That Friday, he left the center with a clean bill of health, loaded his black jeep over the weekend, and Monday morning he moved. He didn't tell his mother where he went, only that he'd call on Sunday nights. He also didn't tell her he'd changed his name to Jason Rasleigh. It was the only way he could think of to keep his identity a secret from the people he knew would recognize him. He drove for a week, arriving in Denver late Sunday night. He didn't try to find his apartment that night, waiting until Monday. Then he had about a week to get used to the campus.
He moved into the apartment with the help of his roommates. There were four of them all together, two in each room. The other three had roomed together the year before, but didn't mind his intrusion. He kept his side of the room sparsely decorated, with only pictures and the logo ripped from a poster from the recent tour. His roommate, Paul, looked at him strangely, but didn't ask him about it. He had one picture of his family - so Paul assumed - but the other had people he thought he knew, but didn't know how.
He got there early so he could audition for the choir. It was really the first time he'd tried. He decided on "White Christmas", and did it a capella, more because he didn't know anyone to play for him than for any other reason. Mrs. Foster looked at him for a minute after he'd finished.
"Why did you chose that one?" she asked.
He grinned. "I thought it would be a nice change for you. And I didn't realize that I would have to do an audition. It was one I had prepared."
She looked thoughtfully at him. "You've had some training. Solo?"
"Some. Not much." He opened his mouth to go on, then closed it again, familiar panic gripping him. He brought himself sternly under control. "I prefer to sing in a choir."
She smiled. "With that voice, you are going to be singing solos before you know it."
The panic almost got out, and he clenched his fists in the pockets of his jeans. His voice, however was perfectly even. "Give me a little time to get used to being in school again, please." He even managed a smile.
"Been a while?"
"About six years, actually."
"What made you decide to come back?"
He paused. "A lot of things. I... messed up my life, so I decided to change it. Part of that change was going back to school."
"Good. Are you glad to be here?"
"So far. Only, school hasn't started." He grinned roguishly. "Ask me again in about three weeks."
His choir teacher loved him. She had found an excellent tenor who blended well, knew a lot of obscure songs, though he didn't know some very well, and could sing solos. He wouldn't, though, but she wouldn't take no for an answer for long, and Jason knew it. He loved to sing, and some of the songs made him want to dance. He could feel his energy returning and enjoyed it, putting it all into his classes.
Shortly after school started, Jason began to have nightmares. He woke in the middle of the night, loathing himself. Paul woke occasionally to see him sitting up in bed, the light from the street reflecting off the tears on his face. The next morning, he was fine. He never remembered the dreams.
The support group helped Jason get used to normal life more than anything else. It had been a long time since he'd participated in anything other than New Kids, and he had to relearn a lot. He had a lot of chances to laugh at himself, which he did often. He knew the group had a lot of questions about him, but he was grateful no one asked. He didn't know how he'd handle it.
After nearly a month of school, Paul finally asked about the pictures on Jason's desk.
"I figured it out," he said, by way of starting the conversation. Jason turned to look at him as he walked over to his desk. "That's New Kids on the Block, and it's a real snapshot."
"Yeah. Just before this last tour," Jason grinned.
"Right. One of the group must have taken the picture, 'cause you're in it. Who's the girl? And how did you get a backstage pass?"
"The girl is my cousin. I just asked for the pass."
"You just asked? Wow, friends in high places, huh?" He looked at his roommate in awe.
Jason laughed. It even sounded natural. "I grew up with them. That was taken about four weeks after Jordan got out of the hospital." He pointed to his brother.
"What for?"
Jason tried not to let Paul know the anger he still felt about it. "Some jerk shot him in the chest. They said Jordan was lucky to have survived." He paused. "I think they'll probably find someone else to join; the stage is really lopsided with only four." He seemed to be talking to himself.
"Hey, didn't one of them disappear?"
Jason paused, looking blankly at the picture. "Yeah. He really got into trouble. It was Jordan's brother, Jonathan. He stopped getting along with Jordan, started..." He took a deep breath. He found it much easier to talk about as if he were a third person. "Got hooked on uppers, then really messed up everything else. So he went home in the middle of the tour, got cleared up, and disappeared."
"Wow," Paul said. "Tough on him, wasn't it? Sometimes, though, it's nice to know those people aren't perfect." He paused. "He must have taken the picture."
Jason laughed. "I've heard some horror stories. It gets really interesting when you're stuck with the same people for months at a time."
"It's nice to finally meet you, man. Don't hide so much," Paul said, punching his shoulder lightly. Jason laughed and went back to his homework. Once Paul was deep into his homework, Jason took a deep breath and let it out slowly. One large hurdle had been taken care of. Hopefully that would hold up, and he'd get no more questions. They were harder to answer than he thought.
He called home on Sunday nights, and received news from his mother about the family and the band. As far as she knew, they weren't planning on getting someone to replace him. That seemed very strange to him. It had been odd to her to have him disappear without a trace, so she asked often if he was going to come home and why he'd left, at least at first. She stopped asking when he didn't answer. He only answered one question; if he wanted to be left alone, and that answer was a definite yes.
Very rarely did he mention what he was doing. She did know he was going to school, but not where. He figured he was breaking her heart, but that was nothing compared to what would happen when she found out what he'd done.
Go on to Next Chapter | Grounds for Vengeance
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