She's the one, I'm sure of it. *Not finished* --Finally updated--

--Table of Contents--
Chapters 1-7: *This post*
Chapter 8: *Page 7, post 5*
Chapter 9: *Page 8, post 5*
Chapter 10: *Page 9, post 2*
Chapter 11: *Page 9 post 6*
Chapter 12: *Page 10, post 8*
Chapter 13: *Page 12, post 1*
Chapter 14: *Page 13, post 5*
Chapter 15: *Page 13, post 9*


~Chapter 1~

Elyssa stopped in front of her locker, and after entering her combo, opened her locker, grabbed her science book, and headed off to class. She walked quickly, she didn't want to get caught by the popular girls again. Who knows what they would say or do to her this time. But of course, luck wasn't on her side. Rebeka, the head cheerleader, tripped her in the hall. "Oops, sorry Eliza." Rebeka giggled. All the other preps began to laugh and praise Beka. "It's Elyssa." Elyssa said quietly, keeping her eyes on the ground as she picked up her books. She stood again and tried to hurry away. But Rebeka lashed out, grabbed her arm, and pulled her back. "Where are you off to in such a hurry, sweetie?" Rebeka purred in her velvet voice. "Science." Elyssa murmured. "Who'd be in a hurry to go to science?" Rebeca taunted. "I just don't want to be late." Elyssa said. The preps surrounded her and backed her into the cold metal of the lockers. At that moment, the bell rung. "Too late for that. See ya next period." Rebeka promised, turning and heading to math. The preps split up, each heading to their classes, leaving Elyssa alone in the hall. She hurried off to science, but since she was late, her teacher wouldn't let her in. Mr. Mendez always was strict when it came to being tardy. He opened the door just enough to stick his duck bill of a mouth out. "You're late again. To the office." He said in his scarily high-pitched voice. With that, he turned around, closed the door behind him, and left Elyssa alone. Elyssa leaned her back against the door and let a few tears slip before standing and heading to the principal's office.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Elyssa entered the principal's office, the secretary, Mrs. Wiggs was on the phone. Mrs. Wiggs held up her hand and motioned for Elyssa to sit down. Elyssa sat down in one of the scratchy chairs in the office. Elyssa had been here before, but never because she was in trouble. The office was always too cold and it smelled like a dentist's office, but that was probably because Mr. Lem practically brushed between every bite. Since Elyssa had nothing better to do, she eavesdropped on Mrs. Wiggs' phone call. Weirdly, Mrs. Wiggs looked excited. She was never excited, observed Elyssa. The man on the other line seemed to be shouting over music of some kind. He was loud enough for Elyssa to hear what he was saying. He said something like, 'Congratulations! Your school has won a visit from famous singer: John Anderson!' Elyssa raised her eyebrows, Who? She thought. Mrs. Wiggs said a few more things Elyssa didn't care to listen to then the call ended. Mrs. Wiggs raised her head, "So, why are you here today, Elyssa?" Elyssa lowered her head, she had been here a lot, but always to accept an award or collect a prize. "I was late to science...again." Elyssa admitted sullenly. "Oh..you can go in to collect your detention slip from Mr. Lem." Elyssa nodded and walked into the principal's office. Mr. Lem looked up at Elyssa with his beady eyes. He earned himself the nickname Mr. Mouse from those same eyes. "Hello Elyssa. So, what brings you to my office?" Elyssa explained then sat in a red chair, which thankfully was more comfortable than the ones outside. "Detention slip 'eh?" Mr. Lem asked. Elyssa nodded silently. Mr. Lem spun around in his swivel chair and picked up a tote box. He opened it and pulled out a slip of paper. He handed it to Elyssa. "Remember to have this signed by a parent and returned." Elyssa just nodded again before getting up and leaving the office. This would definitely upset Dad. Especially since she hadn't been in trouble like this since...mom was alive. Don't cry, Elyssa begged herself, not here.


