Habits You Couldn't Bear to Keep

I felt all the sweat in the building cling to my body which made my clothes cling to me. I was panting out the last verse of Thnks Fr Th Mmrs. Screams bounced off the flat edges and corners back into my plugged ears. The guys said their goodbyes and headed offstage. I was smiling like an idiot when we were behind closed doors. Andy gave me a confused and asked, "Why are you so happy?"

I sighed contentedly. "I get to shower and sleep for the next," I paused to look at my watch. "11 hours."

He laughed heartily and patted me on the back. "We have a meet and greet, buddy o' mine." My happy place was destroyed. I sighed, with distraught this time, and went to wash my face and change into acleanerdryer shirt.

When I came out, there was a few guys and girls. Most of them trying to hang on Pete's every word but he'd just pull a Scar and push them off the edge of his sentence. Others rushed to me as I emerged frommy sanctuarythe bathroom. The rest were with Joe and Andy.

"Hey! I know you!" I said suddenly to one of the guys. "You've come to quite a few shows and signings before. Jacen, right?"

He looked surprised and was about to reply but the girl next to him secretly pinched his arm. She answered for him. "Um, no. You probably have the wrong guy."

I looked her over skeptically but ignored it. "Oh, okay. Well, hi."

"Hey," they greeted in unison,

"Listen, you all seem like a cool bunch. You mind breaking the rules so I can get some fresh air? That has got to the hottest show ever."

The pincher girl smirked. "I'm cool with that. Guys?" She looked around at the group.

The Jacen 'look-a-like' shook his head. "I can't. I," he hesitated, as if choosing his words. "I have an issue with breaking the rules. I get panic paranoia. It gets scary intense."

Everyone looked disappointed in him. Even me a little. "Alright, just don't rat on us," I joked.

He changed face and said, "I wouldn't dare." And with that, I made my trapped escape.

&&

Smack! "Wake up, fat ass!" a voice screamed. "Come on, bitch!" I opened my eyes to see I was in an apartment strapped to a chair. I looked at my oppressor and it was that pinching girl! She smacked me again and it stung.

"Just for good measure." I looked around some more to see that the same group was there. Everyone but Jacen. "Listen and listen well. We're all devoted fans, of you especially. But each and every one of us gets disgusted when we see you and your fat hangs all over like a cover on a bed! You disgust us, in layman's terms. And we're here to deliver a message. You either lose weight or lose your life." She finished by pushing the gun she pulled out mid-threat into my throat. "Got it?"

I was shaking like a scared little girl. I gulped and nodded fervently. She left the room and others began to untie me. One, a guy about my age, started to talk to me. "We'll check up on you at random times. You could be at home, out at dinner, playing a show. We'll take you out of view and check. If you've grown or stabilized, we'll warn you if it's every once in a while but if it's a repeating pattern, the warnings aren't going to be so warning anymore."

A girl continued for him as she filled a glass with tap water and handed it to me. "Once you've reached our target goal, we'll check less often. If you slip up too much, like 50 pounds, we'll just kill you. We're reasonable and merciful people, we'll let it slip under the radar around the holidays. We all get a little jolly when that time comes around."

She too walked out and someone else kept the 'conversation' going. "You can't tell anyone. You can't even speak about it. Not even to us. Don't think about it too often. By no means may you relay this information to anyone. No matter how you try, you'll be dead before they know the whole truth. In certain situations, so will they. Don't try and trick us. We're not dumb. If you have any questions, put a note under your pillow when you go to sleep. If we're going to answer it, it won't be there the next morning."

The first guy stated up again. "We don't care how you do it. Puke, exercise, whatever. Just don't kill yourself, don't get addicted and keep doing shows. Make it happen. We're going to give you a week to do whatever you want. This will be the only time you'll know when we're coming. Make sure you're alone from noon to 3 o'clock. Now eat this lasagna. My mom is a great cook."

I ate silently while they watched.