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Chapter 11

“What?” Lori screamed into the receiver. “Are you hurt?”

“Well, Kevin was driving and I hit my head,” Jenn said.

“On what?” Lori asked.

“The steering wheel.” Jenn was really silent. Lori’s jaw dropped to the ground it seemed.
“Don’t ask.”

“Believe me. I will leave that subject alone,” Lori replied. She knew that what she thought
was true. Jenn and Kevin are at least sleeping together.

“So, why is AJ there?” Jenn asked. She had been dying to know.

“Well, he stayed the night last night because he was lonely at his house. And him and
Marissa broke up yesterday, so I couldn’t turn him away,” Lori replied. “I tried, but it didn’t
work out.”

“At least ya tried, Lori,” Jenn replied laughing. “Why was he in the same bed as you?”

“Why am I getting the third degree about this Jenn?” Lori asked. She really didn’t feel like
talking about it. “Look, I gotta go.”

“Okay, well, I will see you on tour then. I won’t be home at all until we get back in
December,” Jenn replied. “I’ll talk to ya later then. Oh happy birthday. Bye.”

“Right. Bye.” Lori hung up the phone and looked around the room. AJ was nowhere to be
found. “Alex?” Lori got up and put some shorts and a t-shirt on and walked down stairs.
He wasn’t down there either. “Why did he leave?” Lori asked to herself. Suddenly, she felt
very bad. She took advantage of him. She thought that maybe by having sex with him that
she would feel better about herself and it would prove to her that he’s only out for his best
interests. “What did I do?”


Lori was feeling extremely guilty, but she knew that she needed to talk to AJ about what
happened and get everything straightened out. Instead, she took the route of just avoiding
him in every way possible. It was easier that way.

July finally came and everyone went back on tour. The first stop was Charlotte, NC and Lori
was so excited to be back home and to see her parents again. They had made plans to be
down at the Orlando concert on New Years Eve when the Boys got back to town.

Throughout the tour, everything went okay. Kevin and Jenn became a couple officially.
There was love in the air and Lori was missing it more and more everyday. She kept a
watchful eye on Brian. She just thought that it was horrible that after the first couple of
shows, he had to breathe from an oxygen tank. She still managed to avoid AJ. She was
friendly when they were in the same room together but they really didn’t talk to each other
too much. Everyone else thought that they were mad at each other over something like
usual. Lori made Jenn promise not to say anything about the “staying the night” incident.
Lori didn’t want to talk about it either, so Jenn backed off of that topic.

Jenn could tell that her friend was miserable, but there was nothing that she could do. Lori
didn’t breathe a word to anyone about that night with AJ. She knew that that would just
make the situation worse somehow.

“Lori, what’s wrong?” Nick asked. He was really starting to get worried about her. It had
been weeks since the last time he remembered her laughing.

“Nothing, Nick,” Lori said. “I’m just tired. How many times do you need to ask?” That was
Lori’s typical response over the last week and a half. Nick didn’t buy it at all.

“Look, either you tell me what’s going on or you will have to mope around the rest of the
tour,” Nick said. “No one wants to be around you because of the way you’re acting. I mean,
everyone cares about you, so I don’t know why you won’t at least talk to me.”

“Nick, it’s a bad situation. I took advantage of someone and now I feel awful about it and I
don’t want to tell this person about how I feel,” Lori replied. “I’m just hoping that it will go
away soon.”

“Lori, look, I don’t know about what happened between you and AJ, but it sounds serious.
AJ is acting the same way that you are. He won’t talk either,” Nick replied. “But you guys
better figure something out before it gets the whole group down.” He got up to leave the
room.

“We had sex, Nick,” Lori replied before he left the room. “That’s how I took advantage of
him.”

Nick came back over to the couch and sat down next to her. “When did this happen?”

“Um, the day before my birthday,” Lori replied. A couple of tears slid down her face. “He
came over late because he didn’t want to be alone. He told me that him and Marissa broke
up earlier. I told him to go talk to someone else about her because I didn’t want to hear it. I
walked upstairs thinking that he was going to just leave and then he came into my bedroom
and I was crying. Then he kissed me. And I kissed him back. Then one thing led to another
and before I knew it I was awake and he was gone the next morning.”

It was a huge relief just to be able to talk to someone about it. “Lori, things like that happen
for a reason. Maybe deep down inside you and AJ want to be together,” Nick replied. He
hated to say it because he still had feelings for Lori and they didn’t seem to be diminishing
as the months passed by. He would never tell her though ever. So, he tried to be friends
with her and they seemed to be getting closer and closer everyday. He really didn’t want to
screw that up at all, not over some feelings he felt from when they were together. He knew
that they would go away eventually.

“That’s all I’m saying about it. So hopefully, you will leave the topic alone.” There was a
moment of silence between the two of them. “Um, Nick?” Lori asked. “Do you ever wonder
what it would be like if we got back together and maybe tried something again?” She was
being serious. He looked her in the eyes and thought about that sentence.

A part of him wanted to jump on that saddle again, because he couldn’t think of anyone else
he wanted to be with, but then he thought about the whole ordeal with AJ and how that
would make everyone feel, that was part of the reason Nick ended things to begin with. He
knew that she was feeling weak and vulnerable and he didn’t want to take advantage of that
and jeopardize their friendship. “Lori, I really….” He was cut off by Lori kissing him. She
wrapped her arm around his neck and for one minute he wrapped his arms around her waist
and pressed her to him. Then, his brain kicked in. He pulled back from the kiss. “Lori, I can’
t do this, okay?” He walked towards the door. “I don’t think it’s right. I’m sorry. Hey, I’ll talk
to ya later.” He left the room.


It was sometime in September when Howie heard the terrible news. His sister, Caroline,
had been fighting this disease called Lupus for awhile now. Howie’s mom called Howie on
his cell phone and told him the terrible news. “What?” Howie asked into the receiver. “Oh
my god. I’ll come immediately.” He hung up the phone and rushed out of the back room in
the tour bus. Everyone was in the middle of watching a movie.

“He looked really upset, guys,” Lori said right after Howie rushed out of the room. “Maybe
someone should go talk to him.” She coughed and sniffed. She was coming down with
something. She had been fighting a cold for like two weeks now and she wasn’t getting any
better. Nick handed her a tissue and Lori coughed again and wiped her nose.

“I’ll go talk to him,” Kevin said. He kissed Jenn on the cheek and got off of the couch and
walked out the door.

“So, what’s going on with you, Lori?” Jenn asked. “You look like hell. Why don’t you go see
a doctor?”

“Because I don’t go see doctors,” Lori replied. “I’ll get over this. It’s just the change in
weather and us being in a tour bus all of the time. I’ll be better in a week, I’m sure.”

“Right,” Jenn replied. She eyed Lori and then turned her head to look at AJ. Then she got
an idea. “Well, I’m going to go play a video game. Anyone care to join me?”

Brian and Nick both jumped up and ran after Jenn. “Jenn, play video games?” Lori asked
out loud. “That doesn’t sound right.”

“Yeah, I know,” AJ responded. They had both said something to each other for the first
time in like three months. AJ felt like he should say something else to her. “Lori, you really
need to go see a doctor. You look really bad.”

“Thanks for the compliment, Alex,” Lori replied flipping the channels on the TV. “I don’t
need your advise.”

“Hey, I’m just trying to help you out,” AJ replied. “I’ll leave ya alone.” He walked out of the
room.

Lori got off of the couch and followed him out of the room. “Alex… I’m sorry…” Her
sentenced trailed off when she saw everyone crowded around Howie. “I got to get on a
plane as soon as possible. It’s my sister, she’s dying.”