1. Well, I didn't see this one coming. by Poster_Girl
2. Claire Does Something Stupid. by Poster_Girl
3. Claire Becomes A (Secret) Backstreet Girl. by Poster_Girl
4. Nothing Could Be More Embarrassing Than This by Poster_Girl
5. The jig is up. They KNOW. by Poster_Girl
6. Back To "Normal" by Poster_Girl
7. Creepy Teacher Man. Year 2. by Poster_Girl
8. Prom and Tour Number Two. by Poster_Girl
9. Fun and Some Not-So-Fun in Hawaii. by Poster_Girl
Claire missed her boyfriend, which was a bit weird because they were still spending plenty of time together.
At least they were spending plenty of time together in company of others. Brian had mad e it difficult for them to have any alone time. But when he got to be too much Claire would appeal to Kevin, who would tell Brain to cool it and let them go off on their own for a bit.
However, Brian would soon get his wish for them to be separated. The Boys would be heading to Europe soon to continue their tour and would be gone until Christmas and Claire was going back home to Kentucky.
Claire wanted to go to Europe with them but everyone was against it, even Aj. One of the main reasons they didn’t want her to go was school.
They had all told her, “You have to go to school Claire,” except Nick. He wasn’t going to school himself so her skipping didn’t bother him.
Another strike against her was her parents. They were really the main force behind her not going. And the last thing against her was that she didn’t have the time to procure a passport. So Claire was going home and back to a “normal” life. Or a life as normal as she could manage being the sister of a Backstreet Boy and the girlfriend of another.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I’ll hide in your suitcase,” Claire declared. “I think I’ll fit.”
Aj laughed. He was packing, they would be setting off for California and the last three shows of the tour in a half hour.
Claire silently piled the folded clothing on the bed and sat cross legged in the suitcase.
Aj came out of the bathroom, took one look at her and laughed.
“I told you I’d fit,” she said, spreading her arms out.
He walked over to her and put his hands on her cheeks and said, “Sweetheart, you know I’d love for you to come along to Europe. But you also know you can’t. You have to go home because you have to finish school. Your parents need you at home. We’ve e gone over this before. And besides, if you don’t go I’ll just have to get you awesome presents wherever we go.”
Claire was about to reply when there was a knock at the door. Aj went to answer it and Claire stayed where she was, moving only to cross her arms.
When he returned, Aj was followed by Brian’s girlfriend Samantha, who giggled when she saw Claire.
“Come on dear, Brian wants to go down to the bus already.”
“Ugh,” Claire said, finally removing herself from Ad’s suitcase. “I guess I have to go.”
She put the clothes back, hugged Aj and set off with Samantha.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The buses had stopped to refuel and so everyone could grab food and stretch their legs.
They still had a lot of ground to cover, most of which would be gone over night.
The bus Claire was on had become really crowded. Not only were Brian and Samantha on it, but Kevin and his girlfriend Kristin had joined them. Claire had a plan to escape the monkey cage though.
“Oh Brian, my dear brother,” she called from the door of the bus.
“Yes Claire?” he asked.
“I have a question for you.”
“Yes?” he repeated.
“Is it ok if I ride the rest of the way to California with Howie and Aj?”
“No.”
“Brian, come on! Do you really think Howie will let Aj and I do anything? Besides Kev, he’s the most responsible person on this tour!” Claire whined. Brian knew she was right and she wasn’t going to shut up until she got her way.
“No Claire.”
“But Brian!”
“Claire, I said no!” Brian said rather sharply.
Claire huffed. Kevin would be on her side. She only had to wait for him to come out of Taco Bell.
When Kevin returned to the bus, he found Claire and Brian giving one another death glares while Samantha and Kristin watched from a window and giggled.
“Alright,” he said, slipping to “dad” mode. “What’s going on?”
Claire turned, “I asked Brian if I could ride the rest of the way to California with Howie and Aj. He’s being a giant weenie and said no.”
Kris and Leigh laughed the hardest yet at Brian being called a weenie.
“Well he does have a point. You’d be on the bus overnight.”
“I know that. Like I told my brother, do you really think Howie, who’s just as responsible as you, would let us get away with anything?”
