Living in the Shadows
Chapter 8

"What do you want Melody?" Joey asked.

"I wanted to talk to you, but it looks like you're busy." Melody said glaring at Sabrina who was still sitting on the couch.

"I can't imagine that you have anything to talk about Mel. The only thing I want to hear from you is an apology to your sister. If that's not what you're here for I suggest you leave." Joey said holding his ground.

"Can you guys please leave us?" Melody asked.

Everyone including Sabrina got up and made their way toward the door when Melody stopped her.

"I want you to stay." Melody stated stopping Sabrina.

"Um, okay." Sabrina looked at Melody warily.

Melody shut the door and took a deep breath. She turned to face Joey and Sabrina to begin her mission.

"I owe you both an apology. I never meant to hurt you Sabrina and what I said earlier was uncalled for. I hope you can forgive me, I realize we're going to have to at least try and get along if we're going to be around each other for the next few months." Melody explained.

"I have no problem what so ever with you Melody, it's you that needs to take the stick out of your pompous ass. I would love to have a real sister relationship with you, but ever since we started high school you have been a bitch. I hate to say it, but it's true. I'm not going to pretend and pussyfoot around the issue any more. I won't bother if you don't change or make any kind of real effort." Sabrina challenged

"That hurts." Melody grimaced, trying to hold herself back from saying what she really wanted too. "I know I've been a bitch, I can't help it-it's in my nature. I'm not going to promise that I won't always be nice, but I'm going to try."

"I'm not holding my breat Mel. I accept your sad apology, but I know you. You're not sincere about anything. I know you would bad mouth me the first chance you got." Sabrina said calling her bluff.

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Melody nodded.

"Just don't ignore me-you know pretend Im not there and don't be mean and we'll be fine." Sabrina reasoned.

"I can handle that." Melody nodded and smiled.

"And you can't get jealous because I'm friends with Joey or that I'm his dance partner." Sabrina added.

"Now you're pushing it." Melody laughed dryly.

"Get over it." Sabrina shrugged.

"So we cool?" Melody asked.

"Yeah, we're cool." Sabrina nodded.

"All right." Melody turned to Joey and put an arm around his waist. "What are you doing today?"

"Going back to Sabrina's to watch movies with Justin and Amber." Joey answered.

"I was hoping you wanted to hang out with me and Jasmine today." Melody pouted.

"I've made other plans, but tomorrow after rehearsal we can hang out." Joey smiled.

"Okay, it's a date. I gotta get going though. I'll see you tomorrow babe. Love you." Melody leaned up and brought his head down for a kiss.

Joey pulled away and reminded her they had an audience and sent her on her way. He felt much better now that the sisters had talked. To his dismay, he still felt strongly for Sabrina and it seemed the more he was around her, the less he thought of her sister.

"Can Wade come over too?" Justin asked coming back into the dressing room.

"Of course, Wade never needs an invite, he should know that by now." Sabrina answered.

"So what movies are we going to get?" Amber asked leading the posse outside.

"No chick flicks." Justin demanded.

"Kiss my what? Don't forget whose house we're going to." Sabrina scoffed. "Center Stage is on the list."

"That one I can handle." Justin nodded.

"Cry Baby is also on the list." Amber grinned evilly.

"That movie is absolute cheese, but I'll be honest and admit I love it." Joey grinned sheepishly.

"That's right." Sabrina nodded firmly.

"M'lady." Joey said opening the car door for Sabrina.

"Thank you kind sir." Sabrina smiled brightly grabbing his hand then hopped in the vehicle.

"Do you guys want to ride with me? Or are you going to drive?" Joey asked the others.

"Let's just car pool over." Justin said opening the back door.

"You next," Wade said letting Amber get in the middle next to Justin. He then got in next to her and slammed the door shut.

"You've been corrupted." Wade laughed when he heard Andy Hunter playing.

"It's actually pretty good." Joey answered.

"What do you mean actually? This CD rocks." Sabrina smacked him.

"Okay okay." Joey agreed. "Do we need to stop at Hollywood Video on the way there?"

