"Steph, what do you think would happen if we broke up?" Howie asked me.
"WHAT?!" I cried, switching from my comfortable spot leaning against his heaving chest to looking straight at him.
"It's just a question. I was just wondering," D reassured me. I readjusted myself so that I was in my comfy spot on the couch once again.
"Well...I'd leave the tour and go tour with Britney Spears or *N SYNC or become Fatima's fly girl. Meanwhile, you and the guys would break up because you fall apart without me to keep your heads on straight. Then you come crawling back to me. It's all simple," I joked. Howie laughed and kissed the top of my head.
"Not *N SYNC! Steph, that'd be total betrayal to us!" he replied. I giggled and got up once again. We were sitting in my living room and I hadn't seen my hat room, which I had just remembered Dani had rearranged. "Steph, where ya going?"
"Dani redecorated my hat room so I'm gunna go see what it looks like," I told him, walking down the hall. I got into the room and turned on the light. A HUGE rainbow met my eye. A rainbow of hats, that is. I couldn't believe what she did. "Hey D! Come see this! And grab my phone while you're at it!" I called. Howie got up and grabbed the phone as he made his way to the room. Howie handed me the phone while he stood in the doorway beside me, admiring the room.
"Hello?" Danielle answered the phone.
Hey Dani! My hat room is soooooo awesome! I can't believe what you did! It is soooo cool! You're the greatest! Thank you sooooooo much!!!!" I cried.
"Glad you like it Gilli," Dani sighed happily. Then I remembered. "Kevin just left."
"REALLY? How'd it go? What happened? What'dja do?" I just started rolling off the questions. Dani laughed.
"We ate ritz crackers and--"
"Oh no. Don't tell me you like that too!" I interrupted her. "Geez. You're perfect for each other. If you got married, the only thing that would be in the house would be ritz crackers and peanut butter and jelly!"
"Steph, do you want me to tell you what happened or not?" Dani said through her giggles. I promised I would shut up and leaned up against the door panel to listen to her story. "Well, we got to eating ritz and pb and j and suddenly he kissed me. Then he started to tell me everything that he had gone through in the past month and how he was dying without me and how he couldn't stop thinking about me and asked for a second chance..."
"Well?? Are you gunna give him one?" I cried, excitedly, as if I had just heard what was going to happen in the next South Park episode.
"Steph. You look into those green eyes and once you read them how could you possibly say no?" Dani exclaimed. I laughed. She was right. Kevin's green eyes could melt anyone's heart.
"SO YOU'RE GUNNA START DATING AGAIN???" I yelled into the phone. Howie turned around sharply to look at me. He had a huge smile on his face.
"Yeah. I told him I'd give it a try," Dani informed me. I couldn't have been more happy for the two of them. Then I was reminded of the other couple. I asked Danielle if she had heard from Amanda. "Uhhh not since this morning. Why don't you give her a call?" I told Dani I'd do just that and said goodbye. Unfortunately, I wasn't even given the chance. The second I put the phone down, it rang and Kevin was on the other end.
"I just called to tell you thank you, Steph. You're the best friend a guy could ever ask for!" Kevin thanked me.
"Uh you're welcome Kevin. I'm glad I could help you. Sounds like things are working out for you. I couldn't be happier for you. Hey have you talked to Brian?" I asked.
"Not since we dropped him off. Should I give him a call?" Kev wanted to know.
"Well I was thinking of calling Manda, but I don't think it would be such a good idea. Ya think we should give them the night then talk to them tomorrow morning?" I suggested. Kevin agreed and told me he had to go as well. I said goodbye and hung up.
"So I take it things are going great for Danielle and Kevin," Howie came up from behind and wrapped his arms around my waist in a hug, resting his chin on my shoulder.
