Chapter Twenty-Eight (Edited Version)
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"So......who was that Jordie?" Sam asked sitting next to Jordan on the couch.
"Oh nobody....some guy...."
"What guy?"
"Some guy I met when I went jogging a few days ago...." Jordan fibbed.
"Oh?? What's his name?"
"Um....Alex......he wanted my number.....and he was cute so I figured why not...."
"Oh!! You guys gonna go out?"
"Oh I don't know......I.....don't know yet.....so what are we gonna do today??"
"Um.....I have no clue.....I'm not really in the mood to do much.....what did you want to do?"
"Um.....geez, what is there to do around here? We've killed the beach thing already...."
"I dunno....like I said, I'm not really in the mood to do much.....I just wanna hang out here.....but you're more than welcome to go out if you want to.....in fact I think I'm gonna go read a book....." Sam mumbled, getting up and walking away.
Jordan sighed and decided to hit the beach to kill the time.
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Nick wandered aimlessly around the mall. He hadn't wanted to sit at home so he decided to go chill at the mall and do some shopping. Walking into Hot Topic he saw a whole shelf dedicated to weird hair dye. Standing there for a few minutes, Nick began to grin as he picked up a bottle of green stuff. Reading the back he saw that it would wash out after each shampoo so he decided to get it. Figured he may as well have some fun while he was on vacation. Wandering around the store, he picked up a few odds and ends. A new shirt, a new wallet and the hair gunk. As he walked up to the cashier, his breath caught in his throat. The girl was gorgeous, in that weird and funky way. She had pink and blonde hair, some wild make-up and a belly ring.....yet she seemed to reek of innocence. Smiling, Nick set his stuff on the counter and watched as she rang it up.
"Green huh?" she asked.
"Yea, my favorite color.....figured I may as well have a bit of fun on vacation..."
"Trying to scare the rent's huh?"
"No, not really.....trying to freak out a few friends."
"Well judging by your clean cut looks, I'd guess that this would do it."
Nick blushed a little as she blatantly stared at him. Maybe his guess about her innocence was wrong....but this only made him more intrigued.
"Well, your total is is 57.16."
Nick pulled out his wallet and grabbed some bills. While she was getting his change, he hastily wrote his number on the back on a slip of paper. After the cashier gave him back his change, he handed her the slip of paper.
"I'm in town for the next few months, gimme a call."
Without waiting for her to respond, Nick grabbed his bag and walked out of the store grinning. Stopping right past the window, he glanced through it and saw the girl smile and slip the paper into her pocket. Nick's grin grew wider as he began to walk again. He didn't remember the last time he had given a girl his number like that. It kinda felt good. Continuing with his shopping, Nick hit every store imaginable. He only ran into a handful of fans and gladly signed autographs and took pictures with him. It was later that afternoon that he finally headed home. Slipping inside, Nick snuck up to his room and found his Hot Topic bag. Yanking it open, he pulled out the green hair dye and began reading the instructions.
"The guys are gonna freak," he giggled to himself as he made his way into the bathroom.
Looking in the mirror he grinned, "So much for the blonde bombshell right now......here comes the freak," he whispered.
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So far Jordan had been bored out of her mind. She had spent a little time at the beach but it wasn't no fun by yourself. Finally she had given up and gone and done what Sam was doing.......reading. Only Jordan didn't like to read as much as Sam did. And when she did read, she preferred the trashy romance novels compared to the mysteries and science fiction books Sam read. Which meant that Jordan spent quite a bit of time going through the books in the Michael's house before picking one. It seems none of them read the good stuff.....the trashy sex stuff. Jordan wasn't a chapter into the book when she fell asleep. She began dreaming about flying unicorns and little trolls. She awoke an hour later, drenched in sweat.
"Whoa.....that was weird," she muttered to herself getting out of the bed.
Yanking off her clothes, Jordan stood in front of the closet trying to decide what to wear for tonight's activities. She hoped Brian knew what he was doing.....cuz she had no clue what else to do. Grabbing some clean, dry clothes, Jordan quickly got dressed and glanced at the clock. It was almost time for dinner which meant they had to head over to Nick's soon. Jordan sighed as the nervousness began to build inside her.