Kevin turned to Brian and said, “She does have a point. Howie is responsible enough to watch h them.”
“Kevin, Aj is her boyfriend,” Brian shuddered when he said ‘boyfriend’, “Do you really think it’s a good idea for them to be alone? Overnight. On a bus?”
“Brian, we’ve been alone together at night plenty of times the entire tour. If we haven’t done anything by no, which we haven’t, I highly doubt we’d manage to with Howie watching us like a hawk,” Claire told him.
She looked at all of them, Kristin and Samantha included. “All I want to do is spend a little time with him. You guys are leaving for Europe soon and I won’t see ANY of you for MONTHS. Please?” She was pleading now.
Brian and Kevin looked at one another, having a silent, private conversation. They looked at Claire, who was now close to crying, and then at their girlfriends. “Ok, you can go with them.”
“Thank you. Thank you. THANK YOU!” she squealed.
Claire ran onto the bus and grabbed her backpack, as it held things she would need, hugged Brian and Kevin and bounded down the bus stairs and ran over to Aj and Howie’s bus and climbed aboard.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
They were getting ready for their flights the next day. Everyone was doing laundry and running around for last minute items, Claire, on the other hand, was crying again.
Brian, Kevin, Kristin and Samantha had all tried calming her down but nothing they did worked. Aj was taking his turn now.
Aj and Claire were in his and Nick’s hotel room and he had his arms wrapped around her. “It’ll be alright Claire, I promise.”
Claire shook her head. “You’ll be in Europe. Everyone there is going to be so much more beautiful than I am. Someone else will turn your head.”
“How can you say that honey? Especially after a few nights ago?” he was referring to, of course, the night that he and Claire had spent alone on his and Howie’s bus. Nick had, at last minute, asked Howie to come play video games on his bus and Howie agreed, leaving Claire and Aj alone. “Do you really think I’d even want to look at another girl? And do you honestly think your brother and cousin would let me get away with it if I did? They’d pound me into the ground and you know it.”
Claire giggled feebly. It was true. Brian and Kevin WOULD go after him if he so much as THOUGHT about cheating on her.
“I’m sorry,” she said, sitting on the bed. “I just don’t want to go home. Aside from the fact that I’d get to be with you longer, I’ve never been to Europe and I really wanna go!” Claire was whining (which made her sound childish) but she didn’t care.
“Well then,” Aj said. “I’ll just have to take you another time because you have to go home.”
Claire pouted. “I know I do. But I don’t have to like it.”
“I know you don’t,” he said, kissing her forehead. “But you’ll be glad you do.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Everyone had agreed to go out for dinner that night. Three people had voted for a fancy restaurant, but everyone else had been against it; they’d wanted something “fun”. They ended up at a place called In-N-Out.
Claire watched as Nick silently loaded a fry with the sauce from his cheeseburger and launched it a table away from him.
It landed right smack between Brian’s eyes. Michelle and Nick cracked up. It took everyone else a few seconds to realize what had transpired, but then they too joined in on the laughing.
Even Brian laughed.
“You have got to torture Brian for me when you guys are in Europe,” Claire told Nick.
“Oh, don’t worry,” he told her. “I will.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Claire’s flight left an hour and a half before everyone else’s. She wasn’t looking forward to it.
They had been at the airport for an hour now. Claire’s bags had been checked, as had everyone else’s, and they wren waiting together for their flight’s boarding calls to be issued.
Claire and Aj were huddled together, as far away from the others as they could manage.
“I really don’t want to go,” Claire said for what seemed like the millionth time that morning.
“I know sweetheart. I don’t want you to either. But we don’t have a choice in the matter. We both have things we’re off to do. But Christmas and New Years will be here before we know it and we’ll be together again.”
“I guess,” Claire said. “Your mom know’s my parents agreed to let me come visit for New Years doesn’t she?”
“She does. And she can’t wait to whip out all the embarrassing baby and beyond photos,” he laughed.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Claire,” Brian said. “They’re calling your flight.”
She sniffled, she’d been crying again. “I’m coming,” she told him.
She and Aj had listened when Kevin had told them not to rub their relationship in Brian’s face and hadn’t so much as kissed in front of him (well, not THAT much anyway).
