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"Jaaaade! Pick up the phone!" I heard Bianca scream from the living room. I grumbled as I rolled out of bed and picked up the extension in my room.

"Hello?" I said into the phone and heard the click of Bianca hanging up.

"Hey girl! What are you doing today?" I heard Nick’s voice boom through the receiver.

"Hey Nick. It’s so good to hear from you at …," I looked over at the clock, "11:30 in the morning."

"Hey, I’m sure you remember picking on me for still being asleep at 10:00 a.m. in Spain." He chuckled. "Anyways, answer my question, what are you doing today?"

"I have some fittings for clothes for the tour, but we’re supposed to be done by eight o’clock tonight. Why?" I asked and rubbed my eyes awake.

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to do something tonight. I dunno, since you don’t get out until eight, do you want to grab some dinner?" He asked.

"Um, yeah, that sounds great. Where do you wanna go?" I asked,

"You know that burger joint right around the corner?" He asked. "Let’s meet there at 8:30. I’ll see you then!" He hung up the phone and surprisingly, I smiled. This was all part of the goofiness that I had come to appreciate.

"Jade! You’d better get going, girl! We’ve gotta be about of here in 15 minutes! Just throw on some clothes and let’s go!"

About 20 minutes later, the four of us were standing on the corner, holding our purses and squinting through our sunglasses down the street, waiting for Frank to arrive. I had on a pair of ripped jeans and a white tank-top that showed off my pierced navel and the butterfly tattoo on the small of my back. Today, I was wearing a dangling butterfly ring in my stomach. I also had on a pair of flip-flops and pulled my hair into a wavy ponytail.

Bianca was next to me and she had on a pair of khaki capris, a brown t-shirt and 5 inch brown leather heels. Her hair was also up in a ponytail and the butterfly tattoo on the small of her back was showing. All four of us had decided to get the same tattoo in the same place, each with our names across the wings.

Next to Bianca was Savannah. She was wearing a turquoise tube top dress that stopped mid-thigh and she wore white-heeled flip-flops. Her hair was down and she had on turquoise earrings. To my left was Amethyst and she was wearing a flowered mini-skirt and a green halter-top. She had on flat sandals and a straw anklet.

The four of us must have looked like divas standing there, with our hands on our hips and our big, circle frame sunglasses, waiting for our limo. The life was certainly better than expected.

"Hey guys, I’m going to be right back. I’m gonna go grab a muffin from Starbucks real quick." I said and walked in the direction of Starbucks. I turned the corner only feet away and saw Kirsten sitting at a table by herself. I was about to walk up to her and say hello when another man joined her. He kissed her cheek, handed her a drink and sat across from her. He reached out and grabbed her hand and began to caress it carefully.

"Baby, I’m so glad that we’re together." I heard the mystery man say.

"Me too. I love you SO much Glenn." Kirsten said and leaned across the table, exposing her cleavage and kissed him passionately, in BROAD DAYLIGHT.

What the hell was this bitch thinking? Cheating on Nick like that. He was going to be devastated when he found out. I knew that I was going to have to tell him at dinner, but how?

"Jade! Are you ready? Frank’s here!" I heard Ames call my name. I jogged around the corner and met up with Frank and the girls. He smiled and winked at me as I got into the back with the girls.

"So, Jade. What are you going to do when you see Jordan today?" Bianca asked.

"Shit. You know what? I had totally forgotten about him." I admitted. What the hell was I going to do?

We pulled up to the studio and were greeted with 4 designers all at once. I was taken away to Hollister Fitting, Ames was gone to American Eagle, Savannah was off with Abercrombie & Fitch, and Bianca was whisked away to Aeropostale. About an hour and a half later, we switched designers and this happened two more times. Each of us had the opportunity to meet with the designers and tell them what we were looking to wear. They made us all choose signature colors so we would know what was made for whom. I chose green; Ames chose blue, Bianca chose red, and Savannah chose yellow. We were like, the colors of the rainbow.

After having a quick meeting, the girls and I were out of the studio by 7:15 p.m. I had been able to avoid Jordan all day and I ran out before he could take me aside. We got back to the apartment at 7:45 and I knew that I was supposed to meet Nick between 8:00 and 8:30. I ran upstairs, fixed my hair and touched up my make-up. I grabbed my purse and ran to the elevator. As I eagerly punched the button, the doors opened and I pushed the Lobby button. James greeted me and he smiled and pointed out the door.

"Mr. Carter just walked by. If you hurry, you can catch up to him." He winked and saluted me. I returned his gestures and walked out of the sliding doors. I saw Nick a few steps ahead and walked quickly to catch up to him.

"Hey hottie!" I said and put my arms around him in a hug.
"Hey you! I wasn’t expecting you for a few minutes." He said and returned my hug. He was wearing blue jeans and a plain white t-shirt. He also had on a baseball cap and brown flip-flops.

"What’s the cap for Nick?" I asked and tapped the bill.

"To keep a low profile." He said.

Nick’s POV

“Oooh. I forgot that you were a celebrity!" She said, and giggled. She was so cute when she giggled. I can’t wait to tell her about Kirsten.

"Yeah, well. I’m glad you forget things like that." I said and put my arm around her shoulders and walked with her into the restaurant. "I love this place because it’s never busy, but always seems to survive, and there is never any paparazzo."

