Chapter
50
Five months
later
“Welcome back to TRL everyone. I’m Carson Daly, and here with me in the
studio today are the lovely girls of JADE.”
The TRL audience cheered wildly, as Serena, Elyssa,
Ashalyn, and Jenna came out into the studio, slapping the hands of fans in the
audience. It was early December
already, and JADE had been invited to appear on TRL that day.
“Hello, girls,” Carson said, giving each of them a quick
hug.
“Hey, Carson,” they all said.
“Well, it’s been over a year since your first appearance on
TRL last November, and you girls have been through a lot of rough stuff in just
that one year,” Carson said.
The four of them nodded, eyeing each other.
“Jenna, you’re looking great. Have you made a full recovery from your bout
with bulimia earlier this year?”
Jenna cleared her throat and answered, “Yeah, pretty
much. Things were tough for awhile
there, but I’m all good now.”
Carson nodded and said, “And Elyssa – obviously, you’ve had
some recent medical problems as well.
How have things been for you?”
“Great,” Elyssa replied, her hand self-consciously touching
the bright purple scarf that covered her nearly bald head. “I’ve been in remission now for about five
months, and I’m feeling great.”
“That’s wonderful news,” Carson said sincerely. “And Serena, how are you doing? I see you’re about to have a new addition to
the family.”
Serena grinned, blushing, her hand sub-consciously resting
on her round stomach. “Yup. Things are fine for both me and the
baby. I’ve just got two more months to
go.”
Carson nodded. “Are
you and Howie getting excited?”
Serena grinned again.
“Yeah, we’re both really excited,” she said. Ashalyn, Elyssa, and Jenna exchanged quick
glances, unable to tell if she was faking excitement again, or if she was being
sincere. Over the months, it had seemed
as if Serena was warming up to the idea about having a baby, but they weren’t
sure exactly how she felt, and they weren’t about to ask, for it was a touchy
subject with their friend.
“And finally, Ashalyn?
How’s everything with you? I
remember last year when you came to TRL, you were just getting over the death
of your boyfriend? How is everything
with that?”
A lump rose in Ashalyn’s voice at the mention of Mike, and
she smiled tearfully, before replying, “Well, it’s tough, you know. It has been over a year, and I’m still
grieving. I miss Mike like crazy, and
I’ll always love him. But Brian has been
great.”
Carson nodded. “And
I suppose that makes it easier for both you and Brian, since he lost his wife,
Leighanne, in the same accident that killed Mike.”
Ashalyn nodded.
“Yeah, I guess we’ve just shared the pain with one another. It’s still a struggle sometimes, but
together, we’re getting through it.”
“Okay, well, it’s time for our number three video. And guess what? It’s you guys,” Carson announced.
“Yay!” Jenna cried, clapping her hands. The other three smiled.
“Would you like to introduce it?” Carson asked, nodding to
Jenna.
“Sure, Carson,” Jenna said.
Looking at the cue card, she said, “Here’s our video, ‘To Win Your
Heart’, at number three on TRL.”
The audience cheered, as the camera panned in at the
video. Watching their own video, the
girls cringed, especially Elyssa and Serena.
They had just shot it two months earlier, with a bald Elyssa, a
noticeably pregnant Serena, and a still too-skinny-looking Jenna. For them, it was definitely not a video they
would look back on as one of their better ones. But someday, they wished, they would be able
to watch it and remember what would hopefully be the toughest year of their
lives, and smile, relieved that all the tough times they went through were
over. But unfortunately, there were even
more struggles to come.
***
