Chapter 06

"Stephanie, these are the guys," Nick said. First he pointed to Howie. "This is Howie, AJ, Kevin, and Brian."

"Nice to meet you!" Kevin smiled, extending his hand.

"We’ve hard a lot about you!" Brian added.

"Man, shut up!" Nick snapped.

I laughed. "It’s a pleasure…" I replied, shaking each of their hands. They were surprisingly good looking. Kevin was tall, about as tall as Nick, just a little shorter, had dark hair, and striking green eyes. From first site you could tell AJ was the freak of the 5. We were inside, yet he was wearing sunglasses, had tattoos up and down his arm, had a rather strange goatee and was wearing the usually baggy clothes. Brian, I had to admit, was absolutely adorable. He has sandy blonde hair and blue eyes it looked like, but I couldn’t really tell. He seemed like the type to always have a grin on his face. Him and Nick seemed to have a good relationship so far. And lastly, Howie. He was short, but still taller than I was. He looked like he had some Spanish in him, but those days you never knew. He had the dark skin, dark hair, and dark eyes.

Of course AJ couldn’t greet me with the kiss on my cheek. Nick gave him a stern look, and he backed off, making a face that showed he disapproved.

"Don’t mind these guys!" Howie laughed.

"They couldn’t be any worse than some of my friends," I assured him.

"Oh yes we can!" AJ argued.

"Alright guys, lets get this show on the road. The sooner we get started the sooner we can leave," Kevin advised.

We were at Transcontinental Recording Studios located right here in Tampa. The "guys" lead me back to the main part of the studio where they did the recording. Nick showed me to the chair that sat in front of the glass and right in front of all the master controls. They warmed up first. It was one of those things I’ll never forget. They sounded so good, so genuine, so real, so talented. I itched in my seat waiting for what was in store.

They sang "Quit Playin’ Games (With My Heart)" first, followed by "Boys Will Be Boys." Right then and there I knew I was going to be a huge fan, a friend of Nick or not.

The rehearsal lasted for about an hour and a half; just long enough to get a few things straightened out and everything down pact. "All right guys, that’s a wrap!" Kevin announced. He seemed to be the only sane one in the group besides Howie.

"FOOD!" Brian gasped.

"Women!" AJ laughed.

Nick gave him a weird look. "Pimp!" he sighed.

I couldn’t help but laugh. They all put the earphones up, and headed back out to the lobby. Nick was the last out – he had problems getting those earphones back on the hook…

"I’m stunned!" I admitted, getting up from the chair I had confined myself in the whole time.

"We’re that bad?"

"No!" I replied. "You’re that good! You guy are…incredible together! How come you aren’t in chorus at school?"

"Thank ya!" he smiled. "The reason I’m not in chorus is because I don’t want people to use me for me so called ‘talent’ ya know?"

"I get ya."

"Okay, good. Most people don’t. So you wanna go to dinner or something?"

"Sure! Where to?"

"It’s up to you."

"Hmm, McDonalds!?"

"She’s a keeper!" AJ yelled from the other side of the recording studio.

He laughed. We jetted off the McDonalds right after saying goodbye to the guys. When we got there, we ordered, scarfed it all down, and tried to decide what to do next.

"Well," I said, "I got to decided on dinner, you pick."

"Fine," he sighed, jokingly giving me a nasty look. He thought a second before answering. "What about the beach?"

"Awesome!" I agreed.

There was something about Nick I couldn’t exactly put my finger on. He was different – not like other guys. Most of the guys I knew wouldn’t let me or any other girl pick the dinner spot THEN give me the chance to decide on what to do afterwards. Then they’d be trying to get into a girl’s pants in this generation, but Nick hadn’t even tried to kiss me yet.

Thirty minutes later we parked at the beach. It was dark, but the streetlights illuminated the streets and bled onto the beach. The sand was cool considering it was October. The beach was peaceful. There wasn’t any little munchkins running around at my feet screaming for their mommies because a jellyfish had stung them. The only sound was the crash of the waves against the shore. I’m not the type who’s into all that romantic stuff, but I have to say, it was.

"So…" Nick sighed. "You never answered my question!"

