About two weeks later, Nick and Cassie had become really close. Nick decided he wanted the rest of the guys to meet her and invited her over to Brian's house. Nick had Brian, Howie, and Kevin ready and waiting at the house when school let out. Cassie, Nick, and AJ then walked from school to Brian's house.

Nicked opened the door and called, "Hey, guys, we're here! Come meet Cassie!"

The three guys walked to the door and introduced themselves. Kevin and Cassie got to talking about snowboarding and agreed to try wakeboarding sometime since they wouldn't get any snow in Orlando. Nick told them he could take them on his boat.

That weekend Nick took Cassie and Kevin out on the boat to go water-skiing. The three had lots of fun and Cassie became closer to both of them. She really was grateful and appreciated what Nick had done for her, but she felt like she was having more fun with Kevin than she had with Nick. She spent a long time studying the older male to determine if he was having fun or just being polite. Although she did like Kevin, she realized that nothing would ever happen. She hoped she could at least be friends with him. She knew that Nick liked her so that could always be her excuse as far as why she was around Kevin. She hoped the friend of a friend relationship would eventually become a friendship. She also hope "eventually" would be sooner opposed to later.

While Kevin, Nick, and Cassie were out on the boat, the other three guys were getting ready to go out. Brian and Howie were going to get some dinner and then catch a movie. AJ was going to a party with some friends from school. It wasn't until after Nick, Cassie, and Kevin would be back, but AJ wanted to get ready early so he could get a chance to talk to Nick beforehand. AJ really wanted to help Nick out any way he could with is crush on Cassie. He was excited for Nick because this was the first time he really liked a girl and had any chance of being liked in return. He thought listening to Nick and giving advice were the best ways to help him out.

AJ was finishing combing his hair when the phone rang. He dropped the comb and dashed toward the phone.

"Hello?" AJ answered.

"Hey, Alex, this is Howie. Brian and I are about to leave. Kevin called earlier that they were done on the boat. I guess they should be back in about half an hour or so."

"Thanks, D."

"Sure, have fun tonight. You're going to a party right?"

"Yeah, at Dylan's."

"Did I ever meet him?"

"No, I don't think so. I'm going over there around 9."

"Wow! When you said you had to get ready earlier, I thought it started at 7. You're such a woman!" Howie laughed.

"Man, Howie, you're too funny," AJ remarked sarcastically. "At least I'm going to a party tonight. That's much better than going on a date with Brian!"

"Oooh, that was a low blow."

"Whatever, so was yours. So what movie are you guys going to see?"

"Ace Ventura."

"Is that the movie where the guy goes 'Allllrighty then!'? I think I saw some commercials for that."

"Yeah, that's the one. It looks pretty funny."

"Wow, do I pity you!"

"How come?"

"You're gonna be stuck with Rok going 'Alllllllrighty then!' all the time. I was at his house when he saw the ad for it and he wouldn't stop saying it for an hour!"

"Oh, well, it'll be fun. You'll have fun, too. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye," AJ said as he hung up the phone.

"Did you get the phone, honey?" AJ's mom called from downstairs.

"Yeah, Mom! It was Howie."

"Okay, dear, that's nice. You need to think about getting ready soon. You have an hour."

"Thanks, Mom."

AJ went back into his room. He sat down with a pen and paper and thought. He really enjoyed writing poetry and had been experimenting with different styles. His favorite was free form, but he had also been getting into writing lyrics. He could hear melodies in his head and was still learning how to compose his melodies. He sat and slowly began to write:

It's just a crush today...
But will it be love someday?
I want to love you
I want to care about you
I want to feel for you
Please let these feelings be true
Love is a white abyss
I'm falling
When you're gone, you're truly missed
I'm bawling

AJ started to hum then began singing the lines on his paper. He wrote it for Nick who had completely fallen head over heels for Cassie. His thoughts were interrupted by the metallic ring of the telephone. His mom answered it before AJ could get to it. Moments later she called up to her son that Nick was on the phone. Before he answered it, he slipped his notebook back into its hiding place in his closet.