Entering the room, Raleigh was the center of attention. Only two other people were there already as she and Autumn walked in. Effron and Ember.

"Ladies, welcome. Take a seat. Airyk and David should be here soon." Mr. Cooper had been right. Just as Raleigh and Autumn had taken their seats on both sides of Effron, the aforementioned men waltzed into the room, choosing the other to remaining seats in the half circle.

"Alright, since everyone is here on time, with much surprise, lets begin. We'll start with ‘Seasons Of Love.'" After passing out the music and going on the piano, Mr. Cooper began the music and everyone joined in together and on key. Ember seemed to have a little trouble with her notes as she was playing Joann, but eventually she got it just right. After perfecting Seasons Of Love, Mr. Cooper suggested moving onto Effron and Raleigh's first duet, Light My Candle.

Raleigh found it a bit difficult not to get up and perform the piece as she would on stage, but she contain herself and got through it fully. However pleased with herself, her professor was not.

"Raleigh, I feel like you were holding yourself back. Why?"

She decided to go for honesty. "I've seen Rent live on stage at least a dozen times and the movie even more. It's hard for me to just sit in a chair and sing these songs to the best of my ability."

Seeming to contemplate her words, Mr. Cooper stood and went to the center of the room. "Alright, everyone please move your chairs back a few feet. If you're having trouble performing it while sitting still, then let's see how you perform it moving with Mr. Walker. Any objections, Mr. Walker?"

"No, none at all."

"Thought not." Going back to the piano, as soon as Mr. Cooper began, so did Raleigh and Effron.

Watching the chemistry between them as they performed, obviously getting the characters of Mimi and Roger down pact, everyone was in awe. Even Ember was speechless when the song was over, which was saying a lot considering how she didn't like Raleigh.

"All right, now that is what I'm talking about!" Mr. Cooper said as he clapped for their performance.

Trying not to dwell on them, Mr. Cooper began to have them do each song from the musical, in no particular order, so he could see where they all stood vocally. For some reason he found himself watching Raleigh most often. He found himself drawn to her, unable to break the trance he seemed to be in lately. There was no denying that within a month's time she had changed incredibly. When the semester had begun, she was a sweet, seemingly innocent, laid back country girl. But now...she was turning into Autumn more and more with each passing day. Her "fuck off" attitude really was doing a number on her. It was no secret that her new found gang of friends was into partying, alcohol, sex, and drugs so he knew she was doing it too.

Thinking back to his high school and college days, Mr. Cooper didn't feel anything at all that made him wish he were back there. The feeling of needing to fit in just overwhelms you. It breathes you in and swallows you whole, refusing to spit you back out. It begins to control your every move, every thought, every choice. He knew firsthand what the need to fit in does to someone and if he could, he was going to stop the same from happening to Raleigh. She was far too good of a person and far too talented to get mixed up in that lifestyle.

Within a few more weeks he began noticing little things about Raleigh. Small changes that made all the difference. She had missed two rehearsals, which everyone knew she would never do if she had still been the old Raleigh Coons. He had heard some of the other professors talking and apparently she had been missing classes as well. One even admitted she didn't know if Raleigh was going to cut it in the workshop. Her work was beginning to suffer.

Mr. Cooper knew there was really nothing he could do to change her behavior, but he'd be damned if he just let her throw her shot at the big time away for some sex and drugs.

It was two weeks until opening night and the stage was set. Everyone's footwork and all out performances were going great. Raleigh still had the "I'm untouchable" attitude but was still faltering. Missing the simplest steps during "Light My Candle" yet she somehow managed to get everything down on "Out Tonight" each time.

While Airyk and Ember were doing "The Tango Maureen," Daniel pulled Raleigh aside to speak candidly with her.

"Yeah?"

"What's up with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean, Raleigh. You're missing classes and rehearsals and your performance is slipping. What is going on with you lately?"

"Nothing. I'm just sick of always playing it safe and never doing what I want when I want."