"What question?"

"How come you always run from me?"

"Oh," I sighed. "Well, it was because I… You know how I told you I was shy?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I’m extremely shy around guys that I like, and you know, I like you."

He smiled. "Really? Because I kinda liked you – what am I saying!? I like you! Not liked…like! But you probably already knew that because of what I said at lunch."

I laughed. "You okay?"

"Yeah. That’s why I helped you with your books. And I didn’t lose Erin’s number, I just needed an excuse to talk to you. What can I say? I’m smooth!"

"Ha! Smooth!"

"I am!"

I laughed. "Weird huh?"

"Yeah. I thought you might’ve thought…never mind."

"What?"

"Never mind."

"Tell me!" I begged, pulling on his shirt.

"Well, I thought you might have thought I was an asshole because of the people I hang out with. Then I saw that you saw how Roxanne dumped me, so you might have thought I was a player or something."

"Nope. I didn’t. Besides, you were never the one calling me the loser. That just pisses me off how they say that because they have never talked to me, so they don’t know the first thing about me."

"Exactly. That’s what I told Geoff."

"Geoff? The guy that always had girls with ‘boobs bigger than the size to Texas’ Geoff?"

Nick laughed. "Yeah, that’s definitely him."

"He’s more ‘unpopular’ than I am. All the girls hate him – think he’s a pimp!"

"All his girlfriends have been whores."

"Maybe he should try Roxanne. Why did you date her, anyway?" I asked suddenly.

"Because I thought it would make me popular, and it did. But then it turned out to be really lame. Everyone expected you to be perfect."

"But if you want to be a singer don’t you kinda have to put up with it?"

"See, in that case, I would be popular doing something I love, but with Roxanne, I didn’t like her, much less lover her. She was a desperate cry for help, that’s all."

"Well, at least you can admit that," I said sitting down and pulling him down beside me. "Most guys wouldn’t if their lives depended on it."

He grinned. "Enough about me, it’s making me sick. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Tell me something Erin didn’t."

""My pride and joy in my 3000 GT, I got it a couple of weeks ago with my work money."

"She told me that."

"I like to dance."

"There’s something she missed. What kind?"

"Exotic," I joked.

He laughed. "Yeah, Erin did forget to mention that!"

"Just kidding. I like modern day stuff. Choreography, mainly."

"Awesome, I should take you to rehearsal for our dance moves. What else?"

"Um…I like sports."

"She told me that too."

"I like tall guys."

"Oh really?"

"Really."

"I’m tall."

"I like you, remember!?"

"Oh yeah…I knew that. What else?"

"What all did Erin tell you?"

"Well, she told me you just turned 17, you liked sports, you like guys that make you laugh, she told me all about your brother, and how much you like music."

"I live for music!" I said. "Is it my turn yet!?"

"You don’t get a turn."

"No fair! You’re gonna get this a lot when you get all famous and junk!"

"Fine. Ask away."

"Well, Erin told me a few things, like you’re full name is Nickolas Gene Carter, you’re 17, you’re a senior, you’re addicted to Nintendo, singing, and basketball, you like football too, oh yeah and acting. But what didn’t she tell me?"

"Well, lets see…I have a big family. Four sisters, Ginger, from my dad’s previous marriage, Angel, Leslie, and BJ. Then I have a little brother, Aaron – him and Angel are twins. The guys call me Frack, Brian’s my best friend and they call him Frick, my life revolves around music basically, and I love the ocean."

"Awesome."

"I’m not that special."

I laughed. "Sure ya are. Special in that special kinda way!" I tried to push him away from me, but it was no use. He was bigger than I was, like most people and that made it absolutely impossible.

"Stop, you’re hurting me!" he said sarcastically.

"You’re such a queer," I joked.

"EXCUSE YOU!" he laughed.

"Uh oh," I squeaked. "See ya!" I got up as quickly as I could and ran down the beach until I couldn’t possibly run and further. I was having fun flirting with Nick, what can I say? We messed around the rest of the night and headed back home at about 1:00 AM.

"Thanks for tonight," I said as he drove up into the driveway. "Oh you are quite welcome," he replied, complete with his adorable little smile I was crazy about.

