"I may be skinny but I am no Ally McBeal. So...how's the rest of the guys?"
"They're good. We're all trying to make the best of our last vacation before tour. For me it's been a pretty good vacation."
"Of course! You’re with me. How’s your family?"
"My mom’s fine. We were at Brian’s parents’. Jarold Jr. And Tim are out of town."
"That sucks."
"We spent a lot of time together last time so it isn’t that bad. Well, I thoroughly enjoyed our late dinner."
"What time is it?"
"Let me see, it’s eight o’clock."
"Wanna watch ‘Dawson’s Creek?’" asked Allie as she walked in the living room.
"What episode is it this time?"
"It’s the one where Jack comes out."
"Sure, whatever, let’s watch it. This show is okay, but it’s not real. If me and the rest of the gang went through the stuff that they do, I’d go crazy. There’s too many problems."
"Well, maybe it does happen, but you’re right. The show does has a lot of problems."
Ring. Ring.
Kevin answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Kevin? It’s Andrea."
"Oh, hey. What’s up?"
"Is it all right if I come over? I need to talk to you."
"We are talking."
"Yeah, I know that, but I can’t stay here."
"Ummm…sure."
"I’ll be over in fifteen minutes."
"Okay, bye." Kevin hung up the phone and turned to Patricia. "That was Andrea. She’s coming over. By the way she sounded, something’s wrong."
"I hope there isn’t."
"Me too, but I guess we’ll see."
Ten minutes went by as they watched ‘Dawson’s Creek.’ "This show’s too emotional for me," said Kevin.
"Too emotional? For you?"
"When something emotional happens in every scene it’s hard to really get into it. Let’s turn it off."
"Kay."
There was a knock at the door. Kevin answered it. "Hi, Andrea."
"Hi, Kevin. Oh, hi, Allie."
"Hey, Andrea! It’s great to see you again."
Andrea came in and sat on the couch between the two. "Have you talked to Brian at all today?"
"No," replied Kevin. "I was over at his parents’ with him yesterday though. Why?"
"So I guess you didn’t hear."
"Hear what?" asked Allie.
"He broke up with Lisa."
"Finally," said Kevin.
Allie agreed. "I didn’t like her much. I have nothing against her personally, but they weren’t right for each other at all."
"I’m jumping for joy too," said Andrea, "but the thing is, me and Brian almost kissed today."
"What happened?" asked Kevin.
"To make a long story short: We won a b-ball game, got excited, it started raining, we were drenched, we hugged, we went to kiss each other, I ran away."
Allie whacked her on the arm. "Why’d you do that?"
"The way he looked into my eyes, it…it melted my heart, but all at once these questions came into my mind. ‘Is this happening because he loves me? Or because his heart was broken from a two year relationship and he was feeling vulnerable? Or even if it was because of the whole setting?'"
"I though you said it was raining," said Kevin.
Allie rolled her eyes. "Duh! Think about it: They’re totally wet, the rain is dripping off their hair, their clothes are clinging to their bodies, they’re in each others arms…Am I right or am I right?"
Andrea was amazed. "That’s exactly what happened. How’d you know?"
"I read a lot of romance novels. There was this one story where-"
Kevin interrupted her. "Let’s just stick to the topic, hun."
"Oh, yeah. Sorry, Andrea."
"That’s okay. Anyway, he’s been calling me all afternoon. I came here ‘cause I think he’s heading to my house. I hate avoiding him but I don’t know what to say to him."
"You’re so stressed," observed Allie sounding worried.
"I know. You see, my sister and her best friend ended their sixteen year friendship by getting involved with each other. They broke up and never spoke to each other again. I never saw my sister so sad in my life."
"I see," said Kevin. "You don’t want that to happen with you and Brian ‘cause you’re afraid of losing him."
"Exactly. That’s why we promised each other when we were fifteen we were never to get involved and to stay each other’s best friends until the end…" Her eyes began to tear up. "…and I don’t want to lose him."
"That’s it!" exclaimed Allie.
"What’s it?"
"You said you didn’t know what to say to him, right?"
"Right."
"Well, tell him what you just told us."
"I will, but after our little ‘moment,’ I feel nervous just thinking about him." She laughed. "He’s been a hopeless romantic from the womb. Thank you, guys so much. I’m gonna get going. I’ll see you later."
"Bye."
"Bye."
"Poor girl," said Allie sympathetically.
Ring. Ring.
Kevin answered the phone again. "Hello?"
"Hey, Kev’."
He recognized who it was. "Hey, Brian." He put him on speaker phone.
"Hi, Brian," said Allie.
"Oh, hey, Allie. I’m glad you’re there too. You’re friends with Andrea, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I broke up with Lisa the other day, and me and Andrea almost kissed the next."
She pretended to sound surprised. "You’re kidding! Really?"
"Yeah, but the thing is, she ran away. I don’t get that."
Kevin joined in the conversation. "Correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t you say-every time A.J. bugged you about this-that you two promised each other you’d stay best friends forever and nothing else?"
"He’s got a point there," said Allie. "You can’t expect her to break the promise right when you do…if she even does."
"Yeah, I guess you guys are right," agreed Brian.
"You two should talk," said Kevin.
"How can I if she keeps avoiding me?"
"Trust me, I think she’ll listen now."
"Well, I think I’ll call her tomorrow. Thanks, well I gotta go. Later."
"Later."
"Well," said Allie. "I think if we made an 800 number, we could make a lot of money giving advice to the loved and loveless."
Kevin sighed. "I thought we turned off ‘Dawson’s Creek.’ Now we’re livin’ it."
"See? It does happen in real life. Sometimes it can be a load of problems. But at least they’re not ours."
"Yeah, you’re right. Hopes of the best for Brian and Andrea…hopes of the best."
©1999 ~@mbula®~ Inc.
