Rockstar Redux

Episode 1:

My arms were weighted with shopping bags as I walked along the Avenue. Audis and BMWs lined the street. I cursed when I felt my phone start vibrating. I stopped outside a small sidewalk café and dumped my bags in an empty chair, collapsing into the other as I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

"Hello?"

"Dani, baby, how are you?" I grinned.

"Hey Jessie," I responded. "I'm doing good. How are you?"

"Aw I'm alright doll, thanks for asking."

"How's the hospital treating you?" I asked.

"Well it's much too clean and way too white," he joked. His voice lowered slightly. "But there is this one really hot nurse that more than makes up for it."

"Well aren't you lucky," I teased him. My smile faded a little bit with my next question. "So what did they say?"

"I broke my leg in two places and I'll have to get minor surgery. Two of my lower ribs are cracked and when I came in I had I mild concussion. All in all I thought I came out pretty well." He tried to joke but his voice was a little strained.

"When do you think you'll be able to get back to the track?"

"I get released from here in about a week then I'll come visit with you guys but I don't think I'm going to race for a while."

"What about Central?" I asked, shifting in my chair a little bit.

"It's definitely not going to happen this year. I guess it'll be all up to you this year babe." I smiled even though he couldn't see it. "Alright well it's time for me to be taken care of so I'll talk to you later. Come by and see me sometime yeah?"

"Of course! I'll talk to you later." We both hung up and I slid my phone back into my pocket as I stood. A waitress that had been somewhat hovering near my table glared at me as I gathered my bags and prepared to leave without ordering anything. I hadn't gotten two steps when I felt the bags being taken from me. I whirled around and squealed when I saw who it was.

"Jace!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around his neck. His came around my waist, lifting me off the ground. People glared at us as they stepped around my shopping bags which had been dropped in the middle of the sidewalk. "When did you get back?"

"Just a couple of hours ago." He grinned, lowering me to the ground. "I just wanted to come see my favorite girl."

"How did you know I'd be here?" He gave me a pointed look.

"Please, I don't think there's been a Saturday you haven't walked the Avenue since I've met you." He let go of me and stooped to pick up my bags for me. Jason Green was my best friend. Two years ago his father was transferred to another state and although it was long distance, we still managed to keep our tight friendship. He was a musician and skated upon occasion which contrasted sharply with the type people expected me to be, but that didn't bother me at all. During out freshman year, still coming out of that awkward stage, we dated for about two weeks before deciding that we had way more fun just as friends.

I pulled my keys out of my pocket and unlocked my Nissan Titan and pulled the passenger door open. Jason deposited my bags on the floorboard then leaned against the side of the truck. I closed the door and leaned next to him.

"Are you racing tonight?" he asked with a grin on his face.

"Davon's hosting so I know I'll go but I'm not sure if I'm gonna race or not. I may just end up watching," I said, somewhat indecisively.

"You'll race, you know you will." He looked at me a moment longer before grinning and pulling me into another hug. "Damn girl, it's good to see you."

"I missed you too buddy," I said, hugging him back.

"Well well look who's still a whore," I heard someone sneer behind me. I turned around and glared at the prissy little Barbie doll of an ex-best friend.

"Oh go get another boob job Brittany," I retorted. I heard a furious high-pitched squeal and the clack of her heels as she turned and stormed off. Jason started laughing.

"Well at least your come-backs are getting better." I turned back at him, grinning.

"So how long are you back for this time?" He raised an eyebrow at my question.

"Did Aaron not tell you?" he asked, slightly confused. It was my turn to raise an eyebrow.

"What did my brother neglect to tell me this time?"

"I'm back for the year," he told me. "I'm staying at your house."

"What?!" I exclaimed. "That is so freakin' awesome!"

"Yeah your parents said it was cool as long as they didn't come home to find you pregnant or something." He made a face and I whacked him on the arm.

"That's disgusting," I told him. "So why did you come back in the first place?"

"Well I sort of got a gig," he said slowly, sheepishly running a hand through his hair.

"You came all the way back here for a gig? Wow it must be big time then. Where? With who?" I started bombarding him with questions. He laughed and clamped a hand over my mouth.

