When the four members of ‘N Sync had arrived at one of the main clubs on the packed New Orleans street, they had tried to keep as low a profile as possible. They found out, later, that it had all been completely unnecessary. Sure, they were recognized, but peoples main purpose for being there was too have a good time, and if that good time just happened to be in the midst of a so-called celebrity, then so be it.
Lance wasn’t having as rotten a time as his earlier mood had predicted. He had met and even had a couple of decent conversations with a few girls. But the phone numbers that the girls had insisted he take would be thrown out later. He wasn’t about to allow himself to get into another pointless relationship.
The girl in front of him now was almost too good to be true. She was a fan but was completely at ease around him, claiming to have no favorites to the group, just a sad addiction to pop music. She was 20, a pretty brunette with amazing blue eyes, born and bred in the good old state of Mississippi. She even had a cute little accent, which he was enjoying thoroughly.
“So what are you doing here in New Orleans?” he asked.
“My friends thought it would be for an interesting vacation and so we packed up a car and drove all the way down here. It’s been pretty wild.”
“I can imagine.”
“Hey Lance!”
They each looked to see Justin weed his way past a couple of people, an excited shimmer in his mischievous blue eyes. “You gotta come with me.”
“Why?” He was perfectly fine where he was.
Justin took one look at the girl and said, “Just come on.”
“No,” he said stubbornly. “Tell me what is going on.”
“I have to show you to believe it. Please, just come with me.”
“It’s ok,” the girl said, smiling cheerfully. “I’ll stay here for a bit.”
“Are you sure?”
“She’s sure.” Justin grabbed his arm before Lance even got the chance to say anything and started to pull him through the club. “This is almost to good to be true.”
“Justin, what the hell are you talking about? The girl back there was to good to be true. Where are we going?”
Justin stopped when he reached Joey, whose eyes were following someone. “Finally you get here.”
“He was talking to some other girl,” Justin said. “You won’t believe who is here.”
“Who?” Lance questioned, his patience running thin.
Joey brought him closer and lifted up his arm to point. Lance followed the finger and found that it landed on a blond, short hair tucked behind her ears, and dewy hazel eyes. The camerawoman.
“No way,” he muttered.
“We spotted her a couple of minutes ago,” Justin said proudly. “I told you she wasn’t going to let you pass her by.”
Lance continued to stare at her, still feeling surprised as he watched her, those strange butterflies swarming his stomach once more. “I guess this city isn’t as big as I thought.” He blinked and lightly punched Joey’s arm. “Well, I’ll see you guys later.”
“Wait,” Joey said. “What about the girl?”
“What about her?”
“You aren’t going to talk to her?” Justin asked.
“Why should I?”
“Hello! You think this is a coincidence?”
“Uh,” Lance looked around, “Yea.”
“Dude, you’ve got to talk to her,” Justin said. “At least to thank her for that whole shirt thing.”
“Justin, I’m not talking to her.”
“Why are you so adamant about getting to know her? You wouldn’t talk to her at the tv station, your excuse being that it was a place of business, or whatever. And now that we are at a very sociable club, you still don’t want to talk to her, even though you actually have something to talk about.”
“All right!” Lance exclaimed. “I’ll freakin talk to her. Goodness.”
So he started towards her, thinking nothing of it, but knowing somewhere deep inside of him that things were about to change. She was just leaving a group of people, seemingly searching for someone lost in the rest of the crowd, and he barely caught her as she walked past him. “Hey there.”
She stopped and looked strangely at him. “Do I know you?”
“Well, sort of. Remember, I’m that guy at the station.”
Her eyes registered recognition and she nodded. “The one with his shirt on backwards, right?”
He didn’t know if he was blushing or not. “Yup, that’s me. I’m Lance.”
She shook his hand. “My name’s Hazel.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I just saw you from across the club,” he lied, “And thought I’d come and say hello and thanks for, you know, the shirt thing.”
Her expression kept that same bored face, but she smiled slightly. “You’re welcome.” He was going to say something else, but her eyes suddenly raised beyond him, a slight look of fear entering them. “You better leave,” she whispered, but her warning came a second too late.
