Christine screeched and jumped out of bed. “Damn, Kate, you know me too well. You know I’m not going to get up at-” She paused to look at the clock. “-Nine-thirty on my day off if I’m not threatened.”
“You’re right. Let’s go to breakfast. I’m starving!” Katelyn exclaimed.
“Don’t you need to shower and stuff? I mean, you have to impress Brian,” Christine teased.
“I did that already. I mean, showered and stuff, not the impressing Brian part. Well, that, too, but…never mind. I figured you would want the extra sleep, so I didn’t wake you up. Do you want to shower?”
“Yeah, that would be nice. I didn’t have time to wash my hair yesterday, so it’s all greasy,” Christine said. She scrunched her nose.
“Well, hurry up!” Katelyn whined.
“Why don’t you just go and I’ll meet you down there in twenty minutes?”
“I don’t know anyone. I don’t want to go down there by myself!” Katelyn said. “Besides, I’ll have finished my breakfast.”
“Okay, then I’ll wash my hair and pull it back in a ponytail. Go down now and I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Fine,” Katelyn groaned. She grabbed her purse and left the room.
Sure enough, ten minutes later, Christine ran down the stairs to join her friend in the dining room. Katelyn had found a seat between Nick and Brian. Christine took the seat on the other side of Nick. “I’m here!”
“Hey,” Nick said. He looked tired, with bags under his eyes and slight dark circles around them, as though he had been up all night. Yawning, he looked at Christine.
“What’s up with you? You look tired,” Christine said.
“Nothing,” Nick replied quickly. “Just thinking about stuff last night. I couldn’t get to sleep.”
“What kind of stuff?”
Nick looked away. “You know, the normal. I’m, uh, getting jitters because the tour is starting in a month.” What a lie! He had been thinking of her all night.
“YIPPEE! I can’t wait!” Christine squealed. “I’m so excited!”
“Gosh, it’s not that big of a deal, Chris,” Katelyn said, jumping into their conversation. “I mean, I know you’ll be seeing me in Madison and all, but still,” she joked.
Brian’s eyes lit up. “You’recomingtoseetheshowinMadison?” he rattled
“Whoa, Brian, settle down!” Nick exclaimed. “Yeah, we know you like her, but goodness!”
Brian blushed, and Katelyn looked at him and smiled. “Yes, I am coming to see the show in Madison. Do you think I would miss it? My best friend is one of your dancers!”
“Good point,” Brian said.
Katelyn put her empty orange juice glass down and looked up. “So what are we doing, Teeny?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t we go shopping now?” Christine suggested. “Get the early bird deals and all.”
“Didn’t you just go shopping yesterday?” Nick whined. “You should hang out with the guys today!”
Christine rolled her eyes. “We have the rest of the week to do that. We have to do some girl things first!”
Nick sighed exaggeratedly. “I guess we can live with that, can’t we, Brian? They’re abandoning us.”
“Trust me, Nick. Kat would never, ever, ever abandon Brian by choice. Just watch how she acts around him,” Christine teased.
Katelyn turned a deep shade of red and stood up. “I think it’s time to leave now, Teeny.” She grabbed Christine’s arm and led her away from the table.
“Bye, guys! We’ll be back in a few hours. Wait, knowing us, give us a few days!” Christine called over her shoulder.
Nick laughed and smiled as the two girls left. Then he looked seriously at Brian. “You really, really, really like Kate, don’t you?”
“Gee, how did you know?” Brian joked sarcastically. “But it doesn’t look like I’m the only one who has a crush…”
“What are you saying?” Nick asked.
“You were flirting heavily. You have a crush on Christine.”
“No, I don’t! I wasn’t flirting!” Nick exclaimed quickly.
“‘You should hang out with the guys today!’ ‘They’re abandoning us!’” Brian mimicked in a high, squeaky voice. “If that’s not flirting, I don’t know what is. There’s no point in denying it, because you know I know. And you shouldn’t be ashamed of it, either, because she’s an amazing girl. I was head over heels for her.”
“Okay, fine, so I have a teensy little crush on her, but nothing all that major,” Nick admitted.
“Yeah, right. Nick, I can see it in your eyes. You are in love with her. You would do anything for her. You can’t live without her,” Brian said. He laughed, remembering his own experience with Christine. “I know how you feel.”
“Okay, so you’re right. You’re absolutely right. I am in love with her,” Nick exclaimed, defeated. “What do I do, Brian?”
“Ask her out. She feels the same way.”
“Sure,” Nick muttered sarcastically. “And lose one best friend and risk losing the other?”
“Nick, I won’t be mad. I’m over her. Besides, who am I to stand in the way of fate? And you won’t lose her, believe me. She’s in love with you, too. Everyone knows you two like each other, and we’re all waiting for you to become a couple,” Brian said.
“I don’t know, Brian. I don’t know.”
Meanwhile, the girls were having a similar conversation while walking the short distance to the mall. “Chris, why don’t you just ‘fess up? We all can tell. You can’t hide it.”
“What?” Christine replied defensively, causing Katelyn to laugh.
“What do you mean, what? You and Nick need to hook up. It’s so obvious, it hurts! Just go for it and tell him how you feel!”
Christine sighed. “Kat, we went through this last night. I don’t have a crush on him. This is a strictly platonic relationship. There is nothing romantic between him and me. We’re just good friends, that’s all.”
Katelyn raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure about that? Your eyes are telling me differently. Look me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t like him.”
Christine followed the command and looked Katelyn in the eyes. “I don’t like him,” she giggled.
“That’s not very convincing.”
“Whatever,” Christine said, getting annoyed. “Let’s just shop, okay? We can deal with this whole Brian and you and Nick and me crap later.”
Four hours later, the two girls struggled into the hotel, carrying numerous heavy shopping bags filled with clothing, accessories, and just the normal junk. Nick saw them and rushed to grab a few. “Goodness, did you buy the whole mall?” he exclaimed.
“No, but Nick, we’re girls,” Christine pointed out.
“Thank you, Little Miss Obvious!” Nick teased. “I couldn’t have figured that one out on my own.”
Christine giggled. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you couldn’t. You’re a guy-”
“I couldn’t have figured that out, either,” Nick interrupted her.
Christine sighed. “Anyways, as I was saying, you’re a guy. You get confused pretty easily,” Christine shot back playfully.
“What’s up for tonight?” Nick asked.
“We were gonna hang out and watch movies. We rented ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding,’ ‘Notting Hill,’ and ‘Erin Brockovich,’” Christine replied.
“Julia Roberts night or something?” Nick said.
“Nah, Nick, we just chose three random movies that happened to have her in them,” Christine said sarcastically. “Of course it’s a Julia Roberts night.”
“Well, you two can have fun. The guys and I are going clubbing with Andrea, Jessica, and Leah. You can come along if you want.”
Christine and Katelyn shared a look, and both said, “No way!”
“We need some time to ourselves,” Christine added. “Just some girl time. I promise, Nicky, we’ll spend tomorrow night with you.” Nick cringed at his childish nickname.
“Chris certainly will. I don’t think she could stand another night without you,” Katelyn teased. Christine shot her a playful glare and blushed.
“Wait a second, do I see Miss Macho blushing?” Nick joked. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you blush before.”
“That’s because Kat, here, is a liar!” Christine exclaimed. “Now we’re going to go watch our movies. Thanks for bringing our bags up.”