CHAPTER SIX




Sam groaned as the phone rang. Looking at her alarm clock she saw it was only 7 am.

"I'm gonna kill him......" Sam mumbled to herself as she reached for the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Sam!"

"Oh...hey Sera.....what's up?"

"Nothing....I was calling to ask if you wanted a ride to school?"

"I'm not going today....my folks get back today so I'm staying home......."

"Oh yea, I forgot they were coming in today. Who's picking them up from the airport?"

"I am. Nick's gonna drive me up there."

"I take it you two made up then."

"Kinda......we're working on it. I'll fill you in later. It's.....a long story. Tell your mom thanks for the offer but I don't need a ride today."

"Oh it wasn't gonna be my mom. I was gonna pick you up. I got my license Friday after school and my folks got me a car since I finally passed!"

"Really?? Congrats Sera....what kind of car?"

"Um....a Toyota Camry.....black! I love it! It's so......cool. Well, how about I come over this evening and we can go cruising....what do ya say?"

"Sure.....stop by after dinner and we'll do something.....I just have to update my health insurance......just in case."

"Ha Ha Sam......very funny! I passed didn't I?"

"Uh huh.....that's why I'm afraid. Sorry Sera.....gotta rag on you. Look, I better go......I figure Nick ought to be calling in about 5 minutes. He has this sudden need to call me every 5 minutes to make sure I'm not mad. Plus I need to clean up for the folks. I'll see you tonight, ok?"

"Sure thing, later Sam!"

Sam hung the phone up and flopped back against her pillows.

"UGH!! It's too early......I just wanna sleep........." Sam half mumbled, half yelled at no one. Laying back down, she fell back asleep almost instantly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Nick...........Nick...........YO NICK!"

Nick bolted upright in bed wide awake suddenly.

"I'm going to kill you BJ......you've got 10 seconds to get out!"

"Don't think so buddy.....mom said you needed to get up so you can take Sam to the airport......remember??"

"Oh yea........shit, what time is it?"

"Noon."

Nick jumped out of bed, pushed past BJ and into the bathroom. He had planned on getting up early so he wouldn't have to rush......but that didn't quite work. Quickly tossing on jeans and a shirt, Nick ran out of the house and next door. Grabbing the spare key from under the mat, he let himself inside. Listening he didn't hear anything.......which was odd, since Sam hated silence. Taking the stairs two at a time, he poked into Sam's room.......where she was still laying in bed......fast asleep.

"Hey Sam.........," Nick said softly as he shook her, "Time to get up Sam....."

"Hmmmm.......I don't wanna......."

Chuckling Nick grabbed a discarded pillow from the floor and whacked Sam in the head with it.

"AHH!!! NICK!!! What the hell are you doing?"

"Um.....Sam dear......it's 12:30......we gotta leave in about 45 min. to get your folks. I thought you might want to wake up and come along."

"12:30.......SHIT!! Oh damn, get outta my way.......oh man, I'm dead. I gotta clean the kitchen still and take a shower......ugh......"

"Whoa, Sam chill. You take a shower, I'll clean the kitchen."

Sam grabbed her stuff and ran for the bathroom while Nick headed downstairs to clean up the kitchen. Even though they were rushing, they still left a few minutes late. Nick just hoped traffic wasn't bad so they wouldn't be late.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hurry......."

"Sam, I'm going as fast as I can.....relax.......we're not going to be late."

Sam bit her lip and sat back in the seat. She really didn't want to be late. She kinda missed her parents and was eager to see them again. Trying to calm her nerves, Sam watched Nick from behind her sunglasses as he drove. It was so cute the way he looked so serious when he concentrated. Sam continued to stare until they reached the airport.

"Come on Sam," Nick mumbled as he drag her through the corridors. They both raced towards the gate and upon arriving, each collapsed in a chair to catch their breath. "How much time have we got Sam?"

"About 5 minutes.......talk about cutting it close......"

"Hey we weren't late though."

Before Sam could reply, she noticed that people had begun coming through the doors. As she strained to see over people, Sam spotted her mom first.

"MOM!!!"

Stephanie Michaels turned at the sound of her daughters voice, and spotting her, raced over.

