Chapter Eleven
The next day, Lisa looked at her watch once
again, as Wade started up the music for their last run through. She was
going to be so late and that was definitely not a good thing. However once the
music began, she was lost. That’s how it always was when she
danced. When they hit their last mark Wade stood there for a moment.
“Dude that was the best.
You guys got it! You’re set for the day. Go!” He cheered and
they all let out a sigh of relief. Lisa jogged directly over to her stuff
and started packing up quickly.
Carrie
followed her, “Hon, where’s the fire?”
“I’ve
got to go. I was supposed to be out of here half an hour ago.”
Carrie
frowned at Lisa’s frantic state, “Where are you going?”
“I’m
meeting someone.” She answered
evasively, knowing that if she gave any more details, Carrie would stop her
from going.
“Who?” She asked
playfully,
“Friends
from home, you know because of the whole signing thing. But I’m late and I’ve
got to go.” She said throwing her bag over her shoulder,
Carrie
took her answer, “Kay, babe. Are you going to be gone all
weekend?”
She
shifted her weight nervously, “Um, probably.”
“Kay,
honey, call me when you get in. I’ll be doing nothing.” She smirked
and Lisa smiled,
“See
ya babe.” She waved and started towards the
door. Suddenly JC was in her way, “Excuse me.” She said softly,
“Hey Lisa.”
He smiled and her knees went weak. She needed to get out of there.
“Hi.”
She said and moved around him quickly and ran out the door. JC checked
his breath to see if it smelled as he followed her with his eyes as she
left. Why didn’t she ever want to talk
to him?
JC knocked on Carrie and
Lisa's hotel room door. He was going to find out why Lisa wouldn't talk to him.
It was something that had been nagging him for a while and he wanted to put an
end to it. Carrie opened the door and
was shocked to see JC standing there,
“Jace, hi.”
She waved quickly, “What's up?” She asked and leaned against the doorframe.
“Hey
Carrie, is Lisa in?”
That
shocked Carrie, “Lisa? Actually, she's not, she's staying with friends for the
weekend.”
JC
frowned, “Oh, okay, can-”
Carrie
heard her cell phone ringing, “Can you hold on a minute?” She ran back into her
room and grabbed her phone, “Hello?...Yes, this is
Carrie Pears.....” She gasped and covered her mouth, “Oh no!....Yes,
yes, I'll be right there. Thank you.” She hung up her phone and quickly grabbed
her coat.
“Is
everything alright?” JC asked cautiously and Carrie jumped, grabbing her chest.
“Oh my God!”
She ran a hand through her hair, “I totally forgot you were there.” She
remember his question, “Yeah, everything's fine, I just have to go.”
“Oh,
okay. You sure?” JC frowned at Carrie's hurried
actions.
“Yes,
yes.” She shooed him into the hall and closed her door behind her, “I'll see
you tomorrow at practice, bye JC.” Carrie said all in one breath and ran down
the hall.
Carrie walked into the hospital room
quietly. Her heart broke at the sight of her friend. Lisa was
laying there with her leg wrapped and covered with a blanket.
“Hey Lee.”
Carrie said as she moved over to the bed.
“Hey Care-bear.
Thanks for coming.” Lisa smiled slowly as she sat up in the bed.
Carrie
smoothed down Lisa's hair, “Any and every time, sweetie. How ya
feeling?”
“Like I fell down a flight of stairs.”
She grinned, “What a coincidence, I did.” She joked,
“You
lied to me.” Carrie said seriously and Lisa frowned,
“Would
you have let me go if I told you were I was going?”
Carrie
crossed her arms, “I can’t believe you keep going back there.”
“I
wanted to see my mama. She called me.” She replied quietly.
Carrie
took Lisa's hand, “Please don’t go back.”
“It’s
my family Carrie.”
Carrie
shook her head, not knowing how to help her best friend from this situation, “Father’s
don’t do this to their own children. You can’t let him do this to you.”
Lisa
huffed, “Carrie.”
Carrie
knew that she would never get Lisa to give up her family, “Lee,
at least call me next time, I’ll come get you or I’ll go with you.”
“No
Carrie you can’t come with me. Please, I promise I’ll call if it gets
rough.” She pleaded and Carrie relented, knowing it was a pointless
argument.
“Fine,
are you going to press charges?”
Lisa
sighed and looked away, “No, there’s no
point.”
Carrie
couldn’t believe her best friend, “Lee, you’re in the
fucking hospital! Something has to be done about him!”
Lisa
looked at her best friend with tear filled eyes, “Why?
Piss him off so that he can hurt my mama? He said he was going to kill
her if I said anything.”
Carrie
was quiet for a moment as she stared at her best friend, “This isn’t right.”
She said softly.
“If
I keep my mouth shu, no one will get hurt.
Everything will be okay.” Lisa said and Carrie sighed knowing that she
wasn’t going to get through to her.
“Can
you dance?” She asked quietly.
“The
doctor said that I sprained my hip slightly and he was worried about internal
bleeding so I have to stay in the hospital overnight. I don’t want to
miss rehearsal, but I have to stay here. Wade’s gonna
be so mad.” She said biting her lip and Carrie pushed hair out of her
face,
“No
he’s not honey, he’s gonna be worried.”
Lisa
grew slightly panicked at the thought of not dancing on the tour, “I
don’t want to lose my spot. You have to tell him I’ll be there to
practice as soon as I’m out. I’ll be back on Thursday.”
Carrie
tried to soothed Lisa, “If the doctors let
you out by then.”
“They
will. I’m fine.”
“You
sure look like it Lee. You don’t want to push yourself too hard.
Wade will understand.”
A
tear slipped down her face, which she hastily wiped away, “If
I’m not there to dance, they why keep me?”
“Because you’re a good dancer.”
Carrie explained,
“But
a dancer who can’t dance isn’t worth much to anyone.” Lisa retorted motioning
to her bandaged leg.
“Wade
won’t fire you. He trusts your judgment and likes your point of
view. He wouldn’t have made you our dance captain if he didn’t.”
“He
did that because I was the easiest to get along with everyone.” She said
and Carrie rolled her eyes,
“I
can’t believe you don’t see how good you are.”
“I
just love to dance. That’s all, it’s kept me
alive all these years.” She replied with a shrug.
Carrie
stroked Lisa’s hair, “Well then I guess we're just going to have
to get you better so you can keep on dancing.”
Lisa
smiled weakly at her best friend, “That sounds like a plan to me.”