Krysti left her friend’s house about an hour later, noticing how distant Symone had become since her fight with Justin. Krysti was still plenty mad about the whole situation, and if she ever saw him, you could be sure Justin was going to get a piece of her mind. “And probably a slap in the face.” She said aloud, as she opened the door to her house. It was strange that the place was so quiet. With her parents and 12-year-old brother away, the house seemed so large and empty. Her cats were her only company. Krysti went to her room and threw herself on the bed, sighing. It was still spring break, and she was going to spend her night sitting at home. She reached over to her stereo, and pressed play, not knowing or caring what CD was inside. Dizzy by the Goo Goo Dolls came blaring out of the speakers. She sang along to the first few songs, her strong voice harmonizing with Johnny Rzeznik’s. The shrill sound of her phone rang out over the music, and she searched among the messy floor for it. Finally finding it, she picked up the receiver.

“You have reached the winter of our discontent, how may I help you?”

“Um, I’m sorry, I think I have the wrong number.” A deep voice replied, unsure.

“That’s OK, it happens. Have a nice day.” Krysti said and hung up.

Seconds later, the phone rang again.

“Domino’s Pizza, would you like pick-up or delivery?” she asked cheerfully.

“Actually, I think I dialed the wrong number, sorry.” The same deep male voice said.

“Well, let’s see. Who are you trying to reach?”

“Krysti London.”

“This is she. How can I help you?” Krysti said.

“OK, I am thoroughly confused. I thought this was her home number.” The man muttered probably more to himself than to Krysti.

“Can I ask who this is?” Krysti was starting to get a tad bit nervous. All of her friends knew about her strange ways of answering the phone. She and Symone had been doing it for years, because ‘Hello’ was too cliché for the unique duo.

“Um, yeah, this is Lance, is this really Krysti?”

“Lance? Wait, as in Bass? As in ‘Girl were you alone?’” The last line was said in the deepest voice Krysti could muster.

Lance laughed. “Yeah, that would be me. You really had me confused!”

Krysti was busy trying to think of something witty to say, and she forgot to talk at all.

“Hello?” Lance said, wondering if she had hung up on him.

“Oh, oops, sorry Lance. I was trying to decide what CD I wanted to listen to.” Krysti lied, not wanting to sound stupid. “So, to what do I owe the honor of this call? How’d you get my number, by the way?”

“I called Symone. She didn’t sound too good. She wouldn’t tell me what was going on, though. Do you know?” He sounded concerned, and Krysti felt she could trust him. She told him the whole story, from the beginning of their innocent plan, to the conversation that had occurred between Symone and Justin at the front door of her house. “Justin called her a slut?! That doesn’t sound like something he would say.” Lance was a bit skeptical. Justin had been raised to treat women with respect, and Lance had never even heard that word come from his friend’s mouth before.

“Well, Symone wouldn’t lie about something like that. And, she was really upset. It takes a lot to make her cry.” Krysti was getting defensive of her best friend, but she certainly didn’t want to start a fight with Lance. “But anyway, is that all you called for? I was gonna go see if I could catch a movie or something, so if that was it, I had better go.”

“Actually, I was wondering if you liked Clue?”

“The movie or the game?” she asked

Lance laughed. “The movie. The game is boring.”

“Yeah, the movie is hilarious. I love just about everything with Christopher Lloyd in it.” Krysti replied.

“Do you wanna get together and watch it?” He asked, hopefully.

“Sure. What time?”

“Is now OK?” His voice was teasing, as if he knew something she didn’t.

“Um, now is fine, I guess.”

“Great!” he said, just as the doorbell sounded.

Krysti jumped from her bed, dropping the phone on the floor. She opened the door, and there stood Lance, holding a cell phone to his ear. Krysti couldn’t help laughing. “This must be an ‘Nsync thing. How long have you been here?” ‘God he is so cute!’ she thought.

“Since the part of the story when you and Symone saw Joe and Justin in the mall.” He replied, shruging.

“What?! That was like 20 minutes ago! Why didn’t you say something?” ‘He’s been standing on my stoop the whole time! That’s either really romantic, or really stupid!’ she said in her mind.

“I wanted to surprise you, I guess. Can I come in?”

