Nothing could have prepared Lance for those three words that Kayla had just uttered to him, nothing. He stood there, mouth slightly hung open with a confused and questioned look on his face.
“Did-did I just hear you said DAUGHTER?” Lance finally choked out.
Kayla nodded her head slowly and sighed miserably. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you Lance...I couldn’t tell you, I didn’t know if you’d understand I--”
“Kayla?” a voice said from behind Lance.
Lance spun around and found Bryce standing behind him.
“Kayla...who’s this?” Bryce asked, looking over at Lance.
Kayla let out a small groan and shut her eyes, hoping that when she opened them she would wake up from this bad dream.
“Bryce...this is Lance...Lance this is Bryce,” Kayla said, introducing them without any enthusiasm.
“Hey man, it’s nice to meet you,” Bryce said in a friendly tone, holding out his hand.
Lance took it numbly and shook his hand. He turned back around to Kayla with a look of confusion, but this time hurt also.
“Lance this isn’t what you think--” Kayla started.
Lance held up his hand to stop her from speaking. Kayla’s voice faded out and she shut her mouth, waiting for his reaction.
“This...is your daughter,” Lance said, pointing down at Casey.
Kayla nodded silently.
“And this is...” he trailed off, turning to Bryce. “This is your OTHER boyfriend?” Lance asked, obviously pained.
“No he’s--” Kayla started.
“I'm Casey’s father,” Bryce interrupted.
Kayla looked at him with wonder and surprise, “No your not...”
Bryce completely ignored Kayla’s small protest and turned back to Lance, “I’m Casey’s father,” he repeated.
“Bryce what the hell--” Kayla began again.
“I can’t believe you would do this to me,” Lance said quietly.
Kayla looked over at Lance helplessly, “It’s not what you think--” she tried.
Lance help up his hand again to stop her from talking. “I came here to surprise you and I find out you have a child with another guy that you’ve never told me about?” he asked, looking up at Kayla.
“No...” she faded out.
“Do you live here?” Lance asked Bryce.
Bryce nodded his head and crossed his arms over his chest.
Lance turned back to Kayla, “And you all live together in this apartment...?” he asked, squinting his eyes in a pained expression.
Kayla nodded her head to that response, “Yes well all live here but--”
“BUT nothing Kayla,” Lance said sternly. “I thought you wanted ‘us’ to work...I thought we established everything on the bus that day...I thought you told me everything in all of our phone conversations...I thought...I could trust you,” he finished softly.
Kayla clenched her fists and fought back the burning tears, brimming in her eyes. She shook her head in denial, but couldn’t speak. If she started to talk she would burst into tears and she couldn’t do that because there’s no way she could get out everything she needed to say.
“Do you have anything to say about any of this?” Lance asked sadly.
Kayla stood there, trying to keep her quivering lip still. She blinked a few times to push back all her tears about to spill over.
“Well since you don’t, I guess it’s safe to say that I’m right with my assumptions and that we’re...” He flinched, “Over.”
Lance stared at Kayla while backing up into the hallway. He looked over at Bryce who was staring at him with a smug look on his face. He looked down at Casey who was looking up in wonder and confusion. Then lastly, he looked straight at Kayla who stood there silently. Lance shook his head in disappointment and walked down the hallway.
Once he rounded the corner Bryce looked over at Kayla, “Who was THAT?”
Kayla stood silent, staring blankly at the hallway wall. Her fists were still clenched together tightly and she was losing control over the oncoming tears. Casey tugged on her arm but Kayla still didn’t move.
Bryce stepped up to her and grabbed her shoulders, “Kayla, sweetie! What’s wrong with you? Who was that? Were they trying to hurt you or something? Kayla! Talk to me!”
Kayla finally collapsed to the floor in a heap. She let go of her tears and sobbed loudly, while rocking back and forth on her knees. She pounded her hand on the carpeted floor and sobbed louder. She had lost all control of her emotions and of all the tears that were pushing their way down her face.
Bryce knelt down beside her and lifted the upper half of her body up, gripping her shoulders firmly. “Kayla! What’s gotten into you!? Kayla! Talk to me! Why are you crying!? What happened!?”