"Depends on what else everyone wants to watch." Sabrina answered.

"What do you want to watch?" Joey asked the occupants in the back seat.

"Something thats a break from the chick flicks." Wade answered.

John McClane." Sabrina suggested.

"Dude, I LOVE those movies." Justin exclaimed. "Can we watch all three?"

"Those are the Die Hard movies right?" Wade asked.

"Duh!" Sabrina nodded.

"I've never seen them." Wade shrugged.

"What do you say Joey? Feeling like six hours of Bruce Willis?" Sabrina asked.

"Sure, I like those movies." Joey nodded.

"Do you have anything good to eat?" Justin asked.

"That's an insult Justin, seriously that hurt." Sabrina said dramatically putting a hand over her chest.

"It's a legittimate question." he shrugged.

"She's basically Betty Crocker." Amber said smacking him upside the head.

"Whatever. Do you have pizza?" Justin asked.

"Digorno." Sabrina nodded.

"It's not delivery." Wade chimed in.

"You're lame." Joey said shaking his head.

"No I'm not." Wade disagreed.

"We're here." Justin exclaimed jumping out onto the driveway.

Sabrina unlocked the door and made sure Pumpkin stayed away from the door as everyone filed in. It was a precaution she had to take even though Pumpkin was more focused on the company than the door.

"Hey mama." Wade said picking her up.

Pumpkin (or mama as was her nickname) responded by whining excitedly and licked his face profusely.

"Calm down baby." Sabrina laughed taking her out of Wades grasp and gave her a good scratch then set her down. "Guys, sit, please."

They sat around on the various couches and charis. They decided to watch Center Stage first as per Sabrina's request. The boys were okay with it because that meant "one chick flick" out of the way.

"I love this movie." Sabrina said moving to the couch after pushing play.

"Yeah, the main chick is hot." Wade nodded.

"Cooper Nielson is frigging ugly though. I don't see why he was such a big deal. Charlie on the other hand, break me off a peice of that." Sabrina said sighing dreamily.

"Yes he is SO hot." Wade said rolling his eyes.

"What? You can talk about how hot Amanda Schull is but I can't give my opinion on Charlie? How typical of a guy to say." Sabrina defended.

"That's right bitch." Wade nodded.

"Shut up, we're trying to watch." Justin scowled at them.

"Kiss my ASS Justin, it's a chick flick, you don't like chick flicks remember?" Sabrina rebutted.

"All of you shut up!" Amber yelled.

They focused their attention back to the screen for a while until the scene where Jodie went to the alternate dance class and saw Cooper there.

"Now that dancing I could handle." Justin nodded.

"That's basically just soft porn." Amber scoffed.

"Nah, just the stretching is. Once they get to the moves its not." Sabrina shook her head in disagreement.

"An expert on all things porn are you Sabby?" Wade asked wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Yes, because I'm an exotic dancer right?" Sabrina chuckled.

"No, I was just asking." Wade answered shaking his head.

"Whatever. And now she's going to go back to his house and he's going to seduce her. She must be blind, he is so ugly." Sabrina shrugged.

"I dunno, he's not all that bad." Amber said tilting her head sideways studying him.

"It must be the big nose." Joey said adding his two cents.

"Can we stop discussing this dudes big nose and ugly face for one minute to watch the movie?" Justin complained.

"You're not missing anything. Their just having sex." Wade smirked.

Justin didn't say anything, he just displayed his annoyance by letting out a long dramatic sigh.

They finished watching the movie and at the insistance of the girls, they watched the final dance sequence over a few times.

"Let's play a game." Justin said getting antsy.

"Like what?" Sabrina asked.

"I don't know, what kind of games do you have?" Justin answered with another question.

"Let's see; Clue, Uno, Monopoly, Scategories, Scrabble, Twister, Pictionary, Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, Ants in the Pants, Cootie, and a couple card decks." Sabrina answered ticking each one off her fingers.

"Why so many?" Justin asked surprised.

"We have game nights." Sabrina answered with a shrug.