Claire was now fighting the urge to grab hold of her boyfriend and not let go. He was her first serious boyfriend and she’d gotten attached to him rather quickly.
She started to walk to her gate but stopped and looked back at Aj. He looked sad.
“What they hell,” she thought. Claire turned and ran back to him and kissed him in front of everyone. He squeezed her tight and kissed back.
After a moment, Claire let go. She said goodbye to everyone once more and boarded her plane home.
I am so so so so so so so sorry it took so long to update this. My laptop decided that it would shut down the internet every time I tried posting it from home and I can only use the school computers when I have class.
I hope you guys enjoy this and I have a lot more written.
Oh! and I realized that some of the things I'm writing about would not match up to when they happened in real BSB life. I hope you forgive me for that.
Claire walked into her first period American History class and was immediately tackled and knocked to the ground.
She heard squeals of, “IT’S CLAIRE!!!” before she saw her four best friends.
Jenna, Aria, Megan and Stephenie all climbed to their feet and grinned down at her.
“A little help would be nice,” she told them, returning the grin.
A male hand shot out and Claire grasped it and was hauled back to her feet.
“Well Claire, I must say, you look fantastically gorgeous today.”
“Thank you Sam, but I’m afraid it still isn’t going to happen,” Claire told her classmate.
Sam had been crushin’ on her since their first day at Tate’s Creek as freshmen.
“Can’t blame a guy for trying, even if it never works.”
“No Sam, you can’t. Did you have a good summer?”
“You know it Clairebear.” Everyone called Claire ‘Clairebear’.
Before Claire could answer Sam, she was sitting in a desk chair and her friends were claiming her attention.
“Where’d you go this summer?”
“Why do you look so fantastic?”
“How come you have a gorgeous tan?”
“Why didn’t you tell us you were leaving?”
Claire took a deep breath and answered, “I was travelling with my brother. I always, well not ALWAYS, look fantastic. I was in the sun a lot. Outdoor venus are good for something. And I don’t know. Brian didn’t specifically prohibit me from telling anyone, I just didn’t tell anyone.’
All of her friends knew what her brother did for a living but Jenna’s eyes lit up when Claire mentioned Brian. She’d had the biggest crush on Brian ever since Claire’s seventh birthday party when he’d kissed her on the cheek.
“YOU WENT ON TOUR WITH THE BACKSTREET BOYS?!?!?!” they shouted as their teacher, Mr. Edwards walked in.
“Well, it’s nice to see that the Gorgeous Girls are finally back together, but we need to start class now.”
Claire didn’t like Mr. Edwards very much. He was kinda creepy. Plus, he looked at her and her friends (most girls in general really) rather oddly. Claire didn’t like it.
Mr. Edwards walked to his desk and said, “I’m sure you were all fascinated by Claire’s summer but it’s time for American History.”
He began talking and as he did, he walked around the room. Claire noticed how uncomfortable all the girls in class, Aria in particular, looked as he passed them.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I love having my mother work in the office,” Stephenie said.
Steph’s mom did work in the school office. And every year she managed to have Claire, Aria, Steph, Megan and Jenna in the same classes. Having them all together was actually safer for the students and teachers because if they were in different classes, they tended to get a bit crazy.
“Is it just me or did Edwards get uber creepy over the summer?” Claire asked.
The girls were sitting at their usual lunch table, discussing their summers and morning classes.
“He’s definitely gotten creepier,’ Megan said. “I don’t like him.”
“So,” Aria said. “Tell us more about touring this summer.”
Claire smiled, this was an easy subject. “What do you want to know?”
“Did you have fun? What was your favorite stop? Least favorite stop? Did you kiss any of them? Did you do more than kiss? Who did you kiss? Did you perform with them> did you shop in good places? Where are they now?”
Claire took another deep breath and answered her friends as rapidly as they had fired questions at her. “Yes I had fun. My favorite stop was,” she blushed. “Well technically it wasn’t a stop but it was on the way to California. Oakland was my least favorite stop. I did kiss on of them and yes, we did more than kiss. Of course I shopped in good places and they are in Europe getting ready to start the European leg of the tour.”
“Who did you do more than kiss with? Tell us woman!” Megan demanded.
