Chapter Three
I was woken up when the bus took a sharp turn, causing me to fall off the couch and hit the table. I wasn't the only one, I heard another thud a few seconds later. I prayed that it wasn't Joey.
My prayers were answered when I heard a deep southern voice curse softly. I tried to get up quietly, but my elbow banged against the table. I looked up in time to see Lance come into view.
"Chris? What are you doing out here?" he whispered.
"Kicking my ass," I mumbled.
Lance shook his head, but I saw a smile on his face.
"Mind if I talk to you?" he asked, his voice turning serious.
"Umm... sure. What about?" I asked, pulling myself to my feet. I rubbed my elbow as I sat down.
Lance walked over and sat down next to me. He looked like he was trying to figure out what to say to me. I had a feeling I knew what he was going to ask. I waited to see if I was right.
"Chris, the guys and I... we noticed that you aren't acting like yourself, and we were thinking... does it have anything to do with what happened to your eye?" he asked, looking over at me.
I swallowed hard, my mind went into overtime again and I closed my eyes to try and clear my head. Lance noticed my reaction and knew that something was up.
"Chris, what really happened?"
When I didnt answer him, he asked again, in a softer tone. I looked up at him, I know I must have looked like a little kid to him at that moment. I knew I wasn't going to be able to get away with not telling him the truth.
"I... I wanted to find out what was wrong with Joey, because he's been acting so strange lately. So I followed him to his dressing room, and I saw him..." my eyes filled with tears.
Lance put a comforting arm around my shoulders.
"He was sitting there and he... he was shooting up. He saw me, and got totally pissed. He pulled me into the room... pushed me against the door... he asked me what I was doing, and I told him, and he shoved me.
"That's where my black eye came from. After you walked away, he told me that if I told anyone, he'd put me in the hospital..." I couldn't hold it back anymore. I started to cry.
Lance was in shock. He couldn't believe what I had just told him. I couldn't blame him, I didn't want to believe it, either. He kept his arm around my shoulders and let me cry.
"Chris, I can't believe you kept that to yourself as long as you did. You should have come to one of us after it happened..."
I looked up at Lance, my eyes shining from the tears. "Don't let him find out I told you, Lance... Please..." I begged.
Lance could tell from my voice just how terrified I was of that thought. "I won't, Chris. It'll be okay."
~~~~~~~~~~~
By the time the others got up, Lance had been playing playstation with me, trying to get me to relax. It didn't look like anything out of the ordinary, because Lance did actually play with me sometimes.
When Justin had finished his cereal, he offered to take over for Lance, noticing that his green-eyed friend looked tired of playing.
Joey was the last to get up. He looked even more tired then when he went to bed, but he didn't look angry anymore. He looked almost sad. I looked up at Lance, he just shook his head.
Jc and Justin still had no clue what was wrong with Joey, and now they had my strange behavior to worry about.
"Joey? You dont look so good. Are you okay?" Jc asked.
Joey sighed, but desided he would humor his best friend.
"I'm fine Jace, don't worry about me," he said, giving Jc a small smile.
I could tell it was forced, but Jc seemed happy with the responce he got.
It was then I started to wonder. What if Joey really didn't want to continue what he was doing? And if he wanted to stop, why didn't he come to one of us for help?
My head started buzzing again, and I lost my consintration on the game, causing Justin to win. I groaned inwardly as Justin started in on me, rubbing my loss in my face.
Normaly, I would have argued with him, made up an excuse for my losing, but I didn't. I told him he did a good job and got up, leaving him, and the others, in shock.
I stayed in my bunk for the rest of the trip to the next venue, besides trips to the bathroom. Lance brought me drinks and made me eat something now and then. I was greatful that he cared so much, but I just wanted to be by myself.
~~~~~~~~~~~
When we got to the venue, Lance came and got me. I was the last one off the bus, and I looked around at the sights that usually cheered me up. The fans, the good smells...
I knew they knew I was down. They had probably heard about the last concert already, but some of them knew just by looking at me that I was still not myself.
I smiled, but it was an empty smile, and the fans that were paying attention to me noticed. One little girl stepped out from behind her mother, holding two bags of pixi sticks. The look on her face drew me in, I had to stop. All but Joey stopped to watch.
"Hi Chris, my name's Melody," the little girl said with a smile, her voice soft.
"Hello Melody, nice to meet you," I said, holding my hand out. She smiled again.
"These are for you," She told me as she handed me a bag of pixi sticks.
"Thank you very much," I said, my first real smile in what seemed like forever spread across my face.
"Chris, I don't know what it is that has been bringing you down, but I want you to know that whatever it is, it'll be alright," Then she gave me a hug.
My eyes teared up. This girl must have been an angel.
"Thank you," I whispered in her ear before giving her a kiss on the cheek. I gave her an autograph, and smiled again before standing up and following the guys inside.
| Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight |
