Chapter Ten

“Otay, Megan, be brave. You can handle this,” she said to herself.

She stood just outside the entrance of the Sam Goody store, trying to remain calm. She was there to buy a Backstreet Boys cd for Casey. Her plan was to run in, grab one, buy it and run out. Music stores overwhelmed her for the simple fact that she had never heard of about 90% of the artists.

Taking a deep breath, she entered the store and began to search for the Pop section. Once there, she looked for the B’s...and nearly dropped a brick right there on the spot. She had thought this was going to be an easy task.

Wrong.

There was a cd titled “Millennium,” then another titled “Backstreet Boys” with a blue cover, another with the same name that had a red cover, and another named “Backstreet’s Back,” plus about fifteen singles. Looking at the pictures, she figured Millennium was the most recent one. Casey most likely owned that one. She studied each one carefully and decided the import “Backstreet’s Back” was probably not a part of Casey’s cd collection, mainly because the sucker was $27!

Megan mentally argued with herself on whether or not to buy Millennium for herself. Maybe she would like it.

“Oh, excuse me,” she said, stopping a young girl. “Is this a good cd to buy?” She held up the cd.

The girl gave her a half crazed look. “Of *course* it is,” she said, and then walked away, shaking her head.

Megan smacked her forehead and cried, “Duh! Of *course* it is!”

Irritated now, she went to the checkout counter and slapped the two cds down, startling the teenage boy working.

“Did you find everything you wanted, ma’am?” he asked nervously.

Megan squeezed her eyes shut. “Did you just call me ma’am?!” When she opened her eyes, she saw the boy shaking his head.

“No, m-miss,” he stuttered, ringing up the purchase. He eyed the cds before putting them in the bag.

“What?” Megan asked.

“Nothing!” he said quickly, silently willing the receipt to print faster. “I just, um...”

“You think I’m too old to listen to Backstreet Boys?”

“Uh...”

“Well, they’re for my thirteen year old sister.” It was only partly a lie.

The boy nodded knowingly and handed her the receipt and the bag. “I hear that a lot.”

Megan huffed, grabbed the items and stormed out of the store. “Casey better appreciate this,” she muttered, getting in her car. She pulled both cds from the bag and looked at them.

She almost couldn’t believe that she knew them personally, was dating one of them. Her car didn’t have a cd player, so she would have to wait until she got home to listen to the music. She tucked her cd in the glove compartment and put the other one back in the bag. Then she drove to the hospital.

Just as she had slammed her door shut, a familiar black 4runner stopped beside her. Kevin looked at her from the driver’s seat and waved.

“Hey!” he greeted her. He got out, carrying two boxes.

“Hi, what are you doing here?”

He lifted the boxes. “I brought Casey a present.”

“Ha, me too.”

“Shall we go in?”

She nodded and they entered the hospital together. When they got to Casey’s room, they found her watching soap operas on the tv. She had a very bored look on her face, but she brightened when she saw them.

“Hi!” she said, flipping off the tv. “Did you guys come together?”

“No, we just got here at the same time,” Megan said instantly. “I brought you a gift.”

She gave Casey the Sam Goody bag and watched her start to freak out. “AHHHH! This thing is sooo expensive, I’ve wanted it forever! Thank you so much!” She flipped over the cd and read the list of songs. “Mom brought my cd player last night, so I can listen to it now. This is an awesome cd.”

Kevin caught a glimpse of it and smiled. “I could have gotten you that for free, if you wanted it so badly.”

Megan blushed. “I didn’t even think of asking you. Duh.”

“Megan, you gotta hear the conversation mix,” Casey said, grinning at Kevin.

“Why? What’s the conversation mix?”

Kevin cleared his throat. “I think she can skip that.”

Now Megan was curious. “No, I want to hear it. What is it?”

Casey burst out laughing. “It’s...it’s...there’s not a word to describe it. Here.” She put the cd in and passed Megan the player and the headphones. Megan began to listen as Kevin tried to blend into the wall.

