Just Not Sure - Chapter 8 - Before We Say Goodbye

Erica awoke to the 5 guys starring at her. "Are you ok?" She heard Jesse ask her. Erica tried to sit up. "owwww my head." Was all she said. Just then Maria walked in, a worried Deidra followed. "Wow your up." Maria said as she handed Erica some water. Erica looked at the water. "Heres some REAL water, with no pills in it." Maria joked. Erica took the glass. "What happened?" She asked as she sat up. "Well, someone put something in your cup while u wernt looking." Maria explained. "Yea, we’re guessing it was Kristy because she was the last one we saw you with." Added Greg. "But why would she...... I thought we were....." Frankie cut Erica off. "Yea we thought she was your friend too. Why she would do that to you I dont know." "Well, we’ll find out soon, Erica, we got school to go to." Chris said. "School?!!" Erica groaned. "Great...." Erica got cleaned up and walked with Maria and Chris to school. "So are you gonna be ok?" Maria asked. "I think so, probably by lunch i should be ok," Erica replied. "Good, if not, hopefully tomarrow." Chris added. They arrived to school and Maria, Chris and Erica went to their first class. As soon as Erica sat in the wooden desk the loud speaker came on. "Could Erica Esper please come to the main office." Maria and Chris shot Erica a curious look. Erica sighed, grabbed her books, and went to the office.

__________________________________

Maria scooted her desk closer to Chris’s. "Why do you think she got called down?" Chris leaned in closer whispering. "I dont know, did she break any rule or something?" He asked. "Chris and Maria? Do you want to share you in depth discussion with the class?" Mrs. Laribee asked in an annoyed voice. "No Mam, sorry." Apoligized Chris.