"Really? Well the other professors are ready to kick you out of this workshop. Is that what you want?"

Crossing her arms as if challenging him, Raleigh turned her face up slightly. "They won't kick me out."

"Oh, you sound so sure."

"There's only two weeks until opening night. Nowhere near enough time to train someone else to play Mimi."

"Raleigh, you were trained to play Mimi, but you've become her. And you should know as well as anyone that everybody has an understudy."

Watching him walk away from her, Raleigh felt something snap inside her. She had always taken pride in who she was as a person and a performer. Now that grip she held on both were slipping away. No, she wasn't proud of the fact that she did coke with her new friends regularly, but she wasn't so sure she could stop either. She was in no way an addict, she just enjoyed how she felt once getting to that high. Raleigh could only describe it as being on top of the world, like being invincible. But what it came down to was she's not invincible and she can be kicked out of the workshop and be even farther from reaching her dream. She had to cool it for a while,.

At least until the show was over anyway.

When rehearsal was over, Raleigh decided tog et a cab and do some shopping to make herself feel better. After buying practically an entirely new wardrobe, she decided to go to a Salon & Spa nearby. She got her fingernails and toenails done and then treated herself to a full waxing. It was painful, but the end result was well worth it. Thank god for the large allowance her father gave her each week so she didn't have to work.

Finally realizing what time it was, Raleigh found the first cab she could and hopped inside, telling the driver to get her back to the dorm as fast as possible. It was a little past eight and the Halloween part started at nine thirty. It would take all that time for her to get ready. She, Ember, and Autumn had all agreed to go as the original pussycat dolls clad in corsets, guarders and stiletto boots.

Finally getting her door open while juggling her bags, Raleigh rushed around the room collecting her toiletries so she could shower.

"Where have you been? We have to leave soon. Girl, don't even tell me you went and got pampered without me."

"Sorry Autumn but it was much needed. And I lost track of time."

"Well maybe you wouldn't have if you didn't turn your damn phone off."

"I'm sorry. I'll be quick I promise."

As promised, Raleigh was out of the shower and drying and straightening her hair in ten minutes.

"So what made you go off and sulk by yourself?" Autumn asked as she slipped on her boots.

"Nothing."

"Uh huh. This wouldn't have anything to do with Cooper pulling you out of rehearsal today would it?" Pausing for a second as she pinned back some of her hair creating a bit of a bump on top, Raleigh looked at Autumn through the mirror.

"I didn't know I was being watched. He just said my performance was slacking."

Laughing, Autumn shook her head in disbelief. "Ray, you can slack off and still be the best. You're the star of the show and he knows that. But no more talk about classes or rehearsal, we're going to have a good time tonight."

Smiling, Raleigh finished her make up and got dressed. She promised herself that after tonight she would give the show her all, but tonight? She was going to party and be the teenager she wanted to be with no inhibitions.

Pulling on her long, black satin coat, Raleigh tied it at her waist and looked at Autumn. "Let's go."

---

Wondering where Raleigh was, Effron took a look around the place once again. Where was she? They had agreed to meet at the party instead of going together but now he was beginning to regret that decision. Taking another gulp of his beer, Effron noticed people's attention going to the front door to his left. Slowly making his way over there, he realized why. Raleigh, Autumn, and Ember had finally arrived, walking in with attitude only they could pass off. His jaw had nearly hit the floor once his eyes came across Raleigh. Hand on her hip, hips swaying, hair being cast back as she moved. She looked absolutely stunning. Finally getting a hold of himself, Effron came towards the girls.

"Hello gorgeous." Smiling, Raleigh allowed him to kiss her.

"Hello yourself. You pull off the phantom look incredibly."

"It's a gift, what can I say? And you, my very own pussycat doll, are breathtaking." Kissing him again, Raleigh slowly turned to get herself a drink.

For a few hours they drank and danced and just had a great time before she felt Effron's mouth beside her ear.

