“I do!” I shouted as tears streamed down my face.
“No. No you don’t. If you did, we wouldn’t be here screaming at eachother. We would still be playing that stupid game because you would have said that you will miss me when I leave. I’m gonna be gone for 7 months! If you loved me, you’d miss me at LEAST a little. I bet you even enjoyed being dared to kiss AJ.” he accused.
“NO!” I cried. “That’s not it at all!”
“Don’t fuck with me! I don’t wanna see you anymore,” he yelled as he walked back to the house. He just left me standing alone, crying in the middle of the night. ‘Why would he think that? He wouldn’t even let me explain. And what hurts most is he thinks I don’t love him,’ I thought. A million thoughts crowded my brain to the point I couldn’t stand it anymore. All the anger and confusion overwhelmed me. I fell to my knees and buried my face in my hands. I cried so hard my eyes ached and my throat was sore.
After about 5 minutes, AJ ran out of the house. “LINDSEY!” he yelled to me. He ran over to me and craddled me in his arms. He rocked me back and forth in attempt to comfort me but I kept on crying. After trying for 15 minutes to calm me down, he asked, “What happened out here? Nick stormed in the house and-” he continued to tell me what Nick had done.
~*~*~EARLIER WHEN NICK WENT BACK TO THE HOUSE~*~*~
Nick ran into the house and slammed the door so hard it came close to breaking. “What happened?” a concerned Howie asked. Nick didn’t answer, he just walked into the family room where Mary, Brian, and AJ were waiting, and picked up his car keyes.
Noticing Nick, Brian asked, “Did she tell ya?” he smiled but it quickly faded when he saw Nick’s face. The anger burned in his eyes.
“That she doesn’t fucking love me!” he stormed out the front door and took off in his car.
“Oh, shit,” AJ cursed and ran out to the beach to find me.
~*~*~NOW ON THE BEACH~*~*~
I finally gained enough strength to answer him. “He...Nick wouldn’t. He wouldn’t listen to me. He thinks I don’t love him.” I finished telling AJ everything that had happened. About an hour had gone by since I poured all my thoughts and feelings out to AJ, when I finally stopped crying and settled down. Then AJ said, “You know what I always do when I’m mad or upset about something? I get a tattoo or get something pierced.”
‘Wow, he must get mad a lot if he’s got that many tattoos and piercings,’ I thought. I had never actually considered piercing anything but my ears and I had never considered getting a tattoo. I sat and thought about it for a while.
“Oh, what the hell! Take me someplace that I can get my belly button pireced.”
“Your wish is my command. Lets just walk so you don’t have to go through the house and talk to everyone. It’s not too far away."
“Thanks AJ, you just being here helps me feel better,” I said enveloping him in a hug.
“Anything for a friend.”
~*~*~INSIDE THE CONDO~*~*~
“Brian, I hope she’s ok. I’m worried about her,” Mary said concerned.
“So am I. I don’t think Nick even let her tell him the surprise.”
“I hope he’s ok, too. Even though he’s being a jerk, he looked really upset when he stormed out of here.”
“Yeah, I know. Sometimes he acts without thinking.”
~*~*~AT THE SAME TIME~*~*~
Nick drove and drove with no actual destination. He was so confused and couldn’t think. He ended up at his parent’s house in Tampa. He had driven about 200 miles without even realizing it. He pulled into the driveway and parked his car.
“NICK!” his mom screeched as he walked in the front door.
“Hi, mom,” he replied with a sad tone.
“Ok, Nick, what’s wrong?”
“Girlfriend problems.”
“Girlfriend? When did you get a girlfriend?” Even though he had talked to her on the phone a couple of times since they had gotten back to Orlando, Nick had never actually told his mom about me and everything that had been going on.
“Get dad in here and I’ll tell ya both at the same time. I don’t wanna have to repeat it.” Jane called for her husband and Nick told them everything from the accident we had, to the condo he had bought me, to the fight we had.
“It sounds like you acting without thinking again,” his dad informed him.
“Dad, first she tells me she’s falling in love with me then she says she won’t miss me when I’ll be gone for half a year!”
“Just think about things before you do anything rash.”
‘Too late for that,’ Nick thought.
~*~*~AT THE SAME TIME~*~*~
“How much will this hurt?” I asked AJ.
“A lot,” he confessed.
“Great,” I muttered.
Thoughts of Nick and our fight re-entered my mind as I rolled my shirt up above my belly button. All that anger and saddness came back. All that regret I had for saying no to his truth question instead of yes.
“YO, RED!!” AJ sreamed.
“Huh? What?”
