Kayla was catching up on sleep early the next afternoon when there was excessive knocking on her door.

"Kayla!" a voice yelled from outside.

"Open up, you slut!" added another as both of them laughed.

Kayla gasped and lifted her head from the pillow. She had just been yanked out of a dream...a very intense one involving Nick. "I'm coming," she managed to tell the two girls as she got up out of bed and slipped into a bathrobe. Shaking her head quickly in an attempt to recover from that dream, she undid the locks on her door and opened it.

Immediately one of the girls flung herself into Kayla's arms. Kayla had to smile. "Hey Sara," she said, hugging her friend back.

"Richardson, Richardson, so great to see ya," Linz said when Sara had pulled away, also giving Kayla a hug.

"You too, McLean," she replied. She was glad that Brian wasn't here. He would probably make some smart-ass comment about how her nickname should be Carter, not Richardson.

"How was your flight?" Kayla asked them.

"Sucked," said Linz.

"Turbulence," Sara explained.

"But it was worth it to see our very best friend," Linz cooed.

Kayla laughed. "Do you guys want to come in?"

"Sure." They did. Kayla followed them and locked the door behind them. Her mind was whirling. Should she tell them about Nick? They were her best friends, and she knew she could trust them, but...she might enjoy a weekend of just relaxing and hanging out with her friends without talking about him.

"Wow, Kayla, this is the cleanest I've ever seen your room," Sara remarked.

Kayla smiled weakly. "Well, we just moved in. Give me a day or two."

Sara and Linz chuckled and sat down on the bed.

"Do you guys mind if I get dressed really fast?" Kayla asked. "I was just taking a nap."

"I don't care, go ahead," Linz siad.

Kayla flashed them a quick smile before grabbing some clothes and going to change. While she was in the bathroom, the phone rang. "Will someone get that?" she yelled. When she got out of the bathroom, she found Sara on the phone with someone. She was laughing hysterically.

Kayla smiled hesitantly. "Who's she talking to?" she asked Linz, who was also grinning.

"Nick."

Kayla froze. "What does he want?" she demanded quickly.

Sara managed to stop laughing long enough to cover the mouthpiece with her hand and say, "He wanted to make sure we'd gotten here okay." She let go of the mouthpiece. "Do you wanna talk to Kayla?" she asked before her friend could stop her. Kayla looked urgently at her and shook her head, but it was too late. "Here," Sara said, handing her the phone. Kayla shut her eyes briefly as she put it to her ear.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hey."

She ignored the sudden urge to shiver. "What's up?"

"Nothing...is everything okay with them? No problems?"

"Everything's great." Being around him—even just talking to him on the phone—made her feel so strange. One part of her just wanted to hold him, and the other part wanted to run away.

"Good," Nick said. "I have a proposition."

"Okay," she said hesitantly. "Shoot."

"Well, we have a few hours of free time tomorrow afternoon, so I thought we could all go out for lunch and a movie or something," he suggested.

"Hold on," Kayla said. She pulled the phone away from her ear. "Do you guys wanna do something with Nick and the guys tomorrow?" she asked her friends.

Linz smirked. "Hell yeah."

Sara nodded. "Ditto."

"Yeah, that sounds good," Kayla replied into the phone. She was trying to sound enthusiastic, but it wasn't quite working. If it weren't for her friends, she would have turned him down, but she knew that they wanted to hang out with the guys.

"All right," Nick said. She tried to read the emotion in his voice but couldn't. "I'll figure something out and call you later."

"Okay."

"Bye."

"Bye." Kayla hung up the phone and turned around to see her friends eying her suspiciously. "What?" she asked.

Linz and Sara exchanged a look. "Is something going on between you and Nick?"

Kayla forced herself to stay calm. "No," she said. "I wish," she added with a smirk, trying to throw them off.

Sara raised her eyebrows. "You like him then?"

Kayla shrugged. "No, not really, I mean, he's hot, but...he's just Nick." She felt bad about lying to her friends, but she had this feeling she would start crying if she had to tell that story again and relive all of those emotions.

"So you two are all tight and shit now?" Linz asked.

Kayla laughed. "Yeah," she said. That's an understatement, she thought wryly. "So, how are things going back home?" she asked, changing the subject. She was afraid she would give herself away if they kept talking about Nick. "Give me all the dirt."


Feedback

Next Chapter