A/N- Hey, It’s been a long time, I know. I just got out of school a week ago, and I was busy with finals and such. Thanks to everyone who volunteered and if you are not in this chapter, you will most likely be entered in other chapters. Here’s the chapter, and I hope you enjoy it! Read and Review please!
“Lost Souls”
“Don’t hold back and always know all the answers will unfold. What are you waiting for, spread your wings and soar.” – ‘Soar’ by Christina Aguilera
~**Chapter 7: Unexpected Events
Jamelet sighs contentedly as she enters her dorm room and flops on her bed. She’s a little tired from the talent show tryouts and beams. She’s so glad that her roommate was gone. Ray Anne had to go down to the main theater for rehearsals. She was excited that she’s going to play Cha-cha, but she only has to show on Wednesday’s and Thursdays to practice her part. Jamelet gazes around aimlessly. It’s nice for her to have the room to herself for once, and she’s looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend. That, and her date with Kevin that is. She can’t wait till she goes tonight. She pictures his handsome face in her mind, anxious to go already. The phone then begins to ring, interrupting her thoughts. Jamelet jumps up, running to the phone. She answers it immediately, thinking it might be Kevin, it isn’t.
“Hello? Oh…uh…hi Randall. Yes, I’m alone…NO! You stay away form here you as-…um…n-n-no. Don’t! Stay away from him!…Why do you always have to involve Howie?…” She sniffles, choking down a sob. “Fine…Whatever! Just don’t hurt him again…alright…bye.”
Jamelet hangs up the phone heatedly, slamming it down on her bed. The hurting teen pushes her head into a pillow and begins to cry fearfully. A little while later, she raises her head back up.
“He’s coming.” She says to herself in a hoarse whisper, “It’s going to happen again. I can’t even stop it damn it! This is why I want to leave! You were wrong Howie!” She screams, tears running down her face. “You were so wrong.”
She paces about the room not sure how much more of this she can take. She hates being alive, but is too scared of dying. She laughs with bitter irony, for she had lost faith in God about eight years ago. She laughs at what people think is her “Perfect Life”. People believe she has no reason to be bitter so they judge her. If they only know how wrong their perception of her is. She may be well off money wise for her mother is the owner of a large chain of shopping malls, but that’s the only area she’s well off in. She gave up on her dreams of becoming a professional dancer years ago, she only does it now as an excuse to get of her hell of a home. Her defensiveness is to protect herself. She feels she can trust no one. Unknowingly, she’s a lot like Ray, and that might just be why she hates her. The only one who she has faith in is her stepbrother Howie. No one else. Not her mother or her joke of a stepfather. No one else.
‘Yeah, perfect life.’ She ponders sarcastically. “Great life, gorgeous and happy family. Too bad I have no idea of what any of that feels like.’
To her, the word family is a joke. One she knows her family doesn’t have clue of the meaning. It starts with her birth father, whom she’s never even met. He took off while she was still within her mother’s womb. Her mother then raises her alone as a single mother, but eventually remarries to Jonathan Dorough when Jamelet is about eight. He moves in their home along with his seven-year-old son, Howie Dorough. He doesn’t stick around for long. Eight months later, he leaves and ditches the three of them. He leaves little Howie with his stepfamily with no intent to return. She whimpers in despair at the troubling memories. It is so sickening. How wrong is that? To leave a child with a family that isn’t even his really, that he barely knows, knowing that you will never come back for him? Howie tries to forget about it though. He always acts as if his life is perfect, but Jamelet knows better. She knows he’ll break eventually, and when he does, she’ll be there for him. Jamelet fingers her necklace distractedly. It was a silver chain with a pendent, which was a flame with a diamond sparkling in the center of it. Howie had one too; only his was a brain with and amethysts stone in the center. They both were a gift from her mom when they each turned thirteen.
The teen girl rubs her eyes, not wanting to drift down memory lane any further. Yet, the memories keep on coming. Soon after she turned ten, and Howie was nine, the day that the two of them will forever loathe arrives. The day her mother elopes with Randal Quesada. A man worse than her previous fathers could ever dream of being. This one stuck around, but she wishes he didn’t. He did the cruelest thing possible, he ruined her life. Destroyed when he started taking advantage of her sexually soon after he moved in. if she ever resisted he’d beat her stepbrother to a bloody pulp. Also, they both know if they ever tell anyone, they end up dead and mutilated in a ditch somewhere.
