Nick’s Durango speeds past where I’m parked up and I leap out of the car. I reach his gate just as he climbs out of the car. He presses the button to close the gates as I yell his name. He turns around.
“Nick, please talk to me!” I beg him, grasping the cold bars of his now-shut gate. He stares through me and turns towards his house. “Please Nick! You owe me this!” He stops and walks towards me angrily.
“Owe you?! I don’t owe you fuck Ali!” He stares at me. “I mean, I already FUCKED you so I don’t even owe that any more!”
“Nick, please…” I start crying as he walks away.
“No, Ali.”
“Uh, why am I so nervous?” asks Brian as he follows me into the lounge.
“No idea,” I reply with a smile. “You met Jay before, remember?”
“Yeah, but this is…OFFICIAL,” he whispers as Jay comes into the room. “Hi Jay. Uh, I’m sorry about the bar…”
“Hey,” Jay shrugs. “Not your problem. Plus, kinda trying to forget.”
“Ok. Sorry,” Brian says.
“Quit with the sorrys,” Jay laughs. “So, red or white?”
“Wine? Uh, white I guess.”
“Good choice,” Jay heads off into the kitchen and Brian sits down with a sigh.
I sit on the arm of his chair and start gently massaging his shoulders, “Relax Brian. He’s only my brother.”
“Only?!”
“Yeah,” I shrug. “You’ll be a wreck by the time you meet my folks if you don’t relax.”
“True,” he laughs and leans back into my massage. “Mmm, right there Jady. Oh yes…”
I smile. “So, you got over that whole mood thing you threw at me earlier?”
He tenses up slightly. “I guess. But Jady, we need to talk.”
“We do?”
He nods and turns round to face me. “We really do.” Before either of us can say any more Jay calls us through to sit at the table in the kitchen. Brian takes in the steaming dishes of spaghetti, the cheese bowls and the bread with wide eyes. “Oh man, this looks great!”
“Jay’s the spaghetti maestro,” I say as we all sit down.
“Dig in,” Jay orders, pouring the wine.
I wrap my arms around Jay and breathe in his scent. I am going to miss him so much. It has been pretty cool having my big brother around for a while. Even if he had let off a whole bunch of fireworks during his visit. Jay kisses my head and then lets go of me.
“Bye pookie. I’ll call you when I get home.”
“Ok. Bye Jay. I’ll miss you.”
“Ditto,” he grins and gives me a quick tickle. He turns to shake hands with Brian. “It was good meeting you man.”
“You too,” Brian grins. “Safe journey.”
“Thanks,” Jay pulls Brian in closer and puts on his terrible Italian accent. “You looka after my sister or I come looking for you.”
“Yes Sir!” Brian salutes and Jay laughs.
He climbs into the waiting taxi and waves as they drive away.
I stretch out on my bed with a yawn and close my eyes with a contented smile. An entire bowl of Jay’s spaghetti tends to have this effect on me. Brian stretches out next to me and I can feel his fingers slowly tracing the contours of my stomach. He hits a ticklish spot and I giggle.
“Jade, can we talk?”
I open my eyes. “Sure.”
He raises himself up on one arm. “Ok, it’s about what happened between us after you found out about the whole AJ thing. We spent almost a MONTH apart Jady, and then you came back to me. I mean, I’m real happy but I’m kinda freaked you’ll do it again. You just found it too easy.”
“Too easy?”
“To leave me and then to come back.”
“It wasn’t easy Brian,” I reach out and touch his face. “Believe me, it wasn’t.”
“Why did you leave me then?”
“I got scared,” I sigh and roll back so I’m facing the ceiling. My eyes fill with tears. “I’ve never fallen in love with somebody before. But the last guy I fell for… Well, I got hurt.”
Brian reaches out and turns my face towards him. “What happened?”
“I thought he loved me and we…we slept together,” Brian’s face hardens and I start to cry. “And I thought I was pregnant so I told him and… He called me a whore.” Brian stares at me. “There’s not a day goes by that I don’t thank God it was a false alarm. It opened my eyes.”
“Jade…” he shakes his head slowly, “Don’t you know that I would never do that to you?”
“I know… But I was scared and then that whole AJ thing came out and it gave me an excuse, a get-out clause…”
“You needed one?” he looks hurt and lies back down staring at the ceiling.
“Yeah, I needed one. I needed to take a step back and look at you, at US and finally decide a few things. And I did. So I’m here with you and that’s where I wanna be right now,” I curl up around his warm body and rest my head on his chest. “I was kinda angry with you after the bar thing too. I wish you could have told me about Ali.”
“I do too. But she was such a wreck when she told me that I was kinda afraid to say no. I told her that she had to tell you both. Besides, it wasn’t mine to tell.”
“Yeah. I know.”
He wraps his arms around me. “Are you mad at Ali?”
“No, I’m hurt. I thought we were best friends but she couldn’t trust me…” I sigh. “But I guess I’m the least of her problems right now.”
“Nick.”
