We make mention of several stars in this chapter. To further your understanding, we have included brief definitions that you can follow up on, if you wish.
Columbo is the name of a 4-time Emmy-winning detective television series, starring legendary Peter Falk. Columbo's (Peter Falk's) common props are a trench coat, green tie, and a cigar. He slouches, and one of his most memorable phrases is, "Just one more thing."
Rico Torres is the amazing drummer for Jon Bon Jovi.
Orianthi is simply freakin' awesome!She was Michael Jackson's lead guitarist in This is It! If you don't know who she is, look her up on .com/watch?v=Pu1aQvm5MrU. (Don't worry, I credit this in the Yuna-and-Stefie profile. ;P Doesn't she look like a cross of Hannah Montana, Ashley Tisdale, and Avril Lavigne? =D) In addition to the music video, the center of the screen will focus on her fingering. 2:20—2:28 is amazing. Pure Awesomeness! In this chapter it is said that Amanda, Crystal's sister, is "almost half as good as Orianthi!" There is also an Orianthi poster in Crystal's garage. To state it simply, the Loewens love Orianthi, and the Aussie is Amanda's inspiration.
Chapter Eight: The Lions and the Lamb (A Cassie Chapter)
"What in the world were you doing, Blondie?" Crystal grilled as she helped Cassie to her feet. "You could have gotten yourself killed you know."
Cassie offered a sheepish, apologetic smile and shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I just got lost in a reverie."
Crystal popped her gum and blinked in confusion. "Huh?"
"A reverie..."
Crystal remained looking absent-minded and popped her gum. Obviously she was clueless and Cassie realized she needed to explain.
"A daydream... Well, it wasn't really a daydream... It was more of just being lost in thoughts, not paying attention...you know..."
Pop. "Oh...oh! Yeah, yeah. I know what you're talking about."
Cassie smiled, slightly relieved. "Yeah..." Awkward silence. Pop. More silence. "Well, I was just on my way back to the dorms...so...see you around." Cassie waved good-bye and turned back toward the dorms.
"Wait!"
Cassie cringed slightly. Sometimes Crystal's voice could sound like a nail on a chalkboard. (And if you don't know what that sounds like, just hope that you never hear have to hear it. Ever.) Cassie pivoted and she once again faced the raven-haired, gum-popping girl.
"Blondie, if you were going to the dorms, why were you headed in the opposite direction?" Now Cassie had to give that some thought, for Crystal had her there. In fact, Cassie had no idea where she had been headed before her life was saved. Perhaps Cassie's mind was still reeling from the near accident. Whatever the reason, she just couldn't answer, and Crystal took advantage of that. "I don't think you were going to the dorms."
"Well, no, not exactly; I suppose not." Cassie shrugged indifferently. "What's your point?"
Crystal crossed her arms. "What were you 'rivering' about?"
Cassie had to suppress a laugh before answering. "Just some...things...from my past." Despite her efforts, Cassie snorted in the middle of her sentence. Recovering, Cassie bluntly spat, "None of your business. What's it matter to you?"
Knowing she was beat, Crystal nodded. "Touché."
Cassie felt satisfied with the answer and once again began her way back to the dorms.
"Oh, and uh, just one more thing," Crystal said clumsily as she struck a pose and pretended to hold a cigar in her right hand.
Cassie just couldn'tresist responding to Crystal's Columbo imitation. "So what, you're a mastermind detective now?"
"Perhaps," Crystal replied slyly. "I still haven't heard my thanks."
Cassie playfully, dramatically sighed and rolled her eyes. "You're right. Thanks, Crystal. Thanks for saving my life. I owe you one. Big time. Some day, when your life is in peril, or you need help preparing for a test, or whatever else you need, I suppose I can lend a hand."
"Or you can repay me right now." The sly look had returned to Crystal's face.
'Blondie' raised her eyebrows. "How?"
O~o~O
"Okay, your eyes shut?"
"Yes," Cassie replied.
"Completely shut?"
"Yes!"
"Good. No peeking!"
Cassie laughed. "I know, you told me that a thousand times on the way over here."
Crystal crossed her arms (not that Cassie could see, mind you). "Well, that was to ensure that you wouldn't peek when the time came! Now...NO PEEKING!"