Casey stood there in fear, watching her mom cry hysterically. The silence she had listened to all her life suddenly became the loudest sound she’d ever heard. She covered her ears to block out the loud noise, but couldn’t escape it. Something was wrong with her mom and she didn’t know what it was, she frightened by the way Kayla was acting.
Bryce finally got fed up with no reaction from Kayla and only sobs coming out of her mouth. “KAYLA TALK TO ME!” he shouted. When she didn’t respond again he shook her roughly. “Snap out of it girl!” he ordered in rough tone.
Kayla’s whole body flopped back and forth effortlessly when Bryce shook her. That was the first time fear had ever struck in her heart, caused by Bryce. She held her breath and stared at the man kneeling in front of her, wondering who he was. She felt like she was looking at a stranger and she was scared of him.
“Kayla! Talk!” Bryce yelled.
“I-I-I,” Kayla choked. “Leave me alone!” she finally shouted, throwing her arms up in the air and back down again, getting out of Bryce’s grip.
Kayla stood up quickly and ran back into her room, shutting and locking the door behind her. Bryce ran after her and just missed the door, getting it slammed in his face. He knocked loudly calling out her name over and over again.
“Kayla! Open this door!” he demanded, pounding on the door.
Kayla stared at the door and started crying again, backing away from the door. She tripped on her bed and looked down, making her way around the bed. She felt like she had to hide, so she ran into her closet and hid. She sunk to the floor and drew her knees up to her chest, starting to sob loudly again. She wanted her mom and dad.
Lance walked down the hallway blindly, tears running down his face. He wiped them away quickly and took a deep breath, preventing anymore tears to fall down his cheek. He couldn’t believe what he had just seen, Kayla had lied to him.
This was worse than his last breakup, at least the last breakup was because of unspoken words, this was because Kayla had two timed him. He couldn’t believe he fell for all of her charm and continued to be completely oblivious to her secret home life.
No wonder she never wanted anyone at her house, or wouldn’t let anyone into her apartment unless no one was home. No wonder she never talked about her “roommates” around everyone, because they were here child and her child’s father.
“How could she?” Lance declared angrily. “How could she do this to me? After everything we talked about...after...” he trailed off.
He stopped walking through the hall and leaned his forehead against the wall. He sighed out loud and tried to contain all his rushing emotions. He had hoped and prayed, that she had a reasonable explanation for that whole scene, but she just stood there and admitted to Casey being her daughter and Bryce living with her. Bryce had even told him Casey was his daughter.
Lance grabbed his chest and tried to take deep breaths slowly. His heart hurt so badly he felt a sharp pain inside of this chest. He inhaled again, trying to exhale slowly. He flinched at the pain in his chest and turned around, pressing the back of his head on the wall. He sunk down to the floor and continued to breath heavily.
He propped his knees up and hung his arms off them. He dipped his head down and struggled with broken breaths. The pain seemed to be spreading all over his body and he winced from it. He started to see spots and fade in and out of consciousness. He couldn't believe this had happened to him. His breath quickened again and he leaned off to the side, still gasping for air.
The last thing he remembered was staring at the floor and seeing someone’s shoes, the person’s voice faded out of his mind before he could hear what it was saying, then he blacked out.
“Momma a boy hurt me today,” the young girl said in a small voice.
“Aw come here honey,” her mother said gently, holding her arms out.
The young girl walked over to her and fell into her mother’s embrace. She started to cry softly while her mother stroked her hair comfortingly.
“It hurts momma, it hurts a lot,” the girl said between quiet sobs.
“It will honey, it will,” her mother said, rocking her back and forth.
The girl crawled into her mother’s lap as the grip around her tightened. Her mother continued to rock her back and forth making comforting sounds.
“Time will heal your pain,” her mom said wisely. “It might not seem like it, but it always does.”
“I don’t want it to heal my pain,” the girl mumbled. “I want the boy to heal my pain.”
Her mother remained silent, “Some day a boy will.”
The girl looked up at her mother with question in her eyes.
“Some day you’ll meet the right boy and he’ll heal all your pain, when he does that, then you know he’s the one for you,” her mom said, brushing a running tear, away.
