It's *dun dun dun* the final chapter!

25
"Look at her. She's all proud of herself because she won all those awards. Who would vote for her, anyway?" Lucky was scowling at Jess, who was smiling with Ben in the flashes of cameras. They both were holding her many awards.
Matt laced his arm through Lucky's. "Don't be like this. It's our last night together."
"It's my last night with a life," Lucky replied sourly.

Jess and Ben slid into their limo before it drove away. "Did you see the way Lucky was glaring at me?" Jess asked.
"It doesn't matter," Ben assured her.
"It matters to me. We used to be really close. Really close."
"I know. But I want you to have a good time tonight. You're 22, you have seven awards."
"I'd trade my awards and my birthday to have her see the truth." She sighed. "At least I'll see Mom again tonight." The award show had fallen on the night of her birthday, January 18th, and a makeup company that Jess was a spokeswoman for had thrown a party in her honor. She and Ben walked into the party, graciously posed for pictures, and sat down at a table. Lana and Craig were already there, and they joined them. Lana beamed proudly when she saw all of Jess's awards. "What a birthday present." she said. Matt and Lucky came in after a little while. Lucky ignored her former friends and sat down at another table. Matt went over to talk to Lana and Craig with his back turned to Jess and Ben. Lucky had sat down next to a pretty, blonde singer named Jamie Pike. Lucky recognized Jamie as one of the stars who had the nastiest rumors created about her. She was close in age to Jess, and she always seemed to have a happy smile plastered on her face. Lucky edged her chair away a bit. Jamie seemed hurt. "I'd think another star wouldn't judge someone based on dumb rumors!" she yelled. "If you want to snub me, at least go away. Go talk to your little friend, Miss Birthday Girl. She definitely knows how to snub me." "Jessica is not my friend," Lucky insisted. "Oh, yeah, I forgot. Your boyfriend was cheating on you with her." Lucky gave Jamie a strange look. "What?" asked Jamie. "I read that somewhere. The tabloids make up stuff like that. You can't pay attention to them, or believe them." "Sorry," Lucky replied. "It must stink to have your record company drop you." "So you do know what happened." "The news tells the truth for the most part. And Jessica just sat there? I'm not surprised. I guess I'm not the only one she likes to hurt. We were in a group together years ago, but she decided that she was too good to sing with me, or any of the rest of us. She ran off to be a star, and left one girl dead, one pregnant, and me, miserable." "Really? I didn't know that." "No one does. She keeps it a secret to look good, and I keep it a secret so that I won't look like I'm trying to make her look bad."

Evelyn Prentice came in and sat down next to Jess. Matt left to join Lucky. "Hi, Mom," Jess said. "This is Ben." "I've heard a lot about you, Ben," said Evelyn. Ben smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Prentice." "Please, call me Evelyn. Hello, Lana." Lana greeted her and introduced Craig. Jess directed her attention to where Lucky and Matt were talking to her former partner, Jamie Pike. "Lana," she said, "they're talking to Jamie." "Jess, you know very well that Jamie's not a bad person. Don't forget that you two were best friends. Things just fell apart between you. exactly four years ago." Evelyn saw the pained look on her daughter's face. She remembered what she had to tell her daughter, a secret that would only add to that pain. But it couldn't be kept a secret anymore. If she didn't tell Jess tonight, it would be too late. Evelyn reached for Jess's hand. "Honey, we need to talk." She led Jess to an empty hallway. Jess studied her mother's face. Evelyn was nervous, but Jess couldn't imagine why. "Jess, I need to tell you something. Please, don't be angry with me for hiding this from you for so long. Just hear me out." She took a deep breath. "Do you remember when your father went to Japan for two years when you were five?" "That was two years?" Jess asked. "Well, he was supposed to be gone for two years, but the crash cut his stay short. Well, Jess, I was scared that our relationship wouldn't be able to last. Do you remember Peter?" Jess thought for a second. She remembered his warm, green eyes and his brown hair. She remembered how he had driven her to school and dance class. She remembered how nice he had been. "He was your friend," she said with a smile. "He was my boyfriend." Jess gasped as Evelyn continued. "I went out with him to keep my mind off missing your father. And he got me pregnant." Jess looked confused. "Why didn't I ever notice these things?" "You were too caught up in your constant performing. And no one ever asked about it. They thought that I was pregnant from your father." "What did you do?" It felt strange for Jess to ask this question. It was as if she hadn't already lived through this, as if she had missed these experiences, as if she didn't know a chapter of her own story. "I decided to have the baby and get rid of it. I told anyone who cared that I had had a miscarriage or something, and that your father was too upset to talk about it. I went to the hospital." "You told me that it was an operation to make you thin again!" "Jessica, if I had told you the truth you would have gone running around, yelling, 'My mommy's having an affair!' without knowing what you were talking about." Jess giggled. "I guess you did the right thing." "Well, I had a baby girl. We decided to put her up for adoption. But abandoning her wasn't enough. I was angry with her. I decided to give her a name that would stick out, that would bother her." Jess's eyes widened. She leaned back against the wall. "Oh my goodness," she whispered, suddenly realizing what the big secret was. "I wanted that baby to be far away from me. So Peter Starlet took little Lucky to California with him and left her there." Jess bit her lip, unsure of what to do or say. "And he was coming back on the same day that your father returned from Japan. Your father's flight landed in San Francisco, and he switched planes. He was on the same flight as Peter, and they both went down in the plane crash." Evelyn began to sob. "I was called twice that day. The first time was about Peter, and then the second time was about your father." Jess hadn't paid much attention to what her mother had just said. She was on the verge of tears. "Lucky's my half-sister?" "Yes. That's why I had to tell you tonight, before she was sent back." Jess could feel her tears spill down her cheeks as she remembered all of the hints that this would happen. "So that's why we can finish each other's sentences and sense each other's presence. Lana said that we look alike. Lana said that she's exactly like I was. And that's why you avoided me after you met Lucky at the hospital. Because you knew Lucky would be around me, and you never wanted to see her again." The tears came faster now. "But she'll never trust me again." She looked at her mother. "A song. I have to write a song." Evelyn pulled a pen and a pad of paper out of her purse. She handed them to Jess along with a tissue. Jess ran off to the bathroom.