"Sweet, let's play Monopoly." Justin grinned evilly.

"That game is ruthless." Amber groaned.

"It's fun for hours." Wade added.

"You want a long game, let's break out risk. Now that, friends, is a very very long game." Sabrina said.

"Oh, yeah, that one takes all day. Especially if you have a lot of people playing." Wade nodded in agreement.

"What do you guys think?" Sabrina asked Amber and Joe.

"I'd rather play Monopoly than Risk. I don't feel like straining my brain thinking about strategies." Joey answered.

"His answer works for me too. I really don't want to sit here wheeling and dealing over Monopoly either, but whatever. Ruthless I tell you." Amber said giving her opinion.

"True." Sabrina nodded. "I'm in."

"Sweet, where is it?" Justin asked looking around.

"I'll get it." Sabrina went to the hall closet to get the game.

"It just had to be on the top shelf." She mumbled standing on her tip toes, still not able to reach it.

"Need any help?" Joey asked coming up behind her.

"I'm too short to reach without a chair." she said making a final jump to reach it.

"Here, you're going to hurt yourself." Joey said putting one hand on the small of her back and reached up with the other one to easily grab the game.

"Thank you." she smiled turning her head to look at him.

"You're welcome." he smiled, reaching to gently tuck a peice of hair behind her ear.

"We should probably join the others." Sabrina told him, her voice sounding strange to her ears.

"Yeah," Joey nodded dropping his hand. "After you."

"Thanks." Sabrina said going in front of him.

"Score! I get to be the money bag." Justin squealed seeing them return with the game.

"Calm down honey." Amber laughed patting him on the back.

"Can I be banker?" Justin asked.

"No, you can't be trusted." Joey answered shaking his head.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Justin glared at him.

"It means, last time we played this game you mysteriously gathered a stack of $500's." Joey reminded him.

"You had no proof that I did anything." Justin defended.

"I'll be banker." Sabrina volunteered.

"Thank you Sabby, I know we can trust you." Wade said holding up his hand for a high five.

"I do what I can." Sabrina smiled gathering the initial $1500 each player would receive at the start of the game.

"What peice do you want?" Joey asked her.

"The boot, so I can kick Justin's ass." Sabrina answered sweetly.

"Your wish is my command." Joey said moving the boot to Go.

"We play by the standard rules plus some. First everyone must go around the board once before buying any properties. Second, anyone who lands directly on Go receives $500 and third, we always have a $500 in the middle where everyone also pays fees and fines that way whoever lands on free parking gets rich." Sabrina explained the directions and rules.

"What about snake eyes?" Wade asked.

"Oh. Yeah, if you roll two one's you get $500 from the bank." Sabrina answered.

"If you roll three doubles in a row you go to jail." Joey added. "And you get three rolls to get doubles to get ouf of jail, then you pay the pot $50."

"We know Joe." Justin nodded.

"Just reminding you." Joey shrugged.

Sabrina gave everyone their money then sat back and looked at the peices.

"So, who's who?" She asked.

"Let's see you're the boot and as you know Justin is the money bag. Amber picked the ship, Wade is the dog and I decided to go with the wheel barrow." Joey answered.

"Thank you." Sabrina nodded.

They all rolled a single die to see who would go first. It ended up that Sabrina rolled the highest with a six. She would start followed by Joey, Wade, Amber and Justin brought up the rear.

"I can't believe I'm last." Justin whined.

"Get over it Justin." Wade shook his head.

"Yeah, I'll be sure to save the dark purple properties just for you." Joey laughed.

"The dark purple...? Oh, Joey, those are the WORST properties out there. That's like the ghetto right there." Justin said flabergasted.

The 'purple propertes' were the first set of properties on the board. 'Baltic and Mediterranian Avenues' were the names of the two that were the lowest priced properties and whoever owned them received the least amount of money when someone lands on them.

They made it around the board once when Sabrina bought St Charles Ave, the first property of the game.

"No fair, that's a good property. One of the cards in Chance or Community Chest makes you land on that property." Justin said pouting again.