“When momma? When?” the girl asked in a pleading voice.
“Some day, but until then, remember that your father and I are always hear for you to take away as much pain as possible,” her mother whispered.
“Always momma?”
“Always.”
Kayla woke up suddenly, tears dried on her face. She looked around and tried to recognize her surroundings. She saw she was in her closet and finally breathed with ease. She crawled out of her closet and onto her bed, lying there lifelessly. Her face was buried in her pillow and she started to cry again. She turned her head and stared at the wall.
“Where are you now momma?” she asked, choked up with tears. “You said you’d always be here, so where are you?” she cried out helplessly.
She curled up into a little ball and shivered from fear and pain. She closed her eyes tightly and re played the whole situation of that afternoon back in her head. Lance’s hurt expression appeared in her mind again and her tears increased.
She had just stood there dumbly, not saying a word in defense and letting Bryce lead Lance down all the wrong paths of conclusion. Now she was sure she had just lost the only man meant for her.
Lance groaned and opened his eyes slowly. He flinched at the sudden light, pouring into his eye lids. He blinked a few times and adjusted his sight to the settings around him. He looked around him and didn’t recognize where he was. He sat up quickly and his broken breathing began again.
“Take it easy honey, your going to make yourself pass out again,” a gentle voice said.
Lance searched the room and saw a familiar woman sitting in a chair by the window, knitting. It was almost like one of those pictures of the grandmother knitting by the window, the only thing missing was a sleeping cat.
“Wh-where am I?” Lance asked, breathing heavily.
The woman stood up and placed her knitting down on the chair she had been sitting on. She walked over to him and touched his forehead. She pushed him gently, back to a laying position.
“You have to take it easy,” she said calmly. “I think you had a panic attack up there, it’s a good thing I was making my rounds or else something might have happened to you.”
Lance leaned back and adjusted himself until he was comfortable. The woman handed him a cup of tea and sat on the edge of the couch.
“Now what in the world caused you to get so worked up, you got yourself to pass out?”
Lance took a sip of tea and leaned his head back on the fluffy pillows. He sighed tiredly and stared at the ceiling.
“I didn’t think I was going to pass out from what I had just found out, but I guess there’s no telling how my emotions will cause me to react,” Lance said thoughtfully.
“A girl is it?” the woman asked.
Lance looked over surprised, “How’d you know?”
The woman laughed softly, “I might be old my dear boy, but I know what love can do to people and from the looks of it, you’ve been hit.”
“You could say it’s something along that line,” Lance said, nodding his head slowly.
“Tell me what happened,” the woman said gently.
Lance sighed, “I met a girl that blew me away. She’s charming and beautiful and knew what pain was, just like me. We went through some friction before we got together but we finally overcame everything, or so I thought.” He paused to take a long deep breath, then continued, “I came home and went to go surprise her to find she has a child and a boyfriend that she never bothered to tell me about.”
The woman narrowed her eyebrows in thought, “I’m sorry to hear you would have to find out that way.”
Lance nodded his head, “Me too.” He glanced up at her mantle clock and almost spit out his tea. “Oh man! I have to go!”
The woman looked up a little confused, “Go? Already?”
Lance nodded his head and placed the cup on the coffee table. He stood up slowly and looked back down at the woman.
“Thank you so much...what was your name? I don’t think you ever told me.”
“Tracy,” the woman smiled.
“Well Tracy, thank you very much, for everything,” Lance said, making his way towards the door. “I’ll be in touch to thank you properly, but for now I have to leave.”
The woman nodded her head and waved. Lance shut the door behind him and Tracy gazed out the window.
“Love hurts my boy, more than you know...it hurts,” she whispered softly.
JC checked his watch, “Where’s Lance? He’s usually never late.”
Joey shrugged and walked over to JC, “He’s probably still with Kayla, remember they haven’t seen each other for almost two weeks.”
JC nodded his head, “Oh yeah...I almost forgot.”
“How could you? I was about to throw him about the airplane window if he kept fidgeting in his seat,” Justin commented, joining the conversation.
