“Yeah?”
“Can I come in?”
“Sure, Brian,” he opened the door and saw her packing.
“Wha-” he started.
“They’re releasing me a day early!”
“Wow! That’s great!!”
“I know.”
“Do you need a ride home? Cuz I’ll take you if ya want,” he offered.
“Well, I was gonna call a cab, but a ride would be great, thanks.”
“No problem.”
“Lets go.”
“Ok,” he said helping her with her bags. They walked to Brian’s car and he placed her bags in the back seat. They got into the car and took off.
There was no other discussion between them besides Mary directing Brian to her house. When they pulled into her driveway, Mary started to get out, but Brian spoke, “Mary,” she turned to face him, “Do you wanna come hang out with us at our place? Lindsey should be there. AJ took her condo shopping this morning.”
Mary laughed at the thought of AJ, of all people, helping me pick out a place to live. “Sure, let me put my stuff in my house. You can come in if you want.”
They got out of the car and Brian grabbed her stuff from the back while Mary unlocked her front door. Brian was surprised at how clan her house was. His surprise must have shown on his face because Mary noticed.
“What?” she asked. “You’re house is so...so....so clean.”
“Well, I’m not here much to mess it up I’m usually at ice skating practice.”
“You skate?”
“Yeah, see these,” she said pointing to various scrapes and bruises all over her legs and heels. “They’re all from falling.”
“Oh..they look painful.”
“Nope, not too bad. You get used to it after a while. Ready to go?”
“Yep,” they walked out of Mary’s house and drove to the guys’ condo.
~*~AT THE CONDO (at the same time)~*~
“Nick, lets go out by the beach,” I suggested.
“Ok.” We walked out the back door and onto the warm sand. The noon sun was directly above us. The two of us sat down on the edge of the beach so that the cool water was only touching our toes.
“Gosh, it’s really hot,” I said.
“I know, it’s like 95° or something.”
“Sheesh! That’s hot!!”
“No kidding.”
“Hey Bone, where’s everyone?” Brian asked as he and Mary arrived at the condo.
“Lindsey and Nick are out on the beach,” he answered keeping his eyes glued on the TV set. Brian and Mary looked out the window and saw Nick and me holding hands next to the ocean.
“Doesn’t looking at them like that make you sick?” Brian asked disgustedly.
“Yes, very.”
“Hey-I’ve got an idea,” Brian said forming an evil grin on his face.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nick and I were sitting in silence when we heard Mary yell behind us, “Hey Lindsey!”
“Mary! Oh my gosh what are you doin her-” I was cut off by icy water hitting my face.
“Hey Frack, I’m glad Aaron forgot his water guns last time he stayed over,” Brian smirked as they squirted us with the ice cold water.
“Oh, you’re SO dead!” I screamed as Nick and I chased after them. Nick had the advantage of longer legs so he caught up to Brian really quickly.
I had the advantage over Mary of 5 years of Cross Country. We caught them and pushed them onto the sand. After they were down, we dragged them to the water, picked them up, and tossed them into the cool water. Mary screamed as Nick and I laughed our asses off.
“Oh you think this is funny?” she threatened with so much hate. She got up and charged at me but Nick stepped in front of me. “You better get the hell outta my way!!” she screamed.
“No, no, no don’t move Nick, she’s vicious,” I said as I hissed like a snake to imitate her viciousness. Brian came up behind her and picked her up.
“BRIAN!?! What are you doing?” she screeched as he tossed her back in the water. “What was that for?” she asked FINALLY smiling.
“I thought you needed to cool down,” he said as the 4 of us stood laughing at the 2 of them who were totally drenched from head to toe.
“You know what? I’m hungry, lets go get some lunch,” Brian suggested.
“Ok, but I have to go home and change because SOMEONE got me wet,” Mary said staring at me.
“Ok, you go change then come back when you’re ready. You can take my car,” Nick offered.
“Ok, thanks, Nick,” she said running off to the driveway.
“I better go change too,” Brian said walking back up the beach. Nick and I resumed our positions in front of the water as if nothing had happened.
~*~*~HALF AN HOUR LATER~*~*~
Nick and I walked into the condo and saw Brian and Mary watching MTV. “If you two were ready, why didn’t you come get us?” Nick asked.
“We felt bad for interrupting you before so we decided to leave you alone this time,” Brian answered.
“That’s real sweet, Brian.” I said sarcastically. “Lets go,” I motioned to the door and everyone walked out. We decided to take Brian’s car. He drove while Nick sat next to him as Mary and I sat in the back seat. While Nick and Brian were engulfed in a conversation about basketball, I asked Mary, “So, you startin to like Brian more?”
“I already told you, ONLY as a friend,” she sounded a little irritated.
“I still say you should give him a chance.”
“Yeah, whatever,” she muttered.
“We’re here!” Nick said stating the obvious.
We all waited about 20 minutes for a table. When we finally sat down, we decided what we were going to order.
“I’m having buffalo wings,” I said.
“I’ll have a salad,” Mary ordered.
“That’s it?” Nick asked shocked.
“Yeah, I’m a vegetarian.”
“Oh, cool!”
“I’ll have a steak,” Brian told the waitress.
“Me too,” Nick agreed.
“Alright,” she said as she walked off.
“She kinda looked like Leighanne,” Nick stated.
“Who’s Leighanne?” I asked.
“Oh, just a friend,” Brian said signaling for Nick to shut up.
I could tell he was lying, “Yeah right, Bri, who is she?”
“Uh....my ex-girlfriend.”
“Oh.”
“So how did the condo shopping go?” Mary asked easing the tension.
“Some guy bought the one I wanted last night,” I replied. I looked at Nick as he whispered something into Brian’s ear.
“Nick, on my gosh!” Brian said responding to what Nick had told him. Nick leaned in and whispered something else to him. “Yes of course she will Nick!” Nick just smiled at his friend’s reaction.
“Lindsey, I have to show you something I bought you tonight,” Nick told me.
“Aww you bought me something?” He nodded. “Ok.” I replied, still a little confused with the whole whispering situation.
~*~*~LATER THAT NIGHT~*~*~
Brian and Mary decided to go back to their own houses so Nick and I went for a walk around his street. As we were walking, I impatiently asked, “What are you gonna show me?”
“You’ll see, but first, put this on,” he pulled a blind fold put and wrapped it around my eyes. He took my hand and led me about 100 feet or so before we stopped.
“Ok,” he said as he slowly removed the blind fold.
I was speechless at what I saw in front of me. “Oh my god, Nick.”