"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?" Kevin shouted, "You almost scared me to death." "Sorry." Adrianne said sarcastically. "Sorry isn't good enough this time." Kevin said, "I was up all night afraid someone had murdered you. I was just about to call the cops. I wanna know where you were!" "After practice I went to the mall." Adrianne told him. "Ok, whatever." Kevin replied, "The mall closes at midnight. Where were you the other seven and a half hours?" Adrianne sighed, "Fine, I whent to a nightclub." Kevin's eyes widend, "What the hell? Adrianne, you know perfectly well I don't want you hanging out at those places by yourself. I know the types of guys that are there. They wouldn't think twice about raping a beutiful girl like you! Your not going to any clubs unless myself or Brian are with you. Do you understand?" "Why are you being like this Kev?" Adrianne asked, "It's not fair." "I DON'T CARE IF IT'S NOT FAIR!!" Kevin shot back angirly, "I'm just trying to do what's best for you.I promised Mom I would take care of you." "Whatever" Adrianne mumbled. Kevin spoke again, "From now on I will drive you to and from wherever you need to go. And that's final!!" With that, Kevin walked out the door. As soon as the door was shut, Adrianne took a magazine and threw it at the wall. She was so angry. She hated it when Kevin treated her like she was a baby. Adrianne reached over, picked up the phone, and called AJ-
"Hello"
"Hi AJ"
"Hey baby...are you ok? "Yeah" "You're lying, what's wrong?" "Kevin's being an asshole." "Did he catch you?" "Yup" "I'm sorry. This is all my fault" "How is it your fault?" "I was awake the whole time you were sleeping. I should have woken you up." "Alex don't blame yourself." "I know. Listen, why don't you just come over to my house?" "Well I would, except Kevin is now insiting that he drives me to and from where ever I have to go." "You're kidding!" "I wish I were." "That's crazy! He has no right to treat you like that." "Kevin's been treating me like this ever sice our Dad died. Where have you been?" "Yeah you're right." "Will I get to see you today?" "Yeah. I mean, we've got to rehearse for a couple of hours. But tonight we're gonna be hanging out at your house." "Ok, that sounds cool." "Yeah. Well, I guess I better go. I'll see ya tonight." "Ok. Bye." Adrianne went downstairs to the kitchen. Kristin was making breakfast. "Good morning Adrianne." Kristin said. "Good morning Kris." Adrianne replied, "Where's Kev?" "He's in the shower." Kristin told her, "Hey listen, I'm sorry about how he acted. I'll admit, Kevin gets on my nerves sometimes too." "Why are you sorry?" Adrianne asked, "You had nothing to do with it. I just don't think it's fair. I remember thousands of times Kevin would sneak in late and I never said anything." At that point, Kevin walked in and they all sat down and ate. The whole time, Adrianne gave Kevin the silent treatment. "Kris." Adrianne said, "Could you please tell Kevin to pass me the milk?" Kevin looked at Adrianne angirly and threw the milk at her. Kristin then noticed Adrianne's bracelet, "Oh that's so pretty! Where'd you get it?" "The mall." Adrianne told her. "Speaking of the mall." Kristin said, "Adrianne, lets go there today. We'll have a girls day out." "That's a great idea." Adrianne replied, "But I'm not sure if Kevin will let me. Kevin, can I have permission to go to the mall with Kristin?" Kevin slammed down his plate, causing it to break into peices. "I don't care!" Kevin shouted, "As long as Kristin watches you!" He grabbed his backpack from the couch. After giving Kristin a quick kiss, Kevin walked out of the house. After cleaning up the dished, Adrianne and Kristin packed their stuff and headed to the mall. Their first stop was Hot Topic. Adrianne picked out a pair of black jeans and a royal blue baby doll tee that said "princess" on the front. Kristin got a white tank top, a pair of black boots, and a gold belly chain. Afterward, Adrianne and Kristin went to Clinique where they were giving free makeovers. "I'm not sure about this." Adrianne said. Kristin wined, "It'll be fun." Adrianne's makeover consisted of: plum lipstick, a very pale purple eyeshadow, purple eyeliner, and light pink blush. "Well, what do you think?" Adrianne asked. "You look nice." Kristin replied, "I like the colors they used." Once Kristin's makeover was done, they went to the food court. "We are gonna get so fat after eating this stuff." Adrianne