“Who are you?” a gruff, angered voice sounded behind him.
He looked back and saw a monster of a man standing behind him. “I’m Lance.”
“I don’t care,” he said. “What are you doing talking to my girl?”
“Jared,” Hazel said tiredly. “I met him at work and he just wanted to say hello to me.”
“I didn’t ask you, so keep your mouth shut.”
Lance was ready to walk away from the situation, but that stirred him up. “Don’t talk to her like that.”
“Excuses me?” Jared said incredulously, causing people around them to stop dancing and stare at the spectacle taking place.
“I said,” he retorted equally as loud, “There’s no need for you to talk to her like that.”
“Lance,” she said, “You don’t have to do that.” She stepped in between the 2 and faced Jared. “Get another drink and I’ll stay for a second to say good-bye to my friend, ok?”
“No.” He roughly grabbed her arm and started to drag her outside. “Let’s go now.”
Lance had about enough of that. He quickly followed, using the path that Jared had shoved his way through. He saw that Hazel was trying to fight her arm free, but Jared was only holding on tighter and getting angrier by the second. When Jared began to raise his other hand to strike her, Lance instantly reacted, grabbing the large arm before it could lower and then shoving Jared to the ground.
Jared hadn’t expected that, and so automatically released Hazel. Lance picked her up and pulled her to the side, next to the group of people who had followed them outside. He froze when he heard a cold, cruel series of laughter coming from the ground.
“Big mistake,” Jared said as he stood up, clenching his fists together as he began to size Lance up. “Be prepared for the worst ass kicking of your life.”
Lance was no coward, but he knew that if he were to fight the man, he would be killed in a matter of seconds. Still, seeing Jared try to hit Hazel had instilled in him a certain amount of foolish rage to give him a slight degree of confidence. “So you’ve moved on from women and want to try a real man for a change. Congratulations, you’ve advanced from a gutless prick to a full fledged asshole.”
That might not have been the wisest choice of words.
“You’re mother must be proud,” he added.
That was an even lousier thing to say.
Lance not only pushed upon buttons that were marked dangerous, but slammed right into them. Jared was beyond the point of rage and it would have seemed fitting if steam were to suddenly explode out of his ears. He raised his hammer of an arm and Lance finally felt fear as he prepared himself for the ground-shaking blow that was sure to come.
It never did.
“I’d reconsider that if I were you,” a cool, crisp voice said. Everyone watching looked towards the entrance of the club where 3 boys came out of, the youngest of the group the one who spoke. “Unless, that is, you were really looking forward to a not so pleasant headache tomorrow.”
Jared lowered his arm and sneered at Justin. “You 3 think you could take me? I’d crush you.”
“That may be true. But I think you’d have a bit more trouble with them.” Justin motioned to the 6 very big, very strong men who had just gotten out of a black mini van parked near the side exit of the club.
Lance waved. “Hey guys.”
“Those are our bodyguards,” Justin explained. “Their job is to protect me, my friends here, and that albino that you were about to hit, from anything that is even remotely threatening to us.”
“Although,” Chris chimed in sarcastically, “I think he probably punches like a girl.”
“Did I mention how they were to use any means necessary?” Justin asked, finishing off the sentence with a delightfully warm smile. “I think you get what I’m saying, but incase you don’t,” his smile faded, “Get away from my friend now before you have to start preparing yourself for the worse ass kicking of your life.”
Jared was stupid, but he wasn’t that stupid. Pride held him to the ground for all of 5 seconds before the little intelligence he did obtain finally ordered him to do as Justin asked and start heading towards his car, giving Hazel a threatening look as he passed by her and Lance.
“Thanks,” Lance said to his friends, letting out a sigh of relief. He honestly hadn’t been looking forward to spending the night in the emergency room of the local hospital. He looked back at Hazel who remained standing still, watching the darkness that Jared had disappeared into. He approached her slowly. “Are you all right.”
“I’m fine,” she said quietly. “I wish you hadn’t gotten rid of him.”
Lance was shocked. “Why not?”
She glanced at him, a small smile tugging the corner of her mouth. “He was my ride home.”
