Elevenfiftynine

*****

	“ So, did anything happen with you and Sherry last
night?”  Brian asked suggestively as they watched Nobody’s
Angels perform during soundcheck.
“ Are you kidding me?  That girl is Rated G, Nothing
happened,”  AJ grumbled, taking a sip of water.
“ Oh, does that mean you are strictly about the sex?” 
SKylee asked from by his ear.
“ Hey, I’m stayin outta your life, Why don’t you do the
same?”  AJ snapped, massaging his neck as he  tried to shake
off the remains of his hangover.
“ Ok, Relax,”  She said lightly, sitting down by the table
of drinks.
“ Stay away from the Buds, those are mine,” AJ told her,
slightly defensively.
“ I wasn’t going for the beer, AJ,” She said exasparatedly.
“ Jesus, Bone, you are the only one I know who tries to
brush off a hangover with alcohol,” Brian said.
“ Then you obviously haven’t met her or the Devil herself,”
AJ said, standing up.
“ Yeah, you probably screwed the Devil, too,” Sky muttered.
“ As a matter of fact-” 
“ Ok, no more questions about your sex life, AJ,”
“ I’ll see ya later,” He laughed, walking out of the room...



					*****
	Skylee hesitantly knocked on Nick’s open door, getting
the feeling he was angry about something.
“ Hey, Skylee.  Come on in,” 
“ Busy?” She asked, venturing in the room and glancing at
the TV screen, put on mute.
“ No, not really.  Why? Did you need something?”  He
questioned, shutting the notepad he had in his hands.
“ Um...Are you OK?”
“ Yeah, Fine...What else is on your mind?  You look as if
something’s troubling you,”  
“ Nothin’s wrong...”
“ But,”
“ But...Kevin’s still mad, I guess,”
“ Can you honestly say that you blame him, Sky?”
“...No...AJ’s mad, too,”
“ When did that ever matter?”
“ When he did me a favor and I bitched about it,”
“ Apologize,” Nick stated simply, looking back at the
notebook.
“ I can’t do that.  I told him to stay out of my life,”
“ Brash decision,”
“ Yea, I know.  That’s all I make anymore,” She replied
bitterly, standing back up.
“ Where are you going?”
“ I don’t know.  Back to my room probably.  I’m not allowed
to go anywhere else,”
“ At least you’re abiding to that rule,”   Skylee studied
his face before turning.
“ I’ll see you tommorrow, Nick,”
“ Bye, Skylee,”  He watched her walk out and shut the door. 
The room fell completly still again and when he opened up
the notebook again, the shuffling of paper made an
incredibly loud sound.  Not in the mood to finish the lyrics
he had started, he leaned back on the couch and turned off
the TV, the vividly moving pictures giving him a headache. 
Thinking over the day, he concentrated on the concert...Or
tried to...The  only thing that that kept popping up in his
head was AJ and Sky.  He could sense some tension around
them and while Skylee was usually tuned into these things,
she was acting completely oblivious to her feelings.  Nick
didn’t know if she actually liked AJ but he did know AJ was
head over heels for her but was too much of a macho guy to
say anything unless she brought it up or showed any interest
in him at all.  Nick sighed and ran his hand through his
hair.  If it was one thing Skylee didn’t need, it was
heartbreak and AJ would be the person who would cause it. 
Not that he had anything against AJ, it was just he had too
much of a reputation for messing with people’s minds.  And
he was good at it. AJ could basically get away with murder,
saying it was self-defense and everyone would believe him. 
Another thing about AJ was that he had been through major
heartbreak a few times before and that past the front he put
on, he really was a serious guy who took everything and
everyone into consideration.  Nick also knew that AJ was
struggling through some serious shit of his own at the time
being.  It was Howie who had clarified this but he refused
to say what was wrong with Jay or maybe he himself didn’t
know.  All this was enough for Nick to second glance at AJ
but he didn’t want Sky to get hurt either...


					*****
	“ She was the window down, and she talks over the
sound,” AJ sang softly along with the radio, sketching the
photo of his dog onto a piece of paper, bored.  He looked up
as someone knocked at the door.  Almost forgetting he was
supposed to answer, he stood up and walked over.
“ Who is it?”  He asked.
“ It’s me, Skylee,” She replied softly.  AJ’s heart sank a
little when he heard the hesitation in her voice and he
pulled open the door.
“ Skylee...Before you forget, you came here, OK?”  He
stepped aside so she could come in but she remained in the
doorway.
“ Did you need something?” He asked when she looked around
the room, not saying anything.
“ I- I wanted to apologize, AJ.  You did me a favor and I
just got angry over nothing so I felt I owed you an
apology,”
“ Just an apology?  You wouldn’t, say, let me buy you a
drink or anything?” He asked, hopeful for a sec but trying
not to let it show in his voice.
“ I’m sorry, but no, I just came to apologize.  Not anything
else,” She replied gently.
“ Oh...Ok, well, apology accepted, Skylee,” He forced a
smile on his face and moved his hand to the doorknob again.
“ OK, goodnight, AJ,” She said, taking the hint.
“ Night, Skylee,”  She walked out of the doorway and looked
back at him.
“ I really am sorry, AJ,” She repeated, letting some of the
remorse she was kinda beginning to feel creep into her
voice.
“ No problem,” He shut the door quietly and paused by the
door before walking back to his seat and picking up the
drawing.  Staring at it, he felt a wave of idiocy as he
thought about how amateur that looked.  He tore the page out
of his book and folded it, planning on throwing it away
later...

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