“Holy shit!” Ang exclaimed as she, Katelin, Brooke, Becca, and Alyssa boarded their bus. “Would you look at this place!” She grabbed Katelin’s house and dragged her towards the back. “This is so much cooler than the one in Europe.”
The other three laughed at them as Nick and Brian stepped on board. “You guys like?” Nick questioned, wrapping his arms around Becca’s waist from behind.
“More like love.” She smiled up at him. “This place is awesome.”
“Where’s Ang?” Brian asked.
No sooner had the words left his mouth when Ang bounded into the front of the bus and jumped on his back. “Right here, honey.”
“Ang has already staked her claim on a bunk,” Katelin told them all laughing, as joined them back up front. She caught sight of Nick’s hands wrapped around Becca and felt a tug at her heart. Quickly she tore her eyes away and tried to push the feelings away, which did not go unnoticed by Nick. He smiled inwardly to himself, satisfied that the tables were slowly beginning to turn.
“Well, it’s not like you’ll be spending that much time here anyway,” Nick pointed out. “I’m sure you’ll always be on our bus anyway. You too, Bec.” Hearing that, Katelin abruptly turned around and walked back to the entertainment room.
“Nice one, Nick,” Ang said, sarcastically. She went to follow Kate but Brooke stopped her. “I’ll go, Ang. I’m sure it was all of the love in this room making her sick.”
Ang glared at Nick. “What?!” He yelled, defensively.
“You think you two could keep your paws off of each other while she’s in the room?” she asked, glaring at Nick and Becca. It was no secret that Ang didn’t like Becca. She felt as if Becca thrived on throwing her relationship with Nick into Katelin’s face every time she got a chance.
“She’s going to have to get used to it,” Becca replied, smugly. She wrapped her arms around Nick. “Because this is one guy that I’m not going to let slip away.” Nick smirked at Ang before he and Becca turned around and walked off of the bus.
Ang made a face at her retreating back. “God, I can’t stand that girl!”
“What’d she ever to do you?” Brian laughed.
“She just pisses me off,” Ang told him.
"I think she's good for Nick," Brian commented.
"You would," Ang snorted. “Anyway, which bus do you want to stay on?”
“Well, as much as I’d love to stay and hang out with the girl who broke my cousin’s heart and the one who stomped on my best friend’s heart, I think I’ll pass.”
Ang rolled her eyes at him and grabbed her back pack before following Brian off of the bus. “I’m going with the boys, girls!” She called to Brooke and Katelin.
“Okay!” They both chorused from the back of the bus.
Brooke turned to Katelin and sighed. “Looks like it’s just the two of us,” she pointed out walking back up to the front.
“Yup, pathetic and boyfriendless,” Katelin joked.
Brooke laughed just as the driver boarded the bus. “Hi girls!” he said cheerfully. “I’m Mark, your driver. Where’s everyone else? I thought there were five of you.”
“There are, but the rest of them are shacking up with their boyfriends,” Brooke informed him, smiling.
He laughed. “Okay, well are you guys ready?” They nodded and he sat down and started the bus, preparing to make the drive from Orlando to Raleigh, North Carolina.
“So what was all that about before?” Brooke asked as she and Katelin sat down on the couch and began to watch the movie.
“What was what all about?” Katelin questioned.
“Before,” Brooke answered. “With Nick. I don’t know but it almost looked as if you were jealous.”
“I don’t know,” Katelin said, shrugging, not once taking her eyes off of the screen.
“Well were you?” Brooke asked, impatiently. She knew Katelin was hiding something and the way she was avoiding Brooke’s questions was driving her crazy.
Katelin was silent. She didn’t know how to answer Brooke without completely giving herself away. Of course she was jealous. No matter how hard she tried to deny it, she still had feelings for Nick. It wasn’t something that just went away. Seeing him all over Becca broke her heart.
“Of course I’m jealous, Brooke,” she finally answered, quietly. When she returned home from Europe, she cried for days. She didn’t realize that she had any tears left but they welled up in her eyes anyway. She tried to blink them back but she was unsuccessful. “I hate seeing them together all of the time, with their hands all over each other. That should be me. Not Becca.”
“But I thought you hated him?” Brooke asked.
Katelin wiped her eyes. “I hate what he did to me, Brooke. It hurt so much to find all of that out. It still does. But while I hate what he did to me, I don’t hate him. I could never hate him.”
Brooke watched as Katelin buried her face in her hands and cried. She slid over towards her and wrapped her arms around her, rocking her back and forth gently. “What do I do?” Katelin asked, finally, once her sobs were under control. “How do I make these feelings go away? I don’t want to hurt like this anymore.” Brooke’s own heart broke at the look on the younger girl’s face. She didn’t know what to tell her because she was in the same situation as Katelin. She was so in love with Kevin but after the way he treated her when she spilled her guts to him she couldn’t be with him. He treated her exactly the way she never wanted to be treated again. Like a whore