Andrea walked into her room. “Hey, Chris. You look like you didn’t sleep very well.”
“You’re right, I didn’t,” Christine replied. “Why does he have to be so damn intriguing? He’s hot, sexy, used to be sweet and funny…I’m never going to get over him, Andie.”
“Aw, sure you will. You just need to meet a better guy, that’s all,” Andrea assured her. “But for now, we have to get on the road. We’re going to Columbus tonight.”
“That’ll be a long drive. I suppose I should get up, then, huh?” Christine mumbled unhappily. A long drive she had to spend with Nick. There was no way she was going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she had switched buses because she didn’t want to put up with him, so she had refused all of Fatima’s offers to switch with her.
After sliding under the covers in her bunk, Christine put in “Millennium” and skipped it to track eight, “The One.” She put on her headphones and smiled, remembering how Nick sang this to her on their one-week anniversary. No, don’t think about him, yelled a voice inside of her. Quickly, she erased the thought, closed her eyes, and just listened to the music, trying to forget who was singing it. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see Nick standing over her.
“Hey, what are you listening to?” he asked.
“Actually, I’m listening to you,” she replied. “‘The One,’ in particular.”
Nick looked away. That was their song. “Oh.”
She sensed his discomfort. “Yeah, I know, but it’s still a good song,” she said softly. “Uh, what did you need?”
“We’re watching ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding,’ and I remembered that that was your favorite movie, so do you want to watch it with us?” he asked.
“Sure.” She turned her CD player off and went into the other room, surprised that Nick was being nice to her.
They had already started the movie, and it was in the opening scene where Julia Roberts was critiquing the food at a restaurant. Christine sat down in the only seat open, between Nick and Brian.
Halfway through the movie, Nick felt something touch his shoulder. He turned his head to find Christine leaning against him. Then he noticed that she was asleep. For a fleeting moment, a pang of regret for what he had given up hit him and he began to reach for her hand, but then he remembered why he gave her up in the first place and immediately let his hand drop.