__________________________________

Erica entered the office, anticipation building inside her. She went to the secratary. "Umm......someone called me down?" The secretary pointed to the Principal’s door and told her to go in. Erica walked into the office nervousley. "Erica? come in, I have to talk to you." Erica went in and sat down on a cream colored Chair across from the dark wooden desk the principal was sitting at. "Do you know a Kristy Calaworth?" Erica got even more nervous. "Um...yes, why?" The Principal sighed. "Well, she told us about you blacking out and getting drunk at a party last night." "WHAT!? But I-" Erica tried to defend herself. "Please wait till I’m finished. Now, not only have you broken 3 rules, you’ve put yourself in danger. And you know that girls are to stay in their dorms after 8:00. I’m afraid we have to kick you out." Erica’s mouth dropped. "What!? But I cant leave! She put someth-" "Please Erica, don’t make this harder. We’ve contacted your mother and she’s coming to pick you up." ‘OMG what did they tell my mom?!’ Erica thought, Silently she picked her books up and walked out. Tears welled up in Erica’s eyes. She headed towards the dorm to pack her things after school and contemplated on how to tell Maria the news. Maria walked in and looked around at the bare walls where Erica’s posters of various pop stars used to be. "Are you moving out or something? Gee, am I that bad of a room mate?" Maria joked. Erica laughed a little. Maria knew something was wrong. "Alright, what happened?" She asked as she walked over to Erica. Erica turned to her. "I’m getting kicked out." Maria just looked at her. "WHAT!?.....How....why..???!!" Maria had thousands of questions racing threw her head. Erica explained the whole story. "THAT BITCH!" Maria screamed. She sat on the bed. "But she put the thing in your drink!!!" Maria reminded Erica. "I know! I know! Tell them that!" Erica’s eyes began to water again. "Well....when are you leaving?" Maria asked. sympathy sounded in her voice. "In about an hour. They called my mom." Maria helped Erica pack. "We gotta go tell the others." Maria told Erica. "Yea, I know, I atleast wanna say goodbye." After the girl were done packing Erica’s stuff they headed down to where they knew the guys would be practicing. Deidra greeted them from inside the studio with a wave. "Hey Deidra, we got some news for you.." Maria started to explain the whole story. Deidra just sat there in shock. "Damn...." Was all she could say. She looked down, then back up at Erica. "But I just got to know you!! We just became friends! Man when I see Kristy I’m gonna kick her a-" "Hey!!! I thought you wernt gonna make it!!" Greg cut deidra off as he hugged her. Deidra looked at him with sad eyes. Greg’s smile turned into a frown. "Well, good to see you too." Deidra smiled. "It’s not that.....Erica got kicked out of PPAS." Greg looked at Erica shocked. Erica sighed. "Yea, i’m leaving in an hour." "Because of what happened at the party? But you didnt even-" Erica cut Greg off. "I know, I know." "I’m sorry Erica. If there was anything I could do I would but-" "I know Greg, thanks." Greg smiled slightly. "Well, we only have about 10 more minutes of practice. So after we should all hang out." He suggested. The girls agreed and sat down to watch. Thoughts raced through Erica’s head as she watched the guys practice the "I say Yeah" dance moves. ‘This is the last time I’ll ever see anyone. Maria will forget all about me. And Chris....me and him will never be friends. This was my only chance. 7 months ago i never would of imagined this would be happening. Why god? why now..." Her thoughts were cut off by Matt yelling at Chris because Chris knocked into him. Deidra yelled to Chris. "Hey Chris, the goal is to NOT knock into anybody!!" Maria laughed. Chris just stuck his tongue out at Deidra. Erica smiled. She would miss this. After practice Greg told the guys what was happening and about Erica’s situation. "I knew Kristy was trouble." Jesse said. "Yea, she was never to trusting. I’m sorry Erica." Matt added. Frankie didn’t say anything. He just looked over to Erica. "Well, we have 20 minutes left. Erica, where is your mom picking you up?" Deidra asked. "Um..they said ‘the closest bus stop from the dorms’." "Ok, then we only have 10 minutes. Because the closest bus stop from the dorms is 10 minutes away." The group decided to help Erica with her bags and walk her to the bus stop. Finally, the hardest part came. Saying goodbye. Erica looked at Maria. Maria took a deep breath. "We made a good team while u were hear huh?" She asked. Erica smiled. "Yea." "Well, whether you like it or not i’m never gonna forget you." Maria tried to joke. "You better keep in touch." Erica gave Maria a hug. "Yea, I will." Next was Jesse. "Hey Erica, sorry we never really talked or anything. Your a cool person though. I hope you had fun while you were here." Erica looked over to him. "Yea, yea i did, thanks Jesse." Deidra stepped in. "Well, all I gotta say is Kristy better watch out." Everyone laughed. Deidra smiled and hugged Erica. "No, but seriously, she’s crazy to do that to you. Your really cool. Keep in touch with me too." Erica hugged her back. "I will dont worry." Greg was after. "I’m sorry Erica, you come to one of our shows, it would be cool if you did." He gave her hug. Erica told Greg she would try to go to one of them. Matt just gave Erica a hug and told her it was nice meeting her. Frankie looked at Erica. Erica didn’t know what to tell him. "Hey Frankie...thanks for everything, for listening to me complain and dancing with me." Frankie smiled. "Your welcome. It’s the least I could do. I hope everything works out ok." He leaned down and hugged her. By now Erica was having a hard time trying to keep the tears from flowing. She wiped the tears that were starting to flow from her eyes. Chris was last. She had so much she wanted to tell him but she couldn’t. She couldn’t put it into words. Chris smiled slightly at her. "Hey." Was all she could say. "Hey. Sorry." Chris replied. "Um Chris, listen, I don’t know what to say, or how to say it without sounding corny or whatever....but thanks." Chris looked at her confused. "Thanks? for what?" He asked. "You might not know it, but you helped me through a lot. Even though we’re not friends, and we probably won’t be but, everything with my dad, and...even though..I’ve cried sooo many nights over you.. I hope you get everything you deserve." Chris looked at Erica. All he did was hug her. "Thanks so much Erica." Erica hugged him back. Tears were flowing from her eyes and she couldn’t stop them. Finally her mother’s car pulled up. She turned and looked at everyone. "Thanks guys, for everything. I’ll try to keep in touch. Don’t forget about me." They all waved and said good bye. Erica got in the car just