------MEANWHILE------
Angie woke up and rolled out of bed. Groaning, she looked in the mirror. She was a mess. Her hair flew in every direction and she had bags under her eyes like she was going on a trip to Mexico for three weeks.
“I have got to talk to Dani,” she muttered, walking out the door.
She walked to Dani’s door, not bothering to knock and pushed it open. Dani wasn’t in her bed, and it hadn’t been slept in!
“What the fuck?”
Angie walked out of Dani’s room and went straight to Lori’s.
“Wake up, Lori,” she said, opening the door.
“What?” she groaned.
“Where’s Dani?”
“WHAT?”
“Dani’s not in her room, and it looks like the bed hasn’t even been slept in.”
“She’s probably with Kevin. She’s gotten up early to see him before.”
“She’s going to the mall with her mom today and Sandra’s downstairs.”
“Shit! Let’s see if we can track her down.”
Lori scrambled out of bed and got dressed. They walked downstairs and found Ann and Sandra in the kitchen, making breakfast.
“Have you seen Dani?” Angie asked.
“No, I assumed she was still in bed,” Sandra replied.
“Shit,” Lori said under her breath. Angie elbowed her.
They ran upstairs and grabbed their cell phones. Angie tried Kevin’s cell number and Lori tried Dani’s pager. Kevin didn’t answer and Dani’s pager was by her bed.
“Fuck!” Angie shouted, hoping Ann and Sandra didn’t hear.
There was a knock on the door shortly after Angie screamed.
“Come in,” Lori called.
“Angie, we gotta talk,” Dani said, walking in.
Lori got off the bed and walked to the door. She decided to go to her room so Dani and Angie could talk. She figured that it was important and they should talk about it first. “After all, they are cousins,” she thought.
She walked out and closed the door behind her.
“What’s up?”
“I don’t know any way to tell you this delicately, so I’m just gonna tell it to you straight. The only thing is, you have to promise me that you won’t be mad.”
“Why would I get mad?”
“Just promise me.”
“Okay, I promise.”
“Somehow I don’t believe you, but I’ll tell you anyway,” she paused.
“WHAT?”
“Kevin and I slept together last night.”
Angie was stunned, but only for a moment. Then she said, “You go girl!”
Dani’s jaw dropped, “You’re not mad?”
“Naw…How could I be? It’s Kevin.”
Dani was still stunned that Angie wasn’t mad at her.
“Oh my God…” Angie said quietly.
“What?”
“It was your first time, wasn’t it?”
Dani blushed, “Yeah. He knew I’d never done it before. I told him a long time ago.”
“So…?”
“ ‘So…’ What?”
“How was it?”
Dani sighed, “Wonderful. He was SO gentle,” she stopped, “What’s up with you?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Why the hell are you glowing?”
“I’m not glowing!”
“Yes you are.”
“Well, maybe I am. My little cousin is all grown up.”
“Shut up, Angie. I’m only a year younger than you. And I know that’s not it. I know you a little better than that. Why are you glowing?”
“Angie hesitated. She wasn’t sure if she should tell her or not, “I dunno…”
“Liar! Come on, we’ve told each other everything since we were in diapers! You’ve gotta tell me this. It’s gotta be good, you’re GLOWING.”
“I am not glowing!” Angie considered for a moment and decided to tell her why she was glowing, “Nick and I had sex.”
“You WHAT?” she shouted, falling off the bed.
Angie laughed at her, “Don’t shout! You’ll get Ann and Sandra up here, and that’s the last thing we want right now.”
The door flew open and Lori ran in, “What’s wrong? I heard screaming.”
“We’re fine-“ Angie began, but Dani cut her off.
“Angie had sex with Nick!!”
Lori’s jaw dropped and her eyes got as big as baseballs.
“SO! Dani slept with Kevin!” she retorted.
Lori looked over at Dani, who just blushed. Lori sat down on the bed.
“Okay you two, fill me in. And I want details….”
------10 MINS EARLIER------
Nick stumbled out of bed and walked to the bathroom. He turned on the cold water full blast and stepped in, screaming.
