chapter one

LAURA Book #1 in a series of??



Laura sat on her bed. Bored, as usual. Meagan and her cousin Lisa were on her bed, painting their nails. This wasn't a usual ritual, but Laura had a cold, so nobody could do anything. "How long does the common cold last? Approximately?" Meagan asked, running out of nails to paint. "Hmm, about a week, for me usually. Your lucky Aubrey doesn't have it... She usually goes for about a month." "Is that why she isn't here.. I was wondering.. I thought she was out with that new guy in town, Tom, I think.." Meagan said. RIIINNNNGGG! Laura grabbed the telephone. "Yo! Beautiful here!" "Hey Laura.. It's umm.. D-Daniel. I just moved here, we live across the street.." A un-familiar voice flooded her ear. Meagan whispered, "Who is it?" "It's Daniel, from across the street." She said quietly enough no one heard her, except Meagan and Lisa. "Hi Daniel! What can me and my dearest friends do for you?" "Well, umm, I was wondering if.. you could help me with something." "Sure, anything!" "Well, you know that big dance that is coming up in a week at Florence High? You- you wanna go with me?" " Florence High? Umm.. Sure.." Laura answered, throwing her long wavy blonde hair over her shoulder. "Pick me up at 8?" "Of course!" He said. "I have to go now, bye!" Wow, she thought. He has only been here 3 days, and he already has a date for the homecoming dance. I wonder how Aubrey is making out with that new guy.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aubrey and Tom sat at the dinner table of Hard Rock Cafe. They had to shout over the music, and Aubrey's throat was getting sore. "So, how do you like Florence so far?" She asked. "I know there's one thing I like.. " He looked at her. "Yeah, well, that's what they all say" She said, turning a color of bright pink. "You know that homecoming dance?" He asked. "Yeah, they have one every year.." "You wanna be my date?" He glanced over at her. "YEAH! I mean, sure.. I'm not booked yet. I was going to go skateboarding.. That's cool though." Aubrey said. He all of a sudden was very interested. "You skateboard? I mean, you probably do, but.. you seemed so girly." "Is that a compliment?" She grinned. "Yes. Show me what you can do later.. tomorrow?" "Surely." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nikki sighed. Aubrey, where are you.. she thought.. You’re my cousin, supposed to be here by now.. Nikki was always the guy’s favorite girl. She would be voted homecoming queen, just like all of the other years. All the guys liked her. Especially those new guys from down the street. Chris? Was that his name? Boy, they sure did have a big family. A mother, a daughter, a father, and 5 sons? Wow.. 8 people. Maybe it wasn't that big of a family. Maybe it was just the fact that she was an only child. Well, the truth is, Nikki was worried. No one had asked her to the dance yet, and it was only a week away! This was a crisis! Nikki grabbed the phone.

"Lisa?" "Speaking.. Is this Nick-knack?" "The one and only.." "What's up then?" "I DON'T HAVE A DATE FOR THE HOMECOMING DANCE!" "Oh. Well, what about Chris?" "He isn't going with anyone?" "No, not that I know of, I could check my sources, Laura and Meagan are already going!" "The-they are?? Laura and Meagan got asked before me?" "Meagan is going with Ryan, and Laura is going with Daniel." "I need help.."
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"Star, please SHUT UP! I am trying to study!" Chris complained. "Bu- But.. MOMMY!!" Star, the little sister whined. "Whoa, what's going on here?" Tom walked through the door. "TOOOOMMMMMYYYY!" Star threw herself into his arms. Aubrey nervously walked through the door. "Who that?" Star exclaimed. "This is Aubrey. Aubrey, this is my 2 year old sister Star." Tom said. "This is Chris." He said, pointing to a brown haired person with green eyes. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. You must be Tom's new girlfriend." She shook his hand. "BEN! MARK! DANIEL! COME HERE!" Tom Shouted. Star covered her ears. The boys ran down the stairs. "You bellowed?" Mark said. "I was busy you know." Aubrey glanced at the brown haired blue eyed guy. "Meet my friend Aubrey." "You guys have gone out what, 3 times in the past 3 days? Wow.." Mark exclaimed. Aubrey grinned at his sarcasm. "This is Mark, Ben and Daniel." He pointed to each individually. "Alright, it's getting late, I'll walk you home."

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Laura flopped back. "COULD THIS POSSIBLY GET ANY MORE BORING?" "I don't think so. I have already painted Ryan's nails, my toes, Lisa's nails, Lisa's toes, I am thinking of moving on to the dog." Meagan said. "Well, ahhhcoo! Sorry, have you painted your own nails?" "No! Good idea! We should call Aubrey.. That'll kill time!" "Weeeelll, last time I checked, she was out with that Tom guy.. you know, the one who has a band, plays the guitar.." "Oh, that's right, maybe she's home by now." "I don't think so, you know Aubrey, and She gets what she wants. If she wants that guy, she WILL get her own way, and she seemed to like him." "So I'll call her anyways, see if she's home." She picked up the phone.

