A little over a month has past. The Stingers didn't sign with Starlight Music because Jerrica didn't except their contract. Jerrica thought that if she put distance between Lela and Riot would just fade away. Lela really hasn't given much thought to Riot's kiss, she just keeps waiting for her lie to catch up with her. Lela had told Jerrica and the others that she was going to a friend house to study. This friend Jennifer was out of town the night Lela was supposed to have been there. Instead Lela was hanging out with a boy she had been seeing who was moving away.
Riot runs into Jerrica at the mall. Jerrica is their shopping with the Starlight Girls. The girls are going to meet her at the food court in a half hour. Jerrica had gone there to rest; shopping with twelve girls can be exhausting. Riot and Jerrica get into another conversation about Lela.
"Jerrica, you should let me protect Lela." Riot asks.
Jerrica can't believe what she is hearing. "A month ago, I caught you kissing her and now you want to protect here. How are you going to do that?" Jerrica asks him.
"Let me move in and I will see that she remains safe from the boys she will date." Riot tells her.
"Move in, yeah right! The last time you were there, you were a jerk to the younger ones and made out with the oldest one." Jerrica said.
"Thing will be different this time, Lela uh I mean the girls need a father figure in their lives." Riot says trying to convince Jerrica to let him move in.
"The girls are doing just fine without one and I will protect Lela. We have an open and honest relationship." Jerrica tells him hoping he will drop it.
"You can't have an honest relationship with a fifteen year-old. They lie!" Riot tells Jerrica just as Riot parents walk up at the tail end of that conversation. Riot had not seen his parents in a long time since he can't get along with his father.
"What fifteen year old, can you possibly be talking about. Rory, you are too young to have a child who is fifteen." Riot mother said.
"Wait a minute, Rory? Who are you?" Jerrica asked them.
"This is my mother Mildred." Riot said.
"Oh, I am Jerrica Benton and we were just discussing my fifteen year old." Jerrica said.
Riot father Daniel asks, "You can't be more then twenty three, how can you have a child who is fifteen."
"I am twenty-four and I run Starlight Foundation which is a home for foster girls. I have twelve girls, the youngest being nine and the oldest being fifteen. My parents started Starlight Foundation when I was a child. After their death, I took over." Jerrica explained.
Jerrica looks down at her watch and then says, "You should go the girls will be here any minute."
"Jerrica think about what I said." Riot asks her.
Riot leaves with his parents and as they walked away you could hear Riot and his father arguing. The girls show up at the food court. Riot turns and sees Lela standing there and then quickly turns away.
The next day, while the girls are in school Jerrica goes back to the mall to pick up a present for Lela. Jerrica appreciates the honest relationship with the girls. Riot almost had convinced Jerrica that Lela would lie to her. Jerrica thought a present for being such a big help and for always being truthful in the past. It would remind her to be truthful in the future. At the mall Jerrica runs into Riot again
"What are you doing, stalking me?!" Jerrica says jokingly.
"Have you given any thought to what I said?" Riot asks.
"No, you almost had me believing that Lela would lie." Jerrica says.
"Watch it, and one day she will lie and then what will you do?" Riot asks.
As Jerrica and Riot argue, a woman comes up to introduce herself to Jerrica. "Jerrica Benton right!" the lady asked. She waited for Jerrica to nod and then went on. "My name is Jasmine, my daughter Jennifer is in classes with one of your girls Lela."
"Oh right! Hello, a pleasure to meet you!" Jerrica says.
"I have heard so much about Lela, I feel like I know her." Jasmine said.
"Don't you know Lela? She stayed the night at your house a little over a month ago." Jerrica asks shockingly.
"No, I have never met her. We went to San Diego a little over a month ago. My whole family went, so she could not have been there." Jasmine told Jerrica.
"Thank you, will you excuse me." Jerrica said as she walked to a bench to sit down.
Riot walks over to Jerrica, "I told you, she would lie!"
"Thank You, you're a lot of help" Jerrica says sarcastically.
Jerrica can't believe this is happening. All she knows is that she can't make a decision without talking to Lela first.
At the high school, Lela is sitting under a tree crying. Becky and Delaree saw her sitting there. "Are you okay?" They said together.
"You have been walking on egg shells for a while now? What is up?" Delaree asked.
"You know whatever is wrong you can tell us." Becky said as she sat down next to Lela.
"I have been waiting for a lie I told Jerrica to catch up with me. When it does, Jerrica is going to kill me." Lela explained.
"How bad can one little white lie be?" Delaree asked.
"Jerrica may get mad and you may get grounded, but she will get over it." Becky said calming.
"Not this time and I don't know what to do. I thought about running away but I know that it doesn't solve anything, it only makes matters worse." Lela said crying into her hands.
"Really, what is that bad?" Delaree and Becky asks in unison.
"I think I am pregnant." Lela said as the tears continue to flow.
"Pregnant?" Delaree said shockingly.
"How can that be?" Becky asked also shocked.
"When I told Jerrica I was spending the night at Jennifer's, it was a lie. I was really with my boyfriend who was moving away. I decided to break up right afterwards. Oh what am I going to do?" Lela asks them.
"You have to talk to Jerrica before she finds out, and we will be there for you no matter what happens." Becky said trying to comfort Lela.
The girls hear a bell. "Lunch is over; we have to get a class. Talk to Jerrica as soon as school is out okay." Becky says. Lela nods and the girls walk into the school.