My palms were sweaty. For the first time in god knows how long, my palms were sweating over a girl. They’d never done that with Mandah. I didn’t really have anything to worry about then since she’d always been hanging all over me.
Blowing on my hands to cool them down, I rang the doorbell to Jamie’s house. Almost immediately, the door swung open and a woman, in her early-to-mid forties stepped out onto the closed in porch.
“Can I help you?” she asked, eyeing me, confused.
“Umm, hi, I’m Nick,” I said, nervously. “I’m here to pick up Jamie.” The woman smiled immediately.
“Hi, I’m her ms. Hill, Jamie’s mother. She’s upstairs getting ready,” she said, opening the screen door. “Come on in. I’ll go tell her you’re here.”
“Thanks.” Walking onto the porch, she led me into the house and left me in the family-room while she went to get her daughter. Unsure of what to do, I sat down on the couch and folded my hands in my lap. A few moments later, there was a pounding down the steps and two teenage boys ran into the room.
“You must be Nick,” one of them stated, staring at me. I nodded and smiled. “I’m Tim, my sister’s brother.”
“Well, duh you’re your sister’s brother,” the one with the glasses mocked, rolling his eyes. He smiled slightly at me. “I’m Charlie, her other brother.”
“But I’m better!” Tim whispered jokingly, collapsing into a fit of laughter as Charlie chased him out of the house. Laughing, I shook my head.
Damn, they remind me too much of Aaron! I thought, shaking my head.
“You ready?” I looked up to see Jamie standing in the doorway. Smiling, I nodded.
“You look great,” I said. Though she wasn’t dressed up, she really did look good. She had on a white and green striped shirt and shiny black jeans. Her long blonde hair cascaded down her back, accentuating her hazel eyes.
I knew I wouldn’t be able to get through the evening without kissing her . . . at least once.
Shit, I was nervous! Alex would be here any minute and I knew she wouldn’t be happy when she saw me. I just hoped someone could catch her before she ran out the doors.
“Relax.” I bit my lip and looked over at my fiancé. He was smiling down at the table, where my hands were fidgeting with my napkin. “JC said it was alright that you came and, like you asked, he didn’t tell her.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s gonna be happy to see me,” I sighed, putting my head on his shoulder.
Just then, I felt a streak of cold course through my body. She was here.
“What’s she doing here?” I hissed in JC’s ear. I had stopped cold when I saw Kristin sitting next to Kevin at the table. Right now, a fight was not something I needed. Media or not, if she started anything, I wasn’t in the mood to take it lightly.
“She has something to say to you,” he explained, rubbing my back slightly. “Don’t worry, it’s okay.” I glared at him.
“You knew about this?” I growled.
“Alex, just calm down,” Josh said, taking my hand. “It’ll be okay.”
“Yeah,” Shayna agreed. “At least Leighanne’s not here.” I turned back to JC.
“And she’s not coming,” he stated, kissing the top of my head. “C’mon, it’ll be fine.” Sighing, I let my brother and my fiancé lead me over to the table were Brian, Kevin, and Kristin were sitting. Before I could even say hello, Kristin was out of her seat and standing in front of me.
“Alex, can I talk to you for a minute?” I looked over at JC, who nodded and smiled. He kissed my cheek and turned to greet Brian and Kevin while Kristin led me to the ladies room. Once inside, she made sure all the stalls were empty. Satisfied that we were alone, she turned towards me.
She was nervous, I could tell. I could also tell she was fighting to find the right words.
“Alex, I’m really sorry for how I acted before,” she finally said, sitting down on the marble counter. I sat down across from and just stared, expecting her to go on, which she did. “I just thought you were some girl that was trying to steal Kevin away from me. People’ve tried it before and I guess I just jumped to conclusions. If I had known you were Kevin’s sister, I wouldn’t have acted the way I did.” It took me a minute to absorb what she was saying. Once I did, I nodded and smiled weakly at her.
“And Leighanne?” I asked.
“She’s just a bitch.” Kristin’s answer was blunt and obviously to the point. “When I got mad at you, she just latched onto my back because she thought you were doing the same to Brian. Someone should, though. He doesn’t need her. She doesn’t deserve him.” I snickered.
“I think I already have that covered,” I said.
“Huh?” she said. My head directed downwards, I looked up at her through the hair falling over my face and smirked. She smirked back, amused. “Okay, explain everything. I need details, girl!”
“Can’t you give us details?” Mel persisted. That woman would not give up!! For the past hour, she and Star had been badgering me about details about Brian. I kept on telling that I didn’t have any feelings for him, but she just wouldn’t shut up!
“There’re no details because there’s nothing to tell!” I sighed, dropping my head in my hands.
“You’re blushing!” Star exclaimed, pointing at my face and laughing. “That means you like him!”
“No, that means that I want you to leave me alone!” I growled. “Why can’t you two just get it into your head that I don’t have feelings for him.”
“Well, he has feelings for you,” Mel said. My head shot up and I stared at her.
“Seriously? You think so?” I asked. The two of them smirked and looked at each other knowingly. They’d tricked me. I put my head back in my hands. “Oh, just shut up.”
“No can do, amigo,” Mel said, pulling a chair up next to me at the kitchen table in her parent’s kitchen and straddling it. “We finally got something out of you and you think we’re gonna give up?”
I sighed. I knew when I was defeated and that time would be now. I leaned back in my chair and looked at them.
“Fine,” I said. “What do you want to know?”
“Let’s see, “Star said. “Where should we start Mel?”
“Oh, well, I’m thinking-” She was cut off by a loud roar from the den and we all turned our heads towards the doorway.
“Touchdown?” Star yelled to the guys.
“HALFTIME!!” they cheered, the four of them dashing into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, Joey tossed beers to Lance, who handed them to Justin and Chris.
“You know, we were in the middle of something,” Mel said, indignantly.
“Go ‘head,” Justin said, kissing her cheek and grabbing a chair. He assumed the same position she had. “Don’t let us interrupt you.”
“Too late,” the three of us said in unison. The four guys looked at each other in confusion, then just shrugged and took seats around the table. There was a long silence between all of them when Justin decided to speak up.
“So, Claire,” he said, turning to her and smirking. “What’s up with you and Brian?”
“Aah!” Claire shrieked, frustrated, crossing her arms on the table and slamming her head into them. Justin stared at her wide-eyed, then looked at Mel, who glared at him.
“What?” he asked, innocently. “It was a joke.”