Twenty-three-year-old Chris Kirkpatrick slowly opened the door to his best friend, Tom's house. He peeked inside and saw Tom's little sister, Lori, on the couch. Lori had her head in her hands and was crying.
Chris quietly walked over to her as he felt a tear roll down his own cheek. 'Why did this have to happen?' he asked himself and he sat down next to her.
She felt him sit and looked up. When she saw that it was Chris, she threw her arms around him.
"I'll take care of you, I promise," he whispered to her. What else could he do? Lori was only seventeen-years-old and her parents and brother had been killed in a car accident. She had no one left. No one but Chris. He HAD to be there for her.
Chris moved in with Lori and the two of them lived there by themselves. A year flew by and the two of them became really close. They were like brother and sister but they were also best friends.
One night that fall, Chris knocked on Lori's bedroom door.
"Come in," she called to him.
Chris opened the door and sat down next to Lori on her bed. He took the remote and turned off the TV.
"What's up?" Lori asked.
"Well, I'm thinking about starting a singing group and I just wanted to know how you would feel about it."
"Chris! That's a great idea! You have the most terrific voice," Lori smiled.
Chris smiled back at her. "I knew that you would like it! Anyway, a few of the guys are coming over tonight. Their names are Justin, JC and Joey and-"
"Wait... tonight?"
"Yeah, we just need one more guy and we're set!" he grinned.
That's when the doorbell rang. Chris stood up. "Looks like they're here," he said, taking Lori's hand and pulling her up.
"I wish you would have told me sooner..." Lori told him as he led the way down the stairs.
"I'm sorry," Chris said, swinging open the door to reveal three guys. Well, the first one was more of a boy. He looked younger than Lori yet he was taller than her. He grinned and his blue eyes sparkled. The two behind him were older. They looked about Lori's age. Both of them had dark brown hair and big smiles on their faces. The one on the left had brown eyes and was slightly taller than the one on the right who had crystal blue eyes.
Chris introduced everyone and soon they were all sitting in the living room talking.
"Here," Chris said, handing Lori a sweater. "You look cold, put this on." He had noticed Joey staring at Lori's chest and he didn't like it at all.
"I'm not cold," Lori replied, setting the sweater on Chris' lap.
Chris picked it up and held it out to her again. "It's going to GET cold..."
"Chris, I'm fine," she told him, pushing the sweater away.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure! What's wrong with you?" Lori frowned. Chris was sure acting funny.
"All we need is one more person," JC said, interrupting Lori and Chris' little conversation. "Then we can work on getting a record contract."
All of the guys grinned. This was really happening!
"God, I'm excited!" Justin spat out. "I'm absolutely sure that this will work out. I've all ready talked to my vocal coach and he said that he knows someone who might be perfect for us!"
Their smiles got bigger and Lori noticed Chris squirming in his seat. He really was excited. "Do you guys want something to drink?" she asked them.
They all nodded and Chris got up to help Lori in the kitchen. "Isn't this great?" he asked her.
"Yeah. You guys are really serious. But you should have told me sooner, Chris." Lori filled three glasses with Dr. Pepper and then watched while Chris poured Sprite into two.
"I didn't want to say anything until I was sure," he explained as he balanced three glasses and followed Lori back to the living room.
After giving everyone their drinks, Lori sat down next to Joey on the couch.
Chris saw Joey look at her and he squeezed in between them. Lori gave Chris a funny look but he just smiled at her.
"You're acting funny today..." Lori said loud enough so that only Chris could hear.
"What do you mean? How am I acting funny?" "You just are..." she replied. "Is there a reason why I can't sit next to Joey?"
"What are you talking about?" Chris asked, turning his eyes away from her.
"Oh, come on, Chris! You practically SAT on me!"
"Shhh!" Chris hushed. He turned to her and looked right into her blue eyes. "We'll talk later," he whispered.
"Fine," she said as he patted her hand and smiled at her.
"Well, Chris," JC started. "We should probably get going."
"Yeah, I'll call you tomorrow when I hear from James Bass," Justin said as he and Joey stood up.
When the guys had left, Chris looked over at Lori and she looked back at him. "Now tell me, Chris... Why couldn't I sit next to Joey? He's a nice guy."
"He was looking at you funny," Chris answered as he plopped back down on the couch.
"He was LOOKING at me funny? So? What if likes me?"
"I didn't like him looking at you like that." "Yeah, you didn't like the way Mike looked at me either. Or Tony, or Nick, or-"
"Okay, okay, I get the idea. But those guys were jerks."
