Breaking Ties: An Ensemble Story (Read 240,935 times)

[gapeach]

Just caught up! Loving this story. Hope Parjer is going to be okay. Wonder if the 'intern' is the attacker?!?!?!

[heroicmuse]

Jennifer was in her office working on a press release when Maggie stuck her head in.

“I’m not interrupting, am I?” Maggie asked.

“Of course not, Aunt Maggie. I wasn’t even supposed to be working today, but I wanted to get ahead on some things that aren’t being announced for a couple of weeks.”

“And it gets you out of the house.”

Jen pretended not to hear as she continued typing, but her lips thinned.

“Well,” Maggie said. “I know I already texted you about changing our plans but I thought you deserved an explanation in person.”

“No explanation needed.” Jen deliberately avoided looking at Maggie. “If this has something to do with Daniel, it’s really not my business anymore, Aunt Maggie. So go do whatever you need to do for him. It’s not like this is the last day that JJ is going to sneak out of the house before I’m awake.”

Maggie watched Jen typing for a second, squeezing her hands together while she thought about what she wanted to say. Then she said, quietly, “Listen to me, Jennifer Rose. This isn’t about you, and it isn’t about Daniel either. And it certainly isn’t about who I care about more now that you two have decided to go your separate ways. So hold your fire, and while you’re at it, do me the courtesy of closing your computer screen for just a minute and listening to what I have to say.”

Jen hesitated, but something in Maggie’s voice worried her, and she got up from her computer and came around to the other side of the desk. “Aunt Maggie, what is it?” she asked, sitting down next to her. “You’re not sick, are you?”

“Not me,” Maggie said. “And no, not Victor either.” She sighed. “I don’t know whether Daniel would want you to know or not, but since you used to be a big part of Parker’s life, I might as well go ahead. Earlier today, Parker collapsed. He’s down the hall in the pediatric ICU.”

Jen’s eyes widened. She blinked back tears. “Do they know what’s wrong with him?”

Maggie shook her head. “Daniel didn’t say. But maybe, just maybe you can put aside all your animosity for a little while so that we can all focus on that little boy getting better.”


Hope spied Marissa across the square, eating frozen yogurt, and was about to approach her when Eve Donovan came out of a store and said. “Detective Brady! I am so glad I caught you.”

“I’m sorry, Eve, but unless you have information about a case, I’m going to have to ask you to excuse me.” Hope kept walking.

Eve walked in front of her, blocking her path. “Now look,” she said, “I know we’ve had our differences in the past, mostly because of your loyalty to your stuck-up cousin Jennifer and her no-good son, but that doesn’t change the fact that you have to protect everybody, now does it?”

Hope looked over Eve’s shoulder to make sure Marissa was still at the yogurt place. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, my daughter Paige--you know her, bright girl, got into Stanford, is making a good impression on Kayla Brady over at the hospital--anyway, she has got this crazy idea in her head that she wants to move into the dorms. Now, ordinarily I wouldn’t have any problem with my baby moving on, but with this crime wave - “

“Hold it. Who said there was a crime wave?”

“Oh come on, Hope. I read the papers. Besides, Paige told me that some poor girl was attacked, and I know how these things go. Anyway, you know how teenage girls are--she won’t listen to me about why this is a bad idea, so I thought if you gave her a little talking to about safety maybe she’d see reason.”

Hope bit her lip. She didn’t want to give in to Eve’s nonsense, but at the same time Paige did need to know how to protect herself on campus. After all, JJ wasn’t the only kid who thought cutting through the woods behind the dorms was a good idea.

“Oh come on,” Eve said. “If your little Ciara was old enough to go to Salem U, wouldn’t you move heaven and Earth to keep her safe?”

“If I see Paige I will talk to her,” Hope said, leaving out what she actually planned to say. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have official police business over there.” She walked off quickly before Eve could say another word.



Parker was awake when Maggie came into the room. “Grandma,” he said. He was even harder to understand than usual.

“I am so glad you’re up,” Maggie said, pasting on a fake smile. She kissed the top of Parker’s head before turning to Daniel. “How’s he doing?”

Daniel glanced at Parker. “Maybe you oughta ask Kayla. She’s running a bunch of tests to make sure his heart and lungs and everything are as strong as they need to be.”

Maggie frowned. “And you?”

“I’m okay.” Daniel hit his phone against his palm. “Actually, I’m glad you’re here, Mom. Can you sit with Parker for an hour or so? I gotta take care of something.”

“Daniel, I hope you’re not trying to take care of too many patients while Parker - “

“Parker’s gonna be fine,” Daniel told her, firmly. “I can’t put my life on hold, Mom. There are other people depending on me too, and I gotta be there for them. I will be back as quick as I can, believe me, I don’t wanna spend one more minute than I have to away from Parker.”

