A Mass Hysteria In The Modern World

[1 Year Later - Alyssa's POV.]

Abby had finally recovered from her drug abuse, and everything about her emotionally. Keith was turning a year old on Halloween, which was in three days. Alice, Klaus, Martena, and Tre were a happy family and nothing had gone wrong. Adrienne and Christian never showed up again; Abby was really hurt by that. Christian had been her closest friend other than Alice. Randi and Mike had finally had their first child named Jennifer Aimee Pritchard. She was only three months old.

"Billie, school get's out in a few minutes. Could you drive up there and pick up Abby, please?" Alyssa asked as she fed Keith, who was sitting in his high chair.

"Yeah, let me find my keys..." he responded and walked to the front door followed by a 'jingle' coming from his pant pocket.

"I think they're in your pocket," Alyssa laughed. Billie reached in his pocket, smiled a little and opened the door.

"I love you!" He said before walking out. Alyssa smiled and continued to feed Keith until he spit it out at her and it landed on her face. She squinted her eyes as she put the spoon and baby food down on the tray. She stood up and walked to the kitchen with her eyes closed, reaching for a napkin or a towel to wipe her face off. She could hear Keith laughing in the other room. After all the baby food was off her face she noticed that it had gotten on her shirt too.

"Dammit," she mumbled followed with a sigh. She grabbed Keith from his high chair and took him upstairs with her to go get a new shirt. Once in her and Billie's bedroom, she sat Keith on the very neatly made bed and walked over to the closet. She grabbed a shirt from the closet. It was an Angels and Airwaves shirt that read "LOVE" across the chest and had two logos on either sleeve. After turning off the light and closing the closet doors, Alyssa removed her baby food-soaked-shirt and pulled the clean shirt over her head.

"Babe! I'm home!" She heard Billie say as he came in through the front door. Alyssa grabbed Keith and went down the steps with him.

"Alice! What a surprise!" She said handing Keith off to Billie. "How was school girls?"

"Good," they both responded and headed upstairs to Abby's room. Billie and Alyssa went to the kitchen; Billie grabbed a beer and Alyssa sat at the table.

"Really, Beej?"

"What?"

"It's three in the afternoon, save it for later."

"But... I don't want to..."

"Billie, you don't need to be drinking in front of the girls. Especially Keith."

"Well, since you put it that way..." Billie said, putting the beer back in the fridge.

"Thank you, dear," she said with a smile.

"No problem."

Alice's POV.

"Are you going to tell your parents?" I asked Abby as she played with the stuffed animals on her bed. I was looking through her CD's, trying to find something to put in her stereo.

"I don't know. I mean, everything just got back to normal..."

"Abby, I don't think that telling him that you have a boyfriend will change anything."

"They might not trust me, though."

Billie's POV.

Alyssa had just gotten home from walking Alice across the street to her house and Keith was finally asleep in his crib upstairs. It's so relaxing to know that it was Friday and touring was now over. I lay down on the bed and I immediately begin to feel how tired I was. I heard Alyssa turn the TV off downstairs and then come into the room a few seconds later.

"You tired?" She laughed. I lifted my head up and noticed that she had quickly changed into pajamas.

"I'm exhausted, babe."

"Sleep then."

"That's why I'm trying to do!" I laughed and began to doze off.

The next thing I knew, the sun was shining through the window and I could hear Keith laughing and running around by the sound of his shoes hitting the wood floor downstairs. I slowly got up and continued to walk down the steps and into the living room. Keith came running in and jumped on me. I smiled and picked him up then went to find Alyssa; she was laying on the couch.

"Morning, babe," I said and kissed her head.

"Hey!" She said still half asleep. "What took you so long?"

"What do you mean?"

"I woke up ages before you!"

"Sorry! I completely passed out last night, remember?"

"Oh, right," she said and got up then quickly laid back down. "Ow! I got up too fast..."

[Martena's POV]

It had been awhile since the "gang" had all hung out with Lyssa and Billie having another kid, Jason White went back to Little Rock for a bit to visit his family, Mike and Randi went on vacation, and Tre had just gotten sick when him and I went out to Maine, a dream vacation of mine.

"Marteeeeeena!" I heard Tre yell from upstairs. With hearing my husband yell my name, I went up the steps and into our bedroom where he was laying in bed.

"What do you need, babe?" I asked softly. Tre was still sick; we got home four days ago.

"Could you please bring me some orange juice?"

I smiled at him, "of course." I then went downstairs and into the kitchen.

[Randi's POV]

"I love it here," I smiled at my husband and gave him a quick kiss. "It's too bad we're going home tomorrow."

Mike gave me a small frown and laid back on the bed. I got up from my side of the bed and walked over to the giant window that overlooked the beach. When I opened the blinds, I looked out and saw that the sun was going down. I gasped.

"What is it?" Mike asked. He got up and about sprinted over to where I was. Once he saw that nothing was wrong, he put his head on my shoulder then put his arms around my waist.

[Jason W's POV]

Landing in my hometown was a great feeling. It was great to escape from California, from the band, and from the one girl who I had ever really loved. I still can't stand to look at her and know that she has a husband and two kids, which could have all belonged to me if things would have never have screwed up.