~Chapter 2~

Elyssa leaned her head against the maroon colored wall in her hallway. She was standing outside her dad's room, her hand on the golden doorknob. She had been standing there, trying to work up the courage to go in for about 20 minutes. Finally, Elyssa took one deep breath, took the detention slip from her pocket, unfolded it and opened the door. Her dad was sitting at his computer, typing what looked like an email. He smiled up at her, "Hey, Lyssa." Elyssa closed her eyes, he was going to make this hard. "Hi dad.." She said. He looked at the paper she was holding, "What's that?" Elyssa lifted up her paper and handed it to her dad. He looked over it and looked up again. "Why did you keep missing class?" He asked. "It's Rebeka's fault! She always keeps me from getting to class!" Elyssa said, anger rising. "You can't blame people for your mistakes." Her father told her. "BUT IT'S HER FAULT!" Elyssa yelled. Her dad just shook her head and signed the paper. "Lyssa, I'm very disappointed in you. First off, missing class, then blaming other girls because you missed class." Her dad motioned to the door. Elyssa's mouth was open in surprise. Her dad was never like this. She just stood there. Her dad gave her a stern look, "Go." Elyssa stumbled to the door. Her dad was always quiet and gentle. Never so commanding. Elyssa left the room and went to her own. She fell back onto her bed and stared at the sky blue ceiling, she watched the fan spin for what seemed like hours until she eventually drifted off to sleep.

~Chapter 3~

The next day was horrible. Her dad made her pancakes, then sat on the other side of the table, instead of sitting by her dad, she had to sit by her food-throwing toddler of a brother. She had to wash her hair twice just to get the syrup out of it! And on top of that, her dad hadn't said a word to her. Graciously, she left for the bus stop, grabbing her backpack and lunch box on her way out. Her dad left soon after her, drove by the bus stop, and didn't even look at her. He's definitely over-reacting, it's JUST a detention! One detention!, Elyssa thought. She got on the bus, and sadly, all the seats in the back were taken. She sighed, she had to sit by her brother, and he still had sticky hands. Of course, he wanted a hug before she got off the bus, she looked down at her jacked and grimaced at the sticky syrup. She quickly took off her jacket as soon as she got to her locker, stuffed it into her backpack and walked off to class, luckily without Rebeka seeing her. She took her seat in English and listened to the announcements. Then, the crackly voice over the intercom said, "And, all of your donated money came in handy! Instead of buying school supplies like usually, we have scheduled a meet and greet. Everyone gets to meet John Anderson, up and coming singer!" Elyssa raised her eyebrows, this was the person Mrs. Wiggs had been talking to when she went to the office. "He will be here tomorrow to perform and meet with all of you. Good job!" Elyssa shrugged, meeting a singer would be cool, even if she didn't know him yet. Elyssa sat back in her chair and listened to the teacher drone on about grammar and upcoming projects.

~Chapter 4~

Elyssa had decided to ignore her father back. If he was going to overreact over one detention, she was going to ignore him too. When she entered the school, there was a little mini stage set up in the commons. Elyssa looked over and saw some men dressed in black setting up chairs. She turned and ran into something or someone. She staggered backwards then fell, shocked. She hadn't been looking up, she was watching the people set up. She stood up, "I..." The guy she had run into was average height with hazel eyes and black hair that hung over his eyebrows. Elyssa couldn't think of anything to say. She was stunned. "Watch where you're going." He said coldly. "I'm sorry." Elyssa mumbled, snapping out of her shock. She stood up and started to walk away. The teenage boy reached out and touched her arm. "Who are you?" He asked. Elyssa turned, surprised he was speaking to her, she didn't even know him, "I'm Elyssa." He nodded, "Cool. See ya." He started to walk away. Elyssa watched him go, he didn't even introduce himself. She turned, made a face, and walked toward her English class. 10 minutes after class started, her teacher walked the class to the commons for the singer meet and greet. To Elyssa's surprise, the guy standing in front of the microphone was the guy she had run into. They all took their seats, then he began singing a song called "Your Eyes Stun Me." And when he began singing the chorus, he WINKED at Elyssa. Elyssa couldn't believe it. She held her breath. Rebeka looked over at her, glaring. Elyssa couldn't help but to smile.

~Chapter 5~
Elyssa stood in line for the meet and greet part of their prize. She looked around, tapping her fingers on her hip, one of her bad habits was her short attention span. Finally, it was her turn. She approached him, the boy she had run into, and had learned was the famous singer. She smiled, "Long time no see." He laughed, "Yeah." Rebeka, who was standing right beside her, pretended to trip and spilled her fruit punch on Elyssa. John looked over at Rebeka, glared, and stood up, "Let me help you." He reached out his hand, accidently brushing against Elyssa's hand. They both dropped their hands back and looked down. He looked up at her and laughed, "Lemme help you." He repeated, grabbing a shirt with his picture on it, "Here, compliments of my manager. I hope this won't happen again," He said, staring at Rebeka accusingly. Rebeka stamped her foot and hurried away, anger about to bubble over. That would be a mess. Elyssa thought. She went into the bathroom and changed into the shirt he had given her. Then, Elyssa left the bathroom and approached him again, "Thanks. You're a life-saver." She said, "No problem." He said. Elyssa smiled. "Wanna go get something to eat sometime?" He asked her. Elyssa's heart skipped a beat, but she did her best to act nonchalant. "Yeah, sure, whatever." However, she failed at keeping the excitement out of her voice. John laughed and turned away to sign some girl's paper. Elyssa went back to her class, leaned against a wall and grinned, "Wow.." This could be a new beginning for me, she thought happily.

