, could you, please?” I asked from my position on the top of the stairs of the stage that was all set up for the concert that night. Nick was sitting at the piano, practicing a little bit longer and humming along.

“Sorry.” He said with a sad nod, standing up and grabbing his guitar before walking off stage. I watched him walk away, and then looked out at all the empty seats in front of me. Performing tonight? Just the thought of it made me sick. Why was all of this happening? Everything was James’s fault. Lyric had just gotten her memory back and now she’s… I couldn’t even think the word anymore.

That interview today had been hell on earth, and I begged God forgiveness for even thinking that. But I was just asking him every second why he had taken her from me. What had I done wrong to lose her?

“You ready for sound check?” Demi asked, walking slowly out onto stage. I looked up at her, my eyes solemn. I said nothing and hopped down off the platform and brushed past her and off the stage. “Joe wait.” She sighed, turning around and following me.

“What.” I said, my voice quiet.

“I really am sorry about Lyric. I didn’t know her long, but me and her started hanging out a lot before-” Her voice stopped short. “Just know that I’m here for you okay?” She said, wrapping her arms around my waist. I hugged her back, closing my eyes and trying to imagine she was Lyric. My eyes grew blurry, and I couldn’t help it and let a tear fall. Demi was crying too, and we just stood there holding each other to let the emotion out.

“We better go.” Demi choked out, letting go of me. “We have still have a show to do tonight.” I nodded and sighed, following her back to the dressing rooms.

- Lyric’s POV -

It’s amazing how fast my story got out within eighteen hours. Walking alone in the mall, newspaper stands were covered with my picture and radios talking about the story. I got a ton of funny looks and people pointing and saying how I ‘looked just like that dead girl’ and all that. It made my stomach sink, but I tried to ignore it.

My hair was returned to normal, as I had all the black hair dye stripped out and the extensions taken off. It was its usual dirty blonde color and shoulder length, just like before. I was wearing black skinny jeans, a long yellow tee shirt and a bright blue cardigan with one button in the middle with three quarter length sleeves. I had some long silver loop around necklaces on, courtesy of Tiffany’s and blue converse.

With my look back to the way it used to be, I was near unrecognizable. I had never really liked how James had taken control of the way I looked, and I knew I shouldn’t be spending all this money. But if he was gone then I wanted to start my career over - the right way. Plus, Joe would know it was me if he saw me. Joe. I sighed. He, like everyone else, thought I was dead. But how in the world was I going to get to Detroit when the concert was almost two hours away? I pulled the silver piece of plastic out of my pocket and smiled. These last few dollars on here might do it. If James was going to take me away from Joe, then his money would have to bring me back. Deep down I was hoping he had died, even though I knew it was a horrible thing to think.

I hurried out the door of the mall and into the parking lot, squinting against the bright sunlight. I opened my new cell phone and dialed for a cab again - and entered Liz and Mae’s numbers while I waited. I knew I had to thank them somehow, but I wasn’t sure what I was going to do quite yet. Honking snapped me out of my daydream - and a yellow cab was pulling in. “Detroit please - and step on it!” I said, slamming the car door as I got in. I had a pretty long car ride ahead of me, but if things worked out right I should be able to make it with twenty minutes left in the concert. I crossed my fingers and closed my eyes, afraid to watch the trees flying by on the highway. I was worrying about Joe, my parents, everyone. Time was moving too fast and I had to do something to stop it. With every passing second I was losing Joe more and more.

- Joe’s POV -

“Ready?” Nick said, clapping my shoulder as we stepped onto the long metal beam that was part of our entrance. I slipped on my sunglasses and grabbed my microphone, taking a shaky breath. Demi had just finished and the whole arena was dark, the screams echoing all around us.

“Yeah, let’s go.” I said, watching as the flames started shooting up around the stage and the opening chords to that’s just the way we roll began playing. I closed my eyes and opened them again as the crowd started to appear in front of us - last night all over again. Letting the energy and adrenaline take over, I opened my mouth and let the words flow out - the music taking over. It amazed me how I could be in a room surrounded by people, but yet still felt totally alone.

- Lyric’s POV -

I ran to the front gate of the arena, seeing tons of people crowding the lawn. I could hear Play My Music loud and clear, and Joe’s voice was filling the air around us. I smiled as I tried to walk in, but I was stopped. “Uhm excuse me, but do you have a ticket?” The security guard said, his eyes stern.

“Oh, uhm..” I said, fumbling through my pockets. “Shoot.” I mumbled. I had my tour ID in my pocket when I left with James, but I must have lost it when I fell into the river. “I had a tour ID, and you see, I’m Lyric Carrington and-”

“Lyric Carrington? Funny kid. She was murdered this morning, I’m not stupid.” He hissed. “Now get out of here.”

I groaned and walked away, throwing half my hair into a messy bun to get it out of my face. I knew some of the traveling security guards fairly well, maybe if I snuck around back I could find a way to get in. I quickly ran to the back of the arena where all the tour buses and equipment trucks were parked. That’s when I saw a girl with long brown hair and a shiny gold vest on standing out in the parking lot talking to someone as she came off one of the tour buses. I gasped. “Demi!” I shouted. She heard her name and turned around, looking to see where the voice was coming from. I jogged closer, waving. “Over here!” I shouted, as I couldn’t pass the small metal gate surrounding the large area she was in. I saw her squint in my direction, then her expression turned to shock.

“Lyric?” Demi said, looking around her and then back at me - blinking once. “Oh my god.” She quickly ran over to me, just to be sure. “Look at you, you’re hair! Wait, my god, you’re alive!” She screamed, throwing her arms around my neck. I laughed, happy to see someone was glad to see my face today. She waved me in and I hopped the gate into the blocked off area and walked with her. “This is insane,” She said, looking at me every ten seconds. “Joe’s going to be - oh my god. Joe!” She yelled, slapping her hand on her forehead.

“What about him?” I asked, running my hand through my hair. I wasn’t used to it being so short - but it felt good to have those awful extensions out.

“He thinks you’ve kicked the bucket.” She said as we walked through an emergency exit and into the arena. The music was now twenty times louder and we had to scream just to hear each other. BB Good was now playing and the shrieks of the crowd just seemed to get impossibly louder. Demi waved for me to follow her and we walked back to the dressing room area away from all the noise.

“Makes you wonder how we can do it almost every night of the week.” She laughed as we passed the numerous rooms. You could tell which one the boys had been in, since there were clothes scattered everywhere and empty red bull cans tossed about the floor.

“If Be Be Good is playing now, that means…” I said, the thought slowly registering. “A little bit longer is next.” I said, my voice sounding empty. Demi slowly nodded. Suddenly there was a sound of a door opening and both of us whirled around to see who it was. Denise Jonas was coming out of one of the rooms, a denim jacket in her hand.

“Oh hello Demi,” She smiled warmly as she walked towards us. “I just left my jacket in your room and went to go get it. Who’s your friend?” She asked.

“It’s me, Lyric.” I said, biting my lip and grinning nervously. Her eyes widened.

“Wh-oh my- Lyric!” She sobbed, throwing her arms around me just as Demi had earlier. I had a feeling that I was going to be hugged a lot tonight. “We thought we lost you!”

“I’m just glad to be back.” I smiled, hugging her back. She was like a mom to me, and we had always been really close ever since we met. Seeing her again made me feel better about the whole situation.

“The boys are on stage now but I can’t wait to tell Joe. Oh my goodness Lyric, he will be so happy to see you. He’s been in a mood ever since last night.” She said, shaking her head. “Poor boy.”

“Come on,” Demi said, listening as the noise from the arena behind us slowly died down. “They’re about to start a little bit longer, we have to get over there. Bye Denise!” She said, grabbing my arm and pulling me along with her. Once we got to the side of the stage, I could see Nick sitting at the big grand piano on the opposite side, and Joe and Kevin were standing in front of two microphones.

Joe looked like a deer in headlights, his usual bright and happy expression vacant on his features. “We’d uh, like to dedicate this song tonight to a very special girl named Lyric Carrington.” Nick said, the whole arena slowly growing quieter to listen to his words. “As most of you may know, Lyric was going to be on tour with us this fall - but an unfortunate string of events has caused her to not be with us tonight. So when you hear this song, when you sing - I want you to think of her, or anyone else you know who couldn’t be here tonight. We love you Lyric, and we know you’re in heaven with god now, smiling down on us. God bless.” Nick said, slowly starting to play. My eyes started to tear at his words, and I just wanted to cry and run the other way. Who knew it was going to be this painful? I couldn’t even watch anymore, seeing Joe in all this pain. I had to do something…but what?

- Joe’s POV -

I stood in front of the microphone, feeling like a house of cards in a hurricane. I was losing it big time. Every last word that came out of Nick’s mouth made my heart shatter into even more pieces then I thought possible. The opening chords were haunting, and I could feel all eyes on the room burning into me. I just wanted to fall to my knees and break down, I couldn’t do this.

“Got the news today, but they said I had to stay a little bit longer and I’ll be fine…” Nick sang, everyone around us growing teary eyed. My heart was pounding in my chest and I felt my head swell. I couldn’t follow through with this, the tears were coming way too fast. I turned and walked off the stage, blowing by everyone and back towards the dressing rooms. I heard someone call my name, but I ignored them. Once I got into the room I slammed the door behind me, giving in to the mental breakdown that I knew was coming. She was dead. Lyric, my Lyric - was dead.

There was a soft knock on the door. “Go away.” I hissed, falling backwards onto the couch and covering my face with a pillow. I knew it was unprofessional to walk off during a show like that, but it was Nick’s song anyways. The people in the crowd would live. The door clicked opened and somebody walked in. “Joe.” They said softly. I lifted the pillow slightly off my face to look and see who it was.

“Not now, Lyric.” I huffed, covering my face again. But then I felt myself freeze. I sat up and dropped the pillow, seeing her standing in the doorway. “Lyric?” I choked. She nodded, silent tears streaming down her face. “Oh my god.” I said, standing up and walking over to her. I touched the side of her face gently, brushing away the tear. I was crying too - but I couldn’t even feel it anymore.

“Yeah Joe,” She said. “It’s me.”

“Lyric.” I said, hugging her tightly. “I thought I lost you.”

“I’m always here Joe.” She choked. “Always have been, always will be.”

I slowly let go, not letting her get away from me completely. I just looked at her. Her black hair was gone, and was back to its old shoulder length dirty blonde color. Her green eyes sparkled as she smiled, biting her lip as she looked at me. I put both hands on the side of her face and leaned in, kissing her deeply through the tears. “I love you.” I whispered once we pulled away.

“I love you too Joe.” She cried, hugging me again. It’s amazing how perfect life can be when your whole world fits right into your arms.

- - - - - - - -

.029 - Sensations.

“Where are we?” Kevin asked as we stepped off the tour bus in the parking lot of the next arena we were at for the newest stop on the Burnin’ Up tour.

“Wait - don’t tell me. I know this.” Joe said, tapping his chin and looking around.

“Hartford, Connecticut.” I said before he could answer. He threw me a look and I just smiled.

“You never let me have anything.” He grinned, putting his arm around my neck and pulling me down.

“Ah, Joe!” I laughed. “Stop!”

“Alright guys, let’s go. We have a lot to do so we better get started.” Mr. Jonas said, pulling on his sunglasses against the bright glare from the sun blazing down on us.

We had only been walking for about ten seconds, and then Joe spoke. “I smell food.” He said, his eyes darting over to a small barbeque with about thirty people hanging around over next to the arena in the parking lot.

“Oh yeah, some radio station contest winners are hanging out there before the show.” Kevin chimed in. “We were invited, and I thought we would try to stop by if we had time.”

Joe looked down at his watch. “I’m doing nothing better, I say we head over.” He said, taking off towards the group of people. I laughed and followed. There was a small booth set up where 96.5 TIC was broadcasting live, playing Control by Metro Station as people sat around eating, talking and dancing. Off to the side I saw two girls sitting with a bag of chips in front of them as they talked among themselves.

“Hey, that’s Liz and Mae!” I said excitedly.

“Who?” Nick asked, looking over at me.

“The two girls that saved my life the other night.” I smiled. “Come on, we have to go over and say hi!” I said, stepping under the rope that was blocking off the area of people and picnic tables. Hurrying over I slid down into the seat beside Liz. “Hey!” I said brightly. She turned and looked at me.

“Lyric? Wow, hey!” She laughed.

“Liz. Oh my goodness.” Mae choked out, looking over her friend’s shoulder.

“What?” Liz asked, tucking a piece of blonde hair behind her ear. Joe suddenly slid into the seat beside Mae, Kevin beside him and Nick sat down on the other side of Liz.

“Hi.” Joe smiled, reaching into the bag of chips and taking a few out before popping them in his mouth.

“You’re joking.” Liz said, looking at Nick and smiling - her eyes wide. “Lyric I love you.”

“I don’t.” Joe said, making a face at me. I threw him a look and he just cracked a smile.

“I figured I could pay you guys back somehow, but I’m not sure how yet. So I figured meeting the guys would have to do for now.” I shrugged.

“Uh, yeah. I think we’re good.” Mae said with a shaky laugh.

“Come on,” I laughed, standing up. “Nobody’s dancing, I think we should change that.”

“Woah, I feel just like we’re taking control of the night, of the night. Yeah, yeah whoa I feel like we’re losing control of the night. If you let go, I’ll let go tonight.” Trace Cyrus’s voice blared over the speakers as we all started dancing.

“I’ll need everyone to take their seats please,” The radio station DJ said after the song had ended. The boys were slowly starting to be swarmed by the other fans that had seen them - but slowly made their way to a seat. “Thanks. Now’s the time to draw our winner’s for the front row seats to tonight’s show.” He said, sticking in his hand in a small bucket full of small slips of paper.

“Ugh, we’re not gonna win.” Liz said, making a frown as she covered her eyes - afraid to look.

“Awh who says?” Nick said, elbowing her side and grinning.

“We already won tickets to this thing, never mind being two for two-” Mae started, but she was interrupted by the man’s voice.

“Donna!” He shouted.

“Donna? Oh my - that’s my mom’s name. Wait - that means - we won! We won!” She said, her face going pale as she slapped her hands to her forehead.

I laughed, pulling her arms. “Come on, you have to go get the tickets!” I said, shaking my head. Mae grinned at us and jogged up, taking them from the DJ.

“Congrats.” He said with a smile. She just shakily nodded before walking back over to us. Liz jumped up and they both squealed, their hands over their mouths in disbelief.

“Boys - we need to get going!” Mrs. Jonas said, waving us over. They all stood up, taking a few pictures with Liz and Mae and then headed over towards the small entrance on their way out.

“You coming, Ly?” Joe asked, turning around to look at me. I nodded, but then looked back over at Liz and Mae.

“You guys want to hang for sound check?” I offered.

“Do we even need to respond!” Mae shouted. Liz laughed and put her finger to her lips, showing her to quiet down so nobody else heard.

“Cool, come on.” I smiled, gesturing for them to follow us. “So, can I do sound check again today?” I asked hopefully, jumping on Joe’s back as he gave me a piggy back to the arena as we all walked.

“I don’t see why not.” He smiled at me. “Dad?”

“Sure thing, I’d love to hear that song again too.” Mr. Jonas said with a smile and a nod.

“What song?” Liz asked excitedly. “Are you performing tonight too?”

I laughed, sliding off Joe’s back. “I wish. No, I usually do sound check for Demi when she’s off at meet and greets or whatever. So I do my new song called I’m gone, I’m going.” I shrugged.

“Ah! I wanna hear!” Mae said as we walked down the lawn and into the aisles of the arena.

“I’m pretty sure you’ll get the chance.” I grinned.

“Dude, can you believe that we went for those seats right there -” Liz said, pointing to one of the last rows in the arena then swung her hand towards the front of the stage. “To the front of the whole place?”

“It’s so crazy.” Mae said, running her hand through her chestnut brown hair. “And here we are, walking into sound check with Lyric Carrington and the Jonas Brothers themselves.”

“Life is good, girl. Life is good.” Liz grinned at her friend. I couldn’t help but smile. I wished I knew what it was like to have a good friend like that. But after hanging around with them for the past few hours, I think I was starting to learn.

- about twenty minutes later -

“So here I go. I’m gone. I’m going…” I sang into the microphone to the nonexistent audience as the strobe lights flashed all over. It was such a rush, even though there were only eight people watching. The Jonas family, Liz and Mae. Joe had helped me write this song, and I had taken a strong liking to it. Once I was finished, I got a small round of applause from my mini audience.

“Thank you, thank you.” I laughed, hopping down off the stage. “It’s all yours.” I said, clapping Joe on the back. He just smiled and rolled his eyes, hoisting himself up onto the small catwalk.

“Most people use stairs.” Kevin said, walking from the left hand side of the stage over to where the guitars were to grab his white les Paul.

“Yeah, cause Joe’s just like most people.” Nick grinned. Joe threw him a look.

“Do you guys want to hang around and watch the whole thing? Or we could head backstage and look for Demi.” I suggested.

“Let’s go find Demi,” Mae said excitedly. “I mean, if that’s okay.”

“Yeah,” I laughed. “It’s totally fine. Come on.” I smiled, quietly walking up the side of the stage so I didn’t distract the guys even though it was near impossible with all the loud noise they were creating.

“So this is backstage…” Mae said, looking around.

“It’s not as glamorous as you would think.” I laughed, looking around at the craft tables, random microphone stands, clothing racks, crates and lighting and sound booths. “Let’s head back to the dressing rooms.” I said as we turned a corner and walked down a long hallway of doors. I stopped at room 12 and knocked on the door twice.

“Who is it?” Came Demi’s voice from inside.

“Lyric.” I said, waiting.

There was a sound of feet moving and a loud crash, and Demi appeared at the door. “Oh, hey!” She laughed, brushing the hair out of her eyes. “What’s up?” She asked, seeing the two unfamiliar faces behind me.

“Oh, this is Mae and Liz.” I said with a smile and a nod. “They’re the ones that helped me out a few days back and they kind of wanted to meet you.”

“Seriously? That’s so awesome.” Demi smiled, letting them in. “Be warned, it’s not very clean.” She laughed. It was the truth, there were clothes scattered everywhere and a few sugar free red bulls sitting on the counter of the vanity - which was loaded with makeup, hairbrushes and a hot pink hair straightener.

“Wow, Dem.” I said with a small laugh. “So do you know if the guys are playing wiffle ball before the show?” I asked, plopping down on her couch.

“Woah, wait. You mean they really do play wiffle ball from the stage?” Liz asked with a smile. “I thought that was a rumor.”

“Oh no,” Demi said with a laugh. “We usually have fans coming up to us after the shows with numerous wiffle balls that they found in their seats. It’s kind of funny, actually.”

Suddenly there was the sound of yelling and all three Jonas boys burst into the room all at once. I rolled my eyes as they fell over each other squeezing through the doorway and landed in a pile on the floor.

“Can we help you?” I asked, lifting my foot so I wasn’t stepping on Nick’s tie.

