The phone rang once, then twice. Irritated, Brian snatched it up. “Hello?” he barked.

“Brian?” a female voice drawled over the line.

“Rianne!” Brian sat up. “Hey girl!”

“Hi Bri! I miss you soo much! How come you didn’t stop by the last time y’all were in town?” she asked.

“You weren’t there!” Brian said teasingly. “Where do you keep running off to, Ri?”

Rianne laughed. “Brian, please! I was there; you just came at all the wrong times! You could have at least called and left a message!”

“Sorry! Don’t hurt me!” Brian whimpered. Rianne laughed.

"You haven't changed one bit since you were a little boy, Brian Thomas Littrel," Rianne said. "Still a goofball."

"I'm not a goofball!" Brian objected.

"Yes you are. Hey, how come Kevin didn't invite me to the wedding?"

Brian propped his feet on the couch. "I don't know. Why don't you ask him?"

"I keep trying to call him, but the damn phone just keeps ringing and ringing! No one picks up!"

Brian rolled his eyes. "Knowing Kev, he's probably out. Try calling him around eight tonight."

"Alright, thanks Bri."

"Keep in touch, Ri."

"'Bye."

"'Bye kid." Brian hung up the phone just as Leighanne walked into the room.

"Hey sweetie, who were you talking to?" she asked.

"Just Rianne."

"Rianne?" Leighanne raised an eyebrow. "Who's she?"

"Leigh, she's only one of my best friends. I told you about her. Remember, she's Rianne Carroll, the fullback on the football team. That Rianne."

"Ohh, her. I remember now. She's in that picture, right?" Leighanne pointed to a framed photograph on top of the coffee table.

Brian nodded. "That's her alright. I was about eight when that picture got taken, Kevin was nearly twelve, and Ri was only five." He smiled, looking at the younger versions of himself, his cousin, and their friend sitting on the benches at a park. "Her great-uncle and our grandfather were good friends, and they used to make us play together. She was almost like our little sister 'cause she was always tagging along. It used to really bother us, but as soon as we realized that she was a good baseball player we sort of adopted her."

"That's so cute."

"Her mother said it was because of us that Ri became a tomboy. She always liked sports, and she played just as good as-if not better than-the guys. Kevin and I would always help train with her before one of her team tryouts, and we went to most of her games, rooting her on. It's been awhile since I've seen her. I hope we can get together sometime soon."

"Maybe you can," Leighanne said.

"How so?"

"Invite her to go with you guys to the studio in a few weeks. You mentioned that she liked singing too, right? Maybe you could let her cut a few songs or something, and hang out. I'm sure Kevin would love to see her too."

Brian smiled. "You know what, Leigh, that's a good idea. I'll call her and Kev and see if we can do it."

*********

The phone rang a few times before Kristen went to pick it up. "Hello, Richardson residence," she said cheerfully. She loved saying that.

"Hi, is Kevin in?" a Southern female accent asked.

"Yes he is," Kristen said, her voice growing slightly cautious. "Might I ask who's calling?"

"It's just Rianne Carroll, an old family friend."

"Oh... Kevin's always talking about you. Let me go get him." Kristen gently placed the phone down on the kitchen table and went into the living room, where Kevin was napping on the couch. She gently nudged him in the side. "Wake up, sleepyhead."

"Huh?" Kevin sat up. "What is it?"

"Someone's called you. Her name's Rianne...." Kristen reported. Before she could finish her sentence Kevin jumped from the couch.

"Rianne? Rianne Carroll?" he asked excitedly.

Kristen nodded. "Yes, I think that was her name."

"Where's the phone?"

"It's on the kitchen counter."

Kevin quickly ran to the kitchen and snatched the cordless phone off the counter. "Hello?" he asked.

"Hello there, stranger!" the voice on the other end greeted him.

"Ri-Ri! Hey! What's up?"

"Kevin Richardson, how dare you not invite me to your wedding!" Rianne scolded.

"I'm sorry Ri! Really! I could never get in contact with you!" Kevin explained. "I really wanted you to be there."

"Yeah, right."

"Really! Believe me! How has life been treating you?"

"I'm doin' just fine."

"How is school?"

"Kevin, I graduated two years ago!"

"Oh yeah!" Kevin laughed. "There goes my head. What kind of job do you have?"

"I've been a teacher's assistant, and now I'm the manager at Eddie's-you remember that place, right?"

"But I thought you had that communications degree!" Kevin said as he went into the freezer and pulled out a carton of chocolate ice cream. "Why aren't you doing anything with that?"

"You know I would love to start my own publication company, Kevvy, but I can't. I need to get at least enough money to start up, and I don't have it all yet, so I'm doing whatever I can do."

"I could give you the money."

A loud squeal came from Rianne. "Kevin! I couldn't take your money!"

"You're not taking it! I'm giving it to you!"

"You're basically my brother, Kevin. I don't want to take money from you. It would be wrong."

"Not if I give it to you."

Rianne sighed. "Hey, Kev, I've got another call, I'll call you back in a minute, okay?" she said.

"Sure."

While he waited for Rianne to return Kevin began to eat the ice cream out of the carton. Just as soon as the phone rang again he choked a little on the ice cream in his mouth. He pressed the "speaker phone" button and wheezed for a few seconds more. "Hello?" he gagged into the phone.

"Hey, can I come with you guys when you go to record some stuff in a few weeks?" Rianne asked. "Brian just called and wanted me to see if it was alright with you."

"Hold on," Kevin wheezed. He grabbed a cup, filled it with water and quickly drank it. "Yeah, sure," he said.

"Great! This will give us lots of time to catch up."

"Sure will, Ri-Ri. Talk to you later, alright?"

"Sure Kev. 'Bye."

"Goodbye Ri." Kevin hung the phone up, and returned to his ice cream, happy that he would see his "little sister" again.

chapter 2
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