“Nick,” I agree. “Have you seen him since?”
“Yeah. He came over, yelled at me for not telling him, started crying and talked to me about the whole Ali situation.”
“Is he real pissed?”
“Oh yeah,” Brian sighs. “But he does love Ali… I really don’t know how he’s goin’ to get over it though.”
“I hope he does,” I say. “For Ali’s sake.”
I’m woken up by Brian kissing my bare shoulder. I open my eyes and he smiles, moving to kiss my lips. Before he can settle himself on top of me I catch sight of the time. It’s 11am.
“Shit!” I exclaim, jumping out of bed. “It’s 11am!”
Brian groans and lies back heavily. “So?”
“So, I have a meeting with Teen Girl at 12pm and I’m well on the way to bein’ late!” I lean over and kiss Brian quickly, intending to race into the shower. But he pulls me back down onto the bed and starts kissing me all over. “Bri… Honey…” I protest half-heartedly. “I really should go…”
“Gimme another hour… Or two…”
“Or three…?” I giggle.
He looks at me seriously. “Maybe a week…?”
“Hey Jade,” says Chad rushing over to his chair and sitting down. “SO sorry I’m late.”
“No problem,” I smile at him, deciding not to confess that I had been pretty late myself. I had only just sat down when he came in actually.
“How’ve you been girl?”
“Just fine. You?”
“Oh, it’s been CRAZY here lately!” Chad is the features editor for Teen Girl. We met at a very dull industry awards party and had kept each other amused throughout the speeches. “You wouldn’t believe how much hassle it is putting out a summer issue!” he sighs dramatically and then laughs. “Ok, PLEASE tell me you’re free the week of the 23rd?”
“Uh, I’m free,” I say with a laugh.
“Oh saviour!” he yells at me, handing over a thick envelope. “Would you write a feature for me? It’s kinda cool I think.”
“Oh yeah? NOW I’m worried…” I open the envelope as he continues talking.
“No, really it’s good. We get SO many letters from girls wanting to become pop dancers so we figured we’d do a week as a dancer type thing. Y’know, send somebody out and train them up, and have them spend a week on a tour dancing. And hey presto! Great feature!”
I laugh at his excitement. “Great idea. So where do I come in?”
“You, my dear Jade, are going to be our dancing writer.”
“No way!” I stare at him and start giggling. “I can’t dance Chad. You know that!”
“Sure you can! You’ll get almost a week of tuition before joining the tour. You’ll be fine.”
“Uh huh… No,” I shake my head.
“Jade…” he starts wheedling. “You’re my ONLY chance… Oh please sweet thing… You’re such a star… Four pages and a HUGE by-line are yours…”
“On the cover?”
“On the cover. Top billing.”
“Hm…” I look at him. “Ok then. But only cos you asked so nicely.”
He grins. “Thanks!”
“Whose tour?” I ask, scanning the briefing in the envelope.
“Next page.”
I turn over and read until about halfway down. “Oh no!” I glare at him. “No way am I goin’ on her tour!”
“Coulda been worse,” he shrugs. “Coulda been Christina.”
“True,” I agree with a shudder. “But Britney Spears?! She’s supposed to be a real bitch!”
“I dunno,” he shrugs. “But you’ll be writing about the dancers. I bet you hardly ever see her.”
“I better not.”
“Unbelievable!” I yell, racing into the lounge expecting to see Brian. Instead it’s Ali. I stop and stare at her. I’m not sure what to say. Part of me wants to give her a hug and listen to all her troubles and the other part wants to hit her for not trusting me. The look on her face tells me that she knows exactly what I’m thinking. “Hi Ali.”
“Hi Jade,” she replies with a cautious smile. “What’s unbelievable?”
“I just got back from a meeting with Teen Girl. They want me to join Britney Spears’ tour as a dancer.”
“Britney’s?! Dancer?! You?!”
“Yup to all three,” I giggle and she joins in. “I’m gonna dance to Oops!”
“Oops you tripped Britney again!” Ali sings and we end up on the floor for laughing too much. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you Jade,” she says when we stop laughing.
“It’s ok. I mean, I was pretty hurt but I’m not gonna drop you over it. You’re my best friend.”
“Thanks,” she smiles. “And don’t blame Brian… He wanted to tell you.”
“I know. I went to see him and we’ve sorted a few things out.”
“Back on?”
“Yup.”
“Great!” she smiles but her smile fades quickly.
“What’s happening with Nick?”
“Nothing,” tears fill her eyes. “I went to see him last night and he didn’t want to know.”
“Give him a little time,” I advise, pulling her into my arms. “He loves you.”
“He doesn’t love me Jade,” I say sadly and stand up out of her reach. I know she’s only trying to comfort me and make me feel better but the only person who can do that is Nick. And he’s not exactly offering.
“Ali…” she says sympathetically.
“Don’t do that Jade! I don’t need your sympathy!” I yell and run into my room, shutting the door behind me. The last thing I need is sympathy from Jade.