“Then don’t. I know you care about your patients, Daniel, but they’re not family. Can’t another doctor - “

“This IS family!” Daniel hated getting loud in front of Parker, and he also hated having to tell Maggie any of his business, but sometimes it was the only way to get her to back off. “JJ, he needs to talk to me about something, and I’m not - “

“But sweetheart, I’m sure JJ will understand that you have a family emergency. Can’t you tell him - “

“Mom. Stop. Can you please just sit with Parker til I get back?” Daniel moved past her to kiss the top of Parker’s head. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, buddy. I promise.” He started to leave the room, then stood in the doorway watching Parker. He sighed deeply before he finally left.


Marissa looked up from her vanilla frozen yogurt as Hope approached her table. “Detective Brady,” she said uncertainly. “Hi.”

“May I sit down?” Hope asked.

“You weren’t exactly who I was hoping would ask that, but sure, go ahead.”

“I’m guessing you have your eye on some boy,” Hope commented.

Marissa shrugged.

“Who is he?” Hope asked, thinking that maybe this was her way into getting Marissa to trust her enough to answer her questions.

“If you think the guy who did this to me is my boyfriend, he isn’t. I don’t have one, and I’d never seen the monster before.”

“I wasn’t thinking that at all. I was just curious, that’s all.”

“Look, Detective Brady, I’m not stupid, and I know you’re not my friend. I’ve pretty much told you everything I know already, so I’m not sure what you want, but you’d get a lot further with me if you’d just ask already.”

“Okay. For starters, do you remember anything else about the guy who attacked you that could help us find him?”

Marissa pinched her lip. “I told you, I never saw him, I don’t know who he is, just that he was a creep. He grabbed me, he put a knife to my throat and he tied me up. That’s all I know.”

“Did he - “

“I really don’t want to keep reliving this, especially since I don’t know anything. Can’t you leave me alone?”

“No,” Hope said after a second. “I can’t. I know this is difficult but this is the only way we’re going to catch this guy. After he left your room, he went and did the same thing to another girl across campus, and then to a boy in some other dorm. And believe me, we’re asking them just as many questions about it. I’m not doing this to be a pain in your butt. I’m trying to find this lowlife before he hurts anyone else.”

Marissa’s eyes widened. “So basically, nobody’s safe?”

“I didn’t say that. We will get this guy. But even if you don’t remember anything about him, maybe you can still help. Can I show you some photos of the other kids that got robbed? Maybe you know something about them that can help us put this all together.”

Marissa nodded. Hope took out her tablet and showed Marissa a photo of a smiling, dark haired girl, and a boy whose red hair stuck out from underneath his baseball cap. Marissa looked carefully at them. When she looked up at Hope, Hope thought she saw relief in the girl’s eyes. But all Marissa said was, “The only thing we seem to have in common is none of us is blonde.” She pushed away her yogurt. “I never saw either of them in my life. But, um, tell them I’m sorry. What I went through, nobody should have to go through.”

“I will,” Hope promised as she got up.

Marissa went to throw away what was left of her yogurt, As she watched Hope walk off, she took out her phone and mumbled to herself, “Okay, JJ, let’s find out who you are and make sure you’re not living in the dorms too.” She opened Ewe Search and typed in “Salem University student JJ.”

[Kpatch]

I'm really glad Maggie told Jen about Parker. I can't believe Jennifer is working on her day off! LOL.

Great interaction between Eve and Hope, and Hope and Marissa. I wonder what Marissa really wants with JJ.

[heroicmuse]

Daniel looked tired when JJ got to his office. JJ played with his keys as he came inside and closed the door. “Are you sure this is a good time?” he asked Daniel. “Cause no offense, man, but you look like hell.”

Daniel shrugged. “Yeah, it’s been rough, but let’s not talk about that right now. What’s up?”

JJ sighed. “You know how you didn’t give up on me all that time I was trying to make you miserable?”

“Okay, JJ, I’m gonna stop you right there. We’ve been through this, man, and you know it doesn’t matter to me.”

“No, man, it’s not that. Not this time. It’s just…” JJ took another deep breath. “Okay, I have this friend who’s doing something he shouldn’t be, and it’s like, totally going to ruin his life. And everything I’m doing to try to get him to see it, it’s just making things worse. So I wanted to ask you…” JJ looked up at Daniel, his eyes wide and full of sincerity, “I guess I wanted to ask, how do you get through to someone who’s so mad they hate the sight of you?”

Daniel rubbed the bridge of his nose while he thought about it. “You just keep trying,” he said, finally. “You refuse to give up, man, no matter how mad they get, you just keep looking for any little crack in their defenses, anything you can use to get them to see that you’re not the enemy. But JJ, you gotta know, man, sometimes, sometimes no matter what you do, you’re just gonna lose your friend. Now I’m not saying you will, but you, you just gotta be prepared to take that risk.”

JJ slumped down in his seat.

“I’m not trying to discourage you, man. I think you’re trying to do a noble thing. I just want you to know what you’re up against.” Daniel played with a pen on his desk. “Tell you what. I don’t wanna pry, you know that, but if you wanna tell me exactly what’s going on, I promise you it will stay just between us, and then maybe I can help you come up with some ideas to get a handle on it.”