I didn't leave California because of her, I do miss my parents. I don't know when I'm going back though.

I eventually arrived at my old home; it still looked the same. I knocked on the door and it opened almost immediately. Except, I didn't recognize the face.

"Hello, can I help you?" the man asked. He looked as if he was in his mid-50's.

"Umm... I'm here to see my parents."

"Who?"

"Mr. and Mrs. White."

This was all very confusing.

"Oh! Yes, are you Jason?" He asked, letting me in. He shut the door behind me and I sat my bags on the marble floor.

"Yes, I'm Jason. Where are my parents?"

He smiled, "right this way. They're expecting you."

The man took me into the living room where I saw my parents sitting. My mom was all dressed up and my dad was too, but he had fallen asleep. I laughed to myself.

"Addie, John... your son is here."

Addie was my mother's name. John, well, is obviously my father's name.

"Jason? Is that you?" my mother said. She got up and almost cried. "It is you!" She moved as fast as she could to me and gave me a huge hug. I was taller than her now.

"John! Wake up you fool. Our son is here!"

"Oh! Jason! So nice to see you!"

My dad got up and gave me a hug also.

[Billie's POV]

"Honey! Should I go out and get some stuff for Keith's birthday party?" I asked, holding Keith at my side.

"Sure, if you want. Would you like me to come with you?"

"No, it's okay. I can do this," I smiled. Alyssa sort of laughed. "I'll even take Keith with me."

She looked at me like there was something behind me and it was about to bite my head off.

"You'd really do that?" She asked. I nodded. "You're the best." She smiled and got up from the bathroom floor where she was scrubbing down the bathtub, making sure it was white and fresh looking. She gave me a hug and I kissed her on the head.

"Don't be too long, you know. Keith's bedtime is in two hours," she warned me.

"Don't worry," I said, dragging out 'worry' longer than how it'd be used normally. Alyssa put her hand on her hip and gave me a look.

"Okay, okay. I'll be back in an hour. I love you."

"I love you, too. Make sure he doesn't see anything you're buying," she said right before I shut the door.

I locked the front door then opened my car with the handy-dandy remote control I had on my car keys. After I opened the back door, I put Keith in his car seat then got into the driver's seat. He started laughing and sucking his toes. I laughed at him.

"Keith! Don't do that," I laughed and pulled his foot out of his mouth. He stopped laughing and gave me a look. His brownish-reddish hair was growing; he must have gotten it from me.

"Oh, fine," I said and gave him a binky. After pulling out of the driveway, it was only a five minute drive to the closest Super Market.

[Alyssa's POV]

After Billie left, I headed back upstairs and noticed that I needed a change of clothes. Going into the bedroom, I opened the closet and looked for an outfit that would look decent and something that I could work on house duties in. A pair of gray sweatpants and a black t-shirt would have to do. I sighed.

"Another load of laundry to do, yet again."

I figured since I was already up and distracted from cleaning the bathroom, that I would hurry up and do the laundry.

[Randi's POV]

"Jenniferrrrrr," I cooed at my daugher. She finally cracked a smile. "Oh my God, Michael! Come here!"

Mike came running into the living room.

"What?!"

"Jennifer smiled for the first time!"

"No way!"

I saw Mike leave the room and then coming back a few seconds later with his camera.

"Get her to do it again," he said.

"I don't know how!"

"Just do it!"

[Billie's POV]

"Okay, I have the cake mix, the candles, the decorations, the wrapping paper, the icing, the goodie bags, the prizes, I don't think I'm missing anything," I said to myself. Keith couldn't understand anything I was saying, but he was still looking up at me in amazement.

"What else would Mommy want, huh?" I asked him. He just kept staring at me. I laughed and I pushed the cart along and turned towards the cash registers. Once I got there, I found an empty line and took advantage of it.

"Hello, how are you?" The cashier asked me.

"I'm fine. Yourself?" I asked while getting my money out of my wallet.

"Just fine," she sighed, ringing up the groceries and putting them in the bags. She looked up and saw Keith and smiled. "Is he yours?"

I smiled at Keith. "He sure is." I rubbed his head and Keith gave me a smile.

"He's adorable," she said.

"Thank you."

After a few minutes of awkward silence, she was done ringing up all the items.

"Your total comes to thirty dollars and fourty-six cents."

I handed her exact change, wished her a good day, and I was off.

[Alyssa's POV]

The laundry was done and the bathroom was done. Now, it was time to sit back and relax. I landed on the recliner that you pretty much sunk into when sitting on it, propped my feet up, and tried to get some sleep. A few minutes later, I heard Billie pull into the driveway. I opened my eyes and ran my fingers through my hair in a stressful way.

"Alright," I sighed and got up.

"Hey! I'm home!" I heard Billie yell from the front door. "Could you help me with these groceries? They're really heavy."

"What all did you get?" I asked, walking out into the living room and picking up some bags.

"Oh, a lot of stuff. But it was less than $40! So don't freak out on me, please."

"I won't, I wont."