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Chapter Fifteen
"Good morning, Lauren. How are you feeling, honey?" Mom asked me as I brought my bowel of cereal to the table.
"I'm feeling much better, thanks mom." I replied. Mom and dad had taken all five of us to the hospital to get looked at in case we were hurt. Fortunately everyone was fine, except that I had some cuts and bruises, as well as everyone else. I sat down at the table, joining Kevin, and my mom and dad, who were reading the Sunday paper.
"You know, it's too bad we didn't get to tour in Sweden," Lindsay said disappointedly, coming into the kitchen, stating her opinion.
"I know," I agreed. "I wanted to perform! I've never sang in front of a huge crowd before. Do you think it would fun?"
"Of course," Lindsay said, smiling.
"You would certainly get lots of attention." Mom said, peering at us from behind her glasses. Dad nodded in agreement, and said to his wife, "It looks like their going to be famous before their discovered," He said.
"What do you mean dad?" I asked, rushing over to his side, at the paper. There in the middle of the front page, was a picture of Lindsay, Zac, Taylor, Isaac, and me. Underneath that was a caption saying, "Local kids, and famous singing stars hijacked" and a whole long article about us underneath that. "Wow," I murmured. "I never thought it would turn into such a big deal."
"Well, it's certainly a big deal to the reporters, You better be careful that you don't get tracked down by them," Kevin warned.
"Kevin," Mom warned him. "Don't scare your sisters."
"Oh don't worry mom, I'm not scared. I've been through worse. Remember?"
Mom laughed. "How could I forget?"
"Let me take a look at this article. Please," I added. "After all, I'm in it."
Dad handed me the section that the article was printed. "Thanks."
I started to read. The reporters made sound over dramatic. Here's what some of it said:
On June 5th, a group of singers, showed in the picture above, who were on their way to Sweden for a tour, were taken kidnap by two hijackers, Bill Ross, and Jack Melvin, who had escaped from jail a couple of hours before. The kids, two twelve year olds, two fifteen year olds, and one sixteen year old, were terribly frightened, when the thugs tied them to the rails of the boat they were on, threatening to kill them if they tried to escape. The two criminals are now back in jail, and will not be released until further notice of the court.
I stopped reading there. "You mean, they might not have to go to jail?" I asked incredulously.
"Of course they will, Lauren. That just means they have to go to court first. They are on trial," Dad explained to me. "Oh," I said.
"Dad, Jessica wants to know if I can go shopping with her today. Can I?" I asked.
"Well, I don't know Lauren. Aren't you a little to shook up to go out yet?"
"Oh dad, I'm not going to get any worse. Besides, I went to sleep at 6:30 P.M. last night. I got plenty of sleep." I said. I must of convinced him, because he sighed, shook his head, and said, "OK, go ahead, but be back as soon as you feel even a little tired."
"I will dad, don't worry," I promised him. He handed me two twenty dollar bills, and said "Don't spend it all in one place."
I giggled, and ran upstairs to change out of my plaid pajama's. I decided to wear my baggy brown corduroy pants, and a dark purple plain shirt. Today, I wanted to dress comfortable, because I had been stuck in the same clothes for five and a half days.
Jessica came by on her bike, and she told me she wanted to bike there because it was such a nice day.
"OK," I agreed, getting my bike. As we peddled along, I spotted a lady jogging with her dog. She slowed down, and stopped to stare. "Hello," She said, pleasantly.
"Hi," I replied. "How are you?"
"Good, thanks. Aren't you that girl who was trapped on the boat. What's the word?" The lady thought for a minute. "Oh yes, aren't you that girl who got hijacked?"
I blushed. "Uh...Yeah, I guess you could say that."
She patted my back. She stopped, when she saw the strange look I was giving her. "You poor, poor girl!" She said.
"It's no big deal, really." I said.
"No big deal? Yes it is. Do you really think you should be out biking after all that happened to you? You went through a pretty horrible expirence." She asked.
"I'm fine. Really!" I said through clenched teeth. Who did this lady think she was? I didn't even know her, and she was acting like my mother.
"OK, well I must be on my way," She waved her good bye, and jogged off.
I looked at Jessica, and we burst out laughing. "Gee, your going to get lots more attention that you thought," She said.
I sighed. "That's what I'm afraid of..."
