The Way You Said Hello ~ Chapter Twenty-Seven

The rest of the day after our shopping trip passed uneventfully - or as uneventfully as possible when you have an ungodly amount of studying and essay writing to do. For that matter, the next day, Friday, passed uneventfully as well, with only an hour phone call from AJ to pass the time that night. (He was too exhausted after a long day's work to make the drive from Orlando to Tampa.) The uneventfulness passed on into Saturday morning, when it was shattered by the ringing of the telephone.

AJ was, as usual, at my house, occupying himself by painting my toenails while I lounged on the couch reading the latest Patricia Cornwell novel. The January weather was dreary and wet, but we were happy enough to sit indoors and listen to the tapping of the rain on the windows.

"We had a meet-and-greet yesterday," AJ's voice wafted to me from somewhere in the vicinity of my left pinky toe. Slow but steady, he painstakingly slathered on numerous coats of a shocking red nail polish that I would never have chosen myself.

I turned a page listlessly. "How did it go?" I asked him noncommittally, shifting my position so he could better reach my toes.

"Fine, but I almost got attacked twice after responding in the affirmative to the question, 'Do you have a girlfriend?'" He paused to dip the polish brush back into the bottle and then continued on to the next toe.

I felt something cold and wet hit my skin. "Darling, you missed my toenail," I murmured over the top of my book.

"Shit. It looks like you're bleeding." He grabbed a cotton ball and began sponging the miscreant polish from my skin.

"That's what you get for insisting on the lovely shade of fire engine red." Pause. Page turn. I raised my eyes to examine his handiwork: not too bad. His eyes were squinted in concentration, his tongue caught between pursed lips. I noted that the tips of his fingers were becoming as red as my toes, as he was using them to wipe up any errant drops that missed their mark.

"So," I said, resuming our previous conversation, "should I be jealous that all day, every day, you're surrounded by beautiful girls who would give anything to go on a single date with you?"

"Probably," he grinned up at me from his crouching position near my feet.

The corners of my mouth turned up in a small smirk. "Fabulous," I shot at him with a small dose of sarcasm. "And I suppose they still think you're single?"

"Some of them don't know about you; some don't care. The ones that do are the ones that scare me." He smiled again and screwed the top back onto the nail polish jar after putting the finishing touches on my newly-pedicured feet.

"Wonderful. I'll be expecting the death threats to start rolling in any day now." I buried my nose back into my book as AJ got up and put everything away in the bathroom cabinet. He strolled back into the room and threw himself down on the couch next to me, stretching out his legs and arms. Without removing my eyes from the page in front of me, I scooted over on the couch and nestled up against his chest. He settled his arm across my shoulders, resting his head against mine. After a few moments, my eyes stopped taking in the words on the page; I pretended to be reading, and even turned a page once in a while, but my mind was blank. All I could do was savor the feel of sitting in his arms, the rise and fall of his chest the only movement noticeable.

Suddenly, just as I was preparing myself to turn my head and lay a kiss on his neck, the telephone rang shrilly from the office room across the hall. I groaned and stood up.

"I'll get it. Don't lose my page," I told him, giving him my book to hold. I jogged into the office and snatched the phone from the hook. "Hello?"

"Hey Becky! It's Nick," a voice responded.

I smiled. "Hi Nick. What's up?" I sat down in the office chair next to the phone and crossed my legs.

"Something big. Is AJ over there? I tried calling him a few minutes ago and didn't get an answer."

I glanced back into the living room, where AJ was now sprawled out fully on the couch, my book tossed carelessly onto the coffee table. So much for keeping my page. I sighed. "Yes, unfortunately, he's apparently passed out on my living room sofa. The rigors of toenail painting seem to have worn him out sufficiently."

Nick laughed, his chuckling sounding hollow over the phone line. I heard a TV going in the background, or perhaps it was his Nintendo. I couldn't be quite sure. "I figured he would be there. Anyway, I have something to tell you guys!" I heard another voice, quite familiar, in the background. "By the way, Ryan says hi."

"Tell her I have the clothes that she left at my house last weekend." I waited while he relayed to her my message, tapping my foot against the desk. "So Nicky boy, what exactly is it that you wanted to tell me."

"You are *never* going to believe this," he said excitedly.

I grinned. "Come on, Carter, just spit it out. If I don't get back to AJ soon, I think he's going to lose consciousness."

"Okay... Are you ready?" He was trying to make me wait as long as possible, and it was annoying the crap out of me.

"Yes!" I laughed. "If you make me wait any longer, the anticipation will kill me."

His voice was triumphant. "Brian *finally* broke up with Jenna!"

"WHAT?!" I shrieked, slamming my hand down on the desk. "You are *not* serious, Nick. You had better not be screwing with me."