Jennifer didn’t really know where to go. Her whole body ached to be in Parker’s room with Daniel. She’d messed that up pretty well, hadn’t she? She didn’t want to go home, either--too many memories of Jack, too much emptiness, too much knowledge that she had a son out there in the world who was avoiding her.

Parker in a hospital bed. JJ God knew where.

She couldn’t help either of them.

Jen found herself in Horton Town Square, near the memorial to her grandparents. She touched it, trying to feel her grandmother’s warmth, trying to hear the voice that had so gently guided her so many times. All she felt was cold metal under her fingertips.

She took out her phone and called JJ, blinking back tears, telling herself sternly to get it together before he picked up. He didn’t--the voice mail did.

Hey, you’ve reached JJ’s phone. I’m really busy but I’ll probably call you back sometime soon if you leave a message.

Jen took a deep breath. “JJ, it’s Mom. I know you think I’m breathing down your neck all the time, but I really miss having my son around. Even if you don’t want to come home til late, please call me. I’ll be around all day. I love you, honey.”

She squeezed her eyes shut as she hung up and massaged the bridge of her nose to make the tears stop.

“Jen!” Hope said as Jennifer opened her eyes again. She came up to Jen from across the square, Ciara trailing reluctantly behind her. “I’m glad I ran into you, cuz.”

“Yeah,” Ciara said. “Now we don’t have to waste time going to your house when I’m supposed to be going to Theo’s.”

“Ciara,” Hope said, but Jennifer said, “No, that’s all right. I’m sure Ciara didn’t mean to be rude. What’s up?”

“I felt really bad that we never got to do coffee,” Hope explained. “I got caught up in a huge case, and if Roman hadn’t made me take a break I’d probably still be in the office looking at the same evidence and hoping it told me something different. So I thought I’d stop in at the pub and get something to bring over. But since I ran into you, why not just catch up there? That is, unless you’re in the middle of something.”

Jen forced a smile. “No, nothing. JJ and Abigail are both out doing their own thing, so I’ve got a few hours to spare. Let’s go.”


After JJ had told Daniel the whole story, Daniel looked like his headache had gotten worse. He rubbed his temples and said, “Oh my God, JJ, you do realize that you were risking not only getting kicked out of school but getting arrested again, right?”

JJ turned red. “I wasn’t planning on doing anything dangerous, Daniel, I swear.”

“You weren’t planning on doing anything dangerous. What exactly did you think was going to happen, man? Were you thinking, at all?”

“I thought maybe if I scouted it out, I could get Rory thinking I was on his side, and then, I dunno, talk him out of stealing the exam. It was lame, I know.”

“Yeah. It was. JJ, you get arrested, no judge is gonna care about what you were trying to do for Rory. You’re just gonna end up right back where you started, kicked out of school and with a possible jail sentence hanging over your head. And your future, JJ, your future will just go right down the drain. You got that?”

“Got it.”

Daniel patted JJ’s shoulder. “For what it’s worth, man, you’re doing the right thing trying to look out for your friend. You… you just gotta think things through so that you keep your own nose clean while you get him believing you’re on his side. Okay?”

“Okay.” JJ stood up and held out his hand. “Thanks, Daniel.”

“Not a problem. Just…just be careful. Oh, and one more thing, JJ.” Daniel gestured towards the seat.

“You were asking me what was going on with me. I’ll tell you but I don’t want it going any further than this room. Are we clear?”

“I won’t tell anybody. I promise.” JJ sat back down.

“Thanks.” Daniel sat down on the edge of his desk, facing JJ. He sighed. “I’m stretched real thin right now, man, and I want you to know it has nothing to do with you. But Parker, he… he’s not well.” Daniel blinked back tears. “I don’t know exactly what’s wrong with him yet. Your Aunt Kayla, she’s helping me figure it out, but right now, JJ, right now he’s in the ICU and that means that taking care of him has got to be my first priority.”

“I...I’m sorry. If I’d known I wouldn’t have wasted so much of your time with… with my stupid problems.”

“Honestly, man, you did me a favor. I had to get away for a few minutes, think about something else than what could be happening to my son. And JJ, I want you to know, if you need me I will be here for you as much as I can be. It’s just, til Parker’s back on his feet, I can’t make any promises about my schedule.”

“I understand.” JJ got up. “Is there anything I can do to help, man?”

“Actually, there is something.” Daniel patted JJ’s shoulder. “You, JJ, you just keep doing as well as you’re doing. I’m so proud of the way you pulled yourself together this last year, man. Just keep it up, just keep giving me something to be happy about while I’m going through this. Deal?”

“Deal.” JJ shook Daniel’s hand. The two men patted each other on the back before they pulled apart.

[Kpatch]

Aw, you made me feel bad for Jennifer!

LOL at Ciara. So in character!

I really like the way you capture JJ and Daniel's relationship and how they confide in each other.