He laughed and said, “I can share a taxi with you. I think I’m going to be heading back to my hotel now anyway.”
Hazel was never shy around strangers and saw no other way to get home. “Ok.”
He told her to stay put as he went to talk to his friends for a moment and then to the security that had returned to the black mini van. He came back minutes later and hailed a cab for them. Once inside the small talk was fleeting since Hazel wasn’t much of a conversationalist and often got lost staring outside of the car window.
“Why did you do that for me?” she asked out of nowhere.
He cleared his throat and sat up. “Do what?”
“You know. Try to stop Jared from hitting me.”
“I wasn’t about to let that huge guy hit you. Does he act that way often?”
She nodded and looked down. “No one has ever tried to stop it before though.”
Lance couldn’t believe that, a new light shining upon the girl next to him. “Why do you go out with him?”
She shrugged. “We aren’t anything serious. I just call him up whenever I need a ride someplace or go with him whenever he shows up and tells me too.”
“But, why? You can do so much better.”
She smirked and looked back out the window. “I wish people would stop saying that.”
Her face darkened, her silhouette outlined by the moonlight entering through the cab window, and she suddenly wasn’t just some girl, or just the camerawoman. This was a real person with obvious real problems, and he guessed that what he had seen that night had only been the half of it. Her childlike features and wide, lost eyes brought upon the instinctive feeling of concern within him and he wished he could do something to make her feel better. “Are you going to be ok?”
“I’m fine,” she answered robotically, having heard the question far to many times to count in her life. There was nothing this boy, or anyone else for that matter, could do to help her because this was her reality. Although what he had done for her earlier had been sweet, it meant nothing to her when she thought about tomorrow. Tomorrow, another day to deal with, to live with.
“If there’s anything I can do to help…”
“There isn’t anything…” She trailed off as her eyes caught something out of the blurry window. “Stop!”
The taxi driver screeched the car to a halt causing both Hazel and Lance to get jerked forward slightly. Lance looked to see why she had cried out so abruptly, but when he turned to face her he saw that she had jumped out of the car and was jogging down a grassy knoll that resided off the side of the road.
“Where did she go?” the driver asked.
Lance unbuckled his seat belt. “Stay here. I’ll go find her.”
“I’ve gotta keep the meter running.”
“That’s fine,” he called as he stepped out of the car to run after her. “Hazel!”
Hazel didn’t hear him. Her mind was oriented on one place, and one place alone, while her eyes hungrily took in her surroundings. The more she ran, the taller the grass grew until the tips brushed against her elbow, blowing in the small breeze. When she looked up not a single cloud blocked out any of the stars shining above, white sparkles stuck in a deep, endless navy. Willow trees were scattered about, their drooping branches delicately sweeping the ground below. A large white object came into view and she picked up her speed.
She would have kept on running if something hadn’t grabbed her wrist.
“Stop would you!”
She did so and saw the boy, Lance, was the one holding onto her hand. “Oh. You didn’t have to come.”
“What?!” She had said it so simply. “Did you expect me to just let you run off by yourself?”
She gave him a hard stare. “You are a lot different than anyone I’ve ever met.”
He rested his hands on his knees to catch his breath. “Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about you.”
She didn’t understand what he meant, so shrugged it off and reached for his hand to pull him along. “So let’s go.”
He allowed her to do so. “Where are we going?”
“Don’t you see the house?”
At first he thought she was just joking, but soon realized that she had taken his question literally. “Yea, I see it.” The house was hard to miss, it’s huge size reminding him of a movie set of some sort, like a mansion from “Gone With The Wind”. It was white with 4 large pillars like statues blocking the entrance and holding up the rooftop. He had never seen anything like it in his life. “Whose house is it?”
“No one’s,” she replied, slowing her pace down as they neared the building. The expression of boredom that was always on her face dissolved then, her eyes filled with wonder and amazement at the house. “This house is magic.”
“You mean it’s cursed?”
“No,” she said, taking a seat on the front step, leaning against one of the pillars. “Just magic. Do you want to hear the story?”
He took a seat as well. “Yes.”