“MOTHERFUCKER!”
He got out of the shower and walked back into the room. He was fully awake now. He put on a pair of running pants and a faded Nike tee shirt. He walked to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. For the first time that morning, he looked in the mirror. His eyes were so dark and bloodshot, he looked like he’d just gone a few rounds with Mike Tyson.
“I gotta find her,” he said quietly, “But first I gotta talk to Bri.”
He picked up his room key and his wallet, heading out the door.
------RIGHT AFTER DANI LEFT, 10 MINS BEFORE NICK WOKE UP------
Kevin sat on the bed a while longer, kicking himself for being so cowardly. He got up off the bed, put on some clothes, and walked across the hall to Brian’s room.
“Who is it?”
“Kevin.”
The door opened and Brian poked his head out the door. After glancing at Kevin, he said, “You look like shit.”
“Thanks, cuz. I need to talk to you.”
Brian opened the door and as Kevin walked in, he almost fell over a tee shirt.
“What happened to your room?”
“Hurricane Nick.”
“Oh, listen Bri, what I gotta tell you is really important.”
“Sup, cuz?”
Kevin sat on the bed, “Danica and I slept together last night.”
Brian’s eyes popped open, “Excuse me? I think I’m hearing things. Could you repeat that?”
Kevin rolled his eyes and said slowly this time, “Danica and I made love last night.”
Brian fell off the bed. (He and Dani are a lot alike, aren’t they? LOL)
He heard it right that time. He climbed back on the bed, smiling.
“So what’s wrong?”
“I love her.”
“Yeah, that’s usually the case when two people make love. Hence the term, ‘make love.’ “
“Brian, shut up. Let me talk for a second. I don’t know how to tell her.”
“You open your mouth and sound comes out. It’s not that hard.”
“Ha ha, you’re funny. I can’t tell her. Every time I try to, I get all tongue tied.”
“Kevin, you gotta go what you feel in your heart. If you love her, then tell her. Whatever happens, at least you told her your feelings.”
“I guess.”
There was a knock at the door then, and Kevin went to get it, since he was about to leave anyway.
“Hey Nick,” he said as he walked out.
Nick closed the door, calling “Hey” to Kevin.
“Brian, I need to talk to you.”
“I’m gonna start charging by the hour!!”
Nick was puzzled, “What?”
“Nothing, it’s just that everybody’s coming to me for advice for advice today. What’s up?”
“Angie.”
“Speaking of…When are you gonna clean my room back up?”
“Later on today. Look Bri, something happened after I trashed your room yesterday.”
“What?”
“Angie and I kind of slept together.”
“ 'Kind of?’ “
“We had sex, OKAY?”
“Damn. I didn’t know you even liked Angie.”
“Well, I do. A LOT.”
“So, are you two together now?”
“I dunno…. She left late last night. We didn’t get the chance to talk.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing! I was asleep when she left!”
“Just give her some time, Nick. She probably needs time to think.”
“Whatever. * sigh * I just can’t stop thinking about her. And just a few hours before we slept together, we decided that we didn’t like each other that way.”
Brian laughed, “I guess ya’ll were wrong.”
“I guess so…”
------MEANWHILE------
“…And then I woke up and left,” Angie finished.
“You didn’t wake him up, or leave a note or anything?”
“No. I thought about it. But what would I have said? ‘Gee, Nick, it was great sleeping with you, but we just gotta be friends coz I…’ ” she trailed off, not knowing what she was gonna say.
“It probably would’ve been better than what you did,” Dani said.
“What about you? You left.”
“I left at 9:00 this morning! And I even told him I couldn’t stay all night. But somehow I ended up going to sleep…” she smiled.
Angie sank further down into the bed, “Damnit,” she mumbled.
“It’s your turn Dani,” Angie said, trying to take the spotlight off of her.
“What?… Oh, you want me to tell you about last night. Where should I start?”
“How about when you got to his room?” Lori suggested.
“I don’t remember when we got there.”
“Angie and Lori’s mouths dropped open. “Why don’t you remember?” Angie demanded.