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Brian had called the rest of the guys and filled them in. They were all meeting at Brian's and then heading over to the Carters. Jane had agreed with him on the charade, since Nick had been moping around so much lately. Now as Brian sat on his bed, he began to wonder if this was a good idea. To push two people into working out their problems could end up being a bad thing. Nick could end up hating him forever and still not work things out with Sam. Brian was sitting on his bed with a look of horror on his face when Howie arrived and walked in.
"Hey Brian, you okay?"
"Uh....yea......"
"Okay, what's the problem?"
"Well....what if this is a bad idea? What if Nick ends up hating me???"
"Brian, you gotta relax bud. You know Nick the best out of us......you know more about what's going on in his head.....does he miss her?"
Brian thought about it for a while, "Yea, I think so. I mean, I know he misses the friend he had in her....don't know if he misses their relationship.....but I know he misses the friendship."
"Then don't worry, he won't hate you. He might be mad at first, but when they work things out, he'll be okay. You're right to do this......they're both acting like immature little brats!"
At this comment, Brian began to chuckle. Trust Howie to put you at ease.
"Thanks D, I needed that."
"No problem. What time are we leaving here?"
"As soon as Kevin gets here."
As if on cue, Kevin walked in the door.
"Hey guys."
"Okay D, that answers it, we're ready to go now then."
All of them trooped out of Brian's house and got in their vehicles and began the drive over to the Carter's house. Looking at his clock, Brian saw it was 6:15."
"Almost time....." he muttered to himself as he drove.
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"SAM!! Are you ready?"
"Where are we going?" Sam asked coming down the stairs.
"It's a surprise....put the blindfold on."
"Hell no!! Last time I did that you took me to Nick....no way!"
"Fine...then we're going to the Carter's, so come on."
"Are you insane Jordan!!!"
"No, now come on...they're expecting us!" Jordan said, grabbing Sam's arm.
Jordan proceeded to drag Sam out of her house and over to the Carters, grumbling at her the entire way. Knocking on the door, Jordan held onto Sam's shirt while they waited.
"I hate you," Sam grumbled.
"Yea I know.....deal with it."
Before Sam could retort, Jane opened the door.
"Oh, you're here. You're the first ones....go into the family room to wait."
Sam reluctantly followed Jordan into the family room and sat on a chair farthest away from her. Not two minutes later the door rang again and Jane jumped up to answer it. Sam watched as Brian, Kevin, Howie and AJ walked into the room. Sam groaned and put her head in her hands.
"NICK!! COULD YOU COME DOWN HERE PLEASE!!!" Jane hollered up the stairs.
Everyone sat and waited as they heard Nick running down the stairs. As he entered the room, everyone looked up and their jaws dropped.
"Nick??" Jane asked walking up to her son.
"Yes mom....what's going on here......" he asked looked around the room.
Howie stood up and made his way over to Nick, "Are you insane!!!"
"What do you mean?"
"Please say that stuff isn't permanent...please!"
"Well Howie, yes it is.......now what is going on?!"
Howie walked back over to the couch and sat down, dazed. Everyone looked around at each other, not knowing what to say. Finally Kevin stood up.
"Well...for one, JIVE is going to kill you when they see the hair....and two....all of us are sick of the immature way you and Sam are dealing with your problems. NO! Don't interrupt, either of you! You are both two of the most immature children I've ever met! And your problems have been pushed onto us and the rest of your friends. And it's going to stop now!" Kevin said, his voice growing angry.
"Kevin's right you two. Sam you've been pushing your problem on Jordan and she's had to deal with something she had nothing to do with. And Nick, you've been doing the same thing to me. Look you guys....you need to work this out....and we've come up with a plan. Since you two seem to like to yell and walk away from the problem......we're sending you guys away for a few days.....to be alone and to talk. If you can't fix this problem by the end of these few days, then we shoot you both," Brian said with a serious look on his face.
Both Sam and Nick looked around at each other incredulously.
"You guys are insane!" Sam spoke up for the first time.
"Yea!" Nick echoed.
"Well insane or not......it's not up to you guys anymore," AJ stated.
"Excuse me!! I'm 21!! Therefore old enough to make my own decisions...you can't force me to do anything," Nick sputtered.