“Wiffle ball!” Kevin said simply, diving over Demi’s couch that I had been sitting on a few moments before and pulling a yellow bat out from underneath. He sprang out and ran back out the door without another word.

“What did I say about giving caffeine before a show?” I asked, looking over at Joe. He gave an innocent smile and looked towards the door and then back at me - his eyes hopeful. I sighed.

“Go.” I said simply.

“Thank you!” Joe said, running over and kissing my cheek before sprinting out the door with his brother. Nick just stood there, looking at the empty doorway.

“Wow.” He said. “We’re never going to Starbucks again.”

Liz laughed. Nick looked over at her and smiled, and she blushed - her gaze casting downward. “Well are we going to hang around here and do nothing or are we gonna play?” Demi asked excitedly. I smiled and rolled my eyes.

“Last one there has the broken bunk on the bus!” I shouted. Nick was out the door within seconds, and I quickly followed. But Demi had beaten me.

“Haha!” She shouted over her shoulder as he took off towards the stage.

“Come on,” I laughed, bending down and picking up the small bag we had that was loaded with brightly colored wiffle balls.

“Are you sure we can do this?” Mae laughed as we closed Demi’s dressing room door and headed towards the stage. I looked down at my watch and nodded.

“Don’t worry.” I smiled. “You guys head out, I’m gonna find Garbo and John and see if they wanna play.”

They nodded and hurried out to the stage, where there was a crack and Joe cheering. “Grand slam, touchdown, goal, hole in one…” He shouted all at once. I just laughed and rolled my eyes before heading to the craft tables in search of the rest of the band. Sometimes having some downtime in the middle of an insanely hectic schedule can be loads more fun then you’d expect. But it’s all in the life of living on the road with the biggest teen sensation in the country.

- - - - - - - -

.030 - Rethink.

The one thing I hated the most about being on tour was the tension it put on everyone. We were always on the move, nonstop day and night with a million things going on at once that it seemed like we didn’t even have time to actually breathe. We had just been escorted out of the Dodge Music center around midnight as the crowds were slowly trickling out, all of us exhausted from the four hour show. It was so repetitive now that I felt like a robot. Drive, sleep, do the same show we’ve been doing over and over again then hit the road only to start over. Having no time to relax stressed everyone out, and moods were easily changed in the blink of an eye.

We checked into our rooms, mine separate for the boys as I was sharing with Demi and Selena, since she was tagging along with Demi for the tour. I hadn’t had the chance to see her much, since she was usually on Demi’s bus or hanging around somewhere else backstage. But it was kind of cool to share a room with them since we hadn’t had time to catch up in a while. There wouldn’t be much time to sleep here though, since we would be leaving for Ohio early the next morning.

“Awesome crowd tonight huh?” Selena yawned as she pulled back the premade covers on the hotel room bed.

“Mm.” I mumbled, face first in my pillow. “I don’t know how you guys do it,” I said, rolling over and staring at the ceiling. “Night after night of nonstop performances. Seems like enough to wipe you out.”

“It is,” Demi chime in, running her hands through her long brown hair. “But it’s the dream, you know? When you stop and think of all the things you had to do and all the obstacles you have to overcome to get there, it’s worth it.”

I nodded. “I never looked at it that way.”

“So there’s a rumor going around about you and Joe you know,” Selena said randomly, looking over at me from the blue glow casting onto her face from her laptop.

“Seriously?” I asked, sitting up a bit more and listening more carefully now.

“Yeah, check it out.” She said, scrolling down with one hand and waving me over with the other. I got up and wandered over to her side of the room, bouncing onto the bed beside her. “Perez Hilton? Oh goodness.” I said, leaning over her shoulder and scanning some of the pictures that had been snapped at our video shoot a few weeks back.

“How are you going to cover that up?” Demi asked with a slight laugh. “The boys managers don’t want people to know their precious teen heartthrobs are taken, and I don’t think ‘just friends’ is going to fly too well either with a picture like that.” She said with a suppressed laugh, pointing at the one with my hands around Joe’s neck as he sat in a lawn chair by the pool at the hotel we had stayed at that weekend.

I groaned, leaning back onto headboard and closing my eyes. “Oh look, you guys even have a celebrity couple name! Loe, how quaint.” She giggled.

“Oh yeah, really cute. Look who’s talking Nelena…” I said with a smirk. She just rolled her eyes.

“Will you guys just go to bed already? It’s nearly one in the morning.” Demi said, throwing a pillow at us. I was too exhausted to even pick it up and throw it back. I got up off Selena’s bed and walked back over to my own, sliding into the comfy covers. It took merely seconds before I drifted into a dreamless sleep.

There was pounding, loud banging in the distance. I felt like I had only been asleep for two minutes before being woken up by Nick nearly punching the door down. I slowly opened my eyes to see Nick and Joe walking in, already fully dressed. “Good morning.” Nick smirked, seeing I was still in bed.

“Shut up.” I mumbled, rolling over onto my stomach and putting a pillow over my head. Joe laughed and walked over to the window, pulling open the curtains so that sunlight flooded the room. “Ughh. Joe…”

“Come on,” He smiled, pulling the pillow off my face. “Demi and Selena are already down at breakfast and we have to eat quick before our private time is up and they let everyone else in.”

“You guys scheduled a private breakfast?” I said dully, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and yawning.

“Obviously,” Nick said with an eye roll, unzipping his jacket slightly. “Do you think this hotel would be able to handle the massive amounts of fan girls that ‘just so happened’ to stumbled upon us in the lobby this morning?” He asked.

“They followed us here?” I asked, sliding out of bed and throwing my hair up into a messy bun.

“They always do, now hurry up … please?” Joe smiled.

“How much longer do we -”

“Fifteen minutes.” Nick interrupted before heading out the door with Joe, slamming it behind him. I looked over at the clock to see that it was 6:45 and sighed, walking over to my suitcase and digging through it for something to wear.

- about two hours later on the tour bus on the way to Cincinnati -

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many glow sticks in my entire life,” Kevin said as he kept his gaze on his guitar as he quietly plucked the chords to a little bit longer. We were all hanging around the bus, not doing much of anything but watching the highway pass by.

“Last night? I know.” Joe said with an eye roll but with a hint of a smile. “During hello beautiful I was looking around and felt like I was in an ocean of the stuff. It was kind of cool actually.”

“So what’s the plan for today?” Nick asked with a yawn, pulling a box of mini donuts out from a cabinet in the small kitchen. The bus went over a bump and he stumbled slightly, clutching the counter.

“One of the reps from Hollywood wants to come to the show tonight and see Lyric perform.” Mrs. Jonas said, looking up from her e-mail that was open on her laptop.

“What?” Kevin asked, looking confused as he set the guitar down and listened.

“Yeah, I guess they want you to give Demi the night off and have Lyric open so they can see her perform and consider signing her. I have the email right here.”

Everyone looked over at me, but I just kind of sat there with a dumbfounded expression. “I - uh - huh?” I asked nervously.

“We can’t just kick Demi off for the night just for them,” Joe said, crossing his arms. This comment took me aback a little, since I figured Joe was going to be all for it. But I just kept my mouth shut.

“I know, it doesn’t seem fair.” She said, biting her lip. “Would you like us to put you on tonight dear? I’m sure we can find a way…”

“No, no.” I said suddenly. “It’s the boy’s show, I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“You didn’t have a problem last week.” Joe mumbled. I shot him a look and he just stared at me icily.

“Thanks anyways Mrs. J.” I said with a smile. The bus was slowing to a halt as we stopped at a McDonalds for something quick to eat and for a chance to walk around after being cooped on the bus for so long. The town we were in was isolated, so there was no worries about any crazy fan girl encounters.

I was the first one off the buy, Joe second who just blew past me pretending I wasn’t there. Nick got off next, giving me an innocent shrug. I sighed, shaking my head. I stood there for a moment, waiting for Demi and Selena’s bus to meet up with us.

- a few minutes later, inside -

“What’s Joe’s deal?” Selena asked, sliding into the seat across from Demi and I in the restaurant with a tray of salads and fries that we had ordered. I shrugged, taking a fry and biting into it. Demi leaned over the table a bit, looking over at Joe. His expression was hard, his usual smile missing from his features.

“He get’s really cranky on the road, he’ll get over it.” She said simply. “Why, did he say something to you?” She asked Selena.

“No, he just seemed out of the loop or something.” She said, popping the top off her salad and digging in.

“He totally blew up on me on the bus.” I piped in, pulling my straw in and out of the cup so it squeaked slightly and the ice moved around.

“What for?” Demi asked, stealing a crouton off Selena’s salad. She gave her a look, but played it off.

“Some talent agent or whatever wants to see me perform at the show tonight or something and Joe got totally defensive when Denise suggested that I play.” I said. “Like I would steal the spotlight from them or something.”

“Sounds like he was channeling Shane.” Selena snorted, referring to camp rock.

“I don’t know, I just didn’t like how he snapped at me.” I said with a sigh. “Whatever.”

“Wanna hang with us tonight? With those three, tension can be cut with a knife on that bus. Joe let’s people get on his nerves really easily. He just needs time to cool down.” Demi offered.

“That would be, uh nice actually.” I said with a nod.

“He keeps looking over here.” Selena said, locking eyes with Joe for a quick second before looking away. “This doesn’t seem like one of his usual bad moods, Dem. It’s like he’s way pissed off a bout something.”

“Maybe it’s his time of month, who knows.” Demi laughed. “Don’t worry about it Ly, seriously.” She said with a warm smile. I nodded in response, but pushed my food away. All of a sudden I wasn’t that hungry.

- - - - - - - -

.031 - Forgive.

“No, no. This one’s ten times better than that last one.” Demi said with a laugh as she pulled a small plastic remote out of her pocket and switched the song to Tell Me What To Do by Metro Station. We were standing on the big empty stage, blasting music and dancing around while lip synching into the microphones. Sound check was in two hours, the boys had a meet and greet and the bands had gone out to lunch - so Demi, Selena and I had time to do whatever we pleased.

“Girl, oh yeah, tell me what to do girl. I’m so in love, woah, I’m so in love with you.” Trace Cyrus’s voice echoed throughout the arena as we all laughed and sang our hearts out for the invisible audience. We had been at it for the last hour, even fooling around with the lighting on the stage even though the stage hands looked pretty annoyed.

“Woah, party over here.” Kevin said with a laugh, appearing from the side of the stage with his white Les Paul in hand. All three of us froze, exchanging embarrassed glances as we had been caught.

“Well you know, what’s a party without the Jonas Brothers? Or at least a Jonas Brothers.” Demi laughed. Selena rolled her eyes at her friend’s lousy save.

“We were just leaving anyways.” I piped in, giving Kevin a small smile so we could get out of their way.

“Uh yeah,” Selena laughed, snatching the remote from Demi’s hand and turning down the volume. Demi gave her a look, but Selena just glared back. But they both cracked a smile soon after.

“It’s no big deal, we’ve got nothing better to do for the next hour until sound check anyways.” Kevin said, setting his guitar down on a stand and sitting down on one of the sets of stairs on the stage.

“I better get back into wardrobe anyways, wanna come?” Demi asked to both Selena and I.

“Yeah.” I said quickly, knowing that if Kevin was around that meant Joe probably was too. I felt cowardly, hiding from him. But I was afraid of what he was say to me if I did cross his path. Ever since last night, things just felt kind of awkward. We rarely spoke, and every glance he gave me looked like a mix of anger and sadness.

Selena and I both started walking off stage, my eyes firmly on my plaid converse. “Hey Lyric, can I talk to you for a second?” Kevin asked as I was only inches from being off the stage. Dang. I turned on my heel and ran my hand through my hair, taking a deep breath.

“Uh, yeah sure.” I said, walking back up to him with my hands in the pockets of my white shorts. I stood in front of him, biting my lip and feeling nervous. Was he going to say something about Joe? Or was I freaking for no reason and he was going to end up saying something about a new song? I held my breath.

“I know Joe’s been acting weird,” He started. My shoulders sunk slightly. I think he noticed. “But it’s not your fault, it’s not you he’s mad at.” He said, noticing my expression. I raised an eyebrow, and walked over to sit beside him.

“Go on,” I said, stepping up a few stairs and sitting down as I looked at him. His deep brown eyes were filled with determination, showing he wanted me to understand what was going on so there was no more tension between his brother and I. That was the thing I loved most about Kevin, he always wanted things to go smoothly between everyone and work them out when they weren’t.

He sighed. “When my mom brought up the record label thing the other night, it wasn’t the first time we had heard about it. Our mom offered to see if there was anyone else in Hollywood that would want to manage and represent you, but as soon as the words left her mouth Joe refused it.”

“It’s not his place to say who should manage you and what label, and he was pretty rude about it on the bus.” Kevin shrugged. “But he’s scared for you Lyric.”

“What?” I asked, taken completely by surprise. “Scared? For me? Why?”

Kevin chuckled slightly. “And I thought you would have figured it out. Don’t you see it? He loves you Lyric. More than anything. After what happened with James, he’s afraid someone will try to hurt you again.” He said, looking down. “That night James tried to kill you and we all thought you were dead… I’d never seen Joe so upset before. It shattered him Lyric. When we thought we had really lost you, we thought we were going to lose Joe to. He had no heart, no desire to perform anymore. Not knowing that the one thing his life revolved around had been taken away so quickly.”

“Wow.” I said simply, leaning back and thinking all his words over. “Seriously?” I asked, looking over at him.

Kevin laughed. “Yeah, I couldn’t make that kind of stuff up.” He said. “Plus, Joe told me this morning that he wanted me to talk to you since he was afraid to talk to you himself.”

“Awh.” I said with a laugh. “Where is wee little Joey anyways?” I asked, standing up.

“Craft services I think.”

“Figures.” I said, walking down the few steps we had been on and back onto the flat surface of the stage. “Hey Kevin?” I said as I had started to walk down the stairs, him walking the opposite way. He turned around, looking at me.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.” I smiled.

“For what?” He asked, brushing the hair from his eyes.

“For everything. Always being there for me and wanting to make all the drama history. You remind me of Harmony sometimes, your personality and how you always want to help even when someone doesn’t need it. It’s nice.”

He smiled. “No problem.”

I nodded and then headed backstage, drifting through the mazes of speakers, microphone stands, crates of lights, guitar picks scattered about the floor and the small crowd of stage hands. It took a few bumps into people, tripping on a stack of month old newspapers and nearly getting plowed over by someone wheeling a cart of amps by - but I finally saw Joe’s familiar head of black hair standing in front of a long white table full of food, talking to Nick who was sitting in a chair a few feet away.

“…And then she was saying how she had my face taped to her ceiling so I was the last thing she saw before she went to sleep.” Joe said, popping a Hershey kiss in his mouth.

“Cause that’s not creepy or anything.” Nick said with a laugh, taking a sip of his red bull.

“Fans.” Joe sighed with an eye roll. “Remember that time we needed a police escort from the dentist?”

“How could I forget?” Nick said, throwing a look my way and then looking back at Joe. “I uh, have to go check and see if Mom washed my jeans for tonight. I’ll be right back.”

“I wouldn’t count on it, J.T was supposed to do laundry last night.” Joe yelled back, not lifting his gaze from the table. The latest issue of Rolling Stone with them on the cover was lying open, Joe scanning an article on Guitar Hero and Rock Band as he peeled the skin off an orange.

“Hey,” I said, biting my lip as I walked a bit closer to him. My hands were in my back pockets, and I felt cautious. Remembering what Kevin had said, I tried to snap myself out of it.

Joe looked up and saw me, then looked back down. “Hey.” He said simply.

“Can we uh- talk?” I asked, walking over to the table beside him and grabbing an apple slice.

“Depends on what there is to talk about.” He shrugged. I sighed, walking over to the chair Nick had been sitting in and sat down.

“Kevin told me everything.” I said suddenly, just wanting this stupid fight type thing to end. It wasn’t even really a fight, Joe was just being overprotective and annoying. But it was kind of cute in way.

This caught Joe’s attention, and he turned around and leaned against the table. “Oh, uhm - he did?” He said nervously. I nodded.

“Joe, you don’t have to be scared for me.” I said, feeling anxious in my seat and standing up to walk over to him. I felt nervous just being near him when we were on such weird terms. We were now only a few inches apart, just looking at each other - afraid to speak.

“I don’t want to lose you again.” He said quietly, looking down at his shoes. I put both my hands on the side of his face, making him look into my eyes.

“You won’t.” I said, smiling at him.

“Promise?” He asked, a small smile forming on his lips.

“I promise. I won’t sign anything without talking to you guys first. I want to start over, but this time do it the right way.”

“No more near death experiences?” He asked.

I laughed. “Hopefully not.”

He just smiled, studying me. “I’m sorry I was so rude earlier.” He said suddenly. “I just, you know. I didn’t want my mom to try and rope you into something and have it end up bad again.”

“I forgive you.” I said with a light laugh. “Seriously though, don’t beat yourself up over my career. You have your own world to take care of.”

He tilted my chin towards his face, looking into my eyes. “You are my world.” He said. His words made my heart jump in my chest, and he pressed his lips to mine. My whole body felt like it had caught fire, and I ran my hand through his hair as he wrapped his arms around my waist. Forgiveness can be a beautiful thing.

- - - - - - - -

.032 - Questions.

“Lyric are you okay? You’re looking a little pale.” Nick asked as we rode in a limo to the hotel after yet another show on the burnin’ up tour. We would be in Boston for the night before departing for New York sometime around noon tomorrow.

I nodded, taking a long sip from my water bottle. I has been really thirsty the past few days and had already gone through about three water bottles in six hours. But I didn‘t want anyone feeling sorry for me. I had just about had enough with being stuck in the spotlight so much lately. “Just a little under the weather, not a big deal.” I said, figuring it was just all the time on the road getting to me. We all got sick while touring, so I just assumed that it was my turn. No big deal.

“Okay but if you need anything be sure to let us know.” He smiled. I just grinned weakly in return. The sounds from all the screaming that night seemed to still echo in my head, giving me a slight headache. That concert had seemed louder than usual. We pulled into the parking lot of a Hilton hotel, quickly hurrying up to our rooms before all the fans weaseled themselves past security and followed us inside.

Selena had to leave the tour to start filming more wizards episodes back in Hollywood, so it only left Demi and I for the time being. I had gotten so used to life on the road now that my past life seemed so far behind me. Had it really been over a month since I was stuck on that stupid pirate ride at six flags, sitting there staring at the clouds and begging for a miracle out of the torture chamber known as a summer job?

And now here I was, flopping down on yet another four star hotel room bed with Demi Lovato, the Jonas Brothers in the room next door, nearly being killed by a physco manager - it all seemed like two different lives. I had been through so much that I had almost forgotten what it was like to sit down and look at the perspective of things.

Apparently I had become pretty famous. I just went through my everyday routine like it was nothing. But after some online research, you could find songs from my up and coming album that were leaked onto Youtube, my music video that Joe had been in was being streamed over two thousands times a day and I already had a few official street team and fan myspaces. Demi said that this was only the beginning, but it just didn’t feel like any of it was real.

