"Brian. Will you give me the honor of being my boyfriend?" I asked
"No." He said. I looked down, trying to fight tears. "Will you give me the
honor of being my girlfriend?"
"Of course." Then we heard a cheer outside the door. "Oh God! I'm
gonna..." Brian silenced me with a kiss.
"Break it up. We're here!" Steph yelled. I ran out of the bus, and into
Jakes and Rachel's house.
"JAKEY! WHERE ARE YOU!" I yelled
"I'm in here, dumb ass!" He yelled from the kitchen. I stood in the
doorway with my hands on my hips.
"I'm not a dumbass, I'm an idiot, retard!" I said. It was an inside joke
of Rachel, Jake, and mine. I was idiot, Jake was retard, and Rach was loser.
"Come here girl." He said. I ran to Jake and gave him a hug.
"It's so good to be home!" I said. Then I stepped back. "Eating again?"
"Yup. I'm a growing boy."
"Growing boy my ass, you're twenty-three!"
"Ha, ha. Rachel's at the hospital. If you wanna go, you can take the
mini-van. I dropped Rachel off. Now you can bring her home." Jake said
"Okay, keys please." I said, holding out my hand.
"First you need to introduce us." Kevin said from behind.
"Oh yea, I knew I forgot somethin! You guys are just so easy to forget." I
said with a smile.
"Ya, ya. I could say the same about you!" Kevin said
"I couldn't." Brian said, coming up behind me.
"OK, roll call!" I yelled. Everyone but Howie walked in. A few minutes
later he cam in with Angie still sleeping in his arms. "That's Stephanie and
Jenny. You know them, then that's Kevin, Nick, Howie, he's holding Angie, and
then there's the newest edition to my life, Brian. Everyone, this is Jake,
Retard, or hey you. Now, Retard, give me the keys."
"OK. Here" He said, putting the keys in my out-stretched hand.
"OK guys. I'm gonna go now." I said, giving everyone a hug.
"Where you goin?" Howie asked.
"I have to go meet a friend, I promised her I'd see her as soon as I got
in." I said. It wasn't a complete lie. I did promise Shannon I would see her.
"I'll go with you." Brian said, grabbing his coat. It had started to rain
here too and it was rather cold even though it was mid summer. I walked out
the garage door and climbed into the van. I turned it on and waited for Brian
to come out. I put my head down on the steering wheel. It had been a long
day. This morning, everything was OK. Now, I was losing one of my best
friends. I heard someone open the door.
"You OK, LO?" Brian asked
"Yea, what took you so long?" I looked into his eyes.
"I was talking to Jake. He's gonna set up a cot for Angie. two rooms
have two beds in them. We decided that Jenny and Steph could share a bed."
"OK." I said, I turned on the car and hit the button for the garage door
to open. We drove to the hospital. I told stories about Shannon the way
there. I had Brian on the floor laughing. We pulled into the hospital parking
lot. "Brian I need to tell you something before we go in. Shannon doesn't
have many friends. It's not that she can't get friends. A lot of people like
her, she just doesn't like them. I would say her three main friends are me,
Rachel, and Inessa." I looked into his eyes, and I couldn't read what was in
them. He kissed me gently, and then got out. We walked into the hospital and
to the front desk.
"Hi, do you know what room Shannon Casey is in? She might be under the
name Shacy-Kate."
"Yes, she in room 909, second floor. Can I asked you both a question?"
"Sure." I answered
"Can I have your autograph for my daughter? She saw your show in North
Carolina. She loved it!" The nurse said.
"Sure" Brian said. He signed a piece of paper.
"Can I have yours too?" She asked, looking at me.
"Oh, sure." I was a little excited because I had never been noticed in
public. I signed the paper and then put Jake and Rachel's phone number.
"That's the house we're staying at in case she wants to call. Just ask for
any of us."
"Thank you both so much! My daughter is going to love me for this!"
"Your welcome." We both said as we walked to the elevator. I pressed the
second floor button. We waited in silence. The doors opened and I asked a
nurse for directions. She gave them too us, and soon we were in front of the
door. I could hear Inessa and Rachel talking inside.
"You go in first, and don't knock." I said, and then hid behind Brian.
He walked in, and I heard Rachel say "Oh my it's you!" I jumped out from behind
Brian and hugged Rachel.
"I MISSED YOU GIRL!" I yelled.
"What about me?" Inessa and Shannon said at the same time.
"Oh, yea, you two too. Just kiddin! I missed all of you!" I gave each of
them a hug.
"Where's Nick?" Shannon said. She was in love with Nick.
"Huh?" I said
"I know this is Brian, and I know you're touring with Nick, and you know
I'm in love with him, so I thought you might bring him." Shannon said
"No, they were all tired. In fact, I can't stay long we play at the shot
tomorrow, and if I don't get any sleep, well, then we won't be playing the
shot!" I said with a laugh
"Oh, can I come to the concert?" Shannon asked
"Um, are you allowed?" Rachel asked
"Yea. The doctors said I could leave as long as medics were with me."
Shannon said.
"OK, I'll get you all tickets." I said
"Laura, we better go, it's late." Brian said
"It is so like you to ruin the party!" I said with a laugh. He shot me a
look. "OK, OK, Mr. Party pooper said its time to go. You guys get in the car.
Net-Net, will give you a lift to the hotel. " The all said their good-byes and
headed to the car. When I was alone with Shannon she said "LO, I'll miss you."
"Shan, don't talk like that. You know you won't miss me. I'll sure as
hell miss you. You're one of the best friends I ever had. And remember, I
will see you someday. I love you Shan." I leaned down and gave her a hug. I
didn't want her to see me cry, so I fought back the tears until I was in the
hall. Then I sat down and sobbed and sobbed, until Rachel came up and walked
me downstairs. We drove home in silence.
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