FRIDAY NIGHT BATTLE OF THE BANDS

Adam and Katie pulled up to the school and started to unload Adam's car. Randy and his two friends showed up at Adam's car. Randy's friends Clark and Hank grabbed Adam from behind while Randy started to beat on Adam. Katie ran and jumped Randy and they both fell to the floor.

"Clark! Finish it! While I take care of her!" Randy yelled trying to free himself from Katie.

Clark shook his head and continued to work Adam over. Randy pushed Katie off of him. Katie then got up and ran inside the school. She ran down the hallways as fast as she could. When she reached the auditorium she pulled open the doors and started to scream.

"MJ! Help!" Katie said screaming.

When MJ and the gang looked up they saw Randy running after Katie. MJ, Dion and CJ went after Randy while Patty and Liz grabbed Katie. When the boys finally caught Randy they pinned him to the floor until the principal came running over.

"What's going on here?" Mr. Marks asked angrily.

"Mr. Marks! Randy and his friends jumped Adam Granger out in the parking lot! Clark and Hank Wilson are out there now finishing what Randy started." Katie said crying.

After Katie was done she left in a flash with everyone following her. By the time she got out there Clark and Hank were gone. All she saw was an unconscious body on the ground.

"Adam!" Katie screamed running over to him.

When she reached him Adam was full of blood and his pulse was very weak. Mr. Marks ran over to Katie and felt for a pulse. He then took out his cell phone and called 911. When the ambulance finally came Katie went with them to the hospital. They pulled up and were met by Jesse.

"Katie! What happened?" Jesse asked her.

Katie told Jesse what happened. Jesse then left. Fifteen minutes later MJ, CJ, Dion, Liz and Patty showed up and then their parents.

"Katie are you alright?" Kit asked looking at her.

"Yeah." She said quietly.

Adam's Grandmother came in. She walked over and sat down next to Katie and asked,

"How are you?"

"I'm ok. My Uncle is in there with Adam." Katie said looking at Angie.

Ten minutes later Jesse came out and asked,

"Is Adam's Grandmother here yet?"

Angie got up and slowly walked over to Jesse and said,

"I'm his Grandmother."

"He's in stable but critical condition. He lost a lot of blood in the fight. You can go and see him." Jesse said looking at her.

Angie turned around and called for Katie. Katie got up and walked into the room with Angie. Katie couldn't believe how much better Adam looked from earlier that night. Angie walked over to Adam and kissed him on the forehead and whispered,

"I love you."

Adam then opened his eyes and smiled at his Grandmother and said,

"I love you too Grandma." Then he went back to sleep.

Angie and Katie then sat down and talked.

"Oh Angie. This is my entire fault. I should have stayed with him and helped him." Katie said crying.

"Shhh Katie. It's not your fault. You did the right thing by getting help. I'm not blaming you." Angie said putting her arm around Katie and comforting her.

"Why do I feel so horrible? Look at him. He shouldn't be there." Katie said wiping her eyes.

Angie just hugged her friend feeling sorry for her. Adam then woke up again and saw Katie and Angie sleeping in the chairs.

"Katie." Adam whispered.

Katie woke up and quickly went to his side.

"How are you?" Adam asked looking.

She looked at him and started to cry.

"Oh Katie please don't cry. I'm going to be fine." Adam said holding her hand.

"I'm sorry it's just that I feel responsible for this." She said wiping her eyes.

"Why?"

"Because it's my fault. It was me who made Randy Miles look like a jerk in front of everyone in the restaurant." Katie whispered to Adam.

"Randy didn't have to spread those rumors about me. I almost lost you." Adam said looking at her.

Jesse then came in to check on Adam. He was happy to see that Adam was awake. Katie and Angie left while Jesse checked Adam out. While Katie was waiting outside of Adam's room Steve came by to talk to her.

"Hi."

"Hi Dad." She said softly.

"How's Adam doing?" He asked looking at her.

"Ok." Katie then got up and walked over to the window to look out.

Steve walked over to her and put his arms around her and hugged her. Steve's cell phone then rang.

"Hello."

"Steve its Captain Newman. Do you think Katie can come down and identify the guys who attacked her and her boyfriend?"

Steve looked over at Katie and then said,

"We'll be down in twenty minutes." Steve then hung up.

"Katie."

"Yeah Dad." She looked at him.

"Captain Newman wants to know if you can come down and identify the guys who attacked you and Adam last night."

