Chapter 19
Joey looked at Shannon like an idiot. "Why is it my fault? Is it always my fault?" Chris and Lance had gotten out of the car and helped Amber up, sitting her up on the porch. "It is your fault because she wasn’t expecting you to be here," she told him. Joey looked confused, holding his Superman doll tight. Shannon sighed, "It is your fault because you are her favorite. Geez, how hard was that to figure out?" Joey blushed, sitting down next to Amber. She started coming to a little bit, and she looked over to see Joey smiling at her. She jumped off the porch and ran towards Shannon. "You brought them along!? Ohmygosh! I can’t believe it!" Shannon smiled as she went to turn off the car, since she didn’t get the chance to when Amber fainted. Amber walked over with her, "I feel like such an ass now. This is worse than the time in Titusville." Shannon started laughing really hard, almost falling over on the ground. "I can’t believe you remember that!"
Joey walked over to the girls standing by the car. Shyly, he apologized for causing a scene and gave Amber a hug. "Breathe Amber, it will be okay," Shannon said to her, smiling. The guys took their bags out of the car and stood there, waiting for Amber to show them the way to where they would be sleeping. They walked in the house, greeted by Sammie, the family dog. "Hey Sam," Shannon said as she reached down to pet her. She walked through the kitchen and suddenly got punched in the shoulder really hard. She didn’t have to ask who did it. "Adam! Dammit, why do you always have to hit me!?," she yelled at Amber’s younger brother. Getting up to the room, she was shocked. "Geez Amber! I thought you were bad when I left, this is just ridiculous!," she said as she looked at Amber’s room, which was plastered entirely of N Sync posters. Justin laughed, "Well, at least we know that we are liked in this house." They all put their suitcases down. "Hey Amber, we are going to head out and see a few other people, but we will be back, okay?" She just nodded and walked them out to the car. "Oh, and Amber? Keep this on the downlow. We don’t want everyone knowing that they are here. If you tell anyone, only tell Michael-Shannon, and that’s it." Amber smiled, agreeing that she wouldn’t tell anyone.
Soon, Shannon was pulling out of the driveway, and heading towards the high school. "First, I’m giving you guys a scenic tour of Oil City." They just nodded as she took them past the high school. "Must be a basketball game tonight," she said as she drove there. "I bet Mandi and Tracy are here, so lets go." Lance stopped them. "What if people recognize us?" Justin looked back at Lance, "Who cares? Lets just go!" They parked the car and they got out. Luckily, they could see Mandi and Tracy standing in the doorway. Shannon opened the door and went up behind her. She cleared her throat, "Hey Mandi, aren’t ya gonna say hi?," she asked. Mandi and Tracy turned around, covering their mouths trying not to scream. "Shannie! I can’t believe you’re here!" She looked behind her, "You brought the guys!!" she exclaimed. "Be quiet, we don’t want to be obvious!," Shannon told her. Lance made his way up to Mandi, and Joey went up to Tracy. Finally, after some convincing, they conned Shannon into going to Kings. She really didn’t want to take the guys there, but they wouldn’t leave her alone about it. Lance and Joey got into the Tracker with Mandi and Tracy, and Chris and Justin rode with Shannon. They made small talk on the way there. "You know, I think Mandi and Lance are going to hook up, what do you think?," Justin asked Shannon and Chris. "I hope so, she really likes him a lot, but what about Tracy and Joey?" Chris came in, "I think those two are going to hook up, but I’m not really sure. I just feel left out here, I’m the only one that doesn’t have someone up here." Shannon smiled back at him, "Don’t worry. It’ll be okay."
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