"I dunno. But, i'mma go. See ya!" Porsha sped off into the theater.

"It's alright Ash," Buster said. "Johnny's right, when she's ready, she'll tell us."

'Never.' nooshy thought. 'I will never tell them.'

As soon as her vocal lessons were over, she rushed out without so much as a 'Bye!'. She didn't know where she was going, she just ran.

Eventually, she realized that she was on the fourth floor of the building, where no one ever really went. It was just a bunch of empty dance studios.

'Perfect,' she thought.

Locking herself in the one farthest from the door, she sat in the middle of the room and turned on the radio. Skipping stations, she settled on one and stretched. Her favorite song came on, and she let it melt her worries away.

She danced and danced, her talent ridding her of stress. Unbeknownst to her, those from the floor above(Johnny and Ash) had heard the music and had come down to investigate.

"Stress reliever." Ash whispered, but Johnny wasn't paying attention in the slightest.

He was captivated by the lynx, her moves full of the emotion that had been bugging her for the longest.

"Hello? Earth to Johnny!"

"I uh...what?"

"I said, we have to go before she sees us! This is her way of getting rid of stress. If she goes past her time limit, I'll come down and get her."

"Why not me?"

"I don't trust you not to freeze."

"What are you talking about? I've never frozen!"

"Yeah right. Let's go."

quietly, they slunk upstairs. About an hour later, she had tired herself out, and turned off the radio. She set everything back to where it was so no one would know she was up there. Sneaking downstairs, she snatched her script out of her backpack and hurried to the stage.

After a few weeks, she had gotten used to the schedule and would sneak to the fourth floor every now and then to clear her head. Everything had fallen into place, and everyone had forgotten about the incident with the alley.

The only one who hadn't quite forgotten was Nooshy herself.

Porsha's prediction that it would eat her up and Johnny's that she would say when she was ready were both wrong. No one expected it to come out the way it did, but one unfortunate day, well, you could say it got dragged out of her in the most hurtful way possible.

Porsha, Johnny, Ash, and Nooshy were sitting in a circle, going over a few of the scenes that were most important, until suddenly...SLAM!

The crystal doors crashed open. A male lynx in business attire surrounded by several bodyguards strolled through the door.

"Um, excuse me. Who are you?" Buster asked. "We're in the middle of rehearsal here and.."

"Nooshy? Is that you?" the lynx interrupted, walking up to stage.

Instantly, she put up her hood and continued to face the wall.

'It can't be. No, no, no! Not happening. It's not real.' She thought frantically.

"Hey, you alright?" Johnny asked, noticing her panic.

"What? Oh yeah, yeah. Keep going. It's your line, Ash."

"Uh, ok." As Ash proceeded to read her line, the lynx pulled down Nooshy's hood.

"Hey!" Porsha exclaimed. "What is your problem, dude?"

"Oh my gosh, it IS you!"

Slowly, Nooshy turned around and said, "Hello." through a forced smile.

"What's a street rat like you doing in the most prestigious building in town?" the lynx laughed.

"I could ask you the same thing...Andy." she replied sweetly.

"Street rat?" Johnny stood up, bristling with anger.

"Andy?" echoed Ash and Porsha.

Andy chuckled and said, "Actually, I go by Anderson now, and yes, street rat."

"Can it, Andy, we're not little kids anymore," Nooshy muttered.

"Why are letting this jerk call you a street rat?" Ash said impatiently.

"I dunno." she shrugged, suddenly finding her shoes very interesting.

"Because she knows where she stands. You remember this chat, don't you...street rat?" Andy sneered, looking at the girl in front of him, watching her hands start to shake.

"Don't do this, Andy. Not now." it came out more of a plead than a warning.

"So, this is a musical?"

Buster nodded hesitantly.

"And she has the main role?"

again, he nodded.

Andy scoffed. "So, you gonna sing, street rat? Gonna sing like mommy?"

A surge of anger burst inside of nooshy. "SHUT UP! You don't get to talk about my mom."

"Was it you? Those drums?" She avoided his teasing gaze, her eyes blazing in anger.

"That performance...those drums. That beat. You know that beat very well, don't you?"

"STOP IT."

"Almost as if it was taught to you. Who could it be?"

"QUIT IT ANDY!"

Tears of anger pricked her eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" Johnny intervened.

"No, Johnny. It's not worth it."

"Oh, who's this? Your boyfriend?" at this, both turned beet red and went "NO." in a very loud tone.

"This is my best friend. I'm also his dance coach." Nooshy explained.

Ash coughed loudly and Porsha giggled, both taking pleasure in watching this awkward situation unfold. Unfortunately, their actions only made it worse.

"Shut up!" Nooshy hissed.

"Daddy taught you that beat. You still dance? You gonna dance like your daddy taught you?"

"THATS IT. SHUT UP ANDY."

Still, he kept antagonizing her, this time hitting the most sore spot in her body.

"Your parents...were ashamed of you."

"Shut up." she whispered.

'Not true. Not true.' she thought to herself, not that she believed it.

"You could never sing like your mom, could never play an instrument like your dad."

She was fighting the tears that wanted to fall, though it exhausted her. She couldn't let him see that he could break her with a few simple words. 'Never let them see that they get to you.' subconsciously the thought echoed in her brain.

"SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" Nooshy screamed suddenly, the thoughts, the voices, everything that was caterwauling inside of her exploding.

Before Andy could respond, he got shoved to the ground. He looked up to see a scowling Porsha, who had just been joined by the others.

Frantically searching for his guards, he saw that they were being held back by several security members. Buster held a walkie-talkie to his mouth and said, "We need more security to the theater. I repeat, extra security to the theater."

Panicked, Anderson looked for a way out. Instead, he saw Nooshy on her knees, face in hands, desperately willing herself not to cry. Johnny was next to her, hand on her back, attempting to comfort her.

Smiling, he called, "You will never make your parents proud. You will forever and always be that street rat who could never amount to anything."

"That's it, i'm gonna go help the other beat him."

Johnny stood up to go with the others, leaving his desolate friend for a second. Security had just arrived, so he wasn't needed.

"Um, nooshy's gone." Gunter said. They all turned around to see what he was talking about.

She was bolting out the door, having lost the fight with her tears.

"Wait!" Ash yelled. "Come back!"

"It's useless. She's too fast for any of us." Meena groaned.

"Where could she have gone?" Rosita asked.

The group looked at Johnny expectantly.

"What?"

"You know her better than anyone," Buster said.

"So, where is she?" Porsha demanded.

"Jeez, what am I, GPS? She's in a place where she feels safe..." Johnny racked his brain for where his best friend could be.

'Park, downtown, the ice cream parlor...please not an alley...wait!' he recalled her saying that if she ever felt like she wanted to hide, she would just go home. He snapped his fingers.

"Her apartment!" he declared. "Let's go!"

Awwww poor girl! anyway, pls pls pls review(it makes me happy)! see ya! byeeeeeee!