"Joey's not a jerk."
Chris sighed. He was getting tired of this conversation. "Look, it's late. I'm gonna go to bed." He got up and walked towards the stairs. "You should too."
By the end of the week, everyone had met James Bass, or Lance, as he liked to be called. Justin's mom had made up a name for the group. Everyone loved it. They thought 'N Sync was perfect.
Lori had heard the five of them sing together and they were really good. She knew that they would have no trouble getting a record contract. And she was right.
Soon Joey and JC moved in with Chris and Lori. Justin and Lance still lived with their parents because they weren't eighteen yet.
One night Chris came home from grocery shopping to find Lori in Joey's arms on the couch. He set down the two bags he was carrying and walked over to them. He kicked Joey's foot and Joey opened his eyes.
"Oh, hey, Chris..."
"What do you think you're doing?" Chris asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Well, I WAS sleeping..."
"You know what I mean."
"We watched a movie and then we fell asleep," Joey replied. By now he knew that Chris was really protective of Lori, so he added, "Nothing happened."
That last comment made Chris suspicious. "Get up," he demanded.
"What?"
"I said, get up!" He reached down and lifted Lori off of Joey. "Don't EVER touch her again," he said quietly, being careful not to wake Lori up.
"Geez... okay," Joey said, grabbing the remote and changing the channel.
Chris was carrying Lori up the stairs when she sleepily opened her eyes. "Chris," she said, seeing his face. "What's going on?"
"You fell asleep on the couch," he told her.
"Where's Joey?"
"Um... he's um... in the kitchen or something," Chris lied.
"Oh," Lori said, lying her head back on his shoulder and closing her eyes.
By the time they had reached her room she was fast asleep. Chris had a little trouble opening the door, but he got in and put Lori on her bed. He covered her up and kissed her forehead. He HAD to keep her away from Joey. Joey wasn't right for her. He knew that much.
The next morning, Lori woke up and looked around. She didn't remember falling asleep in her room. Someone must have carried her up. It was either Chris or Joey because JC had fallen asleep before she had. She wandered down to the kitchen, still in her pajamas and spotted Chris eating cereal at the table. He looked up at her and smiled. "Hey, Chris."
"Morning, Lori," he said before taking a bite of cereal.
"Did you carry me up to my room last night?" Lori asked as she poured herself a bowl.
"Yeah, Don't you remember?"
"No. The last thing I remember is watching the movie." Lori sat down across from Chris and took a bite of her cereal.
Chris looked up from his bowl. "Joey didn't make a move on you... did he?"
"Chris, all he did was put his arm around me. I was cold," Lori replied.
"We have blankets," Chris pointed out.
"Why do you get like this every time I get interested in someone?" she asked.
"Wait, are you telling me that you're interested in JOEY?"
"I didn't say that. I said, every time I get interested in someone you get all weird."
"But you MEANT Joey," Chris said, setting down his spoon.
"Chris, you're not listening to me. You're putting words in my mouth!" Lori decided she didn't want to talk about it anymore and continued to eat.
"You like him, don't you?" Chris asked as JC walked into the kitchen rubbing his eyes.
"Who does Lori like?" he mumbled through his yawn.
"Nobody," Chris answered, not taking his eyes off of Lori.
JC, who was still half asleep, plopped down in the chair next to Lori and fixed himself a bowl of cereal.
"Did you sleep good?" Lori asked him.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah... I slept pretty good," JC answered, taking a sip of his grape juice. "You?"
"I slept good."
Chris narrowed his eyes. Lori had better not have been dreaming about Joey. And if Joey was dreaming about her... so God help him because Chris would have beaten the-"
"What's wrong with you?" JC asked, seeing the angry look on Chris' face.
"Nothing," Chris muttered, going back to his cereal. "Nothing at all."
That night Lori walked down the stairs and sat in front of the TV. She looked out the window only to see Chris kissing his girlfriend, Katie, on the porch. She glared at them through the window. How come HE got to date when a guy couldn't even put his arm around HER. It wasn't fair. Lori was eighteen. She could date if she wanted to. She stood up and walked upstairs to Joey's room.
"Joey? Can I come in?" she called.
The door swung open and a grinning Joey appeared. "Hey... How's it going?" he stepped aside so she could walk in.
Instead, Lori threw her arms around Joey's neck and kissed him.
"Whoa! What was that for?" he asked, smiling.
Lori didn't answer him. She just smiled back and leaned up to kiss him again.