Claire blushed. No one, not even Brian’s girlfriend Samantha whom Claire was pretty close to knew she had slept with Aj.
“Aj,” she answered quietly.
The girls whistled. “You lucky bitch. He’s gorgeous.”
“I know,” she said. “He also happens to be my boyfriend.”
There was more squealing than there had been in the classroom that morning. Heads in the cafeteria were starting to turn to them. They weren’t known as the loudest girls in school for nothing.
“Hush, I’d rather not have the entire school find out I’m no longer a virgin just yet.”
They instantly shut up. “Tell us more!”
“Well,” Claire began. “I talked Brian and Kevin into letting me finish the ride to California on Aj and Howie’s bus. Last minute Nick asked Howie to come to his bus and play video games and Howie went. AJ and I had the bus to ourselves for the night. It was…”
She didn’t finish the thought, there really wasn’t a way to describe it.
The bell rang, signaling an end to free time and told them to get their butts to class.
“You WILL give us more details later,” Aria said as they headed off to gym.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Can I come over?” Aria asked.
“Of course. My parents are working so we’ll be alone. You should stay for dinner.”
“I will Claire, but first, I really need to talk. I’ll be there in ten okay?”
“Sure,” Claire was nervous. Something was really wrong with Aria.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“WHAT?!” Claire yelled. “HE WHAT?!”
“he told me to see him after school was out. I told him I had practice so he said to meet him after that. I went to the meeting because I thought I was in trouble,” Aria was balling. “Well, I WAS in trouble just not the kind I thought I was. He made me have sex with him. I told him no and he didn’t listen. And now I think I’m pregnant. I don’t know what to do.”
Claire hugged her friend and her mind went to work. There had to be something they could do.
“You know,” she said. “Principal Robbinsen lives next door. We need to speak to him.”
“But what if he doesn’t believe me? What if I get in trouble?”
“Aria, honey, you won’t be getting in trouble. Edwards will. I know for a fact that Robbinsen has gotten complaints about him before.”
Aria shook her head. “I’ll go,” she said. “But I’m not telling him I think I’m pregnant.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Claire led the way next door and knocked. Aria was still crying and Claire was close to it herself.
“Claire?” the principal asked, opening her door.
“Ma’am, I know you don’t like when students drop by unexpectedly but I figured you wouldn’t mind in this case because it involves a teacher at school.”
“A teacher? Miss Mayne are you okay?”
Aria, who was now sobbing loudly, shook her head.
“Come in, come in. Miss Littrell, I believe you will have to tell me what’s going on. I gather it involves Miss Mayne and she seems unable to talk at the moment.”
They sat down in the principal’s living room and Aria attached herself to Claire who hugged her back.
Claire watched Principal Robbinsen’s face as she recounted Aria’s story to her. It was very troubled.
Principal Robbinsen spoke to Aria, “Miss Mayne, we must call the police. Do you think you can talk to them? It’s very important that you do. Do you wish for your parents to be called?”
“Yes. Please call them. I will be able to speak to the police.”
Claire heard a change in Aria’s voice. She knew her friend would do what was necessary to get Mr. Edwards in trouble for what he’d done to her. And who knew, he may have done it to other girls who were just too afraid to come forward.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hey hon,
I know I said I’d write before this but it’s been crazy lately. One of our teachers at school now resides I a prison cell. I call him Mr. Creepy Teacher Man. He was just odd and made all the girls in his classes, all the girls he came in contact with actually, extremely uncomfortable. He did something he shouldn’t have to one of his students who happens to be a friend of mine. I think my brother had him as a teacher when he was here. You should ask him. But anyhoo, how’s the tour going? Tell everyone I say hello and sing a song for me. I’d love to write more, but I’ve got a ton of homework to catch up because of what recently happened. So good luck with the rest of the tour.
Love ya, Claire.
Claire read the letter over and packaged it. Her mom was going to drop it off on her way to Aunt Ann’s. Claire, as she had just written, was staying home to catch up on the zillion homework assignments she’d put off during the recent trial. It was going to take her forever.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“CLAIRE!!!”
Claire turned away from her open locker and saw Aria was running to her. Aria had been seeing a therapist and was making a good recovery.
