Jamie gasped in shock. Her picture was in the paper? How had Karen done that? She knew Taylor had stolen all of the pictures Karen had taken. Her heart sank as she realized that Karen must not have had all the pictures with her that night.
"Jamie, are you all right?" her mother asked again. "You look like you're crying in this picture. When was this?"
"Mom, I really can't talk about it right now. Oh, wait a second. What do the caption and the article say?"
"The caption says This girl, identified only as Jamie, was seen crying in the parking lot of the new restaurant in Tulsa. Sources say teen superstar Isaac Hanson used her, although the truth of that is debatable. There isn't much of an article, and it says pretty much the same thing, although it identifies the mysterious source as Karen Robinson. Jamie, please tell me this rumor is just that - a rumor. I know you've liked Isaac Hanson for so long."
"I knew it was Karen!" Jamie exclaimed angrily, ignoring her mother's last plea. "Mom, I've gotta go now, okay? I promise I'll tell you all about this when you get home." She hung up, feeling really guilty for not telling right away, but she decided it would be better to wait until this whole thing was cleared up.
As soon as Jamie hung up the phone, Monica ran over to her. "What happened?" she asked, concerned. "I heard you gasp."
Jamie sighed. "That was my mom on the phone. There was a picture of me in the paper today."
"What!?!?!?!" Isaac exclaimed. "How could she have sent a picture to the paper??? We took all of her pictures...at least I thought we had."
"I guess she didn't bring all of the pictures, just in case we did what we did," Monica said thoughtfully. "Anyway, let's get back to the important stuff. It doesn't matter how she had the pictures. What matters is what we're going to do about it."
"Well, what does the caption say?" Taylor asked.
"It just says that I was seen crying in the parking lot. It does mention a rumor that Isaac used me, but even the caption says the truth of that is debatable. And in the article, it confirms the mysterious source to be none other than our good friend, Karen."
Zac sighed, and Isaac pounded his fist into his hand. "Is there a place where we can get a paper?" Zac asked.
"You'd better let me go, Jules," Monica said. "You'd be recognized for sure."
"I'll go with her," Taylor jumped in.
"There's a little stand down the street," Jamie said thoughtfully. "Did you guys get those negatives?"
Zac swallowed. "Negatives?"
"Oh, man..." Isaac groaned, putting his head in his hands.
"That's how she got the pictures..." Taylor said.
"Isaac, listen to me," Jamie said. "This is not your fault, okay? This is not anyone's fault. Karen is just very insecure, and afraid that you're really dating me and that you've found someone new. We're going to nail her for this, and then when we do, our lives will be back to normal." Jamie put her shaky hand on his shoulder. "Trust me."
Monica saw Isaac raise his head, reach over and squeeze her hand quietly. She pushed Taylor out the door, taking the opportunity. "I can't believe this is happening. Poor Jamie," Taylor murmured as they started walking.
"I know. This is such a mess, Taylor." Monica couldn't help glancing at Taylor. His blond hair blew lightly away from his neck in the slight summer night air, and his blue eyes creased in concentration. She quickly turned back to the newspaper stand and reached out for a random one.
"Look," Taylor said, picking another one up. "This is the article Jamie's mom must have seen. She looks absolutely devastated."
"I can't believe Karen's nerve!" Monica growled and paid for the newspaper.
Upon arriving back at the house, Isaac and Jamie were still in the same position Monica and Taylor had left them in. The room was silent in thought.
"Isaac," Monica said. "Here's the paper."
Isaac reached out for the paper, leaving his hand on Jamie's while he looked at it. "What are we going to do?"
While everyone at Jamie's house was worrying about Karen, the object of their worry was standing in front of a well-known house...the Hanson house.
"Oh, man...when I go up to that house and ring that doorbell, he will be so dead!!!" she said to herself. "He said himself that his parents said no more dating. When they find out he's going out with that other girl, they will be so mad! No, I'm not as stupid as they think I am. I know very well that he is not really going out with her; he wouldn't dare. Not with me around. But his convenient little story will be just perfect for now. Ooh...maybe I can use the picture in the paper, too." With that in mind, she walked up to the porch and rang the bell.
The door opened to reveal Diana Hanson. "Hello, how may I...Oh, it's you Karen. Come on in." Although she knew that Isaac had broken up with this girl, she had no idea what had happened since then. As far as she knew, it was a friendly breakup.
"Thank you, Mrs. Hanson, but I can't stay. I just found out something I thought you should be aware of. Did you see today's paper?"
"Yes...yes, I did. I saw a picture of a girl who supposedly was...was used by my son. Of course, I know that's not true."
Karen smiled reassuringly. "Of course. In fact, that's what I came to tell you. I know the girl in the picture. She has actually been going out with Isaac for a while now, since the night after he broke up with me. She's a real jerk, doesn't care about anything but publicity. She staged this picture, just to be noticed. Your son actually seems to like her, although I can't imagine why. Anyway, I need to go now. I just thought you should know." She left quickly, breaking into a run as soon as she was out of sight of the house. "That was too easy!" she laughed.
Meanwhile, Diana leaned back against the door in disbelief. She couldn't believe her son had disobeyed, and so soon. Oh, she knew he wouldn't have stayed girlfriend-less forever, but the day after? She was concentrating so hard on that thought that it wasn't until Karen was out of sight that she seemed to remember something. She ran back into the house and grabbed the newspaper from the table. Scanning the article about Jamie and Isaac, she found what she was looking for...the name of the mysterious source, Karen Robinson.
Chapter 11
Forbidden Angels
Story Page
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