She seemed extremely pleased to tell the tale and sat up excitedly. “I’m not sure if the version I heard is the right one, since the story has been around for a couple hundred years, but I’m pretty sure it’s right. Anyway, a long long time ago a big disease spread all around New Orleans, killing off hundreds of people in a matter of weeks. A rich man had just inherited this house from his father and moved his young wife and little daughter here from...well, I don’t remember, but it was far away.”
“Ok.”
“As the story goes, this rich man and his wife were no exception from the…sickness, or whatever, and got sick themselves and eventually died. Although, no one knows for sure since they remained in this house and the bodies were never allowed to be retrieved since the little daughter refused to allow anyone entry into the house.”
“Ew,” Lance grimaced, “That doesn’t sound very magical. And, I’m not sure if we should really be sitting here anymore.”
“Let me finish,” she said. “The…plague! That’s it. The plague eventually lifted and all was well, blah blah blah. But, as typical townspeople go, talk started to spread about the wild girl that still lived in that house, having been assumed to be killed off by the plague as well since no one had seen her along with her parents. Then one day she came out and in her hands she carried a clear glass jar that held 2 of the most beautiful butterflies in it. She walked right up to that elm over there,” Hazel pointed to a tree around a hundred yards away, “and released them.”
“So what your saying is that the girl’s parents somehow morphed into butterflies?”
“No. She turned them into butterflies to stop their suffering before the plague really killed them. She was believed to be a witch.”
Lance was completely intrigued, by the story and by the storyteller as well. “What happened after that.”
“No one saw the girl for another 10 years.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. She kept inside this house the entire time, but there are a couple of reports of seeing the girl dancing in the moonlight on occasion. During that time the rumors grew and grew and the whole town was certain she was a witch and performed spells.”
“Spells?”
“Yes, but no one had any proof.” Hazel grinned and looked down for a moment before returning her eyes back to him. “Until the boy came knocking on her door.”
“Wait,” he said. “Back up. What boy?”
“He was the most handsome, wonderful boy in the village, with a kind heart and intelligent mind. Every girl wanted him, but he kept to himself and didn’t talk a lot. Then one day he started asking all these questions about the witch girl in the white house, but everyone told him to stay away from her. The people said she had the beauty of a moon goddess, but the mischief of a wood sprite and that she would trick men into falling in love with her. When the town saw the boy walk to her house and knock on her door, they were convinced she had put a spell on him.”
“Did the boy every come back out?” Lance asked.
“He was in there until midnight and then he left. He wouldn’t tell anyone what happened in the house, except to say that the girl wasn’t evil and that he was in love with her. After that he visited her house every day but no one saw or knew what went on inside. There was one night where a townsman was walking by and he saw 2 figures sitting in the tall grass, outlined by the light and fireflies that flew around them, but he could never be certain if it really was the witch girl and the boy or not. Of course, the boy’s parents could only take enough of that.”
Lance could already begin to feel the magic inside of the house and he cared very much for the characters of the fable, the whole idea fascinating him with each new detail added. “What happened?”
“They ordered him to be shipped off to sea and separated from the girl. He had no choice so did as they asked. When he was gone though, the people said that all of the fireflies in the meadow here,” she motioned to the large land they had just walked, “disappeared as well as the ones in the village. After a couple of weeks the town received message that the boy had died at sea, most believe from a broken heart, and that they were taking his body back to the village for his parents to grieve. The girl was seen once, facing the sea while she cried for him, her tears fell down and the ground soaked them up.”
“The parents thought that the girl would try to take the body of the boy from them and ordered the townspeople to burn the house and the entire meadow. So they came in herds, carrying torches and chanting for the death of the witch girl. She kept inside the house and didn’t even bother fighting. But they couldn’t burn the house down.”
“Why not?”
“No one knows. Each torch that was brought to even just a blade of grass in this meadow was put out before it could reach it by gusts of wind. The house remained untouched and the villagers fled, thinking the girl would use her magic on them next. They buried the boy the next day and that night the people saw a strange light coming from the cemetery and when they went to search it, found the boys grave empty. The brave men searched the house later on, but there were no signs of the girl or the boy’s body, and no one has seen the girl since. But this is the strange part. When they barged into the house 2 beautiful butterflies flew outside and into the air. And whenever the time of the year comes around when the boy had died, butterflies gather in this meadow and fireflies invade the night.”