“Whoo, sexy man,” she said, listening to Kevin. Then she laughed at Brian and Howie’s parts. AJ she smiled at. He seemed the type to do everything for the girl. At Nick’s part, she snickered evily. “Horny is he?”

Kevin knew she was almost to the end and started to fidget. He knew the second she got to the “no diggity” part because her eyes grew wide as saucers and her mouth dropped open to let out the loudest, most hysterical laugh he’d ever heard.

“No way!” she cried. “No way did you just say that!” She gave Casey back the player and wiped tears from her eyes. “You were the only normal sounding one, until the very end. What the hell is ‘no diggity’?”

“Um, nothing. Here, Casey. Here’s my gift,” he said. He glanced at Megan who was still grinning.

Casey opened one of the boxes and squealed with delight.

“An autographed basketball!” She rolled it around, reading the signatures of all five Backstreet Boys.

“When did you do that?” Megan asked.

“This morning. I did a lot of driving to get those autographs.”

Casey beamed. “This is awesome! But, I can’t play with this.” Kevin gave her another box. She opened it to find a blank basketball inside. “Oh gosh, you are so cool, thank you!”

“As soon as you get out of here, you owe me a game,” he said.

“All right.” She stared at the signatures again. “Can you guys stay long? Mom’s coming over as soon as she gets off for lunch.”

“Well, kiddo, actually, I gotta get moving. I just wanted to see how you were doing,” Megan said, giving her a hug.

“I’m much better. My stomach itches, but the doctor says not to scratch it.”

Kevin laughed. “I had that same problem. Unfortunately, I need to go too.”

“Awww, will you guys come back tomorrow?”

“I’ll try,” Megan promised.

“Me too.”

“Great!”

They left together, walking side by side down the hospital corridor and to the elevator. Kevin, being a true gentleman, let her walk inside first. When they left the hospital, he held the door open for her.

“So what are you doing this afternoon?” he asked casually.

Megan searched her purse for her car keys. “I’m on my lunch break. I’ve got about a half hour before I need to get back to the clinic.”

“Mind if I buy you lunch?”

She paused there on the sidewalk and gave him a funny look. “Did I hear you right?”

“We’re friends, friends buy each other lunch, don’t they?”

“I think you’re taking this ‘friend’ thing way to seriously here, bud.”

“You think so? Or are you afraid to have lunch with me?”

“Why would I be afraid to have lunch with you?”

“You tell me.”

Megan glared at him and started walking again. “Fine, you can feed me. But I warn you, I don’t eat light.”

“Me neither. Where do you want to go?”

“Someplace fast, and incredibly greasy. I need the energy.”

“Mickey D’s?” he suggested.

“Sounds fine. I’ll follow you.”

They arrived at the restaurant and went inside to order their food. The girl who took their order squinted at Kevin, as if trying to decide if he was really who she thought he was. Kevin carried the tray to a booth and they sat down. Megan began wolfing down her food like someone who hadn’t eaten in days.

“Are you always a pig?” he asked.

“Always. Get used to it,” she said around a mouthful of fries.

They talked about Casey while they ate. It seemed the safest subject. Kevin’s cell phone went off and he pulled it from his pocket to answer it.

“Hi, Dana, are you on a break?”

Megan suddenly felt guilty, and she wasn’t sure why. Yes, she was having lunch with her best friend’s boyfriend. But that was it.

“I’m at McDonalds with Megan,” Kevin said, watching her cringe in her seat. “We went to visit Casey at the hospital at the same time and I offered her lunch.”

Megan slid lower in the booth. She knew Dana was thinking the worst, and was going to hound her about this later.

“Okay, miss you too. Bye.” He snapped the phone shut and looked at Megan. “What was that?”

“What was what?”

“That...almost guilty expression that crossed your face a minute ago.”

Megan sat up straight and wiped her hands with a napkin. “You must be imagining things. Anyway, I need to go. I’m the only one working today, so I should get back. Thanks for lunch, I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”

She grabbed her purse and flew from the booth and out the door before Kevin could blink. He propped his elbows on the table and watched her speed away.

Megan was starting to get to him. Not in an annoying way either. There was something about her....