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~Brian’s point of view~

We met a few minutes later at the restaurant and, with the time being so early, we were seated almost immediately. I noticed after a few minutes that Kate was being unusually quiet.

“Are you excited to see your grandmother tomorrow?”

“Um, yeah, I’ve missed her. Not as excited as you seem to be about her coming back though,” she laughed.

Madeline looked confused. “Oh, do you know her grandmother?”

I paused. “No, I haven’t met her yet, but I need her opinion on some research I’m doing.”

“Research about what?” Madeline continued.

“A skull. One that AJ purchased, actually. It’s from South America.”

“Really?”

She seemed impressed, so I continued. “He got it from ebay, but there’s actually some fascinating history to go along with it.”

“What kind of history?”

I started to answer, but I felt a kick under the table. I shut my mouth again.

Madeline realized what had happened and looked at Nick. “What was that for?”

Nick looked at a loss for words, but Kate saved him. “Don’t worry, it’s not just you. Nick’s… well,” she added giving it another thought, “usually pretty secretive about this whole thing. I’ve been trying to figure it out all month.”

Kate sent me a look, wondering why I’d been so close to pursuing the conversation with Madeline when I never gave her straight answers about it.

“Ok?” Madeline still looked confused. “Let’s talk about something else then.”

“What are you going to do now that you don’t need to run the store anymore?” Nick asked Kate.

She shrugged. “I’ve been looking in the want ads. I still haven’t figured out what I want to do. It’s frustrating. By now, I should really have a career, at least that’s what I feel like.”

“Mmm,” I said, “The tacos look really good.” I noticed there was sudden silence, and I looked up from the menu.

Kate was staring at me.

I realized she’d been in the middle of something. “Sorry, what were you saying?”

Kate finished telling Nick about her occupational worries, and I noticed how pretty Madeline’s hair looked with the sunlight pouring in through the window.

We ate a quick meal, during which Madeline and I talked about basketball.

“And we all know how much you love it,” Madeline tried to pull Nick into the conversation. “Isn’t that where the whole B-rok nickname came from?”

Nick nodded. “I rock on the court,” he said superiorly, with a grin on his face. Madeline started to reply, but he had turned to Kate. “What about you? Are you into sports?”

Kate shook her head. “Not really. I mean, they are fun to play sometimes, but I’d fall asleep if I tried to watch it on TV or something.” She laughed. “I’m usually the one in the corner reading a book at Super Bowl parties.”

“That’s football,” I said.

“What?”

“Football, not basketball.”

“I know, but I was just talking about sports in general,” Kate said. Then she added, with a weak smile, “And, no, I didn’t know what the equivalent was called in the NBA.”

“It’s ok, my older brother is the same way. I’m all about the Kentucky Wildcats, and he couldn’t tell you the names of any of the teams they play. He’s not good at playing, either, but since it was just us growing up, I always made him come outside, anyway.”

I’d been staring at Madeline again, and I noticed her eyebrow raise.

When the check came, Nick offered to pay for it.

“Are you sure?” Madeline asked.

He nodded. “It’s no problem.”

“Thanks for dinner,” she said.

“Yeah, thank you,” Kate added. “That’s really nice of you.”

We began to head to the door, but Nick excused himself to run to the restroom. Kate must’ve decided that that was a good idea because she followed him to the back of the restaurant.

“We’ll see you outside,” I called to them and held the door open for Madeline. “I’m, uh, glad you came to eat with us,” I said sheepishly.

Madeline stared at me, a little inquisitively. “Me, too,” she finally decided. “It was… interesting.”

“Listen,” my palms were sweaty. “I was wondering… what are you doing this weekend?”

Madeline paused. “I don’t know. What’d you have in mind?”

“Well, if you were free Saturday… maybe a movie? Grab some coffee afterwards or something?”

“You and Kate…”

“What about us?”

“You aren’t dating?”

I shook my head. “No, I just know her through the shop downtown because she was filling in for her grandmother. We’re just friends.”

“Oh, ok. I thought… well, lots of things I thought didn’t turn out to be true today,” she said, more to herself. With sudden resolve, she said, “Sure. A movie would be great.”

I started to save her number in my cell phone. As I finished, I noticed that she was looking behind me.

I turned around and saw Nick. I started to say hello, but he looked annoyed for some reason.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked Madeline.

She agreed, and they headed towards Nick’s car. It was then I noticed that Kate was also there. She must’ve been beside him, half-hidden by some bushes lining the walkway to the front door of the Mexican restaurant.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey? Is that all you have to say to me?” she asked quietly, disbelieving.