"What? You don’t want to be seen with me in public?" She asked me. "No, I’m just kidding. I don’t know what it’s like yet, but I can almost predict we’ll be as BIG as the Backstreet Boys one day."

"You probably will be. The work you’re doing for charity and for these girls is awesome." I said as we sat down at my usual table. I took my hat off and put it in the chair next to me.

"So, what’s good to eat here?" She asked me and looked at the menu.

"Just about anything. I already know what I’m going to get. A bacon cheeseburger, medium well, no pickles or onions." I answered and looked at her.

"You know what, that sounds great. I think I’ll get the same." She said and put her menu down. The waitress came and we ordered our food and stared at each other. She started to giggle and I asked her why she was laughing.

"Because I was just sitting here thinking, ‘I wonder what his favorite color is’." She said and started to laugh again.

"It’s green. Why would you think of something like that?" I asked and her mouth dropped open. "What?"

"MY favorite color is green! I would ask something like that to get to know you. You and I know virtually nothing about each other, other than our names and the physical enticement we have for one another." She said and leaned back in her chair.

She always seemed to affect me, no matter what she was doing. The way she always brushed her bangs out of her eyes, her relaxed posture, her composed sense of self. Everything about this woman enticed me and attracted me more.

"Hello! Earth to Nickolas! Food’s here. I know I’m gorgeous, but you can tell me about it later." She said and snapped her fingers in front of my face.

I watched her as she ate her hamburger and couldn’t believe that the girl I was sitting across from was actually enjoying the food I liked. Kirsten wouldn’t go to a restaurant that had anything less than $50.00 on it, Paris hardly ever ate, and Willa complained about how I did everything, especially eating.

"So, what’s on your mind. You look totally lost in thought." She asked me.

"Don’t take this wrong, but I was comparing you to my ex-girlfriends." I said.

"You were? How?" She asked curiously.

"Well, none of them would have EVER sat here with me and eaten a hamburger and not like, thrown it up or complained that it wasn’t expensive enough, or that I was eating it wrong. I can actually sit here and enjoy a real meal with you." I said and picked up my burger for another bite.

"Well Nick, don’t you remember, I was eating your chocolate cake when we met." She laughed. "On a serious note though, there’s something I need to talk to you about."

"Yeah, I have something really important to tell you too." I said. "You go first."

"Um, ok, well, I don’t know how to tell you this. I guess I’ll just say it. I saw Kirsten today making out with some guy. IN BROAD DAYLIGHT." She said, putting extra emphasis on the last few words.

I stared at her blankly because I honestly couldn’t be happier that she had seen that, and then told me about it. That meant that she cared enough about me to talk about serious things with me.

"Yeah, I know. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about too. She and I broke up this morning. I woke up and she had called about 27 times. She came over and told me that she had re-met her first love and that she really wanted to go back with him. I was already over her because to be honest, all she ever wanted was sex. I mean, a relationship is not about sex only. It’s about the mental, emotional, spiritual, and lastly sexual connections that you feel with someone." I said.

"Like I do with you." She said and then her eyes got very big. She put her hand over her mouth and looked at me. "I’m so sorry. Forget I said that. Um, I have to go Nick. I’ll see you later." She said and grabbed her purse. She ran out of the restaurant and I saw her walking quickly past the window.

"Hey Joey! Put it on my tab and I’ll pay you back when I come next week!" I called out to the owner, a personal friend. I ran after her and when I finally caught up to her, I grabbed her by the arm and spun her around.

"Jade, why did you run away from me like that?" I asked her, trying to catch my breath.

"Nick, I totally embarrassed myself in that restaurant. I basically told you that I’ve fallen in love with you over the past week and made a complete fool of myself." She said and began to walk away again. I took a few quick steps and walked right next to her.

"No you didn’t Jade. You were honest. There’s nothing wrong with honesty. The truth is I like you a lot too. I’m not sure if I love you yet, but I’m willing to try. Will you give me a chance to try?" I asked her and took her hands in mine.

Jade’s POV

"Fish Bones, I really like you too. I didn’t mean to scare you with the "L" word because that’s not what I meant to say, but I do really want to try and have a relationship with you." I said and looked into his crystal clear blue eyes.

"Do me a favor Jade. Don’t tell anyone you call me Fish Bones." He said and smiled.

Before I knew what was happening, I felt his lips press lightly against mine and he was pulling me closer to him. My entire mind spun out of control. I closed my eyes to enjoy the moment and remembered everything that Nick and I had been through for the past week.

When he finally pulled away, he smiled at me. I couldn’t do anything but smile back. He laced his fingers through mine and used his free hand to trace my face. His touch made me shiver and I grabbed his arm for support.

We walked hand in hand until we reached the apartment building and walked in together. James smiled at us and I giggled at him. The awkward feelings of being alone for a LONG elevator ride were quickly abolished when Nick took my face in his hands and began kissing me again. I could have stood in the elevator kissing Nick forever, but that damned bell rang and announced that we were on my floor.

Nick walked me to the doors and kissed me softly on the lips and then kissed my forehead.

"Good night, Jade. I will see you tomorrow." He said and held my hand until he couldn’t reach anymore. I stared after him for a long time until he got onto the elevator. When I went inside I was met by four pairs of VERY curious eyes.