"Huh?" AJ called, oblivious and drowsy, from the couch.

"I am dead serious," Nick assured me. "Ask Ryan if you don't believe me."

"Put her on the phone," I commanded.

I heard a few shuffling noises as the telephone was passed from person to person. "Becks?" Ryan said into the phone.

"Am I hallucinating, or did Nick just tell me that Brian broke up with Jenna?" I asked her excitedly, dancing in my seat.

"WHAT?!" AJ yelled, falling from the sofa with a loud thump. I stifled a laugh as he picked himself back up, rubbing his eyes and, in the process, smearing red nail polish all over his face.

"You heard him right," Ryan exclaimed gleefully.

I couldn't believe it. "I thought it would never happen," I muttered, shaking my head. AJ stumbled into the room, leaning against the desk I was sitting at. His eyes were large and incredulous, but he stayed silent since he knew I would answer none of his questions until after I was off the phone.

"Well, it has," she affirmed. "And we're having a party at Kevin's house tonight. This is definitely cause for celebration."

"Okay. What time should we be there?" I asked, glancing at my watch. It was somewhere around eleven in the morning.

"Umm..." she conferred briefly with Nick. "Eight o'clock should be fine."

"We'll be there!" I said and hung up the phone. I looked up at AJ to see an expectant look on his face.

He managed to stay silent for an instant longer, until finally, "Becky, if you don't tell me what's going on within five seconds, I swear I'm going to explode."

"Well, don't do that," I remarked dryly. "It would ruin the carpet."

He gave me a sarcastic glare, playing with the corner of his goatee. It was unbelievable - he couldn't keep his fingers out of it lately. One night while he was sleeping, maybe I'd sneak in and shave it off. The look on his face when he looked in the mirror in the morning would be absolutely priceless.

"Fine," I sighed, pretending to be nonchalant. That act didn't last long, though: I jumped from my chair into his arms and shouted, "Brian finally broke up with Jenna, AJ!"

"How? When?" he asked eagerly, hugging me happily.

"I don't know. Nick didn't say. We're all partying at Kevin's tonight, though - we need to be there at eight o'clock." I retreated from our celebratory embrace and smiled widely.

I half-walked, half-skipped back to the living room, AJ close behind me. I plopped back down onto the couch and breathed deeply, letting the fact sink in.

"We're horrible people, you know," I said after a moment's deliberation. "Celebrating the fact that a girl just got dumped."

"Come on," AJ said, sitting down beside me. "You know she was a bitch." He spoke honestly and bluntly, but the words were true.

"Yeah," I chuckled. "She was."

I was so happy. Brian had finally gotten out of his oppressive relationship, and I didn't even have to help. It was funny the way things worked out sometimes: when I had tried to influence Bri into breaking free, nothing had happened. Now, after I had consciously decided to mind my own business, he had done it on his own.

Well, I knew it would be for the best. I hadn't had to damage my already-tarnished pride by interfering.

Soon, however, another thought occurred to me. Yes, I was happy that Brian had gotten rid of the woman that was so obviously wrong for him, but there was something else that bothered me.

This incident reminded me how fragile relationships really were. True, this particular one had taken months to disintegrate, but couldn't that also happen in an instant? The thought chilled me, and I turned my head so that I would not have to see AJ while I thought it. It was a bad omen, for sure.

"Well," AJ said, breaking the silence. "How about we get our stuff together and go out for an early lunch. Then we can come back and get ready to go to Kevin's tonight. Sound like a plan?"

I shook my head free of foreboding notions. "It sounds wonderful." I kissed him briefly but tenderly, smoothing my hand through his hair.

AJ cupped my face in his hands, gazing at me with heavy eyes. "You're so beautiful," he whispered and kissed me again.

After our lips parted ways for the second time, I buried my face in the crook of his neck. My eyes welled up with silent tears that I felt I must keep hidden from him - there was no need for him to know of the nightmarish thoughts that had crossed my mind. The pure affection in his voice was my undoing. All he wanted was to love me. Why couldn't I let him?

I turned from him and wiped my eyes dry. "Well then," I cleared my throat. "Let's get going." I stood up and walked to my bedroom, grabbing my purse from the nightstand, where I had last discarded it. I glanced at myself in the mirror and smoothed down my long hair; I checked my eyes for tell-tale signs of redness that would let AJ know I had been crying. I didn't want to worry him with that - it was just me being insecure and foolish, after all.

Nevertheless, I was going to cheer up immensely by tonight. I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen; when you put everyone together in one house, the result was quite uncertain. It would be like throwing Kevin, Anne, Eva, Gillie, Howie, Ryan, Nick, Brian, Eilene, AJ and me into a giant blender and setting it on frappe. I grinned as I thought to myself: this is gonna be one hell of a party.

~

Continue to chapter twenty-eight

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