"Couldn't be better. Don't know about Brock and Manda though, yet. I'll probably ask tomorrow or something," I told my boyfriend. He agreed that it would probably be the best thing and then said he should get going. It was late at night and he didn't want to wake up his parents when he got home. I gave D a goodnight kiss and watched as he drove away in his little corvette.
The next day, everyone had pretty much gotten word about Brian and Amanda. Kevin and Brian ended up talking about it all night. Amanda and Amy did the same. Before long, all ten of us knew exactly what had gone on. After Brian asked Amanda for a second chance, she sat there for a few minutes, thinking, crying, trying to see clearly. She had never stopped loving him, she just tried to shut him out of her life, like he did her. Amanda explained to Brian that she would be going overseas with the new band she was working for and wouldn't be able to go back on tour with them, but she wanted to attempt the relationship again. This time, on a more casual basis. They had gotten too serious too quickly last time and Amanda knew going in that it wasn't a good idea to get totally wrapped up in a guy she had just met. Still, everyone was cheering. A casual relationship was all we could ask for. As long as we wouldn't have to put up with anyone being miserable throughout the tour.
We only had four days in town, so we had to make them last. The guys planned to take us women out to dinner and dancing that night. A little celebration for our newly refound couples. Amanda almost objected to it, but Amy was able to convince her that it was a good idea to go. This time, everyone met at my house and stayed for a few drinks before we all left.
The restaurant happened to be a really ritzy one. ("Like ritz crackers!" Dani and Kev both cried at the same time, causing everyone to crack up.) We girls were all in elegant dresses and heels (well, except for me. I always wore flat soled shoes or ballet slippers so that I wouldn't be taller than Howie since we were the same height) and the guys in full out tuxedos. A few people were asking us if we had some type of summer prom we were going to. For one person, Nicky decided to get a little smart. Of course, the rest of us joined in on him, just for the fun.
"Well, it's not really a prom, as you say. More like a summer fling dance. It's formal," Nick sarcastically explained, keeping a straight face.
"Yeah. We just got off a cruise ship. The dance was kind of boring so we thought we'd stop by here for dinner," Brian continued.
"This place good?"
"A cruise ship?!" the woman cried.
"Yeah. Ya know that show the Road Rules...on MTV?" Nick answered. The woman nodded her head 'yes'. "Well, see, we were part of that Semester at Sea class. The ten of us met on the boat and we just graduated a week ago. So that was sorta like our big Grad dance." The lady looked at him, then squinted a little.
"Aren't you those boys....*N SYNC?" she asked.
"What? *N SYNC...uhh no ma'am. I don't believe we've heard of them," Kevin told her, pretending to be puzzled. "See, the ship picked me up in Africa, where I was studying abroad for two years. My mom and dad are paleontologists who work down there." The woman was amazed.
"Do you know any good places down here in Florida?" I interjected.
"Well I'm sure you guys will enjoy it here just fine. The food is excellent, but it's a little pricey," she explained.
"Thank you miss," Howie replied as we continued walking into the restaurant. Once we were out of earshot, Nick began to laugh so hard he had to stop and catch his breath. He absolutely loved fooling around with people. Amy whacked his arm a few times to get the boy to calm down. Before long, we were shown to our table in the dining area, near a large dance floor. There was a grand piano at the far end of the floor that immediately caught Kevin's eye. I could just imagine the ideas brewing in his head at that moment. We sat at our table, looking at our menus, when I realized we were in the same exact spots as the last time all ten of us went out together. AJ read my mind.
"Do you guys remember the last time we went out together?" he asked. The girls all looked at me with grins on their faces while the guys shot glances at Howie. He slid his hand over and grabbed my hand. I smiled at him.
"And just think how right we were..."
"WHAT?!" the five of us girls all simultaneously cried out.
"While you girls went to the ladies' room, we told Howie how obvious it was that he liked Steph," Brian told us.
"While were were in the ladies' room, we told Steph how obvious it was that she liked Howie," Amanda replied, looking at Brock.
"Wait a second," Manda and Bri both stopped and looked at us.