Her mother knows what’s going on, but will keep on denying it until the day she dies for the harsh reality is too much for her. However, she started sending both Jamelet and Howie away to live-in private schools when she was eleven and he was ten. Showing her, that she’s at least attempting to protect them. It doesn’t do any good though. Her mother is always away on business trips. He always finds her. Now he’s coming to the school for her and have her for his pleasure at a nearby hotel.
The worst thing is, is that she’s going to let him do it so she can protect Howie. Blood or no blood, to her he’s still her baby brother. The threat of death always looms above them as a result of their perverted stepfather. She sits back down onto her bed, and stares at the silent phone. Jamelet knows she has to, and regrets it. She shudders, feeling incredibly dirty. She feels tears running down her face as she picks up the phone to call Kevin. There’s no way she can go through with their date now.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ray Anne saunters through the halls calmly from the secondary theater with Brain down to the main theater. They head in, with Brian planning on meeting up with Nick and AJ inside. The two long-time friends still weren’t talking after their unexpected fight in the club. She still pretty steamed at them, and also very disappointed. They hadn’t even bothered to get to know her and they were already fighting over her as if she was a piece of land or something. She talks to them, barely. When she does, they could cut a knife through the tension emanating from her. She stops thinking about it when she suddenly catches sight of a familiar person with a head of short curly blonde hair.
“Na, it can’t be.’ She convinces herself.
Brian looks at her oddly, running a hand through his reddish blonde locks. “Are you okay?” he asks, tugging on one of her golden curls to get her attention.
“Yep. Look there’s Nick…” She trails off as she hears him screaming and begins to see him shoving the guy she spotted earlier.
“Oh shit.” Brian groans as they run over and see him throwing punches at someone who looks oddly familiar to them.
“Fuck you Timberlake!” Nick shouts as the two of them arrive and hold him back.
“Carter just back off dammit!” the guy yells back.
“What the hell Nick!” Ray cries out painfully, her heart almost breaking.
“This doesn’t involve you Ray Anne.”
“The Hell it doesn’t involve me! I’m your friend!”
Brain pulls Nick aside as the story begins to spill from nick’s mouth. Ray had caught the guy’s attention and Nick got pissed. But the guy claimed it was innocent. His heart begins to pound when his sister begins to walk over, she didn’t need this. She turns though when she hears someone say, “Holy crap! BB?” out of nowhere.
She froze; she hasn’t gone by that name since she was in the sixth grade.
Nick looks over, noticing that Ray Anne paused. ‘What the hell?’ he asks himself.
She examines the curly blonde haired kid who had called her BB carefully. She stares into his bright sapphire eye, thinking of another who had a curly head of hair that she knew back in junior high. One who called her ‘Baby Brat’ which had been shortened to BB after awhile, and who was her best friend. One who had moved and whose mother made him loose contact when they were fourteen, right after her parents had died. She realizes then that they are one in the same.
“No freaking way! Ju-Ju? “ Ray exclaims, her face filling with joy and shock.
“Man, I can’t believe it’s you girl!” he shouts as they hug each other excitedly. Both Brian and Nick head over. Brian sneers at the irony of it. Of all the people for Nick to hate, it has to be the guy who used to be his and Ray’s closest friend. And once again Nick was overreacting. It was innocent; Justin was staring at her because he thought he recognized her. He’s never date her. They were too much like brother and sister to each other to date.
“JT, it’s great to see ya man.” He says, smiling.
“You too B-Rok.”
“Life’s insane bro.”
“You got that right, here’s the proof.” The two guys hug briefly, happy to see each other.
“Wow, Justin, you look so different. You grew, I remember when I was five inches above your ass.”
Justin smirks, “Yeah, I think you shrunk cause now both BB and I tower over your short self.”
The three laugh softly as Nick stands there, his ocean eyes bearing into Justin Timberlake. Justin glares back at him. If looks could kill, they’d both be dust. Both pairs of dark blues flare with fury.
“”You guys know him?” they both spit out simultaneously.
“Yeah. Nicky boy, you just don’t know.” she wraps her arm around Justin as he wraps his around her. “See, Bri and I have known Ju-Ju here since we were in elementary school. Before his mom became rich with the ‘Timber clothing line’. He’s our best friend.”
Brian sees the hurt look on Nick’s face and jumps in. “And Justin, Frack here is a new close friend of ours. I met him when we became roommates.”
Nick mumbles a string of curses, annoyed at this chain of events. He gazes at the elated Littrells. “Listen, I’m gonna go see if I can patch things up with Bone. Bye.” He then rushes away furiously before Ray Anne or Brian can reply.