~Chapter 6~

Elyssa stood in front of the mirror in her room. Tonight was her dinner date with John and she had to look her best. She had spent hours (and 3/4 of her money) at the mall, finding the perfect outfit, which was a long red halter dress with black strap heels. She admired her outfit in the mirror after she put on her makeup, which took another half hour. She skipped downstairs and saw her dad sitting on the couch, watching TV. "Hey." She greeted him, sitting down on the edge of the couch. "Hey, you look nice, where you off to?" He asked. She rolled her eyes, "I told you, I'm going on a date with that singer, John." She replied. "How old is he?" Her dad asked, raising his eyebrows. "I don't know, a year or two older than me I guess." She shrugged, honestly she didn't know how old he was. "Elyssa..." He began. Elyssa glared at her dad, she knew this was going to be the start of a long speech that ended in the word no. Elyssa stood up and turned for the door, "It's fine! I'm sure he'll have a body guard or something at least!" Her dad stood up and barred her way. "No, Lyssa. You need to go upstairs and change right now. You can't be walking out late in that." He said, "I won't be alone! He's coming to pick me up any minute!" Her dad crossed his arms, tapped his foot, and didn't move out of the way. Elyssa glared at her dad once more, before turning and plodding up the stairs and slamming her door. She threw her earrings on the floor and fell backwards onto her bed. Her cell phone rang, then. She answered it and found it was John and he was outside. Elyssa stood up, fixed her hair and put her earrings back on. She was going on this date, no matter what her dad said. She stuffed a few pillows under the blankets so in the dark it looked like she was asleep. She picked up her purse and got an emergency fire ladder out from under her bed. She hooked it to her window and let it slide down. She climbed down, continuing to snag her dress, but luckily it didn't rip. She ran out to the car waiting for her, drove by a show fer of course, John couldn't be bothered to drive, why should he when he had people to do it for him? Elyssa climbed in the back beside John and grinned. She looked back at her house and saw her dad looking out the window at her, shaking his head, his arms still crossed. The smile faded from Elyssa's face. Oh no! She thought, if I go, I'll be dead when I get home. But if I don't, I'll miss the chance of my life and still get in trouble for sneaking out. Either way I lose, so might as well have the time of her life before her eternal suffering. She looked over at John, who was watching her with concern, "Are you okay?" He asked. Elyssa nodded, faking a smile. "Yeah, let's go." They drove off to the restaurant, but the horrible thought of her punishment kept nagging Elyssa.

~Chapter 7~

Elyssa was driven home by John, well, technically by his show fer. She exited the car, grinning, "Thanks, that was great!" She pulled out a post-it from her pocket and scrawled her number, "Call me." She smiled, as John got out behind her, "Don't you know all good dates end walking the girl to the door?" Elyssa bit her lip, looking up at the windows, which were out. She checked her watch and saw it was midnight. Oh my gosh! I am dead! My curfew is 10:00. She looked down, "I don't want to take it too fast." With that, she ran toward the door. She was afraid if John came up her dad would say something to him or ask him millions of questions like 'have you ever been to jail?'. Elyssa had experienced that. John looked down, "Alright, not too fast." He got back in his car and they sped off. Elyssa sighed and walked across the lawn. And of course, the sprinklers went off, completely soaking her through. She groaned and stepped up onto the porch. She went inside, looking for something to dry off with. She saw a blanket and shrugged, pulling it around herself, she could throw it in the dryer later. She turned on the living room light and jumped as she saw her dad sitting in the armchair, facing the door. She noticed he was asleep, but she knew that didn't mean she was off the hook. She walked up to him, as silent as possible. she removed the remote from his lap and turned off the TV. She got another blanket and layed it over him. Then, she took off his glasses and put them on the table beside him. She locked the front door then threw the blanket she had wrapped up in in the dryer and started it on low. She ran upstairs and changed into dry pajamas. She brushed her teeth and fell into bed, almost falling asleep as soon as she hit the pillow.