Cassie heard the screeching of a garage door opening. Okay, now she was curious. Was she at Crystal's house? All Crystal had said was that she needed "a live audience with no prejuices." Slightly interested, and having lack of anything better to occupy her time, Cassie obligingly agreed to whatever Crystal was asking of her. And thus Cassie found herself listening to an old, noisy garage door. The garage door squeaked, signaling it had fully raised. There were a few seconds of silence. Cassie grew impatient and began tapping her left foot and drumming her right fingers; she wanted to peek!
Finally, Crystal gave the OK. "Alrighty, you can open your eyes now, Blondie."
Cassie's eyes flew open. Before her stood a large drum set and three mic stands. The shiny stands were centered perfectly around the drum set. Cassie noticed that there were also a few folding chairs leaning against the garage wall. The band set was quite impressive, and Cassie found herself wondering how Crystal was capable of such organization. She then reminded herself that there had to be at least three other members, which would help account for the neatness of Crystal's garage.
"Okay, so uh, just make yourself at home and I'll be right back," Crystal said as she disappeared through the door leading to the interior of the house.
Cassie nodded and continued to take it all in. Along the garage walls were posters of Orianthi and of a group called The Lions. Cassie carefully studied The Lions poster. A boy sat at the drums, two girls played guitar, one girl played bass, and Crystal was at the lead mic, indicating she was the lead vocalist. Cassie smirked. Of course Crystal was the lead vocalist...not that Crystal's voice had anything to do with that decision. Then again, there were much stranger things in the world.
Cassie's gaze swung down to the drums. As in the poster, a lion head emblem centered the kick drum. Unlike the emblem in the poster, though, the emblem on the drum pictured a halo above the lion's head. Interesting.
Promptly Cassie heard muffled voices coming from behind the door. One belonged to a male, and he seemed to be laughing. Crystal gasped shrilly and all of a sudden there was an "ow!" from the boy. Then the door opened and out stepped Crystal, as calm as a sleeping baby. Behind her was someone who appeared to be her younger brother. He stared at Cassie for a second before orally greeting her. "Hello...ooooh!" He squawked as he was pushed forward from behind. Out came another girl, who rolled her eyes.
"Don't mind Jake. He does that to all of our female friends." The teen lovingly leaned her vintage guitar up against the wall before offering her hand. "I'm Amanda, by the way." She shook Cassie's hand and smiled the most beautiful smile Cassie had ever seen.
"Hi, I'm Cassie," she said, desperately trying to put on the welcoming air.
Another girl stumbled through the door. She introduced herself as Annaliesa, Anna for short.
"Well hello, Anna!" Cassie cheerfully greeted the young teen. "I have a friend named Ana, so remembering your name should be a piece of cake!"
"Uh, yeah, sure..." Anna replied as she shot a questioning glance at Crystal. Crystal shrugged at Cassie's lame remark.
Cassie shifted her gaze from the dark, tall boy named Jake to Crystal, and then to the chestnut named Amanda, and finally her gaze settled on the young, blonde Anna. "That's four..." Cassie counted in her head. She turned back to Crystal, who was adjusting her mic stand. "Where is the fourth girl?"
There was clanging as Crystal's mic stand collapsed and Amanda, who was in the midst of picking up her guitar, suddenly dropped it. The siblings winced slightly at the dropping of the guitar, for it was Amanda's most prized possession.
Cassie smiled nervously. "You act as if I mentioned The Mob or something." A thick, awkward silence hung over them as the band members exchanged sorrowful glances. It was obvious they didn't want to discuss "the fourth girl."
Young but brave Anna was the first to break the silence. "Christina died. She was driving and..." Anna interrupted herself with a sniff.
"She was the eldest of us," Amanda continued as she patted Anna's back and stroked her sister's hair. "She tried driving us down to Los Angeles for a mini-concert. We got stuck in really bad traffic, and we were sideswiped from the left. We all went to the hospital for gashes and some brutal injuries. Yet we thought Christina was going to make it. But she took the worst of it and..." Amanda ran a trembling hand through her hair as she tried to get a grip on her emotions. "She's with God now."
