1
Leah Clearbrook sat on her best friend's bed and watched Jenna Langley totally freak out over her first official date with Shane Smith.
"Did you see Jasper Cullen today in Physics, Jen?" Leah asked, trying to get Jenna's mind off Shane.
"How could I miss him? He practically threw up in front of the whole class. He looked really sick. Is it just me, or did you get the impression of a deer in headlights? He was looking at somebody like they were something to eat," Jenna questioned as she held up a sleeveless tube top, promptly dropping the preceding subject. Jenna didn't elaborate. To say the truth, Jasper was starring at her. It was completely unnerving, seeing as she could hear his thoughts. Just a whisper, though, her gift wasn't that strong as compared to her others. He was thinking something about thirst and blood. It was weird. And believe her, she as the essence of weird. Well, at least according to humans, "And Leah, please don't call me Jen. My mother called me that. And look where I ended up. Adopted. Bah." What she didn't mention was that it was she who had done the adopting.
"You where adopted? That top is a bit pushy, Jenna. Save that for date number five."
"Number five? Since when did you become the expert on dating? Could Seth have anything to do with this?" Seth was in Shane's band, and him and Leah had hit it off. The two girls giggled.
"What about this?" Jenna held up a denim miniskirt and a maroon cardigan.
"Perfect!" They exclaimed in unison, laughing all the while. Jenna hadn't laughed this much over such a trivial thing in a while.
Snagging her red beret from the dresser where it sat, she placed it on her flowing, brown-and-gold hair. Her hair reached the small of her back; she was very proud of it. If only she could allow it out to its full length...but she mustn't do that. It would spell disaster for her.
"How does that look?" Jenna questioned. She so wished she could show her ears. They would complete the outfit...but, then again, it would spell disaster.
"Again, Jenna, awesome," Leah said, "Not too dressy but just perfect."
Jenna checked the clock on her bedside table, "Oh my god, it's seven, Shane will be here any minute!" She exclaimed, suddenly nervous. The time seemed to double her nerves.
"You'll do fine," Leah assured her for the millionth time, "You know Shane. You spent a summer with him. You sang a duet with him! Calm down. You can do this." By this time, Jenna was almost hyperventilating. It didn't help that Leah was starting to run a fever. Yah, she could sense that.
The doorbell rang just as Leah began to push her friend towards the door.
"He's here." Leah whispered in her ear, "Go on, your prince awaits."
Shane sat in his limousine on the way to Jenna's house. He stared out the window and thought about the girl he was going to meet. Suddenly he heard a thump.
"Some CD signing," Kevin said, suddenly appearing beside him, "You totally forgot to invite us."
"Where are you really going?" Seth asked, "Nice outfit." He looked down at Shane's abnormal unbuttoned suit jacket and jeans.
Shane muttered something incomprehensible and continued to stare out the window.
"I knew it!" Kevin cried, "He's meeting that girl from camp. What's her name? Um...um...Leanna! Um, no, it's...it's...Jenna! That's it!"
"How did you guys even get in here?" Shane asked his band-mates.
"We stowed away in the trunk." Kevin confessed quickly.
"And why did you come?"
"We were curious. We knew you weren't telling the truth," Seth said, "Come on, you're not that hard to read."
Oh, if he only knew. Shane hated his act. He hated all the hiding. But he had to do it.
"Come on, spill all the details!" Kevin pleaded.
"There's nothing to tell. Jenna and I are just going for dinner."
"Ooo, Shane got a date!" Kevin yelled.
"It's nothing! Seriously, guys!" Shane defended.
"I don't know about nothing, but we sure saw the spark at camp. It looks like that spark ignited." Seth commented.
Shane groaned and returned to looking out the window. He hadn't told the guys how involved he actually was with Jenna, but he suspected they already knew. But they didn't know what he was planning to do.
Be patient, he told himself, she knows her daughter well, and she knows me well. I have to do this.
A couple of minutes later, they pulled up in front of Jenna's house. Shane quickly ditched his band and hurried towards the simple but elegant house. As he rang the doorbell he could feel Kevin and Seth's eyes on him.
Connie Langley answered the door.
"Shane, come on in. Jenna will be ready in a moment," She walked to the bottom of the stairs, "Jenna, come on, Shane's here!"
"Coming, Mom!" Jenna's soft voice floated down the stairs. Shane heard her voice and another that he recognized as Leah Clearbrook's.
A minute later, Jenna descended on the stairs. She had a slight grace about her, and seemed to float down the stairs.
"Hi, Shane," She said, "You ready?" She grabbed her sweater and followed Shane out the door, "Bye, Mom!" It almost hurt to call Connie mom, when all she was was a surrogate. But Jenna still cared for her, and Connie was much better than Jenna's birth parents.