"You'll meet them later I promise. One of them is going to meet up at Devon's with us to watch the race tonight. I told him about your car and Central and he wants to come watch."

"Well I hope he's not disappointed if I don't end up racing."

"You know you'll end up racing. You can never resist." He glanced down at his watch. "Speaking of tonight, isn't there some fancy-shmancy hoity-toity party things that you're supposed to go to?"

"Oh shit! I almost forgot about that. Well I guess since you're staying at the house I'll see you in a little bit," I said, rushing around to the driver's side.

"It was great seeing you again kid," he said, waving. "It's going to be a crazy year." He set off strolling back down the Avenue back towards his car whistling with his hands in his baggy pockets.

Just as I was pulling into the driveway my phone started to ring again. It was my brother.

"Danielle Fombre, where the hell are you?" he yelled.

"Calm down I just pulled up," I said then quickly hung up the phone so he couldn't yell at me anymore. I stepped into the house a quarter to six to find my brother pacing in the hallway. As soon as I walked in he came forward and grabbed my arm, pulling me as gently as he could towards the stairs.

"Dani, hurry up. We need to leave right at 7. We can't be late," he told me as he gave me a push up the stairs. I laughed and shook my head.

"Calm down, I know." There was one of these black-tie events every year and I absolutely hated going. However, my brother and I had to go to represent our parents while they were "away." Although, it was doubtful they were ever coming back, seeing as how they'd been gone a little under four years. I hated going but it kept a check coming to us every month so neither my brother nor I had to work. They money was practically Aaron's anyway because I supported myself, for the most part, by racing.

I stepped into my room and threw my bags on my bed then went and got into the shower. I got out and wrapped a towel around myself and started blow-drying my hair and putting on my make-up. I was ready with about 15 minutes to spare. I slipped on my dress and stood in front of the mirror. Brown eyes gazed back at me. I fussed a little more with my long brown hair before looking down at my dress. Since it was extremely formal I had on a long silky dress. It was strapless so I adjusted the top a little bit. I ran my hands down the front to smooth out the non-existent wrinkles.

"You look perfect, stop worrying." My head snapped in the direction of a familiar voice. His black hair had been slightly tamed and a small silver stud instead of his usual loop was in one ear.

"Jace!" I said, surprised for the second time in the same day. He was wearing a tux although I almost had to laugh at the sight of his Vanns under his dress pants. He looked down to where my gaze was and looked back up, grinning.

"Can you blame me?" he asked. I shook my head.

"What are you doing here? I thought you hated these things."

"Well so do you but I couldn't let you suffer alone." He offered his arm and I laughed and grabbed my keys and purse. As we were making our way out the door I picked up my bag with my racing clothes and gave it to Jason.

"Aw Dani do I have to carry this?" he whined. I just nodded my head, giving him a little shove in the direction of my truck. He stopped abruptly.

"We're not taking your car?" he questioned.

"No we'll come back for it." I glanced towards the garage and saw that Aaron's car was already gone. "Just get in the car." I told him when I saw him pout.

"But why can't we take your car?"

"This is my car," I said slowly, as if he couldn't understand me.

"You know what I mean. Why can't we take your other car?"

"Jason you know perfectly well I hate other people driving that car, especially valets," I explained. I pulled out of the driveway as he turned on a Megadeth CD.

"So I'm going to get to ride with you tonight right?" he asked casually as I sped down the road.

"I don't think so. You stand on the sidelines just like everyone else. You'll have company to entertain anyway." His face lit up.

"Oh yeah. Ok. Just this once I won't sit with you," he said. "Oh shut up. I'll ride with you one of these times." I pulled up to the house that was hosting the party. Just as I predicted there were valets standing outside of the front door near the driveway. We both got out of the car and the valet handed me a ticket. Jason offered me his arm and we walked in as one of the valets went to park my truck.

"How long do these things last?" he murmured.

"Usually 'til midnight at least," I whispered back. "The race starts at 10:30 so we'll leave here in about an hour. That should be enough to pacify the sharks." We walked through the "grand hall" and into the ballroom. I nearly groaned when the host and hostess caught sight of us and started making their way over.