“Umm…” I was confused.

“Did you just ask her out?”

“Yeah, we’re going to the movies Friday.”

Kate crossed her arms and looked at the sky. “I thought today was… and the party… never mind.”

A part of my brain suddenly reawakened. “Oh, yeah…”

“I must be an idiot.”

“You are not…” I began, suddenly feeling horrible.

“I had started thinking… stupid white horse…” she muttered to herself. Kate turned and started walking away.

“Wait, do you want a ride back to your car?” I asked. We’d ridden together from the studio.

She shook her head. “I’ll be fine on my own. I always have been.”

I tried to follow her, but when I caught up to her at the sidewalk, she shoved me away. I headed back towards the parking lot. What could I say to her? Nothing that would make the situation better. I was falling in love with Madeline.

~Nick’s point of view~

“Gracias,” a waiter said to Kate and me as we exited the building.

I nodded and said “God Bless.”

“Sure. A movie would be great.”

I heard Madeline saying this as I stepped outside. Then, I saw her telling Brian her phone number. What was going on?

Madeline saw me, and I was stunned. What was Brian thinking?

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” I said.

“Sure,” Madeline said without feeling, and she followed me away from him.

“You’re going out with him?”

“Yes. Do you have a problem with it?” Madeline asked, her hands on her hips.

“Well, I thought…” I suddenly realized how feeble my case was. She and I weren’t dating. We certainly weren’t a couple. Still, I thought there’d been a connection. “We…”

“We what? Do you remember what I said about liars?”

“Liars? What are you talking about?”

“Honesty is important to me. You’ve known that from the get-go. And that’s the one thing you haven’t been able to be.”

“What did I lie about?”

“It’s so stupid!” Madeline said. “At the party the other day, we were talking. And, well that conversation meant something to me, but apparently I’m delusional. You said you were the oldest. That you had younger brothers and sisters.’

“Yeah,” I said. “I am the oldest.”

Madeline looked at me skeptically. “Then how come as of fifteen minutes ago you have an older brother? And just one at that. I mean, who can’t keep track of their siblings?”

I realized the blunder. I’d said that today without even thinking; memories that shouldn’t have been mine had come into my mind. “Oh, well I can explain…”

Madeline waited to hear me out, but I realized that I couldn’t.

“I didn’t mean to lie. Please believe that.”

“Right,” she said. “Just an accident that you can’t keep track of what story you’re feeding to what girl? Am I old news already? You couldn’t stop staring at her in there.”

“It was just one…”

“What about the thing with ebay? You wouldn’t let Nick tell me about it… I don’t even know. But I don’t have the time to play mind games, alright?” Madeline stormed over to her car and was soon leaving the parking lot.

I walked over to Brian, thinking about what Madeline had told me. I had ignored her at lunch today. I’d been a little preoccupied with what Kate had been saying.

“Hey, Brian,” Brian said as I approached him.

“Dude, no one’s around. Why are you calling me Brian?”

“Because that’s your name, duh,” he said. I recognized the look on his face. Well, I should, it was my face. I was usually the one wearing the expression. He was in a goofy mood, probably because Madeline had just agreed to go out with him, and he was happy about it. I wore that look when someone else was having a blonde moment, since that’s what I was so often accused of.

“Very funny, Brian.”

“Nick,” he corrected me.

“This is no time to be joking around,” I told him. “How could you go behind my back and ask out Madeline?”

The smile faded from his face. “I know that Kevin found her for you, but you know how much I like her.”

“Kevin found her for you!”

“Are you feeling ok?” Now Brian simply looked concerned.

That feeling was mutual. “You promise you aren’t kidding around?”

“About what? I’m sorry about asking Madeline out, I didn’t know it would bother you so…” he looked past me. “Whoah, check out that boat.”

I could see a car passing, with a brand-new boat being pulled behind it. It looked like the newer model of the one I’d purchased a few years ago. I’m not that bad! I assured myself once again. Could he not stay focused for five minutes?

He turned back to me. “I think I’m falling in love with her.”

“What?” I raised by voice. “You barely know her! That’s impossible.” I stoo there for a few seconds. “Brian,” I said again, dread filling me.

He looked at me without any comprehension on his face.

“You don’t know who you are, do you?” I asked.

“Yeah. I’m Nick.”

Tomorrow suddenly seemed so far away. Was it going to be too late?