"When do we leave?" She asked looking at her Dad.

"Now."

Katie walked over to Angie and said,

"Tell Adam I'll be back later. I'm going to put those bastards in jail." Katie said.

Katie and her father walked out of the hospital, got into his car and drove to the station. When Steve pulled up he looked over at Katie and noticed that she had fallen asleep.

"Katie we're here." Steve said gently waking her.

She woke up, rubbed her eyes and got out of the car. Captain Newman met them. Captain Newman took them into the interrogation room where Katie could view the line up. It didn't go unnoticed on either Steve or Captain Newman the look of fear on her face; gently Steve placed his arm around his daughter's shoulders, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

"Katie nobody can see you." Steve said looking at the back of her head.

"I know Dad, just bring them in." She hissed.

Captain Newman looked at Steve and then turned on the speaker to tell the officer to bring in the first group of men. The men came in and lined up.

"Now just look very carefully and tell us…" Katie cut off Captain Newman.

"It's number 4 from the left." Katie said looking at them.

"Bring in the next group." Captain Newman said.

Katie looked over the next group and said,

"It's number 3 from the left."

"Are you sure?" Captain Newman asked.

"Look Captain! It's them! Clark Wilson from the first group and Hank Wilson from the second group!" Katie said looking at Captain Newman angrily.

"They can leave. Make sure you hold number 4 from the first group and 3 from this group." Captain said.

Katie looked at her Dad and asked,

"Where's Randy Miles? Why isn't he here?"

"We have a warrant out for his arrest." Captain Newman said.

Steve took Katie home for dinner and a shower. Katie then went back to the hospital to stay with Adam.

"When do you get to go home?" Katie asked sitting on Adam's bed.

"I should be home by Wednesday." He said pulling her close to him.

Adam wrapped his arms around Katie as they lie on his bed and fell asleep. Jesse came in and found them asleep.

"Oh Christ Katie! Katie." Jesse said in a hurried panic.

Katie woke up with a startle.

"If your Dad sees you like this he will kill you. What am I saying, if he sees you like this he will kill me." Jesse informed her.

"Ok. Ok." She said getting up.

Katie leaned over and kissed Adam on the head, left him a note and then left. She met her Dad in the doctor's lounge and he took her home. When they got home Katie said her good nights and went up to her room.

"Katie." MJ called to her.

She walked into his room and said,

"Yeah."

"How's Adam doing?" He asked looking at her.

"He's doing much better." She said sitting on his bed.

"Good." He smiled at his sister.

"MJ thanks for helping. I really appreciated it." She said hugging her brother.

"No problem at all. Glad I could help. By the way I really like Adam." MJ said looking at her.

"Good I'm glad. I like him a lot too. I can't wait until he comes out of the hospital." Katie smiled.

The next day Katie went to the hospital to see Adam. When she walked into his room she found him sleeping. She walked over to him and kissed him gently on the lips until he woke up.

"Hi." He smiled up at her.

"Hi." She said sitting on the edge of his bed.

They were quiet for a while. Just having her there in his room with him made him feel a lot better.

"How are you feeling today?" Katie asked finally breaking the silence.

"Better. Much better thank you. Thanks for coming." He said taking a hold of her hand.

"You're welcome. I'm glad I came by too." She smiled at him.

"How about next week we work on me getting my GED." Adam said kissing her hand.

"Sounds like a plan. But what about the band?" Katie asked looking at him.

"Forget the band. Tommy and Mike had a big fight and now the band is no longer together." Adam said putting his bed upright.

"The band broke up? Why?" Katie asked.

"Mike just didn't like the way Tommy was handling things." Adam said getting comfortable.

Katie was just about to say something when Mike and a girl walked in.

"Adam! Darling! How are you? Mike told me what happened." The girl said nearly knocking Katie over.

"Alison what are you doing here?" Adam asked angrily.

"Mike and I ran into each other and he told me what happened. Are you ok?" Alison asked kissing him hello.

"I'm fine. They are taking good care of me here." Adam said glaring at her.

Alison sat in between Adam and Katie.

"Excuse me dear." Alison said looking up and down at Katie.

"Alison! Do you mind! Katie and I are talking!" Adam said angrily.

"It's ok Adam. I have to get going. If I'm one minute late at Bob's the boss is going to put me on garbage duty tonight." Katie smiled at him.

"Ok. But call me when you get off. Ok?" Adam said looking at her.

"Sure." She smiled and left.