A few minutes later, Jess reentered the party, ran up on stage, and began to talk to the band members. "What is she doing?" asked Ben. Lana shrugged. Jess walked to the front of the stage and took the microphone. "Hi, everyone. I'd like to thank you for coming. I have some things that I really need to say. First of all, I have broken away from Smithton Records, and I plan to start my own record company that will help young performers avoid being taken advantage of, because I know how that feels." "No you don't!" Jamie yelled. "Secondly, I'd like to apologize to Jamie Pike for abandoning our group to be a solo artist. We were both stubborn, and maybe we aren't so stubborn now." Jamie was surprised and suddenly didn't have a retort. "I'd like to apologize to all of my fans that I've lied to, and I'm going to let the truth out on a televised press conference tomorrow." She smiled. It felt so good to get this off her chest, but the heaviest secret still remained. She stared at the back of Lucky's head. "Most importantly, I need to say something to my little sister, who doesn't know how much I love her. I'm going to express that through a song that I just wrote." Lana was confused. "She doesn't have a sister." Evelyn smiled. "You'd be surprised." Jess looked serious as she announced her song. "It's called 'The Bonds of Sisters.'" The band started the introduction, and she counted to 16 before letting her sweet, simple song flow from her lips.

"Through me they've lied Makin' you cry And deep in your heart You're left wondering why Oh, why?

"What have you done That is so wrong? Well, I'll never know And neither will you Oh, why?"

Lucky turned slightly so she could watch Jess out of the corner of her eye.

"I know you're in pain And so am I Together again I can save your life Yes, I"

Lucky tried to swallow the growing lump in her throat. She just knew that this song was for her. Between the lyrics and the signals from her strange connection with Jess, she just knew. Maybe the little sister thing was a figurative way for Jess to sing to Lucky.

"'Cause we've never known before But now we do And the bonds refuse to break"

Jess's voice swelled with the music. Lucky was fully facing her now, with a puzzled look on her face. Jess managed to let go of her serious performance face to smile at Lucky. She removed the microphone from its stand and walked down from the stage.

"I'm just so lucky 'Cause I have you And if your name tells Just how you're feeling"

Lucky looked up at Jess, who was standing right in front of her.

"Then you're Lucky, too."

Jess turned of the microphone and placed it in Jamie's open hand with a smile. Jamie smiled back and held the microphone tightly. Jess sank down to her knees and looked at Lucky pleadingly. "Lucky," she said, "I know that I've told a lot of lies in the past. I have never, ever lied to you. You mean too much to me. The only thing I'm guilty of is letting my record company run wild behind my back. I never imagined that they would do something so awful. I swear that I didn't know, and I wouldn't have allowed that to happen if I had known. If you want to be a client of my new record company, you're welcome to be. I'm going to have Ben be in charge of it, and he's very trustworthy."
Lucky was silent as she watched Jess rise up from the ground.
"Lucky, I also found out something about your past. I found this out tonight, so I promise that I haven't been keeping secrets from you."
"You never told me about Jamie," Lucky said stubbornly.
"You never asked." Jess smiled. "Lucky, I know who your family is."
"Really?" she asked, excited to finally know the truth.
"Your mother was married and had a five-year-old daughter when you were born. She was having an affair with your father, who died in a plane crash after leaving you at the orphanage. He happened to die in the same plane crash as my father."
Lucky remained absolutely silent.
"Your father was a very nice man with nice green eyes and brown hair," Jess added.
"He's just like I imagined," Lucky breathed.
"You have two living relatives," Jess continued. "You have your mother, Evelyn Prentice, and your half-sister. Me."
Lucky's mouth dropped open. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure," replied Evelyn, approaching the sisters. "I know that I had a baby girl 16 years ago whose name was Lucky Starlet, and you definitely have Peter's hair, and his nose, and his."
Lucky stood up. "I'm sorry that I'm such a brat," she said, throwing her arms around Jess. Evelyn wrapped her arms around both girls. Lucky's eyes were shining happily. "I guess I really am lucky," she proclaimed cheerfully.

A/N: well, that's it! I hope y'all enjoyed it. I have more stories with these characters (2 sequels, 1 prequel, and 1 that takes place at the same time with different characters. plus I'm sorta writing another sequel, but not very seriously). I'll probably put some of those up next. Thanks to everyone who reviewed (I feel so popular). I enjoyed the praise, constructive criticism, predictions, and just knowing that people like my stuff! Here we go *takes a deep breath before reading off the list*:

french-vanilla/frenchroses101, Fallen-Destiny, writer-who-also-loves-to- sing, Lady Gerbil, Akia Blakemore, TaioraCrazedGirl, dangle*my*feet, lily, lucy, Not so Average.

Thanks so much! And review and tell me what you want to read next. You can either read about Jess, Lana and friends in high school or Jess, Lucky, Ben, Matt etc.'s kids. Or maybe I'll even do two at a time. I don't know. You tell me!