Joey started to kiss her back but then he remembered what Chris had told him and he pulled away.
"What's wrong?" Lori asked him.
"We can't do this..."
"Why not?"
Joey debated on what to tell her. He could tell her that he wasn't interested in her, but then she would tell Chris and Chris would get after him for breaking her heart. Or he could tell her the truth. That Chris told him never to touch her again. But then Chris would be mad that he told her. Or he could just keep kissing Lori, but then Chris would probably kick him out of the house. He was gonna have Chris after him no matter what he did. 'Well,' Joey thought. 'I guess you can never go wrong with the truth...' Joey gulped. "Chris told me not to touch you," he spat out.
Lori stared at him. "Chris told you WHAT?"
"He told me not to-"
"I heard you... I just can't believe Chris would say that. I'm my own person and so are you. He can't tell us what to do, you know." Lori paused and Joey stood there in silence. "I say we teach him a lesson..."
"Um... Lori, I don't think that's such a great idea..." Joey said slowly. "You should have seen him last night. I thought he was gonna bite my head off! I do NOT want that man after me."
"Chris could never hurt you. You're bigger than him."
"Not NORMALLY he couldn't... but when it comes to YOU... he'd do anything," Joey pointed out. "I was really afraid of him last night."
"I've never seen Chris hit anyone before..." Lori told him. "Well, except when he found Mike Brady kissing me last fall... he threw him against the wall. He didn't actually HIT Mike though."
Joey gulped. "Oh, God..."
"Mike was a lot smaller than you, Joey. Chris could NEVER throw you against the wall. Come on, Joey... he can't tell us what to do." Lori kissed him again and this time he didn't pull away.
Meanwhile, Chris kissed Katie good-bye and walked back into the house. He wondered where everyone was. He walked upstairs and opened Joey's door. His eyes widened at what he saw. He almost went right over to them and ripped Joey away from Lori. Instead he shut the door. He didn't want Lori to hear what he was gonna say to Joey.
Suddenly he got a weird feeling in his stomach. He ignored it and knocked on the door.
Joey opened the door. Chris decided that he looked a little too happy. "We need to talk," he said through clenched teeth.
Joey's smile disappeared. How did Chris find out so fast?
Lori appeared behind Joey. She crossed her arms and frowned at Chris.
"Lori, go back to your room. I need to talk with Joey," Chris said with no emotion at all.
"No, Chris. Stop telling me what to do!" Lori shouted at him. Chris grabbed Lori's arm and pulled her into the hallway. He slammed the door in Joey's face and turned to Lori. His heart broke when he saw the tears in her eyes.
Lori thought she saw something different in Chris' eyes, but she was too angry to think about it. "Why are you doing this?" she cried.
Chris tried to stay calm but it wasn't working. "I'm just trying to protect you," he shouted.
Lori pulled her arm away from Chris' grasp. "From what, Chris? From Joey?"
"Joey's not right for you!"
"Who IS right for me?"
Chris was silent.
"That's what I thought." Lori spun around and started to walk back to her room but he grabbed her by the waist.
"Please don't be mad at me," he whispered softly in her ear.
"How can I not be mad at you, Chris?" Lori said, letting her tears fall onto her cheeks. "You won't let me do anything!"
"I just don't want you to get hurt," Chris explained, not letting go of her waist.
"I'm eighteen, I can take care of myself. You're acting like my dad." She tried to pull away from him but he held on tight.
"Somebody needs to look after you. If I don't, then who will?"
"I know you care about me, but you're going way overboard on this one," she told him. "I didn't even want to be with Joey. I mean, I like him and all, but the only reason I kissed him was because I knew you didn't want me to." Chris smiled. "I KNEW you didn't like him."
"Ha, ha... but really, Chris, you need to lay off a little."
"Okay, okay! Just promise me that you won't ever let a guy talk you into anything that you don't want to do," Chris said, loosening his hold on Lori. He was pretty sure she wasn't going to run away anymore.
"I promise, but you have to promise not be beat up every guy I get close to." She took his arms and wrapped them further around herself while she waited for him to respond.
Chris chuckled. "Okay, Lori. I'll just beat up some of them!"
"I'm serious, Chris!" Lori frowned.
"Okay, I promise."
"Now, don't hurt Joey. I'M the one how kissed HIM. Remember that."
Chris cringed at the thought of Joey's lips on Lori's and his hands on her body. "Please don't kiss him again," he pleaded.
Lori sighed. "I won't."
Chapter 2
A Chance
Group {Fiction}
My Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
Email me