Chapter 9 - Today
It's News, Tomorrow It's Fish & Chip Paper Right?
"How come
you're back early?" Jet sniffed slowly pulling herself away
form his embrace
“Got away
early” he shrugged “I needed to see you”
“Sorry
you had to see me like that”
“Jet, are
you okay?”
“Yeah,
I'm fine” she sniffed, wiping a stray tear
“Do you
think you could stay the night?” she inquired quietly
“Of
course I will” he replied “I just gotta make a call
first okay?” he said slowly
She nodded,
slightly moving, allowing Nick access off the bed.
The house was
practically deserted, Devin had demanded everyone leave, leaving
only him and Seth in the lounge. Nick slowly walked out, and over
to where the phone sat.
“Is she
okay?” Devin questioned with worry
“She’s
okay, a little shocked but okay” Nick responded quietly
“I can’t
believe I let this happen, I'm meant to look after her”
“You
weren’t to know”
“I need
to talk to her”
Devin pulled
himself up off the couch and headed down the hall, as Nick began
dialing his parents number.
“Jet, can
I come in?” Devin inquired standing in the doorway
Jet had
quickly gotten changed into her PJ’s but was still wrapped
up in the comfort of her blanket as she sat in the corner of her
bed, holding tightly onto her pillow.
She looked up
then slowly nodded.
“J I'm so
sorry” Devin announced sitting down on the edge of her bed
“I wasn’t
there for you with dad, and I wasn’t there for you tonight,
when you needed me” he cried
“It’s
okay Devin, you didn’t know in either occasion”
”I'm meant to look after you, and so far I’ve done a
pretty crappy job”
“Not
true, you’ve always been there afterwards for me”
“Jet if
you wanna leave again” he said turning to look at her “We’ll
leave, just say the word and we’ll get up and walk out”
“No Dev,
I'm sick of running when things go wrong, we’ll sort this
out”
“How come
I got such a great little sis?” Devin smiled
“Because
you’re a great older brother” he responded wrapping her
arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.
~ AT THE SAME
TIME ~
“Something’s
come up, I'm going to stay here” Nick said quietly down the
phone
“Nick,
you know what we said, we’re happy with you seeing her, but
staying there isn’t a good idea” his mother replied
“Well I
am okay? It doesn’t really matter to me what you say, I’ll
be back in the morning” he announced hanging up the phone
~ LATER THAT
NIGHT ~
Jet squirmed
under the blankets, her eyes shut tightly but her mind fully
awake. Nick held onto her tightly, as she cowered in next to him.
“No, put
it down, daddy please, put it down” Jet screamed into the
dark “NO!”
“Jet? Jet
you’re just having a bad dream” Nick announced rocking
her gently to wake her up
She woke up
with a fright, her brow wet with sweat, her breath rapid, her
heart beating out of control.
“Jet are
you okay?”
“He, he
was here” she stuttered
“It’s
was just a dream, just a bad dream” he sighed pushing her
head onto his chest, embracing her tightly
She stayed in
the comfort and safety of his arms, as the rest of the night
slipped past.
~ THE NEXT
MORNING ~
“What do
you mean I'm out of the band?” Jeremy screamed in the
distance
“Exactly
what I fucking said, you shouldn’t have even turned up here
man, because I want to fucking rip you to shreds” Devin
yelled
“You
should just leave” Seth said calmly
“I'm not
fucking leave, that bitch of a sister was asking for it”
“You
mother fucker” Devin hissed knocking Jeremy down with one
punch
“Get the
fuck out of my house, and if I ever see you near my sister I’ll
kill you, I’ll fucking kill you” Devin announced
grabbing Jeremy around the neck.
He opened the
door and threw him out, slamming the door loudly after him.
Jet lay awake
in her room, the tears flowing unrestrained down her eyes. Maybe
she did ask for it? Maybe it was all her fault? Nick woke up to
the sound of Jet crying softly onto his chest.
“Jet,
what’s wrong?” he questioned
“Is it
all my fault?” she inquired softly
“Of
course it’s not Jet”
“But,
maybe I was asking for it and-“
“Don’t
say that, you know that’s not true”
She huddled in
closer to him, a strange shiver forcing it’s way up her
spine.
~ A WEEK LATER
~
Auditions for
another bass player had been on going for the past week, and
there seemed to be no end in sight. Seth, Devin and Jet were at
The Firm office, but had decided to take a break from the
auditioning. Jet had flicked on the TV, knowing that Nick, along
with the others, were doing a guest performance for TRL. Slowly
but surely they were beginning to break into the American charts,
though they were still bigger in Europe.
“OH god
his so sexy” Seth purred annoyingly
“Shut up”
Jet laughed slapping him across the back of the head
Jet couldn’t
help but smile as Nick sung carefully into the microphone, every
time she saw him, it was like something came over her, she felt
all giggly and warm inside – a feeling she treasured.
The song
finished, as the boys walked over to the VJ and sat down. The
audience were still cheering as the VJ began to speak.
“So guys,
the question on all girls lips, what about the girlfriend
situation?” he smiled, mainly looking at Nick
“Single”
AJ cooed, even though he actually wasn’t.