"Wanna get out of here?" His husky accented voice made her want to rip off his costume and have him right there but she couldn't. She'd had other plans in mind for that night.

"I would love to, but there's something I have to do."

"Now?" The pout graced his features and Raleigh felt her heart melt. He was too adorable for his own good.

"Yes. But I'll meet you back at your place in an hour or two, ok?"

"I'm going to hold you to that." He whispered to her before crashing his lips on hers.

Breaking away from him before their heated hiss turned into more, Raleigh grabbed her coat and left the party, walking about six blocks over. Looking at her destination across the street, Raleigh mustered up the courage to actually go across and ring the doorbell. The man was obviously awake and alone, she could see him through his front window, so why the hesitation?

"Here goes." Taking hold of her new found "no day but today" attitude, Raleigh passed through the gate and went up onto the stone porch. After ringing the doorbell, she leaned back against the wall and waited. A minute later he answered, looking as gorgeous as ever.

"Raleigh." He said in surprise.

"Hello, Dan."

"It's nearly three AM, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you. You were up so I didn't think you'd mind the company." Looking at her, Daniel tried to figure out what she was up to.

"Get bored with your new found friends already?"

Rolling her eyes, Raleigh turned to leave. "Look, I got bored at the party and thought, "hmm, I wonder what Dan is doing? Maybe he's just as bored and lonely as me." But if you don't want me here I'll just go home and be bored by myself."

"All right, fine I'll bite. Come in." He opened the door and she stepped in past him.

"Wow." She said in astonishment. His home looked incredible on the outside, but the inside was even more beautiful. "You're home is amazing." It was decorated sort of dark to give it a middle ages look. Definitely a home fit for a king. "I wasn't aware that professors made so much money."

"We make more than teachers. Plus it helps that my parents left their entire fortune to me when they died. I grew up here and hadn't had the heart to sell it."

"Well, lucky you." She said as she moved into the room he had previously occupied. She had assumed it was the living room, but now that she was actually in it, she could see that it was actually a study. Three large, dark oak bookcases stood on the wall to the left of the door and a matching desk facing away from the wall perpendicular to that one. Across from where Dan had been sitting on the too comfortable looking couch was a large brick fireplace with an oil painting above the mantle. She assumed it was of Dan with his parents when he had been a child. Turning to the right corner, Raleigh felt her mouth drop at what she saw. A large grand piano sat there, calling out for her to play it. It was the exact piano she had always wanted.

Watching Raleigh critique his home, Daniel couldn't help but to wonder just what she wore beneath that coat. He held no doubt that it was something incredibly sexy, could he really expect anything less from her for a party? He noticed she suddenly seemed drawn to the piano and he suddenly could only picture her naked on top of it.

That was so wrong.

She was his student, that's all. He had to remain completely professional with her. If the dean even found out about him having even let her into his house he could lose his job. He loved teaching music. Nobody was worth sacrificing that for.

Ripping his eyes away form her, Daniel forced a sentence out of his mouth. "Was the costume party really that boring?"

Finally swinging around to face him, Raleigh replied, "Actually no. It was a lot fun"

"So then why did you leave it?"

"I wanted to speak with you." Daniel thought she had hesitated to answer him just a second too long.

"At three in the morning?" His voice held a hint of doubt and Raleigh swore to prove him wrong.

"Well, I had to do it before I lost the nerve to."

"Ok, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Shrugging, Raleigh simply said, "You were right."

"Was I now?" Raleigh nodded as Daniel slowly made his was toward her. "And just what had I been right about?"

"I came to LA to live my dream. Instead I became a partier who no longer does her best." Reaching into her pocket, Raleigh pulled out a photograph and handed it to him. "I've become her. That image that my mother always wanted me to portray. But at least that girl beneath the image took pride in her work and would never even entertain thoughts of doing things I have done since becoming friends with Autumn and everyone."

