"Owe! Dammit!" Cora turned around to see Nick chasing after a basketball. Instead of letting him have it, Cora sprinted in front of him and dove for the ball. She dodged around him as he tried to grab it from her, and tossed the ball to Brian.
"Thanks Cor!" Brian smiled. He took a shot. "By the way, great show tonight!"
Cora smiled and rubbed her head lightly. "Thanks, you too . . . Nick! Watch where you toss that thing!" She added as he walked by her.
"Sorry sweetie," He replied, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. Cora watched as he walked back to the game. Two body guards stood chatting as the guys began to play again.
Cora shuddered. To be famous, She thought to herself, No life . . . She looked at the guys playing as their guards stood by. She knew they had been lucky to get out of the hotel. As usual the lobby had been bombarded with fans, but somehow they'd slipped out to play.
Cora turned back to her walk through the park. Walking around Chicago at night, She mulled, My mother would kill me . . . Really she had just needed to get outside to clear her head. She felt lost and confused, but even through the pollution and smog of the over populated city, walking through the nice park made her feel a little better. It had been a week since the night in Las Vegas, almost two weeks since Grace had left. Cora and Melissa had become good friends. Life went on - the tour went on.
Cora sighed and sat down under a tree. She felt awful, and she didn't even know why. Although she loved preforming, it had it's bad sides too. She wouldn't want to live life like the boys do - wouldn't want to live life on display. Ever since that day on the bus when Alison had wanted her to listen to her new song, Cora had felt preoccupied. She suddenly felt strangely out of place with the girls, and the feeling was only getting worse . . .
She was sick of putting on a happy face and pretending nothing was wrong. It wasn't her style and it never would be . . . Cora leaned back against the tree and closed her eyes. She heard Nick swear from across the park. A deep sense of melancholy filled her and Cora began to cry. She rested her head on her knees and sobbed. Just then, Cora felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey sweet cheeks, don't cry hon," A quiet, female voice told her.
Cora jumped and looked up in surprise as an older lady sat down beside her. The womyn had big brown hair that was graying at the sides and was dressed in a long, flowing dress and cheap, white sneakers. She had a colourful canvas bag slung over her shoulder and wore dangly, beaded earrings. For some reason, Cora felt an instant trust and friendship for the woman. She smiled slightly.
"Who are you?" Cora asked softly.
"Oh!" The womyn laughed. "Never you mind who I am! Let's talk about who you are!" With that, She swung the canvas bag off her shoulder and opened it.
Cora shook her head. "My name is Cora. There's nothing in that bag for me." The womyn gave her a doubtful look as she began to pull something out.
"Stop!" Cora insisted, her feelings of fear beginning to swell. "I don't want to see that!"
"Cora," The womyn whispered. "Look . . ."
Cora looked into the womyn's hands. She was holding a beautiful crystal ball. It was about the size of two or three oranges and it was perfectly clear, affixed on a golden stand made up of three small womyn. As Cora gazed into the ball, the womyn in the stand began to move. They wove back and forth in a beautiful dance. Just then, an image filled the ball. It was Cora. She was standing with Grace talking. They reached out and hugged and then Grace began to fade away. Another image popped into the ball. It was an award: a grammy. The image expanded so that Cora could see that it was Victoria who was holding the award. Behind her stood Alison and Lara, all dressed up to the extremes, tears running down their pretty faces. The image swirled away and was again replaced with a new image. Cora's own face, streaked with tears. Although Cora could only see her own face, somehow she knew that she was on a plane. She was leaving to go far away. Leaving everything. Leaving the tour.
Cora looked up into the womyn's face to see that she had turned into one of the fairies holding up the crystal ball. Her golden face smiled . . .
"Cora! Cora wake up!" Cora blinked her eyes open to see Nick standing over her, a worried look on his face. Slowly she sat up and looked around. The strange womyn was gone, along with the crystal ball and the canvas bag. Cora patted the ground beside her.
"Where'd she go?" Cora murmured.
"Did you fall asleep hon?" Nick asked, taking her arm.
Cora nodded and swallowed. "Yeah . . . I must have. . ." Cora shook Nick's hand off her arm. "I'm fine. Let's just um, go back to the hotel."
"Okay," Nick nodded. Cora quickly stood without any assistance from Nick. She felt more lost than ever . . . in fact, she felt a bit dizzy. Cora continued to walk away. She hurried out of the park and towards the hotel. Then a wave crashed over her, and Cora fainted.
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