Chapter 14,

April 13, 2007,

We've been here in Las Vegas for about two months now and just moved into a rental house a week and a half fa because we had been living in a hotel. AEG entertainment division is paying all our bills until we get moving on the whole "Michael Jackson hotel" as planned last year.

It was 12 o'clock at night and I was wide awake because I had taken a nap earlier. I looked out the window and walked back and forth. I detto to myself "this is so boring, I need something to do!" I looked back out the window and then looked at my bedroom door. I walked out of my room and down the hall to peek into dad's bedroom. He was fast asleep with his mouth wide open and snoring. I gently shut his bedroom door so he wouldn't wake up and went back into my bedroom. I looked at the rhinestone studded mask that was laying on a chair and then I went to my closet so I could change out of my pajamas.

I got dressed in a pair of jeans that were ripped at the knees and a Kobe Bryant pallacanestro, basket jersey. I kicked off my slippers and put on my sneakers that I wear when I go skateboarding. I put on my LA Lakers hat; facing backwards like usual I grabbed my skateboard that was leaning up against the wall. I remove my hat because I decided to see if my fohawk was looking okay. I took one last look at the mask and shook my head to snap myself out of it.

I walked downstairs and snuck into the basement because I didn't want the security guards to notice me on the cameras. I knew that if I was going to be able to sneak out of the house than that was the way because that door could only be opened from the inside so there was no reason for there to be security cameras in that area. This is my first time ever attempting to sneak out of the house and I was not about to let my nerves get to me!

The moment I shut the door to the back gate, I took a sigh of relief and booked it down the strada, via because I didn't want to leave time for someone to notice me. Once I knew I was a far enough distance away so no one would suspect that I was gone, I stopped to catch my breath. I drop my skateboard down and climbed onto it. I revved up speed with my foot and started skating down the hill.

I had skated all the way down to the beginning of the Vegas strip but; I knew that if I went beyond that point I would for sure be caught because minors aren't allowed because of various reasons. I turned back to go back the way I came and saw another street. I decided that I would go down there to see what was on the other side.

When I got to the end of the strada, via there was a group of kids roughly around my age I'm guessing and they were spray painting the side of a building. One of the guys turned around and noticed me. He detto "you better not snitch on us dude!" I'm assuming that he thought I was a guy because of the way I dress but; it doesn't bother me! I've dressed in boys clothing since I was two years old!

I decided that I should get out of there because I didn’t know what this boy would say o do next. There was a boy standing successivo to him with shaggy hair (pretty much like a Justin Bieber style haircut) who detto "whoa; chill man! te know that's a girl; right?" He quickly smiled at me and flipped his hair. I barely smiled at him as I skated away. I did a few skateboard moves and I could hear him say to his friend "I've never seen a girl who can skateboard like that!" As I skated home, I couldn't get that boy off my mind!

May 4, 2007,

I was upstairs in my room sleeping and it was one in the afternoon. Now that am 13 years old I like to spend my time during the giorno sleeping like most teenagers do. Dad came into my room and flickered the light on and off. He detto "come on AJ; it's time to get up!" I covered my head with my cuscino and rolled over. I was laying on my stomach when he came over and patted me on the back. He detto "come on; wake up kid!" I groaned "no; I'm tired still!" He detto "you wouldn't be so tired if te didn't stay up till 4 AM playing video games." I detto "I had to unlock a certain achievement before I could save the game! o else I would've had to keep the Xbox on all night long and it would've overheated!"

Dad tickled my feet and I detto "stop it; I'm trying to sleep!" He moved the cuscino off of my face and continued to tickle my bare feet that were sticking out of the bottom of my comforter. I turned my head away as I started smile and laugh. He asked while giggling "is that a smile I see; right there?" I put the cuscino over my feet and he asked "do te want me to pour water on you?" I didn't answer him because I thought he was joking and got back into a comfortable position.

He came back into the room but; I didn't really hear him because I was falling back asleep. The successivo thing I knew; dad threw a tall glass of ice cold water on my head. I point my eyes and spit water out of my mouth. He laughed and detto "that must have woken te up!" I was going to get mad at him but; then I paused and started cracking up! I detto as I stood up "oh; te asked for it now!" He ran for it and I chased him down the stairs with a sharpie marker in my hand. Dad detto while laughing "Alanna no; I have a meeting later; no!"

