Things Do Get Better
Chapter 8
Nobody said anything. No one knew what to say. I was sitting in the back, looking out the window. Tears were running down my face. "Why did this happen? Is all this happening because of my mom dying?" I thought to myself. Chris, who was sitting next to me, put his arm around me and squeezed my shoulder. I laid my head against him. I closed my eyes with tears still falling. "Why are the guys helping me? They have lives too, which they put on hold, just to help me."
"Katie. Katie, wake up. We're at the hotel," Chris said quietly, trying to wake me. "Huh? What? We are?" I asked, a little confused since I didn't remember falling asleep. I got out of the car and walked into the hotel with them.
"You're gonna share Lance's room, since he isn't sharing with anybody this time and that he has another bed in his room," JC told me. "OK," I said, taking my bags from Justin and Joey and following Lance into the room. The other guys went into their rooms.
I put my bags in the corner of the room by the dresser. I walked over to the bed that was clear of stuff and sat down. I glanced at the clock. "It's only 10:39pm?" I thought. Lance sat down next to me. "You'll be fine," he said. "You know we won't let him do anything to you." I looked at him with tears in my eyes. "That's what I don't understand," I said. "What do ya mean?" "Why you guys decided to help me. You didn't have to come after me when I ran out of McDonalds, but you did. You asked me what was wrong, knowing something was. You didn't stop asking until you found out. And now, you guys are taking me with you, so my dad won't kill me or something. I just don't understand why you guys hung around with me today to make sure I was all right instead of doing what you wanted to do," I answered.
"We did all that because we don't like to see people hurt. You were obviously hurt. So, we all wanted to help. To make sure you were going to be fine. The only way you're going to be fine is if we get you away from your dad. That's why we decided to take you back to Orlando with us." I just sat there. For the first time in a really long time, I knew someone cared about me. They only knew me for about a day, but they cared. I started to cry lightly. "There are people out there in that world who cares about what happens to me," I thought. Lance hugged me. "You should get some rest. It's been a long day." I nodded. "You gonna be OK if I go across the hall for a little while?" he asked. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I probably fall right to sleep." "OK. I'll see ya in the morning then. Night," he said, giving me one more reassuring hug. "Night," I said as he left.
I got up and walked over to my bags. I pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of flannel pajama pants and walked into the bathroom. I looked in the mirror. "Things will get better," I whispered. "They already are. Not only am I here with *NSYNC, I found out they care about me. Everything will definitely get better." I quickly changed and splashed water on my face. I walked out of the bathroom and put my clothes in my bag. I looked up at the window. My mouth dropped open. I starred at what I saw. I couldn't believe it.
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