I mean, I was Lyric Carrington. Little miss nobody from western Massachusetts who spent her usual Friday nights sitting in her room watching High School Musical reruns while baking a cake for no special reason to only end up eating it alone while her parents went and did small shows at the restaurants downtown. But here I was, getting flooded with e-mails about doing movies, guest starring on TV shows, allowing my single to be put into commercials with million dollar offers. I felt like I had been smacked with the lucky stick a few good times once I thought about it. I was famous. Now I really felt sick.

“Check this out,” Demi said, tossing a magazine at me as she headed towards the bathroom in her pjs to go brush her teeth. I had been so zoned out that the magazine smacked me right in the side of the face and fell to the floor.

“Ow.” I said quietly, but she was already behind the closed door. I picked it up and then leaned over to the night stand to flip on the small antique looking lamp so I could get a better look. In my hand was an issue of J-14 with me on the cover. I had done about three or four photoshoots while on the road with the guys, and felt numb when I saw my own face staring back at me.

“Cool, huh?” Demi smiled, opening the bathroom door and leaving the light on for me.

“Crazy.” I said, shaking my head and flipping through the pages. I came across a small pull out poster of myself and gave a shaky laugh. “Well this is nice.”

“I have a giant one, it’s awful.” She laughed, tying her hair up before pulling back the covers on the bed next to mine. She pulled it out from the trash and slowly unwrinkled it, holding it up next to her face and smiling. “Cheese?“ She laughed. Our attention was averted as a loud smash echoed against the wall between us and the boys. There was an awkward silence and then the sound of laughter. Now I understood why Denise and Paul requested their own rooms.

I slowly got up off the bed, still feeling tired even though I hadn’t done much of anything all day. I slept on the bus on the way from Maryland and then totally crashed in Demi’s room during the show. I had slept maybe thirteen hours, and when I wasn’t sleeping I was always thirsty. Touring could really wear you down. I wiggled off my jeans and slid on my plaid pajama pants and the pulled off my tee shirt so I was just in my sports bra. The hotel had said the air conditioning was broken, but I didn’t think that it would be this hot.

I flipped my head over, piling my dirty blonde hair into a messy bun on top of my head and grabbing my small overnight case with my toothbrush and some other random little things I needed for the night. Not bothering to grab a shirt, I yawned and shuffled over to the bathroom. The light was on and I had to blink a few times to get used to it. Looking in the mirror, I had dark circles under my eyes.

“Ooh, pretty.” I said sarcastically, studying my face closer. But then I got a real look at myself. I looked thinner, but kind of scary thin. I had always been in shape from doing yoga and stuff with my mom, and then going to the gym whenever we had free time with the guys. My upper thighs had been a little of a problem area in my concern, but I had managed to get myself down to a size four by eating better. But looking at myself now, I was freaked.

I ran my symptoms through my head a few times, trying to figure out what was wrong with me. Weight loss, fatigue, increase in thirst - maybe I had a fever or something. I was no doctor so what would I know? “Hey Dem,” I said, hearing the faint tapping of her fingers on the keyboard of the laptop she had snatched from Selena before she left.

“Mhmm?” Her voice came from the other room.

“Could you uh, come here for a sec?” I said, peeking my head out the door. She looked up at me from the blue light casting on her face from the screen and then got up, walking over in her cow print slippers.

“What’s up?” She asked, yawning a bit.

“Do I look okay to you?” I asked, eyeing myself in the mirror again. She put the back of her hand to my forehead and then gave me a once over.

“You feel fine. Did you lose weight?” She asked with a bit of concern.

“Uh, it sure looks like it.” I said a bit rudely. She frowned slightly, opening a closet door and started rummaging through the neatly piled towels that had been left by room service. She pulled out a scale and set it down on the floor in front of me.

“Wait,” She said, putting a hand out in front of me. “How much did you weigh before?”

“139.” I said automatically, blushing a little.

“You’re 5’ 7” and have been working out with the boys all month, it’s all muscle you idiot.” She said, smacking my abs before I could make some kind of poor self confidence type comment. “Step on.” She said. I took a deep breath and got on, watching as the small numbers flew by before slowly spinning back towards the little orange dial. You would think they would have a digital one of these things in a hote like this.

“117.” She said with a small sigh. “That’s 22 pounds in like, three weeks.”

“Yikes.” I squeaked, quickly stepping off the scale and tossing it back into the closet and closing the doors before the little machine would jump out and eat me alive.

“We should talk to Denise in the morning.” Demi said with concern, flipping the bathroom light off as we walked back into the room. I just nodded, grabbing an old shirt from a rugby team I had played on in middle school back in Sydney and slipped it on before sliding into bed. Demi shut the laptop and turned off all the little lamps in the room so that it was pitch black.

“Are you okay, Ly?” She asked into the darkness.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” I said with a sigh, rolling onto my side and clutching the blankets to my chest. “It’s probably just what’s been going around, you know with JT and Garbo not feeling well the other day. Don’t worry about it.”

“Yeah,” She sighed in response. “You’re probably right, I just need to relax. Sleep tight.” She said. I just laid in my bed, staring at the small digital clock as the bright red numbers changed from minutes to hours. I felt restless, and knew that I was exhausted and really needed to sleep. ‘Just over reacting, don’t worry so much.’ I said in my head over and over. On the bright side, I had lost weight. I tried to calm myself down and finally drifted into a nightmare filled sleep around three am.

- the next morning, around eleven -

“Lyric, Demi - we’re leaving in an hour.” Paul said, knocking once before sticking his head into our room. She and I were still both fast asleep and slowly sat up, the clouds blocking sunlight from coming in and waking us up as they usually did. But having Mr. J instead of the boys barging in and jumping on us was nice.

“Thanks Mr. J.” Demi responded with a smile, rubbing her eyes and slowly climbing out of bed. He nodded and went to close the door, but Demi stopped him. “Wait,” She said. He creaked it back open a bit, glancing at Demi. “Could you ask Mrs. Jonas to come in for a second?”

“Sure thing.” He said with a smile, disappearing for only a few seconds before Denise entered soon after.

“What’s up girls?” She asked, walking in and closing the door quietly behind her.

“Could you take a look at Lyric? I know we’re probably just being overly cautious, but she hasn’t been looking too good the past few days and she’s lost a lot of weight.” Demi said, pulling her suitcase up off the floor and dropping it on the bed in search of something to wear.

“Well I’m no doctor either, but I can certainly take a look.” She said, concern crossing her features. She, like Demi, felt my forehead and looked me over. “Well, what’s wrong?” She asked.

“I’ve lost weight, I’ve been really thirsty and tired all the time.” I said with a sigh. “But don’t worry about it, I’m sure I’m fine.” I said, trying to wave her off easily. I didn’t want my health to put a slow on things.

“How much weight have you lost?” She asked, taking in my thinner frame.

“Twenty two pounds over the past few weeks. But really, don’t worry about me.” I said quickly.

Her eyebrows knitted together, and worry came over her deep brown eyes. They looked just like Joe’s. “I think we should bring you to a hospital dear, just to be safe.” She said shakily.

“What?” I said abruptly, shaking my head. “No, no. I’ll be fine. Really.” I said for what felt like the hundredth time, smiling at her.

“Okay hun, but if you feel any worse please let me know.” She said, setting a hand on my shoulder. I nodded, sighing a bit as she left. Demi looked at me briefly, but then let the situation go.

“Come on, we better change quick if we want to make breakfast.” She said, pulling some jeans out of her suitcase. I nodded, turning my attention to my own things and trying to get my mind off the look on Denise’s face when I told her how I felt. Something seemed out of place, and I suddenly felt really scared.

- - - - - - - -

.033 - Composure.

“Hey how’re you feeling?” Joe said as I slid into a seat next to him at breakfast. I shrugged, immediately reaching for the glass of orange juice in front of me and taking a long sip. He, like everyone else had been lately, put the back of his hand to my forehead. “You feel fine.” He stated dully.

“I know.” I said with a sigh, setting the glass back down and grabbing my plate to head up to the buffet to grab something to eat. Joe and Nick exchanged glances, but said nothing. I was quiet for all of breakfast, picking at my French toast and keeping my gaze down. Kevin was all excited since we would be doing a special on MTV once we got to New York and couldn’t wait to do all the performances. I was going to be hosting some kind of Jonas Brothers weekend special by interviewing fans and hanging around backstage. I was kind of excited, since it was a pretty big deal to get asked by MTV to host something, but I just wasn’t feeling up to it.

“I think we should get Lyric to the hospital once we get in New York,” I overheard Denise say to Paul as we all loaded our things into the bottom compartments of the tour bus and quickly boarded. About two hundred people had showed up to see us off, screaming and waving cameras and posters in our faces. I pulled on my sunglasses and kept a hand on Kevin’s back so I didn’t lose him in the crowds.

We finally got on the bus with the help of big rob and some of the hotel security guards and slowly made our way out of Boston and onto the mass pike. I immediately made my way to my bunk with Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer tucked under my arm. I left the curtain open and flipped the small overhead lights on, rolling onto my stomach and cracking the book open from where I had left off.

Nick and Kevin were practicing love bug in the small living room type area, the guitar chords and lyrics drifting peacefully through the bus. I hummed along out of habit, turning the page and letting my eyes scan the words. I was starting to feel a little better. Maybe my weird little illness was starting to fade after all. Or maybe just not thinking about it helped.

- backstage at MTV Jonas Brothers Weekend Special, Times Square NYC -

“I’m a one man show, I don’t need no one. I‘ll be fine alone, oh yeah!” Nick and Joe sang along to their album that was blasting backstage. I was sitting in hair and makeup, waiting to go back to wardrobe and do a mini photoshoot for the website with them before heading outside to host. I smiled as I was suddenly feeling ten times better as the mood sky rocketed around me. One Man Show was my favorite song on the new record, so I couldn’t help but sing along. I hopped down off the tall chair I was on, my medium length dirty blonde hair was now pin straight and smooth and my makeup was light and pretty. I barely had time to look in the mirror before we were whisked back to wardrobe.

“We’re going to keep it simple, but cute. Something summery, but not too dressy. Boys what are you doing here, get out!” Tanya, the wardrobe specialist said, talking a mile a minute as she searched through racks of clothes like a librarian who had misplaced a book. She shooed the boys away, a determined look about her sharp features.

Joe laughed and followed his brothers to the room across the hall where all the guys stuff was kept, Tanya slamming the door behind them. She whisked a denim mini skirt at me along with a pair of Ed Hardy sneakers and a cream colored top from Hollister. “Change, we only have six minutes!” She said, pushing me behind a tall room divider. I quickly changed and was given a microphone as soon as I made my way back out of the room.

Backstage before we went live was complete chaos. I thought I would have been used to it by now after being stuck on tour with the guys for so long as it was, but now that I was part of the show - I had to pay attention. Last minute makeup changes were made, a bunch of brushes being dusted across my face. Someone was putting a necklace around my neck and retying my shoe. I felt like I was holding my breath as the final countdowns were made before we went live.

The boys were up in the TRL studio with Damien, and I was down at the Virgin Megastore where hundreds of faces had already collected to buy the album once it released at midnight. “And we’re live in five, four, three…” The camera man said, holding the last two numbers up on his fingers.

“Hey I’m Lyric Carrington reporting for TRL live at the Virgin Megastore here in Times Square New York.” I said with a smile, feeling my heartbeat fast as I looked into the camera. “Well teenage girls of America, tonight’s the night. The Jonas Brothers are here in the city getting ready for the release of their brand new album A Little Bit Longer and MTV is here all night to keep you guys at home tuned in on the fun.” I paused as screaming erupted from all around me. “I know we’re excited, and I bet you guys are too. We’ll be here until midnight tonight playing games, having contests and even sending a few lucky fans up to the TRL studio to hang with the boys themselves.” More screaming. “So stay tuned as we count down your favorite videos right here on TRL, take it away Damien.” I said, flashing one more smile as the light on the camera turned off and the TRL theme started playing on the giant screen in the middle of times square. I exhaled shakily, still grinning ear to ear.

“And we’re clear!” The cameraman said, stepping out from behind the monster of a machine. “Well done, love.” He smiled.

“Thanks.” I said with a shaky laugh, brushing the hair from my eyes. I was really thirsty again and grabbed a water bottle from craft services. As I was making my way back to where I would be reporting, I heard people screaming. I turned around, seeing people waving pictures of me from magazines and shouting my name. I stood there, perplexed as I looked at them. Girls had their digital cameras out, taking my picture and looking like they were about to cry. I gave a small wave, and they screamed even louder.

“Lyric, Lyric, can we have your autograph!” Someone screamed, waving a sharpie in my direction. I laughed, biting my lip as I looked at the MTV crew who was on break behind me. They smiled, nodding to say that it was okay.

“Uh, yeah sure.” I smiled, walking over. I signed a couple posters, took pictures with people and got to talk to a few fans. They were seriously the nicest people, and to know that they were here to see me was enough to make my head spin. I was still seriously tired, but kept the mood up for all the fans. I couldn’t let something like me feeling under the weather hinder all the excitement.

“Alright, we’ll send in extra security.” A security guard that had been following me like a hawk said, putting his hand on my shoulder. “Miss Carrington, we have to go back to the cameras. Damien’s sending the boys down.”

“Oh, okay.” I said, waving again at the large group of people as I walked back to the small area MTV had me standing at to do my job. I was having fun, I had to admit, once the nerves finally started to go away. The cameraman counted down again as the TRL mic was thrust into my hands as I waited in front of the camera.

“Hello ladies and gents and all you Jonas obsessors out there - I’m Lyric Carrington reporting live from the Virgin Megastore here in NYC. We have a very special treat for all you guys who were lucky enough to make it inside, but I don’t think you’re ready.” I said, turning to face the crowd as they exploded into cheers. “I stand corrected, I think they are.” I said with a laugh, turning back to the camera. “They don’t need much of an introduction, everyone - the Jonas Brothers!” I said as the building nearly shook with screams of tearful fans as the boys walked out from a back room, microphones in hand and waving at their adoring fans.

I hugged each one of them casually, Joe winking at me so quick that no one caught it. I blushed a bit, but kept my cool. It took a few seconds for the noise to die down, the boy’s glowing with the energy coming from the fans. “So Nick, Joe, Kevin - welcome to what the NYPD is calling Jonas Lockdown.” I said with a laugh, gesturing to the crowd that seemed to be growing bigger by the second.

“Well it’s good to be here,” Nick laughed, waving at a few fans as they screamed his name.

“So, let’s talk the new album.” I said, remembering the long list of questions I was supposed to ask them since I was an interviewer and all. “A Little Bit Longer comes out tonight comes out tonight, what’s it feel like to know that the day is finally here?”

“It’s incredible,” Joe said, one of his hands in his pockets. “It’s like we’ve been waiting forever for the album to finally come out and to know that so many people are excited for us is still head spinning.” He said with a smile.

“Yeah I mean, looking back to last year we came and maybe two hundred people showed up and it’s only four and we have thousands. It’s like, all these people are here for us?” Kevin laughed. “We have the best fans in the world and we love them to death.”

The rest of the interview went smoothly, and once the store started getting too chaotic we all had to be escorted back up to the TRL studio. The Jonas Brothers were helping to co-host, and since I was a guest it meant that I got to hang around too. The boys hung backstage when it was my turn to go out, and I got to introduce my music video that Joe was in at the number five spot. I was surprised to know it was even on the countdown since I hadn’t even dreamed anyone would be interested in it.

“So, Lyric Carrington.” Damien said to me as we stood in the studio, surrounded by the small audience that was covered in Jonas apparel with their faces all over their shirts.

“So, Damien…” I smiled, everyone in the studio laughing a bit. I honestly didn’t think it was that funny, but hey, whatever.

“Word on the streets is that you’re quite the Popstar. You have a single out that’s currently number three on itunes, your album comes out in only a few weeks and you’ve been hanging around the burnin’ up tour with the Jonas Brothers. How’s that been?” He asked.

“It’s been insane and such an honor to be with the boys and to know that people actually like my music. I mean, just a few months ago I was working at Six Flags New England, operating a ride in the little kid section of the park just to do something for a summer job and now I’m here. It’s all been happening so fast.”

“You worked at six flags, that’s a new one. I couldn’t find that on Google.” He smiled.

“You can Google me?” I asked, totally surprised.

“You’re a lot more famous then you think Lyric.” He laughed. I just stood there and shrugged innocently.

“But there’s a more important topic I think we’re all dying to know the answer to…” Damien said, looking around at the audience who all looked anxious. I was confused and just looked at him, obviously missing something. “But I think we need to bring the Jonas-” Before he could even finish his sentence, everyone started freaking out.

I looked over at the ramp leading into the studio and the boys walked in, smiling at their obsessive fans. I loved Jonas fans, they were the nicest most insane people I’ve ever met in my life.

“What’s up guys?” Damien asked. “Okay, so I was just talking to Lyric here…”

“Lyric Carrington, I’m out.” Joe said, frowning and pretending to walk away. Everyone laughed and I just rolled my eyes, smiling.

“Anyways,” Damien laughed, turning around for a second as it started raining outside. “Oh all those people out there aren’t going to be happy. But back on topic, the audience here and many other girls across the country have been crashing our servers with the same question.”

All of us exchanged glances, shrugging at what it could be. “Well it would be nice to know what this very important I-think-everyone-will-die-if-they-don’t-know question is, Damien.” I said with a laugh as he paused dramatically.

“Alright, I was just playing with you guys.” He laughed. “Everyone wants to know if Lyric here and our good old pal Joseph are dating.”

I held my breath, preparing to exhale and say the same thing I did in every interview about us just being friends - but Joe beat me to it. “Actually,” He said, putting his arm around my shoulder. “We are.”

I heard a bunch of girls gasp. “Seriously?” Damien asked, looking at us.

“Yeah,” Joe smiled. “We were wondering when to tell people, but why not now?”

I just stood there, completely flabbergasted and feeling my cheeks turn bright pink. Joe Jonas had just announced that he was off the market and dating me, little Lyric Carrington, on national television. Now I felt really dizzy.

- - - - - - - -

.034 - Surprises.

“Joe are you insane? I mean I know you wanted to tell people but today? Now everyone in the entire world knows! Oh my god what are we gonna do? I can-” I was rambling off a mile a minute backstage at TRL, pacing and waving my hands around as I was having a mental freak out. Joe grabbed me and put his hand over my mouth to stop me.

“Relax.” He laughed. “Don’t worry about it, everything’s under control.” He said, wrapping his arms around my waist and putting his head on my shoulder.

“Are you sure?” I asked, biting my lip and looking up at him.

“Lyric trust me. For once, I know what I’m doing.” He smiled. Kevin and Nick seemed completely calm, so I assumed they were in on this. Or they had agreed that Joe had officially lost it and were pretending they didn’t even know him. I prayed for the first.