"Sam!," she shrieked as she pulled Sam into a hug, "I missed you!"

"I missed you too mom.......where's dad?"

"Well, he was right behind me......I don't know what happened to....."

"I'm still right behind you. Hey Princess, I missed you."

"I missed you too dad......how was the flight?"

"Oh it was fine......but can we please get out of here? I just want to go home and relax," Mrs. Michaels exclaimed.

"Sure. Well, hello Nick.....didn't see you there. Thanks for picking us up."

"No problem Mr. Michaels. Why don't I go get the car, and meet you guys out front."

After everyone agreed, Nick headed off to get the car while Sam and her folks headed off to baggage.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The ride home took about half the time as the ride to the airport. After Nick helped carry the luggage inside, he headed home so Sam could spend some time with her folks. No sooner had he left, then the phone rang.

"Hello," Mrs. Michaels voice said liltingly, "Uh huh......you're kidding? Really?! Wow.....um....sure, we'll discuss it and get back to you. Uh huh......Thank you so much."

Stephanie hung up the phone and turned to look at her husband and daughter.

"That was your guidance counselor Sam."

Sam looked from one parent to the next......confused. "Well......what did she want."

"She wants to meet with us to discuss the possibility of an early graduation for you."

"WHAT?! What do you mean early graduation?"

"She said that she went over your files and if you wanted to you could easily graduate this year."

"How? Aren't there classes I still need to take?"

"Well yes dear there are. In order to graduate, you'd have to go to summer school. But you'd do the ceremony in June with the seniors. You just wouldn't get your real diploma until the end of the summer. What do you think?"

"Well......I don't know mom......."

"Sweetie, the decision is up to you........but if you do go through with it, there would obviously be incentives. Like scholarships and getting to college earlier. But as I said......this is up to you. We're going to meet with your counselor tomorrow. And she'll tell us all in detail what this could mean."

Sam just nodded and excused herself to go to her room. She sure wasn't expecting anything like that. Sam knew that she had always gotten pretty good grades but she never knew she'd be able to skip a grade. And did she really want to? She'd be missing her senior year of high school.......but was it really that important? Needing someone to talk to, Sam glanced out her window and directly into Nick's.

"Well.....he's the only one home right now.....guess he'll have to do," Sam mumbled as she opened her window, "HEY NICK!!"

A few moments later Nick appeared in the window. "Yea??"

"I need to talk."

"Okay......lets take the boat out."

Sam nodded and shut her window. Running down the stairs she ran in to let her parents know. Walking out of the house she met Nick by his truck. The Carters had a boat over by a lake about 10 min away. Neither of them said a word until they were out on the lake.

"So what did you wanna talk about?"

"Guess who called as soon as you left."

"Zac?"

"Oh god no! I'm gonna kill him tomorrow......but no it wasn't Zac....he doesn't have the guts to call.......no, Ms. Patroli called."

"Ms. Patroli?? Why?"

"She informed my parents that with summer school, I could graduate this year."

"Really? That's great! Isn't it?"

"Yea I guess.....I don't know.......I mean if I do this it'll mean I have a better chance at scholarships and getting into the college of my choice but......"

"But?"

"I'll be missing my senior year. I mean, no prom, no senior float, no senior class trip. I'd be missing the best year of high school."

"Well......if you do this, you should be considered a senior now. So you'll get prom and the class trip. And trust me......the float ain't all that."

"I don't know........God, why must they give me all these awful decisions to make!" Sam wailed.

Sam must've looked pathetic cuz Nick started laughing hysterically.

"It's not funny Nick!"

"Yes it is! It's not that big of a deal Sam. It's not life or death."

"Maybe not to you, but to me it is."

"Okay....lets look at the pros and cons here. Lets see, pros first. Scholarships, get done with school sooner, graduating with moi, get to leave home sooner......now the cons.......no class float.........um....that's it. The pros far outweigh the cons......do it!"

"Nick!! Another con......not graduating with Sera, missing out on another year of childhood and no responsibilities!"

"You know Sam.......you just gotta be difficult don't you?"

"Yes I do......how long have we been out here?"

"Um.......an hour or so, why?"