“But look how happy he’s been,” Chris cut in. “I mean how long has it been since we’ve seen him happy like that, with someone since--”
“Yeah I know I mean, he still hasn’t told her everything about that has he?” Justin asked.
JC shook his head, “I don’t think so.”
“Is he ever going to?” Joey asked.
JC shrugged his shoulders, “I couldn’t tell you.”
“Maybe it’s just not time yet,” Chris suggested.
“Could be,” Justin said. “But he wouldn’t talk about it for months after it happened, remember?”
“How could we forget?” JC sighed. “Maybe he’s still not ready.”
“He is...he just needs to find the courage to talk about it in front of Kayla,” Joey said.
“Let’s hope he does it soon, because if something else happens and Lance freaks, she won’t be able to help him if she doesn’t know the whole story,” Chris said.
They all stopped talking to turn around when they heard a door slam. They looked up surprised to find Lance looking disheveled. Lance made his way over to them and didn’t speak at word, just had a confused and hurt look on his face.
“Uh-oh,” Chris mumbled quietly.
“You just read my mind,” Justin replied in a low tone. “I better call ‘Liss.”
Kayla’s purse shook from a faint ringing. Bryce looked over to the bag sitting by the door, same place it had been when Kayla dropped it. Bryce walked over and picked up her purse and keys. He dropped the keys into her purse and ignored the ringing.
Then he wondered why Kayla still had a cell phone all this time and never bothered to tell him. The ringing continued and Bryce became more curious with each ring. He tried to ignore it but after awhile couldn’t.
“Hello?” he said quickly, picking up the phone.
“Uh...hi...is Kayla there?” a girl asked on the other line.
“She’s busy right now,” Bryce said.
“But is she there?”
“Yes,” Bryce answered. “But she’s busy.”
“Oh,” the girl said. “Who’s this?”
“Her roommate,” Bryce said, getting a little annoyed. “Who’s THIS?”
“Her friend, is she home?” the girl answered, ignoring his attitude.
“Yes, but she’s busy, call back later or something,” Bryce said, bored.
“Um...thanks,” the girl said.
“No problem, have a nice day,” Bryce replied and hung up before the person on the other line could say anything.
“Who’s THAT asshole?” Alyissa asked, listening to the dull tone coming from the phone.
“What happened?” Justin asked anxiously.
“I don’t know, some prick just hung up on me though,” she said, annoyed.
“Who would be picking up her cell phone?” Justin asked curiously.
“I know about as much as you do baby,” Alyissa said, finally hanging up the phone. “Tell me again what happened.”
“I don’t know really, we dropped Lance off at her apartment building and he was all happy and go lucky. Then the next thing we know he comes back a few hours later, all out of sorts, looking depressed and hurt at the same time. He didn’t say anything to us, just kind of sat himself down and stared blankly at the wall,” Justin said, explaining what happened that afternoon, again.
Alyissa narrowed her eyebrows in thought and tried to think of all the possibilities that might have happened. She knew something was definitely wrong because Kayla didn’t pick up her cell phone and some guy claiming to be her roommate did. It’s not that Alyissa didn’t believe that Kayla’s roommate picked up, she just didn’t know how Kayla roomed with such an ignorant person that she had just talked to.
“I wonder what happened,” Alyissa said out loud.
“Me too, Lance won’t even LOOK at any of us, let alone TALK about it,” Justin said, obviously worried about his friend.
Alyissa took another deep breath and bite her lip in thought. “I wish Kayla would have picked up the phone.”
Justin nodded his head in agreement. “What do we do now?”
“YOU go lend a shoulder to Lance, I know he might not talk about it, but if he knows you guys are there and you reassure him you are, it’ll make HIM feel a whole hell of a lot better,” Alyissa instructed.
“And what are you going to do?” Justin asked, looking at Alyissa.
“I’M going over to Kayla’s apartment and if that asshole tries to stop me from getting in I’m gonna have to open a can of whoop ass on him,” Alyissa replied in a determined tone.
“Ah I love it when you get angry,” Justin grinned.
Alyissa smiled and leaned over to kiss him. She gave him a quick kiss and stood up, heading for the door.
“Stay by your cell phone and expect a call from me...I might need some back up,” she winked.