"Get the man some e-z cheese, it's just one property." Sabrina said shaking her head.

"True that." Wade nodded.

The game continued as all the properties were bought up and tensions thickened. Amber was the only one who owned two of the same properties so she was able to buy houses and even put a hotel up. Everyone made fun of her for it because it was the ghetto, but she was very adamant about how important those hotels and properties would be. The boys were wheeling and dealing trying to get their properties as Sabrina just sat back and watched and plotted.

"I'll give you $500 and my railroad for Pacific Ave." Justin offered Wade.

"You're kidding me Justin, you are going to have to do better than that." Wade shook his head.

"Ugh, how about $1,000, my railroad and New York Ave." Justin offered again.

"Why would I want New York Ave? Sabrina is the one who has two of them." Wade again declined.

"Whatever, I'll come back to you. Sabrina, how much do you want for Boardwalk?" Justin asked.

"How much do I want for boardwalk? Let's see, $2,000, New York Ave, States Ave, and Connecticut Ave." Sabrina answered.

"You're nuts. It's one property I'm getting. And you want like everything I own." Justin whined.

"Yes, but Justin, when I land on your property with its houses and hotels, I'll be giving my arm and a leg." Sabrina reasoned.

"Yes, but I'm basically funding the hotels you're going to build on the properties that I have. You're going to have a Monopoly on that whole side of the board." Justin said contemplating the deal.

"That's the point of the game Justin. It all depends on how bad owning that end of the board is to you." Sabrina said not backing down.

"Fine, I'll do it." Justin said collecting four $500's and the property she had demanded.

"Thank you Justin, it was nice doing business with you." Sabrina said lining up the three properties with their other sets. She was now ready to buy houses for all three colors. The light blue, the maroon, and the orange properties, all she needed was to get Joey's red property and she'd own that whole half of the board.

"You realize that you won't be able to buy houses for a while as they cost $200 a peice right?" Amber asked Justin who was counting his remaining money.

"Yeah whatever." Justin said seperating his bills.

"Joey, I'll trade you Marvins Garden for Kentucky Ave." Sabrina looked at him.

"Sure." Joey nodded handing her the property.

"Sure? That's it? You just gave her the whole half of the board." Justin said gaping at Joey.

"What, now I have all three yellows." Joey shrugged.

"And now she owns four colors. She's going to kill me." Justin whined.

"Okay, I'm going to buy hotels for the maroon ones and the orange ones, so that should be a total of $3,000 and also another $750 for hotels on my light blue ones." Sabrina said putting a total of $3750 in the bank and took 9 hotels and put them all on her properties.

Everyone else watched her do it and felt a little nervous, they were all coming down her alley and they hoped to miss her properties as they would pretty much all be over $1,000 now. Sabrina rolled a twelve and found herself paying Joey $100 for landing on Marvin Garden. She rolled again, hitting a four and went to community chest, she grabbed the card and smiled. She added the 'Get out of Jail Free' card to her pile and surrendered her turn.

The game lasted another half an hour before everyone had surrendered to Sabrina and her half of the board. Justin did end up with his hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place, but to his dismay nobody ever landed him them. And when Sabrina did get the 'Talk a Walk on the Boardwalk' card, she paid him without any problems, but Justin landed on her red hotels giving $1100 of it back and in his next turn he rolled a three and paid an additional $1500.

"I must say, that is the first time I've actually won Monopoly. Most times I get owned." Sabrina said feeling happy about herself.

"Well congratulations." Joey smiled.

"Thanks Joey." Sabrina said stretching.

"Short game too, only took three hours instead of the standard five." Justin laughed.

"Man I'm hungry." Wade said rubbing his stomach.

"We could throw in a few pizza's if y'all want." Sabrina said putting away the game.

"Sounds good to me." Justin nodded.

They put in two pizza's and sat around talking about the tour and everything that had happened with Jaime and Sabrina replacing her as a dancer. They talked well into the pizza's then decided to watch the first Die Hard movie.