“Ditto”
Brian smiled at the camera
“Same
here” Kevin coughed, even though he’d been seeing a
girl he knew for about 2 months now
“Single
too, but we do all date, just nothing serious” Howie
announced
The boys had
been told many times to not bring up the whole “girlfriend’
thing, because management feared they would loose fans by not
having that single appeal. Nick took a deep breath, most people
knew about his relationship with Jet, he’d been told to just
say they were friends, but that they used to date if he was asked
about it. He looked across at the camera, he was sure she’d
be watching, and even though she agreed that it was best to keep
things under wrap, he didn’t really want to lie.
“Single
here too” Nick sighed
“There’s
a rumor you’re dating a lovely lady by the name of Jet, from
the band Covert, any substance to that?”
“We used
to date, but we’re just good friends now” Nick replied
professionally, he quickly flicked his ear, that was the sign
that Nick and Jet would do to each other, to show that they still
cared about each other.
“Huh?
Something you’ve neglected to tell us?” Seth question,
a little confused
“He’s
just saying that, it makes things easier if people don’t
really know about us, the whole boy band thing”
“And you
don’t mind?”
“No, why
should I? I know how he feels about me, that’s all I need to
know. And anyway he gave me the sign” she smiled contentedly
~ 1 WEEK LATER
~
“Backstreet Boy’s
Illegal Love Romp”
The article’s
title stood out loudly as it sat on the table, Jet and Nick
staring at in disbelief. Seth and Devin walked into the kitchen
and placed down the carton of beer they had gone to by.
“Something
up? You two look like you’ve seen a ghost” Devin
inquired sitting down next to Jet
“Read”
she instructed handing him the latest copy of the Inquirer.
A source close
to the couple recently admitted that pop sensation Nick Carter,
of the Backstreet Boys and his girlfriend Jet McKennith, from the
band Covert, have been involved in a legal battle regarding the
hot topic of statutory rape. The source said that the couple were
intimate when Jet was too young, and this seemed to cause a title
wave through the family. Carter, 18, has been quoted as saying
that him and Jet, 16 “Are just friends” but sources
close to the action reveal this is far from the truth, and that
they have been “together” since they met months ago. It’s
reported that Carters mother is dubious about the situation and
seems generally not happy with it at all. Word is that Jet
herself has filed a complaint about Carter in an attempt to keep
them together. Sources also reveal that a charge of statutory
rape may be brought up against Carter in the near future.
Devin’s
eyes moved down to the recent picture of Nick and Jet caught in
the middle of a passionate kiss. He threw the article back onto
the table.
“Shit”
he mumbled
“It wasn’t
you was it?” Jet questioned quietly
Devin turned
to look at his sister.
“Don’t
even ask me that question Jet, you know the answer” he
replied
“So who
did?”
“Don’t
look at me” Seth announced
“I should
probably go” Nick said quietly, knowing that he was going to
cop it for this one
He kissed Jet
quickly on the forehead the walked into the lounge.
“Nick
wait, what does this mean for us?” Jet questioned, hugging
herself tightly
“I'm not
sure, I just know there wont be much of a clam after the storm”
“You know
I would never file any charges or –“
“Jet, I
know” he said embracing her “I know. We’ll get
through this, its only one stupid article right?”
Jet slowly
nodded, hoping that he was right.
They parted
form the embrace, and Nick quickly walked out. He’d go home
first, he was sure his mother would have seen the article, or
heard about it. Then he would just wait for management to ring
and call some big meeting to sort what they would say. In normal
circumstances he probably would have been worried sick,
management didn’t want them to do anything to rock the boat,
but it was strange, he knew there’d be flack to cop, but he
really didn’t care.
~ 20 MINUTES
LATER ~
Nick slammed
the door to announce his presence, as he suspected both his
parents were sitting in the lounge, waiting for him.
“Nickolas,
we need to talk” Bob said strongly
Nick flopped
down onto the couch, here it came.
“We have
supported you through a lot of what you’ve done, but this
pushes the limit Nick, do you know what this will mean?”
Jane said throwing the Inquirer across to him
“I’ve
read it” he shrugged
“So you’ve
figured that there are some people that aren’t to happy
about this smut”
“I guess”
“Nick for
god sakes, don’t you even care?”
“I know
it’s not true, Jet hasn’t filed any charges and she
doesn’t intend to”
“But you
admit that the rest is true?”
“What
does it matter?”
“Nickolas”
“What do
you want me to say mom? Yes we’ve had sex, so what? It doesn’t
matter”
“Can’t
you see Nick? It does matter, you’ve only just started to
make it here, the last thing you want to do is let this ruin you’re
chances”
“God why
do people have to be up in my business all the time anyway, it’s
just an article, it’s one trashy article, it’s not the
end of the world. Get over it”
“Aren’t
you the least bit worried?”
“No I'm
not, I love Jet, she loves me, and a couple of trashy paragraphs
aren’t going to change anything”
He stood up
and stormed up the stairs, he didn’t quite understand why
everyone was getting all serious about this, it would blow over
in a few days time, today’s news would be what tomorrows
fish and chips are wrapped up in.