“Sure, sure.” I said, easing up a little. Looking up at the clock on the wall I saw that it was almost five and I needed to be back down in the Virgin Megastore so I could go back on at 5:15. “Ah, I have to go!” I said, wiggling from his arms as he refused to let me go.

“Awh so soon?” Joe asked with a frown.

“Well, you could come? Kev and Nick can handle TRL up here, and I don’t think security could handle all three of you down there again…” I suggested with a shrug.

“Sounds good to me, let’s go.” He said, taking my hand and hurrying down the hall that cut from the studio to a back door that got us to the store quickly without too much trouble fan wise. Joe and I both put our sunglasses on even thought it was cloudy and misting outside. We made our way through the crowds without a problem before shoving our way back to the MTV set up in the Virgin Megastore.

As soon as we were in front of the cameras getting ready to go on, I started ranting off again. “Are you sure you want to do this? I mean the entire world knows we’re dating now and-”

“Lyric.” Joe said simply, looking at me.

“Sorry,” I said, feeling my cheeks turn pink. After all that had just happened, I was starting to feel dizzy for real. Maybe Mrs. Jonas was right, maybe I should go to the hospital later. I quickly shook away the thought and concentrated on what I was going to say once the cameras came back on.

Distant chatter could be heard from the crowds surrounding us, and I felt like a battle was being fought behind my back. “…I used to like her, but how could she be dating Joe? He’s mine!” “I’m so happy they finally said they’re a couple, they’re so cute together.” “I knew it! See Kerrie I told you they were dating.” “I hate her! How could she do this?”

I swallowed nervously, feeling a knot in my stomach. “Hey don’t worry about it.” Joe said quietly, handing me the other TRL microphone. “They’ll get over it.” I nodded, biting my lip and looking at my feet. “Chin up, babe!” He laughed, pulling my head up. “Don’t let them get to you, they’ll feed off the negativity.”

“I guess you’re right.” I sighed, brushing the hair from my eyes and trying to look past all the rude things girls were saying. Being in the limelight was like high school, but ten times worse. He looked down at me and smiled, leaning in for a kiss. I was nervous, since there were so many people around and we usually couldn’t even look at each other without suspicions. But then I remembered what Joe said and gave in, going in for the kiss as well. As soon as our lips met, people started cheering and cameras flashing. It was only a quick one, but enough to make an impact. I think some girls started crying.

“And we’re live in five, four, three…”

“What’s up New York!” Joe said immediately before I even had time to do my well thought out intro. I gave him a look, but he just shrugged innocently. I laughed. “Joe Jonas here with Lyric Carrington at the Virgin Megastore in times square N.Y.C. We only have hours until our new cd releases and we want you in on the fun.” He said, pointing at the camera.

“That’s right. Anyone and everyone who wants a glimpse of the Jonas boys while they’re in the city, your wishes have been granted. If you want to be one of the first people to buy A Little Bit Longer and have a chance to meet the boys themselves, I suggest you get your butts down here because this place is filling up fast.” I said, turning around to face the thousands of people surrounding us with signs and cameras being waved in the air.

“Maybe the Jonas Brothers will be there.” Joe said with a shrug, looking all serious.

“I don’t like the Jonas Brothers.” I said, turning to look at him.

“Yeah me either.” He said.

“But let’s go up to the studio with Kevin and Nick who’re with two lucky fans who have a chance to win two front row seats to an up and coming concert on the burnin’ up tour!” I said enthusiastically.

“Nick and Kevin Jonas OMG I love the Jonas Brothers!” Joe said in a high pitched voice, jumping up and down.

“And we’re clear.” The cameraman said, hopping down from his stool and walking away.

“Nicely done, Carrington.” Joe said with a laugh, giving me a high five.

“You didn’t do too bad yourself, Jonas.” I grinned.

“How’re you feeling?” He asked as we walked towards the crowds to sign some more autographs and take a few pictures. They grew more and more restless with each step we took. I shrugged, sliding my hands in the back pockets of my denim mini skirt. “Still not so good?”

“Is it that obvious?” I said with a weak smile.

“Hang in there.” He smiled at me, putting his hand on my shoulder.

- eleven thirty pm, virgin megastore in times square NY -

“Here’s a good story for you,” Kevin said as he walked over to Joe and I as we hung around in a back room of the store in order to avoid chaos from all the people that had showed up. Joe, Nick and I looked up from our game of go fish to see what Kevin’s little announcement was. We pretended to be interested for a second, but then looked back down.

“Do you have any sevens?” I asked Nick.

“Nope, go fish.” Nick said, grabbing a pretzel from the small bowl that was on the table in front of us.

“Guys-” Kevin said impatiently.

“Hey Joe do you have any fours?” I asked.

“Ugh. I give up.” Joe said, dropping his cards onto the table.

“Guys!” Kevin said a little louder.

“What?” We all asked at the same time, looking back up at him.

“They had to shut down Times Square because so many people showed up tonight. Nobody else is allowed in.” He said with a satisfied smile.

“We made them close the entire area?” Joe said, surprised. Kevin nodded, grinning.

“Apparently a lot more people came then we expected…” He said, sitting down between me and Nick.

“Apparently.” Nick said, shaking his head in disbelief. “What time is it?”

“11:34.” Kevin said, looking at his watch.

“I’m so excited!” Joe said, hopping up from his seat. I laughed, rolling my eyes. “When’re we heading out?”

“11:58.” Nick said, shuffling some cards back and fourth in his hands.

“I’m going to go change, I don’t think I can handle this stupid mini skirt much longer.” I said, standing up and running my hand through my hair.

“Alright,” Kevin said, moving to the side so I could pass him. “Make sure you’re back on time!”

“Kev - I wouldn’t miss the album release for the world.” I smiled, giving him a small wave before I headed out a back exit and onto the tour bus.

It was weird being on it without all the congestion of the Jonas family, and being able to walk felt strange. I kept expecting the bus to lunge forward at any second and me to tumble down onto the floor. I made my way back to the bunks, opening one of the dresser drawers and pulling out a destroyed dark wash pair of jeans and a purple tee with three big pairs of sunglasses on it. I changed quickly and threw my hair into a messy ponytail, tucking my phone into my pocket. I slid off the Ed Hardy sneakers, opting for a pair of silver pumps that matched the silver studded belt I had bought at a mall in Ohio a few days back.

I was just about to walk out of the bus and head back inside, but something caught my eye on the kitchen table. It was a small package with my name on it. I raised an eyebrow, picking it up. It was my mom’s handwriting. I flipped it over, pulling at the tape and pulling the brown packaging off. Inside was a long, light blue jewelry case with flowers printed on it with lacy trim. I opened it slowly, seeing a shiny silver charm bracelet inside.

I pulled it out, my hand shaking slightly. This was Harmony’s charm bracelet. She had had it ever since she was little, and she never took it off. My aunt had gotten it for her, and Harmony loved to show it off. I studied each little charm, memories flooding back with each one. I set it down on the table, pulling the little note out from inside that my mom had written.

“Dearest Lyric,” The note read, my mom’s loopy cursive filling the small page. “I hope you’re having fun on tour with the boys, you gave us quite a scare a few weeks back. I found this while cleaning the kitchen and thought that you might want to have it. It was always Harmony’s dream to go on tour, and I know that she’ll be living it with you this fall. Can’t wait to see you soon, love Mom.”

I smiled to myself and tucked the note firmly in my back pocket, hooking the bracelet around my wrist. The light clanging of the charms was comforting, reminding me of my sister. I looked down at the small digital clock on the microwave and gasped, knowing I needed to hurry back inside.

The silent thumping of the music blasting and the screams of the crowd brought me back to my senses, we will rock you blasting over the speakers as they all waited anxiously for our arrival. I rejoined the boys in the back room we were hanging out in, knowing we would be getting ready to head outside any second now. It felt like we were going to be doing a show, not buying the album for the first time. Kevin was nearly bursting at the seams with excitement, his brothers with grins on their faces as well.

“It’s so different compared to last year…” Nick said, creaking the door open a bit to peek at the audience that had gathered. “Hey look, it’s those girls from the Hartford concert.”

“What?” I asked, hurrying over as quickly as my silver heels would allow. I was suddenly wishing that I had kept the sneakers on.

“Liz and Mae, wasn’t it?” He asked, moving aside so I could look. Sure enough, as soon as I peered out into the audience I saw them. It made me smile, knowing that they had came.

“11:57! I say we head out now.” Kevin said, walking over to the door and looking out just as Nick and I had.

“Fine, fine. Let’s go.” Joe said, rolling his eyes but grinning. I stood back as they opened the door, preparing to head out.

“Have fun!” I said with a smile and a small wave.

“Oh no, you’re not getting out of this.” Joe grinned, walking over to me.

“What?” I said, exchanging glances with all three of them. Nick just shrugged, Kevin still smiling.

“We want you to come out with us. Plus we kinda promised people that you’d perform.” Joe said with a small grin - biting his lip. “Please don’t hate me.” He added quickly.

“I love how you guys just plan things for me,” I said with an eye roll, pretending to be mad. But the feeling didn’t last long. I was excited to play for more people then just a ten person crowd at a sound check now that I thought about it. “But sure, I’ll do it.” I smiled.

“Awesome! We’re gonna go out, buy the cd, and then at 12:01 you’ll go on as part of the like - party kind of thing we have going.” Kevin said, talking a mile a minute. "And MTV is here so everyone at home will get to see you plus all the people her-"

“Got it Kev, now go!” I said, pushing them out the door and laughing. The crowds erupted and I looked up at the clock, seeing both hands firmly on the twelve. I smiled for only a second, knowing I now had a performance to prepare for. I felt like if I even so much as blinked, my entire life would pass me by.

- - - - - - - -

.035 - Blackout.

I had hummed the song a million times before. Sang it with Demi when we were fooling around backstage. I could write the lyrics down in my sleep, but for some reason they seemed so distant in my head now. I peered out from behind the small stage set up in the store, seeing the boys being mobbed by fans as they laughed and pushed their way to the cash register. Joe looked up and caught my eye, giving me a quick wink. I bit my lip and smiled back in return, feeling a bit better.

J.T, Garbo, Ryan and Jack were going to be my band for the night, and they were already on stage warming up. It surprised me that a group of about thirty people had already packed themselves against the gates in front of the stage to be in the first few rows. Someone was even holding a sign with my name on it. That made me feel special.

Looking over to the opposite end of the store, the MTV cameras were trying to pull through the crowds and show all that was going on to the viewers at home. I walked back to the backstage area, looking at the tv Demi was watching, which had the channel on. “You know,” She said, looking up at me from her position on the couch. “I could go out there and watch all this live, but it’s much more entertaining seeing it all on here.” She laughed, pointing at the people that were stuffing their faces into to camera lenses just to get on tv.

“Coming up next a special performance from up and coming pop sensation Lyric Carrington, don’t go anywhere!” The announcer on the tv said. I felt my stomach back flip five times over.

“Nervous?” Demi asked with a smile.

“Uh a little?” I laughed shakily.

“Don’t be, they’ll love you.” She said, giving me a thumbs up.

“Lyric they need you at the stage entrance.” Mr. Jonas said, appearing from what seemed like nowhere and putting his hand on my shoulder. I was in such a daze that little things like people coming and going didn’t seem to register in my mind.

“Oh - okay.” I breathed, walking away as quickly as my heels would allow with my gaze cast downwards. “It’s only a few hundred people in some music store in New York. No worries, it’s not like it’s an arena.” I mumbled quietly to myself as I walked over to the small stage area, getting ready to go out and perform.

“Here you are Miss,” An MTV producer said, handing me a microphone and giving me a small smile before disappearing onto the stage and back down the set of stairs on the opposite end. I went to say ‘thanks’ but they were already out of my site. Peeking out again, I saw the Jonas Brothers on the other end with microphones as well. I raised an eyebrow, perplexed. I felt my heartbeat quicken as they waked on stage, the cameras in the four foot space between them and the crowds turning on and broadcasting live on MTV. I could hear the distant echo on the loud tv Demi was still watching backstage.

The boys ran on stage, the whole place nearly shaking with the screaming of all the people that had showed up. “Hey!” Kevin said into his microphone, grinning ear to ear as everyone nearly toppled over with excitement. It still got me how just one word from their mouths caused near chaos from the teenage girls that surrounded us. I was included, but I had never caught on to what everyone called the OJD bandwagon. I mean, I liked the Jonas Brothers and their music, but I wouldn‘t jump in front of a train to save a copy of their cd. “We just wanted to say thank you guys so much for coming out tonight to buy our album - it means so much to have you all here to support us.”

“And for you guys at home who couldn’t make it, please be sure to pick up our new album A Little Bit Longer that is now in stores.” Nick said, one of his hands in his pockets as he gave a small smile. One of the girls in the front row waved both her hands at him, leaning over as far as she could in an attempt to get closer. He gave a small wave back and she nearly burst into tears.

“So to show our thanks, we have a special treat for you guys…” Joe said, clapping his hands together. “One of our good friends is here to perform. Some of you may have heard of her already with her music video that debuted on TRL this week and her new hit single called I‘m gone, I‘m going…”

The room exploded with cheers and people started chanting my name. I felt my heartbeat quicken in my chest, adrenaline racing through my veins. I could do this. No sweat. “So without further adieu, here she is New York City - Lyric Carrington!” Joe shouted, he and his brothers quickly running off stage as the opening chords to my song started.

I counted the beats in my head, everything coming back to me like a wave. I smiled, walking out onto the stage to the explosion of noise. I felt myself blushing as I started to sing. All these people wanted to see me perform? It didn’t seem possible. “So sick of hearing your words, all I can hear you say is how you want me to live my life a different way. I’m gonna pack all my things, I’m gonna do it just watch me, watch me…” I started to sing, the guitar ripping and the crowd jumping up and down to the pounding rhythm. But they were also doing something else - to my surprise - singing along.

All of a sudden, nothing else in the world mattered. The cameras seemed to disappear, I forgot about how tired I was or how sick I was feeling - I just let the music carry me and gave the performance my all. “Let me hear you sing! Here I go, I’m gone - I’m going. I’m so over you and I don’t care. And I won’t come back cause I know if I do I won’t make it. Forgive me I can’t take it anymore…” I belted the chorus, everyone singing the lyrics loud. It was the most incredible feeling in the entire world and I never wanted to song to end. Once the final chords came to a close, I stood on stage and took a bow - cameras flashing in my face as I smiled widely for the crowd.

I hurried offstage, nearly jumping into Joe’s arms. “You did it!” He smiled, congratulating me and hugging me tightly.

“Oh my god, Joe. It was the best feeling in the world…” I sighed, running my hand through my bangs that were sticking to the side of my face. “I wanna do it again!” I laughed, still breathing a bit heavily from moving around so much on stage.

“You’ll have your chance, don’t worry.” He laughed, lacing his hand through mine. “We were thinking about heading out to Ruby Tuesday’s for something to eat - unless you just want to head back to the hotel and crash?”

“Food sounds really good right now.” I smiled, squeezing his hand as we walked out the back exit and quickly got into a small white van. There wasn’t enough seats, so Demi was on my lap and Frankie was laying across all three of his brothers. The windows were down and we yelled and waved to all the people that were still packing times square. It was nearly one in the morning, but they called it the city that never sleeps for a reason.

“You rocked tonight girl!” Demi said, high fiving me as we all filed out of the van and into the restaurant. It was oddly crowded, as college students and business men and women stopped in for a late night meal.

“Thanks Dem.” I laughed as we stayed close to avoid getting attacked by some fans that had managed to follow us. We all walked inside Ruby Tuesday’s, waiting to get a few tables. One for the band, one for the Jonas parents and Frankie and another for the boys, Demi and I. We usually ended up getting a few booths or pushing a bunch of tables together. I always loved eating with the Jonases because they always made me feel like one of the family.

“It’ll be about a five minute wait, Mrs. Jonas.” The waitress said, casting nervous glances onto Denise and all three boys. She smiled, gave an awkward wave and hurried back into the kitchen to bring out an order. We all moved to the side to stand and wait until our tables were clear.

“You alright Lyric? You look kind of pale…” Nick said, leaning in and saying just to me over the loud noise of the rest of the room.

“I’ll be fine.” I said with a weak smile, pulling the elastic from my hair so it fell down past my shoulders. But in truth, I was feeling dreadful. I was tired and started feeling a little dizzy. We had only been standing there for about two minutes, but it felt like I hadn’t moved in two hours.

“Lyric, are you coming? They said our table is ready…” Demi said, tapping my arm. I hadn’t even heard anyone say anything, but I looked around and nodded slowly - going to take a step forward.

“Oh, sorry I just - I feel really out of it.” I said, putting my hand on my head. My vision was hazy, and the room seemed really dark.

“Are you going to be sick?” Demi asked, coming closer to me. She turned around and waved someone over, and Joe’s face slowly appeared at her side.

“No, it’s just … my head. I’m really dizzy and…tired.” I said, feeling like it took forever to make the words come out of my mouth. “Probably from the concert, that’s all.”

Joe’s hand was on the side of my face, his skin feeling cool against mine. “Maybe we should get you back to the hotel…” He said, a look of concern crossing his features. I slowly shook my head, going to say something in return. But suddenly it felt like the floor was opening up beneath me and everything went completely dark. My knees gave way beneath me, and I started to fall. “Lyric!” Joe said, catching me before I hit the floor. After that, everything was black.

- - - - - - - -

.036 - Vanity.

My eyes opened quickly, a white ceiling and blinding fluorescent lights coming into view. I sat up suddenly, looking around. All that I thought had been a dream - the performance at the Virgin Megastore, Joe telling everyone we were dating on live television, me passing out in Ruby Tuesdays…it was all real. I was in the hospital. Again. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” I said in frustration. Someone chuckled, and turning to look at the door - Joe walked in.

“See - I told you she would be fine.” He smiled, leaning in the doorway with his arms crossed.

“What’s wrong with me now?” I said boredly, blowing my bangs out of my eyes.

“I’m afraid that’s my job, dear.” A second voice said as a balding man of about fifty walked in my room with a clipboard in hand. “Hello Miss Carrington, I’m doctor Logan.” He said with a nod.

“Uhm, hey…” I said, leaning against the uncomfortable plastic headboard of the hospital bed.

“Oh good Lyric, you’re awake.” Mrs. Jonas said with a smile, appearing in the doorway beside Joe. “How’re you feeling?” She asked, the doctor looking at me when she questioned me as well.

“Fine, actually.” I said, looking at the IV in my arm and wincing.

“Good, good.” The doctor nodded, scribbling some notes on his paper. “Well from the tests we’ve done, it’s not diabetes.”

“Oh thank goodness.” Mrs. Jonas said with a nervous laugh, her hand on her chest.

“Then what is it?” I asked, looking from her to the doctor.

“Have you had any recent major head injuries?” He asked, studying me.

“Yeah, I hit my head and had a case of temporary amnesia about a month ago.”

