Neely smiled inwardly to herself as she walked into the parking lot. She looked around for Brianna's car, but it was nowhere in sight. Sighing, Neely ran her fingers through her hair. Finally, she decided she didn't have enough money to take a bus or taxi, she certainly didn't want to hitch-hike in the city of New York, so she went back inside the building, her eyes resting on Nick. She walked over to him, and he smiled at her.
"Hey," he said cheerily, ear-to-ear with a smile.
"Hey," Neely returned, nodding slightly. "Um.. Nick," she paused when he looked at her. "Well, Bree left without me, and I don't have a ride home.. if it wouldn't be too much to ask, would you please drive me home? I mean, if it's a problem I can understand, I just don't have any money to take a bus or a cab and -"
"Yeah, sure I'll drive you home."
"Really? Oh, thanks so much!" Neely burst, bubbling with happiness. Maybe a little too much.
Nick nodded at her, taking a cd from one of the girls in line to sign it.
"Hey, um, I'm gonna go talk to Kevin for a few minutes, okay?" Neely asked when she saw that he was clearly busy, and Kevin clearly wasn't occupied in conversation with anyone.
"Yeah, sure," Nick said, endulged in signing things for the fans.
Neely made her way through the crowd, to where Kevin was standing behind the table, staring at the paper infront of him.
"Hey," Neely said, startling him.
He looked at her, then relaxed. "Oh, hey."
"What're ya lookin' at?" Neely asked, looking at the paper infront of him. She laughed. "Carry some internet jokes around with ya, huh?"
"Yeah, that's me. Always in need of a laugh. You know, it's healthy to laugh, so you really should laugh on a daily basis."
"Oh really? I never knew that. I'll have to start doing that everday then."
"Yeah.." Kevin shrugged, looking at all the fans. He glanced over at Nick. He envied him; all the girls obviously were falling head over heals for him.
Neely looked at Kevin staring at Nick. "So what're you gonna do after this signing?" she said, changing the subject.
"I dunno," Kevin said, his eyes still on Nick.
"What's bothering ya?" Neely asked, in need of some form of conversation from him.
"Oh, nothing. I just have a lot on my mind lately."
"Like what?" Neely asked, "Ah, sorry if I'm prying, I don't mean to be nosy. It's just a habit."
"No, it's okay. I'm just having some problems with my girlfriend," Kevin said, not revealing all that was on his mind. Brian walked over and slapped his shoulder playfully.
"Hey Kev!" he said happily, looking a bit tired.
"Hey," Kevin said nonchalantly, looking deep in thought.
Brian looked at Neely. "Hi," he said.
"Hello," Neely replied, smiling at him.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Neely.. do you know when this signing's over?"
"Nice to meet ya.. yeah, it's over in half an hour."
"Looks like I've got time on my hands," Neely mumbled, Brian clearly hearing her.
"Pardon?" he asked, eyebrows raised.
"Oh, Nick's taking me home because my.. friend, left me here."
"Oh, okay. What'd she do that for?"
"I was busy talking to Nick and didn't want to leave.." Neely trailed off, glancing over at him. She caught his eye and waved. He smiled and went back to chatting with fans. She sighed.
"Oooh.. a crush, perhaps?" Brian teased.
Neely grinned at him. "Course not, what made you think that? You're absurd, Brian. Who would like Nick?"
"Everybody likes Nick," Kevin spat bitterly, under his breath.
Neely looked at Kevin. "What'd you say? Sorry, didn't hear ya."
"It was nothing," Kevin said shrugging. He sighed. "Look, guys, I'm gonna go see what AJ's up to. See ya later, Neely." Kevin walked away from the two, then began making conversation with AJ.
"What's wrong with him?" Neely asked, sounding concerned.
"Problems with his girlfriend," Brian said simply, his eyes on Kevin too.
"Yeah, but it's like something else is bothering him."
"You might not know that though, Neely. You've only known him twenty minutes."
"But all of the interviews I've read, he never sounds like that," Neely pointed out. Either that or he's a really good actor, she thought.
"I dunno." Brian shrugged, "so who is this friend of yours?"
"Brianna. She's really great though, she's just PMSing today.. for the next.. week," Neely said, moaning at the last part.
Brian laughed, "I see."
"Sucks to be a girl. Want to trade places?"
"No, not today," Brian said, smiling.
Neely laughed, "How about tomorrow?"
"No, not tomorrow either. I'm busy then."
"Then when?"
"Never."
"Well you suck," Neely giggled.
Brian looked at her and shrugged. "I can say the same for you, too.." he trailed off, glanced at AJ, who was tentively watching them, then grinned at Neely. "Just playin', you're cool so far."
A few minutes later, AJ walked over to them and eyed Neely, then Brian. "Who's the chick?" he asked, eyebrows raised above his sunglasses.
"God AJ, could you get any ruder?" Brian laughed, "This is Nick's," he coughed, "friend. Neely."
"Brian!" Neely hissed, whacking him in the arm with her hand. She looked at AJ. "My friend Brianna left me here and Nick's gonna give me a ride home. That's all," she finished, glaring at Brian.
"Brianna?" AJ questioned, looking deep in thought. "I swear, I've heard that name somewhere before..." He shrugged, still in his thoughts. "Ah hah! She's got blue eyes, curly reddish-brown hair, and she's tall, right?"
"Yep, that's her," Neely nodded.
AJ laughed. "I met her. She's cool. I like her."
"Oooh..." Brian said knowingly, laughing.
AJ sighed and swung his head towards Brian and frowned. Brian started laughing harder. Neely raised her eyebrows at the two, clearly showing her blondness at this point in time.
"Nothing," Brian and AJ said in unison, exchanging glances with each other.
"Ooookay guys." Neely sighed and looked at the clock, "It's ti-"
"Okay! Thanks for coming guys, but we gotta wrap it up now. Thanks for all of your support, cuz we wouldn't have made it this far without you!" Nick hollered, grinning like an ass and waving like one, too.
"WE LOVE YOU AJ!", "CALL ME, BRIAN!", "YOU'RE SO HOT, NICK!", "HOWIE, WE LOVE YOU!", "YOU'RE AWESOME, KEV!" and so on could be heard from the girls before they left. Fifteen minutes later, there we three lingering girls, the guys, and Neely left in the room.
"Okay Neely, ya ready to hit the road?" Nick asked, shuffling over to the blob consisting of Neely, AJ, Brian, and Howie. Kevin was sitting in the corner, staring out the window.
"Yeah, just a second," Neely said as she looked at Brian, AJ, and Howie. "Nice meeting ya, guys. It was a ball. Maybe I'll see you all again sometime.. See ya!" she chirped before skipping over to Nick. He smiled at her and they continued on their way out.
Howie's eyes trailed after the two. When they were gone, he shook his head. "I don't like her," he said darkly. "Not at all."
Chapter 5