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Tom and Aubrey reached the doorstep. He smiled. "Thank you for agreeing to come out tonight, I know its late.." "It's not late.." She heard the phone start to ring. "Look, I had a really great time, call me tomorrow, I'll show you my skating moves." He leaned over and kissed her. "Goodnight." He said, then walked off. Aubrey ran inside to get the phone. "HELLO??" She practically screamed into the receiver. "Aubrey? How'd your date go?" Meagan said. "Weelll, we'll just say that he is a much better kisser then Andrew ever was.." "You got him to kiss you?" Meagan asked, inquisitively. "I didn't get him to do anything. He did it all- by- him- self." "Oooohhh, I get it! Wanna talk to Laura?" "Not really, just kidding. Put her on." "HEELLLLOOO! HE KISSED YOU?" "Yessss, Am I that unbearable that you can't even understand that concept??" " I understand fine. You know what else I understand? Andrew still likes you." "Your cousin Andrew?? The one that I went out with??" "Yea.. He's obsessed. He won't go to the homecoming dance without you." "Oh, well.. I am booked solid. Tom asked me, and I said yes. I even met his beautiful family." "Does he have any brothers?" "Yeah, Mark Chris, Daniel, and Ben. He also has a little sister named Star. Speaking of little sisters, I'm on Bailey watch, so I can't talk now. I'll give you more info later?" "Sounds good. Night!" "Night.”

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Nikki picked up the phone and dialed Chris’ number. Tom picked it up at the same time as Mark. “Hello?” Said Tom. “Hello?” Mark Answered. “Hi...” Nikki said nervously. “WHO ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?” The two brothers chorused. “Umm.. Chris?” “Ya, hold on. CHRIS!!! IT’S FOR YOU! IT’S SOME GIRL!” Tom yelled. “Hello? Who is this?” Chris said sleepily. “This is Nikki Trent. I’m in your English and Social classes..” “Oh, I know you! Blonde hair, blue eyes, the typical model..” “That’s me!” “Yea, so, what can I help you with Miss?” “Hmm. The dance, have a date?” “I was gonna ask you the same question. No I don’t. You need one?” “Actually, yeah. I know it’s short notice but..” “Yes.” “You will?” “Yes.” “Cool! Thanks!” “No problem. I’ll see you in school.” “Yeah. See ya.” She threw the phone into the holder. “I HAVE A DATE!” She screamed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mark was really bored. He was sitting around, on the couch, next to Hollie, his girlfriend. watching the Video Music Awards on MTV. That shows you exactly how bored he was. He wasn’t much of a teenybopper like his little sister, (Who happened to be Blaring N*SYNC at the moment) He was a hard core kinda guy. He did have a best friend. He was just like him in all ways possible. He was a skateboarder, and so was Mark. They were both 16. (Tom was 15.) They both had actually gone on dates before.. (The only one who hasn’t in this family, is.. BEN!) They both had a brother(s). As it turns out, the following, is just a coincidence. Mark’s best friend, was Andrew Ryan. Aubrey’s ex. This didn’t blow over to well with Tom, or Aubrey. When Aubrey came over, and he was there, she went elsewhere. Mark turned the channel continuously, until there was something that he could relatively relate to. There was a knock at the door. He ran to get it. “HEY! HOW’S IT GOING?” Andrew walked through the door. Aubrey followed. “Wha- umm, fine..” He changed his tone to a whisper. “Why are you with Aubrey? My brother is here you know.” “Is there a law that says you can’t hang out with an ex?” Aubrey smiled weakly. “We went mini-putting. Nothing personal.” She exclaimed, attempting to clear things up. “Is that all it was? Man, seemed like there were still a few sparks to me.” Andrew quoted. Aubrey grinned sarcastically. “Your right, between you and the ball.” She pushed him out of the way and headed up to Tom’s room. Mark tried to hide his laughter. “She got you good.. You can’t deny it.” He said, through hysterical laughter. It was Andrew’s turn to grin. “I still have a chance.. a slim one, but a chance..”

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Laura picked up the phone in a raucous attempt to conquer the ever lasting fear of dying of boredom. She called Andrew. He was her cousin, what do you expect? “Hey Andy! Whatcha doing?” Laura asked, in her usual cheery tone. “Nothing, Is this Laura?” He asked, in a low, grim tone. “Yeah.. you don’t recognize your own FAVORITE cousin’s voice?” Laura chimed. “Of course I do! But, James isn’t on the phone!” “That was mean. Your mean.” “ Me? Mean? I’m just in a really bad mood.” “Why are you in a bad mood? What did I do?” “You didn’t do anything. It’s Aubrey.. she’s always with that Tom guy.. She’s like.. showing off or something.” “You still like her.. she has a boyfriend now, and your left.. all in one word, your, uh, jealous..” Laura said timidly. “JEALOUS? Thanks for the help, really.. “ He hung the phone up, hard. Laura jumped as she heard the empty dial tone in the ear piece.

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stay tuned for chapter 2