Cassie looked at all of them. It must have been awful to lose a sister. She couldn't even imagine. She noticed that Crystal's head was turned the other way. She obviously was shedding tears of her own.
Cassie felt guilty for the pain she had just inflicted on them and racked her brain for a way to change to a more cheerful subject. She unfolded a chair, sat down, and asked, "So why are you guys called The Lions?"
Jake spoke up. "Our last name in Loewen. Loewen is German in origin and means 'lion.' It was Christina's idea."
Cassie finally understood. The halo above the lion's head was to symbolize Christina. Cassie felt chocked up. But she wanted to say something. She needed to say something. "I'm sorry," for instance. "Oh..." she managed to say instead.
Jake nodded. "Yeah." Then he began to play some beats on the drums. The girls followed suit with their instruments, and Crystal tested her mic. When they were satisfied and ready to begin, Crystal turned her attention to Cassie. The awkwardness from earlier was finally dissipating.
"Hey, you ready?"
Cassie smiled. "Yep!"
"Okay! Ready? One Two Three Four..."
The next few minutes were full of banging, rocking music. And to Cassie's surprise, Crystal was really good! Yes, her speaking voice could be terribly annoying, but when combined with the music and a little voice synthesizing, her voice metamorphosed to that of a beautiful soprano; Crystal could be a regular rock star. Amanda was an extraordinary guitarist; almost half as good as Orianthi! Anna was exceptional at bass, and Jake was the Tico Torres of the group. But something was still missing. If Cassie could only place what.
The song ended and the siblings turned their attention to Cassie. "So," Crystal exclaimed, "what do you think?"
Standing up, Cassie answered, "You're all great! The instruments are superb, the lead vocals are outstanding, and the backup vocals are exceptional. But there's just something missing."
The three sisters shared a knowing glance. Amanda nodded at Crystal and that seemed to settle the matter. Crystal's gaze gently bore down on Cassie. "Cassie, about that favor. I kinda lied when I said we needed an audience."
It was approaching eight o'clock when Cassie returned to her dorm room. She opened the door and stepped inside. The scene awaiting her was adorable. Ana was absorbed in James Patterson's Fourth of July, and Mr. Jingles was curled up in Ana's lap. Cassie smiled at the scene. "Hey, Ana," she said as she shut the door. That one phrase ruined the entire display, for Cassie's simple greeting scared Ana half to death. Ana jumped, thus frightening Mr. Jingles, who screeched and sought refuge in Ana's pink slippers. He stuffed his head inside the right slipper, and his twitching tail was the only remaining visible evidence of his hiding place.
"Scary book, huh?" Cassie laughed as she hung up her coat and scarf.
Ana smiled. "No. You just caught me at an action-packed scene, that's all. Lindsay and Jacobi are chasing down two murdering kids. And the kids shot Lindsay and Jacobi! Lindsay fired off some shots on the girl, but I'm not sure what's going to happen..." Ana proceeded by flipping through the pages to the end of the book.
"Don't spoil it for yourself!"
Too late. "Aww, Lindsay's lawyer becomes a part of the Women's Murder Club!" Ana smiled in satisfaction and sighed, "I love happy endings!" Then she turned her gaze back up to Cassie. "So what took you so long to get home? I thought you were going for a quick walk."
"Well," Cassie started as she plopped down on her bed, "I did. And I walked right out in front of traffic."
Anastasia silently gasped and panic filled her eyes. Her motherly instinct took over and she thus began to inspect her best friend.
"I'm fine, as you can see," Cassie stated, pushing her friend back down on the bed opposite her. "However, Crystal saved me and I ended up owing her a favor. Big time."
"Helping her with homework?" That question made both girls chuckle.
"Actually no," Cassie responded as she began to pull off her shoes. "She wants me to join her band."
Ana gaped in disbelief. "Whaaaaaat?"
"Mhmm."
"How can you act so nonchalant about this, Cassie?"
"I've been through a lot worse things," she answered reasonably.
Ana took a moment to register that comment. An old memory of both girls in Cassie's front yard flashed through her mind. Ana shook her head in frustration. "What did you tell her?"
Cassie folded her hands and stared at the wall for a minute. "Yes."