"Who was that?" Alison said making herself comfortable.

"None of your business Alison. What do you want Alison?" Adam asked her.

"I told you. Mike and I ran into each other and he told me what happened."

Nobody noticed that Mike left. He ran down the hall after Katie.

"Katie you need a ride?" Mike asked catching up to her by the elevators.

"That would be great." She smiled at him.

They got into the elevator and took it down to the parking garage where his car was parked. They got in and headed to BBQ Bob's.

"Mike could you tell me who Alison is?" Katie asked.

"Alison is Adam's girlfriend. Why?" Mike asked looking over at Katie.

"Girlfriend? Wow! The way he spoke to her didn't sound like the way a boyfriend would talk to his girlfriend." Katie said looking over at Mike.

"Yeah well that's the way Adam is. He never likes Alison to see him injured or sick." Mike said.

"How come Adam didn't tell me he had a girlfriend?" Katie asked as they pulled up to the restaurant.

"You see Alison went back home to Georgia to be with her sick grandma and well Adam being a guy and all got lonely for her."

"He could have told me the truth." Katie said looking at Mike.

"Adam likes to play the field. Like the old saying 'When the cat's a way the mice shall play.' He figured since Alison was gone he'd hook up with someone until she got back. Now that she's back everything should be ok." Mike said walking into the restaurant with Katie.

"You mean to tell me that Adam was looking for someone to sleep with?" Katie asked.

"Of course. You don't think he was looking for a relationship? Did you?" Mike said looking at her.

"I thought he didn't have a girlfriend. I just thought he and I would go out to the movies and dinner and just hang out sometime." Katie said getting upset.

"You're joking right? Katie. Adam was just looking for a one-night stand. I told him not to get involved with anyone. Be faithful to Alison but being a guy Adam didn't listen." Mike said.

"Thanks for telling me this Mike. I didn't know this about him." Katie said.

"I'm sorry you had to find out like this Katie. If you need to talk some more here's my number." Mike said writing down his number and giving it to Katie.

"Thanks." She smiled at him.

After Mike left, Katie went straight to work. She put everything out of her head and concentrated on her job. Steve noticed that Katie didn't seem right and called her into the back office.

"Katie is everything ok?"

"Everything is just fine Dad." She smiled at him.

"Ok." He said looking at her.

"Can I go now?" Katie asked looking at him.

"Sure." He smiled at her.

Katie left his office and continued to work. Steve walked over to Patty and said,

"Keep an eye on her. Something is bothering her." He then left Patty quickly.

Patty looked over at Katie and didn't notice anything different about her until after closing.

"Katie do you want to come over when we're done here?" Patty asked looking at her.

"Nah. I just want to go home and take a nice hot bath and then go to bed." Katie said cleaning up the tables.

"Oh come on Katie. It'll be fun. Just you and I talking about the guys." Patty smiled at her.

"No thanks." Katie then got real quiet.

Katie went into the back room took off her apron, grabber her jacket and left.

"Patty are you and Katie ready?" MJ asked.

"Katie left. MJ there is something wrong with her. She never turns down a girl's night with me." Patty said looking at him.

"She's probably just tired. She has been running back and forth to the hospital to see Adam." MJ said helping Patty on with her jacket.

"That's just it. No matter how tired she is she never breaks our girl's night." Patty said looking at MJ.

When Patty and MJ left they heard crying coming from underneath the BBQ Bob's sign.

"Katie." MJ said walking over to her.

Katie looked up at her brother and cried all over again.

"What's wrong?" Patty asked sitting next to her.

"Adam has a girlfriend and didn't tell me." Katie said crying.

"Let's go home and talk about this." MJ said helping her up.

Patty's Dad came by and picked the three kids up. He dropped MJ and Katie home and then took Patty home. When the kids got into their house Katie ran up to her room with her brother following behind.

"Katie are you sure about this?" MJ asked sitting on her bed.

"MJ I saw her. Mike told me that Alison was his girlfriend. It just doesn't make any sense as to why Adam didn't tell me." Katie said looking at her brother.

"If it's true what are you going to do?" MJ asked looking at his sister.

"Nothing. What can I do? Beat him up because he didn't tell me? Mike said that Adam is only after one thing. Adam plays the field when Alison is away visiting her family in Georgia." Katie said wiping her eyes.

Katie noticed that her answering machine was blinking. She looked over at it and saw five messages. She played them back and they were all from Adam. Katie erased them all.