“Yes?” she asked, smiling. Aria was obviously happy about something.
“GUESS WHAT!” Aria screamed inches from Claire’s face.
“Um. Those flying pigs finally descended from Mt. Olympus and turned your backyard into a zoo full of other worldly creatures?”
“No. But that would be so COOL!”
“Tell me then.”
“I’m not pregnant,” she whispered in Claire’s ear.
“That’s awesome.”
The friends squealed. “We must celebrate,” Aria said.
“Of course. It’s time for our slumber party. We’ll turn it into a celebration.” The friends always had a back-to-school slumber party the end of the first month of school but it had been pushed back this year for obvious reasons.
“Awesome. It must be something fun.”
“Of course. We always do fun stuff. Well, except for that one time in seventh grade.”
They giggled and blushed. “Oh yeah. That was definitely NOT fun.”
Jenna, Megan and Steph joined them and the five girls linked arms and skipped of down the hall singing, “We’re off to see the wizard…”
"So, are you going to prom?" Aria asked.
"I want to but I don't think Alex will be able to," Claire confessed. She didn't like calling him Aj so she called him Alex just like his mom did. She and Aria were hanging out in her bedroom working on a project.
"Why wouldn't he?"
"Tour starts two days after. If I do go to prom I won't be going to Jen's after party because I have a VERY early flight the next day."
"You're so lucky," Aria complained. "You get to go on tour. Again."
Claire smiled. It had been pretty easy to convince her parents, brother and cousin to let her go again. She'd told them that she planned to keep a diary of things that happened on tour and use the stories as part of her senior project.
"AND you get all that alone time with your boyfriend. You officially suck Claire."
"You're still coming to the show at Rupp aren't you?"
"Duh. How could I pass up the opportunity to ogle Nick in person?" Aria laughed.
"Well then, I'll sneak you backstage and you can ogle him up close and personal." Aria had had a MAJOR crush on Nick ever since she'd answered the phone at Claire's and he'd been the one calling.
"SERIOUSLY?!?!?!" Claire nodded. "I take it back. You don't suck. You're the most AWESOME friend EVER."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I know I said I'd be able to go with you but I'm just not going to be able to make it," Aj said. "They've scheduled all sorts of extra rehearsals and junk. I'm sorry."
Claire was lying on her bed talking to Alex on the phone. They were, of course, talking about prom.
"It's ok. I kinda figured you'd be really busy and wouldn't be able to go. It's okay, it really is."
"You're not mad?"
"No. Why would I be?"
He laughed. "I don't know. I was just worried. You are still going right? You can't miss prom."
"I want to. But I don't know who I'll end up going with."
"I'm sure you'll find someone," Claire could hear the grimace in his voice as he said this.
"Whoever it is will be a friend."
Claire was about to say more but a person shouted in the background. "You'd better go. Whoever just yelled sounded angry. You're probably breaking into rehearsal time. I'll talk to you soon. I love you and have fun."
"Love ya too."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Immediately after hanging up with Alex, Claire had called Aria. They were talking about who Claire could go with when Aria's brother Joey had interrupted them.
"Ari, let me talk to Claire."
Aria hung up her extention and Joe said, "Hi.
"Well hi Joey. What do you want to talk about?" Claire asked; she knew that Joey, even though he was a year older, had always had a crush on her. And she may have had a teeny tiny one on him too.
"Well, I heard my sister's end of the conversation. And I started wondering if you'd go to prom with me?"
Claire smiled. "I'd love to," she told him. They talked a while longer, Aria now forgotten, and worked out the details. They only thing they'd left out was the color of Claire's dress.
"Wait!" Joey said, before she hung up. "What color is your dress going to be?"
"Orange." Besides purple, orange was Claire's favorite color. She had no idea why but she loved it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Ok Claire," Jackie, her mom said. "You've literally tried on EVERYsingle dress this place has. This is THE very last one."
Claire stuck her arm out and her mom draped the dress across it.
"Goodie! It's actually orange!" Not many of the discarded dresses had been orange and Claire didn't want to have to send her dress to be dyed.
She threw the curtain aside when she had the dress on. "I LOVE IT!! she declared.
