~ ~ In short... ~ ~
Johann passed the rest of the day with the Thorns. He had little to contribute in the Austin police report as the bruises and menacing texts were self-evident. As far as Mr. Thorn was concerned, the conscientious student was able to point out that Annoliese had remained dedicated to her studies and taken on a part time job, not taken to drugs or otherwise let her life landslide. As a means of prompting the family to repair itself, he gently pointed out however that whatever made her fearful of returning home had almost prevented Ann's safe return completely.
As for his own schooling, Jon had already considered today a washout and accepted the consequences for one more day of "juvenile delinquent truancy" as his mother had put it or "stress vacation" as he did. In order to make peace with his own family, he sent a duplicate email to both his mother and father in order to express himself without their dominating the conversation. He pointed out the good that he had done, helping a fellow rising star, but of course that was no different than last night's or this morning's attempt at recruiting their good favor. He even tried a new spin on events, calling it a "demonstration of leadership qualities." They still thought it was worthless to intervene on a troubled nobody, regardless of the success of his efforts. That discrimination gave Johann Sebastian a bitter taste in his mouth and mixed feelings about returning home at the end of the evening. Regardless, there was the eve with Annoliese to think of.
The police report took considerable time, much longer than simply telling the story once through. And then there was the time the Thorns spent repairing the wound between Ann and the rest of her family, and their plan to mend things moving forwards. Hearing about everything Ann had accomplished and gone through during her time apart from them consumed most of the afternoon. Finally, after their day-long reunion and with Austin already picked up by police and charged for battery, the Thorns allowed Annoliese the evening to herself... which meant to herself with Jon.
~ ~
And thus the young musician found himself in a pop culture clothing store allowing the savvy Ann to spruce up his exterior prior to tonight's "rave". The serious-natured male felt like an ambassador to a foreign country with the girl of diverse interests to diplomatically cue him in. But he took it all in good humor, and he hoped that having the singing diva remodel him like her life size pinup doll made him a fun companion rather than a tagalong.
And then, another brief cab ride later, the pair found themselves at their destination... If Reno Nevada is the world's "biggest little town", this hot party is the "most popular, best kept secret".
