"I swear man, I'm so sick of this crap. I need a break!"

Nick jumped up and left the room. I saw him look over at me. He seemed to be pleading with me silently to go and follow him. But before I had the chance, Brian darted after Nick.

"You guys," I asked "does he get like this very often?"

"Naw," said Kevin. "He's just upset because he is surrounded by people his own age, and he's witnessing the freedom that most people his age experience."

"He's been talking about college a lot lately guys," said Howie."I think he really feels like he's trapped. I looked over at them quizzically.

"You know I would never really pull him out of the show you guys. I'm just SO frusterated with him right now." Jane plopped herself onto the nearest folding chair and put her face into her hands wearily.

Looking at the situation from her perspective I could easily empathize with the poor woman. From the looks of it, Nick was a pretty high maintenance kind of guy. He seemed to have that "all adults are evil" attitude. I always hated that…even in high school.

Brian walked over to Jane and offered a friendly pat on the back, "it's tough for him right now. He has no one his age to hang around with. Remember you guys, what would happen to us if any of us were his age when the group started up? We would probably be the same way. Practically his entire adolescence was spent in this group."

"You guys have been around that long?" Then I realized how rude that sounded and I felt like a little punk.

Brian chuckled. "We've been together for about five years. Only recently have we become known here in the states though."

I nodded, "I don't know if this is my place to say this, but now, even though he's eighteen years old, he still is a kid at heart because he hasn't really experienced the real world. All he sees is what it's like to be a...a...a freaking pin-up! I mean you guys probably had more of a chance to date and stuff...but Nick...Nick hasn't."

Brian looked up at me with what one could classify as the deepest of respect, "you know that is exactly what's going on inside him! What's your major?"

"Bio," I replied.

"It should be psychology!" Brian joked.

"Actually that's my minor."

"Will you look for Nick Brian?" asked Jane, "when all else fails, he'll usually open up to you hon."

Brian nodded and stood up. Our eyes met and I read him clearly. Immediately I stood up and followed Brian out of the room.

Chapter 4