I glanced at the house. All the lights were out. That was unusual for my parents. They were always up until the crack of dawn. "That’s weird," I said to no one in particular.

"What?" he asked, looking at me strangely.

"Mom and Dad don’t go to bed till about 3 in the morning, but all the lights are out…" I answered. "Let me go make sure everything’s okay." "Want me to come with you?"

"Nah, I’m cool. Be back in a second." I walked up to the dark house and unlocked the front door. I got chills when I walked in. Something told me something wasn’t right. I walked into the living room like I normally did as soon as I stepped in from a night out, but only to find myself standing in the midst of my worst nightmare. Both my parents were sitting on the couch, cold as ice, covered in blood. "Oh…my…God!" I managed to choke out. I recovered from shock and ran back out to the Durango.

Nick must have seen my face, because before I could get to the Durango he was getting out in a hurry. "What, what!?" he asked frantically. "M-my parents…they’re d-dead…"

"Oh sh*t!" he said, running to the house.

"No, Nick, whoever did it could be still in there!" I yelled through my tears.

"You’re right. Get in the car, now."

I did as I was told and locked the doors. We sped to his house where we called 911.

"Nicky, is that you?" Jane asked sleepily, tying her robe.

Mom! We have a problem."

"What is it?"

"We just went to Steph’s house and her parents were shot or something!"

"Get in the Durango, we’re going over there." Jane drove and Nick and me sat in the back. He had his arms around me, holding me as close to him as possible. When we pulled back up into the driveway the cops were five feet behind us. I followed them into the house and lead them to the living room. I couldn’t look. Not again. What I had seen last time was still burning in my mind. That’s all the needed me for, so one of the younger cops lead me back outside to Nick and Jane. He ran back in to help the other cops. There were at least eight police cars outside of my house, 2 of them still had policemen standing beside them, armed and ready to attack who ever it was. I watched in horror as more and more police invaded my house. It wasn’t like anything I had ever seen before. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, and couldn’t think straight.

"Nick," Jane said quietly, "take her home. I don’t want her seeing this. I’ll try to get whatever is left of value when it’s all over." "Alright, thanks."

Nick and I climbed back into the Durango and he took me back to his house. He brought me up to his room where we couldn’t wake anyone else up. "Steph?" he asked, bending down where he could look into my eyes. I looked up. "I’m sorry," he sighed. "Is there anything I can do?"

I shook my head. There was nothing anyone could do, but I wanted more than anything to go back in time and change everything.

He wiped tears from my cheeks with his finger. "You all right?" he asked. By that time I had pretty much calmed down.

"Yeah," I sighed, pushing my bangs out of my face.

"You tired?"

"Not really."

"Well, you need to lay down or something. There’s to much going on and you might not be able to handle it."

"But…"

"My bed. You can use it as long as you’d like."

I didn’t know how he knew what I was going to say, but he did. I yanked off my shoes and climbed up into his bed. He tucked the covers in around me and sat there beside me in silence for a minute.

"Well, I’ll let you try to get some sleep."

"No, Nick.."

"Yeah?"

"Stay?"

He smiled, then nodded. He laid beside me on his side, facing me, and kissed my forehead. "Life’s a bitch, huh?"

I nodded.

"Well, think of it this way. Your parents are in a much better place now, but they’re still lookin’ down on you," he whispered.

He was right. I just couldn’t shake the mental picture of them on the couch. I could care less about the house and what all was stolen; I just wanted my parents back. I couldn’t believe that some fool would be that desperate for anything we had to kill my parents for it.

Nick and I talked for a while, and Jane came home with some of my clothes and the framed pictures in my room. "Thank you, really. This means a lot more than you think it does," I said, holding back tears.

"Oh, don’t worry about it sweetie," she sighed, hugging me. I didn’t know her very well, but it felt really good to know that someone cared and that I had someone to count on; her and Nick. "Why don’t you two try to get some sleep?" she suggested.

We agreed, and went upstairs to Nick’s room. I changed in the bathroom while Nick changed in his room. He stayed with me until I fell asleep.