"Yes we can. Whether we have to tie you up and throw you in the woods, you two are going to spend a few days together and work this out so we can all get on with our live. Your mom has been kind enough to get a bunch of supplies for your cabin. You two need to go pack for a week and then we'll be leaving."
"Brian, you've got to be kidding me!!"
"Nope, sorry Sam, you guys have taken this too far. Now go pack."
Nick and Sam stared in astonishment at Brian. He looked dead serious. Jordan began to pull Sam up and began pulling her towards the door.
"C'mon on Sam, I'll help you pack." Jordan mumbled, pulling Sam out the door and over to her place.
Everyone glanced at Nick.
"You all are insane," he spit out before turning and running upstairs.
Everyone heard his door slam and looked around at each other.
"I think that went pretty well," Howie said trying to smile.
Everyone shook their heads, chuckling.
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"I can't believe you Jordan, I really can't. How the hell could you do this to me?!! I thought you were my friend!!"
"I am Sam!! That's why I'm doing this. You two need to grow up and solve this now. And since you two are obviously too immature to do that on your own, we all decided we would help!"
"Yea well I don't need your help!!"
Jordan just shook her head and grabbed one of Sam's duffle bags. Going to her dresser, Jordan pulled out all sorts of clothes and shoved them into the bag. Sam just watched her in disbelief. After an hour, Jordan had everything Sam would need packed up.
"Let's go," Jordan grumbled.
"I'm not going.....you're crazy."
Jordan just shook her head and walked downstairs with Sam's stuff. A moment later Brian walked in.
"Come on Sam, time to go."
"No way!!"
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way Sam."
Brian watched as Sam stared at him with a scowl on her face. Exhaling quickly, Brian walked up to her, grabbed her and slung her over his shoulder.
"The hard way it is," he mumbled as she began hitting his back and cursing at him.
Brian carried her downstairs and past her parents.
"MOM!! Stop him!!"
"Sorry sweetie, can't. Have fun!!"
Brian continued to carry her out of the house, and placed her in the back-seat of his car, buckling her in. Grinning at her, he shut the door. A moment later, Nick was brought out by Kevin and AJ. Each had hold on one of his arms and was practically dragging him out of the house. Once they had him settled in the back-seat with Sam, they loaded the car up.
"Well you two, have fun driving them," Kevin said to Brian and Jordan.
Rolling their eyes, they got into the front seat and Brian began to back out. It was going to be a long ride.
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It was about 2 hours later when they pulled up to the Carter's cabin. Nick and Sam had fallen asleep after an hour of grumbling. Jordan and Brian decided to let them sleep while they unloaded everything.
"So where do I put Sam's stuff?" Jordan asked looking around.
"Well, Nick's room is on the right, throw her stuff in the room on the left. That's the room Aaron or myself usually uses."
Jordan nodded and began carrying Sam's stuff and throwing it in the room. Once that was done, they began unpacking the food and started up the generator.
"So shall we go wake our prisoners?"
"Brian, you are taking way too much pleasure in this......sure, lets so.....oh wait one thing...."
"What?"
"Why did Nick dye his hair green??"
"I have no clue.......he's weird.........let's go."
They walked back out to the car where Nick and Sam were still asleep, leaning on each other.
"Aww!! How cute!!"
Brian just rolled his eyes and opened Nick's door. Shaking Nick, he waited for him to open his eyes.
"We're here kiddies." Brian sang.
The scowl instantly came back to Nick's face as Sam woke up and jumped out of the car. Everyone trooped up to the cabin.
"Okay guys......don't kill each other......we'll be back to pick you two up in 5 days. Have fun......"
With those final words, Brian and Jordan walked out leaving Sam and Nick staring after them in shock. They were even more shocked when they heard the car start up and drive off.
"I can't believe they left us here........" Nick mumbled.
"Where is our stuff??"
Nick looked around and noticed the bags weren't in the front room. Turning, he walked over to his room and turned on the light. Then walking through the connecting bathroom, he turned on another light and walked back into the main room from a different door.
"Here's your room. They put you in Aaron's room. My room is through the bathroom. Goodnight."
Sam watched as he went into his room and shut the door. Sighing, Sam walked into her room, attempted to find some pajamas packed away, climbed into the bed and instantly fell asleep.