"Katie if I were you I would confront Adam about this. Tell him you don't like to be treated like some jerk, because I'm telling you if you don't I will." MJ said looking at her.

"Jesus MJ give me time to think this through will you?" She snarled.

"Time? You're asking for time? Katie wake up and sort this out, and I mean sooner rather than later ok?"

"I'll go tomorrow." She said lying down on her bed. Then she said, "I have bad luck with guys."

"No you don't! Us guys choose the wrong women." He laughed as he ducked a flying pillow.

MJ kissed her good night and left her room. He noticed that he had two messages on his answering machine. One was from Adam:

"MJ its Adam. Please call me. I can't reach Katie."

The other was from Patty.

"MJ its Patty. Call me as soon as you get this. I'm worried about Katie."

MJ picked up his phone and called Patty.

"Hi Patty."

"MJ how is she?"

MJ went into detail as to what Katie told him. Patty was upset to hear that.

The next day Katie asked her Dad to take her to the hospital because she needed to talk to Adam. When she arrived at his room she took a deep breath and went in.

"Katie! I was so worried about you. Did you get my messages?" Adam asked walking over to her.

"Yes I got them. Adam why didn't you tell me about Alison? Here I thought I liked a guy who was signal. I don't appreciate being treated like some jerk!" Katie said angrily.

Adam sat down on his bed. He looked down at the floor and then back at Katie.

"Please sit." He said pointing to the chair in front of him.

Katie sat down to listen to him.

"Alison is my 'ex'-girlfriend. Actually we were engaged. We broke up a year ago. She went back to Georgia and I stayed here to help my grandmother. She wanted me to go into her family business of selling Real Estate in Georgia. I told her that I wanted to become a mechanic and I don't want to go to Georgia. My grandmother is the only family that I have left and I need her right now. Alison didn't like it so she gave me back the engagement ring and left for Georgia. I never saw her again until yesterday. Katie you are the only girl in my life besides my grandmother who I truly am in love with. I'm sorry that you got the wrong impression about Alison and I. I don't want anything bad to come between us. I'm at the point in my life right now that I want to go down the right path. I want to get my GED and then enroll into college so I can take business courses so I can someday get my own body shop. I need you with me every step of the way. I know we only know each other for a short time but I feel that I know you my whole entire life. Please don't walk away from this." Adam said looking into her eyes and holding her hands.

Katie looked at him and then closed her eyes and told him what Mike told her about him.

"Katie I have no idea what's up with Mike but what he has told you is a bunch of bull. When you came out of your house to get Tommy's phone number I was so in awe of you. Ask Tommy. I drove him nuts everyday until you came back from your trip. Katie I'm so glad that you came into my life. If the band didn't get another lead singer I was going to leave. When I told you that I dropped out of high school you didn't treat me like some idiot. I couldn't believe that you volunteered to help me get my GED. You didn't even know me that well to do that. I thank you for it and I thank God everyday that you came into my life." Adam said looking at her again.

"I'm glad that I met you too. After my past relationship I thought for sure that I wouldn't meet the right guy. Then when I do there are people trying to come between us." Katie said looking at him.

"We are not going to let that happen anymore are we?" Adam asked as he put his arm around her.

"Nope." She smiled at him.

Adam leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. While they were kissing Jesse and Mark came in.

"Ahem." Jesse said smiling at them.

Katie and Adam stopped, looked up and saw that they had company.

"Hi." Katie said blushing.

"We need to check Adam out so if you don't mind Katie." Mark said looking at her.

"Not at all Grandpa. Not at all." She said smiling. She then turned to Adam and said,

"I'll see you later."

"Bye." Adam smiled at her.

Katie left Adam's room and walked down to the doctor's lounge to meet her Dad.

"Hi Daddy." She said walking in.

"Katie is everything ok between you and Adam?" Steve asked looking at her.

"Couldn't be better." She said sitting down next to him.

"Katie."

"Yeah Dad." She said leaning on her Dad.

"I'm sorry what happened to Adam. He didn't deserve that. I'm very proud of you for getting help and for staying with him. He is one lucky young man to have a great friend like you." Steve said hugging her.

Katie looked up at her Dad and said, "Thanks Dad. That's the nicest thing anybody has ever said to me."

"You're welcome. Are we still going away this weekend or do you have plans with Adam?" Steve asked looking at her.

"Daddy I told you we are going away. I'm not going to break my promise to you." Katie said hugging her Dad.