Looking down at the picture he held in his hand, Daniel couldn't believe this was the same girl who had come here at the beginning of the semester. This wasn't the quiet sweet country girl from Shelby Forrest, Tennessee. This was a girl who looked like a slut in her heavy make up and small black outfit that left very little to the imagination. But he'd be lying if he said the hint of a tattoo on her lower back hadn't stirred an immediate attraction in him.

"This looks more like you now."

"My mom wants me to become this huge popstar that everybody loves to look at. She thinks image is everything, and maybe today it is. But that's not me, that's not who I want to be. My music is the one thing I am proud of."

"As you should be. You're so talented, Ray. I'd hate to see you throw it all away."

"I'm not going to."

Watching as Raleigh ran her hand over the piano top, Daniel decided he wanted to get to know this girl more. What was really going on in that mind of hers? "Tell me something about you, Raleigh."

"I thought that's what I just did?"

"No. You just told me something about your mother. Tell me something about you, something real."

"Ok." Raleigh took a deep breath and looked at Daniel in all seriousness. "I hate peas."

"Raleigh, I want to know you. I want to know what makes you the person you are." Turning away from him, Raleigh sat on the stool and pressed her fingers to the keys, playing out a beautiful melody.

"Something real." He could see that she his a lot of pain away from the world and he ached to know everything that made her feel that pain. "I've been completely, madly in love with the same man for nearly thirteen years now. He broke my heart last Christmas with a simple letter he sent from NYU. Five weeks later I found out I was pregnant and I got an abortion. I didn't want him to resent me for getting pregnant. I wanted him to have a future. Then he came home for the summer and I tried as hard as I could not to get close to him again, but I couldn't help it. I mean, how could I just get over a twelve year relationship in five months? Then he found out what I had done and never in my life had I ever wished I could change something in my past as much as I did then." Smiling through the tears that were threatening to fall, Raleigh took a deep breath. "But he forgave me. After everything, he still forgave me." Stopping, Raleigh felt herself go back to that day the unimaginable happened. Josh had forgiven her and she had never been so happy.

"A-are you ok?" He stuttered a little, which made a crap-load of new thoughts run through Raleigh's mind. He only stuttered when he was really nervous or worried.

Wiping away the tears that stained her cheeks, Raleigh sniffled loudly before softly murmuring a "just fine."

"You don't look fine, Ray." Why now? Why did he have to be nice to her now? She didn't deserve it and was probably reading more into it than she should have, but it was killing her even more. He looked at her with such caring eyes and worry in his soft, beautiful voice. She couldn't take this much longer. She couldn't speak, she couldn't even think. So she shrugged in response.

"It's nothing." Her gaze was peered to the ground. She couldn't look at him anymore, for if she did, she would lose all control again.

"Ray, I know you. You don't cry over nothing. What happened?"

"Why are you doing this?" Her voice was soft and shaky. Couldn't he see that this was tearing her apart inside?

"Because, believe it or not, after everything that has happened, I do still care."

"You shouldn't." She whispered, wiping away the tear that had had the nerve to escape her red eye.

"Please, tell me what happened."

She shouldn't. She didn't want to. But dammit she needed to talk to someone or she was going to explode. He seemed willing to listen and he was the only one that needed to hear what she was dying to say. Letting out a deep breath, Raleigh simply said, "Mandy took us up to see the nursery." But that was all she needed to say. Josh knew why she had run out sobbing, he knew why didn't want to tell him.

"Oh." Was all he could say.

They were both silent for what seemed like hours but was only a few minutes. Josh couldn't stand it anymore. He had to know. "Why didn't you tell me? I would have come home to be with you."

Raleigh looked up at Josh and was certain she saw his eyes tearing up. This hurt him just as much as it hurt her. "I didn't want you to be with me only for a baby. I wanted you back, but I wasn't about to do that to you. You wanted to see what else was out there. You didn't want a girlfriend to hang over your head. So why should I dangle a baby there too?"

"But why did you go and..."

