Chapter Nine

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		*****
	“ Yeah, so, anyways-”
“ Skylee, who are you talking to?” Kevin asked, once again
interrupting her telephone conversation as the bus traveled
to yet another venue.
“ A friend, Kevin,” She said, exasperated.
“ You have two more minutes,” He replied, returning his
attention to his magazine.
“ It’s not charging to your phone,” She snapped.
“ Skylee,” Kev said warningly.
“ OK, so, she had...” Skylee’s voice trailed off as she
walked to the bunks and the entertainment room fell into an
air of silence again.  Nick drummed his fingers on the
tabletop and stared out into the night, completely unaware
of AJ’s glare.
“ Nick, stop tapping,” Kevin said with calm authority,
glancing at AJ.  Nick looked up and caught AJ’s look, his
fingers falling still again.
“ You know, instead of glaring at me, AJ, you could ask me. 
It would be a lot more efficient,”  AJ ignored him and
turned his gaze back to the TV.
“ Yo, Nicky, you wanna play some Playstation?” Bri asked,
coming into the room.
“ NO-” (AJ) 
“ Yeah, sure-” Nick and AJ looked at each other again and AJ
abruptly stood up.  Kevin watched him closely but instead of
doing anything, AJ walked out of the room.
“ What is his problem?” AJ heard Nick mutter as he walked to
the main area of the bunk.  Trying to calm down his sudden
wave of anger, he took a seat by one of the big windows. 
Only the fourth day and he was getting frustrated.  AJ gazed
out of the window at a car holding a couple and their two
kids.  Sighing, he thought wistfully ‘What I would give to
be one of them right now.’
“ Hey, You OK, AJ?” Kevin asked, standing in the doorframe.  
“ Yes, I’m fine, Kev,” AJ replied, sick of Kevin’s incessant
questioning. 
“ When are we going to the hotel?” Skylee asked, coming into
the room.  
“ In about an hour; 10:30,”  
“ Oh,” Skylee said dejectedly.
“ Why?”  
“ I’m incredibly bored,” She answered, drumming her fingers
on the Formica tabletop.
“ Well, Ride it out, It’s your fault you’re here,”
“ What’s Brian doing?” She asked, ignoring his comment.
“ Why?”
“ I don’t have the right to ask about my cousin?”  Kevin
stared at her and she sighed.
“ OK, Kevin, if you’re gonna make a huge deal about nothing,
forget I asked,” She shook her head and rifled through her
bag.  Kevin walked back to the entertainment room and Sky
looked at AJ.
“ You don’t happen to have a cigarette on you, do you?”
“ Yeah, here,” He pulled out his pack and lit one for her
before getting one for himself.
“ Thanks,”  She sat down across from him, needing to use the
ashtray in front of him.
“ We should be stopping at a gas station soon, if you ran
out,”  He informed her.  She acknowledged his comment and
they sat in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. The
ringing of AJ’s cell phone caused them both to jump up.
“ Sorry,” He mumbled, reaching over and grabbing his phone.
“ Yeah?...Hey, what’s up?...Really?...Yeah, we should be
getting in around 10:30...OK, yeah, sounds good...Oh,
really?...Yeah, haven’t seen her in a while...Yeah, listen
I’ll see you around 11:00?...OK, bye,” Skylee pulled out her
copy of Cosmo and started flipping through it for the
hundredth time.  They stopped at an Exxon a few minutes
later and they all piled off the bus.
“ Jesus, I was sure you wiped out the whole magazine stock
yesterday,” Nick quipped,looking at the assortment of
magazines Sky was holding.  
“ I don’t know how you guys do this all the time, I’d go
crazy,” She said, grabbing some other items and walking with
him to stand in line.  After paying for her stuff, along
with the cigarettes, she walked back to the bus and sat in
her bunk, wishing time would magically speed up...


					*****
	Nick tried to stifle his yawn as him and Skylee sat in
his hotel room, watching “ You’ve Got Mail.”  
“ What time is it?” She asked, noticing his yawn.
“ Only 12:02,” He replied sheepishly, leaning against her.
“ Movie’s almost done,” 
“ Oh, really?  This is one shortass movie,”
“ Or maybe it was the fact that you slept through it,” She
teased.
“ Yeah, maybe...”
“ I wanna go somewhere,” She complained a few minutes later.
“ Where? Clubbing?”
“ That’d be nice if I was in the mood to get hammered all
the time,”
“ Oh, yeah, I keep forgetting; you’re not AJ,”
“ You know what?  Next stop is where a few of my cousins
live,”  
“ Cool. Are they hot?”
“ I’m sorry but I don’t exactly check them out, Nick,”
“ So, Sky, did ya have a guy back home?” He asked.
“...No, not really...”
“ What happened to Mark?”
“ Oh, it didn’t work out,” She replied offhandedly.
“ Oh...He was an OK guy,”
“ Yeah, but really bland,”
“ The movie’s done,” Nick said, turning off the tv.
“ Yeah, I kinda noticed when  the credits came up,”  She
straightened up but Nick pushed her back.
“ I’m comfortable like this,” He said, yawning again.
“ You’ll be more comfortable in bed,”
“ I don’t think Kevin would like you sleeping with me than
he would AJ,”
“ That’s not what I meant, Dumbass,” She giggled.
“ OK, you look pretty tired too so I’ll let ya go,”
“ Don’t be too generous, Nick, I might get used to it,” She
kidded as he got off her shoulder.
“ I’ll see you tomorrow, Sweets,” He said, giving her a hug.
“ Goodnight, Nick,”  She kissed his cheek and stood up to
leave. 
“ Hey, Sky?”
“ Yeah?” She asked, turning in the doorway.
“ Tell me if ya decide to leave?”
“ Ok,”
“ Promise?”
“ Promise,” She gave him a smile and walked through the
doorway, shutting it behind her.  She walked sluggishly to
the elevators and got in.  Once again, as they did when she
was alone, her thoughts caught up with her.  Sighing as her
good mood evaporated, she waited impatiently as the elevator
ascended slowly.
“ Skylee, hey,” The doors opened and AJ and another guy,
incredibly cute, walked in.
“ Hey,” She greeted, mentally cursing herself for looking
like crap.
“ Where are you going?” AJ asked, glancing at his watch.
“ Up to my room,”
“ Oh...You went out?”
“ Me and Nick were watching a movie at his room,”
“ You wanna go clubbing with us?”  The guy asked her, very
obviously checking her out.
“ Skylee, this is Andrew, Andrew; Sky,” AJ introduced,
sighing, unable to avoid the unavoidable.
“ Nice to meet ya.  Wanna go clubbing now?” Andrew asked,
smiling enticingly.
“ I can’t,”
“ You’re actually gonna listen to Kev?” AJ asked.
“ Yeah,” She replied, looking at him weirdly, surprised by
the annoyance in his voice.
“ Oh, come on, Skylee.  Don’t tell me you’ve never broken a
few rules before,” AJ chided in a suave voice.
“ I never said I didn’t. I just said I wasn’t tonight,” She
replied evenly.
“ OK, fine, Skylee, stay at the hotel,” AJ said in a
tempting voice.  The elevator stopped on her floor and she
paused, thinking.
“ I’ll see you guys later,”  She said finally, walking out.
“ You sure?” He asked.
“ Night, AJ,” Was her response before she walked to her
room...