[heroicmuse]

Ciara sat down with Jen and Hope at Brady Pub but Hope said, “Oh, honey, I think Grandma Caroline would love it if you went upstairs and spent some extra time with her.”

“You mean, you want me to go away so that you and Jennifer can talk about why she’s so sad.”

“I’m not sad, sweetheart,” Jen told her, “but your mom and I do want to catch up on grown-up things.”

“Yeah, right,” Ciara said.

“Ciara Alice,” Hope told her in a very tired voice, “please just go see your grandmother, okay?”

Ciara slid off her seat and stomped upstairs. Hope was pretty sure that her daughter had decided to sit on the top of the steps and listen instead of going all the way into Caroline’s apartment, but she decided to ignore it.

“Sorry about that,” Hope told Jen. “She’s going through a phase again.”

“I guess maybe I’m lucky that I didn’t have to go through that with my kids,” Jen said, “since they were away at boarding school when they were Ciara’s age.” She blinked hard.

Hope reached for her hand across the table. “What’s going on?”

Jen sighed. “I’ve failed JJ. That’s why he’s avoiding me. It has to be. He never wanted to go to that school in the first place, and then after Jack died, I just couldn’t… every time I looked at JJ, I saw his father, and it hurt so much that I just tried to push him away. My son was hurting, and I wasn’t there for him. And then for a while it seemed like everything was fine, everything was straightening itself out, but ever since he and Paige broke up… Hope, my son is in trouble again, I just know he is.”

“What kind of trouble?” Hope asked. “He’s not - “

Jen shook her head. “As far as I know, he’s not using. But he leaves for school early in the morning and comes home late at night, and I don’t know what he’s doing in between.”

“Wait a second. JJ’s on campus all day and all night?”

“Yes. Why? Do you know something? Is my son - “

Hope sighed. “I didn’t want to worry you, so I wasn’t going to say anything, but the Salem U campus isn’t exactly safe at the moment.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t give you any more details than that, Jennifer. I’m sorry. But JJ needs to stay out of the woods behind the dorms. They’re too secluded and a lot of crime takes place there. And if I were you, honey, I’d tell him he needs to stay off the campus altogether late at night.”

Jen’s eyes widened. “You’re scaring me, Hope. Please, tell me what’s going on and how I can protect my son.”

Hope took out her tablet and stared at it, thinking. “If anyone asks, you didn’t get this from me,” she said. She handed it to Jen.

Jen glanced at it. She saw the headline stating that three students had been attacked at Salem U. She turned white as she slowly put it down on the table.


Paige sat in her room, trying to concentrate on her biology textbook, but too many voices were swirling through her head. Daphne telling her that if she wanted to move in, she should just forget what Eve thought. Eve saying she wasn’t going to let Paige move until they caught the mugger. T saying her problem was that she was always looking for the ulterior motive.

She slammed the book closed and picked up her phone. “Daphne?” she said. “It’s me, Paige. If you’ll still have me, I’m ready to move in.”

As she hung up the phone, her mother stormed into the room and said, “Like hell you are!"


Bev joined Rory in the smoker’s circle in the center of the woods. "So even after you save JJ’s ass, he’s too good to smoke with us?”

“I don’t wanna talk about him,” Rory told her, throwing back his head to let out a big lungful of smoke. “It ruins my high.”

“Whatever.” Bev took the joint from him.
Rory stared out into the distance. “We’re gonna have to come up with a new plan, thanks to JJ botching the other one.” He giggled. “That school cop’s probably pu a 24-hour guard on the English office.”

“Like what?”

Rory laughed again. “You know anything about breaking into computers?”

“Like Dr. K even knows what a computer is. He probably doesn’t even use a calculator to add up the grades.”

“Hey!” Rory said. “That’s brilliant.”

“What is?”

“Dr. K’s gonna need to hire a student to put the grades in the computer, right? So maybe - “
Bev giggled. “Doesn’t he have, like TA’s and stuff?”

“Leave it to me. I’ll get us in.”

Bev’s phone buzzed just then. She frowned as she looked at it. “We’ll have to continue this stimulating conversation later. I gotta meet someone.”

“Hey,” Rory said, suddenly sobering up. “You’re not hooking up with that Cole again, are you? He’s bad news, Bev, worse than JJ.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no, I’m not that stupid. Or that desperate.”

Bev pushed past Rory. He followed her, watching through the trees as she met some guy. He thought it might be Cole, but he couldn’t tell; it was too dark. Whoever it was, he kissed Bev kind of hard. Rory didn’t like it.

He was so busy spying on Bev he didn’t hear the leaves rustling behind him. Suddenly, someone grabbed him from behind, covering his mouth and putting a knife to his throat. “On your knees, dude. Gimme that weed you were just smoking and your wallet too.”

[Kpatch]

So if they go to boarding school, you get kids like JJ and Abigail. If they don't go to boarding school, you get kids like Ciara. LOL.

Uh oh. Rory is in big big trouble! Unless someone is joking around with him, it seems like the Salem U burglar has got him.

