“Yo! Kayles! Brooke! Come over here and meet the guys!” Brooke and Kayleigh climbed out of Kayleigh’s pool and wrapped their towels around themselves before they walked over to Nick’s house. They saw Nick and four other guys in the driveway playing basketball. There was one tall one with dark hair and green eyes. The second one was pretty short with curly dark hair. Then there was the one with really short brown hair and a few tattoos. Finally, there was the one next to Nick. He was pretty cute. Shorter, with dirty blond hair and blue eyes.

The guys didn’t seem to notice them so Kayleigh cleared her throat. Nick made his shot and then turned around and looked at her. “Hey Kayles! I wanted you to meet the guys!” They all stopped playing and gathered around the guys. Nick did the introductions. “Kayleigh and Brooke, this is Kevin, Brian, Aj, and Howie. Guys, this is my best friend Kayleigh and her good friend Brooke.” Everyone smiled and shook hands.

“So, Kayleigh, how old are you?” AJ asked.

“I’m fourteen,” she answered. “Just finished with the eighth grade. How about you?”

“Oh, I’m fifteen. In high school.”

“Not for much longer, from what I hear,” Brooke chimed in. “Nick said you guys are going over to Europe in a few weeks.”

Kayleigh’s head shot up and she met Nick’s eyes. “What?”

Nick avoided her glance. “Uh, yeah. I was going to tell you about that.”

She glared at him. “When? When you boarded the plane? How long are you going to be gone?”

Nick squirmed, uncomfortably. “I don’t know. Lou told us that we may be gone for a few months.”

Kayleigh felt tears sting her eyes and needed to get out there before she embarrassed herself by losing it in front of these guys. She quickly turned around and ran into her house. Nick looked at Brooke, helplessly.

Brooke shrugged. “Don’t look at me like that. I told you to tell her as soon as you found out.” She turned to the rest of the guys. “It was nice meeting you guys but I need to go make sure she’s alright.”

The guys all smiled and waved as Brooke walked back over to the Madison’s house. Brian glanced at Nick. “So, Nick. What exactly is your relationship with that girl?”

“Who? Kayleigh?” Nick questioned. Brian nodded. Nick shrugged. “She’s my best friend. Has been ever since she moved here almost two years ago.” Brian nodded, though not totally satisfied with Nick’s answer. He felt that it was a little more than that but Nick and Kayleigh were both so young. They wouldn’t realize it yet.

Later in the afternoon, the guys all said their goodbyes to the Carter family and drove back down to Orlando. Nick had noticed that Brooke had gone home not too long ago and so he decided that now would be the perfect time to go talk to Kayleigh. He quickly ran over to her house and knocked on the door. No one answered so he just walked right in.

“Kayles?” He called to the seemingly empty house. He heard the faint sound of music coming from her room and followed the noise up the stairs. Opening her bedroom door, he noticed her curled up on her bed, asleep, still wrapped in the towel. He sat down next to her and brushed her hair out of her eyes. She stirred at his touch. “Hey,” she said sleepily. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see how you were,” he answered. “You seemed pretty mad earlier.”

She shrugged. “I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t embarrass you in front of your new friends.”

Nick quickly shook his head. “No you didn’t. I just feel bad. I should’ve told you earlier. I just didn’t know how. Kayles, you’ve been my best friend for almost two years now. I don’t know what I’d do without you. I’ve never had a friend like you.”

Kayleigh blushed, slightly. “Nick…”

He cut her off. “No. I’m serious.”

“Thanks. You too.” They were both quiet for a few minutes.

“I’m scared, Kayles,” Nick finally said, breaking the silence.

“Scared about what?” She asked, confused.

“Going over there,” Nick answered. “To Europe, I mean. What if it doesn’t work out? What if no one likes us? I don’t know how I’m going to do this without you there.”

Kayleigh sat up and pulled Nick into a hug. “Nick, I’ve heard you sing. If the rest of these guys are half as good as you, you guys are going to go far. I bet you in no time that you’ll be a huge success. You don’t need me over there with you. You’ve gotten this far all by yourself. I’ll be here, cheering you on. I’ll just be a normal face you see when you get home.”

Nick pulled back. “You know, I’ll write or call you every day.”

“It’s not like your leaving tomorrow.”

“I know. I just wanted to tell you that.”

“Well, you better. Or else we're over, Carter!”

Nick laughed. “Wanna come over for a little bit? It’s gotta be boring in this house all by yourself. Why don’t we go watch a movie or something?”

“Alright,” Kayleigh agreed. “I just need to change first. I’ll meet you downstairs.” Nick nodded and walked out of the room while Kayleigh walked into her bathroom.

“You ready?” Nick asked as Kayleigh walked down the stairs a few minutes later in shorts and a t-shirt.

Kayleigh nodded. “Let me just write a note for my mom.” She ran into the kitchen, scribbled something on a piece of paper, and then left with Nick.

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