CH. 11 NEW LIFE
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks to Humble Opinion for posting this. Please read and review.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Jem or any of the other characters or the rights to the show. It's just fun, and no profit is earned.
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Kara woke early the next morning. She went next door and found that, at some point during the night; Laura had left her twin-sized bed and joined Sarah in hers. She left them to sleep a bit longer and returned to her own room to dress. When done, she looked in on the girls and found them awake and talking.
"Do you think they're still fighting at home?" Sarah asked. Laura only shrugged. "Maybe we'll get to stay here a while?"
"Hope so. I like it here. Ba Nee is nice."
"Pool looks fun, too," Sarah nodded. Laura agreed.
"Come on girls," Kara interrupted. "Time to start the day." She wasn't sure she wanted them speculating about the luxuries to be had at Starlight Mansion. The idea of sponging off anyone didn't sit well with her. She got them washed and dressed and headed downstairs, where Jerrica and a swarm of hungry girls greeted them.
Kara and Kimber retold the story over breakfast. "Well," Jerrica said finally, "you can stay here as long as you need to. In fact, it'll be a lot more convenient. You can drive to work from here and use the practice rooms here without commuting."
"It will save time and gas," Kara admitted, still reluctant. It sounded like justification to her, however valid the point.
"Don't be too anxious to leave," Kimber smiled. "You're not exactly freeloading, you know." The statement caught the others by surprise, and Kara stiffened slightly. Sometimes the redhead was more insightful than anyone gave her credit for being. "Having you here saves time and trouble for everyone. Plus you can save up the money you were using on rent."
"You won't have to worry about Mr. Ayalla bugging you about the rent," Laura chimed in, obviously hoping to sway her mother.
Kara winced, wondering how much the girls knew or would say about that. "Are you behind?" Jerrica asked delicately.
"No." Kara shook her head as she transferred another pancake onto her plate. "I pay the rent and every other bill promptly, but it leaves very little for anything else. Ayalla liked to pretend sympathy. He….kept suggesting that I could pay my rent another way." The rest of the band looked shocked.
"What a creep," Cheyna huffed after a moment's silence.
"Why's that bad?" Sarah asked innocently. "You traded favors for a lot of people in the building." Kara blushed when everyone stared at her, slack-jawed.
"That's different," she explained to her daughters patiently. "I don't mind babysitting Jaime or the other kids if I can get their parents to watch you when I need to work, and I was happy enough to play drums for Tangerine Sunrise when Randy broke his hand. Vinnie fixed the car in exchange. What Ayalla wanted me to do was illegal."
Jerrica and the others managed to look relieved and embarrassed at the same time. Sarah and Laura just looked curious. "He wanted you to rob a bank or something?" Sarah asked.
"Or something," Kara smiled. "Forget him; we won't have to see him again." She moved on to their plans for the day, and the twins were soon distracted. The band needed to rehearse for an upcoming concert, and there was a three day tour starting in a couple of weeks. Jerrica had meetings with a publisher and several promoters to arrange. It was going to be busy for a while. The twins had a mansion to explore and new friends to get to know. Playing with the Starlight Girls would keep them busy and not asking embarrassing questions for some time to come, Kara hoped.
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Kara and the twins settled into the mansion and were readily accepted. Ba Nee and Mary-Anne, who had till then, been the youngest, were happy to have the twins around and the Mistral family's lives began to settle into a new rhythm. The other foster girls quickly discovered that Kara, while reserved, was not unfriendly. She proved willing to help with homework and let the others sit in on the twins' lessons. Sarah and Laura, thanks to Kara's efforts, were reading at a third grade level. She also began to teach some of them French along with the twins. It had surprised everyone when the twins occasionally slipped into French when speaking to each other, until Kara explained her own background.
"I was lucky. You see, I was born in Marseilles and lived there till I was six. After my father died, mom and me moved to the U.S." She paused to shove away memories of her mother. "My English was decent when I was put in the orphanage, so I didn't have too many problems that way, but there was an older girl there, who'd lived in Quebec most of her life. She told me I shouldn't forget French and worked on it with me, making sure I knew the English and French words for things."
"That sounds like a good idea," Jerrica smiled. "I'm glad you're willing to teach them when you have the time."
Kara shrugged. "Where I was born, everyone spoke at least three languages. Least it seemed that way. I found it a little strange that most people here only spoke English."