“Hm.” He said, tapping his pen on the clipboard. “Do you know if there was a concussion involved?”

I shrugged, who was I to know what happened that day? I had lost my memory after all… “It’s possible, I mean she did hit her head pretty hard on the bottom of that pool.” Joe said from his position in the doorway.

“I think what we’re dealing with here is some lasting concussion effects as far as the dizziness and headache kind of thing goes. But with the being thirsty all the time and excessive weight loss, it looks to me like it was just severe dehydration. Has your daily routine changed greatly within the past few months?”

“She’s been on the road with us since the beginning of July.” Mrs. Jonas said, a hint of concern in her voice. Almost like she was going to take blame for this. It wasn’t her fault I was unlucky.

“That could do it. Touring like that and having irregular food and sleep patterns can do some damage to your body as it gets used to the constant changes.” He said, nodding as he wrote more things down. “Other than that, it doesn’t look like you’re in too much danger here Ms. Carrington. Once you feel ready, you’re free to leave.” He smiled.

“In that case, I would like to leave as soon as possible.” I said as politely as I could. He nodded and left the room without another word.

“So how’re you feeling?” Joe asked, walking in and sitting down on the end of my bed.

“I’ll be much better once I get this stupid chord out of my arm,” I mumbled, pulling at the IV. “Why?” I asked, looking up at him.

“Oh, just you know, wondering…” He said, his gaze casting downwards.

“What’s going on now, Joe?” I sighed.

“Well my mom was talking to Hollywood record earlier, and they had some uh … concerns about your fall tour.” He said quietly.

“What kind of concerns?” I asked, smiling as I got the IV out of my arm and slid out of the hospital bed. I grabbed my clothes and walked over to the small bathroom, leaving the door ajar so I could still hear him.

“It involves us.”

“Is it good or bad?” I asked with a hint of concern as I slid on my denim Hollister Bermuda shorts.

“Depends on how you look at it.” He said quietly. I walked out of the bathroom, flipping the light off as I pulled the elastic from my hair and started running my hands through it. I went over to where he was and sat down beside him. “You see, our career has kind of … exploded I guess you could say since the last time talk about a fall tour had come around.”

“How does this involve me?” I asked, looking over at him.

“Hollywood was talking with livenation, and they’re both for promoting you and everything, but they wanted to switch things around a bit….” He said, still beating around the matter.

“Joe just tell me please.” I said, putting my hand on top of his that was resting on top of his knee. He looked up at me and smiled weakly.

“Promise you won’t be mad?”

“I promise.” I said with a smile and a roll of my eyes.

He took a deep breath. “They want us to headline and for you to open.”

I felt my stomach sink. “Oh.” I said, looking down. “That’s … big news alright.”

“Look, I know it wasn’t what you were looking forward to - and trust me this wasn’t my idea, but you’ll still get to tour with us.” He said with a smile. “They also pushed the kickoff date back to October 31^st so we have more of a break once the burnin’ up tour ends.”

I nodded. “Oh, well that’s good.” I tried to keep my feelings positive, but in truth I was totally bummed out. I wanted to have a giant set list and be able to pick out my awesome stage with tons of pyro and lighting. For once I wanted it to be about me, not the Jonas Brothers. It sounded kind of greedy, but I was trying to make a career here too. And if I kept getting overshadowed by them and only famous just for dating Joe, I was going to be pretty disappointed. I was a singer and songwriter too, and I wanted people to really see that. My mind flashed back to that day at the video shoot when Joe and I were talking about the tour.

“Well of course they’re not buying tickets to see you love, the want to see the boys.” James’s voice popped into my head. I shuddered slightly.

“Look Lyric I’m really sorry,” Joe said, interrupting my thoughts. “I know you wanted to do your own tour and everything-”

“No, no.” I said, putting my finger to his lips. “Don’t worry about me, this is your guys’ dream. I don’t want to get in the way.” I said with a small smile.

“You’re not getting in the way, Ly.” He said, lacing his hand in mine. “I know what it’s like to be constantly shot down, and I know that it’s not a good feeling. This is just the company’s way of making more money.”

I sighed. “I know.”

“Don’t worry about it, okay? Everything will be fine.” He smiled, kissing my forehead. “Now come on, let’s get out of here.” He said, standing up and pulling me up with him. I slowly got up and followed.

- later that day, girl’s only sleepover on Demi’s tour bus -

“Did you hear what happened with my tour?” I asked Demi as we sat at the booth in the kitchen type area, watching icarly on the plasma screen tv that was a few feet overhead. We were both just hanging around doing our nails and messing around with song lyrics, doing our own thing without the loud and obnoxious brotherly antics of the boys.

“No, what?” She said, looking up at me as she dipped the nail polish brush back into the deep navy blue bottle.

“I got kicked off headlining and am now opening for ‘the megastar Jonas Brothers.’” I said in a deep voice, intimidating no one in particular and making air quotes.

“No way!” Demi said. “How did that happen?”

“I don’t know,” I sighed. “Apparently livenation wanted to make more money off the tour and knows that the only way to do that is to give the tour to the boys.”

“Ouch, I’m sorry Ly.” She said, biting her lip. The bus went over a bump and Demi smeared nail polish all over her left ring finger. “Ugh.” She mumbled, grabbing a napkin out of the small holder on the table. “So what’re you gonna do?”

“There’s really nothing I can do.” I shrugged, standing up and opening one of the overhead cabinets and pulling out a small bowl. “Want some ice cream?” I asked while I was up.

“No I’m good,” She said, blowing at the wet paint on her fingertips. I nodded, closing the cabinet door and setting the bowl down on the counter. I did a 180 and was facing the mini fridge/freezer, opening it to pull out a carton of chocolate fudge ice cream. “Are you excited for your new album to come out in a few weeks?” She asked me as I searched through a ton of silverware drawers trying to find the ice cream scoop.

“Yeah,” I shrugged. “A bit nervous though, now that I think about it.”

“Why?” Demi questioned, reaching for the new issue of Seventeen that I had been looking at earlier that was draped half open on the couch behind her. That was the one good thing about being so compact on a bus. You barely had to move to get anything.

“Just my usual deal. Worried about people not liking me, my voice and all that. Plus Joe blabbed that we’re dating. I’m already getting death threats via Youtube.” I sighed.

“I hate how what people think of us revolves around how well we know the guys.” Demi said, shaking her head. “Did you know that the reason Joe and I’s kiss got taken out of camp rock was because people said they would murder me if I kissed him?”

“Wow.” I said, my eyes widening. “Just goes to show how fanatical girls can be.”

“You have no idea,” She mumbled, flipping the page of the magazine loudly. “But don’t worry about it, the fandom should die down sooner or later.”

“I hope so.” I sighed. I never thought that being a star could involve so much politics. It was all about money, image and what the majority of people wanted to hear or see. Just goes to show that living the life of a super star can be everything but glamorous.

- - - - - - - -

.037 - Stress.

“Another show down, only fifty million left to go.” Kevin yawned, collapsing onto the light brow leather couch in the tour bus.

“You could say that again, I’m exhausted.” Nick said from the booth in the kitchen, letting his head fall into his folded arms on the tabletop.

I had stayed on the bus for the show, hanging in my bunk with Joe’s laptop so I could upload some Youtube videos and just fool around on the internet. I heard them come on the bus loudly like the always did, immediately charging for the shower and then crashing in the main living space for the night to play video games and eat food until about four in the morning. It was already midnight, and all their of their voices rang loudly through the small space.

This was how it went almost every night. They would stomp onto the bus, scream when they talked to each other since they were used to shouting of fan girl shrieks for the past three hours, devour anything edible on the bus, blast Halo 3 and yell at each other while they played that before snoring their brains out when they all fell asleep either on the bus floor or occasionally in their own bunks.

“Missed you tonight,” Joe said, walking back to the bunk area and giving me a quick kiss.

“Had things to do,” I shrugged, tucking a piece of my dirty blonde hair behind my ear. He nodded, pulling all the clothes out of one of his four drawers he shared with Nick in search of something.

“Have you seen my blue plaid pajama pants?” He asked, throwing an old Ed Hardy tee shirt over his shoulder.

“Yup,” I said, letting one leg hang off the side of my bunk on the top the reveal his oversized pants hanging nearly a foot off my leg. “Borrowed them, sorry.”

“No big, I think it’s cute when you steal my stuff.” He teased, smacking my leg as he walked back over to where I was. I just grinned in return. “So whatchya doing?” He asked, standing on the bottom bunk so he could look over my shoulder.

I turned my attention away for a quick second to see Nick and Kevin both pushing each other through the small hallway of the bus. “But I called shower first! Kevin!” Nick groaned, pounding on the bathroom door. Kevin just laughed from inside.

“Better luck next time little bro!” He called before drowning out the noise by turning the shower on. Nick walked back in to the living room in defeat. I rolled my eyes.

“Anyway, I was just doing some stuff online with Youtube and myspace.” I shrugged. “Plus my mom’s been emailing me constantly and I never really got around to responding.”

“Nice,” He said, hopping down. “Oh by the way, she called this morning.”

“What?” I said, peeking my head out the side of the bunk as he went to walk back towards where Nick was playing xbox.

“Yeah, said something about school. I don’t really remember. She wants you to call her back though.” He said with a wave of his hand, plopping down on the couch and out of my site. I sighed, muttering under my breath about how unreliable boys could be. On top of that, I was still ticked off about the whole tour thing. I tried to not think about it.

“I’m definitely not going to land myself a two hour phone conversation by calling her back.” I said aloud to myself, clicking open my e-mail to reveal that I had fifty two unread messages. Well this was just awesome. I deleted most of them, many from my mom asking if I got her present or her and my dad freaking out because I was on tv or something lame like that.

I opened the most recent one and scanned it quickly, but a certain sentence caught my eye and caused me to go back and read it thoroughly.

Lyric, hope you heard the news about the fall tour that you’re doing with the Jonas boys. I’m sorry that you’re not headlining anymore. But honey, that’s showbiz! Don’t worry, you’ll be making it to the big times just like the boys anytime now. Your father and I are looking forward to seeing you come home for awhile once this summer tour is over with. Plus since the fall tour has been pushed back to October that means you’ll get to go back to school for a few months!

I stopped reading after the whole back to school thing. As if this couldn’t get any worse already. Last year I was a nobody, ‘that girl from Australia’ as everyone called me. But now that all this had happened with the Jonas Brothers - I wouldn’t be able to even walk down the hallway without being ambushed. Everyone would want to be my friend all of a sudden and ask if I could help them meet the boys.

It made me think of what Demi said last night. Life for us just revolves around what one person things about the Jonas Brothers. If you’re involved with them and the person hates them, then they hate you too. End of story. Or they could love the boys so much that they hate you out of jealously. I smacked myself on the forehead at the thought. Positive, remain positive. I shut down the computer and leaned down to the bunk below me and let the lightweight laptop fall noiselessly onto the unmade bed.

“Owned! Team Slayer wins again.” Joe’s voice rang from the opposite room. Kevin came out of the shower, his short black hair curling as it dried. Nick was in the bathroom in a heartbeat, not willing to let yet another brother take his time. I rolled over in my bunk, pulling down the mini plasma screen tv and flipping through the channels.

Deciding that Disney channel would have to do for now, I slid down from my bed that was a good five feet off the ground - pulling up Joe’s pajama pants as they nearly fell off when I landed. I headed towards the kitchen in search of something to eat since there was a commercial break and I really didn‘t fee like watching the three minute game show camp rock edition. “Hey Lyric!” Kevin said happily, looking over at me from his sprawled out position on the couch. “Missed you at the show tonight.”

“So I’ve been told,” I said with a small smile, opening the large cabinet that Mrs. Jonas called the junk food joint since it was where all the sweets and junk food was kept. I pulled out a bag of Cheetos puffs, opening them as quietly as I could as I went to head back to my bunk.

“Are those Cheetos?” Joe asked excitedly as I was almost halfway there. I froze. Busted.

“Uh, no?” I said, biting my lip and trying to hurry my way back to my bunk. Joe caught my around the waist and pulled me back, sitting me on his lap.

“Sorry, but you’re not going anywhere with those.” He grinned, taking the bag from my hands.

“Hey!” I said, trying to reach for it as he held it up out of my reach. “Boys.” I mumbled, wiggling free of Joe’s grasp and heading back to my bunk.

“What?” Joe said, his mouth full of orange. I just rolled my eyes and grabbed a small package of Oreos and went back to my bunk.

- the next morning -

I was woken the next day by thunder. You know, the kind that would shake your entire house because it sounded like an entire building was being dropped in the front yard. I slowly opened my eyes, still completely tired. I searched around me and found my phone, blinded for a quick second as the bright backlight shined in my eyes. It was almost eight, but the dark clouds made the bus appear like it was only two in the morning.

I pulled back my curtain to let what little light there was in and looked to see if anyone else was awake. Kevin was watching tv in the bed across from me, Nick fast asleep below him. I peeked my head to look underneath me, seeing that Joe was passed out as well. My stomach rumbled and I sighed, sliding down off the bunk as quietly as I could. Kevin looked at me for a second but then looked back at the small tv screen, saying nothing.

“Morning Lyric.” Mr. Jonas said from his position at the small booth in the kitchen. He was drinking a cup of coffee and scrolling through a webpage on one of the laptops that was scattered around the bus.

“Good morning,” I smiled, rolling up the pajama pants of Joe’s I had borrowed so I wouldn’t trip and fall over the long pant legs. I walked over to the small fridge and grabbed a mini bottled orange juice, then took a chocolate frosted donut from the open box on the counter. I slid into the seat across from him, glancing at the headlines of the newspaper that was folded up in front of me. They must have stopped somewhere to pick it up while we were still sleeping.

“Oh, Lyric your mother called this morning.” Denise said, looking out the window briefly as a large rod of lightning connected with the ground and lit up the entire bus. I jumped.

“She called again?” I asked, spinning Harmony’s charm bracelet around absent mindedly on my wrist.

“She said that as soon as we’re in the area again she wants us to drop you off at home.” She said while carefully pouring herself a cup of tea.

“Oh.” I said a bit disappointedly. “Well, when’s that going to be?”

“We’re going to be in Washington D.C for a show tonight, so we figured we’d swing up to Massachusetts to say hello to your parents and drop you off before heading back."

“But Agawam is eight hours away from D.C.” I said, “I don’t want to make this more of a trip for you guys then it has to be…”

“Oh don’t worry sweetie, we’re going to be taking the jet.” She smiled. “We’re on our way to the airport as we speak, hopefully this storm will clear up in time.”

I just nodded, picking at the chocolate frosting on my donut. “I guess I better go make sure my things are packed then.” I said with a small smile, standing up and taking my little orange juice and donut with me. By the time I got back to the bunks, all four Jonas boys were awake. Frankie and Kevin were sitting in the small lounge area to the back of the bus behind the bunk area playing yahtzee, the dice rolling everywhere and getting lost whenever we went over a bump. Joe was texting someone on his blackberry, and Nick had a guitar in hand was singing quietly to one man show. None of them noticed me come in - or so I thought.

I grabbed my brand new Louis Vuitton suitcase from the overhead compartment and dropped it down onto Joe’s bunk. He was still sitting there, more off to the side. “What’re you doing?” He asked, putting his phone onto his pillow and looking at me with a puzzled expression.

“Packing.” I said, unzipping the suitcase and wincing slightly as the overwhelming smell of new leather engulfed my senses.

“I can see that,” Joe said with an eye roll. “But why?”

“I’m leaving,” I said with a small sigh, pulling open one of my drawers and taking out all of the clothes. I dumped them onto the bed beside my suitcase and started folding them before putting them neatly into the suitcase.

“Again I ask - why?” Joe questioned, crossing his legs and watching me.

“My mom called this morning, she wants me home so I can get ready for school and stuff I guess.” I shrugged.

“So you’re just leaving the tour? Just like that?”

I looked up from my folding to meet his eyes. “Yeah, basically.” I said, holding his gaze for a quick second before going back to my clothes.

“Well that sucks.” He said with a bit of disappointment, leaning against the hardwood of the bunk walls.

“Mhmm.” I mumbled before heading into the bathroom to change and collect my shampoo and toothbrush. I came out a few minutes later in a pair of dark skinny jeans and a long white tee shirt that had the words New York City written in giant, impact font on the front with hot pink and lime green paint splatters. I had a black denim vest on over the shirt, and was wearing some matching hot pink socks.

“So you’re just gonan take off...” Joe muttered, I assumed only to himself.

“Lyric’s leaving?” Nick asked, his attention caught by our conversation. I nodded. “Bummer.” shrugged before starting to play again. Joe threw him a look, but Nick’s attention was elsewhere.

“This isn’t about us taking the tour, is it?” He asked.

“What? No! My mom spoke to your mom this morning and said that she wanted me home as soon as we got close to their area again. It’s got nothing to do with you.” I said a little harshly, shaking my head as I stuffed a hairbrush into a small side pocket.

“Sure it doesn’t.” Joe said under his breath, just loud enough for me to hear. He didn’t say another word but simply got up off the bunk and walked away. I stood there, feeling furious. I sighed in frustration and tried to let it go, sitting on the top of my suitcase and trying to zip it closed.

- - - - - - - -

.038 - Losing.

Joe and I didn’t speak much the rest of the afternoon. I felt guilty, a knot forming in my stomach as the thought of having to leave him for two months became more of a realization. Maybe it would be a good idea for us to take a break from each other for awhile. But, did that mean breaking up for the time in-between? My heart sunk in my chest. We were sitting in an SUV on our way to the small airport to take the Jonas’s private jet up to Barnes Airport before heading to my place.

I spent most of the time in the car attached to my ipod and looking out the window. The storm had cleared and a light drizzle was misting the tinted windows of the car. I had my knees hugged to my chest, my piano patterned tote at my feet on the floor. Joe was sitting in the seat behind me with Nick, and I was on the right side with Frankie in the middle and Kevin on the opposite side. Paul Jonas was driving, with Denise in the front. They were discussing the visit to the wax figure museum later that day to see the boys new statues, Mrs. Jonas saying how the aspect seemed kinda creepy - but was honored they wanted to make wax figures of her boys.

Joe was quiet, as was Nick. Kevin was on the phone with Chelsea Staub talking about filming more J.O.N.A.S episodes - and Frankie was engulfed in a game of Mario Kart on his Nintendo DS. I suddenly felt out of place. Who was I to intrude on the Jonas family and their career? I didn’t deserve this tour, they did. My twenty minutes of fame would be up, and nobody would remember who I was two months from now.

I hugged my knees tighter to my chest, taking a shaky breath as the bright green trees flew by on the highway. I turned the volume up higher on my ipod, the loud music drowning out my thoughts. Soon after, the car slowed to a stop in the airport parking lot. We all got out, Joe blowing past me without a second look. My heart took a small stab from that, and I felt my gaze cast to the pavement. I walked around to the back of the car, opening the trunk and taking my suitcase out.