Justin grinned, “Yes ma’am.”
Kayla’s room was dark and the sun was starting to set. Kayla had pulled down her shades and shut her curtains, trying to block out the cheery Florida sun, pouring through her windows. She lay on her bed in the same position that she had been for the past few hours. Her face was tear stained and stiffening up from all the dried tears on her face. Her eyes were bright red from crying and rubbing them. Her nose was tinted pink from blowing it and her whole body felt limp.
There was a soft knock on her door and Kayla didn’t move. The knock came again, still soft. Kayla realized that couldn’t be Bryce because the knock was coming from the lower half of the door. She slowly rolled off her bed and half walked, half crawled over to the door. She opened the door a crack and found a nervous and frightened looking Casey standing there.
Kayla smiled weakly and let Casey in, shutting and locking the door after her. Kayla crawled back to her bed and laid down, curling into a little ball again. Casey stood by the doorway with a sad and concerned look on her face. She walked over to Kayla’s bed and climbed on with Kayla. She pushed her way into Kayla’s arms and Kayla finally opened her arms, bringing Casey into her embrace.
Casey snuggled into Kayla’s body and sighed contently. She wasn’t sure what had happened that afternoon and she was thoroughly confused with all the reactions people had given from seeing each other, but she knew what always made Kayla feel better, hugs. Casey’s mind flashed back to when they lived in their old apartment and the day Kayla had come home depressed on that rainy day.
Kayla always seemed to be sad, but tried to act happy around Casey. Casey closed her eyes and felt secure in Kayla’s grip, she had missed her a lot when she had left for two weeks.
Kayla stared at the wall and inhaled the scent of Casey’s fruity smelling shampoo. She thought about everything in her life and wondered what she had even been thinking, trying to pursue a relationship with Lance.
Her mind rushed back to all the good times of the company party at Johnny’s, then the barbecue at his house. She smiled at those memories, then remembered the whole tour, even their argument and their moments of sensitivity together. She remembered the hotel room and another tear rolled down her cheek. She knew that she could never experience that again, they were just memories implanted in her mind now.
Just like her parents, something she wanted in her life but couldn’t have. They were untouchable and now, so was Lance. She was sure once everyone else found out about the whole thing they wouldn’t ever talk to her again, especially if Lance told them his story. After all, that’s the only one he knew.
That made Kayla sad, she lost yet another thing she had learned to love.
Alyissa marched up to Kayla’s door and pounded on it. She didn’t even waited for a response, she just kept pounding loudly. The door opened and she accidentally hit a guy in the face.
“Ow!” the guy cried out.
“OH!” Alyissa said startled. “I’m sorry I didn’t even see you there.”
“Well if you stopped beating the door then maybe you would have,” the guy snapped, holding his face.
“I thought I recognized your voice, your the prick from the phone!” Alyissa exclaimed.
“The guy from the phone, maybe, the prick, no sorry you must have the wrong person,” Bryce said ignorantly.
“Oh I see you still have that attitude problem,” Alyissa said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I came to see Kayla.”
“Didn’t I tell you on the phone that she was busy?”
“Yes but you also told me she was home and I’m one of her good friends,” Alyissa said, not moving.
“Would you like a cookie for that?” Bryce asked sarcastically.
Alyissa dropped her arms to her sides and clenched her fist, “Ooohhh,” she said, sucking in a deep breath. “Can I PLEASE talk to Kayla,” she tried politely.
“NO, she’s busy,” Bryce said in an annoyed tone. “How many times do I have to tell you that?”
Alyissa opened her mouth and shut it quickly, holding her tongue. She stared at Bryce as he looked at her challengingly.
Suddenly Alyissa yelled out loudly, “KAYLA!”
Bryce jumped from her loud voice, “Will you keep it down!? Other people live in this building!”
“Let me see her and I’ll shut up,” Alyissa said, crossing her arms again.
“NO, she’s BUSY!” Bryce insisted.
“KAYLA!!!” Alyissa yelled out again casually.
“Will you STOP yelling?” Bryce said, eyes widening.
“Let me see her,” Alyissa said plainly.
“NO.”