[heroicmuse]

Rory raised his hands slowly into the air. He started to bend his knees, then suddenly reached across, grabbing the robber’s wrist and pulling the knife away from his throat. At the same time, he tilted his head up, butting the guy in the chest.

The robber stumbled slightly; his hand slid off Rory’s mouth. He struggled to get back in control, pulling the knife towards Rory’s ribs.

Rory tightened his grip on the guy’s wrist. He twisted it hard, pulling it behind the guy’s back and forcing his fingers open. The knife fell; Rory kicked it away from them.

“Let go of me, you stupid stoner!” the robber said, throwing his free arm around Rory’s neck and trying to choke him. Rory pretended it was worse than it was, dropping his head onto the guy’s arm as if he were about to pass out. The robber let go slightly and Rory twisted out of his grasp, then elbowed the robber hard.

The robber fell backwards and Rory fell on top of him. The two wrestled on the ground, rolling over and over. The robber’s bag burst open and the duct tape he was planning on using on Rory rolled out.

Rory saw the knife half-hidden under the trees as they rolled over one more time. He gulped; using a knife against someone went against his nature, but it seemed like it was the only way to end this. The guy just wouldn’t give up otherwise.

He grabbed the knife, forcing himself to steady his hands before he quietly put the weapon against the guy’s throat. “Quit, dude,” he said, his voice trembling slightly. “Lie still.”

The robber seemingly had no choice to obey; he stopped moving. Rory grabbed the tape off the ground. He began feeling buzzed again as he wrapped tape around the guy’s wrists, then around his ankles.

When he was done, he looked around to make sure nobody was nearby, then tossed the knife into the trees. He stood up and glared at the robber. It was so dark he couldn’t really see what the other guy looked like, just that he was dark haired and that his eyes looked dead.

“You know, man,” Rory said, “If you wanted some weed you could have just asked. I always share.”

“Let me go or you’ll be sorry.”

“You’re lucky you didn’t totally ruin my high, or I’d do more than just give myself a head start. Have fun getting out of this.” Rory grabbed his bag and took off.


Even though it was late, Nicole went to the office and grabbed a bunch of files. She wanted to check out this Jeff guy and find out what his game was. She didn’t like having her name used in someone else’s scheme--she could ruin her reputation all on her own if she wanted to.

She found his folder in her reject pile. She opened it slowly, reading over his resume and application and remembering his interview.

Jeff had been a bit too gung-ho. She’d asked him what his career plans were and his eyes lit up. “I’m gonna cover the big stories,” he said. “All the crime and drugs and violence that people don’t know about. I’ll let them know what their world is really about.”

“How do you think you’ll fit in with the scintillating stories about dog shows and community days we cover here at Titan?” Nicole asked him.

“Don’t patronize me,” Jeff said, and there was some sort of spark in his eye that Nicole did not like. Then he recovered from it and said, “What I mean is, I can go out and get the real stories so that we have to push all that stuff aside. Look, I’m at Salem U, and I’m sure you think the most interesting thing there is that every time the cops shut down one kegger, another pops up on the other side of campus. But there’s stuff going on there that you won’t believe. You’ll see.”

And now here he was, claiming she sent him to cover the serial mugger on the Salem U campus and blowing her chances of getting the real story any time soon.

Nicole opened her computer and signed into the public records database. She typed in Jeff’s full name to see if anything came up. Nothing.

Nicole went to the start menu and looked through some of the other databases, trying to find something that would tell her what she wanted to know. Her phone buzzed.

“Rafe, hey!” Nicole said. “Has it been a while? I’ve been so busy covering community clothing drives and delays at the airport, I hadn’t noticed. Coffee? How about we throw caution to the wind and throw in an entire meal? Yeah, there’s something I need to talk to you about too. See you then.”

Nicole hung up the phone and went back to looking through databases. I guess there’s always good old Ewe search, she thought. She hated using it; she felt it was beneath her. But she was getting desperate.

Ewe Search turned up Jeff’s picture from some school event. Nicole printed it out. “So you show up pretending you’re something you’re not just to try to get some information,” she said to it. “Well, two can play at that game. We’ll see tomorrow how you like it.”

[Kpatch]

So is Jeff the robber? I'm getting that feeling.

Great descriptions of Rory struggling with the robber to get the upper hand. I was hoping he'd call the authorities but it doesn't seem like he will. Now I'm worried that he will be suspected of being the robber.

[heroicmuse]

The house was dark when JJ came in. He opened the door softly.

A light came on as he tiptoed towards the stairs. He glanced up as his mom came slowly downstairs. She was wearing a nightgown and her hair was down instead of being tied into a neat bun like it usually was.

“Did I wake you?” JJ asked. “I’m sorry. I was trying to be as quiet as I could.”

“No, honey, I wasn’t sleeping.” Jen came downstairs. “I couldn’t until I knew you were here at home, where it’s safe.”

