~THE MEIR FAMILY~
The Meir family sat down for dinner. Ella stared at her children. Every child had that look of worry displayed on their faces. She was their mother, why couldn’t she help them like a mother should be able to? Lately she had been feeling as if she had failed as a parent. Brooke and Micheal played with their food pushing around their peas and mashed potatoes. Damon just stared off into space. The silence was uncomfortable.
“What’s going on?” Ella asked, not being able to handle her children’s sadness. They all looked up as if just now acknowledging that there were other people sitting at the dining room table. Brooke was the first to respond.
“I’m just not hungry right now,” she murmured. Micheal nodded his he
~KAHLAN AND DAMON~“How long have they been out there?” Carly asked Justin as they watched through the kitchen window. Damon and Kahlan appeared to be in a very heated conversation. Carly had to sneak out of her house just to be there for Kahlan. Her father was pissed at her, but had no time to give her a good talking to, or ground her because he was too worried about his new girlfriend.“Not that long,” Justin murmured. Carly could see worry on Justin’s face. She just wasn’t sure what he was worried about. Was he worried about Kahlan and what she might do because she was so angry? Was he worried about Kahlan because of what Damon might do because he was so persistent? Or was he worried that their heated argument would somehow show the lust they still had for each other?“He said he w
~KAHLAN, CARLY AND JUSTIN~ “What’s all this?” Justin asked when he came down the stairs to see me putting the food into serving trays. I smiled. I had planned on serving breakfast in bed but with the smells coming from the kitchen, it seemed everyone hopped out of bed in hunger.“It's breakfast,” I answered with a smile, “I’m a great cook.” Justin smiled. He had tasted her cooking plenty of times and not once has it ever been a disappointment.“No doubt about it,” Justin replied. “How are you feeling?” I looked at him, still smiling.“I’m feeling great,” I answered. Justin walked into the living room to grab his tennis shoes, w
~THE HANCOCKS~Mya sat across from her dad. There was silence as she tried to put her thoughts together and change them into words. She did want to apologize to her dad, but at the same time she still had so much anger in her heart. “Mya,” Paul said, looking very impatient. She stared. “Dad.” That was one of the first things that Paul was happy to hear. His daughter was back to acknowledging him as a father. “I want to apologize for acting the way I did towards you and Julie and Amy. I just want you to understand how bad it hurts to know that you weren’t who you were supposed to be. I never expected any of this, I always thought that you were my real father and it made me sick to know that you weren’t, but after a while I realized that you were my father and you always will be. And I am so sorry for how I was acting.” Dad looked at her and then smiled. When he first told his girls the truth, he knew they were going to be mad. The way Mya acted completely blew him out of the water. T
~JUSTIN~Justin crept into his home; he wanted to be sure that he didn’t wake anyone up. All he had to do was quickly change his clothes and go outside to meet Kahlan, who waited patiently in her car. He heard the washer and dryer in the basement, and knew his legal guardians were already up and about. Just as he made his way up the stairs to the second floor, his grandmother called his name. “Justin,” her voice sounded quiet and nasally, “is that you?” He turned to see a tiny old woman standing at the foot of the stairs. She took her glasses off her face and set them on top of her head full of grays. “You don’t have to sneak in,” she said, “but the least you could do is call and check in, let us know that you will be out all night and that you are safe”. Justin looked. “I’m sorry to worry you grandma.” She chuckled. “I’m not the one who was worried,” she answered. She was referring to his grandfather. He sat in the living room all day, half dressed most of the time, eyes glued to
~KATE AND CARLY~“Tell me about her,” Kate replied as she sat next to Carly on the couch. Robert had decided to give the girls space. All Kate wanted to do at this moment was to know her daughter through Carly’s eyes. Carly smiled.“She’s great. I don’t know what else to say. She likes to cook; she seems to love pasta and Chinese food. She has sarcasm that can keep you laughing. Oh, and she used to be a gymnast. Which helps her on the cheerleading squad. Well, after I made her try it out.” Kate smiled. Wow, the older woman thought, she knew her daughter once upon a time, but now she grew up and with that, comes change.“What about a boyfriend?” Kate said, “Does she have a boyfriend?” Carly’s mind automatically went to Damon, but that’s not a respons
~THE BOYS~Chad Worthy, Brandon Yaught, Christian Tyler and Jason Flemming tossed the football back and forth between them as they discussed how high maintenance girls were.“I don’t think they’re that bad,” Jason replied, “They have expectations and not many men follow them.” Chris laughed.“You’re only saying that because you have a girlfriend. And you two are still in the honeymoon phase. Just you wait, your girl will start asking for small favors that will gradually get bigger over time.”“Then she’ll start asking you to change little by little. And these are things that make you who you are,” Brandon pitched.“And then you will understand why
~THE HANCOCKS~Paul and Julia walked into their home after a lovely day together. Paul was happy; the happiest he had ever been in a long time. The only other woman besides Julia that gave him feelings like this was Olivia Dawson, who was married to his brother. Julia brought more good times with her and that’s one thing Paul loved about her. They turned to walk into the dining room where they saw the twins waiting for them. “What’s going on?” Paul asked. Mya smiled.“Well, I was telling Julia that Amy and I had some ideas for the wedding, and we really want to talk about it with you guys.” Julia and Paul smiled as they walked over to the dining table and took a seat.“So, what’s on your mind?” Paul asked. They stared. Amy looked.