Pulling up on the handle, I put my tote over my shoulder and slowly rolled my bag behind me as I followed the Jonas family to the small white jet parked in the distance. We all filed on, taking our seats in the recliner like chairs and buckling our seatbelts. I felt eyes on me, and looked to see Joe staring at me. He held my gaze was a fraction of a second before turning away. I sighed, tapping my fingers nervously on the arm of the chair.

- two hours later, Barnes Airport in Massachusetts -

We landed at eleven, the weather here bright and sunny. I looked around, smiling a bit at the familiar landscape. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, it did feel good to be home. Sure enough, there was a limo waiting for us as soon as we set foot on the asphalt. I grabbed my suitcase and hurried to catch up with the boys who were a good twenty feet ahead of me. Then I remembered how Joe was mad at me and I slowed my pace back to a walk.

I felt alone, and was glad I was leaving the tour early. They didn’t need me here. We all got into the limo, the boys arguing over who was responsible for doing the laundry since all their white socks were now pink. Normally I would have sat here and laughed, but I ideally just wanted to be home.

The ride to Agawam took about twenty five minutes, and I smiled a bit as the yellow siding and black shudders of my house came into view. The front door was wide open with just the screen door in its place to let the cool summer breeze blow into the house. The limo driver dropped us off to return in four hours to pick the Jonas family up, my neighbors watching with great curiosity at the site of me getting out of the long black car.

Blushing slightly I yanked my suitcase from the trunk and walked up to the front door, my mom flinging it open before I could even put my hand on the doorknob. “Lyric! Oh honey we’ve missed you!” She smiled, throwing her arms around my neck. The sound of her soft voice with the thick Aussie accent was welcoming. “Mr. and Mrs. Jonas, boys - please do come in.” She said, holding the door open for them.

“Thanks Sandy.” Paul grinned, hugging my mom and shaking my dad’s hand. Joe put on his happy face and acted like no problems existed between he and I at all, his newly acquired acting skills paying off.

“Why don’t we head out back, sit by the pool and talk.” My dad said with a smile, leading the Jonas’s outside.

“I’ll be right out.” I said quietly, dragging my suitcase up the stairs. My bedroom door was wide open, the windows thrown up with the cool air circulating through the small space. I dropped my suitcase on my bed, figuring I would have plenty of time to unpack later. I made my way back down the stairs and cut through the kitchen and into the living room where the sliding glass door was. I walked outside, opening the little black gate that led into the pool area.

My dad, mom, Paul and Denise were sitting at the long wooden table with the tall, green umbrella that shot through its middle wide open to shield against the bright noon time sunlight. The weather was cool, a feeling of autumn distant in the temperature of the air. But the sun was warm, casting sparkling rays onto the rippling surface of the pool. The boys were sitting on a few of the long lounge chairs, Kevin lying back with his sunglasses on and his hands folded on his chest.

I didn’t know where I was supposed to go, so I kind of stood off to the side for a moment and watched. “Lyric, come here and tell your parents all about TRL!” Denise laughed, waving me over. I put on my happiest expression and walked over, my hands in my back pockets.

It didn’t seem like it would go by fast enough, but the four hours were finally just about done with. The topic of Joe and I dating had been avoided, including me avoiding Joe himself. I figured the conversation between he and I before they left would be coming sooner rather than later, so I decided that I would break the ice. I took a deep breath and walked over to where the boys sat, running my hand through my hair nervously. “Hey, uh, can we talk?” I asked Joe, biting my lip. He nodded, standing up.

We walked out the far gate of the pool area, standing in the driveway for privacy. “What’s up?” He asked with a sigh.

“Look, Joe… me leaving isn’t because you guys ended up getting the tour-”

“But you are mad that we took it from you, you know you are.” He interrupted.

“Well yeah I am!” I exclaimed. “I was looking forward to having my own tour all year and all of a sudden it’s just ripped out from underneath me so the superstar money making Jonas Brothers could have it all. Tell me that something like that wouldn’t hurt.” I said, crossing my arms.

“You had to see it coming, Lyric. I hate to break it to you but you just don’t have a big enough name for yourself yet to headline your own tour.”

“And I thought you would be there to support me through all of this.” I frowned, shaking my head. “But you’re just like the rest of those big headed bands, wanting everything.”

“What? Lyric, I told you this wasn’t my idea!”

“Yeah but you said yourself that you thought me leaving the tour was because I was mad at you for taking mine. Your idea was to try and make me feel bad about this somehow. Joe, I didn’t want to leave the tour and I sure as hell didn’t want to leave you. But don’t turn on me and try to make me feel like this is all my fault.”

Joe looked down, shaking his head. “I wasn’t trying to make it seem like it was your fault, I know it’s ours for taking it from you. I’m so sorry that we’re too famous for you to get what you want.” He said sarcastically.

“Like you didn’t have a dream when you were in the same position as me! Come on Joe, this is stupid.” I said, feeling my heart being yanked on as we seemed to be distancing on spot. I hated arguing with Joe, but we had never gotten into a fight this big before. “Maybe we should take a break from each other for a few months.”

The rest of the Jonas family was now walking out of the pool area with my parents as the limo had just arrived. They had been talking and laughing, but their voices silenced when they saw Joe and I arguing. “Yeah, maybe we should.” Joe spat back. “There’s something you got your way Lyric, we’re over. I hope you’re happy.” He said, brushing past me and slamming my shoulder as he headed towards the limo.

Denise and Paul as well as my parents all exchanged glances, then said nervous goodbyes and headed back towards the car. They all got in, the limo driver closing the door for them. I blew past my parents and back into the house before I even had a chance to watch the car back down the driveway. I ran up the stairs to my room, silent tears rolling down my cheeks. I slammed the white wooden door, walking over to the wall where I had three Jonas Brothers posters up. I ripped each of them down, crumpling them in a ball and throwing them at my trashcan.

I walked over to my dresser, opening one of the drawers to reveal piles of clothes that I hadn’t had a chance to see in weeks. Since I originally wasn’t supposed to even go on the tour with the boys, most of the clothes I had in my suitcase had been bought along the way. Seeing my old clothes gave me more of a sense of being at home.

Catching my reflection in the long full body mirror in the corner, I saw myself. I had seen my reflection plenty of times before, but I had never actually looked. There were tear stains from my makeup on my cheeks, my wheat gold hair was lying softly on my shoulders. I was an up and coming superstar, Joe Jonas’s girlfriend - a celebrity. But seeing myself here, I felt like I was back at square one. The Lyric Carrington that hid away in her room with her guitar stashed in her closet, the one that worked at six flags and spent her Friday nights watching Hannah Montana reruns while everyone else in her sophomore class was at the beach. More than anything I just wanted to walk over and smash the glass, not wanting to see my face again. But I kept my dignity and turned away, grabbing a pair of grey sweatpants and a whale print tank top before heading to the bathroom to take a really long shower.

After hiding away in the small, steam filled room for nearly forty five minutes - I slowly came out. My parents were still both outside, now in their bathing suits to lounge by the pool - saving every last second of summer they had left. I tip toed downstairs to the computer, sitting down in the big black chair. I clicked on the internet, heading to Google.

I typed in my own name, my eyes widening at the three hundred results that had come up. Perez Hilton, Teenscoop, Seventeen, People - all the sites had some sort of article on them about me. But, big surprise, it was about me touring with the Jonas Brothers or dating Joe Jonas. I scowled, closing the window and signing onto face book. My shoulders sank. So I had been right about the whole ‘everyone suddenly wanting to be best buddies with me’ thing. I had two hundred and fifty one friend requests. I sighed. This might take awhile.

“Lyric, sweetie, dinner’s ready.” My mom said, opening one of the French doors of the den and peeking her head in.

“Thanks Mom.” I said quietly, uncrossing my legs and standing up slowly. I walked across the pale pink carpet and out into the hallway, feeling in a daze as the days events replayed constantly in my head. I sat down at the dinner table, feeling completely hollow inside. When Joe left, a piece of me went with him.

- - - - - - - -

.039 - Past.

“Deep breaths Lyric, you’ll do fine. I mean, it’s just high school right?” I said aloud as I looked my first day of school outfit over in the mirror. In truth I wasn’t nervous about people not accepting me, I was nervous about getting ambushed as soon as I got out of the car. I let the thought go quickly though, that sounded too hot headed. I was really worried about popular girls thinking that I was a spoiled celebrity brat who didn’t deserve more than a second look. I really needed to learn how to stop beating myself up.

I was wearing dark blue skinny jeans and a long black and white checkered polo that reached to the top of my thigh. I had a black studded belt resting on my lower waist on top of the shirt and my hair was in soft waves down a bit past my shoulders. My makeup was done to perfection after learning how to do it properly from all the makeup artists I had met while on tour when we had stopped and done photoshoots for magazines. No matter how pretty the outside of me looked, I still felt horrid on the inside.

“Lyric, we have to leave or else you’re gonna be late!” My mom called up the stairs. I took a deep breath and grabbed my tote bag, hurrying down the stairs in my black converse sneakers. “Oh don’t you look nice.” My mom said with a small smile, grabbing her car keys from the small rack beside the door leading out into the garage.

“Thanks Mom.” I smiled weakly in return. She opened the door, letting me walk out before her. She pressed a button on the small remote attached to her keys, unlocking the doors to her silver oh seven Volvo. The high school was only a five minute drive from my house, and it usually landed me walking home from school since my parents were both working.

We pulled into the parking lot, the giant brick building coming into view as we entered the maze of cars. Kids were beeping their horns and running up to the friends they hadn’t seen all summer, and I watched it all unfold as we pulled up to the main entrance. “Have a nice day!” My mom smiled at me as I got out of the car. I nodded in return before stepped out of the car onto the wild territory known as Agawam High grounds. I hoisted my tote bag onto my shoulder and started towards the main doors, immediately hearing people talking about me.

“See! I told you that Lyric Carrington went to this school. How awesome is that?”

“Dude, there’s no way that’s her.”

“Did you hear she’s dating Joe Jonas?”

“I saw her in concert once, she sucked.”

“OMG I can’t believe it, Macy where’s my camera!”

“She’s not as pretty as I thought she was…”

I took a deep breath and just kept walking, trying my best to avoid all the voices I left in my midst. With each step I took, I felt myself breaking inside more and more. I just wanted to be up on a stage somewhere, singing my feelings out. Not walking the halls of a high school with them written all over my face. I hurried up the stairs to the second floor, walking down the crowded halls. Each floor of my school was a giant square, and everyone usually avoided homeroom by walking around the halls until the late bell rang. I found my homeroom without even looking since we kept the same one all four years. I dropped my bag off at my desk, taking out five of the seven binders and walking back out into the hallway.

The voices started up again, and I took a shaky breath as my gaze cast down. Not looking where I was going, I collided with someone walking around the halls. Of course someone like me couldn't go the entire first day without screwing up. I stumbled backwards a bit, all my binders and papers flying from my arms onto the floor. “Awesome.” I sighed sarcastically, kneeling down to pick them up.

“My bad,” The opposing person said, kneeling down to help me. They scooped up a few of my things into their arms, holding them out for me to take.

“Sorry, I just, I really need to learn how to walk…” I stuttered nervously, looking up to meet the bright blue eyes of a boy.

“Don’t worry about it,” He smiled, standing up and dusting his hands off on his jeans. I searched my head for words, but was lost. He was gorgeous, having light brown hair that fell into his breathtaking eyes and a smile that would make any dentist proud. He was wearing dark destroyed jeans with a khaki belt loosely around his waist. He had green low top converse on and had a vintage Beatles shirt on. “I’m Ace.” He nodded.

“Lyric.” I managed to say, smiling up at him. He was about half a foot taller than me.

“Ace! Hey, over here!” Someone called from down the hallway, waving to him over the heads of the other students.

“See you around, Lyric.” He said with a smile and a nod, walking by me. My breath was caught in my lungs as I stood there stupidly watching him walk away. Breaking up with Joe wasn’t starting to look so bad after all. I wandered back into my homeroom, sliding into my seat as silently as I could. All the people that were hanging around, classmates or kids from other floors, watched me as I moved. I smiled weakly before moving my gaze to the blank chalkboard, hoping that I was instantly become invisible.

“Would Lyric Carrington please see Mrs. Kasey in guidance?” Came an announcement over the loudspeaker. I sighed, collecting my things and standing up out of my seat. I could just sit down for ten seconds, could I?

“Uhm, do I need a pass?” I asked my homeroom teacher, even though school hadn’t even officially started yet. I still had four minutes until the first bell rang. The teacher looked up at me like I was insane.

“No, just go.” He said, turning his attention back to his laptop screen.

“Uh, thanks…I think.” I mumbled, hoisting my bag over my shoulder and walking out into the crowded hallways. As soon as my foot landed on the white tile floor, the chatter started up again. I even saw some girl pull out her cell phone and record me as I walked by.

“Jessica is never gonna believe this…” She grinned, high fiving her friend. I just sighed and continued down the hall - people moving out of my way like I had some kind of ten foot shield around me. I felt my cheeks turn pink again as they all stared and whispered.

I finally made it to the stairwell, hurrying down the short blue steps as quickly as I could down to the first floor. The halls were familiar, but I had never been to guidance before so I didn’t know where to look. Searching some signs that were posted high above the crowds on the walls - I followed the arrows until I came to a small brown door next to the nurses office. I pushed open the door as slowly as I could, the hinges creaking loudly. I winced.

“Ah, Miss Carrington. Welcome, welcome. I’m Mrs. Kasey.” A short, rather round woman said - extending her hand to me in a friendly gesture.

“Uh, nice to meet you.” I said shakily, taking her hand before crossing my arms across my waist again. “Did I uh, do something wrong?” I asked nervously.

“No, no dear.” She laughed merrily. “Please, take a seat.” She said, pointing to the large, burgundy cushioned chair in front of her cluttered desk. I nodded and took a seat without another word. “So,” She said, folding her hands on the smooth wooden surface in front of her. The desk was casting a horrid glare from the sunlight pouring in the windows, and I had to squint just so I could see her face. “Your return to Agawam High has caused quiet the ruckus around the halls.” She chuckled.

“I know, I’m sorry, I just-”

“No need to apologize sweetie.” She smiled. “We just wanted to make sure that you haven’t had any difficulty moving about the halls, people coming up to you, things like that.”

“Well it’s kind of hard to say since it’s only homeroom and I haven’t had a chance to get to any of my classes.” I said, biting my lip and hoping that it didn’t sound rude.

“True indeed.” She nodded, tapping her lip with her finger. “But you were also called her with a … small favor to be asked of you, if you don’t mind.”

I raised an eyebrow, studying her. “Uhm, no - what’s up?” I asked, perplexed.

“Well the sophomore fall masquerade is coming up in a few weeks and well … we thought it would be quiet the honor for you to perform a couple songs for your class mates.”

“Oh uhm,” I stuttered, completely caught off guard. I thought them sending me down here was to kick me out for distracting people. “Sure?” I said, figuring that singing at a school dance shouldn’t be that big of a deal. Plus it’s not like I would have planned on going otherwise.

“Brilliant!” She smiled, obviously happy with my response. “Some of the girls around the school had heard that you were coming back for the school year and were hoping you’d say yes. They also said they wanted to try and get those Jonah brothers or whatever nonsense the kids are listening to - but I figured that would be too much to ask. However I think one of them said she contacted the boys already…” She said, her voice trailing off as she seemed to be thinking out loud.

“Uhm, Mrs., Kasey? I hate to interrupt, but the first period bell rang and-”

“Oh goodness dear, so sorry. Yes go, go to class.” She chuckled. I nodded with a small smile and scooted out of my seat and out the door. Thank god that was over. I suddenly wished I had pulled a Hannah Montana and worn a wig to school. If this was how it was going to go all day, I didn’t think I’d be able to make it.

I pulled my schedule out of my back pocket, seeing I had Biology on the third floor first period. I hurried quickly up the stairs, scanning the classroom doors for room 311. The door was wide open, and the teacher was already addressing the class.

“Sorry, sorry. I just, I came from guidance and they didn’t give me a pass-”

“Don’t worry about it! You have a crazy enough life as it is, we won’t need to write up someone as talented and famous as yourself for being late to class.” The teacher boomed, grinning ear to ear at the site of me. “My daughters are huge fans. Please, take a seat Miss Carrington.”

I sighed, shaking my head as I scanned the room quickly for an open seat. Someone’s attention caught my eye, and I saw Ace giving me that same crooked grin as this morning as he looked from me to the empty chair beside him - then winked. I hurried over to chair, sliding in beside him and dumping my bag on the ground.

“Thanks,” I whispered once the teacher had started talking again. “I thought for sure he was going to seat me at his desk and make me sign autographs or something…” I sighed, feeling embarrassed and putting my hands over my eyes to avoid the evil glares I was getting from a group of blondes at the table diagonal from me. I figured Ace was a hot ticket item, and me being made a teacher’s pet within the first five seconds didn’t make them too impressed either.

“No problem.” He chucked. “Mr. Sampson’s a fruit anyways.”

I laughed quietly. “I owe you big time.”

“I’ll figure out a way for you to play me back later.” He grinned. I felt my heart melt a little on the inside, and was starting to feel a bit better. Maybe this high school thing wouldn’t be too bad, I was only doing it for a few months anyways before the tour. I sighed heavily. I had almost completely forgotten about Joe, but that didn’t look like it would be happening anytime soon.

- Joe’s POV, next tour stop in Virginia -

“So what was with you and Lyric screaming at each other?” Nick asked, adjusting his tie in the bathroom mirror of a fancy restaurant our parents had made reservations at before our show that night.

“We broke up.” I mumbled, waving my hands under the sensors on the white marble sink and getting frustrated as it wouldn’t turn on.

“Seriously?” Nick asked, turning his attention to me. I just nodded, brushing past him back out into the crowded restaurant lobby and headed back towards the private tables in the back. I ignored to paparazzi and reporters shouting my name, keeping my gaze down. Nick jogged behind, soon catching up.

“Who dumped who?” He asked, eager to know the details.

“Look, Nick - I don’t want to talk about it okay?” I growled, finding my seat on the left side of Kevin at the large round table our family was sitting at.

“Fine,” Nick mumbled, sitting down in his seat next to our mom. “Hey, did you hear? A group of girls from this high school called Mom this morning and asked us to sing at some dance.”

“Nice.” Kevin chuckled sarcastically, picking a tomato from his salad and popping it into his mouth.

“I actually am considering it,” Mom piped in, looking at all three of us. I nearly spit out my soda on the spot.

“What?” I said, coughing as some had gone done the wrong way.

“It would be a good experience for you guys, getting back to your roots and playing a high school show. Just like the old days.” She grinned.

“But, there’s no way… I mean with all the people that would show up and everything. It would be chaotic.” Nick said, shaking his head.

“That’s what security is for,” Dad said, passing me the basket of bread that was going around the table. “I think your mother’s right, it would be a good experience. Plus you’ll be off tour anyways, so it’s not like you’ll have much else to do. Just one show, what could it hurt?”