“Well, I’m home now,” JJ said, “and I’m gonna head to bed, so - “

“No.” Jen sat down on the couch. “It’s more than you being out so late. I know you want your space from everyone and everything, especially me, but it’s beyond time we talked, and I’m not going to sleep until we do.” She patted the seat next to her.


Paige turned slowly to face her mother. “How long were you listening at my door?”

“Now Paige, we’ve talked about this, sweetheart, til we’re blue in the face, and the fact is that as long as there’s some crazy man on the loose who preys on sweet, innocent girls like you, you’re staying here.” Eve crossed her arms. “And if you cross me on this, sweetheart, well you’re just going to leave me no choice but to - “

“But to what?” Paige demanded, getting up. “I’m almost 19, Mom. You can’t do anything to me anymore.”

“Oh yes I can,” Eve said, moving to block the door. She pulled out her phone. “I am going to get that Hope Brady over here right now to talk some sense into you and if that doesn’t work - “

Paige rolled her eyes--something her mother had never, ever seen her do--and said, “Call whoever you want. I’m still moving in with Daphne.”

“Sweetheart, please - “

“Isn’t it enough you ruined my relationship with JJ?” Paige demanded. “You got your way on that, Mom, but that’s the last time I’m giving in to you.”

“JJ!” Eve was shocked. “Honey, I thought we agreed, that boy is no good for you. He’s the one who’s got you all riled up tonight, isn’t he? You’ve been talking to him on that college campus again.”

“No,” Paige said. “JJ and I are history, but the next time I meet a guy, everything’s going to be different. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to pack.” She pulled some flattened boxes out from under her bed.

Eve bit her lip. “Paige, sweetheart,” she said, her tone softer, “I’m not saying not to move in with Daphne. I’m just saying, you don’t have to do anything tonight. Just sleep on it, baby, that’s all I ask. If tomorrow you still want to move, I won’t stand in your way.”

“You promise?”

Eve held up her fingers. “Scouts’ honor.”

“Okay, fine,” Paige said, “but I’m not going to change my mind.” She sat down on her bed again.

Eve said goodnight to her before going back out in the living room. She fired up her computer; while she was waiting for it to come on, she said under her breath, “That’s what you think.” She typed something into her computer before picking up her phone.


Rory skateboarded all the way home, which took about an hour, since Kurt didn’t answer the phone when he called him for a ride. He told himself it was cool, but really he was pissed and didn’t want to admit it. Nobody wanted to spend their high being angry at their stupid brother.

As soon as he got home, he burst through the door, calling, “Kurt! Where are you dude? You won’t believe what just happened. I almost got robbed, man… but that lame martial arts class you made me take actually saved my life. So I owe you one, dude. Kurt? Are you here?”

Rory turned on the light. He found Kurt lying on the floor next to an open bottle of beer. For a second he thought his brother was dead, then Kurt made a horrible snoring noise and Rory realized he was just passed out. “Partying without me, huh?” he said under his breath, picking up the bottle. He took a swig from it to calm his nerves, then put it down and shook Kurt. “Dude, wake up. I just got out from under a knife to the throat. Come on, let’s smoke some together in celebration.”

Kurt pushed Rory off him. “Don’t sneak up on me like that,” he mumbled, his speech slurred. “I don’t like people sneaking up on me, man. Don’t sneak up on me.” He tried to jump up, but almost fell and had to grab onto the coffee table to steady himself. “Get away from me,” he said, trying to push the table towards Rory. “You don’t sneak up on me, little bro, not ever, you understand?”

Rory picked up his skateboard, quickly, and slid out the door.


Marissa’s dorm room seemed smaller than usual to her as she pulled back the covers on her bed. She glanced over at the door to make sure it was locked before climbing into bed and settling into her pillow.

His hand was pressed against her mouth as the door closed. He said something… and there was something sharp leaning against her neck… cold and sharp… she watched herself drop her purse on the floor… her hands went up in the air and he moved her over to the bed...

Marissa’s heart beat fast. She opened her eyes and saw she was safe in bed and that nobody else was in the room. She rolled over and closed her eyes again.

The rope was too tight around her wrists...she tried to scream but something was in her mouth… she gasped for breath while she watched her lamp fall to the floor and shatter…

Marissa sat up in bed, breathing hard. She reached for her phone, looking for something to calm herself down. When she woke up the phone, the article she’d been reading about JJ was on the screen.

Young Boy Goes Bezerk, Destroys Bookstore

She scrolled down quickly, looking for clues. “Why, JJ?” she whispered, remembering the sad look he’d given her when he’d finally turned around earlier. She’d felt his sensitivity, his pain. She’d known he was like her.

Nothing told her how this sweet, gentle boy had become this other… monster. She scrolled back up and stared at the picture of the bookstore. Glass everywhere, chairs overturned, a guy on top of JJ, holding him down the way her attacker had held her down except this time, the boy was the bad guy and the attacker the good guy.

There’s stuff about me that turns off any decent girl, JJ had said. Was this what he meant?