~CARLY AND ASHLEY~“I can’t believe you invited her,” Ashley said, as she and Carly sat in the food court at the mall. Both girls enjoyed a frozen yogurt as they waited for Kahlan to appear. She had said that she had an appointment and would arrive shortly after. No matter, Carly was patient. It was Ashley who seemed to have a problem. Carly chuckled at the angry faces Ashley made.“What’s the problem?” Carly asked. Ashley looked. “I thought you guys were friends.”“I mean we are… but I’m upset with her at the moment.”“Why? Because of Justin?” Ashley looked. Carly knew the answer. She saw the same things that Ashley was seeing taking place between the two, if not more.
~ELLA~ Ella rushed up to one of the cops on the scene. The waiting around was killing her. The cops had begun to clear out one part of the building. There was an automotive class-taking place, and their escape was out the garages of the North side of the building. Officers were planning on storming through there. That was the last that she had heard of their plans. There were two students hurt, but at least ten evacuated. That gave some hope. There were no fatalities. Ella wanted to help."I'm an off duty nurse," she stated, "I'm here to offer any assistance." The cop looked at her."Do you have your badge?" She pulled out her nursing badge and let the cop examine it. At least he was being thorough."Go on over to the par
~JUSTIN, EMETT AND MYA~ Mya snuck the guys into one of the pool exits. It threw them off course just a bit to get the front office, but as long as they got inside, Justin didn’t care. He would find a way to Kahlan."How did you know this would be open?" Justin asked quietly. He wasn’t comfortable with Mya leading them. As men, they should be protecting her. She should be behind them."They cut the electricity off," she whispered back, "That means that the doors that were usually on manual locks, would open." Justin never paid attention to things like that, so he was glad that Mya did, otherwise, they may have still been outside, trying to find a way in, or they would have given up."How did you know there were
~KAHLAN AND BROOKE~ "It’s been five minutes!" Brooke shouted at me as quiet as she could when I returned to her side. She had gotten loud as if she was angry, but she was scared. She was sweating bullets, her face looking as if she had gotten caught in the rain."I know, I'm sorry," I said, "Did anyone text back?" She shook her head. "Damn it." Brooke looked at me. She wanted so badly for me to have good news for her, but I didn’t."What are we going to do?" she asked as she placed a hand over her belly. I stared down at her stomach. It was more than out lives at stake, it was the life of this unborn child. I couldn't give her an answer; so instead, I looked around, trying to come up with our next move.
~AMY, CHAD AND JASON~Jason looked, asking himself the same question. What was his problem? The fact that his friend and girlfriend lied to him… yep, that was it."I don't have a problem," Jason answered softly."Well you sure do stomp around like you do," Chad said."I'm upset," Jason replied. "I don't know how I should feel, but I know I don't hate you. Most of me misses you guys, but there is still a part of me that can't get over the fact that you two lied. And when I think about it, I can see you guys in my head, and it just makes me sick to my stomach.""Let us help you get over it," Amy said getting to her feet, "trying to avoid us and staying mad at us obviously isn't helping." Jason looke
~JUSTIN~ Everyone got to their knees outside, at the sound of another gunshot. The group was pushed back further from the school as more people escaped. Now officers had arrived on the scene. They had begun pushing everyone back across the parking lot, closer to the street and the surrounding homes. Justin couldn’t just stand around and do nothing. He was not the type to feel powerless."I have to get in there," he demanded, pushing past Carly. He didn’t even get a few feet, before he was thrown to the ground. He landed on his left knee pretty hard, feeling the pain of the pavement. He looked up and saw Coach Myers on top of him."Where do you think your going boy?" the coach growled."I ha
~KAHLAN AND CARLY~“So you have a date tonight?” Carly asked as we made our way to the front of the school. I glanced over at her as we walked down the hall. I had to stop by my locker to drop off my textbooks. We agreed that to car pool for a while. It saved time and gas money.“Its not a date.” “Yeah, but you want it to be.” She grinned. I looked over at her. It seemed that Carly might have knew more than I did. Justin and I had discussed going out together. As far as I was concerned it was just as friends. Though I wasn’t sure exactly what we were doing. Justin just said it was a birthday surprise.“Its two friends hanging out.” I responded. She looked at me. &l
~CARLY AND JUSTIN~Justin rushed through the crowds of teens pooling into the lunchroom. He was chasing one particular person down, and wanted to get to her before she reached their lunch table. He reached out and touched Carly’s shoulder, pulling her back.“Hey,” she said with a slight chuckle, his force a bit surprising. The last time she was grabbed like that, James was the one with the force. She was able to push the thought away from her mind rather quick. “What’s going on?” He seemed eager.“What do you think I should get Kahlan for her birthday?” That wasn’t a question she thought he’d ask.“Well, what do you think she wants?” She questioned, “besides you naked in a bow?”
~BROOKE AND SANDINO~ Brooke knocked on Sandino’s door. She had heard that he didn’t go to school, and figured now would be the best time to go over, since his mother would be at work. Dino opened the door, looking at her through the screen."What do you want?" he asked. She looked. So far, this was going better than expected. She didn’t even think that he would open the door, let alone speak to her."Just to talk.""I don’t want to talk. Not to you anyway.” He looked as if he had been sleeping the day away, hiding from the embarrassment that she caused."I don’t want you to hate me," she spoke out. Hate was a strong word, but if anyone was going to
~KAHLAN AND JUSTIN~ I stood at my locker, putting away my books when Justin walked up to me. I could feel his presence before I saw her. He stood behind me."Hey," he said. I turned around to look at him. We hadn't talked since what happened in my pool, and since I blurted all my thoughts and feelings at the lunch table. It seemed that our time had now come. I was ready to talk to him and it seemed that he was ready to talk to me."Hi," I said quietly."How are you?" he asked."I'm good," I answered, "You?""Not so much," He responded, putting his hands into his pockets. I looked at him. He did look a mess, as if he were losing sleep