Chapter Eleven: Rush Me In

Oh I feel so close now 
Oh you're taking me back from where I've been
Oh I'm not alone now
Oh you rest me up and rush me in…
-Vertical Horizon

            The alarm clock on Adrienne’s night table suddenly began to ring loudly.  She awoke with a start, frightened by the deafening noise originating less than three feet from her head.
            “It can’t be eight o’clock already,” she groaned, hitting the snooze button and rolling back over, burying her face deeply in her fluffy white pillow.  She definitely needed more sleep, no question.  She would still be able to make her nine o’clock biological chemistry class if she slept, oh, for another half-hour or so.  And if she was late…so what?
            At eight forty-five she finally managed to pull herself out of bed, her golden-blonde hair sticking out in every direction imaginable.  One look in the mirror was all she needed in order to decide upon going for the “messy look” this morning.
            Can I get away with wearing my flannel pajama pants to class? she mused as she began to rummage through her closet.  Nah.  I’ll just go for some jean shorts.  It’s so stinkin’ hot out.
            After taking twenty minutes to get dressed, brush her hair, and eat a whole-wheat bagel with low fat cream cheese, Adrienne realized that she was, in fact, late for class.  She quickly threw her books together in her carrier bag and ran out of her apartment, slamming the door behind her.
            Five minutes later she was sneaking into the classroom silently, sliding into a desk in the back that happened to be next to Gwen’s.
            Whew…that was close.  I’m lucky Rosenwald didn’t catch me.  He’s more than a little oblivious this morning, thank goodness.  She dug into her bag and pulled out a thick spiral notebook and a neon green ballpoint pen.  Leaning over so that she had an excellent view of Gwen’s paper, she began to hastily scribble down the notes that she had missed.
            “Adrienne, what are you doing?” Gwen whispered, shooting a pointed look at her friend.
            “Copying these notes from you,” Adrienne smiled sweetly.  “Thanks, Gwen!  You’re the best.”  She continued scribbling madly until she had covered three pages in her huge, loopy handwriting.
            Gwen sighed and focused her attention back on the professor.  God forbid Gwen should miss even one word that comes out of Rosenwald’s mouth, Adrienne thought sarcastically.  I have never met someone so obsessed with learning everything.  It’s ridiculous!
            Instead of voicing her opinions, Adrienne leaned back toward Gwen and whispered, “So what did you think of AJ last night?  Isn’t he a sweetie?”  Meanwhile, her right hand kept flying across her notebook paper at insane speed, considering she wasn’t even looking at it.
            Gwen sighed again.  “Yes, Adrienne, he was wonderful, now can I please concentrate on this class?” she hissed quietly.
            Adrienne rolled her eyes.  Gwen is so damn uptight.  Maybe there’s something I can do to help cheer her up a little bit.  Hmm, I have an idea…
            Aloud, she whispered noisily, “Listen, Gwen, I have an idea!”
            “What?” Gwen asked, giving her a look that seemed to say, ‘An idea? You? Well, that’s a first.’
            “I know you’re really stressed out and stuff, and you’re probably a little jealous and insecure because, well, I have a boyfriend and you don’t…I mean, that’s perfectly understandable…but it doesn’t have to be that way!”
            “I’m not jealous or insecure!” Gwen glared at her in disbelief.
            Adrienne continued: “Right, well anyway, AJ was telling me about one of his friends who just broke up with his girlfriend because she cheated on him—she was such a skank, you wouldn’t believe it—so now he’s single, and I think you two would get along great!”
            “Your point is…?” Gwen asked while still diligently taking notes on the lecture.
            “I can set you two up!” Adrienne crowed triumphantly.  “You two would be perfect for each other.  From what AJ tells me, he sounds like a real catch.  It doesn’t have to be, like, serious or anything.  Just a few dates, for fun.  Whaddaya say?”
            Adrienne watched Gwen eagerly for a response, but got none.  Gwen continued to silently stare straight ahead at the diagrams the professor was drawing on the overhead projector.  Adrienne had started to think Gwen had either gone deaf or turned into a total social reject until she caught a glimpse of Gwen’s eyes.  They were dark and pensive, as if Gwen were thinking or remembering something.
            “Fine,” Gwen whispered a few moments later.  “But nothing serious, okay?  I don’t have the time – or emotional strength – for that right now.”
            “Okay, that’s wonderful!” Adrienne began to giggle quietly.  She felt a feeling of immense satisfection well up in her chest.  A sensation of pride swept over her.  She felt as if she had done something great and noble for all of humanity.