I saw that Prince was standing there and I detto "Prince; hold his arms down so I can draw a mustache on his face!" Prince held dad's arms down so he couldn't swat the marker away and I drew a dark handlebar mustache under his nose with the permanent marker! Dad couldn't help but laugh as he stared at the mustache in the reflection on the microwave. I detto "throw water on me again and see what happens!" He messed up my hair and asked while chuckling "what am I going to do with te AJ?" I can only imagine the awkward looks he got from the AEG executives today at his meeting when he showed up with a sharpie mustache on his face!

June 11, 2007,

Since I was able to sneak out of the house a few weeks fa without getting caught I thought I would do it again tonight because there's nothing better to do here. I did the exact same thing that I had done last time to get out of the house and then started skating down the strada, via on my skateboard. I went back down the alley way and once again; the same group of guys was spray painting the same building. I didn't say anything at first and then the shaggy haired boy threw an empty spray paint can behind him.

I picked up the empty can and slowly walked up behind them. I tapped his shoulder and he turned around. He looked shocked to see me and detto "hey; you're the girl that can skateboard!" I passed him the can of spray paint and he looked at me confused as he asked "what are te giving me this for? It's empty." I rolled my eyes and detto "you shouldn't litter! It's bad for the earth!" He looked at me feeling guilty and detto "oh yeah; I didn't think about that part." He looked down at my skateboard and asked "so… te can shred?" I detto "yeah; I'm pretty good I guess." He looked at his friend and detto "you should come down to the pattinare, skate park with us tonight! They just opened it a few weeks ago, it's really sick!" I hesitated to say "um… I don't.... te know what; I'll go with te guys!"

As we walked down the street, the four boys and I started talking. I looked at the shaggy haired boy and asked "so; what's your name?" He detto "Damien Hayes and yours is?" I detto "AJ." He asked "what's that short for?" I detto "Alanna" and he asked "what the J stand for?" I kind of panicked inside because I knew that things would be totally different if I told him that the J stood for Jackson! For starters I didn't want him to treat me differently because of who my father is and secondly, I didn't want dad to find out that I have been sneaking out of the house. I detto "Jamie" and he detto "oh; I wasn't expecting that to be your name." He pointed to each one of his Friends and detto "this is Colton, Brandon, Chase, and Sketch. Don't worry; Sketch isn't his real name." I gave him a confused look and asked "why do te guys call him Sketch?" Damien detto "because he draws all the outlines for the buildings we spray paint." I detto "oh" as we walked into the entrance of the pattinare, skate park.

My jaw dropped as soon as I saw how awesome this pattinare, skate park was! There must've been over 50 different ramps and railings! I looked at Damien and detto "wow, te weren't kidding when te detto this place is sick!" He detto "dude, you've got to mostra me what you've got!" I detto "okay" as I got on my skateboard and slid down a railing in between two staircases. Then I went over to a tunnel and skated through it, doing a few flips at the end. He detto "I can honestly say that I've never seen a girl skateboard as well as te can! Come to think of it; I don't think I've ever seen a girl skateboard until now; other than on TV that is."

I skated with all the guys for a while and then Damien and I broke off from the group. He asked "do te want to get something to snack on at the convenience store a few blocks away from here?" I detto "sure" because all this skateboarding made me really hungry. He looked at his Friends and detto "we'll be right back guys; we’re going to get something to eat." Colton detto "bring me back some…" Damien looked at him and jokingly detto "no way man! What do te think I am; a waiter?" With that just Damien and I left the pattinare, skate park to head for the store.

The two of us slowly made our way back from the store after I had gotten chips and a blue Gatorade. He had gotten some sort of energy drink and a king size pack of arachide, arachidi burro cups. We left the store and sat down at a picnic tavolo in a gazebo. He asked "so; how old are you?" I detto as I opened my bag of chips "I turned 13 in March, how about you?" He detto "I'll be 15 this year." He asked "so, did te just recently sposta to Vegas?" I detto "yeah; my dad moved us out of here for work." He asked "do te have any brothers o sisters? I have a sister named Raven, she's nine and she is really annoying!" I detto "yeah; I have two brothers and a sister. Mine are really annoying too; so I understand how te feel!" He asked "what about your mom?" I detto "I know I have a mom but; I don't know who she is yet." He detto "my dad doesn't live with us either. He left right after my sister was born and we haven't seen him since. My guess is that he's gotten himself in trouble and is locked up somewhere." I asked "what time is it?" Damien looked down at his watch and detto "one in the morning; why?" I detto "damn; I should probably get home just in case my dad decides to wake up and check on me!" Damien detto as I got up from the picnic bench "you snuck out of the house?" I detto "yup" and threw my empty chip bag in the trashcan successivo to me. As I ran down the street, Damien yelled "sneak out tomorrow and meet us at the pattinare, skate park so we can hang out again!" I shouted back "I will" as I dropped my skateboard to the ground and skated off into the distance.