The dress fell to her knees. The bottom hem was studded with rhinestones, as was the rest of the fluffy skirt. The halter style top was outlined with rhinestones. It might look weird to some people, but Claire loved it. "Alrighty then. Let's get it."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Are you sure you can't stay?" Mrs. Nielley asked. "You're always such fun in class."
"Sorry Mrs. Nielley. You're an awesome teacher and all but that tour bus is calling my name," Claire laughed. "But don't worry. I'll be back for senior year."
Claire and her parents had set it up with the principal, who was rather fond of both Kevin and Brian, so that she could take her finals two weeks early and leave on time with the tour. She'd just finished the last final which was Mrs.Nielley's history exam. It had actually been sort of fun.
Mrs. Nielley had taken the vacant history teacher position right when the Edwards trial had begun. And like Claire had told her, she was an awesome teacher and everyone loved her.
"You'll have to share stories with the class when you get back." Claire already knew that Mrs. Nielley would be her Civics/Econ teacher for Senior Year.
"Oh I will," Claire hugged her and set off for home. Tomorrow was prom and she had a bit of day-before prep to do.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Aria, Jenna, Megan and Stephenie had spent the night at Claire's and now all five girls were in various stages of prom-readiness.
"Claire your hair is gorgeous."
"Thanks." Claire had spent days going through magazines looking at hairstyles before she'd decided to improvise and create one herself. Her hair was parted on the right side and pulled together in a ballerina bun behind her left ear. When the guys showed up she was g oing to put the orange Alstroemeria in it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You look amazing," Joey said, slipping the corsage onto her wrist.
She smiled. "Thanks. You look pretty good yourself."
It took thirty minutes before the moms were satisfied that they had enough pictures.
"Be careful and have fun!" The five mothers called after their children.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Time for the last dance," the lead singer called out.
The opening notes of "I'll Never Break Your Heart," came through the speakers.
"I'm surprised," Claire said.
"Why?"
"Because they just released this song a few weeks ago and they were able to learn it quickly."
"But isn't it one of the songs they sang last summer?" Joey asked.
"Well yeah. But that wasj ust a teeny promo tour before they released their first album. This summer's the BIG tour. I won't be home until two days before school starts."
"Sounds like you've got a busy summer ahead."
"Oh I do," she told him. "But I'm really looking forward to it. It should be a blast."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Come on Clairebear, it's time to go."
Claire rolled over. "Five more minutes. Then I'll go to school."
"If I give you five more minutes you'll miss your flight," her dad said.
She bolted right out of bed. Claire'd chosen her travel clothes (sweat pants and a hoodie) the night before and had been packed for weeks.
"You get dressed. Luggage is already in the car. We'll stop somewhere for breakfast on the way. Mom and I'll wait in the car."
Pulling the hoodie over her hair (which was still prom ready) didn't mess it up and that made her laugh. She must've used a ton of hairspray; a shower was the first item on her agenda upon landing in Texas.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Claire was happily munching on a giant cinnamon-sugar pretzel as she waited to go through security. Her parents had said goodbye after she'd checked her bags and made the promise to call immediately upon spotting the first phone after landing.
She was excited to be back on tour, and was determined that this one wouldn't be marred by her doing something stupid (like last time) or a very overprotective older brother.
Claire was only dreading the plane ride; it was the longest she'd ever taken (on her own) and had decided to pass the time by reading IT by Stephen King.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Claire had always been a fast reader, she thought this was because she loved reading so much.
She was almost finished with IT by the time the pilot turned on the 'Fasten Seatbelts' sign and announced their descent.
Closing the book, she said,"You know, I wasn't afriad of clowns before. But now that I've nearly finished this book, I think I am," to the person next to her.
The grandmotherly woman chuckled. "Clowns aren't the problem with that book honey. That Stephen King has a twisted mind. But that's what makes him such a GOOD storyteller."
Claire laughed and tucked the book into her bag and prepared herself to land.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Once the plane actually landed, nerves hit Claire again, making her antsy to be off the plane and with everyone who was sure to be waiting.
She heard them before she saw them.
"CLAIRE! CLAIRE! CLAIRECLAIRECLAIRE!!!"
Someone must've given her brother large amounts of sugar. When they saw her, they all rushed her and she got one helluva group hug. Claire thought she would be permanently squished.
"Hi doll," Alex kissed her. "Are you sure you're ready for this again? It's bound to be a whole lot crazier than last time."
"Well now that you mention it...." Claire teased. "Of course I'm ready. This is going to be awesome!"
Once they had her luggage, Brian and Nick (who, apparently, also ingested large amounts of sugar) led the wayout of the airport singsing, "TOUR! TOUR! TOURTOURTOUR!" at the loudest volume their lungs allowed.
It was going to be an awesome summer alright.
The things I go through to post chapters for you guys. lol. Since my computer won't let me copy and paste anything from my stupid windows vista typing program I had to type this chapter in a blank email.
“Can we just stay here forever?”
Stretched out next to Claire, who had just spoken, Aj answered. “I think your brother would send a search party after us.”
Claire giggled. “I suppose you’re right. But I can dream can’t I?”
He leaned over her, Of course you can my dear,” he said, dropping a handful of cold sea water on her face.
She started. “You jerk!” she ran after him into the waves.
When Claire reached Aj, he picked her up and tossed her in the water.
She came up spitting salt water. “You’re dead Mclean,” she shouted and launched herself at him.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
This time, they both came up spitting salt water.
They were also laughing.
Aj kissed her. The combination of being in the sun, in Hawaii, in salt water up to her waist and being with her boyfriend made Claire dizzy. She wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.
Next thing she knew, she was lying in the sand as Aj untied her bikini top.
Claire stopped him before he got it completely off. “Aj, stop. We can’t,” she whispered.
“Why the hell not?”
“Sex on the beach is a drink. Not something I want to experience just yet. And ESPECIALLY not when my brother, cousin or your mother could sneak up on us at any second. It just isn’t a good idea.”
He groaned and rolled onto his back. “You’re killin’ me Littrell,” he said, watching as she sat up and retied her top.
“Surfing! Surfing! Surfing!”
Claire and Aj turned toward the oncoming chant. “See?” she whispered as Brian, nick, Howie and Kevin walked toward them. “They totally would’ve caught us. Howie would’ve been grossed out, Nick would’ve run away screaming and Brian and Kevin would now be in the middle of…” she turned. “Hi guys!”
“Hiya sis,” Brian said. “We’re gonna go take a surfing lesson. Do you guys want to tag along?”
“Sure! Aj,” she turned again. “Do you?”
“Not this time. I’ve already filled my sun quota for today. But you go and have fun. I’ll see you later.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“You should’ve gone surfing with us. It was fun,” Claire whispered.
“I wasn’t exactly in a state to stand up in front of Bri and Kev. They would’ve smushed me and you know it.”
“True. They would have,” she giggled.
“Oh you think it’s funny do you? You wanna laugh?” Aj turned and started tickling her sides.
Claire was most ticklish on her sides and she was soon out of breath from laughing.
“Stop…please…can’t…breathe!”
“You’re laughing, of course you can breathe. And anyway, you know the price you must pay to get me to stop,” he laughed back. They’d played this tickling game once before.
Claire shook her head. “We can’t!” she hissed, still laughing. “Brother’s next door.”
“So we’ll be quiet,” he kissed her.
Most kisses-while-laughing weren’t sexy, but somehow, the kisses-while-laughing Claire had shared with Aj were. They were Claire’s most favorite kind of kiss.
“When are we ever quiet?” Claire surrendered. “I give up. You win.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Stay here,” Claire heard. She turned from tying her shoes. “You know I can’t. Brian would have a cow. So would just about everyone else. Not your mom though, she likes me.”
“So do I. So stay with me.”
‘Sorry hun, we’ve both got big days ahead of us,” she leaned down and kissed him. “And we can use the sleep. So Good night my love. I shall see you tomorrow.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Are you sure we’re gonna get away with this?” Claire whispered.
“Of course we are,” Nick replied. “We always play pranks on each other.”
“Well, I don’t think anyone’s gonna like this one.”
Nick had come up with a joke for Claire to help him with and now she didn’t know what on earth made her agree to help. She was having second thoughts about it now.
“Lighten up Claire,” he scoffed.