            Brian Littrell stretched his legs out in front of him as he leaned back in the chaise longue on the deck behind his house.  He took a slow sip from his iced tea and watched as the late afternoon sunlight reflected off the surface of the water in the swimming pool.  An absolutely gorgeous sunset was coming, he could sense it — and he was more than willing to relax out here, listening to the delicate tinkle of the wind chimes hanging behind him, and wait for it.
            Today had been a normal day.  Not outstandingly great, but not terribly awful.  Just a typical, run-of-the-mill morning spent at the studio working on songs for the new album.  That was the way Brian liked his days.  He felt content and at peace when he could let his creative juices flow, especially when he was with his friends.  If there was too much excitement around him, whether it was positive or negative, he just couldn’t concentrate.
            But today had been just fine.  He’d had a super time with the other guys last night after they’d gone to AJ’s house.  Staying up late watching cheesy action movies with no plot whatsoever wasn’t everyone’s idea of a good time, but Brian, AJ, Nick, Kevin and Howie thought it was perfect.  It was just something amusing that they could do to take their minds off of their outrageously hectic, stressful lives.
            Brian always loved the “no girls allowed” nights that he and his fellow band members enjoyed together every so often.  Last night, however, the “no girls” part was most certainly not a problem for him, as Brian was recently single.
            Yeah, I miss having a girlfriend, he admitted to himself as he took another sip of the ice-cold tea.  But I’m in no great hurry to find another one.  After my experience with Nicole, I can appreciate my time spent with the fellas more than ever.
            Suddenly, the cordless phone sitting on the glass patio table next to Brian’s chaise began to trill loudly.  Brian lazily stretched his free arm over, picked it up, and punched the ‘talk’ button.
            “Hey-lo, this is Brian.”
            “Rok, it’s AJ, how’s it going?”
            Brian shifted the phone to his other ear.  “Not bad, just relaxing.  I was thinking earlier about that song we’re working on for the next album…what’s it called…”
            “ ‘I Get That Feeling’?”
            “Yeah, that’s the one.  It’s nice as a slow song and all, but nothing special.  What I was thinking was…what if we threw in a faster beat and kicked it up a few notches to an uptempo track?  It would be really different from everything else we’ve done, melody- and structure-wise.”
            AJ paused a few moments to think.  “Hmm…you know what, Bri?  That might actually work!  Definitely remember that to bring up tomorrow at the studio.  Great idea.  Anyway, don’t you wanna know why I was calling?”
            “You had a reason?” Brian chuckled.  “Usually you’re just acting off of your freakish, psychotic impulses in an attempt to show everyone how ridiculously weird you are.”
            “Well, that’s true, of course,” AJ responded with more than a hint of sarcasm.  “But this time I happen to have a reason in addition to my freakish impulses.”
            “All right, all right, so tell me!”
            AJ cleared his throat.  “Okay, so I just got off the phone with Adrienne.  Before you even ask, yes, you can meet her soon!”
            “It’s about time,” Brian said.  “I’ve been starting to wonder if this girl really exists!”
            “Well, she does, and what’s even better is that she’s got a friend…a friend that she tells me is interested in meeting you, maybe going out for a few dates, you know what I mean?”
            Brian started laughing.  “You’ve got to be kidding me!  I just broke up with Nicole; I don’t need to start dating some other girl.  Especially as a blind-date/favor type of deal.  Who is this ‘friend’ anyway?”
            “I don’t know, Adrienne didn’t tell me her name or any other info.  All she said was that she has a friend—supposedly very attractive and intelligent—and that she wanted me to help set the two of you up.  So of course I agreed.  Rok, you yourself told me yesterday that you missed having a girlfriend and that you wouldn’t mind casually seeing someone again!”
            Brian finished off his iced tea and set it down on the patio table.  The sun was beginning to set, streaking the clouds with a deep orange tint.  “I know.  I was even thinking it to myself just before you called.  It’s just that…well, you know Nicole cheated on me, and I’m not really looking forward to that happening again.”
            “Bri, it won’t happen again,” AJ promised earnestly.  “Nicole was, well, she was a ho.  I ain’t gonna lie.”  He was interrupted by Brian snorting in agreement.  “But this is just a casual thing, nothing serious.  A few dates, just to see how things go.  How about it?”
            Brian considered the offer in silence for a few minutes.  AJ’s argument was quite convincing.  Even though Brian had just been burned by a girl, he wasn’t about to give up on the female sex altogether.  He enjoyed dating way too much for that.
            “All right, Aje, you’ve talked me into it,” Brian finally said with a smile.
            After he had hung up with AJ, Brian sat up and leaned his elbows on his knees.  A smile spread across his youthful face as he thought about this new adventure.  I have to admit that I’m kinda excited.  AJ usually has pretty decent taste when it comes to girls, so if he trusts Adrienne’s judgment to pick out a date for me, I’m not gonna say no.  If this works out, this as-yet-unnamed girl could help me get over Nicole even faster than I expected…

