Christy was involved in a wonderful dream that included her, Kevin, and a deserted island. It was night; the moon shone on the calm ocean and brillant stars twinkled overhead. Kevin bent his head to meet Christy's lips when they were interrupted by the shrill ringing of a telephone. Christy thought, this is odd, deserted islands don't have phones. She then realized that she was home in bed and the phone ringing was the one next to her. "Hello," she answered, angry that the caller had ruined her dream. "Hey, Christy? This is Nick. Did I wake you up?" "Well kinda," she admitted. "But it's okay." "Alright," Nick said, then lapsed into silence. Christy broke the awkward pause. "Why did you call?" she asked. "Amber told me today was her last day," he said. "I was thinking that it would be nice to throw her a party." "She would like that," Christy reassured him. "What were you planning?" "What about a barbeque at my house? It would be just me, you, the guys, and your friends," Nick paused. "And my family, if they are around." "Sounds good," Christy agreed. "just make sure everything's done by 7, because her flight leaves at 9. "Got it. Oh, Christy?" he asked. "Could you not say anything to Amber? I kinda wanted to surprise her." Christy promised not to mention anything to Amber, then they hung up. 10 minutes before 4:00, Amber was sitting on the couch watching TV, when Christy asked her if she wanted to go to Nick's. "Sure," she accepted, then hesitated. "Why are we going there?" Christy explained that she had left her watch at Kevin's and Nick picked it up. Amber went to fix her hair, while Christy waited impatiently. "Hurry up!" she yelled at her cousin. Amber finished, and the girls departed. Soon, they pulled up in front of Nick's spacious home. Amber checked her reflection in the rearview mirror, then turned to Christy. "How do I look?" she asked. Christy assured Amber that she looked good and the cousins rang the doorbell and they heard footsteps approaching the door. It swung open and a little blond boy stood in the entryway, looking up at Christy and Amber. "Hi," he greeted them. Amber thought, oh it's Aaron. Yuck. "Aaron," she said condescendingly. "Where's your older brother?" "You must be Amber," Aaron guessed. "He's out back." "Thanks, sweetie." She patted him on the head, then stepped inside. Christy began to follow, but was stopped by Aaron. "What's wrong with her?" he asked. Christy shrugged, then walked after her cousin. Amber and Christy headed towards the back door. Aaron ran out the front door and entered the backyard through the side door, informing Nick that the cousins had arrived. "Guys they're here," Nick informed them. "Get in your places." Everyone took their places, while Nick stood alone waiting for the cousins. Amber and Christy entered the backyard and Nick greeted them. Suddenly, everyone jumped out from their hiding places. "Surprise!" they yelled. Amber was shocked. "What's going on?" Nick answered, "This is your surprise going away party!" he grinned. "What do you think?" "It's great," Amber said. "Thanks everybody." "Actually, you should thank Nick," Sam told her. "It was his idea." "Really?" Amber turned to Nick. He nodded. She threw her arms around his neck. Nick returned the hug, and the party began. An hour into the party, Nick pulled Amber to the side. He handed her a small box. She looked at him questiongly. "Open it," he told her. She lifted the lid off the box and found a conch shell. "Cool," she smiled. "Put it up to your ear. You can hear the ocean." Amber did as Nick told her. "Oh thank you," she said. "This is so thoughtful." "Well, I wanted to give you something that reminded you of me," he explained. "And I love the ocean and I thought this would be perfect." "That is so sweet," Amber said. She looked up into his eyes. He leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips. Amber sighed blissfully and they returned to the group. Aaron ran over to where Christy and Amber were talking and handed Christy the phone. "It's your mom," he said. Christy took the phone and listened to her mother. After she hung up, Christy turned to Amber. "Guess what?" "What?' Amber said curiously. "Your parents called and said they were going on vacation. That means you don't have to leave!" Christy exclaimed. Amber started jumping up and down. "What's going on?" Claudia asked. "Yeah, why are you jumping?" AJ wanted to know. "I'm staying!" Amber explained the situation. "Oh that's cool," Brian and Howie said in unison. "Yea," Kevin added sarcasticlly. Amber gave him a dirty look. "I'm just kidding," he retracted his comment and hugged Amber. "Sorry to interrupt the celebration," Nick spoke up, "but you guys need to leave. My parents are coming home soon and I need to clean up." Everybody began to clear out. As they leaft, Aaron thanked each person for coming. Amber offered to help Nick clean up. Although Christy protested, the girls stayed and assisted Nick. 20 minutes later, Nick's parents walked into the house. Christy and Amber were on their way out, so Nick introduced the girls and they chatted briefly. As they left, Aaron hugged both girls and Nick promised to call soon.
Sam, Erica, and Claudia relaxed on Claudia's couch, watching TV. "So what do you guys wanna do today?" Sam broke the silence. "I would love to be with the BSB," Erica said wishfully. "Without Christy and Amber," Claudia added. Sam suggested, "Well, let's call them up." Claudia brought the phone into the front room and they began calling the guys. They decided to meet at the mall at 1:00. At Christy's house, the cousins were discussing their plans for the day as well. "Let's call the boys and see if they wanna do something," Amber said. Christy agreed and she dialed Kevin's number. "He's not home," Christy hung up the phone four rings later. "Maybe it's just Kevin," Amber said. "Let me try Nick." She called Nick with the same results. "Where are they?" Amber questioned. Christy shrugged her shoulders. "Let's just go to the mall." "Okay." The girls pulled on their shoes and left for the shopping center. At the mall, Claudia, Sam, and Erica were enjoying lunch with the guys. Brian was in the middle of a hilarious story, when Howie began waving at someone. "Hey guys," he said loudly. The rest of the group turned to see who he was talking to. Claudia, Sam, and Erica looked at each other in disappointment when they saw Christy and Amber walking toward them. "Hi everybody," Amber greeted them. She stared coldly at the girls. "What are you doing here?" "Having lunch," AJ answered. "Want to join us?" Kevin asked. "Sure," Christy accepted and pulled up chair next to him, while Amber sat besides Nick. After they had eaten, the boys announced that they needed to leave. The girls accompanied them to the parking lot and waved good-bye as they drove away. Christy turned to Claudia, Sam, and Erica. "thanks for inviting us," she said sarcastically. "We tried to call you guys," Erica made up an excuse. "Yeah right." Amber knew she was lying. "We were home the whole time." "It's a free country," Sam shouted. "We can do stuff with them, too!" The girls started yelling at each other and their argument escalated. People in the parking lot turned and stared at them, then shook their heads. The friends continued their fight, until Christy realized what they had been arguing over. "Shut up!" she roared. The girls stopped yelling and looked at Christy in bewilderment. "Come on guys. Do you realize what we're doing? We're fighting over the Backstreet Boys." "So?" Amber stood with her arms crossed and glared at her cousin. "We just met them 3 days ago," Christy pointed out. "We're not even going out with them. Pretty soon, they'll leave and forget all about us." "She does have a point," Claudia admitted. "It's stupid to fight over them." "Yeah," Amber said reluctantly. "Sorry for getting mad at you." "It's okay," Sam said. "And we are sorry we didn't invite you guys to lunch." The girls embraced, and then laughed over how silly they had been. They reentered the mall and shopped, happy to be friends again.
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