Chapter 7 New Feelings

Tyler's POV

It had been almost a week since it happened.

I had gone days without seeing Jackson or the other guys in the band, except for Evan, who had stopped by to inform me that Tara hadn't returned to class. However, according to her Korean friend, she was fine.

I also rarely went home, except to change clothes, sleep for an hour and then leave again.

That day, I spent my day in a bar drinking; I couldn't get her terrified look out of my mind.

I couldn't help it. The image had been stuck in my head since that Monday morning in the park, and it was giving me the heebie-jeebies that I couldn't get rid of it.

I was sitting quietly at the bar when a man in a suit sat down next to me.

"Two whiskeys! Actually, no, put the bottle on."

His voice startled me. It was Bryan.

"So kid, do you want to talk about it?" he said as he pushed a glass of whiskey in front of me.

I didn't answer. Bryan didn't insist. He just sipped his drink and poured himself another.

"I heard from your father; he should be back in Los Angeles soon."

At this announcement, I finally looked up at him. But even so, he didn't look at me. He remained deftly seated on his stool, his back straight up, while I was totally slumped over the bar, completely drunk.

"Does Mom know?"

"No. I'm going to go tell her afterwards. I wanted to have a conversation with you first about what happened at the school."

Damn! And I thought I could get over it! So I put my head back in my drink.

"This isn't the first time you've blown someone off, but it's the first time you've done it in high school. May I ask why?"

"He had a face I didn't like. You know me though, don't you?"

Bryan took a sip of his drink. Sure, he knew I was hot-blooded, but I'd never gotten into a fight in high school, especially since it was a place where no one dared stand in my way.

"What about the girl?"

I looked at him in amazement. How did he know about Tara?

"What do you mean?" I asked awkwardly, trying to stay collected, but my chest started to hurt as I thought of her again.

"You should think about how you feel about that girl," He finally got out, tapping me on the shoulder as he left.

It was Bryan all over again. By the time I turned around, he was already out of the bar with two thugs behind him.

"Think about what? Fucking Bryan, be more fucking clear!" I raged.

I finished my drink in one gulp and walked out of the bar. When I walked out, there were hookers milling around my bike.

"Do you want to have some fun, handsome?" an old lady next to a younger girl asked me.

I smiled wryly. After all, the younger one wasn't bad at all. She understood by my look that I wasn't interested in the old girl and approached me, rubbing her pelvis against my sex.

"Come on," she said languidly.

We walked into a motel on the street that rented rooms to hookers.

Gang guys often ended up there, and in fact, I spotted several guys from my gang in the hallways.

We went into the room. I dropped the stud on the cabinet and plopped down on the bed.

She took off her shoes and came straight to grab my sex with her mouth. For a second, I couldn't think of anything.

I pulled her by the hair back to me and turned her around to start my back and forth harder and harder and without any delicacy.

She was a whore; she was used to all kinds of sex.

I clamped my hands tighter around her hair and she started screaming, so much it hurt.

I didn't care. I wasn't born to please women. They were there to satisfy my desires and by this, I made it clear to her.

When I finished, I let go of her and she lay inert on the bed crying. It was only when I was about to leave that I noticed the look in her eyes.

She had blue eyes, and for a second, I thought I saw Tara.

"What the fuck is that?" I snarled to myself as I walked out of the room.

I staggered; all I could see was Tara's crying face against the car.

In my daze, I bumped into a guy in the hallway.

"Where are you going, asshole? Could you at least apologize?"

I looked up at him. He took a step back after recognizing me, but it was too late. I had already thrown myself at him, my fists crashing into him. Two others came up behind me and started to throw punches, but I didn't let go of that asshole.

"Will you fucking let him go?" a guy yelled as he hit me with an iron bar in the back.

Under the steel blow, I collapsed for a moment on top of the bloody guy I had just beaten up. Suddenly, I felt something hard under his sweater, a gun!

I grabbed it and without question, I turned around and shot the guy with the iron bar before getting up.

The gunshot sent people out of the rooms. I just stood there, leaning against the wall. Immediately, I knew it was going to end badly when Jackson suddenly appeared, along with several guys from my gang and took care of the guys who were launching themselves at me.

"Get the hell out!" Jackson yelled at me.

I turned around and staggered out of the motel under the impact of the bar, blood dripping from my temple.

I got on my motorcycle and started up.

Jackson's POV

I watched him stagger away. What the hell was wrong with him?

He had a different look in his eyes than usual.

We knocked the guys out and left the motel before the cops arrived.

"Jackson! We're going back to the hangar!" James yelled at me.

I went through the alley and got my bike.

Dylan's POV

We were all at the club. It was eight o'clock at night. That night, Tara had finished working around midnight at the convenience store a little ways from where I was going to start taking my place at the turntables.

