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* Chapter 20 *

"I know this really cool club," Meg said as we stood up to stretch our legs as the credits of the movie were playing. "Wanna go?"

"Sure," I replied as we turned and walked towards the door with the ‘exit’ sign above it.

We sang loudly to the radio as we drove to the club that Meg was talking about. There was a long line in front of the door by the bouncers, but we had absolutely no problems getting in because Meg was friends with one of the DJ’s.

"He used to live down the street from me in Philly," she said over the loud music as we made our way to a table and sat down.

It was obviously a 16 or older club so that there wasn’t any alcohol sold there, but the place was hopping anyway. Who says you need to be drunk to have a good time?!?

"Let’s go upstairs," Meg said as she pointed to the ceiling.

She grabbed my hand and yanked me over to the stairs that led to the next floor. On the second floor there was a live band playing music instead of a DJ as people danced wildly on the dance floor.

"Naw! Let’s go to the private floor," she said to me while walking towards the next flight of stairs, still hanging on to my hand. "It’s more exciting up there!"

"Name please," said the bouncer that was guarding the stairs.

"Megan Watson and guest," she hollered over the music.

"Go ahead Miss Watson," the bouncer said after he checked his list.

"Thank you," she said happily before we trudged up the stairs.

When we got to the top of the stairs, Meg pulled me to a table and we sat down as someone brought us some water.

"Meg!" a man screamed with delight as he ran up to the table and gave her a huge hug. "I haven’t seen you for so long!"

"I know!" she replied. "It’s been a long time!"

"So, what are you doing at my club?" he asked.

"I brought a friend with me. This is Liz," she said while pointing to me. "We came here to have a good time before she leaves town tomorrow night."

"Nice to meet you," he said while we shook hands.

"You too," I said with a smile.

"Well, you came on a good night," he said as he pointed to the dance floor. "Ever heard of the Backstreet Boys?"

"Yeah," Meg said while giving me an ‘oops’ look. "Why?"

"They’re right over there with N*Sync, Britney Spears, and a bunch of other people," he said, pointing to the other side of the dance floor. "They’re here for some sort of ‘label’ party or something."

"Hmph" I said.

"Cool huh?" he asked.

"Uh...sure," I finally replied after searching over the dance floor.

"Well, I have to go back and keep spinning the music," he said. "Let me know if you wanna hear something," he told us before he walked off.

‘What a way to ruin a perfectly good girls night out’ I thought as I slowly took a sip of my water. Meg must have sensed that something was wrong because she grabbed my hand again and pulled me over to the restrooms.

"Look," she said after we were in the girl’s bathroom. "Don’t let it get you down tonight. Please?" she pleaded. "We need to have fun tonight. I mean, it’s YOUR LAST NIGHT HERE!"

I knew she was right. I should just go out there and have fun.

"Do you have a rubber band?" I asked.

She searched her pockets and a few seconds later she handed me a large black elastic.

"Thanks," I said before I bent over, gathered my hair in a high ponytail, and put the elastic around it.

"Ready?" she asked as I stood up and fixed the bumps in the mirror.

"Yeah," I said with a smile. "Let’s go have some fun!!!"

We went back out to our table, but instead of sitting down, I pulled Meg over towards the dance floor as a country song came on.

"I know you hate country, but I’m going to teach you how to line dance," I said with an evil smile.

There really wasn’t anyone who knew how to do a line dance besides me so I ended up teaching a few more people than just Meg. We had sooo much fun! We danced the ‘electric slide’ to ‘The Boot Scootin Boogie’ by Brooks and Dunn before a slow mushy song came on. We were heading back to our table when Meg got asked to dance, so I just smiled and walked back our table by myself. That didn’t last long because a tall blond guy came up to the table.

"Care to dance?" he asked me with a smile.

"Sure," I replied as I got off the stool that I was sitting on and walked towards the dance floor with him.

When the song was over, he thanked me before I set out to find Meg. She must have been thinking the same thing.

"There you are," she said when I found her. "I was looking for ya."

"I was looking for you too!" I said with a laugh.

"Did you dance with anyone?" she asked as we went back to the middle of the dance floor.

"Yeah," I said over the music.

Pretty soon there was a circle going, so we went over to see what all the fuss was about. I nearly died laughing when I saw who it was that was busting the moves in the middle of the circle.

"What’s so funny?" Meg said as she poked me in the back. "I can’t see anything."

"You have got to see who is in the circle," I said as I pulled her alongside me in the front so she could see.

"Oh my gosh!" she screamed with delight before she broke out laughing.

We were laughing so hard that we had to break out of the crowd and stand away from the circle for a while until we settled down a little. Meg was laughing so hard that tears started streaming down her cheeks.

"I have never seen anything so funny!" I exclaimed between laughs.

That outburst didn’t help any...it only made Meg laugh more. By this time, she was like hyper and giddy at the same time. When we managed to stumble our way back to our table, she fell off her chair and started laughing and rolling on the floor. I would have been doing the same thing except I was wearing a somewhat short skirt and she was wearing pants.

"What’s so funny?" I heard a voice say loudly after I closed my eyes and tried to take a deep breath to stop laughing.

When I opened my eyes and saw the same person from the middle of the circle standing in front of us, I burst out laughing again.

"You are!" I yelled in-between laughing and gasping for air.

He only gave me a puzzled look in return as I started to catch my breath again and helped Meg off of the floor.

"It’s ok Howie," I said sympathetically as he sat in a chair with us at our table. "You just look funny doing AJ moves," I said with a laugh.

He just gave me a look like I was crazy or something.

"I love you too," he said sarcastically as if I hurt his feelings.

"I know," I replied with a smile. "Anyway, this is Meg," I said patting her shoulder.

"Yep," he said. "We’ve met."

"Huh?" I asked totally confused.

"We met earlier today at the studio when you were in the bathroom during break," Meg said. "He was going through a song with some chick...I don’t remember her name...Manda or something like that."

"Mandy," Howie corrected. "Mandy Moore."

"Oh," I said with a smile.

"Do any of the other guys know that you’re here?" he asked.

"Nope," I said before taking a sip of my water.

"Want me to go tell them?" he asked.

"Nope," I replied.

"Ok...do you want me to leave then?" he asked with a sly smile.

"Nope," Meg answered.

"I’ll leave you two here to talk and do whatever you are going to do," I said with an obnoxious smile.

"Talk," Meg said pointing her finger at me. "ONLY talk."

"Whatever," I said with a smile as I stood up. "Gotta go...the music calls," I said before making my way to the dance floor where everyone was grooving and having a good time.

I somehow made it to the middle of the dance floor and started dancing along with a small group of girls that were getting pretty crazy. That’s one good thing about clubs like this, no one knows anyone else so they aren’t afraid to get wild. And we did get wild! Just when we were really getting into the music, I felt someone grab onto my shoulders and start to pull me away.

"What the...," I started to say before I turned around and saw who it was. "How did you know I was here?"

"I heard Howie talking to some girl about you so I asked where you were," he explained as he looked me in the eye. "They pointed in this direction so I came to find ya."

"But why didn’t you let me finish this dance?" I whined. "I was having fun."

"Don’t know," he said with a shrug and a smile. "Forgive me?"

"Sure," I replied as ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’ by Savage Garden started playing.

"Wanna dance?" AJ asked.

"Actually...yeah," I said as I put my hands on his shoulders.

He draped his hands around my sides as the song played loudly over the speakers. I closed my eyes as AJ hummed the melody in my ear.

"So when are you going home?" AJ whispered in my ear.

"I’m flying out tomorrow night," I answered.

"Oh," he said sadly.

"When are you guys leaving for tour?" I asked.

"We’re leaving in about a week," he replied. "The break has been great."

"So you saw Howie talking to a girl huh?" I asked.

"Yeah. Do you know her?"

"Actually, I do. That was Meg...you know, the girl that invited me to do background vocals on her album?" I said.

"Oh yeah...I remember now," he said. "She looked different."

"Yeah. Anyway, the recording has been really fun," I said. "I think we did a great job on the songs that we chose. I’m really going to miss everything here."

"I know what you mean," he replied. "I get that feeling every time we leave."

"I can’t believe I’m leaving tomorrow," I said quietly.

"Speaking of tomorrow," he said. "Would you like to meet me for lunch?"

"I’d love to!" I answered happily as I listened to the last part of the song.

The song was over almost too quickly as couples began to part and groups began forming on the dance floor again. AJ leaned over and gave me a soft kiss on the lips before he turned and walked away. I was so shocked that I just stood there on the dance floor until someone calling my name snapped me back into reality.

"Hey Liz!" Nick exclaimed as he gave me an unexpected hug. "I saw you dancing with AJ. I didn’t know you were here!"

"Huh?" I asked confused. "Oh sorry Nick...I was just thinking...sorry about that."

I quickly pulled away from his awkward embrace and tried to walk away, but he grabbed my arm and insisted that I follow him. He led me onto a small private balcony on the side of the building that looked over the beach as the moon shone down on the water.

"That’s a gorgeous view," I said as I looked out over the water.

I was really only trying to avoid looking into his eyes. Why did he bring me out here anyway? I could hear the music faintly through the wall as he stood next to me and leaned against the railing. As we walked out I noticed that there were stairs from the balcony that led to the beach down below.

"So, when are you leaving?" he asked quietly as I turned to see him staring at me.

"Tomorrow night," I replied before turning back to the railing. "My flight leaves at 7:18 or something like that."

"Oh," he said with a sad sigh. "I know that I’ve only known you for like 4 days, but I’m going to miss you."

"I’ll miss you too," I said with a smile.

I turned my head to see him smiling as he too looked out at the water.

"So, how ‘bout we head back inside?" I asked while turning to head to the door.

"Ok," he said as he gave me another quick hug before opening the door for me.

"I’ll see you in a little bit," I said to him with a sly smile as we got to where we would go our separate ways.

"What’s that supposed to mean?" he asked in a slightly worried voice.

"Nothing," I said with a grin before I turned and walked away with him still standing there confused.

‘This is going to fun! I wish I had a video camera!’ I say to myself as I make my way to where Meg is still talking to Howie at our table.

"Hi guys," I say as I walk up to the table and sit in one of the empty chairs. "Whatcha talkin’ about?"

"Oh, you know," Howie said with a little shrug. "The weather...you...dancing...the guys...music...the usual."

"What were you saying about me?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing that you wouldn’t want us to talk about," Meg said with a reassuring smile.

Meg knew about the whole dance club thing with Nick...how I liked AJ...the recording with the guys. I told her the story about everything the day after I went to stay with her, so I knew that she could be trusted with that info.

"Ok then," I said with a smile in return. "Anyway...I need your help. Both of you."

"For what?" Howie asked.

For the next few minutes I told them my plan. It was a masterpiece of a plan and I knew that it would work!

"Oh," Howie said after I was done explaining. "They are not going to like this at all, but it’ll be dang funny to watch," he said with a laugh.

"Yep!" I said happily.

"So this is what you meant when you said that they were dead after they threw you in the pool?" Howie asked.

"Yep. No one said paybacks are a walk in the park," I replied with a smile.

"So what is it that you want us for?" Meg asked as I stole a drink of her water.

"I need you to go with me to talk to your friend and see if it’s ok if I use the mic," I said to Meg. "And I need you to make sure that they don’t take off anywhere," I said to Howie.

"I can do that," Howie replied with a smile.

"Good," I said as we all got up from the table. "This is going to be good!" I said before we all went our separate ways.

Meg and I went up to the DJ booth and talked to her friend that was running the deck. He was more than happy to be part of the joke. I grabbed the mic while he cued up some country music.

"Hi," I said in the mic. "How’s everyone tonight?"

I heard a loud cheer before I went on.

"That’s good to hear. Can you all do me a favor?" I asked.

I got a similar reaction from the crowd. By that time, I was standing at the front of the dance floor by the DJ booth with a spotlight on me so everyone knew who was talking to them.

"I need you all to form a huge circle on the dance floor really quickly...everyone needs to be part of this," I say as people start forming the circle. "Good," I say after everyone is in place.

"Now, may I please have Nick Carter and AJ McLean step into the middle," I say, trying not to laugh as they both give me surprised looks. "It’s ok guys," I say before they walk into the middle of the dance floor.

"By the way, does everyone know Nick and AJ?" I asked trying to keep the suspense up.

I could tell that they had no idea what was going on as they stood there on the dance floor.

"Here’s what going to happen," I start to say as the country music is turned up a little bit. "Nick and AJ are going to show us how to do a little country line dancing."

After I got done saying that, I motioned for Cash (the DJ) to blast the music. Nick and AJ just stood there in shock. People were starting to cheer for them as the music continued to play.

"Come on boys!" I say into the mic. "The crowd wants to see your skills!"

I looked around at the people to see the guys from N*Sync, Britney Spears, Howie, Meg, Kev, Bri and a ton of other people cheering them on. After a few minutes of seeing that they weren’t going to do anything until someone else joined them, I felt bad. I gave Cash the mic back, made my way through the line and headed for the middle of the circle.

"Gotcha!" I yelled as loudly as I could. "Here...I’ll teach you some moves."

I showed them a few steps as the circle of people began to break apart and people joined in on the line dance. When the song was over, Nick and AJ looked at each other, then looked at me and at each other again.

"Oh no you don’t," I said as I quickly backed away from them. "Not again!" I yelled as I turned around and practically ran to the table where Meg and Howie were laughing their heads off.

"Help!" I hollered at Meg as I reached the table. "Don’t let them find me," I said before taking off towards the balcony.

I ran out onto the balcony and was about half way down the stairs to the beach when AJ and Nick came running out the door. I continued down and took the steps two at a time as I tried my hardest to get away.

"You deserved it!" I yelled as I reached the bottom of the stairs and continued running left down the beach with them a ways behind me.

"We know," Nick yelled back as they got a little closer.

I saw a rollerblading trail a few feet ahead of me so I continued towards it. My feet were pounding loudly against the cement of the trail as I made my way towards a parking lot that was visible from the street-lamp light. When I got to the parking lot, I saw a bench under a lamppost and made my way over to it so that I could sit and catch my breath.

"Ok," I said before collapsing onto the bench. "I give up!" I yelled to them as AJ ran up to me with Nick lagging behind a little.

When I looked up and saw AJ standing in front of me with his hands folded over his chest and staring at me like he was thinking of something to get me back, I burst out laughing. I couldn’t help but remember how silly Howie looked when he was trying to be like AJ on the dance floor.

"What?" AJ asked like he was annoyed.

"Just remembering something," I said between laughs as Nick finally jogged up to where we were and sat down on the bench on my right side.

"Oh is that so?" AJ asked.

"Yeah," I said with another laugh before he leaned over and started tickling me.

A few seconds after he started tickling me, Nick decided to join in.

"Stop!" I screamed after a few seconds. "I...can’t...breathe!" I yelled as I tried to get up and away from their torturing hands.

"You aren’t getting away that easily," Nick said as he grabbed my right wrist and pulled me back onto the bench.

By this time, AJ was also sitting on the bench on my left side.

"You know you guys deserved that," I said before slapping Nick’s hand playfully as he tried to tickle me again. "Ya know, for the whole pool thing. That was totally embarrassing on my part."

"Why would it be embarrassing?" AJ asked in a voice that sounded like he was mocking me.

"Because I didn’t know anyone there besides you guys...and everyone was laughing at me...and I was ya know, wearing a white shirt," I said completely embarrassed by just mentioning the shirt reason. "That’s why."

"Aaww come on," Nick said with a little sympathetic laugh. "I’m sure it wasn’t that bad."

"Yeah, it was," I said as they both fell silent.

I looked at both of them and noticed that they were both kind of off in their own thoughts, so I took the perfect opportunity to run. I hopped up and before they knew it, I was running back towards the steps to the club.

"Hey!" Nick yelled at me as they got up and started to run after me. "No fair!"

"Totally fair!" I yelled back as I reached the balcony door.

After I quickly made my way back inside, I saw Meg and Howie slow dancing on the dance floor. ‘How cute!’ I thought to myself as I headed off to a dark table in the back of the room. They definitely wouldn’t find me here. I sat down on one of the stools so that I could see the dance floor and watched as both Nick and AJ made their way towards the table that I was sitting at before with Meg. When they didn’t see me there, they turned to the dance floor and started walking between couples to see if I was hiding amongst the dancing people.

"Those two are so hopeless," I said as I watched them both give up and head back towards their own table while I pulled the rubber band out of my hair and put it around my wrist. "I rule!"

"Says who?" a voice from behind me said sarcastically.

"Says me," I replied while I turned to see who was standing against the wall. "Hey Kev."

"Anyone sitting here," he said pointing to the stool next to me.

"Nope," I said. "It’s reserved for you," I said jokingly as I ran my fingers through my hair a few times.

"Thanks," he said with a smile.

"How come you’re back here by yourself?" I asked him as I continued to watch the couples dancing.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," he said as he turned to look at me.

"You first," I said.

"Well, I’m actually just trying to avoid all the commotion," he answered. "I’m tired and I can’t leave until the rest of them are ready to go too."

"Oh. I’m sorry," I said. "I’m actually hiding from Nick and AJ," I said with a little laugh.

"I wonder why..." Kev said sarcastically with a smile.

"Hey! They deserved it!" I said to defend myself. "They threw me in the pool at Nick’s house."

"Don’t feel bad. They do that to everyone!" he replied.

"Well, at least next time they’ll think twice about doing it," I said happily as the slow song ended.

"Hey Kev...Have you met Meg?" I asked while looking at Meg and Howie sitting at the table.

"Uh...the one from the club the other night?"

"Yep. Come on," I said as I grabbed his hand and stood up, pulling him up too.

I led him to the table that Meg was sitting at by herself. Howie must have gone off to see where the rest of the guys had taken off to or something like that.

"Hey Meg!" I said as we walked up to the table.

"Hi Els," she said as I sat down next to her. "Hey Kevin."

"Hi," he replied.

"So, are you having fun with Howie?" I asked.

"Yeah!" she replied. "He’s really great."

Kev gave me a confused look and I raised my eyebrows at his facial expression.

"Oh, I get it," he finally said after a few seconds. "You and Howie have a little fling going," he said as he pointed at Meg.

"A little fling?" I said with a laugh. "I think it’s going to be more than that," I whispered to him.

"Shut up," Meg said playfully to us.

"Such harsh words...naughty...naughty," said someone behind me somewhere.

"Hi AJ," Meg said while looking past me at AJ who was walking up to the table.

"There you are," AJ said as he took the seat next to me. "I’ve been looking for you," he said with an evil voice.

"I’ve been in here all along," I said as I turned my head and gave Kev a wink.

"Yeah," Kev said. "She was talking to me. Where were you looking...under the tables or something?" he asked sarcastically.

"Ha ha, very funny Kev," AJ replied as he gave Kev a glare. "Anyway, I need to talk to you," he said seriously, turning his attention back to me.

"Uh oh," Meg said jokingly. "Someone’s in trouble!" she said in a taunting voice.

"Shut up!" AJ and I both said playfully at the same time as I stood up.

"We’ll be back," I said as AJ stood up too.

I walked away from the table with AJ following me.

"Where ya going?" he asked as he grabbed my arm.

"Don’t you want to go somewhere private to talk?" I asked.

"There isn’t really anywhere private here besides outside," he replied.

"Follow me," I said as I took his hand in mine and led him to the dark table in the back that I was sitting at just a few minutes before.

"This better?" I asked as I sat down on one of the stools.

"Yeah," he answered with a shy smile.

It was rather dark and quiet at the back of the huge room where we were now sitting. The only occasional faint light at the table came from the lights of the dance floor on the other side of the room. No one was back there because they were all having too much fun dancing or mingling with the other people from the record label.

"So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?" I asked curiously as I watched some of the people dancing.

I could tell that he was watching me, so I just sat there and waited for him to reply.

"Actually...I...uh...I just wanted to tell you about lunch tomorrow," he replied quietly as if he wasn’t sure of what he just said.

"Oh," I said with a smile as I turned my head to meet his gaze. "Ok."

"I’ll pick you up at Meg’s tomorrow at around 2," he started explaining before I cut him off.

"What did you say?" I asked with a mad voice, like he had called me a name or something.

"I said that I’ll pick you up at Meg’s around 2," he said sheepishly.

"How did you..." I started to ask when he put two fingers on my lips to silence me.

"I’ll pick you up at 2 tomorrow and we’re going out for the rest of the afternoon so you should dress casual...nice casual," he said with a smile as ‘I Could Fall In Love’ by Selena started playing over the speakers.

"Ok," I replied with a slight nod as I stared into his eyes. "I love this song," I said quietly as I turned back to looking at the couples on the dance floor.

"May I have this dance?" he asked as he held out his hand over the table.

"Sure," I said as I set my hand in his and hopped off the stool that I was sitting on.

He walked round the table to where I was standing and I put my hands around his neck comfortably. He pulled me closer and gently rubbed his hands up and down my back as I listened to the words of the song. ‘I could lose my heart tonight, if you don’t turn and walk away. Cause the way I feel I might lose control and let you stay. Cause I could take you in my arms and never let go. I could fall in love with you.’ Those words stayed in my mind as I closed my eyes and leaned my head a little closer to his. I could hear his steady breathing while the chorus played. Every once in a while I could feel him sort of stroking my hair as we slowly swayed to the music. I could smell his cologne as he laid his head next to mine. I didn’t want that moment to end, so when the music faded out into a more up-tempo song, we stayed the way we were in the darkness of the back area. After a few seconds we stopped moving, but stayed standing in each other’s arms.

