Following a call from the backyard, they headed toward the smell of the food.
"Hey Bri! Hi A.J.!" Leslie, another of Nick's younger sisters, called out the greeting. She was dishing up food onto a plate while Nick's dad manned the grill.
"Hey everyone! It smells great out here!" Brian was hungry after his afternoon workout.
Glancing around the yard, he looked for his best friend, "I thought Nick was going to be here."
As if he heard his name being called, Nick came strolling outside involved in a deep conversation with a beautiful girl. He said something, and the girl laughed, flashing her bright white teeth.
"Yo, Nicky! Took you long enough!" A.J.'s eyes were drawn to the girl.
Irritated at the use of that nickname, Nick looked up and saw A.J. and Brian helping themselves to food.
"Hi guys. I was just giving Amanda a tour of the house."
"Are you going to introduce us?"
When Brian saw Nick shake his head, he laughed and went over to where Amanda was standing.
"Hi, I am Brian and this is A.J. Are you a long-lost relative or did you just get lost?"
Seeing the teasing glint in his eye, Amanda smiled.
"Didn't you know? I am one of Nick's sisters. They just don't let me out much."
Both guys laughed and when they saw Nick's look of confusion, they laughed even harder.
"Actually, my name is Amanda and I am a student at Tampa State University. I am tutoring B.J. with her English class."
"Tampa State? What are you majoring in?" Brian asked.
"English, with a minor in music."
"So that's your Mustang out front, Amanda? It looks brand new." A.J. asked.
Nick said, "I think she's got a sugar daddy who hooks her up."
The group laughed and then laughed even harder when Aaron asked what a sugar daddy was. Mrs. Carter glared at her oldest son as she led her youngest son over to the food. Nick looked embarrassed for a second and then turned to Amanda for an explanation.
"Actually," Amanda started hesitantly, "I bought that car myself with my own money that I earned from my writings."
She hoped that they would accept that and change the subject, but they were intrigued.
"What kind of writing?" It was the first contribution that Mr. Carter had made to the conversation.
"Can I tell them, Amanda? Please?" B.J. asked. When Amanda nodded, B.J. jumped up from her chair and raced into the house.
"Be right back." She ran back with about a dozen books in her hands.
"These are her writings, as she calls them." The guys each picked up one of the young adult novels and looked at the cover.
"Hey! These are the Memory Lane books!" Brian exclaimed. "My cousins are crazy over these! You really wrote all of them?" Amanda nodded. "But the author is listed as Julia Hargrove."
"Julia is the name of my twin sister. She died of a brain tumor when we were three years old. I don't really remember her at all.
"My mom said that she wasn't very responsive until you would tell her a story, then she would come alive, if you know what I mean.
"I was the first one to talk, and my parents always said that Julia and I were a perfect match: I would talk and she would listen. And Hargrove is my mother's maiden name."
"I guess that I wrote these books for her, and since I was only seventeen when the first one came out - I really didn't want all of the publicity.
"I mean, my friends in high school were huge fans of the books - even people I didn't get along with.
"Can you imagine how it was to walk down the halls and hear all sorts of people talk about the books that I wrote? It was really strange."
Nick, Brian, and A.J. all looked at each other and nodded.
"I think that the funniest thing that happened was when my friends asked me to be in the Memory Lane Fan Club.
"It was hard to explain how a bookworm like myself didn't want to be a part of, and I quote, 'the biggest teen literary craze to hit the nation.'"
"So my royalties have paid for my education, and of course, that awesome car sitting in the driveway." Amanda smiled as she finished her tale.
Brian whistled. "That's awesome! Can I get you to sign some books for my cousins? They are going to flip when they hear that I met you… That is, if you don't mind?"
When Amanda smiled and shook her head, he returned the grin. A.J. just sat back and watched the two of them talking.
Brian was always interested in the intelligent girls, and this one had the looks to boot. Then he thought back to what she said earlier.
"Hey Amanda, you said that you are minoring in music? What area are you focusing in?"
When Brian turned to glare at him, A.J. ignored him. It wasn't often that Brian and A.J. were interested in the same girl.
"My focus is in composition and lyrics. Now that I have written some books, I would like to try to write some songs. I used to make up songs when I was little and put on concert for my dolls." She laughed.
"Even though my voice isn't that great, I always got a standing ovation." The others laughed with her.
"Actually, I have been working with some people and we have just finished some collaborations that we are presenting to a few record companies this week."
"Cool!" Nick finally had something to say. "Who are you talking to?"
"We are meeting with New Line, Phoenix, and Jive."
"Hey guys! Aren't we meeting with some---." Nick stopped when Brian kicked him in the shins.
Amanda gave him a weird look, but before she could say anything, B.J. stuck her head out the back door and called Amanda to the phone.
"What was that for?" Nick whined.
"She obviously doesn't know about the group, moron, so why can't we just keep it that way for awhile." Brian glared at his young friend.
"Okay, okay."
The guys resumed eating, and after Amanda came back, the conversation switched to sports.
Nick and Brian got into an intense discussion over who was better in basketball, and when Nick issued the challenge, the group moved over to the basketball court as the guys chose teams.
After much confusion, Amanda found herself partnered up with Nick against A.J. and Brian.
"Umm, Nick? I really don't like basketball." Amanda tried to warn him. "Tennis, yes. Volleyball, yes. Basketball, no."
Nick looked at her and smiled.
"Don't worry. Just follow my lead, and maybe they'll think that they've got the advantage and get arrogant and clumsy. Then we'll whip 'em, okay?"
Amanda nodded slowly and the game began.
[ chapter 03 ]
