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Ring…Ring…Ring…Ring
“Hello?” Aaron asked.
“Hello,” a girl said, “is Nick there?”
“Sure,” Aaron said, “hang on.” Aaron went and got his older brother.
“Hello?” Nick asked.
“Hi, this is Ashley!”
“Oh, Ashley, hey.”
“Was that Aaron?”
“Yea.”
“Awww. He sounded so cute. You haven’t called me in a long time Nicky.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve been really busy.”
“You haven’t been busy with another girl have you?”
“You’re not my girlfriend.”
“I know Nicky, but I was just thinking we ought to get together sometime.”
“Ashley, really. I’m busy all the time. I really don’t have very much time for girls.”
“Girls are very important to have in guy’s lives. I think you’d better make sure you spend enough time with them.”
“I do…”
“But...”
“I spend a lot of time with my fans. They’re mostly girls you know.” He covered up.
“I meant on a more personal basis.”
“Listen, Ashley Smith…”
“I thought we were on a first name basis with each other Nicky.” She whined.
“We are Lee. I’m sorry.”
“Say you’re sorry for calling me that!” She fiercely demanded.
“What?”
“My name is not Lee. It’s Ashley. Get it right-now!”
“Alright, alright, Ashley. I don’t see why it’s such a big deal.”
“I happen to know somebody else named Ashley who sometimes goes by Lee. You could say we’re enemies.”
“Why?”
“She thinks she’s perfect. She thinks she’s hot, she has good grades, lots of friends, and could get any guy she wanted.”
“She sounds pretty perfect. What’s her number?” Nick asked jokingly.
Ashley Smith hung up the phone. “The nerve of him.” She muttered to herself. “to ask for another girl’s phone number while on the phone with me! Oh that just makes me so mad!”
Ring…
She grabbed the phone. “Hello?” She demanded.
“Ashley,” Nick pleaded. “I’m sorry. It was just a joke. I don’t really want her phone number.”
“So you were joking?”
“Defiantly.”
“I think you ought to be more serious.”
“Sorry doll, you’re talking to the wrong guy.”
“Does that mean you’re never serious?” she asked disgusted.
“Not usually.” He replied trying to convince her he wasn’t for her.
“I still think we need to do something together sometime.”
“I’m sorry Ashley, I’m going to be really busy for the next couple of weeks. I just don’t think I can.”
“Okay.”
“I’m really sorry.”
“Well call me sometime.”
“I’ll try.”
“Bye,” she said disappointed.
“Bye,” he smiled. He hung up the phone then picked it right back up to call Lee. He told her about the whole conversation and all she could do was laugh.
“Why wouldn’t you kiss me?” Nick asked suddenly.
“It’s silly really, Nick,” she explained, “and it happened a really long time ago, but sometimes you just can’t get over the thought that those same things might happen again. In the ninth grade I went out with a junior. I had never kissed anybody before and I wanted my first kiss to be special. We’d gone on a couple of dates when I got my first kiss. A few weeks later he turned out to be a total jerk and I really wished I hadn’t kissed him. Ever since then I’ve been kinda slow about kissing people. I’m sorry.”
“That’s fine. I just wanted to know.” Nick said. “Did you get in trouble?”
“Oh. Yea. I’m not allowed to see you Friday night.”
“You’re not?” He asked disappointed.
“Sorry, I’ve been late two weeks in a row. I deserved it really.”
“What about poor Brittney and Aaron?”
“They’ll get over it. They’re young and aren’t really like in love or anything.” She replied getting a funny feeling she wasn’t telling the truth.
“Hey doesn’t that mean you could do something some other day of the week?”
“I guess if we can find a day I’m not busy.”
“Hey guys!” Ashley Smith said coming over to Lee’s lunch table. “Guess what!”
“What?” One of the less popular girls said.
“Nick Carter – from the BSB called me last night.” She giggled. “You know he asked for my phone number at that meet and greet don’t you? Well, last night he called me and asked me to go on a date with him on Friday night.”
“You’re going on a date with Nick?” Another of the girls squealed.
“I couldn’t.”
