Chapter
38
“AJ!”
AJ turned around to see Elyssa standing on the other side
of the room where the meet and greet had just ended.
“Hey, babe,” he said, sauntering over to her, his hand
coming around her waist. “You okay? I thought you were sitting this one out.”
“I decided not to after all,” she replied sullenly, glaring
at him.
“What’s wrong?” AJ asked, suddenly noticing her steely
gaze.
“Tell me, AJ, is this what you always do when I’m not
around?” Elyssa demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Huh?”
“You think I didn’t see you flirting with that chick in the
corner?” Elyssa asked.
AJ’s face turned red.
“I wasn’t flirting, babe. She was
just a fan, and I was-“
“I don’t want to hear it.
You were too flirting. I saw it!”
she cried, her voice rising.
“So what? Is it
against the law to flirt? It’s not like
I’ll ever see her again anyway. She was
just a fan, and anyway, she lives in Kansas.
That’s thousands of miles away!”
“You know where she lives!?” Elyssa cried angrily.
“Lyss, come on, you’re over reacting!” AJ exclaimed. “It was harmless. Really!”
Elyssa just shook her head, and, turning on her heel,
stormed out of the room.
“Fine, just walk out!
Have a nice night!” AJ called after her angrily. He waited until she had disappeared into her
dressing room and then stomped down the hall to his as well, slamming the door
loudly behind him.
***
“So, AJ, what exactly happened?” Howie asked, later that
night, on the tour bus.
AJ rolled his eyes.
“Elyssa came into the meet and greet and found me supposedly flirting
with some fan.”
Howie arched an eyebrow.
“And were you flirting?” he asked.
“Well, yeah, I guess so,” AJ confessed. “But it didn’t mean anything! I mean, yeah, she was pretty hot, and she had
nice tits, but come on, I wouldn’t cheat on Lyssa!”
Howie just shook his head.
“Aje, you can’t expect her not to care.
I know you didn’t mean anything by it, but what would you do if you
caught her flirting with some good-looking guy?
Wouldn’t you be a little upset by that too?”
AJ shrugged. “I
would understand,” he said.
Howie looked at him skeptically. “Look, Bone, Elyssa’s having a rough
time. She’s sick, and she really doesn’t
need to put up with your crap on top of that.”
AJ sighed and got up from his chair. “I’m going to bed,” he announced, flouncing
back towards his bunk.
Howie just shook his head in exasperation and turned back
to the magazine he had been reading earlier.
***
The whole next day, Elyssa was in a
bad mood and barely even looked at AJ, let alone speak to him.
AJ ignored her as well, all the while
hoping she’d come around. He knew he
should probably apologize to her, but he wasn’t ready yet. He wanted to make her wait.
Before the concert that night, things
were tense. Elyssa’s moodiness had
gotten AJ into a bad mood, and so none of the other four guys were very happy
about him.
Meanwhile, in the girls’ dressing
room, Elyssa lay sprawled across the couch.
“Lyss, are you sure you can perform?”
Jenna asked. “I mean, if you can’t, you
can’t. It’s okay.”
“No, Jen, I’m performing,” Elyssa
insisted.
Jenna sighed and strode over to
Elyssa, pressing her hand against Elyssa’s forehead. “Lyssa, I think you have a fever again,” she
said.
“No, I don’t. Your
hands are just cold,” Elyssa replied.
“I’m fine.”
Jenna shrugged. “Okay…”
she said reluctantly. “You better start
getting dressed then.”
Elyssa nodded, forcing herself up from the sofa. She slowly took off her jeans and grabbed
the black leather pants she was supposed to be wearing. As she started to pull them on, Serena
gasped.
“Elyssa!” she cried.
“What?” Elyssa asked, looking up in alarm.
“Your legs!” Serena gasped.
Elyssa looked down at her legs, then back up at
Serena. “What about them?” she asked.
“What did you do to them?
Where did all those bruises come from?” Serena asked, studying Elyssa’s
bruised knees.
Elyssa shrugged.
“It’s probably just from all that dancing we do. Either that, or crashing around in the tour
bus. You know what a klutz I can be.”
“No, I’m the klutz of the group,” Serena laughed. Elyssa laughed too. That was certainly true.
“But anyway, don’t you guys have bruises too from going
down on our knees on stage everynight?” Elyssa asked.
“Yeah, my knees are pretty banged up too,” Jenna said.
“Yeah, I guess mine probably are too,” Ashalyn said with a
shrug. “I never really noticed. Do yours hurt?”
“Nope, not really,” Elyssa said. “They just look ugly.”
“Be glad you’re wearing pants then,” Jenna said.
“Yeah,” Elyssa said, smiling.
They finished getting dressed in silence and left the room,
forgetting all about Elyssa’s fever and bruised knees.
***