“Brian doesn’t like heights. Telling him I’m stuck up here and that he has to come get me isn’t gonna make him happy.”
Nick ignored her and Claire thought about backing out. But then she had an even better idea.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes. I need the bathroom,” she said and trotted off to find her brother.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“CLAIRE!!!” Nick yelled. “I am SO getting you back!”
Claire just laughed. “I’m sure you’ll try Nicky.” She had found Brian with the others and told them of Nick’s plan. They had quickly come up with a way to turn it around and now Nick was hanging in a net that was dangling fifteen feet above the stage.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“It was bound to happen,” Claire said from under her blanket. Only what she said sounded like, “Eeetasoundoooappen,” because of her stuffy nose.
Leighanne shooed Brian out of the room. “You guys have a show tomorrow night. You don’t wanna get sick. Go.”
“Thanks for taking care of her,” Brian said as he left the room.
“Yeah Leigh. Thanks for staying with me. I know taking care of your boyfriend’s little sister while she’s sick can’t be fun.”
“On the contrary. It’ll give us a chance to get to know one another better. And,” Leighanne smiled. “You can tell me all the embarrassing stuff Brian doesn’t want me to know.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Chicken pox? What the hell? I thought you had them when you were six,” Aj said.
“I did. Sometimes you can get them twice. And apparently the second time is WAY more itchy,” Claire replied.
“Don’t scratch.”
“Thanks genius, I kinda figured that out for myself.”
“Calamine lotion,” Aj stated.
“Yeah, it’s not working. Which really sucks.”
“Still, NO scratching.”
“Yeah yeah. You’re not the one who’s stuck inside with the chicken pox while you’re in freaking Hawaii. I’ll scratch if I want to.’
“There are hundreds of Hawaiians who get stuck inside with chicken pox every day,” he laughed.
“If you’re trying to make me feel better it’s not working. And besides, the Hawaiians who get stuck inside are FROM Hawaii. And me? I am NOT Hawaiian. I’m a Kentucky girl and I HATE being stuck inside when I really want to go surfing.”
All she heard was laughter. “Tell the guys I said ‘haha’ and I hope someone throws banana peels on stage and they slip.”
Claire was just a bit miffed that everyone found her discomfort funny. Once they got back to the mainland she’d be confined to her bus because she refused to go home. The only people allowed on the bus would be those who’d already suffered chicken pox, which meant no Howie and a new driver until the doctor declared her cured.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“I’m so coming back here soon,” Claire said. “Maybe for spring break.”
“Oh no you won’t!” Brian said. “Definitely NOT for spring break. Haven’t you ever seen how crazy things get on MTV? It’s worse in real life.”
Claire was covered from head-to-toe while in the sun and now she was mad at her brother. If they weren’t in the airport waiting to board their plane to Washington, she’d be screaming.
“Uh Bri? You’re not mom and dad. They already promised I could go on a spring break trip with Ari, Megs, Steph and Jen. Plus, I’ll be eighteen anyway and will go if I want to.”
“Sounds like Claire needs a little nappy,” Nick commented.
“Shut it Nick. I’m not really in the mood to go all slappy on people.”
Brian spoke, “Claire’s always been grouchy when she’s sick. I think she always will be. But Nick,” he turned to his friend. “I really, REALLY wouldn’t mess with her right now. She’s liable to take your head off.”
Claire nodded in agreement.
Kevin cracked up. “Bri, do you remember when we had to replace the Professor?”
“What do you mean REPLACE him?” Claire demanded. “He’s the same bear he’s always been.”
“No he’s not,” Brian laughed. “You got sick when you were four and everyone went on vacation without you. So you stayed with us. Me and Harold found you crying over Professor’s decapitated bear body. You said he was making fun of you and laughing because you were sick so you ripped his head off to shut him up.”
“Maybe I WILL leave her alone,” Nick muttered.
Everyone, even Claire, laughed.
“Man, I was a mean little kid. But why didn’t you guys just sew his head back on?”
They (Brian and Kevin, mostly Brian) told more embarrassing stories of Claire’s childhood. Aj learned stuff she never intended him to know.
Claire decided as they boarded the plane that payback sucked. She was never going to tell her brother’s girlfriend embarrassing stories about him ever again.