August 10, 2007,

Over the past few weeks, I've snuck out of the house every single night to hang out with Damien and the other guys. I find it really funny that dad hasn't caught me yet because he's really hard to fool. I'm starting to get really confident that he won't ever catch me! During the giorno actually; my behavior hasn't been as bad as it usually is and dad loves that. My grades have improved a lot and I think he's let his guard down.

We were all sitting in the living room watching TV in the afternoon and dad detto "you know AJ; I've been meaning to tell te that I'm really impressed da your behavior lately! I mean; I haven't had to put te on punishment in over a mese and for te that's a new record!" I detto "thanks" while desperately holding back a smile because of how clueless he is! I asked "can I ask te a hypothetical domanda dad?" He detto "sure; go ahead!" I detto "would it be awkward for a 13-year-old to data a 15-year-old? Keep in mind that this is purely out of curiosity because I was watching a movie where an older guy was dating a younger girl." He detto "no; I guess it wouldn't be that weird just as long as the guy treats the girl with respect. What movie was this from?" I detto "I can't remember, I caught a glimpse of it when I was flipping through the channels." He detto "oh okay; I was just wondering" and brushed it off.

August 12, 2007,

I was just arriving at the pattinare, skate park when I spotted the guys. I ran up to them with my skateboard in my hand and detto "hey guys!" Damien immediately got excited and detto "hey; I was worried te wouldn't mostra up!" Brandon joked "why? AJ always comes here at 11. Why are te so excited man?" Damien quickly punched him in the crotch and detto "cup check!" We all burst out laughing as Brandon fell to the ground groaning in pain.

The successivo thing I know; Damien's cell phone started ringing and he picked it up. He detto as he talked to the person on the other end of the call "why? Do I have to? She's so annoying! Can't te just switch shifts with one of your coworkers? Well; can I at least bring one of my Friends home to sit there with me until te get back? Okay; thanks… I'll be there in 15 minutes!" I asked confused "who was that?" He detto "that was my mom and she detto I have to go home to watch my sister while she is doing a night shift at the hospital that she works in." I detto "oh; that sucks!" He detto while smiling "not exactly." I asked "what do te mean?" He detto "she detto that I could invite a friend over to hang out with me until she gets back and I wanted to know if te wanted to come with me for about three hours?" I was shocked that he wanted to hang out with me but; I detto "hell yeah I will!" We waved goodbye to the other guys and started walking to his house.

About 10 minuti later, we showed up at this average sized modern home and Damien took out his house keys so he could open up the door. We both walked inside and there was a brown haired woman standing at the cucina counter. Damien detto "mom; this is my friend AJ! She's a tomboy and an awesome skateboarder!" His mom shook my hand and detto "nice to meet you! My name is Kate. I have to leave now and don't forget to make sure that te two are quite because Raven is sleeping upstairs!" Damien rolled his eyes and detto "I know mom!" His mother left carrying her car keys in her hands.

I followed him into the living room and he turned on the TV. He looked over at me and stared at my hat. He detto "I just noticed that I haven't seen te without a hat on before!" He started tugging at my hat and then pulled it off my head. He detto "I didn't know that te have blonde hair o a mohawk!" I laughed and detto "it's not a mohawk; it's a fauxhawk!" He detto "so what? It's pretty much the same thing!" We joked back and forth about how one another were correct and then he turned on the Nintendo Wii that was set up successivo to the TV.

Damien started up a bowling game and passed me a controller. We played two games; I won the first and he won the second. I detto "we have to do a tiebreaker now to see who actually wins!" He looked at me with a gleam in his eye and detto "alright; but do te want to make this più interesting?" I raised my eyebrows and asked "in what way?" He detto "loser kisses the winner." I detto "sure" and he started a new game.