"Told you you wouldn't be freeloading," Kimber smiled. Kara just nodded, acknowledging the point.
"So, why did you and your mother move to the States?" Jerrica asked.
"Mom was American, and when dad died, she was no longer married to a French citizen. We were… asked to leave the country." The others expressed sympathy and the opinion that that hardly seemed fair, but Kara shrugged it off, as it was ancient history to her.
Of course, having Kara at the mansion made certain things more difficult. It put pressure on Jerrica and the others regarding Jem's secret. Having Reya know the truth didn't make matters easier. The Hispanic woman had assured them she would keep their secret, but they were still nervous. They were somewhat reassured when she hadn't tried to use the knowledge to her advantage, but things happened. They made it plain to her that they would always consider her a friend for the help she had given them.
Kara became a bit annoyed over the next few days at the way conversations ended when she walked into the room, but tried not to show it. She wasn't entirely successful. The third time it happened, Kara stopped and stared at them levelly for a moment, her expression studiously blank before she turned and started out.
"Kara, wait," Jerrica called after the angry drummer. Kara paused and waited, but didn't turn back. "You've got every right to be angry; we're not being fair to you."
"Your secrets are yours," Kara answered stiffly. "I don't pry, but this is getting annoying."
"I know," Jerrica sighed, "and I'm sorry. It's a big secret we need to talk about and if the wrong people find out, someone could get hurt." Kara turned to regard her coolly. "That's not a threat," Jerrica hastened to say. "We worry about how this secret might be used. In the wrong hands, it could hurt a lot of people. No one wants that."
"Make a decision, then," Kara told her. "You trust me or you don't."
The others looked at each other, taking a silent vote and finally nodded. "Come on, Kara," Jerrica got to her feet, "we need to show you something." She led the way to a little used part of the mansion, most of the rooms in that area used for storage, and stopped near a blank section of wall. "It's best if we talk in private. There's someone I want you to meet." With that, she walked through the wall.
Kara hadn't expected that. Raising a hand curiously, she pushed through the insubstantial wall and followed. The room beyond contained a couch, a coffee table, and a bizarre looking piece of equipment dominated by an oval screen. The image on the screen, a violet skinned, purple-haired woman, regarded her without expression. The blank eyes followed her as she crossed the room toward it. The image glanced at Jerrica. "Are you sure?"
"Bit late to ask that, isn't it?" Kara addressed the machine. Then she glanced at the others. "Holograms. Huh. I wondered what that was about."
"You never did ask," Cheyna recalled.
Shrugging, Kara answered, "I played for a band called Tangerine Sunrise and once auditioned for one called Nine Inch Nails." The others acknowledged the point and moved on, introducing her to Synergy.
"I was designed by Jerrica's father to be a new type of entertainment system, but I became much more than he intended." The image nodded to Kara's right and she turned to find a platoon of heavily armed soldiers in the room. A room that suddenly lacked a fourth wall and opened onto a tropical beach. "He knew I could be used to hurt people if my holograms fell into the wrong hands. That is why keeping this secret is so important."
"Showtime, Synergy," Jerrica nodded. The group's manager was surrounded by light for a second, and when it faded, Jem stood in her place. "Synergy creates the Jem hologram and quite a few of our special effects."
"That must be hard to explain to your road manager and the special effects crew," Kara observed after a moment of stunned silence. The technology and its potential were a bit unnerving.
"It can be," Jem sighed. "Rio doesn't know. The only people who do are in this room… Well except for Reya, and she's promised to keep the secret."
"I'll keep your secret," Kara assured her.
"I was sure you would," Kimber smiled. "After all, you told us yours for pretty much the same reason."
Kara thought about that for a moment and nodded. Like hers, this secret could have caused problems for the group. She knew the rhythm which had been faltering because of their secrecy would steady after this and decided to help it along. After a moment's consideration, she said, "there are a lot of reasons for keeping a secret, Kimber; some good, some not. Protecting someone else is probably the best reason. I never made those stories public knowledge, not because I considered them secrets, but because they were no one's business but my own."
Jem nodded in understanding. "So when you joined the Holograms, you knew they might become a problem for us."
"Downside to fame," Kara nodded. "Your business becomes everyone's."
The others nodded, having all seen the truth of that statement. Kara had discovered that she cared little for fame but that she still had to be aware of the realities. The music was what mattered to her. If she could do that without having to worry about the antics of the press, she'd be much happier.