"Okay, there was this woman, and she was pregnant with triplets – 2 girls and a boy," Brian explained. "One day she went to the bank to cash a check when a man with a gun robbed the bank and in the process shot the woman in the stomach three times. She went to the hospital, and the doctor told her that he children were going to fine and she would heal normally. Sixteen years later her daughter came into their living room, crying. The woman asked her what was wring and the daughter answered ‘Well, a bullet came out when I went to pee!’ and the woman told her about what happened sixteen years ago and that she would be fine. The second daughter came in the same day, also crying. Her mom explained to her what had happened to her at the bank sixteen years ago, and she’d be fine. Then the son came in, crying. The woman asked ‘Lemme guess, when you went to take a piss, a bullet came out right?’ and the son answered, ‘No, I was jacking off and shot the dog!’" Brian laughed hysterically, he always found himself funny.
I stole a glance over at Steph. She caught my eye and gave me one of those ‘Okay…where are we going with this?’ looks.
"So ANYWAYS!" Kevin said, breaking the silence. "So… Steph, what do you think about this record deal stuff?"
She looked up from her hands she had been occupying herself with. "Huh?"
"All the record deal and tour stuff…what do you think about it?" he asked, staring her down.
"Oh man! Look how late it is!" Brian said suddenly, getting up and hurrying off to his room.
Kevin looked over at me. "Yeah…really late! I’m gonna hit the sack!"
Stephanie stared at me, lost. "Did I miss something?"
"I…I can explain, really!" I answered, sensing her anger.
"No…I think Kevin already did," she said calmly, getting up, grabbing her jacket and purse and walking out of the apartment.
"No, Steph, WAIT!" I yelled, running after her.
"Nick, what the hell are you doing? Just…BYE. When you wanna start telling me stuff, gimmie a call. I’ll be at Lanie’s."
"Just give me five fucking minutes!" I begged, holding the elevator door open.
"I REALLY don’t feel like listening to your bull shit excuse right now. I thought I could trust you, you know? Guess not. I already feel in the way at your house and when you leave for this ‘tour’ it’s gonna feel really weird!"
"Stephanie!"
She looked at me for a split second before she walked out of the elevator and started down the stairs. I followed her down the stairs and out into the parking lot. "Where the hell are you going?"
"To Lanie’s’!"
"Please, Steph, just give me five minutes."
"Please, Nick, get off my back!"
I couldn’t believe he wasn’t going to tell me the most important thing that was ever going to happen to him his whole life. I thought I should trust him, and I thought we told each other everything. He’s was one of the few people I could still count on since my parents had been gone. Now he had blown it. I looked at him for what seemed like eternity, and walked away 0- leaving him standing in the middle of the parking lot, alone. I must have walked a six blocks before I came to the closet gas station. I called Lanie from the pay phone, told her where I was, and in less than five minutes her Honda Prelude pulled up beside me in the parking lot of the BP Station. "What’s up?" she asked, putting the car in reverse.
"Nick’s being a prick. Take me over the his house where I can get my keys and tell Jane I’ll be at your place for at least the night. You mind if I stay the night?"
"You know you’re always welcome in my place! You just have to tell me the ENTIRE story!"
"Oh I will. I always vent on you anyway!" I laughed.
"Hey, that’s what I’m here for!" she smiled, turning her CD system back up. "Sorry, you know I love the Thong Song!"
"I don’t mind!" I laughed.
Thirty minutes later we pulled up in Nick’s driveway. I jumped out of Lanie’s car, told Jane I was gonna be at her place for the night, and got my keys. Instead of going straight to Lanie’s I stopped by work to get my schedule for the next week and them took a detour down to the beach. It was December now, and the place was completely deserted. I sat in the sand for what seemed like an hour, and decided that Lanie might be getting a tad worried considering that I told her I’d be at her place over an hour ago.
"Sorry…had a little detour," I explained, shutting her bedroom door behind myself.
"Oh that’s quite alright. I figured you might need a little downtime."
"Man, a LITTLE don’t even begin to describe it. No offence, but I can’t just sit here. Wanna go do something?"
"She thought for a minute. "Nah, you need some alone time. If you get back late, just knock on my window. I’ll be up."
"Alright, thanks!" It was 10:00 on the dot, and I had nothing to do. So I did what any teenage would do – I picked up a few of my "raver" friends and hit the Sound Lab. Needless to say I was there the rest of the night and all the next morning.