“Why?” Yet another dumb girl gasped.
“I’m throwing a party. I’d been planning it for months. You are all coming aren’t you?” She said looking at Lee.
“I am.”
“I am.”
“I am.”
“I am.”
“Ashley, are you coming?” Ashley asked.
“No. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it.”
“Oh. I’m so sorry.”
“Yea.” Lee forced a smile.
“Why didn’t you invite him to the party?” One girl asked.
“I did, but he said he couldn’t. He didn’t want to spend the whole time being screamed over and signing autographs.”
“We wouldn’t be like that,” another non-BSB fan said unenthusiastically.
“He said that was why he liked me.” Ashley Smith said. “I didn’t scream over him or anything. He said sometime he wants to spend some time with just me,” she smiled.
“Whoa, Ashley,” one of the girl’s laughed.
“She really ought to learn not to lie,” Lee muttered getting up to throw away her trash.
Nancy, her best friend, followed her. “Lee! What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Lee muttered.
“Something is up. I’ve noticed that for a while now. Ashley Smith hasn’t done anything else to you has she?”
“No! Say, am I taking you home today?”
“You can if you need to talk about something. I’ll tell my boyfriend.”
“I probably need to tell you a lot,” Lee replied as they sat down at their table again.
***
Lee rolled her eyes as she got in her car. “You’d think that if she was going to brag about something so much it would at least be true.”
“You wouldn’t think she’d brag about having sex,” Nancy replied. “Really, Lee, it is remotely possible that it’s true.”
“It’s partially true.”
“How do you know that?” Nancy asked in amazement.
“Because he called me after he got off the phone with her.”
“She actually talked to him? He called you?” She asked in total amazement.
“I talk to him almost every night.”
“What?”
“Do you want me to start at the beginning?”
“You told somebody?” Nick exclaimed over the phone that night. “Ashley, I told you not to tell anybody.”
“Nick. I trust her. I trust as much as I trust my own sister.” Lee argued.
“Step-sister.” He reminded her.
“Nick, it’ll be okay.”
“You’re positive she won’t tell anybody?”
“Yes!”
“Alright. What did she say?”
“She didn’t believe me at first.”
“Was she jealous?”
“No! She doesn’t like Backstreet Boys and she likes her boyfriend a lot. She said she might like to meet you sometime, but that was all.”
“Well, anyway, AJ called earlier. He wants to meet you again…”
“I’m so glad we could get together today,” Nick said to Lee as they rode in the car to meet Amanda and AJ.
“Yea. I’m just worried what Brittney’s going to say when she finds out that I saw you and didn’t let her see Aaron.” Lee replied.
“Don’t tell her.” Nick suggested.
“She’ll find out. She always does.” Lee sighed.
“How?”
“I don’t know, but she does.”
“Does she snoop around your room to find our what you’re doing?”
“No! She just keeps a check up on what I do. She wants to be like me I think.”
“Does she imitate you?”
“Not really. She will every once in a while with clothes, but other than that she doesn’t. She has her own personality, her own talents. She is a wonderful actress.”
“Oh. Has Ashley Smith been bragging about having sex with me any more?”
“She did for a couple of days, but she didn’t really mention it today.”
“You must be glad.”
“Oh yea. I’m so tired of hearing about what she and you are going to do sometime.”
Nick laughed. He pulled over to a restaurant. “Okay,” he smiled at her, “here we are.”
“Okay!”
They both got out of the car and went into the restaurant and found AJ and Amanda.
“Hey guys!” Nick exclaimed.
“Hey!” AJ exclaimed. “Did you have an okay ride over here?”
“Sure,” Lee replied.
“Of course you did, you little love birds,” AJ joked. “You were happy because you were together.
“But, Lee, you told me…” Brittney protested.
“I’m sorry. It just couldn’t work out that way. Really. Next time I see Nick you can come with me and see Aaron. I promise.” Lee pacified.
“You promise?”
“Yes, I promise.”
“Have you and Nick kissed yet?” Brittney asked suddenly.
“No. Why?”
“I was just wondering.”
“Okay.”