Jaymee sat down at a table, reaching thirstily for her drink. Ryan had left a few minutes ago with fellow cast members Wayne, Drew, Greg and Colin to "prepare".

Gayle and Colin had been out on the dance floor each dance since the first. Ryan and Jaymee had walked through the crowd, hand-in-hand, mingling. They had seen Wayne with his wife, Mandie, and Greg with his wife, Jennifer. Drew was acting as emcee for the evening--but Gayle and Colin were the ones they had really been watching.

To Jaymee's delight, with each dance, the two were getting closer. Ryan practically had had to drag Colin away to "prepare".

Jaymee looked up to see Gayle's flushed face as she joined Jaymee's table. "My feet hurt," she complained.

"Mine too." Jaymee leaned forward to talk to Gayle confidentially when suddenly the lights went dark. She and Gayle looked around worriedly before spotlights hit the dj's stand onstage...only it was gone.

"Come on!" Gayle grabbed Jaymee and pushed her way towards the stage beside Mandie and Jennifer.

"What's going on?" Jaymee asked.

"A surprise," Jennifer said, winking at Mandie.

Drew appeared. "We need a suggestion from the audience for a boy band." Drew walked over toward the girls. "How about you?"

Jennifer looked at Mandie knowingly and the two girls shouted, "O-Town!!"

Gayle and Jaymee looked at each other. O-Town???

"Wonderful suggestion." The lights dimmed even further. The cast and crew got quiet on the floor, wondering what was going on. Jaymee noticed five forms appear in the dark and sit on stools placed there onstage.

Music began and a spotlight hit Wayne. He began singing an uptempo number, encouraging the crowd to move along. Behind him, the four others were clapping their hands.

Jaymee and Gayle joined in as the lights came up onstage. Wayne stopped singing, glanced back and said, "Let's do it."

Drew, Greg, Ryan and Colin, microphones in hand, spread out on the edge of the stage. Colin and Ryan happened to be standing in front of Jaymee and Gayle, who were still looking bewildered.

A beat started up again and the five raised their mikes. They all began to rap in perfect unison.

Ryan sunk to his knees and looked at Jaymee.

He blew a kiss at Jaymee and moved on down the stage. Colin looked down at Gayle, did a goofy spin and held out his free arm towards her.

Colin stood and went to the center of the stage with the rest as the music faded. The crowd burst into deafening cheers.

Jaymee and Gayle went to the stage as Ryan and Colin, shrugging back into their jackets, came down the steps.

"I didn't know you guys could rap like that!" Jaymee exclaimed.

"That was perfect," Gayle added.

"Wayne talked us into it," Ryan said.

"Yeah, he said we had the natural auras to be rappers," Colin said. "We practiced all day yesterday."

"It was great," Jaymee said, wrapping her arms around Ryan.

It was quiet between the four. Jaymee pulled away to see Gayle's eyes on her. She saw the wanting in her eyes.

Gayle looked at Colin who smiled at her. "Don't smile at me," she growled. She ran across the room, her shoes tapping loudly against the floor.

"Gayle, wait!" Colin yelled, chasing after her.

Ryan and Jaymee glanced at each other. He grabbed her hand and they followed.

"Gayle, come back!" Colin said, throwing open the ballroom door and running out into the moonlit parking lot. He caught up to her as her high heels slowed her down. He grabbed her arm. "Gayle..."

"Let go of me!" she screamed, trying to pull away.

"No!" Colin said, turning her around to face him as Ryan and Jaymee stopped outside the door.

"How dare you!" Gayle yelled. "How dare you use my feelings against me?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Like you don't know. I can't believe I was starting to fall for you!"

Colin stopped and stared. "What?"

Gayle paused. What did I just say? "I can't believe you...dancing with me, making me laugh...that rap..."

"What the hell was wrong with that rap?" Colin demanded.

"I can't recall, not at all the last time a girl made me fall..." Gayle mimicked.

"That was just part of the song."

"Sure."

Colin glared at her. I can't believe she's doing this again...

All of a sudden, Colin reached out, grabbed her face gently and kissed her, closing his eyes and hoping for a response. He felt her body tense, then go limp and felt her hand fall onto his neck as he tightened his grip on her.

When they finally pulled away, Gayle, with tears in her eyes, slapped him and ran.

"Oh, no," Jaymee murmured, running to Colin who was standing alone. "Colin?"

"I...I...she..." he stumbled, unaware Jaymee and Ryan had seen the kiss and everything else. "Why does it have to be so hard to express feelings?"

Colin's eyes filled with tears. Jaymee reached out and pulled him into her arms.

"I thought it would be tonight. She looked so beautiful, and when we danced, we were so gentle with each other. I wanted to confess to her tonight that she's been on my mind ever since I met her. So I kissed her...but..." Colin couldn't go on.

"Colin, Colin...shhhh, it's all right," Jaymee whispered. She looked up at Ryan. "Colin, Ryan's going to take you back inside. I'm going to find Gayle and we'll get this all worked out."

"Don't tell her I cried. It makes me look bad," Colin said.

Jaymee laughed. Even when he's hurting, he still has a sense of humor. "Don't worry, I won't."

Part Eight (Complications of Love)