Marissa put the phone down and tried again to sleep, but this time when she closed her eyes, all she saw was herself in Horton Town Square, seeing JJ looking at the bookstore window like she’d seen today. She came up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around, she pushed her lips onto his, kissing him passionately, pushing him up against the bookstore window.

She jerked awake again. Sitting up, she pulled her pillow to her chest and hugged it, rocking back and forth to calm herself. What the hell is wrong with me? she thought.

[André DiMera]

I don't believe for a second that Eve won't interfere with whatever boy Paige decides to date in the future. Nobody, in her mind, will ever be good enough for Paige.

I feel really bad for Marissa.

It's very interesting getting to read a story involving Rory. Awesome story, heroicmuse

[Kpatch]

Wonder what's up with Kurt. He was freaked out.

I also wonder why Marissa is so fascinated with JJ.

Who's Eve emailing?

[heroicmuse]

JJ sat on the couch, his arms crossed. Jen had gone on and on after he’d tried to tell her he wasn’t avoiding her specifically--why couldn’t she ever listen to him?

“I know,” Jen was saying now, “that you are 19 years old and I can’t tell you what to do or when to come home. But I am asking you, JJ, no… I am begging you… until Hope catches this madman who is terrorizing Salem U, please, honey, please be here by 10 every night so that I know you’re okay.”

JJ stared at the floor while he thought about it. “I know I have done a lot of stupid stuff that’s scared you to death, and I don’t want you to have to worry about me anymore. But Mom, this guy only attacks people in the dorms.”

Jen shook her head. “I know you think that, honey, but I’ve been around long enough to know that with someone like that, you never know what they’re going to do next. It might feel like nothing can happen to you, but any time you’re on campus, especially at night, JJ, you could be putting yourself in danger.”

There was a loud crash outside. JJ and Jen looked at each other, and he could tell she was thinking the same thing he was: maybe the robber, whoever he was, was hitting private houses now.

“What was that?” Jen asked.

JJ opened a closet and took out his old baseball bat. “I dunno, but I’m gonna find out. Stay here.”

“JJ! Don’t you think we should - “

But JJ had already run out the door, holding the bat tightly, to check things out. Jen closed the door and went to the window to see what was going on.


Daniel adjusted Parker’s covers, talking to him all the while even though Parker was asleep again. “I don’t think you’re gonna get to go to your mom’s tomorrow, buddy,” he said. “But you hurry up and get better so you can go, and in the meantime, maybe...maybe she’ll come visit you here. Would you like that? Yeah, I bet you would.”

“So you’re Daniel Jonas,” a voice said from the doorway. Daniel turned to see a short woman standing there, holding a clipboard. The woman had bright blue eyes that were hidden behind her glasses and red hair arranged into a loose ponytail. She was wearing a lab coat.

“And you are?” Daniel asked.

“Elizabeth Harper,” the woman said, coming all the way into the room. “But all the kids call me Dr. Liz.”

“Well, he’s asleep,” Daniel said. He glanced at the monitor above Parker’s bed. “His heart rate and respiration rate have been stable for hours. How soon can we try taking him off the oxygen?”

“You’d be better off asking the pulmonologist about that,” Elizabeth said, “or maybe the cardiologist. That kind of stuff isn’t my specialty.”

“So then, why are you here?”

“I’m a pediatric counselor,” Elizabeth explained. She glanced at Daniel and added, “though I also do adults.” She blushed. “Anyway, being in the hospital can be stressful for children--and for parents too--so whenever the little ones are sick, I come around to see how everyone’s doing.”

“Yeah, well, he’s asleep, and I gotta tell you, he doesn’t do so well with strangers, so I don’t know if you’ll get anything out of him. But if you wanna give it a try, tomorrow would be - “

“Yes, I figured.” Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder as someone else came to the door. Daniel was relieved to see it was Nicole.

“Well, your wife probably wants to say good night,” Elizabeth said, “so - “

“Oh, she’s not - “

“Girlfriend, wife, whatever. I’ll leave you to it. It was certainly nice meeting you, Dr. Jonas, and I’m sure we will be seeing a lot of each other.” Elizabeth slid out of the room.


When JJ rushed outside, he found Rory struggling to pick up the trash can from the driveway. Trash had spilled all over and Rory’s skateboard was flipped over on the side of the driveway.

“Sorry dude,” Rory said, seeming slightly out of breath. “I had a little mishap.” He tried to right the trash can but he couldn’t quite do it.

“Come on!” JJ said. “I did more than enough of this when I had to clean the frickin’ square to stay out of jail.” He threw the bat down and helped Rory get the trash can back where it belonged. “What are you coming over here all high for anyway?”

Rory scowled. “I need a place to crash and I thought you were the kind of friend who would do anything for me. I guess I forgot, that guy doesn’t live here anymore. Sorry I bothered you.” He picked up his skateboard and slammed it down on the concrete. Something cracked; he cursed under his breath and tucked the skateboard under his arm as he stomped off.