I was finally going to be able to show what I was worth behind the turntables.

"Are you okay? Aren't you too stressed?" Connor asked me as he helped me get my gear to the stage.

"For now, it's okay," I replied with a smile.

And it was true that I wasn't too stressed. I used to be, but since we'd worked on the songs with Connor, I knew I should be fine.

Shin Oh and Isabella got ready behind the bar. Min Oh almost didn't let her come that day because of the outfit she had put on. With that, she had to go change.

I wondered how Tara was dressed to go to work. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember at all.

I was on my way to the storeroom to get a bottle of water when I heard the boss talking on the phone.

"Are you kidding?" he yelled. "You guys are unconscious!"

With an angry look on his face, he slammed into a barrel.

"Get ready for retaliation!" And he hung up.

He turned around. I stood there motionless, as if I had committed a crime.

"Dylan, big boy, are you ready to get on stage?" he asked me.

"Yes, boss. No worries, everything is ready."

"That's good."

He patted me on the shoulder and I walked out of the storeroom.

Soon it was midnight. I went to the decks. I had stage fright that was starting to rise.

"Come on handsome, get on stage!" Shin Oh shouted.

Tara's POV

When I finished work, I quickly went to the convenience store's bathroom to put on my makeup. Then I put on my jacket and walked out the back door.

"See you tomorrow!" my co-worker shouted at me as I left.

"See you tomorrow in good shape!"

I turned a corner to run into Edward who was running to meet me.

"Sorry, I am late," he apologized, all out of breath.

"No worries. I just got out."

"Let's go," he invited me after catching his breath.

I laughed at the sight of a great sportsman like him all out of breath. He was, however, one of the greatest sportsmen I knew, well, him and Min Oh.

We walked for twenty minutes before we reached the club. Min Oh greeted us at the entrance and let us in.

Well, it wasn't a favor. Edward was working with him as a sorter at the club, so we could have gotten in before anyone else anyway.

"Give me your jacket," Edward said to me as soon as we walked in, and headed to a locker room to hand our jackets to a girl.

I wandered my eyes around the room. The club was packed, the music was great. Without even realizing it, I was already waddling to the sound.

"Let's go join the girls!" Edward shouted at me, for we couldn't hear each other.

I followed him to a table at the bottom that had "VIP" written on the wall above it.

Shin Oh and Isabella were already there drinking cocktails. They jumped on me when they saw me coming.

"What are you drinking?" Edward asked me.

"A mojito, please."

He nodded and disappeared into the crowd.

"So, what do you think of Edward. He's cool, isn't he?" Isabella asked me.

"Yeah, I know him a little from the gym," I replied.

"He also hangs out with Tyler and his clique," Shin Oh added. "But he's really cool."

Just hearing Tyler's name made me tense up. Isabella noticed and winked at me. I smiled at her. After all, I was bound to run into him at school sometime.

I looked toward the stage. Dylan and Connor were behind the decks. They were doing great. The music was great.

After a few drinks, we decided to hit the dance floor while Edward was called back to the entrance since a sorter was missing.

Dylan's POV

I looked up and spotted them on the dance floor.

Tara was wearing a small purple leather top and black leather pants. She was glowing with her loose curly hair flying around.

Connor nudged me to warn me that I should take a break.

I got off the stage, stopped by the bar for a cocktail and joined the girls on the dance floor.

"The star!" Isabella shouted to me as she hugged me.

"Don't overdo it," I said, embarrassed, running my hand through my hair.

"You're great," Tara complimented me. "You've found your calling!"

"She's right," Shin Oh argued.

Isabella and Shin Oh started jumping and dancing around again. They were like bitches who had been unleashed. Tara came up to me.

"Will you come smoke a cigarette with me?"

"Okay," I nodded, pointing the way.

She tried to move forward, but it was crowded. With that, we were barely moving forward and the guys didn't really let her pass. Instead, they tried to hit on her.

She ignored them all without exception. It seemed like she was used to encountering this kind of situation. And that worried me a little bit.

We were stuck for a while when she gave me a dejected look. I grabbed her hand and made our way to the exit.

"Whew, I thought we'd never get out," she said as she pushed that hair back into place.

"Come on, let's go this way."

Then I headed to the parking lot, so I wouldn't have to yell so loudly since the music was blaring.

"I won't stay late. I have to work at noon tomorrow," she told me after lighting her cigarette.

"No worries. The important thing is that you came."

"I would never miss coming to watch my big brother go into the DJ world," she said.

I cringed more and more when she called me big brother. She really didn't see me as a man.

I looked at her as her eyes were turned to the club entrance. She knew nothing of my feelings and did not think of me as a man.

Almost immediately, a throbbing pain settled in my chest.

'Since when have I had so many feelings for her?'