"Do you two care to explain how all this happened? I mean, exactly what brought you two together is completely unbeknownst to us," Kevin spoke up. I let go of Howie's hand and put both my elbows on the table, as if ready to gesture it all out for them.
"Okay so here's what happened," I began, sounding like I was going to explain some type of game plan. They all turned their heads towards me and listened intently. "So after we got back in my car, the two of us talked it over. We didn't see anything wrong in the way we were acting. BUT, we decided to distant ourselves a little. THEN, after I broke my ankle, D started to do EVERYTHING for me and practically lived over at my house. Then, one day we were hanging out at my house and I guess I made the mistake of telling him I loved him while I was thanking him for spoiling me. Well, the next morning I wake up and instead of him yelling at me to wake up, I heard "I Do" by 98 Degrees on my answering machine. SOOOOO...I went over to his house. We talked it over for like a half hour and then he asked me if we wanted to take a chance at being a couple and see how it worked out....sooooo....that's the story."
Amy, Emily, Amanda, and Danielle all sat there, staring at me with their jaws wide open. Then, Emily hit AJ in the chest.
"Why can't you be like that?" she teased him.
"Hey! Is my name Sweet D?" AJ asked. Emily gave him a puzzled look. "Weeeellll...that's how he got his nickname! The sweetest guy any of us have ever known and that sure proves it if you ask me." Just then, a waiter showed up.
"Good evening and how are you all tonight?" the waiter started out. He rattled off the specials, then asked us if we were ready to order.
"Can you give us a few more minutes, sir?" Brian asked. The waiter left. We all realized that we hadn't even taken a good look at our menus, so we picked them up and began to scan through them. A few minutes later, the waiter came back and took our orders and menus, then left. Music was playing and a few couples were dancing on the floor. Kevin immediately got up and held out his hand towards Dani.
"May I have this dance?" he asked in a 'Prince Charming' way. Dani accepted his hand and let him lead her to the linoleum floor. We watched them for a few seconds before joining them. We had a good time, switching girls and dancing with each other. We made the other couples a little mad because we were constantly laughing and ruining their special moments. At his first free chance, Kevin split from me (who was dancing with him at the moment) and walked over to the pianist. At the end of the song, he whispered a few things into the pianist's ear, slipped him some money, then sat down at the piano to play. Kevin's passion was the piano and he absolutely adored playing it. At the moment, he broke out into the song he composed and performed on the tour last year. Dani pulled away from AJ and stopped to watch Kevin. Then she walked over to him and sat beside him on the stool. AJ and I found each other and began to waltz away to the song, blending in with the rest of the couples dancing on the floor. After Kevin's performance, he and Danielle shared a kiss and walked back to the table, where our food was now sitting, surrounded by applause from everyone in the restaurant, including waiters and waitresses.
The eight of us all went back to join them.
"That was soo good Kevin!" Amanda complimented him. He bashfully smiled at her as we dove into our food. Conversation died down while we ate, as we did not want to end up spitting food all over the place.
"I say we skip all this slow dancing and go to a club," AJ declared as we waited for the change to be brought back by the waiter.
"WHAT?!" Amy cried. "We're in nice clothes! We can't go out dancing!"
"Aw no one cares. It'll be fun!" J said.
"Like prom, only not!" Kevin told her. This was just another of AJ's wild ideas and Kevin, Brian, Nick, Howie, and I had long since gotten used to them.
"It will be a ton of fun, girls. Believe me. We've done worse things before!" I backed them up.
"Come on. Let's go to House of Blues once we get the change back," Nick suggested.
"Oh I don't know if I'm quite ready to go back there yet," Amanda replied in a low voice.
"Amanda, I know that's where we first met, but please, just for the night, put those thoughts aside and enjoy this time we have together before we split. For me. For you. For everyone else here," Brian pleaded. Amanda sighed and gave in. As soon as we got the change from the bill and left a tip, the ten of us busted out of the ritzy-like-the-cracker restaurant and headed straight for the House of Blues.