“So Ju-Ju I take it you took don’t get along well.”
“Nope. The guy has a major attitude problem, has had ever since I met him in Choir freshman year.” He replies, shaking his head.
Brian watches Nick in despair, feeling guilty. “JT I’ll see you later. Annie, I’m going to go try to calm Nick down.”
She nods, “Good idea.”
“It’s cool. We’ll talk later Rok.”
Brian hurries after his friend, thankful that his friend was still kind and understanding and not wanting to hear him bash Nick any longer.
“So what are you doing here ray? Last I heard, you were still living with your uncle.”
“We’re here on scholarship. Wow, we really need to catch up on a lot. What are you doing after rehearsals?” she asks, watching one of the dance classes practice the steps for the play on stage.
“Not much, how bout we get together and go down to Backstreet. You know, that local club off of El Campo and Missy Lane? We used to go there all the time.”
“Okay, but why there?”
Justin grins impishly, “So we can show this off.”
Justin scoops her up, making her squeal within his arms. He does a few swing dance moves, and she quickly catches on. She forgets about where they are and the people there and only concentrates on the dance. She smiles as she swings her body gracefully around him with the guidance of his arms and the under his legs. She begins giggling ads they keep on going like they did when they were kids while someone turns on some old music. They used to be a dance team prodigy within their city, and her dad always encouraged her. So when he died, she stopped all other types of dancing which is why she doesn’t want to take dance. But when she tried out for Grease the dance teacher noticed her, said she signed her up; saying she had talent and potential. She forgets all of this though for those few moments. The music soon stops and he sets her down carefully, both tired. The two teens then notice the crowd that had gathered around them and they begin to applaud for them appreciatively. They walk to the back of the theater, sitting down tiredly.
Ray giggles, still a little out of breath. “I see you’re still taking Mrs. Carvettelle’s dance and gymnastics class.”
“Yes I am, Baby Brat. Now it’s only on Friday’s. What about you? You still there on Tuesday’s?”
“Every week babe, why wouldn’t I be? Anywho, how’s the life of the rich and famous?”
Justin rolls his bright blue eyes playfully, “Not as great as it seems, trust me.”
“Okay, I need Ray Anne, Nick, AJ, and the other pink ladies and T-birds up here for the run through of this scene!” She hears Ms. Candela call out. She shifts her azure eyes back to her friend. “Hey, I’ve gotta go up there. Meet me at my dorm room at about 8:00 PM and we’ll go to Backstreet from there. I’m in 3b.”
Justin embraces her tightly. “Alright, now go teach these snobs a thing or two.”
She grins as she head off to the stage, along with AJ who was coming from the opposite end of the theater. Nick watches them as he walk over to the stage. The jealousy blazes within him as he glowers over at Justin. He goes up the stairs to the stage angrily as his cerulean eyes unknowingly begin to glow and rain begins to pour outside the theater as a hidden result.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Eighteen-year-old Julia strolls back towards her dorm room from dance practice, humming happily. Her shoulder length dark reddish brown hair tied back in a bun, her navy blue leotard flattering to her thin and darkly tanned athletic frame. She smirks as she sees Ray Anne almost skipping down the halls. She met Ray, AJ and Nick in Drama class, and got to know them better during lunch and her dance class with Ray and AJ. She would’ve had an acting role in “grease if she hadn’t transferred two days too late for tryouts. Ray stops when she meets up with Julia. Julia is eager to find out what went on earlier. Rumors were already flying about it in the school halls; she had been too busy going over dance steps on stage to find out as it happened.
“Oh my gosh Ray, you’re as giddy as a cheerleader. You’re gonna haveta tell me what y’all were in such a tizzy over with Nick. “ She says, her accent from the living in Alabama most of her life, clearly there.
Ray nods excitedly. Julia is her only girlfriend in the school so far, because for some reason most girls hate her. She never did anything to provoke it. And she needs someone to talk about things that a guy couldn’t handle talking about. She values the friendship greatly. Julia met ray and couldn’t get it either, she figures it’s because of AJ and Nick. Jealously can do strange things to people.
“Holy crap Jules, it’s so weird, and a long ass story hon.”
Julia’s light blue eyes begin to sparkle naughtily, “ You can tell me as we go down to the pool in the gym. I just got a idea of a fun thing to do.”
The two girls giggle as the turn around and go down the hall without a worry in the world.
Lost Souls by Rose