I have to admit that I was hoping and praying that I would win because I didn't want to make the first move. I think we both knew da now that the two of us had crushes on each other but; when he detto that; it definitely caught me off-guard. I've never really kissed a guy before but; I wasn't about to let Damien find that out! I was determined to win and nothing was going to get in my way!

After about 20 minuti of playing, I had the last sposta and the two of us have the exact same score. I rolled my last ball and just as I thought I was going to lose; the last bowling pin toppled over! Damien looked at the screen in shock and laughed as he detto "that is such bullshit!" I detto "oh my God; I can't believe I won da two points!" He turned the game off and walked up to me. He asked "are te ready for this?" I detto "yeah" and he moved closer. One good thing about me being Michael Jackson's daughter is the fact that I'm really tall, only a few inches shorter than Damien. He looked down and started baciare me. I think he wanted to make out but; I didn't pick up on that until afterwards when I pulled away. We both looked at each other awkwardly while blushing and I detto just as his mom got home from work "I better go now; it's getting late! I'll see te tomorrow I guess." He cleared his throat and detto "okay; thanks for hanging out with me!" With that; I grabbed my skateboard, waved goodbye to Kate, and started to head home.

I quietly snuck up to my bedroom and shut my bedroom door. I put my pajamas on and flopped down on my bed. I lay there staring at the ceiling and detto to myself "I can't believe I kissed him, wait yes I can! He’s really hot! I just had my first kiss!" I started giggling like a giddy schoolgirl and had to stop so I didn't accidentally wake anyone up. The weird thing was, I think I wanted to make out with him too… Now that I think about it. That felt right and I really want to baciare him again! Oh my God; is this really happening!!! I know no matter what happens; dad can't find out because I'm not supposed to be dating anyone until I turn 16!

August 13, 2007,

I came downstairs for breakfast and sat down at the tavolo with my siblings and dad. He detto while I sat there still kind of in shock from what happened last night with Damien "why are te so red?" I detto trying to come up with a decent excuse "oh; I was just staring at my Jesse McCartney posters again!" Dad laughed and asked "are te ever going to get over that guy? You've liked him since te were 10 years old and now you're 13." I detto while laughing along with him "no; probably not!" I got up from my sede, sedile and detto "I'm going to go clean my room because there are magazine clippings of Jesse McCartney all over the floor and I have some new posters to hang up." He looked at me in shock and asked "did te just say that te were going to clean your room without me asking you? Are te feeling okay? What happened to my daughter?" I detto "what's the matter? I can't be good for a change?"

September 2, 2007,

I walked up to Damien right after I got to the pattinare, skate Park and I asked "can I talk to te alone for a while?" He seemed excited and detto "yeah; sure!" I pointed toward the skateboard tunnel and we walked over there. We both sat down inside it and he detto "I think I know what te want to talk about!" I detto "we haven't talked about that baciare since it happened and I think it's time we do." He detto "I want te to be honest with me; was that your first kiss?" I asked while smiling "how did te know?" He detto "it was pretty obvious because I was nowhere near done baciare te when te pulled away!" I laughed and detto "I had no idea what I was doing! He laughed and we both looked at each other seeming to know what the other was thinking.

Damien cleared his throat and asked "so; did the baciare feel as right for te as it did for me?" I detto "of course it did! I couldn't stop thinking about it afterwards!" He detto "me either; so does this mean te and I are dating now?" I detto "yeah; that sounds good to me! I want to make up for that crappy first kiss!" He detto "okay but; don't forget not to pull away this time!"

We were making out for almost a half ora when he stopped and asked "when can I meet your dad?" I totally forgot about that and I knew it wasn't a good idea because I'm not even supposed to be out of the house right now; let alone having a secret boyfriend! I detto "wait; because I'm only 13 I don't want to jump into things too quickly! I don't mind making out with te o going on dates but; until I turn 14 sex is out of the question!" He detto "I completely understand and just so te know; I'm still a virgin." I was surprised and asked "really?" He detto "I wouldn't lie to you!" He quickly changed the subject back to my dad and asked "when am I going to meet your dad because you've already met my mom?" I detto "we're going to have to keep things between us for now because I'm not supposed to be dating for another three years." He detto "I don't want te to get in trouble just because te want to data me!" I stood up and laughed as I detto "please; te should know da now that being in trouble doesn't phase me at all!"