said. Kristin laughed, "Probably." At that moment, a guy with dark brown hair and blue eyes walked in and sat at the table next to them. "Hey Adrianne." Kristin whispered, "I think that guy is checkning you out." Adrianne looked up. Sure enough, the guy was staring at her. "Go talk to him" Kristin said. "I can't." Adrianne replied. "Why not?" Kristin asked, "Kevin's not here to stop you. And I won't tell him anything." Adrianne was tempted to tell Kristin that she was with AJ., maybe she would't tell Kevin. Then again, maybe she would. Adrianne couldnt take that chance, so she said, "I really don't want a relationship right now." "Well, that's understandable." Kristin said. "AJ, wake up!" Fatima shouted, "Break's over." AJ quickly woke up and joined the rest of the guys. "Looks like you didn't get much sleep last night." Nick said. "Hey AJ" Kevin said, "Did Adrianne mention to you where she was going last night?" "Why?" AJ asked. Kevin spoke again, "She tried to sneak into the house at 7:30 this morning. When I asked her where she was, she said after you & her got done practicing, she whent to the mall and then a club." "Yeah she did say something about it." AJ said. "Why didn't you tell me?" Kevin asked. "I don't know." Adrianne replied, "Personally, I don't care. She's 21. Who gives a fuck what the little slut does!" Kevin shoved AJ into a wall. "I DO!!" Kevin shouted, "I may be mad at Adrianne right now, but don't you dare call her a slut!" "Stop fighting." Howie said, "It won't do any good. Besides, Adrianne's ok." All five of them got to work. But the whole time, AJ and Kevin kept giving each other dirty looks. That night at Kevin's house, everyone sat in the living room. Adrianne and AJ sat at opposite ends of the room. "I got an idea." Brian said, "Let's play truth or dare. I'll start....Adrianne, truth or dare?" "Dare of course!" Adrianne replied. "Ok umm...." Brian said, thinking, "I got it! I dare you to kiss Nick." "No way!" Adrianne shouted, "He's like my ittle brother!" "Yeah Nick said, "I don't want to kiss her." "Adrianene you can't back down on a dare." Brian explained. Adrianne sighed, "Fine. How long do I have to kiss him for?" "One minute." Brian said. Adrianne shook her head in disbelief, "Ok, Nick come closer. Lets get this over with." Nick moved in closer, "Ok, on the count of three. One..... two.....three!" Adrianne and Nick's lips met together. AJ sat there and quickly turned the other way, looking out the window. Brian looked at his watch, "Times up. Adrianne and Nick quickly pulled apart. "Oh my god!" Adrianne shouted, "That was disgusting! I mean, no offense Nick." "None taken." Nick said, "That was really nasty though. I felt like I was kissing my sister." "Damn" Brian said, "I just thought of even better dare. I should've dared her to kiss AJ." Nick laughed, "Dude, that would've been hillarious!" "Yeah well that's one dare I wouldn't do." Adrianne interuptted, "I wouldn't kiss AJ to save my life. He's such a loser." "Bitch, I would kiss you either." AJ replied, "You're probably a bad kisser anyway." "Freak!" Adrianne said. "Slut!" AJ shot back. "We shouldn't be fightng infront of everyone. Wanna take this upstairs?" Adrianne asked. "Yeah lets." AJ replied. The two of them walked upstairs and whent into Adrianne's room. As soon as the door was shut and locked, Adrianne turned on her stero. Her and AJ had made a tape of them fighting. It was an hour and a half long. Adrianne pressed play and turned t all the way up. They went on the bed and started making out. "That whole thing with Nick was just a dare." Adrianne explained, "You know that, right?" "Yeah of course." AJ replied, pulling Adriannecloser to him. Adrianne smiled as she kissed AJ. AJ then rubbed his hand up and down Adrianne's arm. "I love you." he blurtted out. Adrianne didn't knowwhat to say. She got off the bed and stood up. AJ was concerned, "Did I say something wrong?" "No." Adrianne said, "It's just....." "Hasn't a guy ever said 'I love you' to you before?" AJ asked. Adrianne shook her head, "No guy outside of my family anyway. I love you too. You know, you're my first real boyfriend." AJ was supirized, "Are you serious?" "Yeah." Adrianne replied, "Sure, I've had a couple of guys ask me out, but Kevin always drives them away. He doesn't want me to have a life. Kevin treats me like I'm still 12." After a couple more minutes, Adrianne and AJ decided it was time to go back downstairs. They turned off