I groaned, leaning my head back in my seat. “Where is it?” I asked finally.

“Well - that’s the other part…” My mom said nervously.

“What, like South Africa or something?” Kevin laughed.

“Well no. The girls somehow got information to contact me from another girl at school.” She sighed.

“What, do we like know the chick who spilled or something?” Nick asked.

“It’s at Lyric’s high school.”

“No way.” I said abruptly, but everyone pretended that they didn’t hear me.

“So are you boys excited for the show tonight? I saw people lined up outside on our way over here and it looks like a good crowd.” Our dad said with a smile, changing the subject.

“Always.” Kevin grinned. I just nodded in return. I was just looking forward to getting on stage to just let loose, sing out how I was feeling. That was the best part about performing. Once you got on stage you could just forget about everything. And forgetting about Lyric was something I planned on doing as soon as possible.

- - - - - - - -

.040 - Distractions.

- Lyric’s POV -

“I give up!” I growled, ripping out yet another piece of paper from my notebook and throwing it on the recording studio floor. I ran my hand through my dirty blonde hair, tying it into a messy ponytail.

“What’s with all the noise?” My dad asked with a laugh, walking down into the basement to see me sitting at one of the big black swivel chairs in front of the sound board.

“Nothing.” I mumbled, tapping my pen on the arm of the chair in frustration.

“I’m sure.” He said, walking up beside me. “Can I see?” He asked, looking down at my notebook.

“There’s nothing there.” I said. “I’m trying to write a song and it’s obviously not working out. And I have to have something ready for that stupid dance next weekend…”

“Well what about your old stuff? Your album hasn’t even dropped yet…” He chuckled.

“I don’t want to sing that stupid cookie cutter popstar stuff James made me sing.” I said, throwing him an icy glare.

“Like it or not Ly, it’s not gonna go away. You’ll be singing those songs on that tour this fall. Manager or not, you’re still signed to Hollywood and have to sing what they give you.” He sighed, sitting down in a chair beside me. He looked from me to the pile of crumpled papers beside the trash can, picking one up and slowly unfolding it.

“It’s crap.” I said, pushing some of the switches up and down as I refused to look at him. After a few minutes, he spoke.

“Lyric, this isn’t crap. This is actually really good.” He said, smoothing it out on his knee. “Sing it?”

“Why?” I whined, leaning back in the chair and spinning around. He caught the arm of it, stopping me. He stood up and walked across the room, picking up one of guitars from it’s stand.

“Please?” He asked, holding it out. I stared at it for a second, then sighed and took it. I place the guitar in my lap, putting my fingers on the correct chords and started playing. The tune was light, but had a bit of a sadness to it.

“Everyday is like a song, each lyric falling to pieces at my feet. Locked doors and storm clouds - your heart is changing. How did this end up a getaway train? Everything - you and me - is lost…” I sang quietly, strumming the chords with my bare fingertips. The song was inspired but the endless hours of Train albums I had been listening to all day. No rhyming, poetic lyrics…it was pretty deep.

“Train huh?” My dad laughed, catching the song style right off the bat. Me and him used to sit down here and listen to all kinds of music, looking for inspiration.

“Yeah,” I smiled with a shrug.

“That’s good stuff Ly, powerful.” He nodded, getting up and walking back towards the stairs. “I would consider recording it if I were you…”

“Maybe.” I said, thinking about it.

“If you need anything, just holler up - I’ll be here.” He winked, jogging up the stairs and closing the basement door behind him. I sighed, spinning around in my chair and turning up the volume on the stereo - trying to drain out my thoughts.

- Joe’s POV, late night on the tour bus -

“I need new sneakers…” Kevin said with a yawn, scrolling through a online selection of Nikes on one of the laptops. His face was lit by the bright backlight, his head propped up by his hand as he looked like he was going to fall asleep on the spot. The tour bus was dark, everyone asleep except for the bus driver who kept a steady watch on the empty highway as we drove.

“You spent like, five hundred dollars on sneakers in Maryland last weekend.” I said dryly, staring up at the ceiling. I was lying on my back on the couch, just kind of thinking about things.

“Yeah but I want Nikes.” He said, looking at me for a quick second. I shrugged. “What’re you thinking so deeply about?” He asked me after a few minutes of silence. “No wait, let me guess. LC?”

“LC? You make it sound like she’s that girl from The Hills.” I said automatically. “And no, I’m not thinking about her.” I growled.

“Sure…” He said, rolling his eyes. “Look if you want to fix it, then call her or something. I don’t want to be stuck on a tour that’s going to be totally awkward between you two all winter.”

“It’s not that easy. Plus, I’m better off without her. It’s good to be single.”

“Yeah, and you just announced to the entire world you were taken like - two days ago. Coming out as single isn’t going to be believable that quickly.” Kevin said with a nod of his head.

“I’m going to bed.” I mumbled, standing up and slowly wandering back to where the bunks were. I stopped at mine, pulling back the blankets on the already made bed. The top bunk above me caught my eye. My plaid blue pajama pants were sitting there folded up, as well as a few other tee shirts and things that Lyric had borrowed. The bed was made, and the clothes just sitting there. I sighed, feeling a bit empty inside. I shook about the sudden thought of her and crawled into bed.

The rest of the leg of the tour we had in the area was Illinois and Pennsylvania. After we did a show at the New York State Fair, we would head to Agawam to perform at the high school dance thing our mom got us roped into. I savored each night on stage, keeping the feeling upbeat and happy to shield any emotions of Lyric that were still pulsing in my veins. I pulled it off pretty well, sometimes over doing it some just to make sure that I looked like I was having the time of my life. In truth, I was. After all - I was living the dream. I really should just suck it up and move on. She’s just a girl. Big deal.

Keeping these thoughts moving in my mind during the show, I was able to just let go of everything. The energy from the crowd felt like a high, and I was living off each moment like it was my last. But there was always one part of the concert I was dreading. And that was when Can’t Have You came around. That was the one song that seemed to cut through me each and every time. The lyrics were just so relatable to all that had happened within the past few weeks, it made it seem that much more powerful.

The lights turned down low, the green laser like strobes shining all around the crowd. I stood on the stage, surrounded by the eerie blue darkness - microphone stand over my shoulder as I walked down the stairs. The opening chords kept playing, turning from love in this club to can’t have you, and I set the stand down, pulling the microphone off as the three spotlights burst down onto my brothers and I.

“You warned me that you were gonna leave. Never thought you would really go…” I sang, looking out at all the faces around me. Tonight, it seemed to be hitting harder than usual. “I was blind, but baby now I see.” Lyric’s image flashed in my mind and I felt my eyes slightly water as I walked slowly down the long catwalk, hands reaching up at me and cameras flashing in my face. “I broke your heart. But now I know that I was being such a fool and I didn’t deserve you…” My voice echoed eerily against the walls of the arena, the audience like a black mass with glow sticks popping up every here and there. I felt like I couldn’t see anyone but her, no matter where I looked.

I stood at the end of the catwalk, just staring out as Nick sang the chorus. I looked up at the ceiling, feeling each heavy beat of the drums and thrash of the guitar, the microphone hot in my hands. “Looking at the letter that you left. Wondering if I’ll ever get you back. Dreaming about when I’ll see you next. Knowing that I never will forget… that I was being such a fool and that I still don’t deserve you…” This time around the tears started falling, girls in the audience pointing them out as I sunk down onto my knees in front of them.

“So tell me what we’re fighting for, cause we know that the truth means so much more. Cause you would if you could - don’t lie. Cause I’d give everything that I’ve got left to show you and me what I have said. I know I was such a fool, but I can’t live without you.” Nick’s voice ran loud over the speakers, the whole crowd getting into each word.

“Don’t wanna fall asleep…” I sang along to the chorus. “Who knows if I’ll get up?” I let the tears fall freely now, knowing that everyone could see my face whether they were two feet away or looking up at the screen from the lawn. “Let me hear your voice. Tell me you love me too…” The song ended and I stood up, just letting the screams of the crowd fill my senses. I walked back to the main part of the stage, wiping my eyes quickly and hoping that the sudden rush of emotion would disappear.

- Lyric’s POV, a few days later -

“Mom, I don’t need a dress. I’m just performing, then I’m leaving.” I argued as we drove to the mall on Thursday after school.

“Nonsense sweetie, it’s a masquerade! You’ll wear a pretty dress and a neat little mask, it’ll be fun! Much better than hanging around in that outfit your performing in.” She said, shaking her head.

“I chose that outfit because it’s comfortable. I’m not prancing around stage in some ball gown.” I said, rolling down my window and watching the other cars pass us by on the freeway. I was planning on wearing white jeans, a black long sleeved shirt and my black converse. My mom thought I should be dressier, obviously. But I wasn’t much into dances. I was going to sing, and then get out of there before I somehow got cornered with the Jonas Brothers. I still couldn’t believe they were coming to a high school dance. Let alone my high school dance.

It was going to be pretty nice though, since there was still a ton of money left over from last year’s senior prom. They had rented out this banquet hall at some fancy hotel downtown and I had the stage in the front where I would sing and people would dance - the end. Nowhere did it say that I would have to finish my performance then change and go dance with people I thought I knew but didn’t since we would all have masks on and couldn’t take them off until midnight. My mind was drifting off in thought, but the sudden sound of get back, the ring tone Demi had sent me, started to go off loudly in my pocket. The caller ID was flashing a picture of Kevin’s face, and I hesitated a bit before answering.

“Hey,” I said, rolling up the window so I could hear him.

“Hey, quick question.”

“Shoot.”

“Our mom said that this dance thing is like - a masquerade?” He said, sounding slightly confused.

I sighed. “Sadly yes. Tuxedos and masks, gentlemen.”

“So none of that like, Marie Antoinette style stuff right?” He asked. I could hear the loud sound of Nick and Frankie arguing over something in the background. It made me smile a bit, memories of all the time i had spent on the tour bus flooding back.

“Correct. That idea was shot down as soon as it left the class presidents mouth. Everyone just wanted to dress up and wear a mask, so that’s what we’re doing.”

“Sounds kinda cool…”

“Don’t push it.”

He laughed. “Alright well we have a show in New York tonight, and we’re going to attempt to go shopping right now. We’ll probably be in Agawam for the dance around like - three tomorrow?”

“Can’t wait.” I said a bit sarcastically.

“Do me a favor, will you? Try to not kill each other…” He said, obviously referring to Joe.

“I’m not making any promises.” I said, flipping my phone shut and leaning back in my seat with a sigh. I looked at the time on my phone, seeing that it was nearly six now. Twenty four hours from now and I would be seeing him again. It had only been about two weeks, and deep down I was kind of excited. But then I realized we were broken up and wouldn’t be speaking. Hopefully. My phone started ringing again, Ace’s picture now flashing on the screen. I smiled, Joe immediately evaporating from my thoughts.

- - - - - - - -

.041 - Rigid.

I arrived at the Tivoli Room at Chez Josef around four in the afternoon on Friday, catching a ride over with Ace since he was good friends with someone who was in charge of setting up school events like dances and fundraisers. The room was gigantic, but with the size of our sophomore class - it would hold us all pretty well. All the tables had been set up, white table clothes and gold seat covers. It looked more like a wedding then a fall masquerade. But I had no complaints.

“Are you coming?” Ace asked with a smile, as I still stood at the top of the balcony that looked over the entire room space. He was already half way down the stairs, and I pulled my gaze away from the setting to follow.

“Sorry, it’s just, this place is amazing.” I said, adjusting the tote bag on my shoulder. I was in a pair of destroyed jeans and a metro station tee, my hair in a messy ponytail and my new, full bangs brushed somewhat out of my eyes. My white Ed Hardy sneakers squeaked a bit as we went down the wood paneled spiral staircase. I felt a bit out of place. Like I was walking into a wedding dressed for a car wash.

“I know, oh look - they finished the stage.” He said, pointing across the room. I looked over to see a small stage, about fifteen feet long and maybe ten feet wide. There were drums set up, the unmistakable golden JB symbol plastered all over the black bases, three microphone stands and a few guitars laying against a long rack off to the side.

“Looks like someone’s already been here.” I said mumbled quietly, Ace turning to look at me when he heard.

He laughed. “Yeah, the guys showed up about an hour ago. One of them said something about seeing a Starbucks on their way here and nearly rushed out the door when we were done setting up.”

“Kevin.” I said with a roll of my eyes, walking up the small set of stairs on the side of the stage.

“Yeah, that’s the one.” He said, sitting down on the edge and watching me. “So Miss Carrington, is the stage up to your standards?” He teased.

“Oh, it’s lovely Ace.” I said, taking the set list I had planned for the night from my back pocket and fanning my face with it. “However the lighting on this side of the stage is horrid, it must be fixed at once.” I said sternly, just fooling around.

He laughed. “You’re something else, you know that?”

“So I’ve been told.” I smiled, sitting down beside him. “So who is Mr. Ace Cahill taking to the masquerade this evening?” I said dramatically.

“Well I was supposed to be going with my girlfriend, but we kind of got into a huge fight last night.” He said with an eye roll.

“Oh really?” I said, trying to sound sympathetic. “What happened?”

“It was stupid, she didn’t make Varsity Cheerleading so she thinks it’s because I used to date the captain of the squad or something like that. There was a lot of yelling on her part.” He said with a weak laugh.

“Ah.” I said with a nod, swinging my legs back and forth.

“What about you, Miss Lyric superstar Carrington? You must have the boys falling at your feet.” He said, elbowing my side.

“You would think,” I said with an eye roll. “But the exact opposite is happening. My boyfriend and I got into a huge fight about two weeks ago…”

“Aren’t you dating one of the Jonas kids?” He asked.

“Was.” I corrected.

“Listen to us.” He laughed. “Sitting here complaining about getting dumped.”

“If I complain too much, just slap me.” I said with a laugh.

“You know,” He started to say, looking at me. “There is a way to fix this.”

“What’s that, ditch the dance and head to McDonalds?” I laughed.

He smiled. “No, well that’s a choice but not what I was thinking…”

“Well then what were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that maybe you and I could go out? You know, you being my girlfriend and all.” He said with a shrug and smile.

His words hit me like a freight train, and at first I didn’t know what to say. “Uhm, yeah sure. I would like that.” I said with a smile.

“Lyric! Come on, you have to get changed and do rehearsal before all the kids get here!” My mom shouted from across the banquet hall, waving like a maniac to me.

I sighed, standing up. “I better go, I’ll see you around?”

“Maybe I’ll be lucky boy that you pull the mask of at midnight.” He smiled.

“I hope so.” I smiled, picking up my things and hurrying across the room to where my mom was waiting with my clothes and the horrid dress I had ended up buying. So I had lost that battle, but I had won Ace - and that’s all that mattered.

- Joe’s POV, rehearsal in the Tivoli Room before the dance -

“I hate this already.” I said, propping my feet up on the table in front of me as my brothers and I sat at one before we rehearsed and they let the swarm of high schoolers inside for the dance.

“Joseph get your feet off the table,” My mom scowled, walking over to us. “Now here’s the plan: we do rehearsal now, since Lyric just finished-” I frowned at the sound of her name, but nobody seemed to notice “She performs around six, when everyone arrives. You boys will be dressed and out in the dance with your masks on, since I figured you should be able to enjoy the dance itself while you’re here - but please keep the masks on.” She emphasized. I rolled my eyes. “Then around seven you’ll go on and perform for an hour, and then change again and head back out to enjoy the rest of the dance and then around 12:30 tonight we’ll leave. How does that sound?”

“I think it sounds like a blast.” Nick grinned. “I haven’t been to a school dance in forever, and this whole masquerade idea is pretty cool.”

“That’s what I said.” Kevin nodded, standing up. “Come on, let’s get this rehearsal thing done with and then go change. We don’t have much time left..”

We all got up and followed him to the small stage, playing through two or three songs just to double check the acoustics of the room. We didn’t want to be too loud or sound shrieky. So far we had planned to play mostly fast, dance songs to keep the mood up with the occasional slow song thrown in. But it had also been assumed that there wouldn’t be many people dancing at all - they would all be slamming themselves against the stage to be as close as possible.

“So BB Good, Got Me Going Crazy, Tonight, SOS, Year 3000, One Man Show, Burnin’ Up - how do those sound?” Nick asked, naming off some songs off as he counted them on his fingers.

“I’m down.” I said, twirling a microphone around in my fingers. Kevin just nodded absent mindedly, tuning his guitar and plucking the strings as he listened.

“Alright then, one two, one two three four.” Nick nodded, launching into the opening chords of BB Good. We usually play songs pretty half heartedly during rehearsals since there was no one around, but this time I kinda went on more than usual.

“I don’t wanna hurt you…I wanna kiss you!” I shouted into the microphone, dancing around the stage a little just to play it up. Some of the staff at Chez Josef had been watching, being told get back to work but the manager that had been walking around and supervising everything that was going on.

“Good rehearsal boys, why don’t you head back to the bathrooms and change?” Our dad said with a smile and a nod, walking with us out of the room and into one of the back halls. There was a rack of clothes in the hallway with our names marked on them with tuxes for the dance and then our outfits for the small concert we were doing. I grabbed the tux with my name on the front off and threw it over my shoulder, heading towards the fancy bathrooms down the hall.

I heard a voice coming from the direction I was heading in, singing a song that sounded familiar. I couldn’t make out the exact words, but the melody sounded like something I had heard in the past. Rounding the corner, I smashed into someone - the person that had been singing. “Oh, ouch.” She said, blinking once or twice as she had fallen on the ground.

“Oh, sorry.” I said, extending a hand to help her up. She stood up, and I looked down into her eyes. “On second thought, maybe I’m not.” I said, letting go of Lyric’s hand like it would burn me.

“Figures someone like you wouldn’t watch where they were going.” She mumbled, slamming into my shoulder as she walked by.

“Hey Lyric,” I heard Kevin say behind me, and she said nothing in response. He jogged up beside me, walking backwards as he watched Lyric disappear into the main doors of the Tivoli Room. “She looks different, I think she got a haircut.” He said with a shrug.

“Like I care?” I said a little harshly, leaning against the bathroom door so it pushed open.

“You should relax a bit you know,” He said, following. “Quit being so tense all the time.”

“I’m not tense.” I said, my hands clenching into fists at my sides.

“Yeah, sure. And I’m the queen of England.” He chuckled, disappearing into one of the stalls. I sighed, pulling my mask over my face and studying myself in the mirror. “Here goes nothing.” I said, unzipping the long bag over the tux and pulling it out and walking into one of the stalls to change.

- Lyric’s POV, a few minutes before heading on stage -

“Nervous?” Ace asked, popping up from behind me and nearly scaring me half to death.

“Yeah, right.” I said with an eye roll. “Why don’t you have your mask on?” I asked, peering out from behind the curtain at all the kids from our school that had showed up. It was mainly sophomores, but there was a pretty large amount of freshman and juniors mixed in - even a few seniors.