“Oh, yeah, sorry.” Krysti let him in and closed the door behind him. She led him into her room. “Excuse the mess, I really wasn’t expecting company.”

Lance stood there, almost in awe. “Wow, this is beautiful!” Krysti’s room somewhat resembled The Rainforest Café. Her wrought-iron canopy bed was covered in vines, and a large mural of jungle animals was painted on the walls. The ceiling was a navy blue shade.

Krysti smiled, happy that he appreciated her taste. A lot of people thought the room was a bit childish for a 17-year-old, but she loved it. “Nicole did the walls. She’s an amazing artist. Symone and I did the ceiling…there’s a little surprise up there, too.”

“What’s that?”

“You’ll have to wait and see.” She said mysteriously. “Ready to watch the movie?”

“Sure thing. Where’s the TV?” Krysti walked to the large white tiger that was painted on the walls. Or so it seemed. It was actually the entertainment center, which Nicole helped her blend into the mural. She opened it to reveal the 32” TV and VCR. Lance was laughing at her cleverness, and handed her the tape. The two settled onto the bed, and the mysterious comedy started. Krysti couldn’t help glancing at Lance every once in a while, and when she turned away, she felt his eyes upon her as well. She continued to laugh at the antics on the screen, but inside she was so nervous about her celebrity crush laying just a foot or 2 away. She turned to look at him once again, and caught his green eyes. They both laughed and looked away, unsure. Seconds later, they simultaneously gazed in each other’s directions again.

“You have beautiful eyes.” Krysti spoke up. “I know you probably hear that a lot, but…well, its true.”

“Thanks, Krys.” Lance was getting a little nervous around her, and he wasn’t sure why. They continued to search the others’ eyes. Without realizing it, they were leaning forward, and Krysti’s lips captured his. They kissed passionately for a few minutes, the who-done-it now completely forgotten. Lance broke the kiss, breathlessly. “Um…wow. Uh, I think I had better go now.” He did not want to get himself in too deep with this girl without knowing much about her.

“No, Lance, wait, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that, it just happened. Don’t leave, please?” She pleaded with him, her voice shaking.

“How about we go get something to eat. Then we can talk.” He figured he could control himself in a public place.

Her voice brightened. “Sure! I really want to get to know you Lance.”

“Me too. Let’s go.” He offered her his hand, and she got off the bed. She walked to the entertainment center and turned everything off. Once she grabbed her coat, and 2 hats, they walked out the front door.

“Here.” Krysti said trusting a dark green fisherman’s hat at him, and pulling her sparkling white one over her long hair. “I figured you might want that. How come you guys are going out without security, anyway?”

“We made this deal with them. As long as we don’t go out without disguises, or as a group, we can go by ourselves. Otherwise, we take them along.” He said, jumping into the security rental that he had bribed Jake for the keys to.

“Oh, I see. Ok, so where are we going?”

“Don’t know. What’s around here?”

“There’s a Chili’s down the road. Nicole works there part time, so we could get a discount.” She stated.

“Sounds good to me.”

The drive took a few minutes, and soon they were walking into the restaurant. Nicole wasn’t working that night, but Krysti had made a few friends among the other employees. “Jeremy!” Krys waved to a handsome man in his early 20’s. He walked up to her, and picked her up, kissing her, a fredndly peck.

“Hey Princess. What’s up?”

“Not too much Jer. Can you see about seating us in your section?” Krysti asked, pouting look on her face.

“Anything for you, beautiful. Who’s your friend?”

“Oh, sorry! That’s Lance. Lance, this is Jeremy, one of my really good friends,” Krysti introduced the two.

Lance tried to smile, although he was quite perturbed by Krysti and this guy acting as if they were dating. ‘You’re so jealous!’ his mind told him, but he pushed it away. He had just met this girl, and now he was jealous of her guy friends? “Nice to meet you Jeremy,” he said.

“You too, Lance.” Jeremy turned to Krysti again. “I’m gonna go see what I can do about getting your table right away.”

In the 5 or so minutes it took for Jeremy to come back, three other guys all came up to talk to Krysti. It was actually starting to get on his nerves, seeing all of these good-looking guys kiss the girl he was on a date with. ‘Is this a date?’ he asked himself. He wasn’t sure, but he was still none too thrilled about the amount of ‘really good friends’ she had that just happened to male.