the stero and walked down to the living room. "I HATE YOU!" Adrianne screamed as she sat on the couch. "Yeah well I hate you too." AJ said, "You're nothing but a cheap ho!" Adrianne smiled and replied, "No, sorry. I'm not cheap. I don't take anything less than $100." Nick couldn't help but laugh. Kevin hit Nick on the arm and said, "That's not funny." "It's getting kinda late." Kevin said, "You guys crash here?". They all agreed. **2:00am** Adrianne woke up to a thud like sound coming from the bathroom. She got out of bed, walked out the door, and headed toward the bathroom. As she got closer, Adrianne could hear someone crying. She opened the bathroom door and saw AJ sitting on the floor. He was crying. Surronding him were three empty beer bottles and there was a half empty one in his hand. "AJ???" Adrianne said, whispering. She closed the door and locked it. She sat next to AJ. "AJ what's wrong?" Adrianne asked. AJ shook his head no. Adrianne wrapped her arms around him and said, "Baby please tell me." "I....I...." AJ struggled to get the words out, "I'm depressed. I need a drink!" He lifted the bottle up to his mouth, but Adrianne took it away from him. "No, no you don't." Adrianne said gently, "AJ, alcohol is not onna help you solve your problems. I of all people know what you're going through. Talk to me. What's going on?" "I don't know why I am." AJ started, "It just happen. I don't wanna bother you with my problems." Adrianne kissed her boyfriend and replied, "I understand. At first, I didn't wanna talk about my problems either. But I realized eventually that talking does help. When you are ready to talk, I'm here for you. I love you. Oh, and another thing, I want you to promise that you won't drink anymore." AJ looked up, "Adrianne....". "PROMISE ME!" Adrianne pleaded, "It really hurt me when I came in here and saw you drinking." AJ had a concerned look on his face as he spoke, "Please don't be sad. I love you angelbaby. I promise I won't drink again." Adrianne was so happy that she hugged AJ a little too tightly. "Owww." he said. "What's wrong?" Adrianne said. "My back hurts." AJ told her. "Take off your shirt." Adrianne replied. Without any questions, AJ removed his shirt. Almost immediatly, Adrianne noticed a hug, ugly, purple bruise on the upper right side of AJ's back. "There's a bruise on your back. How'd that happen?" Adrianne asked. "Kevin shoved me into a wall today." AJ replied. Adrianne was suprized, "Why would he do that?" AJ sighed, "Because I called you a slut." "I'm sorry." Adrianne replied, "Kevin's such an asshole. Hey, I think I better go to bed. I'll throw these away on the way back." She piced up the beer bottles, gave AJ a quick kiss, and walked out of the room. A few hours later, at around 9:30 am, everyone was sitting around the table eating breakfast. The only one who wasn't there was Adrianne. When she had woken up, she felt horrible. She had a headache, stuffy nose, soar throat, watery eyes, and a fever. Eventually, Adrianne got up and whent downstairs to get some juice. "Hi everyone." she said. Kevin noticed something was wrong. "You don't look so good" he told his sister. "I know." Adrianne replied, "I'm sick. The only reason I came down here was to get some juice and to tell AJ I won't be able to practice today." Suddenly, Adrianne felt extremely lightheaded. She almost fell on the floor, but she grabbed ahold of the counter before it happend. "Are you ok?" Kevin asked, running over to Adrianne. "Yeah." Adrianne replied. Kevin was stll worried, "I think you should go upstairs and get some rest. I'd stay home, but we really need to practice. And Kristin is going out for the day. Will you be ok by yourself?" "Of course." Adrianne said, "I'm not a baby." She then went upstairs and fell asleep. **1:00pm** While the guys were taking a break from practice, AJ couldn't stop thinking about Adrianne. He hoped she wasn't too sick. "Hey AJ." Peggy said, she was one of their dancers, "This is my friend Mary. She wanted to meet you." "Hi Mary." AJ said. "Hi." Mary replied, "Since this is your break, do you go hang out or something?" "No thanks." AJ answered quickly. Mary simply nodded and walked away. "You didn't just turn down that girl." Brian said to AJ. "Yeah I did." AJ answered. Brian was shcked, "Ok, who are you and what the hell have you done with AJ?" AJ laughed, "It's really me. I'm going home for a while. I'll be back in half an hour." AJ drove over to Adrianne's