“Really?”
“Uh huh,” she nodded, “I’ve seen it myself. People say too, that the reason the meadow remains so green and healthy after all this time is because of the girl’s magic tears.”
Lance took another look around, the field taking on a new mesmerizing face, the grass coated in shiny dew, seeming like actual tears. His entire mood had been changed, the air filling his lungs with the magic she had spoken of. He really could feel it now, the history behind the house, behind the whole city and he wished that he was staying longer so he could truly appreciate it all.
Hazel didn’t know what to make of his silence. “Sorry there wasn’t some curse or anything crazy like that. It’s just a story about an abnormal girl finding love with a normal guy.”
Did she just say that? Her words eerily resembled the thoughts he had owned for the past couple of weeks. His eyes wandered over her, taking her in with a completely different perspective. Her expression wasn’t bored, he now realized, it was blank. It almost resembled defeat, like she had given up on something, her eyes endless parallels of subtle misery. He noticed that the threads of her simple black shirt were coming undone and there was even a small hole forming on the shoulder. With a closer look he saw her jeans in the same condition as the shirt, worn out and old, even a little dirty.
He hated to admit it, but a feeling of pity was growing within him for her. She seemed like a nice girl and all and he did get an odd feeling when he was around her, but it was all overshadowed with the physical aspects he had witnessed that day. Her abusive boyfriend, her obvious financial problems, and her lack of intelligence and communicative skills made him feel slightly sorry for her. He didn’t mean to feel that way, and he certainly respected her, but he couldn’t help but want to help her out in some way since she was less fortunate than he.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, uncomfortable with the way he was looking at her.
He blinked. “Uh, nothing. I really liked the story a lot.”
“Oh.” Her placid face remained and she sat back, taking another glance around. “Well, I’ve wasted enough of your time. We can go back now if you want.”
He was going to tell her that he didn’t mind staying, but suddenly remembered the cab that still waited for them back on the road. “All right.” They both stood and he checked his watch, seeing that they had been sitting there for over half an hour. “We better hurry,” he said, extending his hand for her to take.
She gazed at it for a moment, then shied past it to run ahead.
~~
When they finally reached the road, the taxi was no where in sight. They had no choice but to walk.
Hazel didn’t mind at all. Since she had no car, walking was something she had grown extremely fond of, especially at night. She didn’t know what it was about the night that held so much fascination for her. It was like a dark cloak she could hide in, away from the busy city and on her own, allowing herself the freedom to revel in the peace.
She could tell that Lance wasn’t exactly the most comfortable in the open, quiet road. “You’re not much of a walker are you?”
He shrugged. “I kind of wish the cab had stayed. I try to avoid as much movement as possible.”
She laughed and said, “You sound lazy, like me.”
“I’m not lazy, just often busy.”
“I’d rather be lazy. People who are to busy are always in a rush to get from one place to another, without taking the time to stop and look at the things in between.”
“I’ve never really thought of it like that,” he said, looking at her and then around at the atmosphere. “I’m also not used to everything being so quiet and desolate.”
“What’s desolate?” she asked.
“Uh,” he gave it some thought, “It’s like deserted, empty kind of.”
She hated it when she didn’t understand what people where saying. “Oh.”
He noticed her downcast eyes. “I’m used to being around a lot of people so that’s why it’s kind of strange to…uh…not be around hardly anyone.”
“Thanks a lot.”
“I was just kidding.”
She grinned. “I know. So what’s it like…you know, being famous and rich?”
“It’s got some downsides to it, but overall life is really great. I feel good about what I do and just seeing the fans faces when I’m onstage is indescribable. There’s just no feeling like that in the world and it sometimes doesn’t even feel like it’s all happening to me.” He looked up at the sky and sighed. “The success, it’s overwhelming at times and I’ll find myself always trying to keep up with the image we’ve created. Like, I’ll take a step back and see everything in slow motion and just wonder how it all came to this. Am I living up to everyone’s expectations of me while at the same time staying true to myself? It’s hard, you know? Trying to remain who you were before this all happening and not let the image get the best of you.”