When we got to the club, the ten of us got in there and found a big booth to squeeze into. Nick and AJ ended up pulling chairs up to the table, but they didn't mind. Amanda, Amy, Emily, and Danielle all kicked off their high heels and piled them up under the table.
After the guys ordered a few drinks, Howie and I headed straight for the dance floor because I was dying to get out there.
My dress was loose one with thick straps so it was easy to move around in. Howie had taken off his jacket and loosened his tie a tad bit. Not long after we hit the floor, AJ and Emily joined us. People gave us weird looks, but none of us cared. We were all in our own world, dancing around. Soon, everyone except Amanda and Brian were out there dancing with us. Amanda was reluctant to go out there with all of us because she really wasn't in the mood to recall bad memories.
Eventually though, Brian pulled her out on the floor and the ten of us squeezed in the middle of the floor.
"Now isn't this better than that piano music?" I overheard Nick asking Amy. She laughed and agreed with him. Just then, AJ and I busted out in some synchronized moves we had often fooled around with at clubs. The other eight started a circle around us and watched, shouting and hooting at us. When we were done, the two of us bowed and half-hugged each other. Before long, it was so hot and we were all so exhausted that we gradually went back to the booth. D and I ordered iced teas and guzzled them down.
"I've never had more fun in my life!" Amanda cried as she and Brian scooted their way into the booth. He comfortably placed his arm around her shoulder, just like old times. Em and J were still out dancing, but they soon came back out of breath and tired. The hands on my faithful guy's Guess watch read 12:47am. No wonder we were all tired.
"Guys, whaddya say we get going. I'm just dying to get in a real bed right now," Kevin suggested. Howie and Nick agreed, so we grabbed all our shoes, purses, jackets, hats, sunglasses, anything else we had and snuck out the door.
The air was cold outside, so we were all quicky wrapped back up in our jackets. Then, Nick suggested we all take a walk on the beach. Amanda found this all too chilling. Brian noticed her reaction and put his arm loosely on her shoulder once again.
Everything that went on the day they met was happening again, by coincidence. Brock whispered a few words to Manda and she nodded her head 'yes.' Once the ten of us reached the beach, we all took off our shoes and socks walked. Emily encouraged the rest of us girls by taking off her nylon stalkings. So we soon followed.
We must've walked a mile up the beach, talking, laughing, joking, throwing each other around. No one was around that we knew of, so we all enjoyed being normal couples again for the night. Each of us had our arm wrapped around our significant other as we slowly strolled up the beach. By this time, it was probably two in the morning.
"Hey guys, if we turn around, we can hit the cars by daybreak and watch the sunrise at that watchpoint down the road a little," Nick informed us. At that instant, the ten of us simultaneously turned around and began our long trek back. Suddenly, Brian let out a sigh.
"It sure is nice to be normal again," he said. The guys all agreed with him. Amanda couldn't help but wrap both her arms around his waist and give Brock a hug. He was a little taken by surprise, but was so comfortable with his petite little girlfriend who could fit in his arms just right. We continued walking, talking to each other, and eventually made our way to the cars as the daybreak began to crack. Howie and I hopped into his Corvette, Brian and Amanda into Brock's BMW, and AJ and Em in J's Expedition, while Nick and Amy climbed into Nick's Durango and Kevin and Dani into Kev's 4-Runner. One by one, each vehicle quickly pulled out of the parking spots and drove over to the watchpoint, hoping the sunrise wouldn't beat us. The last of our caravan pulled up to the spot right as the glorious sun made it's way up. It was about 5 in the morning and we were all dead tired. But it was worth it. All completely worth it. The waves crashing below us as we sat on the cliff, not a sound except for the peaceful ocean, no one but us normal people, and the beautiful sky changing color every few minutes.