I decided to call my boss and tell him I wasn’t feeling well. He gave someone else my assingnment so I could leave. I composed myself, touched up my make-up a bit and walked out of the room to find everyone outside, talking (probably about me). I quickly surveyed the room and noticed AJ was gone. I was a bit relieved at that because I didn’t feel like explaining things to him right now, especially since I wasn’t sure myself just what was going on. Upon my entrance into the room, everyone got silent and watched me gather my things.
“Kelly?” an unfamiliar female voice broke the silence.
I looked up to see Maureen, Brian’s girlfriend, standing beside me. She was very pretty standing there with her straight blonde hair, looking at me with a caring expression on her face.
“Yeah?” I questioned, feeling extremely vulnerable at the moment.
“If you need to talk later or whatever, please give me a call,” she smiled sweetly.
“Thanks. I might do that,” I smiled back, collecting the remainder of my stuff. I told Brian, Howie, Kevin, Maureen, Holly, and Shay goodbye and headed out the door. To my dismay, I had to walk past Nick and Hunter to get out. I tried my best to walk by without looking at either of them.
“Kel?” Nick called cautiously, tugging my shirt.
I turned around and looked at him apologetically. I knew that he understood completely when he grinned and placed his hand on my arm.
“It’s ok. We need to talk later,” he said, while I caught Hunter staring at us from the corner of my eye. I nodded and left without giving either of them a second glance.
After a long drive around town, trying very much to sort out my thoughts, I arrived back at my house. I parked my car in the driveway to find AJ’s car beside mine. What is he doing here? I thought to myself climbing out of the car. I raced into my house searching for AJ.
“AJ?” I yelled down the halls. I ran downstairs yelling and came back up. I looked through each room and as I neared my room I heard soft music playing. I pushed open the slightly cracked door and walked in. There were rose petals all over the bed and floor and a big bouquet of flowers were in the center of my bed with a note. I walked over and gently sat on the edge of the bed, reading the note:
Kelly,
I want to apologize to you. I realize now maybe I was rushing things, but if you’ll just give us a chance…I’ll wait forever if you want. Please think about it!
Love,
AJ
I stood there looking at his note stunned. I instinctively stood up to go find AJ, but instead I rammed right against his chest.
“Ow! Oh, sorry,” I apologized looking up into his deep brown eyes.
“Hey,” he smiled, running his fingers through my hair.
I gently pushed my hands against his chest, shoving him away.
“We need to talk,” I said defiantly, fingering the note I held in my hand.
“Yeah, we do,” he agreed becoming solemn.
“Thank you for the flowers and the note. The thing is, the problem isn’t you…it’s me,” I explained, watching him lean against my bed.
“What do you mean?” he asked, obviously confused. But, hey! Who could blame him? I was confused myself!
“AJ, you’re a seet guy and I love hanging out with you, but-“
“But, you like Nick, not me, right?” AJ interrupted coldly.
“Well, yes…” I confirmed, biting my lip nervously.
“Fine. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be,” he said in a tone of sorrow.
“I’m sorry. Think we could still be friends?” I asked, hoping for a positive reaction.
“Yeah, sure,” he agreed, a smile finally lighting up his face.
“Thanks!” I smiled back, leaning over to give him a friendly kiss on the cheek. AJ placed his hands on my face and gently turned my head so that we met lip-to-lip. I pulled away just in time to see Nick turning away from my bedroom door.