"See you later, Mrs. L!" Shane called as he escorted Jenna to his limousine. To her he said, "My band decided to follow me. They stowed away in the trunk of the car and will be riding with us." Shane held open the door of the limo.
Jenna slid into the empty seat across from Seth and Kevin.
"Hey, Jenna," Seth grinned, "So you're the one who tickled Shane's heart."
"I guess," Jenna blushed. Pitching her voice to a tone that was too low for human ears, she added, "And you're the one who is secretly dating my best friend."
"Shh!" Seth pleaded, "Keyword there, secret!"
Jenna didn't understand how Seth could have heard that. There. Another thing she didn't understand. Two in one day. That was a record for her.
Shane entered the car and punched Seth, not giving Jenna any time to contemplate what had just happened. They sat in silence for a few seconds, but eventually started talking about Sequence's hectic concert schedule.
"We have, like, five concerts a week for the next six weeks!"
"Yeah" Kevin said slowly. Jenna studied his face. She was starting to get a headache.
"Kevin, you okay? You look-and sound-a bit off." She questioned, careful not to reveal her secret.
"I'm okay," he muttered, leaning back against his headrest, his face a sickly shade of green, "I'm just a little carsick." He closed his eyes.
It's more than that, Jenna thought. She could feel it.
"So you're coming, right?" Shane directed this question at Jenna.
"Where? What?" She responded, breaking out of a trance. The deep black pupils of her chocolate eyes fixed on him. Jenna hated the fact that she couldn't be completely honest with him. If she was, though, things would find her. Horrible, horrible things.
"On the concert tour. We may even be able to get you in to sing with us." Again, she wished her eyes could be their normal colour.
"Oh, yeah! Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world." Sy, she added silently. It was her word for sing.
The limousine pulled up in front of the restaurant. La Bella Italian.
"Have fun" Seth said as Shane helped Jenna out of the car.
"Make sure he's okay," Shane responded, jabbing his thumb at Kevin, "He doesn't look so good."
"Okay" Seth agreed as he reached over to close the door.
"Hey man, you okay? I know you don't get carsick" Seth asked Kevin.
"I know. I just didn't want to mess up Shane's date."
"How? You having the flu or something won't ruin Shane's date."
"Oh, it's much worse than that," Kevin muttered, "I've already told you what it is."
"How so?" asked Seth. Then he remembered, "Oh...crap"
"Did you really think I could get this sick from the flu?" He chuckled, and all of a sudden lost continuousness.
Jenna and Shane entered the restaurant. Jenna was surprised that they were not being bombarded with reporters, considering they had just pulled up in a limo. They sat down at their table without anyone really noticing them or recognizing Shane.
Their waitress came up to them. "Can I take your-wait, do I know you?" She asked Shane.
"I'm pretty sure we haven't met." He answered.
"Okay," She said, clearly confused, "Can I take your order?"
After they ordered, Jenna commented, "You perfect gentleman, Shane. You really have changed." She pushed away the blackness eating at the edge of her vision. Kevin really was in bad shape, if he had just fainted. Which he had.
"Changed? No-well, not really. I just went back to who I was before all of the fame and popularity got to my head. Like in your song." In a soft voice he started to sing a few lines of Being Me.
Don't let the little things
Bring you down
Don't let them get to you now
Don't hide who you want to be
Come out and scream
This is me!
Here I am!
While I'm alive and kicking'
I won't let you down!
"Yes" She agreed.
As the duo talked, their food came.
"Are you sure we haven't met?" The waitress demanded.
"Positive," Shane said, a little icier than he meant it. This girl was starting to make him angry.
As the girl left, Jenna scolded, "Shane, that was a little harsh." Jenna let her eyes flash violet, but Shane didn't notice.
"Harsh? I let her down easy!" He responded, "I'm not going to tell her who I really am, or we'll be overrun by people!"
"Okay," Jenna said. She changed the subject, "So, does Kevin usually get carsick? He was looking pretty bad."
"That's what's worrying me. Usually, it's Seth who gets carsick. Kevin's usually fine." Shane sounded concerned.
When the waitress brought the bill, Shane put some money on the table and they left the restaurant.
Again, Shane opened the limousine door for Jenna. But this time, she slid in to face only Seth. Shane came in after her.
Seth's face was grim, "It came back" he said.
Shane's mouth fell open, "No, how-" he paused.
"What came back?" Jenna whispered, playing dumb though she already knew. She could pick up a whisper of Seth's thoughts. She looked at Shane. When he didn't answer, she turned to Seth.
Seth drew a breath, "When Kevin was nine, he had migraines. His family all thought they were done when he turned ten, but I guess not." Jenna was stunned. She didn't even realize when they pulled up in front of her house. Shane escorted her to the door, but his face was grave. She kissed him goodnight and then entered the house.