"Shoot, time to head back. Sera's coming over after dinner to show off her new car."

"She's driving?"

"Yea.....got her license over the weekend and to reward her, her folks got her a car."

"Oh god.........help us all. No pedestrian will ever be safe again!"

"You're cruel Nick.........correct but cruel. Come on lets go."

Nick started the boat up and the headed back to the dock. Neither spoke along the way.

"So......I'll see ya later Nick. Thanks."

"No problem......what are friends for."

Sam just smiled and headed inside to her place. Even though they were talking and hanging out.....things between her and Nick were still a little weird. Sam didn't know why, they just were. No sooner had Sam walked inside the door then she heard a beeping outside. Retracing her steps, Sam looked out and Saw Sera sitting in her new car, smiling from ear to ear. Laughing to herself, Sam headed outside again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


"Nick? Is that you?"

"Yea Dad....."

"Brian called for you. Said it was important. Also someone else called. BJ took the message. I think its on the fridge. She said it was urgent."

"Thanks dad," Nick hollered and headed into the kitchen. Grabbing the message off of the fridge, he headed upstairs to use the phone in his room. Nick stared at the piece of paper, bewildered.

"Who is Mr. Wood?" Nick mumbled to himself as he dialed the number, "Hello? Hi, may I speak with Mr. Wood please? Yes, I'm returning his call. The name is Nick Carter. Thanks you."

A couple of minutes later someone picked up.

"Hello, Wood here."

"Hi Mr. Wood. This is Nick Carter returning your call."

"Oh yes, Mr. Carter. I was calling to inform you that you were one of the winners in the talent competition. Now, we'd like to get together with all of the winners and discuss what this could mean for you. So far tomorrow afternoon has been good for everyone else. Is that a good time for you as well?"

"Um....what time tomorrow?"

"4 o'clock."

"Sure, 4 o'clock sounds fins. How many people won this contest if I may ask."

"We selected 5 of the most talented guys that auditioned."

"Cool."

"Yes, so we'll see you tomorrow. Just go to the same place you went to audition. Congratulations Mr. Carter. See you tomorrow."

"Thank you, bye."

Nick stared at the phone after he hung up. He sat there for a few minutes before jumping up and racing down the hall.

"DAD!! MOM!!!"

"What!! What's wrong Nick?" Bob asked racing into the entry way. Jane appeared a moment later.

"I WON!"

"Won what dear?" Jane asked looking confused.

"That talent competition Brian dragged me to."

The next few moments were filled with shrieking, hugging and congratulations.

"So what does this mean son?"

"I'm not sure. They want to meet with all the winners tomorrow afternoon."

"All the winners? How many were there?"

"Five."

"Well congratulations. We'll go out and celebrate this weekend."

"Thanks dad. I'm gonna go call Brian and find out what he wanted."

Retracing his steps back to his room, Nick once again picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bri."

"Yo Nick. You'll never guess what happened!"

"What??"

"Well, that talent competition......well I won!"

"Oh my god, you're kidding!"

"No and get this, Kevin called me. They picked him as well. They told us that 5 guys were picked."

"Well Brian.....get ready.........they picked me as well."

"You're kidding!! This is awesome! So you wanna ride up there with me tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"Cool, I'll pick you up after school, say 2:30?"

"Yea that sounds cool. I gotta tell Sam about this."

"You two made up?"

"Yea.....in a way." Nick said and then went into detail about the weekend.

"Man, that guy sounds like a major jerk! Is she okay?"

"Yea she's fine. She just found out today that she could graduate this year if she wants."

"Really? That's cool. Sorry Nick, but I gotta jet. Pizzaman's here. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Later."

Nick hung up the phone and went to his window. Looking into Sam's room he saw it was dark and empty. Figuring she was out with Sera, Nick put on some music and waited.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hey Sera......nice car!"

"Thanks Sam....hop in, we'll go around the block or something."

Sam jumped in and quickly put on her seat belt, shooting Sera an amused look.
No one said a word as Sera drove. Eventually she pulled into a playground area and parked.

"So, spill it!"

"Spill what Sera?"

"Spill the beans on you and Nick......what happened? How was your date with Zac?"