            Corrina sat at the corner table by the window, the textbooks for her ‘Politics of European Democracies’ course spread out in front of her.  The little coffee shop was relatively quiet at the moment, allowing her to study and enjoy a café latte in peace.  Until, that is, a frenzied whirlwind of chaos and pandemonium swept into the room and destroyed whatever tranquility had previously existed.
            “Corrina, something terrible has happened!” Gwen exclaimed as she flew to Corrina’s table, her eyes bulging out of her head.  She was breathing hard, as if she’d run instead of driven her car to the coffee house.
            Corrina sighed and motioned to the seat across from her.  Gwen slid into the chair but continued to fidget, her nervous energy impossible to contain.
            “What’s the problem, Gwen?  Does this have to do with that AJ guy?”
            “No!  Well, not really, but it has to do with a different guy, a guy I’ve never even met in my entire life!  This is a disaster.  I don’t know why I ever told Adrienne yes.  I am such an idiot!”  With that, Gwen collapsed and began to pound her head against the tabletop.
            “Gwen, stop that!” Corrina hissed.  “You look like you’re having a nervous breakdown!”
            “I am having a nervous breakdown, isn’t it obvious?”
            Corrina reached across the table and caught Gwen’s head in her hands, preventing her from killing more brain cells than she already had by slamming her forehead against the table.  Gwen sat up with a sulky expression but didn’t argue.
            “Okay, are you going to act like a grown woman now, or aren’t you?” Corrina reprimanded sternly.  Gwen didn’t answer.  “Okay, well, grow up then, and stop pitching a fit.  Tell me what’s going on.”
            Gwen took a deep breath.  “Sorry about that…I don’t know what’s gotten into me.  I don’t think I’ve ever panicked like that before.  I was totally overreacting.  I’ll just go.”  She abruptly stood up and pushed her chair back as if to leave.
            “No way, you’re not getting out of it that easily,” Corrina laughed as she grabbed Gwen’s wrist and pulled her back toward the seat.  “Spill the beans.”
            “Fine, but it’s really not as big of a deal as I just made it out to be,” Gwen said, blushing.
            Corrina smiled wickedly.  “Okay then.  We’ll just pretend that that little episode didn’t happen.  As far as I know, you just walked into the room and sat down quietly.  Now what’s up?”
            Gwen took a deep breath.  “Adrienne is setting me up with…a guy,” she finally said dramatically.  She sat with a terrified expression, waiting for Corrina to express a similar show of fright.  She was disappointed when Corrina leaned back and began to giggle unmercifully.
            “Gwen…you crack…me up,” Corrina gasped between fits of laughter.
            Gwen crossed her arms and glared at her best friend.  “I really don’t see the humor in this.”
            After another thirty seconds Corrina finally finished expressing her amusement, then wiped her eyes and leaned forward again.  “Honey, you make such a big deal out of everything!  It’s a guy, not the creature from the black lagoon.  Who is it?”
            “I’m not sure.  One of AJ’s friends, Adrienne didn’t tell me who.  It’s just that I hate blind dates!  I hate being set up with people!  It always turns out horrifically wrong…like the humiliating things that happen on sitcoms, only worse!”
            Corrina stared at Gwen calmly and evenly.  “Gwen, darling, you need to chill out.  Adrienne isn’t asking you to deliver a speech to the United Nations or undergo experimental brain surgery.  It’s just a date.”
            “I know,” Gwen sighed, beginning to calm down noticeably.
            “I’m sure the boy will be charming and handsome and witty.  Everything you could ever want in a man.”  Corrina smiled sweetly.  “I know you don’t get out much, babe, but isn’t this a bit much?”
            Gwen and Corrina looked at each other for a split second, then began giggling once again, only this time Gwen was laughing even harder than her friend.  “All right, all right!  I admit it, I’m a total loser!”
            “Not totally,” Corrina chuckled.  “Just mostly.”
            Gwen smiled serenely, completely reassured that everything would be just fine.  “Well, all right then.  I only wish I had a little more experience.”
            “Gwen, dumbass, this is a chance for you to get some experience.”
            “Oh.  Right.”
            Corrina took another swallow of her now-tepid latte.  As she began to close up her books and shove them into her bag, she said dismissively, “Don’t worry, chica.  Even if things don’t work out with this guy…what’s the worst that could happen?”

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