I was hanging out at the beach club in the late afternoon sun, waiting for my pals to show up. Me and some guys were going to eat at a pizza restaurant, then hit the clubs. None of us had girlfriends, so we were gonna look for some girls.

I lay down on my sun lounger, pulling my shades over my eyes and pulling down my fishing hat so no fans could spot me.

"Nick,".

I turned my head in the direction of the voice, hoping it wasn't a girl in hope of getting my autograph. Luckily, it was my pal Jake. "Hey man," I said.

"Hey Nick. The others not here yet?".

"Nope,".

"K. I'm getting a drink, want one?".

I shook my head. "I've gotta drive for you guys, remember. You could get me a coke though,".

Not long after, the others arrived and we set off on our night out. "We'll get you a chick tonight, Nick!" my friend Brent laughed.

I went red. "Like I could get a chick...".

"Of course you could- every girl you meet wants you,".

"But do I want every girl I meet?". I wasn't going to settle for just any girl. If I was to get a new girlfriend, she'd have to be special.

After dinner, we arrived at Solar, a club on by the ocean that was owned by a guy I knew. Since I knew him, he didn't care that I was underage. He even let us have free drinks.

As we walked into Solar, I remembered Jessica. It had been a few weeks since I'd seen her, at that very club. I wondered if she'd be there that night...

I was in luck. I spotted her and have her a wave. She spotted me and a huge smile lit up her face. She looked nice, wearing a deep blue minidress and silver stilettos.

Andre noticed. "What about her? Potential girlfriend material?!".

I shot him a look. "I hardly know her! OK, she's kinda nice but...".

Andre laughed and pulled me over to her. "Go on, ask her to dance with you,".

Jess had heard him and laughed. Blushing, I turned to her and took her hand.

We danced together for a while, then a blond girl came along and tapped Jess on the back. "Come and have a drink with us," she urged.

"Sure Angel. Coming, Nick?" Jessica asked.

"Sure,". I followed them to the bar and we sat down in the drink area.

Jessica gave Angel some money to get us drinks, then turned to me. "It's good to see you again Nick," she said. "So, you've got a break from touring?".

"Yeah- we have another few weeks until the US tour,".

We talked for a while, Angel soon rejoined us- she was pretty nice. I remembered Karl saying she was the only one who genuinely liked Jess.

"Have you asked her yet?" Brent asked, creeping up on me just as we were heading back to the dance floor.

I went pink. "Brent!".

"Asked who what?" Jessica asked curiously.

He laughed. "Nicky here needs a woman in his life," he said to Jess. "You wanna be his girl?".

I glared at him. "What did you do that for?" I hissed.

Jessica was embarrassed. "Why me? You can do better than me,".

We were both embarrassed so we didn't mention it again. She and Angel went back to their group, and my pals dragged me away.

It was nearly closing time and I was worn out. We had been dancing all night and I wanted to go home and go to bed. But since I was driving the guys, I had to wait until they were ready to leave. But they didn't want to go yet.

Wearily, I sat down on a rock under a palm tree in the the open-air part of the club. I'd lost track of the guys, they were somewhere around.

I sipped at my Coke as I looked around. Was Jess still about..?

Yep, there she was. She looked like she had too much to drink, doing crazy dancing and laughing hysterically with Angel. A girl passing by me noticed my staring. "Don't get involved with that Jessica," she said in an almost angry tone.

I turned to her in surprise. "Why?".

"She's got the worst reputation in Tampa. She comes here almost every night, making a fool of herself. I heard she drinks ten a night, probably does drugs too,".

"She does?".

The girl nodded. "Uh-huh. Just warning ya,". She turned and walked away.

I went back to watching Jess. For some reason, I was really drawn to her. She wasn't exactly beautiful, although I'd rate her above average. There was something about her... maybe it was because she reminded me of myself a couple of years back.

I sighed as I remembered some of the things that had happened in the past. When I was eighteen, we'd spent some time in Europe and I'd gotten into clubbing and drinking. Because the age limits over there were lower, I was legally old enough to drink alcohol and get into clubs, and so I'd gone every night after concerts.

At the time, I thought I was really cool and enjoyed myself, but it started getting out of hand, when I did stupid things when I was drunk, and when people persuaded me to try drugs. Waking up in a hospital one morning was when I'd realized I'd gone too far with that lifestyle. I'd learnt my lesson.

Watching Jessica jumping up and down being crazy with her pals reminded me just how I used to act when I was high. I couldn't let her end up like so many unfortunate young people, like I could have done if I hadn't put a stop to that lifestyle.

I walked up to her. "Hi Jess,".

"Hi Nick,". She slung her arms around me and swayed to the beat of the pumping music. "Dance with me,".

"Isn't it time you went home?" I asked her.

"No, not yet!".

I finally managed to drag her away. "Jess, I'm taking you home,".

She didn't say anything, so I took her hand and led her towards the exit, then towards my car.

I unlocked the doors and let her in the passenger side. I didn't care about the guys- they could get home somehow. Jessica was more important.

"Where do you live?" I asked her as I drove out of the parking lot.

"In a house," she said seriously. She giggled.

"I know that. What's your address?".

After more speaking nonsense, she finally said her address. We drove there in silence, with just the sound of the radio playing softly.

"Here we are," I said as I pulled up outside her house. Karl was right- she was rich. Her house was almost as spectacular as mine.

I got out and opened the door to let her out. "I'll call over and see you tomorrow," I told her. I wanted a talk with her.

"K, bye Nick,". She gave me a big wet kiss on my cheek before dashing inside her home, almost falling over.

I sighed as I drove home. She was such a state! Was she like that every night..?

Despite her being silly, I could help liking her.