"I’m going to miss you," AJ whispered into my ear before pulling away to look at my face.

"I’ll miss you too," I said sadly as my eyes started to tear up at the thought of leaving.

I didn’t want him to see the tears forming in my eyes, so I wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug for a few seconds before pulling back again. I could tell that he felt the same way that I did about me leaving the next day when I looked into his big brown eyes. I couldn’t help it anymore. A few tears rolled down my cheeks and I turned my eyes to look at my hands that were now sitting on his shoulders.

"Please don’t cry," AJ said as he brushed my cheek with his thumb.

"I’m sorry," I said sadly. "I can’t help it," I added before returning my eyes to his as more tears fell down.

He pulled me close again as I buried my head into his shoulder and cried for a few minutes before pulling away. I broke free of his hold and sat down on the stool before wiping my tear stained cheeks dry. He moved so that he was standing in front of me and again pulled me into a quick hug.

"I’ve got to go for a few minutes," he whispered in my ear. "But I’ll be back."

"I’ll be ok," I said as he let go. "I’ll go talk to Meg," I said as I got up so that I was standing in front of him.

"Ok," he replied. "I’ll come find you when I’m done."

He turned and walked a few feet before turning back to see me watching him leave. He turned his head back and continued walking as I moved my gaze to the table where Meg and I had first been sitting. I didn’t see her there so I made my way to the restrooms to check my face before returning to the crowd of people. I walked into the bathroom and let out a sigh of relief when I saw that no one else was in there already. I wiped under my eyes so that my make-up wasn’t smeared and fixed my mascara with my finger. After running my fingers through my hair a few times, I headed for the door and went towards the edge of the dance floor.

"Hey there," I heard someone say to me as I slowly walked by a table.

"Hi Brian," I said after I looked up to see him sitting by himself.

"Oh hey," he said as I continued walking.

I turned around and walked back a few steps to where he was sitting.

"Yeah?"

"Some girl named Meg I think came up to me like twenty minutes ago and said that she and Howie were leaving," he said. "She said that you are to get a ride with us."

"Ok," I replied with a little smile. "Thanks Bri," I said before turning and walking to the edge of the dance floor.

As I got to the dance floor, I could see that the guys from N*Sync were making up a dance to the song that was playing and they looked like total idiots! I couldn’t help but laugh out loud!

"Feeling better?" a voice asked as a hand wrapped around my back and rested on my side.

"A little," I answered as I turned my head to see AJ standing at my side.

"Good," he said before looking to see what I was laughing at. "Those guys are weird."

"No," I said with a little laugh as we walked over to where Kev was sitting at a table by himself. "Those guys are dorks!" I corrected him as I sat down.

AJ stood behind me for a few minutes and listened as Kev and I talked.

"I’m going to go find the other guys so we can go," AJ leaned over and whispered into my ear.

"Ok. Howie already left, so you don’t need to worry about him," I said before he walked away.

I turned back to Kev and continued our conversation for a few more minutes until someone walked up to the table.

"Hi," the voice said. "I don’t think we’ve met."

When I looked up and saw who was standing there, I let out a little laugh.

"No, we haven’t," I replied.

"I’m Britney," she said as she sat down next to me.

"I’m Liz," I said while I looked at Kev with raised eyebrows and a smirk. "It’s nice to meet you Britney," I said as I turned to look at her.

After a very short-lived conversation with us, Britney said that she had to go, so she got up and quickly left. When she was out of sight I burst out laughing.

"What in the heck was that?" I asked while laughing.

"She was only trying to be nice," Kev said with a little shrug as Nick walked up to the table and sat down where Britney was just sitting.

"Hi," Nick said with a smile.

"Hey blondie," I said with a smile in return.

"Who you calling blondie?" he asked. "You’re a blondie too."

"Yeah, I know," I replied. "But, at least I’m a natural," I said with a little laugh as Nick scowled at me.

"A natural what?" AJ asked as he and Bri walked up to the table.

"Nothing," Nick snapped.

"Geez Nick," I said seriously. "I was only kidding."

"Well, since we’re all here, let’s head out," Kev said as he stood up and waited for the rest of us to stand up too.