“Don’t worry, I’ll put it on.” He chucked. “I just wanted to swing by and wish you luck.”

“Well thank you, that was very kind.” I said with a laugh. He leaned over and gave me a kiss on the forehead before disappearing back out into the crowds, pulling his mask on as he blended in instantly. I should have looked at him more carefully before he went off into the crowd so I would know what he looked like so I could cheat somewhat later, but it had slipped my mind. The scene of the dance floor was that of black tuxes and a rainbow assortment of dresses. Some people were sitting at tables talking, but most of them were crowding the dance floor in front of the stage with cameras in their hands as they waited.

The principle walked out onto the stage, thanking everyone that had helped out and all that other boring stuff. I had learned to tune her out over the years. “As you all know, since most of you are already up here…” She said with a small laugh. “We have been extremely fortunate to have not one but two performers tonight-” The entire room burst into an explosion on cheers, some people chanting Jonas over and over again. “Our first performer tonight is going to be Miss Lyric Carrington!” The room was still loud with cheers, just not as loud as before.

I walked out onto the stage in my white jeans and black long sleeved shirt and converse, my hair long and wavy with my new full bangs straight across my forehead. I held a microphone in one hand and waved with the other, flashes going off in my face. I sang a few songs off the new album, and a few covers of other songs. My hour went by quickly, and I was nearly dying with the heat of the room that was coming off all the people. As soon as I was done I hurried off the stage to avoid running into the boys and to go yell at someone for not opening any windows.

“Jonas, Jonas, Jonas!” Came from excited crowd as the opening chords to Burnin’ Up started to play.

“Jonas, Jonas, Jonas!” I mimicked in a high pitched fan girl voice as I headed back to the bathrooms to change. “Gag me.” I mumbled, grabbing my dress and mask from the clothing rack that was sitting in the hallway. The boys had their tuxedos and masks lying across the top, and I was tempted to see what their masks looked like - but I held back. I had Ace now, I didn’t need to worry about Joe at all.

“I’m hot! You’re cold! You go around like you know who I am, but you don’t. You’ve got me on my toes!” Joe’s voice along with the screaming crowd echoed throughout the room. The kids were going ballistic, and I couldn’t help but smile. It brought back tour memories, but I shook them away quickly.

I hurried back to the bathrooms and changed out of my sticky clothes, slipping on my dress. It was white and strapless with a black bow around the waist. My mask was zebra printed, and I quickly ran my fingers through my hair and put half of it up so I looked somewhat presentable. I grabbed my black heels and put them on, rushing out to the Tivoli room as fast as they would allow. I didn’t know why I was hurrying back, I mean - why did I want to get back so fast?

“Well there’s no need to fight, we’re just wasting. If you give it a try then maybe you’ll find we might work this out. Well we know we’re in love so let’s keep it alive. I’m starting to see the morning light. We finally worked this out.” I heard the boys singing, and I looked to see them all jumping in rhythm to the song - the crowd right along with them.

As soon as the song ended, I slipped out from behind the curtain and head down the stairs, adjusting my mask so it completely covered my face. I didn’t feel like pushing my way to the stage, since I felt no need to get any closer than I had been to Joe and decided to head back to where the drinks were. I took a virgin strawberry daiquiri and stuck my finger in the whipped cream, leaning against the bar counter as I watched the concert from a distance. Girls were going insane, and there was a pretty fair amount of guys mixed in because they either wanted to make fun of them, had their girlfriends drag them along or even the chance that they actually like their music.

“Hey there pretty lady, tell me how you’re doing. Tell me what can I do to help? Cause I’ve been thinking of you for a little while now, and this right here is how I feel.” Joe sang, spinning around in a circle as the room shook was screams. He was thriving off the crowd’s energy like he always did. Some girls had even taken off their masks so they could see them, and I just rolled my eyes. Looking around me, I was the only girl at this end of the room. There were about twenty others who were sitting at scattered tables more towards the front - and a few guys in tuxes hung around near me as well, only because we were near the food I guessed.

“Come on, clap those hands!” Joe screamed into the mic, the room thundering with noise. “Girl you got me going crazy! Knocked me off my feet. Now you’ve got me begging baby, begging baby please…” He and his brothers sang, Joe dancing around the stage and grabbing the hands of the girls in the audience. His gaze suddenly shot across the room, meeting with mine for a brief fraction of a second. I prayed that he didn’t recognize me, but how could he? His expression changed for that quick moment, but he pulled his eyes away. I felt like I had been shocked my an electrical wire, and stood there - rigid.

- - - - - - - -

.042 - Masquerade.

- Lyric’s POV -

It took everything I had to pull my gaze away from him. That feeling in the pit of my stomach and the way my heart back flipped whenever his eyes met mine - It was something I had forgotten. A feeling that seemed to no longer exist. Did Joe really have that much of an impact on me? Did I really love him more than I thought? Questions were buzzing through my head, words blending together and sounding like static in my mind. Ace’s picture appeared, but the words liar and fake followed soon after.

I was just trying to trick myself liking him, wasn’t I? But then what about Joe? He could be so two faced and moody. But he was also so fun to be around, always cracking jokes and telling me he loved me at random times and kissing me while I was in the middle of a sentence. I suddenly felt stupid, wanting to smack myself repeatedly for breaking up with him. But then the reality of the entire situation came flooding back, and I realized that the song had ended and the boys had left the stage.

The room was steaming from all the people dancing, and I decided that I had to get out and take a break for awhile. There was a large, maze like garden out the back, so I figured taking a small walk would help clear my thoughts. Making it out there among the insanity that was the sophomore masquerade, however, was another story. It took some time, but I made my way through the crowded, masked ocean of people on the dance floor - squeezing to the back doors that led outside. Hot N Cold by Katy Perry was playing, shaking the building slightly with the pounding noise.

I inhaled the fresh air once I was free of the congested ball room, my heels clicking loudly on the cement patio. I could hear voices among the flowers, other kids who had made their way out here as well. In the back of my mind I was wondering where the boys were. Whether or not they had left the dance or if they were back out in the crowd. Then I thought about Ace as his voice popped in my mind. I paused. Or did I really hear it?

Taking a few steps forward I saw two people sitting on a bench in front of a small fountain, a petite blonde girl and a boy with short, shaggy brown hair. They were talking loudly, so I held back to catch pieces of their conversation. I knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but I really couldn’t help myself. The boy did sound like Ace, and I recognized the shoes he had on from earlier since he had decided to wear his converse rather than dress shoes like the rest of the guys.

“Kenzie please, I don’t even like her-” Ace said, but the blonde girl interrupted him.

“Don’t like her? Ace please! She’s famous, beautiful - everything I’m not. You can’t try to come back to me after asking her out!”

“I was using her Kenz,” He said more quietly. “Lyric means nothing to me. I figured if you saw me with her you’d get jealous and want to go back out with me.”

“Using her?” She said, her voice somewhat shocked. “Ace that’s awful!”

“I know, I know. But please, just listen-”

“I don’t want to listen Ace.” She said harshly. “Famous or not, Lyric didn’t deserve to be used to like sure. Sure, I don’t care for her much - but that’s still an awful thing to do.” She got up, walking away from him. Her mask was on top of her face, and her cheeks red from crying.

He grabbed her hand. “Mackenzie please, I love you. Don’t do this to me… I’m sorry, I really am.”

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.” She hissed, pulling her mask down and ripping free of his grasp before hurrying back towards the ballroom where the rest of the school was. I made sure she was gone and peeked around the corner, seeing Ace sitting on the edge of the fountain - staring into the pools of water as he drove his finger across the surface.

I had a small smirk on as I stepped out from behind the bush and walked towards him. His attention adverted, looking up at me as he saw me coming. He was confused, his mask in his hand as he watched me. “Can I help you?” He asked.

I lifted my mask up off my head, holding it in my hands. “I don’t think so.”

“Oh, Lyric - hey.” He said, smiling. “I was wondering if I’d see you tonight.”

“Save it Ace.” I said with an eye roll.

“What did I do?” He asked innocently.

“I heard you and that Mackenzie girl’s entire conversation.” I said bluntly, crossing my arms.

“What? Oh - that.” He said, looking down.

“Yeah Ace - that. How could you do such a thing? That’s awful!” I said, offended to know he had never even liked me.

“I know Lyric, I know. I deserve a beating, so feel free to give it to me.” He said, standing up and holding his arms out in surrender.

“Ace, I’m not going to beat you up…” I said dully, walking towards him.

“Then you forgive me?” He asked, biting his lip.

“Not quite,” I said, putting both my hands on his chest. “You’ll have to earn my forgiveness.” I said quietly, touching the side of his face.

“Oh I see,” He smiled, leaning down to kiss me. I acted like I was going to do the same, until his lips were inches from mine and I shoved him backwards into the fountain. He stumbled briefly, landing in the icy water with a loud splash.

“Forgiven.” I grinned, turning on my heel and walking away - laughing aloud to myself. I looked down at the small clock hanging off one of the charms on Harmony’s bracelet that was firmly around my wrist, seeing that it was a bit passed eleven. We only had an hour left until everyone was unmasked.

I was feeling antsy, wishing I had x-ray vision or something that would help me find Joe in the crowd. I wanted to give up, knowing that the mistake I had made was all too costly to try and fix. But then his face would pop into my mind, and it made me want to rethink everything and just rip the masks off every boy in the room until I found him. I sighed. It was going to be a long night.

- Joe’s POV -

“I’m having second thoughts.” I said bluntly, hanging by the large French doors that led to the gardens out back.

“About what?” Kevin asked, a strawberry in his mouth. “No wait, lemme guess.” He said, swallowing. “Our concert tomorrow?”

“No you moron, Lyric.”

“Well obviously, I was just saying that since I knew if I said ‘Lyric’ you’d lash out on me.” He said with an eye roll. “You’ve become quite the moody man ever since you two broke up…”

“No I haven’t.” I fired back. He just stared at me. “Okay, so maybe I have. But what I am I supposed to do? Rip the mask off every girl in the building? I think not.”

“I don’t know Joe, this is your girl problem - not mine.”

“I’m taking a walk.” I mumbled, walking out into the cool night air of the gardens. I weaved deep into the maze of plants, catching glimpses of laughter and voices from the other students that had wandered out here as well in the distance. As I moved further away from the building, the sounds of voices silenced.

There was a small lake all the way out here, the moon and stars casting their brilliant reflections onto the murky surface. It was a beautiful night, clear and cool. The sound of a rock hitting the water made me jump slightly, interrupting my thoughts. I turned to see a girl in a black and white dress skipping rocks onto the water’s surface. She was sitting on a long white bench, her mask still firmly over her eyes. Since she was the only one out here, I thought I should at least stop over and say hello. After all, it was a nice thing to do. And I might as well meet some people while I was in town.

“Hey,” I said quietly, walking up to her. She glanced up from the small collection of flat stones in her hand - looking at me.

“Oh, hey.” She smiled weakly, looking back again before throwing another stone. It skipped once before plopping down into the water with a loud thunk. “Ugh.” She sighed.

I chuckled slightly. “Difficulties?”

“Bad night.” She shrugged, throwing another and smiling a bit as it skipped a few times. “What’re you doing out here?”

“Difficulties.” I grinned. She laughed a bit at that, and I took that as my cue to sit down beside her. “What’re you doing out here be yourself?”

“Like I said, bad night.” She repeated, kicking off her heels. “I highly doubt you want to hear about it.”

“Can’t be that bad…” I shrugged, picking up a rock and throwing it at the dark water - it landed with a loud splash without skipping at all. She laughed, shaking her head.

“If you simply must know, then i'll tell you." She started. "I had this boyfriend. He was an awesome guy. Cute, funny. talented... We got into a stupid fight and broke up a few weeks ago, and I forced myself to get over it. This cute kid at my school asked me out, and I said yes so I could -”

“Try and forget about the other kid?” I finished for her. She nodded, looking up at me.

“Yeah, it was stupid. He ended up using me to get his ex girlfriend jealous.”

“Ouch.” I said, biting my lip as I looked at her.

“So what’s your tragic story about being out here?” She asked, her eyes bright blue in the moonlight. They looked so familiar. But it couldn’t be Lyric, I had heard around that she left the dance early. I had forgotten how quickly gossip spread among high school kids.

“I broke up with my girlfriend a few weeks ago too.” I shrugged. “We saw each other a few times before the dance started, and it was totally awkward. I tried to tell myself that I didn’t like her at all or anything but-”

“You still love her?” She finished, her eyes not meeting mine as she threw another rock. “I know the feeling. It’s near impossible to find anyone at a kind of dance like this.”

“I haven’t given up just yet,” I shrugged, smiling a bit. Suddenly there was the sound of people counting down from ten loudly in the building about a hundred feet away. You would think it was new year’s or something, but the even though it wasn’t - the anxiety was just as invigorating.

“Sounds like it’s almost midnight.” She said, leaning back against the bench and crossing her legs like the whole situation unfazed her.

“Six, five, for, three, two…” The voices rang, and I turned my head to look back to the windows of the ball room where on the count of one everyone had taken their masks off and thrown them in the air like a graduation. I turned towards her, my hands on the edges of her zebra print mask. I took a deep breath and lifted it, revealing the girl underneath.

- - - - - - - -

.043 - Conclude.

- Lyric’s POV -

I was shaking. I never wanted something to happen so quickly or for time to just stop so badly before. I wanted this mask off my face, I wanted to know who was behind the one in front of me. But then I wanted everything to freeze so I could make my escape and wouldn’t have to face a disappointment. But if I left, there was a chance I could miss out on seeing Joe again. It felt like a million voices were pounding in my head and my body just wanted to sit there, numb. It was too late to change anything now.
All that had happened, everything between me and him - all the highs and the lows, the lies and the love. So what if it wasn’t Joe? I was determined to find him even if he didn’t want to see me. Tell him everything, and just break down in front of him. And If it was Joe? My heart exploded at the thought. It all seemed like slow motion, like the mask couldn’t be ripped off my face quick enough. I didn’t care if he saw me - I want to see him. Who him was? I was afraid to know.

My mask was off, and I was looking into his eyes. He seemed stunned, lost for words - as was I. “L-Lyric?” He said softly. I nodded, brushing my bangs from my eyes, not knowing how to respond. Suddenly a wide grin broke onto his face, and his pulled in mask off as well. “Miss me?”

His perfectly white teeth, the smile that broke your heart. His chocolate brown eyes that were always dancing with laughter. The long, jet black hair that always hung in front of one eye. The voice that was like a bit of heaven when he sang. It was Joe. My Joe. The Joe I had fallen for, the one that held my entire heart no matter how many stupid fights we had or times we pretended to forget each other. He was right here in front of me all over again.

“J-” I went to speak his name, but he caught me in a kiss before the words had even left my lips. My whole body caught with that fire again, the one that I had been missing all these weeks. All the hollowness I had felt inside me was gone with just his warm breath on my face, his hand in mine. Tears were streaming down my face as I pulled away, afraid to even blink with the fear of him disappearing.

“I’m sorry.” We both said at the same time. I laughed weakly, throwing my arms around his neck as he held me close.

“Don’t leave me.” I choked out, my head in his shoulder.

“I won’t Ly,” He said quietly. “I won’t.”

We both stood up, my heart feeling in it’s place once again. I never realized how much of me had gone with Joe when he left that day. Watching the car drive away, feeling bits and pieces of myself go down the drain while I tried to wash away all the hurt inside of me. All of that had returned within a matter of seconds. All of sudden, I felt whole again - and I couldn’t stop smiling.

We walked hand in hand out of the garden back towards the ballroom, our masks left on the bench. The scene inside was chaos. “I think that’s our cue to get out of here.” Joe said to me, pulling me through the crowd to where Nick and Kevin were being attacked by hundreds of crazy fan girls. We pushed our way through the ocean of people, grabbing the boys by their jackets and running quickly to get to the car waiting outside.

I had forgotten how crazy the fandom was. People screaming in your ears, throwing themselves entirely at you as you moved through. It was all so surreal, like you were an alien that had some kind of magnet inside of you that instantly attracted people to your very presence. My head was whirling as I kept one hand in Joe’s and the other dragging Nick behind me. It was so loud that I could feel my head pulsating with a threatening headache as people screamed and cameras flashed in my eyes.

We had made it outside. The door flung open to the SUV, Big Rob stepping out and ushering us quickly inside as he held back the crowds. Once we were clear, he hurried around to the drivers side and locked all the doors - the police showing up to calm down the near riot that had erupted. The crowds slowly faded into the distance and we rolled down all the windows, sinking down in our seats as we relaxed.

“So I see someone’s made up?” Kevin asked, leaning over from the third row of seats in the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid the boys had been using as part of their Rock The Road promotion.

Joe just laughed and shrugged, and Nick leaned over and smacked him upside the head. “Ow, hey!” Joe said, rubbing the side of his head and throwing Nick a glare.

“It’s about time.” He said, rolling his eyes - looking at me. “I thought this one was going to turn into the king of mood swings while you two were broken up.”

“He was worse than a pregnant woman.” Kevin snorted. Nick, Kevin and I all laughed - and Joe tried not to look interested, but I saw him crack a smile.

“It’s good to have you back though, Lyric.” Nick said with a smile and a nod.

“It’s good to be back.” I said, leaning onto Joe’s shoulder. He kissed the top of my head and put his arm around my shoulder, saying nothing. But it was okay, because he didn’t need to. All of the best moments created in history were remembered by actions - not words.

- 2 months later, the tour -

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the Lovebug Tour starring Jonas Brothers and Lyric Carrington!” The announcer’s voice echoed deeply around the large arena, the room dark as multicolored strobe lights bounced around the many faces of the hidden crowd. A remix of What Goes Around….Comes around by Justin Timberlake was blasting loudly as the opening song while everyone waited for the main entrance. This day that had seemed like months away, something we had planned so many weeks ago was finally here. Opening night.

I was on first, waiting under one of the stage’s four platforms before my trapdoor rose up into the spotlight with me on top. My heart was pounding along with the loud music as everyone clapped to the rhythm, anxiously awaiting my arrival. The microphone was hot in my hands, and I felt my palms sweating. The boys had been by to wish me good luck earlier, heading backstage to prepare for their set list.

The beats were fading, the voice in the music drifting as my band started to blend in to the opening chords of my song. I took a deep breath, my hair in my eyes as I slowly felt myself moving upwards and the warmth of the spotlights making my skin prickle. The crowd slowly came into view, a sea of thousands with glow sticks of different colors and posters dotting the waves of faces. Their screams filled my senses, shaking the floor ever so slightly.

Bursting into song, they sang along. I danced around, remembering the choreography I had been taught over the last few months of ruthless rehearsals. My voice filled the amplifiers, the loud thrashes of the guitar making my entire body shake with the vibrations. In the matter of minutes, it all fell into place. On this stage was my home. My boyfriend was only a few feet away, my dreams were coming true each night I stood up here - pouring my heart out into my music. My life was finally perfect, and I wouldn’t change anything that had happened this past year. Not a single second.

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