Chapter Nine

JC watched Lisa when she came to the practice a day later.  He hadn’t seen or heard from her since they had left that bar that night.  He had been worried about her with that Jeff guy, he had a feeling in his gut that he didn’t like.   However, she appeared to be happy today, joking with Carrie and Diana as she stretched for practice.  As he was watching, Lisa happened to glance his way and he quickly looked away. He didn’t want her to know that he had been watching her.  After a few seconds he looked at her again, she was back to talking with Carrie. JC hoped that Lisa wasn’t in any danger, but his gut was telling him something definitely was going on.

---

After practice, Lisa was next to Carrie gathering up her things to leave.  Lisa glanced up at JC as he gathered his things as well.

“Lee, I’m talking to you.  Dear Lord girl, I’m going to… I don’t know, something.”  Carrie said throwing up her arms in frustration. 

Lisa blushed and looked back to her friend, “Sorry, I got sidetracked, you were saying?” She asked.

“Uh huh, sure. I don’t know why I even bother.  I have a mind to tell JC to leave so that I can have a conversation with you.”  Carrie said turning and Lisa stopped her,

“I’m listening, I swear.  I’m only concentrating on you.” She grinned and Carrie sighed, as they walked out of the room.

“You better be.  I was wondering if you wanted to go shopping tomorrow since we don't have practice till late in the afternoon.”

Lisa frowned, “I can’t, I was going to go visit Jeff.  He’s still in town.”

Carrie raised her eyebrow at her best friend, “Really? I thought he’d left already.”

“It was a last minute thing and he’s only in town for one more day and I have the time I thought that it would be cool to do some bonding.”

“Okay.  You when are you coming back?”

“I don’t know.”  She shrugged, ”Probably crash with Jeff.”

“Okay, hon. Guess I’ll have to shop by myself.  Tell Jeff I said hi.”

“I will.”

JC walked behind the girls on the way out of practice. He was going to ask Lisa about having a cup of coffee or something with him, but found their conversation much more interesting. He really didn't like the sounds of this Jeff guy or the thought that Lisa was putting herself in danger. The only problem was that he didn't have any hard proof, only his gut feeling.

---

          Lisa walked into rehearsal the next afternoon and saw JC coming towards her. Instantly she turned her face away, intent on turning around and walking in the other direction.

“Hey Lisa, whoa, what’s wrong with your face?”  JC called out to her and she swore under her breath, knowing that she would have to talk to him.

Slowly turned around, “Nothing, I’m a klutz.”  She said looking down.

JC reached to tip her chin up so he could examine the bruise that adorned the side of her face. “What did you do?”  He asked softly.

Lisa pulled her face away and wrung her hands nervously, “I uh, I uh, walked into a door.”  She said looking down trying desperately to hide her face. This was the last person she wanted to see her like this. It was bad enough to have a huge bruise on her face, let alone have to explain it to JC.

JC frowned at the bruise, “It looks like it hurts.”

“No.”  She said quietly and made a move to get away from JC. 

Right then Carrie ran up behind her and hugged her, “Lee!”  She cried and Lisa laughed, glad for the distraction.

“Hey Care-bear.”

Carrie pulled back, “I missed you.”  She said as Lisa turned to her. “How was Jeff-” Carrie stopped when she saw the bruise, “Why didn’t you call me?”  She demanded quietly.

Lisa ignored the tone of her voice, “I was gone for a day Carrie.”  She grinned at her best friend.

Carrie crossed her arms, “You know what I’m talking about.  You can’t-”

“Care, it’s not what you think.”  Lisa said calmly, praying that JC wasn’t thinking the worst.

“It looks like what I think.” She retorted.

“Well, you’re wrong.  I walked into a door.”  She replied pleading silently with Carrie to drop the subject. 

Carrie saw JC and got the hint, “Oh, okay.  Hey Jace.”  She waved to him,

“Hey Carrie.”  He said and Carrie grabbed Lisa’s hand,

“Let’s go.”  She said dragging Lisa away with her and leaving a confused JC in their wake.

Carrie pulled Lisa away from everyone, “What the hell happened?”

Lisa sighed and ran a hand through her hair, “Nothing, it was nothing.”

“Your face sure looks like nothing.”

“Carrie.”  Lisa sighed again.

Carrie pointed a finger at her, “You lied to me!  Why do you go back there?”

“Because it’s my home.”

“Even if they treat you like this?” Carrie said pointing to the bruise on Lisa’s face.

“My mom doesn’t, she needs me.” Lisa tried to plead with her best friend. She knew that no one could truly understand her situation. Family was family and if they needed her, she would go and help them.

Carrie was all too familiar with Lisa’s excuses, “Why hasn’t she left your dad?”

“It’s not his fault.”  Lisa said quietly and looked to the ground.

Carrie’s mouth dropped open, “Lisa Marie Pratt, I did not just hear those words from your mouth.”

Lisa tried to plead her case with Carrie, “This time it wasn’t, it was totally my fault.” 

Carrie sighed, “Girl, I am two seconds away from calling Jeff.  Especially since you used him to lie about going home.”

Lisa became panicked, “Don’t, please don’t.  Come on Carrie, you know it’s complicated.” Involving Jeff would only make matters worse for her.

“Your dad smacking you is not complicated, it shouldn’t happen.  Lee, I just don’t like you getting hurt.”

“I know.”  She said hugging Carrie, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, but promise me if he even threatens you that you’ll call me, please.”

“Okay, I will.” Lisa replied, however, Carrie knew that Lisa would never call her.

“Thank you.”

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