[Kpatch]

Rory is having the worst day ever, getting rejected at every turn. Jennifer is right that the robber isn't just attacking people in dorms. Ask Rory … when he's not high.

Interesting that the pediatric case worker immediately thought Nicole was Daniel's wife. I bet Nicole liked that!

Thanks for the update heroicmuse!

[heroicmuse]

JJ followed him to the end of the driveway. “Rory, wait, I didn’t mean it like that, man. Just my mom was getting on my case about hanging out late when there’s that guy robbing people and -” Rory bit his lip, and JJ noticed how wide his eyes got. “What?”

Rory leaned on his skateboard. “Look, dude, even though I’m mad at you, I’d be a crappy friend if I didn’t tell you to be careful. I...I ran into that guy in the woods. He’s messed up, and not good messed up either, scary messed up. Anyone who’d pull a knife on me just for $5 and a tiny bit of weed’s gotta be.”

“Oh my God.” JJ paced back and forth. “What’d he do to you?”

“Nothing, man. Yep, you’re looking at the only person who got one over on the Salem U robber.” Rory grinned. “He had duct tape and everything, dude, and I don’t even wanna know what he was gonna do with it, but it doesn’t matter. I turned the tables. It’s gonna take him at least til dawn to get free.”

JJ looked at him sideways. “You’re okay?”

“Better than ever, man. He can’t keep me down.” Rory’s grin faded to nothing. “I do need a place to crash for a few though. My stupid brother is too partied out to join in the celebration.” He took out a joint. “I took the edge off a little before I headed over, and I got enough to replace. I know you don’t wanna do that stuff, but I’m prepared in case you change your mind.”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“Your loss.” Rory flicked his lighter.

JJ put his hand on Rory’s wrist. He could feel it shaking, and he didn’t think it was just from all the stuff Rory did, either. “Wait on that just a little. We still gotta get past my mom, and if she can tell you’re lit up, she’ll have a fit.”

“If anyone could use some, it’s her,” Rory said, giggling.

JJ shot an angry look his way. Rory’s face fell. “There was a time you could take a joke, dude,” he said, but he put the joint away before following JJ back to the house.


Bev and Cole’s kissing session had gotten hotter and heavier; Cole had backed Bev up against a tree and was kissing her hard while reaching for the buttons on her blouse. She was equally into it, pretending to push Cole away because that’s what he liked, but really wanting him.

Suddenly, there was a cry for help coming from the clearing. Bev pushed Cole away for real. “Hey,” he said, annoyed. “What game are you playing now?”

“Didn’t you hear that?” Bev demanded. “Someone’s in trouble.”

“What, you care about them more than you do about me?” Cole kissed Bev again, lightly, but she pulled away as the person called for help again.

“Go see what’s going on,” Bev said.

“All right, all right.” Cole tightened his belt. “Don’t move til I get back.” He disappeared into the woods. Bev waited til he was far enough ahead that he wouldn’t know she was disobeying him before she followed.


“Do I want to know who that was?” Nicole asked Daniel as she came all the way into the room.

“Not really,” Daniel told her. “Just some shrink. No one important.”

“The inmates are running the asylum, huh?” Nicole said. “Anyway, what’s the news about Parker?”

Daniel sighed. “Wish I had some to give you. He was up for a few hours but otherwise it’s just these machines keeping him stable.”

“Thank God for technology,” Nicole said. “Daniel, forget what I said earlier, okay? Parker’s going to be fine.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Nicole looked Daniel over to get a sense of how okay he was. “Um, you said you needed me to do something?”

“Yeah.” Daniel fished his keys out of his pocket. “I’m gonna be staying here with Parker so I need someone to check on things over at my apartment. Do you mind stopping by when you get a chance?”

“Of course.” Nicole sort of half smiled. “Want me to stay so I can do crowd control around your front door?”

“Nah,” Daniel said, “but tell you what. If you want to sleep in the guest bedroom for old time’s sake, go for it.”

“Tempting,” Nicole said, “but not tonight. I have to chase down a fake intern tomorrow, so I gotta get ready.”

“A what?”

“It’s a long story for another day. I could wring Miles’ neck for getting me involved in this star search crap. But first, I want to track down this Jeff guy and let him know that name dropping’s not free of charge.”

“Nicole…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t go too far...or at least I won’t get caught.” Nicole winked.

Daniel rubbed his temples and said, “I hope not, cause I don’t wanna have to come bail your ass out.”

“As if!” Nicole laughed. Her smile faded and she said, “Seriously, though, you just get some sleep tonight. I got this.” She hugged Daniel and said, “Kiss Parker for me, okay? I don’t want to wake him.”


Jen turned away from the window as JJ came into the house, trailed by Rory, “Honey, what - “

“Mom!” JJ said as Rory closed the door. “You won’t believe what Rory just told me.”

Jennifer glanced at Rory, who plopped himself onto the couch, then turned back to JJ. “Is that what you’ve been doing every night?” she asked. “Hanging out late with Rory, that’s why you didn’t want to come home?”