Mixed Feelings of Elation

Neon awoke, not hearing the sounds of birds chirping. It must have been later than her normal wake up. The sun shined, sending its rays into her bedroom and momentarily blinding her. Neon brought the comforter over her head in order to shield herself from the sun's rays. She could hear the sound of plates and chatter coming from somewhere in her house.

Who the hell was in her house?

Neon threw the comforter off her body and got out of bed. Without looking in the mirror, she headed out of her room and through the hall. As she traveled, the sounds became louder. She must have been going in the right direction.

She checked the living room first. No one was there. But the sounds were clear now. Neon walked into the main hallway that connected with the bedroom hallway and stretched from the front of the house to the back of the house, ending at the front and back door. She didn't know which room to check first. But she could make out who was talking now. The rest of the members of RxN were in her house.

None of them had a key to her house, she was sure. Arpeggio left her key on the hook as a spare for Neon.

Shrugging to herself, Neon walked into the kitchen first. They were always in her kitchen, eating any food she had in her fridge.

Sure enough, the members of the band were in her kitchen, lounging around the counter. They were all there, Arpeggio included.

"Why are you guys here so early?" Neon asked, still groggy from sleep.

"Why do you look like you just died in a horror movie?" Dorian responded.

"Shut up, Dorian," Dante commanded, "We're not here early. It's noon. Why are you up so late?"

Neon shrugged, "I was really tired."

"Well, I hope you're not too tired for some big news," Lestat said.

His voice sounded a tad hostile. Neon couldn't figure out why. Maybe he and Annabelle got in a fight.

"What's the news?" Neon asked, walking into the kitchen and sitting at one of the stools around the counter.

"Guess who made the front page of the most recent tabloid," Lestat commanded.

He really did not sound happy.

"Cousin It? Oh wait, Alex hasn't left the house much recently, never mind."

"Cute," Lestat threw a tabloid down on the countertop.

Neon picked it up, glancing around at her band mates. They all looked so serious. It was a tabloid, no one believed those. Neon let her eyes scan the front page in front of her. "Too Thin?" the headline read, a picture of her leaving the supermarket taking up a majority of the page.

Oh, that might be why her band mates looked so serious.

"Guys, this doesn't even look like me. I'm not that thin," Neon defended, studying the skeletal picture.

"Yes, you are. Everyone sees it. Even the media now. You know, they point out that you're an advocate for loving your body but you've apparently turned to anorexia," Dante stated.

"Neon, everyone is going to see this. Do you know how much credibility you're going to lose? You need to speak out. You need to tell the fans about the past," Lestat added.

"I can't do that," Neon responded.

That was not going to happen. She wanted her fans to believe she was collected, not a psycho. Even though she was tad crazy. She didn't want to tell them.

"I did it; you can sure as hell do it," Arpeggio said.

She had faith in her older sister. And she knew that, if Neon didn't do it, a lot of RxN fans would be unhappy.

"Its not the same, honey," Neon said.

"How is it not the same? You could actually be an advocate against anorexia if you tell your story. Maybe you could start your own organization and help people. I get a tone of messages telling me how much I've helped by telling my story. You're Neon fucking Lowry, think of how many people you'll help," Arpeggio said.

Ever since Arpeggio did her speech, she had become an advocate for helping people. She was now a member of the To Write Love On Her Arms team, something that excited the young drummer to no end.

"Look, you have an interview coming up soon and they will ask you about this. Be prepared to give a detailed explanation," Dante said.

"Right," Neon mumbled.

Since when did they gang up on her like this?

"You should eat something. You're looking too thin," Jazz said, "We brought doughnuts."

Dorian proceeded to take one of the doughnuts and shove it in his mouth whole. As he chewed, he looked at Arpeggio expectantly. Arpeggio flushed and stared at her lap. Dorian swallowed the doughnut, still waiting for a comment.

"Well?" Dorian asked.

She was supposed to tell him what he was doing was disgusting. It was something Arpeggio did everytime he shoved a food article into his mouth whole. He would then find some sexual remark to make. It was how their meal times worked.

"It's not that disgusting," Arpeggio mumbled.

Everyone's eyes glued to the drummer.

"You did not," Dorian stated.

"Bear-cat said he would enjoy it and, if I didn't like doing it after I did it the first time, I never had to do it again. And it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be."

She stuck that in her mouth. After the time she spent vowing she wouldn't, she did. And she didn't feel any remorse at all. It was actually quite fun hearing Jack's moans of pleasure.

"You dirty ho," Dorian said.

"Oh, please. I'm sure you do it all the time to your boyfriend," Arpeggio responded.

"Yeah but you're Miss 'I'm so innocent, I'm a virgin.'"

"Not a virgin anymore," Arpeggio mumbled.

She gave that up too.

Four out of the six people in the room had slacked jaws. Arpeggio had delivered the news, though not the way she was planning to. Neon was expecting it; Arpeggio and Jack had so much sexual tension between them it was ridiculous. The rest of the band had hardly been expecting to hear that their once virgin drummer had given up her innocence. They were even more surprised that Neon wasn't fuming.

"Did it hurt?" Neon asked.

"Yeah."

"You okay now?"

"It hurts to walk and move my lower region in general," Arpeggio answered.

"Wait," Jazz cut in, "You're okay with this?"

"I told her to wait till she turned eighteen, don't you remember? You were there when I gave her the talk," Neon replied.

Jazz stared, expression blank. Of course she didn't remember. Jazz had the attention span of a fucking goldfish. It was a miracle that she could remember how to play the keyboard.

Neon rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, is there any reason besides harassment that you guys are here?" Neon asked.

She really wasn't expecting them to show up at her house.

"We told you to eat?" Lestat asked.

"Yes," Neon replied.

"Then we have no other purpose than to bug you till you cry for mercy."

"That sounds exciting," Dorian said, "I don't recall being told that on the phone."

"Did I ask for your input?" Lestat asked.

"You're going to get it anyway, you white-haired freak."

"Says the one with two-tone hair."

"Time to go swimming," Arpeggio mumbled.

"Agreed," Jazz and Neon said in unison.

The three females looked to Dante, waiting for him to tell the two other males to shut up. Dante held his hands up in mock defense.

"I give up," he said.

He would go back to telling them to shut up in a few hours, everyone knew that.