“Fine...KAAAAYYYYYLLLLAAAAA!!!” Alyissa belted out loud and clear.
Bryce ducked his head and looked up and down the hallways. “Will you SHUT UP!?”
“NO,” Alyissa snapped. “How do YOU like that answer?”
“I don’t and now your definitely not going to see her,” Bryce said and slammed the door in Alyissa’s face.
Alyissa was so heated by then she was tempted to knock the door down and jump Bryce. She tried to control her temper and stormed away loudly, stomping like a four year old when they didn’t get their way. She was determined to see Kayla and if that meant going to JIVE the next day, so be it. She was going to find out what happened and fix everything between Lance and Kayla. Also get rid of that arrogant roommate while she was at it.
“Bryce?” Kayla asked in a small voice, peeking out of her room.
“Yes?” he asked softly.
“Who was at the door?” she asked, looking around.
“No one, some girl being obnoxious,” he said nonchalantly. “I got her to leave though.”
“Oh,” Kayla said.
She turned back into her room and shut the door. She could have sworn she heard Alyissa calling out her name, but maybe she was just starting to hear things. She walked over to her window and looked out. She spotted Alyissa’s car and narrowed her eyebrows in thought. A few minutes later she saw Alyissa storm out of the building and climb into her car. She started the car up and sped away with a loud screech.
Kayla backed away from the window and climbed into her bed, she dreaded having to go to work, but needed to face everything sometime, maybe Lance would let her explain, maybe he would understand, maybe he could even forgive her.
(The Next Day)
Kayla trudged into work slowly, dragging her feet behind her. Mr. Collins was already in his office and Kayla breathed a sigh of relief, she wasn’t sure if she could take facing anyone just yet. She sat down at her desk and began to work immediately.
“Kayla! Finally!” a voice rang out in the small office.
Kayla looked up and saw Alyissa standing in the doorway.
“Good lord girl you look like someone just killed your dog,” she commented, walking in.
Kayla remained silent and just stared at Alyissa, almost in disbelief that she was there.
“Are you going to say hello or just sit there and stare blankly?” Alyissa asked, placing her hands on her hips.
“L-L-L-’Liss,” Kayla finally stammered.
“The one and only,” Alyissa said with a smile, holding her hands out on either side. “You were expecting the tooth fairy?”
“I was more hoping for Lance,” Kayla mumbled quietly.
“Gee thanks,” Alyissa said sarcastically.
“No no I didn’t mean it that way it’s just--” Kayla started to protest.
Alyissa held up her hand, “I know dear I know, I saw Lance yesterday and he has the same look about him that you do, only about ten times worse.”
Kayla sighed miserably, “I didn’t mean to hurt him like that, I just couldn’t tell him about Casey, he would assume like he did and now he won’t ever talk to me,” Kayla rambled.
“Whoa whoa whoa, what happened?” Alyissa asked. “Who’s Casey?”
“My-my-,” Kayla stuttered. “Wait he didn’t tell you?”
Alyissa shook her head, “Why do you think I’ve been trying to get a hold of you? Lance won’t even look at anyone else, he just kind of sits there. I tried calling you and even visiting you yesterday to talk to you, but some--” She paused, “NICE guy wouldn’t let me talk to you or see you,” she finished through gritted teeth.
Kayla nodded her head, “I see you met Bryce.”
“He’s a cutie, don’t get me wrong, but that obnoxious attitude he has is a total turn off, how do you LIVE with him?” Alyissa scoffed in disgust.
Kayla sighed, “He’s not usually like that, he’s been acting different ever since I got back from the tour.”
“Well he needs to fix his ego and get over himself,” Alyissa said, rolling her eyes. “I’m sorry, I know he’s probably a lot nicer than I’m making him out to be, but I don’t like rude people.”
“You have every right to be annoyed if he was rude with you,” Kayla said softly. “How’s Lance?” she asked suddenly.
Alyissa looked down at Kayla’s face and could see a bunch of mixed emotions written all over her face.
“He’s torn up,” she replied gently. “What happened?”
Kayla’s eyes welled up with tears again and her lip quivered. “I ruined everything, that’s what happened. I ruined everything for good this time ‘Liss.”