“Geez, you were in your own little world. Ready to go?”
“But he has to-” I looked down and saw the navel ring. He had done it while I was occupied thinking of Nick. “Oh. Yeah, lets go.”
We slowly walked back to the condo. I was so glad to have such a good friend like AJ there with me. Not a word was said the entire way back. AJ knew that I just needed time to think, and him talking wouldn’t help at all. He always seemed to know exactly what I needed. He was my best friend these days since Mary was busy with other things.
Mary, Brian, Kevin, and Howie were all out back waiting for us to return. They ran over to us when they saw us coming. All I heard was people saying “Are you ok? Where were you and AJ? What’s wrong with Nick? Does he know you’re touring with us yet?”
I just stood silent until I got sick of all the questions. “SHUT UP!” I finally shouted and everyone did just that. “Stop with the freaking questions.” I continued with the whole story of the fight and where AJ and I had gone.
“You didn’t,” Mary was shocked. I lifted my shirt and her mouth dropped. everyone’s eyes got big.
“Why the hell did you let her do that, AJ?” Kevin yelled.
“It’s not my fault, she wanted to do it.” Kevin looked at me and I nodded. Brian heard the phone ringing and ran to get it.
“Hello?”
“Hey Bri.”
“Nick? Where are you?”
“My mom’s. I’m stayin here tonight.”
“Nick you have to let Lindsey explain.”
“No, Brian. I have nothing to say to her. And when I get home tomorrow, she better not be there,” he threatened.
“Nick...”
“I’m serious,” he demanded.
“Ok man, chill.”
“See ya.”
“Bye.” Brian turned around and I was right there.
“Lindsey!” he said surprised.
“Where is he?”
“His mom’s.”
“Oh. I take it he’s staying there.”
“Yeah. And you aren’t allowed to be here when he gets back tomorrow.”
“Oh...” I said upset that he wouldn’t even give me a chance.
“Sorry, Lins, I tried.”
“It’s not your fault. I should’ve just said that I would miss him and then tell him later about it.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Thanks, Brian. I need to be alone. I’m going home.”
“Ok, goodnight.”
“Night.” I walked out back to find everyone else. “I’m goin home guys.”
“Ok, see ya,” they replied.
“AJ come here.”
“Yeah, Lins?”
“Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.” As I said before he knew exactly what I was thinking and didn’t need an explanation for what I was thanking him for.
“Good night.”
“Good night,” with that I walked back to my condo. As I walked in, all the pain came back. This wasn’t my house. I couldn’t stay there. As I laid down in my bed, I thought about everything that had happened and I came to a realization. ‘Oh god, why am I crying over this? That asshole didn’t even let me explain myself. How could he judge me and accuse me, then leave me alone crying. Nick was being an asshole and I’m not gonna cry about it,’ I thought. All my thoughts of saddness and the urgency to talk to Nick was soon replaced by anger and resentment. He had no right to be cruel to me. I didn’t care that he didn’t wanna see me, cuz I didn’t want to see him either.
~*~*~THE NEXT AFTERNOON~*~*~
Nick walked into his condo and saw AJ sitting on the couch watching TV. “Hey Bone.” AJ didn’t reply. “Hi AJ,” he repeated. Still, no answer. “What’s up with you?”
“You really hurt Lindsey last night. She cried for hours. Do you know how hard it was for me to sit there and watch her cry over you, knowing there was nothing I could do to comfort her?”
“She’s a playette.”
“Playette?”
“Yeah, she’s the girl version of a player. She was using me. She just thinks I’m some guy to have a fling with over the summer.”
“What? Is that what you think?” he said harshly.
“No, I KNOW it.”
“Man, you really are an asshole.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“Why am I an asshole?”
“You didn’t even let her explain.”
“I didn’t need an explanation.” “Well actually you do, so I’m gonna give it to you.” Nick turned to walk away but AJ grabbed him. “No, sit your ass down and listen to me.” Nick obeyed. “The ONLY freaking reason Lindsey said no to your question, is beacuse she is gonna be on tour with us. That’s why she won’t miss you.”
“What?” he asked confused.
“She tried out for Aaron’s band to play the flute and she made it. She’s gonna tour with us the whole time. She didn’t wanna tell you last night. She wanted it to be a surprise.”
“Oh my god....what have I done?” he said ashamed. Nick rushed to the phone and dialed my number. When he didn’t get an answer, he ran over to my condo. He stood in front of my door knocking for 5 minutes and I didn’t answer it. He was getting frusterated so he decided to just open the door because it was unlocked. Nick stood in the doorway horrified at what he saw before his eyes. “Oh, no,” he said aloud.