Liking her. She seemed my kind of girl. I could see from our few short meetings that she was intelligent, fun and interesting. She wasn't another brainless beauty that I come across too many times.

But underneath the carefree party-girl many people saw her as, I could tell deep down she really was sad and lonely and had little confidence. She could do with a loving boyfriend to take care of her...

The sound of the doorbell woke me from my slumber. Groaning, I pulled on my bathrobe and dashed downstairs to see who was calling.

"It's too early, come back later," I said as I opened the door. Then I saw who it was. Nick. My heart jumped at the sight of him.

"Hi Jess, can I come in?".

"Sure," I said, rubbing my eyes as I let him inside. I looked at my watch. One PM! I didn't realize it was that late.

Nick sat on my couch and turned to me. "Did I wake you up?".

"Yeah," I said. "But thanks, you did me a favor, waking me up. It's getting late,".

"Why don't you go and get dressed," Nick suggested.

I turned the TV on for him, then dashed upstairs, quickly washing and pulling on some jeans. "What's up?" I asked him when I got downstairs to rejoin him. "Any reason why you're here?".

"I just wanted to see how you were," he said. "Have a talk,".

A talk? What about..? Slowly, the events of the night before came flooding back. Oh no... what a fool I must have looked in front of him. "Um, do you want a coffee?" I asked him.

"Sure, thanks,".

I made a coffee and got myself some headache tablets to put in a mineral water for myself. I felt awful! "There you go," I said as I handed him his coffee.

I sat facing him. "Look, I'm sorry about last night. When I drink, I go kinda stupid...".

Nick nodded. "Yeah... I was like that once. Listen, please don't go too overboard with the partying. I know from experience that too much is no good for you...".

"Yeah.. can we not talk about it please?". I'd rather forget about how I showed myself up in front of him. "So, what are you doing today?".

"Nothing much," Nick answered with a small smile. "How about you?".

"Me? Well, nothing. I'm supposed to be looking at colleges but I can do that any day, it doesn't have to be today,".

"How about going somewhere?" Nick asked. "Together,".

I nearly dropped my glass. Go out with Nick?! "Sure!" I said quickly with a smile. "Where?".

"Anywhere. How about along the ocean front?".

"I'd like that,".

"OK, I'll give you some time to get ready, and I'll come back in a couple of hours. We can have a late lunch out somewhere too,".

Nick left and I went up to my wardrobe. I was going on a date with Nick! OK, I doubted he'd ever date me in a romantic way but still. It was a date! I found a lilac tank top and some faded jean shorts and laid them out on my bed. After a shower, I put them on then applied my make-up. My partying was taking it's toll on my looks, as I had dark shadows ringing my eyes and more breakouts than usual. My mouth tasted extra stale so I brushed my teeth for the next ten minutes. Finally I was satisfied. I wasn't up to model/actress standard that Nick was used to, but I looked a hell of a lot better than when I'd rolled out of bed an hour ago.

As I waited for Nick to return, I flicked through my university guide. But it didn't interest me much. I didn't know if I wanted to bother with college any more. I was having fun in Tampa, I finally had friends. If i was to move away to college somewhere, I'd have to start all over again. And I didn't feel like learning. I tossed the book across the room and thumbed through a fashion magazine instead.

I saw some really cool clothes in it which I wanted to buy for my clubbing. I'd spent a lot of money on clothes, and of course getting into clubs and the drinks too, now I was starting to use my father's money from his account to fund it all. My own allowances weren't enough. But my dad wouldn't mind. I doubted he knew I was spending his money.

I heard a car tooting its horn so I peeked out of the window. Nick was back.

I rushed down and slipped on some shoes, then jumped into Nick's car. "Hey," I said.

"Looking good," he said with a smile as we drove off.

Nick took me to a seafood restaurant next to the ocean. "So are you going to the club again tonight?" Nick asked me.

I shrugged. "I go most nights, but I might give it a miss tonight,".

"Do you always drink as much as you did last night, or was that a one off?" Nick asked suddenly.

"Um..." I was going red. "Yeah...".

"And you go with that crowd- Angel, Karl..?".

"Yeah," I told him. I lowered my voice. "They're my only friends," I admitted.

Nick raised his eyebrows. "But surely you must have other pals?".

I shook my head sadly. "No, I didn't have any friends at high school because I was a nerd. That's why I started going out every night. To meet people,".

"Oh,"

I changed the subject and we didn't talk about it any more. After eating, we got back in Nick's car and drove down the coastal road.

Nick parked next to a deserted beach and led me onto the sand. "Can I ask you a question?" I asked him nervously.

"Sure,".

"Why did you take me out tonight?" I asked him. "Was it because you felt sorry for me?".

Nick paused then turned to me. He looked into my eyes and smiled. "No, I took you out because... because. Well I like you,". He turned a bright shade of red.

"What do you mean, like me?".

He laughed. "Well, ever since I split up with Mandy, my pals have been pestering me to 'get a new chick'. But I haven't liked any of the girls they tried to pair me with, none of them seemed special. Until I saw you...".

"There's nothing special about me," I said, looking down at the sand.

Nick took my hand. "Yes there is. You're an interesting, fun to be with girl, not to mention pretty,".

"Nobody's ever said that about me before," I told him. "Do you really mean it?".

He put an arm around me. "Yes. Will you be my girlfriend?".

I was shocked. I'd never had a boyfriend in my life and now I had been asked out by one of my favorite stars! "Um... yes!".

He gave me a hug. "Great, but promise me one thing,".

"What's that?".

"You take it easy with the partying. Don't over do it. I don't want you putting your health at risk,".

"Sure," I said, not really listening to what he was saying. I was dating Nick!

>>>>>

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