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The Light is Fading
by Krissy

chapter five

It had been a long couple of weeks. Aurora noticed that Justin was beginning to spend a lot of time by him self when she was over. Almost every night that week she’d been over, and every night, Justin was taking Tylenol or Advil to relieve an ache or pain somewhere on his fatigued body. He even refused to play basketball with her for a few nights. This was not at all like Justin.

“He’s just stressed,” Aurora told her self.

It was Saturday evening, and Aurora found her self lounging around Monique’s house instead of Justin’s.

“So, how was school this week?” Monique inquired.

“It was okay, I guess. It was school, there’s not too much you can say about it,” Aurora sank into the couch while Monique put a movie into the VCR.

“One of those weeks, huh?” Monique relaxed on the couch next to Aurora.

There was a long moment of silence as Monique fast-forwarded through the previews.

“Have you noticed anything different about Justin lately?” Aurora broke the silence.

Monique glanced at Aurora. “No, not really other than the fact that he’s being worked to death. Poor guy.”

Aurora nodded. “Well, yeah, that’s expected right before a tour starts, but when your alone, does he act different than before?”

Monique looked concerned. “No…why would he?”

Aurora sighed. “Well he’s…never mind. It’s alright.”

“No, if there’s a problem, I’d like to help you two out with it,” Monique insisted.

“I dunno, it might just be me. The movie’s starting.”

Monique pressed ‘play’ on the remote control. She wished that Aurora would just tell her what was wrong.

* * *

The next morning, Monique picked Aurora up from Justin’s house and they drove to the studio to pick the guys up for lunch. The other girls would be there, and all the guys decided to take an extra-long lunch break so that they could have a nice big get-together at a restaurant.

“Hey Peaches! Hi Rory!” Justin greeted Monique and Aurora with hugs.

“You look so tired! When have you been going to sleep at night?” Monique questioned.

“He’s not sleeping!” Aurora wanted to yell, but she couldn’t find the strength in her self to do it.

“Elevenish,” Justin told her.

“Liar!” Aurora’s mind screamed.

“Oh, my poor sweetheart! At least it’ll be over soon,” Monique cooed.

“Yeah, I hope so.”

“Hey Rory!” Amy called as she skipped into the gym.

“Hi Amy!” Aurora greeted with a cheerful smile.

J.C. followed Amy over to Justin, Monique and Aurora.

“Rory, why don’t you come with Amy and I to the restaurant and give Justin and Monique some time alone?” he suggested.

“Sure,” Aurora agreed.

“Is everybody ready to go?” Rebecca called out into the gym.

She was replied with various nods and “yeah”s from the large group of people.

“Okay, let’s go then! Everybody outta here ‘til three-thirty!” Katelyn cheered gleefully.

The choreographers, dancers, and everyone else found their way out of the gym and into the parking lot.

“I’ll be in the car!” Amy told J.C. as he knelt down on the gym floor to put his runners on.

“Okay, see you in a few,” J.C. replied as Amy made her way to the exit of the gym.

Aurora stayed behind in the gym with J.C. for a few moments as he tied his shoes. She waited until everyone was out of the gym before she spoke quietly.

“J.C. has Justin been acting…weird at all…around you lately?” she inquired.

“No, why? Is something wrong?” J.C. asked with concern.

“Well, at home he’s been acting different. He’s…I dunno, he just doesn’t do anything! He hides away in his bedroom. He hasn’t talked to Mom for almost two weeks. He avoids me all the time now! He’s even stopped talking on the phone every night with Monique!” Aurora tried to explain. “Jace, you’re his best friend, you have to have some idea of what’s going with him!” The words flew out of Aurora’s mouth as fast as they could.

“It’s alright, he’s just a little tired. Just a little stressed. He just needs his space,” J.C. told her. “We all go through it. And if he’s avoiding you, it might be because he thinks you’re studying for your final exams and he doesn’t wanna get in your way or distract you.”

Aurora sighed. She knew that J.C. was wrong. She wished that she could tell J.C. about the pills and the alcohol that Justin consumed every night. But for some reason, she felt that she’d be betraying Justin if she did.

“C’me on, we’re gonna be the last ones there, you know! We should get to the car. Amy’s already there.”

J.C. stood up and they walked briskly out into the parking lot. The hot asphalt gleaming in the warm, spring heat.

* * *

“I cannot believe it! We actually get a break!” Kristi sighed with relief as she turned the key in the ignition. The engine of the car came roaring to life.

“I know, isn’t it great?” Sheena agreed.

“It was really nice of the guys to buy lunch for everybody,” commented Brooke.

The three dancers were very excited about having a four-hour lunch break. The restaurant that everybody was going to was a few blocks away, so if they ate fast, they’d have enough to just lounge around after they finished eating.

“I can’t wait until we get to start performing! I’m so excited about this!” Brooke clapped her hands in delight in the back seat. “Every time I remember that we’re gonna be performing in front of all those people with these guys, I always get this new energy going straight through me. I can’t wait! I can’t!”

“I dunno, I get pretty nervous whenever I think about that. But I guess the feeling would go away, right?” Sheena responded as she leaned her head back as far as the car seat would let her. “I guess I’m pretty excited too!”

“You know, I’ve been thinking, we’ve been doing so much around here, it’s so fast-paced. I mean, we’re gonna be so bored when we go home!” Kristi noted.

“That’s alright, we’ll just have to dance around to the songs on their CDs!” Sheena compromised.

“Hey, that’s a great idea! I mean, I obviously wouldn’t dance to them as often as I am now, but what else am I gonna do?” Brooke smiled.

“Hmm, let’s see now. How about…what normal people do every day?” Kristi sarcastically suggested.

“Nah, I don’t think that could ever compare to this!” Sheena piped in.

The three chatted and gossiped all the way to the restaurant. They couldn’t contain their excitement of the upcoming tour for too much longer. Maybe it was it was a good thing that the tour was coming closer more quickly. According to Lisa and Patricia, everyone was doing great with their dancing, and they were slightly ahead of schedule on learning the dances. Maybe they’d get a weekend or two back for free time!

chapter six is coming soon!


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