house and went in. He went up to her room. Adrianne was lying in bed watching tv. "Hi angelbaby." AJ said, sitting on the end of Adrianne's bed. He kissed Adrianne, but she pulled back. "You shouldnt be kissing me right now." Adrianne said, "You'll end up getting sick too." "I don't care." AJ replied, "Anyway, I came by to see how you're doing. I brought you some soup. It's not homemade though. It's the dry kind that you add hot water to." Adrianne smiled as she took the hot cup in her hands, "You are so sweet! Thank you Alex." "You're welcome." AJ replied, "I also got you this." He handed Adrianne a white teddy bear. "Awww" Adrianne said, "It's so cute." The two of them talked for a couple of minutes. AJ looked at his watch, "I guess I better go." Adrianne pouted her lip at him. AJ moved closer to her, "Don't do that. Otherwise I'll never be able to leave. I gotta be back in 10 minutes." It was then that AJ notice the sadness in Adrianne's eyes. "Screw it!" AJ said. He leaned in and kissed Adrianne passionatly. He then layed down next to her and fell asleep. Forty minutes later, AJ woke up. He knew he better go. Not wanting to wake up Adrianne, he carefully clmbed over her and got off the bed. AJ kissed Adrianne's forehead and then brushed the hair out of her face with his hand. Adrianne woke up and smiled. "I really have to go." Adrianne whispered, "You need to get your sleep. I'll see you tomorrow. I love you." "I love you too." Adrianne replied. After AJ left, Adrianne turned on the tv and finished her soup. She was starting to feel a little better. "AJ! You're late!" Fatima shouted, "Where were you?" "I got stuck in traffic." AJ replied. Everyone just shook their head in disbelief and then continued to practice. During one of their five minute breaks, Kevin decided to call home and see how Adrianne was doing- "Hello" "Hi sweetie." "Hi Kev. You do realize this is the 14th time you've called today, right?" "Yeah I know. I'm just worried about you. Are you feeling any better?" "Actually I'm feeling alot better." "That's good. Are you sure you don't want me to come home early?" "Yes I'm sure." "Well then I should be back home at about midnight. I'll cya then." "Ok bye." Adrianne spent the rest of the day reading magazines and listening to music. She fell asleep around 9:30pm. The next morning, Adrianne found a note on her nightstand. It said- Adrianne, Kristin and I went out for the day. We'll be back around 5:00pm Kevin "Sweet!" Adrianne said. She picked up the phone and called AJ- "Hello" "Hi Alex." "Hi angelbaby. You sound like you're feeling alot better." "Yeah." "That's good. So, what's up?" "Actually, I was wondering if you could come pick me up. We can spend the whole day together." "I though you said Kevin wouldn't let you out of the house unless he drove you." "Yeah, he did. But Kevin's not here. Him and Kristin went out for the day." "Cool. Wat time do you want me to come?" "Ummm....15 minutes?" "Ok. I'll cya then." "K" "Love ya." "Love ya too." Adrianne went into the bathroom and got ready. She put on some makeup and then decided to wear blac shorts and the blue 'princess' top she had gotten at the mall. Just as Adrianne fiished her hair, she heard AJ's car pull in the driveway. She went out of the house, locked the door, and got in AJ's car. "Hi baby." AJ said, kissing Adrianne, "So, what do you wanna do?" "I dunno." Adrianne replied. "Well," AJ said, "What's something you wanna do, but you know Kevin will get pissed off if you do it?" Adrianne smiled, "I have wanted to dye my hair." "Cool. I know the perfect place." AJ told her. They drove to the mini mall downtwn and parked infront of a hair salon. "I come here all the time." AJ said. They got out of the car and walked in. "AJ! It's so wonderful to see you." a lady behind the counter said, So how's my best customer doing?" "Ok" AJ said. "What color do you want your hair today?" the lady asked. AJ laughed, "No, I'm not going today. She is." He pointed to Adrianne. Another lady Melanie came over and escorted Adrianne to a seat. "What color would you like?" Melanie asked. "Purplish red." Adrianne replied. "You look great!" AJ told Adrianne after she was done, "I mean, not that you didn't before. Ya wanna go to the movies now?" "Sure."Adrianne said. The movie theater they went to was huge. It showed about 15 diffrent movies. "What do you wanna see?" AJ asked. "The Mummy Returns." Adrianne said, "Brendan Fraser is such a hottie." "Hey!" AJ interuptted. Adrianne laughed, "Not as hot as you." Before the movie started, Adrianne and AJ snuggled up togther in the back row. They were making out like crazy! Once the movie began, AJ wrapped his arm around Adrianne's shoulder and held her close. Every so often, he would reach up Adrianne's shirt and rub his hand against her back. The made Adrianne squirm and giggle. "That movie was pretty good." AJ said as he and Adrianne walked out. "Yeah." Adrianne replied, "It was better than I thought it would be." Adrianne and AJ travled all over town. They went to the park, a carnvial,Pizza Hut,etc. They went back to Adrianne's house. AJ handed her a white box. "Put this on." he said, "I'm takig you clubbing." Adrianne opend the box and saw a silky black top. She looked at it weird, "Umm, AJ? I think you got ripped off. This top is missing a back." AJ shook his head and laughed, "It's suppose to be like that." Adrianne and AJ had so much fun at the club. They danced for hours. AJ danced as close to Adrianne as he possibly could. "I'm gonna go get a drink." AJ said. He headed toward the bar. Adrianne grabbed his arm and pulled him back, "NO! You promised remember?" AJ kissed Adrianne, "Yeah. I'm sorry angelbaby." "Ok." Adrianne replied, I'm gonna go to the bathroom and fix my makeup. I'll be back in a minute. Once Adrianne was dome in the bathroom, she walked out. She noticed some guy following her. Adrianne turned aroundand faced him. "Can I help you?" she asked. "I sure hope you can." the guy replied, "My name is Jake. Let's go back to my place and I'll make an honest woman outta ya?" Jake then rubbed his hand against Adrianne's arm. "Back off!" Adrianne said. AJ came over and shouted, "LEAVE HER ALONE!!" What's it to ya?" Jake asked. AJ grabbed him by the shirt and said, "She's MY girlfriend. Nobody's allowed to touch her except for me!" "Let's not fight." Adrianne interuptted, "C'mon Alex, lets get out of here." AJ walked out of the club with Adrianne, holding tightly onto her hand. "I had so much fun today." Adrianne said as her and AJ drove around. "Me too." AJ replied. He looked over at the clock. It was 11:30pm. "I better get you home before Kevin has a fit." AJ said. "Yeah." Adrianne answered, "I should go home. But not because of Kevin. Im really tired. I don't care what Kevin thinks anymore." AJ parked about two blocks from Adrianne's house. Adrianne got out of the car and said, "I'll see ya tomorrow Alex. I love you." After AJ drove off, Adrianne walked to her house. Once she got there, she saw a cop car parked in the driveway. "Oh great!" Adrianne thought. She ran inside. Kevin, Kristin, and a policeman were sitting in the living room. "There you are! I've been worried sick." Kevin said standing up, "Officer it's ok now. She's back. Thanks for coming over." The officer left. "You called the police on me?" Adrianne questioned. "I had to!" Kevin said, I didn't know where you were. I thought I told you that you couldn't leave the house unless I was with you--what the heck did you do to your hair?" Adrianne replied, "The hair fairy came down and sprinkled her fairy dust over my head and it turned this color." "DON'T TALK BACK TO ME!!!" Kevin shouted. "What are you gonna do Kev?" Adrianne said, "Ground me? Send me to my room?" "That's it!" Kevin said, "I'm sick of this. From now on you are not leaving the house under any circumstances, unless there's a fire." Adrianne got up and headed up to her room. "Don't turn your back on me." Kevin shouted. "Whatever." Adrianne said, "I can do what I want." She slammed her door shut. "I really don't care anymore." Adrianne said to herself. She picked up her phone and called AJ- "Hello" "AJ--" "Hi angelbaby.....whats wrong?" "Now Kevin won't let me out of the house period." "Jesus Christ, what the hell is wrong with him?" "I dunno. Can you come over?" "Yeah sure. But how will I get in the house without Kevin seeing me?" "There's a tree next to my bedroom window. Just climb up that." "Ok. I'll be there in a few minutes." AJ parked his car about half a mile from Adrianne's house. It only took him about 10 minutes to walk there. He carefully climbed up the tree and through Adrianne's window. AJ saw Adrianne laying in bed. A small tear trickled down her face. AJ got under the covers with her. "What's wrong?" he asked, "Why did you wan me to come over?" Adrianne wrapped her arms around AJ, moved in closer to him, and said, "Make love to me AJ.....please?"