“Relax, Angie. I fell asleep in the cab. So, even though there might have been some fans or someone else that might have recognized him, he carried me up to his room. He went to sleep when we got up there. We woke up shortly after, started kissing, and then we made love.”
“That’s so romantic,” Lori said.
Angie was dreamy-eyed, thinking about Nick and the previous night.
“Earth to Angie,” Danica said.
“Not here, leave a message, beep.”
“You’re so not funny.”
“I thought it was hilarious!” Angie shot back.
“Oh, shut up you sorry little bitch!” Dani said.
“At least I’m a sorry little bitch, instead of a rude conceited bitch.”
Lori stared at them, open-mouthed. They’d never called each other such horrible names before. Angie looked over at Lori and started laughing, seeing her friend’s expression.
“We called each other those names in, like, sixth grade, or something.”
“Oh! You guys scared me there for a minute.”
Dani smiled, “So Angie, if you don’t like Nick, why’d you sleep with him?”
“I dunno…I- HEY! Don’t do that! You slept with Kevin!”
“Yeah, but I lo-“ she stopped.
“What?” Lori and Angie asked in unison.
“I was just about to say that I love Kevin. That’s the first time that I’ve ever said that.
“Do you?” Angie asked.
“Yeah…”
“Did you tell him?” Lori asked.
“No.”
“Stupid! Did he tell you?” Angie asked.
“What is this, The Inquisition?”
“Did he?” she pressed.
“I dunno…I didn’t hear him. But you know how low he talks sometimes…”
“Yeah,” Lori said.
got up off the bed, heading for the door.
“Where are you going?” they asked.
“Shopping with Mom, remember?”
“Oh yeah. Later,” Lori said.
“Later!” Angie called after her.
Danica walked down the stairs to the kitchen where she found Ann and Sandra talking.
“Should I tell my mom?” she thought.
Over the years, she and her mom and told each other everything. But she wondered if she should tell her this. After all, she and Kevin had only been dating for five months.
Sandra got ready to go as Danica and Ann talked in the living room. Danica was very uncomfortable. After all, she did just sleep with her son, twice. After about five minutes of talking, Ann asked her something that utterly shocked her.
“How was last night?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t act shy, Dani. I know when something’s bothering you.”
“Nothing’s bothering me, Ann.”
“Dani, I’m not stupid. You didn’t come in last night. And when you walked in this morning, you looked like a Mack truck hit you. Your hair was a mess and you were wearing the same clothes you had on yesterday. So…how was last night?”
Danica blushed. She’d wanted Kevin to tell her, if he ever decided to tell Ann what had happened the previous night.
“Please don’t tell him you know.”
“You have my word.”
“It was…wonderful, more than perfect.”
Ann smiled, “He loves you so much. I’m actually surprised that it took you so long to start dating.”
“He’s felt this way about me since before we started dating?”
“He’s loved you for years… Oh! You didn’t know,” Ann said, seeing Dani’s look of surprise.
“No, I didn’t know.”
“I’m sorry, I thought he told you. Ever since he first met you, he always told me that you and he would be together. He’s always loved you.”
Dani had to sit down. This was too much for her to take.
Sandra came downstairs then, ready to go. Danica looked up at her mother.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I can’t go with you today.”
“I didn’t think so. Are you ready, Ann?”
“Yeah, but I need to finish my talk with Danica.”
“ ‘Kay,” she said, walking out the door.
“Don’t tell anyone please, especially my mom.”
Ann laughed, “I can just see that, ‘Hey Sandra, guess what? Our kids slept together last night.’ Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.”
“Thanks, Ann,” she said, hugging her, “What did you want to tell me?”
“Go to him and tell him how much you love him. From your earlier reaction, I’d imagine that the ‘L’ word hasn’t come up yet.”
“Bingo. I was gonna go to the hotel, that’s why I can’t go with Mom today.”
“I kinda figured. I gotta go now. Go and tell him.”
“Later, Ann.”
Ann walked out the door and Dani went upstairs to change grab her purse and dash out the door.
Chapter 11