She watched him and it was strange because now when she looked at him she felt as if she were really seeing him for the first time. “That’s what’s so great about the moon.”
He gave her a questioning look. “Huh?”
“The moon,” she said, nodding in the white globe’s direction. “It doesn’t care who you are or if you’re a famous star, or just an ordinary person. It will still shine down on you no matter what.”
He looked at the shiny object above and had that same feeling of seeing it in a different way than he would have normally done. It had been a long time since he had been out in nature, really appreciating the simple yet wondrous aspects that could be found in the sky alone, and now there he was, suddenly comfortable in the quiet. “So tell me about yourself. All I know is that your name is Hazel and you tell a very good story.”
She smiled and asked, “What do you want to know?”
“How old are you?”
“I’m 21, and before you ask, no I don’t go to college.”
“Why not?”
“I just made it through high school alive. There was no way I would put myself through college. Besides, I don’t have a lot of money so I couldn’t go even if I wanted to.”
Lance kept his eyes set on the newfound sky. “Then what are you going to do later on in life, after your job as a camerawoman?”
“What do you mean, after?”
“You know,” he said. “You aren’t going to stay a camerawoman forever are you?”
“Sure I am. As long as they want me to be or another, better job comes along.”
He finally looked down, at her. “Don’t you have like, plans or anything for the future?”
She had an expression of concentration on her face and then slowly said, “Well, I’ll probably be meeting up with my friends in a couple of days.”
“Oh,” he said, trying as hard as he could to control his astonished feeling from leaking out onto his face. “You don’t want to be anything else? You don’t have any aspirations to be, say an actress or teacher or the first female president or something?”
“Not really.” Hazel was fairly good at reading people, and she could clearly see Lance’s sympathetic notion towards her. “Don’t give me that look.”
“Huh?”
They both stopped walking and she faced him. “I hate it.”
“Hate what?” he asked.
“That look. I always get it, like people don’t think I notice or something, but I do. Just because I’m not smart doesn’t make me blind.”
“Hazel, I wasn’t saying-"
“But you were thinking it. How you feel sorry for me, right? So I don’t happen to be a dreamer, so what? I can’t afford to live in dreams. I have a dead end job and a crappy apartment, but that doesn’t mean I’m not happy. This is all I have, and I’m ok with that.” She tiredly took a seat right where she was standing. “Why can’t everyone else be ok with that too?”
An ashamed feeling spread through him as he remembered his thoughts from earlier. He sat down in front of her. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. It’s just a little strange, that’s all. How someone as young as you is settled in life already.”
Her big eyes slightly smiled at him. “That’s a really pretty way to put it.” She sighed and looked up. “Sorry to go off on you like that. I just meet you today and you have done all these nice things for me, and here I am unloading my problems on you. You must think I’m a total crazy person huh?”
“Not at all,” he said truthfully. “You are actually one of the most level-headed people I know right now. You wouldn’t believe some of the messed up situations most of my friends are in.”
“Probably not.” She glanced at him. “But not you. You seem like a really easygoing person.”
“I try my best not to let things get to me and just keep unnecessary situations limited. I’m not one of those people that enjoys hearing himself talk, I’m just a listener.”
She smiled, and realized that she had been smiling constantly since she had met him. Why that was, she didn’t know. She wasn’t a very smile oriented person, it just wasn’t natural to her, and now every time he would say something she ended up grinning. There was something very different about him than any other boy she had met.
While continuing to openly stare at him, she figured it out. He was sweet. He had no sleazy pick up line, no rude manner, no hidden agenda. He seemed to have a genuine interest in her, not just some mere male attraction. He asked her questions, inquired about her life, and didn’t just treat her like a stupid girl. Not one boy she had ever encountered had acted like that and it scared but at the same time intrigued her.
“Do you want to start walking again?” he asked in order to break the silence.
She was slow to nod, but eventually they both stood up and started again down the road.