"Ugh....Zac is going to die!!"

"Why?"

"Well he took me to Kelly Jacobs party.....where he spent about two hours drinking nonstop and making sure I never left his side. Then he tried kissing me and tried to force me in his car. Eventually he called me a bitch and sped off. So I started walking home. After a few blocks I realized I had no clue where I was so I had to call Nick. He picked me up.......we talked..........and now he's trying to get things back to the way they were like 10 years ago."

"Well that's great that you two are making up. I saw we egg Zac's precious car. What do you say??"

"As much as I'd love to, it wouldn't do anything. I'll get back at him in my own little way."

"Okay........so did you tell Nick how you feel?"

"What do you mean?"

"That you got the hots for him!"

"Sera you really need to let this one go. I do not have the hots for Nick."

"Yes you do!! You just refuse to admit it cuz you're afraid of rejection."

"Whatever......can we please go now? I'd like to spend some time with my parents since they just got home."

Sera looked at Sam before shaking her head and starting the car. Neither said a word as Sera dropped Sam off. Sam headed inside and straight up to her room. She wasn't in her room 10 seconds when she heard her name being yelled. Walking to her window she stuck her head out.

"Yea Nick?"

"Guess what?"

"What?"

"I won!"

"Won what?"

"Oh déjà vu......sorry, I won that talent competition. Well actually 5 of us won. Me, Brian, Kevin and two other guys."

"Cool.......wait, who's Kevin?"

"Oh that's Brian's cousin. We met up with him there. He's pretty cool."

"Well congratulations Nick."

"What's wrong Sam?"

Sam looked up and for the first time in months, really looked at Nick.

"Um....nothing.......nothings wrong. I've just got a headache. I'll see you later Nick. Congrats on the contest."

"Okay.......hope you feel better. If you're ready at seven tomorrow I'll give you a lift to school. Night Sam."

"Night."

Sam closed her window and blinds and just sat on her bed.

"Dammit........I'm gonna kill Sera for putting this idea in my head!"

Sam flopped back on her bed and let out a strangled cry before changing and turning out the light.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Nick stared at Sam's window until the light went out.

"Hmmm.......wonder what that was all about.......," Nick mumbled to himself.

"Hey Nick?"

"Huh? Oh yea Angel?"

"Mom wants to know if you can drop Aaron off at school tomorrow. He's gotta be there a little bit early."

"Uh yea sure......"

"Whats wrong with you?"

"Just wondering about Sam."

"What about her?"

"She's just been acting real weird around me."

"Well duh Nick.....she likes you."

"What!?"

"You mean you didn't know?? How dumb are you! Geez, everyone knows she likes you."

"How do you know??"

"You can just tell. I mean she's always staring at you. And she's always blushing around you now. You can just tell by the way she looks at you. It's like so easy to tell!"

"Are you serious??"

"Yes Nick.....ask BJ.....she knows as well."

Nick nodded and Angel left the room. Nick was right behind her a few seconds later and knocking on BJ's door.

"What?"

"Is what Angel says true?"

"What did Angel say Nick?"

"That Sam liked me."

"You mean you didn't know?"

"Why does everyone keep asking that!?"

"Well maybe cuz she's kinda obvious about it. I mean.....she like stares are you! If you don't believe us, go ask mom. She knows as well."

"What?!!"

Nick turned and ran down the stairs.

"MOM!!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"Are they serious?"

"Is who serious?"

"BJ and Angel."

"Serious about what?"

"About Sam liking me!"

"You're just now figuring this out? Nick I thought you knew."

"If one more person says they thought I knew, I'm gonna scream!"

"Nick......what's the big deal. So Sam has a crush on you. It was bound to happen. You guys have known each other forever. Now, can you take Aaron when you leave for school?"

"Uh yea, sure. G'night mom."

Nick made his way back to his room and got ready for bed. Before turning out the light, he looked over into Sam's room. He hadn't had a clue that she liked him. It was weird. He had never thought of Sam in that way. Or at least he didn't think he had. Now that someone pointed it out, some of her behavior was starting to make sense. Shaking his head, Nick got into bed and turned out the light. This was something he'd deal with later.





Chapter Seven