"Danielle, darling!" the woman exclaimed. "How are you? Your parents aren't back yet? What a pity," she said, clicking her tongue. I felt Jason apply a little pressure to my arm and I forced a smile.

"I'm fine thank you for asking Mrs. Shanova," I said, almost through clenched teeth. I hated that woman and every year at these parties I remembered why.

"How is school going Dani?" her husband asked. I gave him a genuine smile.

"As well as school ever goes Mr. Shanova." He was the only one of these stuck-up people to call me by my nick-name. I saw his wife's lips tighten. She was not pleased by my warm reaction to her husband. She tugged on his arm towards a couple that had just walked into the room.

"Danielle its lovely you could come. Enjoy the party but we must be going." She turned and began pulling her husband. He smiled warmly at me.

"Remember that if you ever need anything I'm just a phone call away." Then he allowed himself to be dragged away. Jason poked my arm and pointed over to the other side of the room. I looked up and saw my brother talking to a few of the younger men. We started walking around the dance floor towards him. I felt a hand on my other arm and I was pulled away from Jason and onto the dance floor. Arms locked around my waist before I got a good look at who had pulled me away. When I finally got a glimpse my hands went to his chest, trying to push him away.

"Just one dance Danielle," he said in a low voice.

"Why should I even tolerate your presence?" I asked harshly, still attempting to push him away. I looked around, wondering where Jason had gone.

"I've missed you Dani." I stopped struggling and just looked at him.

"Bullshit." I spat at him. "Now let me go or I swear to god I'll scream." He didn't let go so I took a deep breath but before I could make any noise his lips crashed into mine. I screeched and yanked my head back then slapped him across the face as hard as I could. People had stopped and were staring at me open-mouthed. He reached up and felt his face while slowly turning his head back to me. Aaron, meanwhile, had been alerted that his sister was the cause of the disturbance. When he saw me standing face-to-face with my ex he stopped short.

"If you ever," I began in a low tone, "ever so much as touch me again I swear Stephen I will make you unable to sire children for the rest of your life." And with that said I turned and stormed off as best I could on my wobbly stilettos. I found a chair and collapsed in it and the moment I did I could hear the buzz of gossip starting up around me. Jason came back to me, finally, and set a cup of punch in front of me.

"Where did you go?" I mumbled, taking a sip.

"I figured you'd want some time with Stephen," he explained, eyebrows furrowed.

"Not a chance in hell," I replied. His hand stopped halfway to bringing his drink to his mouth. He slowly lowered it, staring at me with wide-eyes. I carefully avoided his gaze.

"Ok obviously I've missed something pretty important here," he said finally. "You're in trouble now," he said as he saw my brother approaching with purposeful strides. People were still gaping at me. Stephen had disappeared.

"You ok?" he asked gruffly. Jason stared at him as if he had grown two heads. He glanced at his watch, ignoring my best friend. "You'll be late," he told me. Barley any time had passed since we had arrived but I knew Aaron didn't particularly want me to be there, especially with my ex-boyfriend present.

"Thanks bro," I said, standing up and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Do good and be safe," he reminded me. I headed for the door, Jason on my heels. We were almost there when we were stopped.

"My dear are you going so soon?" Mrs. Shanova asked. I nodded with a tight smile. One of her friends looked on with vague interest.

"Yes ma'am, thank you very much for the invitation. The party is wonderful as always," I recited perfectly. Aaron had made me practice until I was nearly hoarse. "We really must be going though."

As we walked away I heard her friend murmur some slight against my brother and my poor upbringing. I had no retort nor would I want to defend my parents. There were really parents only by blood for all other intents and purposes they were complete strangers. The valet brought my truck to the door and we climbed in. It wasn't long after we had picked up my car and changed clothes than we were pulling up to the garage. People were milling around the cars talking, smoking, drinking, or all three.

A/N

I figure this is as good a place as any to stop. As you can see this is a vastly different story than the original. I left the other one up for the time being, I'm not quite sure why. This will be vastly changed from the simply because I want it to be slightly more realistic. Any and all comments and criticism is welcome but if you have something relatively negative please say it in a nice way. I get really irritated with flames. If you don't like it that much then don't read it.

I'll have the next episode out by Sunday evening so look for it then.

Thanks!