"Because I was scared!" She practically yelled at him. "I was scared of being a single mom, I was scared I would never get the chance to go to school and work on my music ever again. I was scared that you would come home and resent me for not letting you have a future. I was just so scared. I didn't' think you would ever find out. I wanted you to be happy with who ever you found up in New York."

"Well, that plan did a lot of good, don't you think?"

"God, I'm sorry Josh! Ok? I am so sorry I did that. I wanted so badly to hate you when you came home, but I couldn't. I let myself fall in love with you all over again and I knew I shouldn't have. Because if we got close again, you had a bigger chance at finding out. But I didn't care. You were here for three months and I thought maybe we could go back. God, I just....I love you, Josh. So much. I always have and I always will. You sending me that letter was like a fucking death call. I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe. I sheltered myself away from everyone. The only person I wanted was you. But I knew that wouldn't happen and when I found out I was pregnant, I had picked up the phone and a pen and paper so many times, but nothing ever seemed to come out right. So I gave up. I got scared and I did something unforgivable. And James was there and I was vulnerable and we ended up getting together. I think I wanted to prove to myself that the world doesn't end with you, but no matter how hard I tried, thoughts of you never left my mind. You were always right there with me. I never got over you. I never stopped loving you. The world may not have ended, but mine did. I'm just....I'm sorry. I am so sorry." Raleigh held onto herself tight and let the tears run down her face, let the sobs coming out of her throat.

"It's ok."

Raleigh looked at him in disbelief. "No it's not. I did something so horrible, how can you stand there and say you forgive me, that it's ok what I did to you? You can't."

"Too bad. Because I do." Raleigh looked up into his crystal blue eyes and found nothing that told her he was playing some sick joke on her. He was really forgiving her. How could he do that? Stepping closer to her, Josh put his hands on both sides of her face, causing her to look him in the face. "I love you, Raleigh Coons. Always and forever."

"I love you." Raleigh sobbed as she let him pull her face to his own. Their lips met in a passionate kiss. One that Raleigh never wanted to end. Their mouths fit perfectly with each other. The kiss she had waited for for so long had finally come and it was perfect. She still fit perfectly against him and she was so happy. She couldn't remember anytime in the past year that she had been so happy. Pulling away form the kiss so she could breathe, Raleigh wrapped her arms around Josh's neck and held on tight. There was no way she could let him go now. They had been through too much. This time, she was sure, they were going to make it.

Coming back to the present, Raleigh continued to play the keys before her. "We decided not to be together until we're done with school. It's what's best but it doesn't mean it hurts any less. I miss him so much I can barely speak to him on the phone without breaking down. Now I know why he had sent that letter."

Daniel heard the anguish in her voice and saw the pain written on her face. No wonder she had buried herself into the typical life of a college kid.

"You're only human, Raleigh. Everybody hurts, everybody feels." Daniel began to walk towards Raleigh, only one thing on his mind. The need to comfort her was overwhelming and he'd do anything to bring her that comfort. "Everybody needs." He dropped his voice to a whisper as he wrapped his arms around her waist, tugging on the tie of the coat she wore. As he slid the coast from her body, he put his mouth beside her ear, causing Raleigh's every thought and movement to slow dramatically as she closed her eyes. "and everybody wants." Pulling her hair to the side, he removed her choker and kissed her neck softly.

A few seconds ago Raleigh had been upset and missing everyone back home. Now all she wanted was Daniel. The way his lips felt on her neck, his touch creeping up her thigh, it was all driving her completely mad.

Turning on the stool, Raleigh pulled his head down to hers, crushing their lips together. She felt him lift her up with ease and place her on the piano. Releasing her arms from around his neck, Raleigh moved her hands down to undo his pants and take his shirt off. She raked her fingers down his chest and to his hips, pulling him ever closer to her.

Reaching around her, Daniel unclasped her corset and threw it off into the room somewhere. As they continued their heated kiss, he lifted her once again and headed upstairs to his bedroom, kicking off his jeans in the process.

How could something so wrong feel so incredible?