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Brian was at a loss as to what to tell his friend to do. Nick did keep Mandy from attacking Lorena, but he had promised Lorena he would break up with Mandy. How could Brian comfort his friend? The only thing he could think to tell him was that it would work out for the best in the long run.
He was glad Nick had found something to take up time, though; he had been reading books on reincarnation lately. Brian laughed to himself at the thought of living previous lives, but if it was keeping Nick occupied, he was glad.

"Nick, man, how long are you going to read about that stuff?" he asked.

"Until I find answers," he said, turning away from Brian to let him know that he didn't want to be disturbed anymore. Ever since that day in the hotel he had not had any contact with Lorena. He sent e-mails and he called, but she did not want to talk to him, and her roommate said she didn't want anything to do with him. He knew his comment about her would hurt extremely, but he didn't mean it, couldn't she understand that? He did it to save her from Mandy's wrath, but if he could take it back he would at any minute.

The last comment Lorena made to him intrigued him, and he was going to research past lives to find out if that is truly what his reccurring dream could be. In his heart it made perfect sense. The pain of the dream, the dream getting longer after meeting Lorena and the feelings he felt towards her and the queen. His mind, however, told him that it was impossible for him to have lived a past life, let alone many of them. This was his only life, and he had to deal with what was going on, but he could not stop following his heart.

His mind wandered back to the time they shared at the hotel, the stories they told each other, the bonding they had done. This was a girl he wanted to spend more time with. Then there was her kiss. It was so sweet and unexpected and so full of desire, not like his kisses with Mandy, which had become something he expected. That's just because Lorena is a different girl and her kisses are new to you. Kissing her was also dangerous, so there was an added amount of excitement, he told himself.

Focusing back on the book in his hand, Nick continued to read. "Your past lives will show themselves through your dreams. Your dreams will accurately portray events and emotions from your past lives, and will give you insights into the memory and information about why the memory is surfacing in your present life." Finally Nick had found something in this book that would help him to explain what has been going on. He continued to read while A.J. sat on his side of the bus, curiously watching Nick read about reincarnation.

*****

She wanted nothing to do with Nick anymore, not after what he said. The idea of having many lives with this man, who seemed to not want to even be with her in this life, was ludicrous. How could she even think that that indeed was the case between Nick and herself?

He filled her e-mail box daily with apology letters, saying that he only said what he had said for her protection. Bullshit, she thought to herself. If he really wanted to be with me, he would have broken it off with Mandy the same night that they had talked. He never wanted me. He was only fascinated with someone new. Lorena was fine with never talking to Nick again. She had been naive to think that some famous guy would want to actually be with her for more then just a fling.

For once Lorena's roommate had been kind, and when she asked to tell anyone named Nick that she wasn't there, she happily complied. Deep down, her roomie probably only did so to keep the phone line free for herself, but whatever the reasons, she was happy for them.

Her schoolwork was improving again since she spent much of her time in the library instead of in her room writing to Nick. She was packing her books into her backpack to head over to the library at the same time she recieved a phone call.

"Lorena, it's some girl. Not a guy's voice, so I figured it was safe to say that you were here."

Lorena took the phone from her roomie with a curious face and put the phone to her ear. "Hello?" she asked.

"So, is this the girl from the hotel lobby?" the voice on the other end asked.

"What hotel would you be referring to?"

"The one in New York. The one where you were seen talking to Nick in the lobby."

"I was there, yes, who is this?" Lorena asked, suddenly frightened at the prospect that Mandy found her number.

"Good, I wasn't sure this was your number. Lorena, this is LeighAnne, will you please talk to me?"

"What do you want? Do you want to try and convince me that Nick didn't mean what he said? That everything will work out in the end? I know he didn't mean what he said when he said he wanted to be with me and that he would break up with Mandy. What are you calling for? What do you want to try to convince me of?" Lorena had to contain herself from yelling her response in the phone.

Taken aback by Lorena's reponse, LeighAnne calmly answered her back. "I don't know the situation between you two. I'm not calling to convince you of anything, but to hear Nick out. Let him explain why he did what he did. Meet with him, face to face, and then you can decide. That is all I wanted to tell you."

"I can't believe he has his friends' girlfriends calling me now. Who else is he going to send to talk to me? Should I expect a call from Tyk soon?" she asked sarcastically.

"Nick doesn't know I'm calling you, that's why I wasn't sure if this was your number or not."

Not being able to control them anymore, Lorena let the tears fall. "I have to go. Please don't call anymore, I don't want to handle anymore of these emotions he seems to be able to put me through. You had good intentions, but they didn't help, I still want nothing to do with him." Without waiting for a response, Lorena hung up on LeighAnne.

Wiping her eyes before her roommate came back in the room, she hung the phone back up and continued to pack her books into her bag. Quickly she made her way to the library and found a secluded spot where she would be safe if she couldn't contain her tears any longer.