They felt like they just ran a marathon as they left the concert hall. After a night of watching Ricky Martin strut his stuff onstage at the House Of Blues, Lexie was convinced her birthday couldn't get any better.
"So what now?"
Groans met Jacquie's statement. She ran her hand through her now-sandy blonde hair as she looked at her friends. Faye and Nikki were leering at Faye's new Ricky poster that Melissa was holding. Lexie was reclining on the stone ledge looking up at the stars.
"Let's take this stuff back to the hotel first, then we can decide from there what we are going to do next," Melissa suggested. So the five girls returned to their hotel a few blocks away.
(Back at the hotel)
RING! RING! RI- "Hello?"
"Hey Tricks! What's the verdict?"
Nikki turned to talk with Melissa and Faye. "We're hungry, Jaqs."
Lexie could see her friend nodding into the phone. "Okay. Wanna meet in the lobby in like ten minutes? Okie day! Bye!"
Jacquie turned around. "We're going to go get some food and then see what happens after that. You ready to go?" Lexie nodded as she laced up her shoes.
Downstairs, the two girls lingered around the ornate fountain that graced the center of the hotel lobby. The gold trimmings sparkled as the water gracefully shot out of the center and lightly splashed into the pool of water below. Jacquie dug into her pocket and produced two pennies.
"What do I wish for?"
"I dunno, Lex. I'm going to wish for something fun." She closed her eyes and murmured something before tossing her coin into the fountain. Opening her eyes, she grinned and turned when the other three arrived in the lobby.
"Something fun," Lexie whispered. "I wish to have the most memorable time on this trip." She watched as the penny flew through the air and clinked against the top of the fountain before disappearing into the water below.
"I'm hungry!" Faye exclaimed, so the group made their way out of the hotel in search of a place to eat.
Ten minutes later, they were sitting in a quaint Italian restaurant around the corner from the hotel and were munching on breadsticks. The main topic of conversation was the concert earlier that night, but soon turned to what they would be doing for the rest of the evening.
"Look over there!" Nikki gestured. "We could go to that club. It looks like they are having some live entertainment and we could always play pool or whatever." Everyone waited for Lexie's response.
"Let's do it!"
They quickly finished their meal and made their way over to the club. Luckily, it was an all-ages club as long as one person was over 18, so Faye had no trouble getting in. They were directed to a lounge where the next performer would be onstage in a few minutes.
The lights went up to reveal a woman in her twenties that looked incredibly familiar to all the girls. They moved to a table closer to the stage so they could get a better look.
"No way!" Everyone turned to look at Nikki. "Don't you guys remember her?" One by one, the girls looked at the performer and Nikki grinned as she could see the recognition in their faces.
"It's Pollyanna! Howie's sister!" Faye whispered. They eagerly enjoyed the show and when the set was over, they all stood and cheered loudly. Pollyanna looked over and waved when she recognized the girls.
"Hello! What are you girls doing here?" Pollyanna greeted each girl with a hug.
"We're in town celebrating Lexie's 21st birthday, and we stopped by the club on a whim," Melissa explained.
"Another birthday?" The singer grinned. "Happy birthday, Lexie."
Lexie smiled. "Thank you, Pollyanna. You are an amazing singer, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised, with your brother and all."
"What about me?" Howie stepped out from the shadows that filled the room only lit by candles and the stagelights.
"Howie!"
He laughed when he saw the girls and Nikki jumped up for a hug. "Can I just say déjà vu?"
The Doroughs sat down with the girls and they shared their respective stories. Pollyanna was doing a short club circuit before her album was released, and Howie was traveling with her for awhile.
"D? Where'd ya go, man?" Brian and Nick wandered over to find their bandmate, and found him with the girls. Nick signaled to someone by waving his hand in the air and almost immediately, AJ and Kevin appeared.
After squeezing everyone around their table, they continued chatting until Pollyanna looked at her watch. "I hate to say this, but I really need to be going. I have to be at a club in Indianapolis tomorrow, so I need some sleep." Howie moved to go back to the hotel with her, but she shook her head. "I'll just take one of your bodyguards with me, then send him back for you guys. Goodnight everyone. It was nice seeing you girls again, and happy birthday, Lexie!"
When Pollyanna was gone, Brian looked over at Lexie. "It's your birthday?" She nodded. "How old are ya?"
Nick slapped his hand playfully. "It's not polite to ask a lady her age."
"Since when do you know anything about being polite, Nick?" Brian countered as his tall blonde friend started lecturing his friend on etiquette. "It's okay, Nick. It's my 21st birthday," Lexie smiled as she sipped her drink.
Kevin noticed that their group was getting some nasty looks from the manager for being too noisy, so he suggested they all move to the main part of the club. The brand new arcade in the corner caught Nick's eye, so he headed that way with Brian in tow. Melissa and Faye laughed as they followed the still bickering friends.
Lexie's eyes lit up and she pulled Jacquie out of her seat and over to the pool tables.
"I don't wanna play pool, Lex!"
"Please, Jaqs? Just one game?"
"But I'm horrible at pool!"
"I know. That's why I asked you."
Jacquie's eyes twinkled as an idea crept into her head. "Can I have a helper?"
"Helper?"
"More like a coach."
Lexie shrugged. "I don't care, but you are still going to lose."
"Wanna bet?"
"Sure."
"Okay. Twenty dollars says I can beat you at pool with just a little coaching."
"Deal." The two girls shook hands. Lexie was selecting her pool cue when she heard Jacquie call across the club.
"AJ! Come 'ere!"
Lexie could only stare as AJ sauntered toward them. "What's going on?"
Jacquie smiled. "I just bet Lexie $20 that I can beat her at pool, but since I suck at this game, she said I could have some coaching. Will you help me?"
AJ just looked at her before laughing as he perched on a stool near the table. "Let the games begin."
Ten minutes later, Lexie was wiping tears of laughter out of her eyes.
Exasperated, AJ was yelling at Jacquie. "I told you to line it up with the corner pocket. The CORNER pocket! Not the side pocket."
"Shut up already, will ya? I did line it up with the corner pocket! Obviously, your coaching sucks because it didn't work!" Jacquie sat down on a stool and took a swig of her drink.
"But it should have!" AJ walked over to the table in disbelief. "Weren't you watching what you were doing?"
"Nope."
AJ froze and pivoted to look at her. "What did you just say?"
"I wasn't looking. I had my eyes shut."
"WHY'D YOU DO THAT?!"
"I dunno. Habit, I guess."
He shook his head and rubbed his hand over his face. "No wonder you suck at this game, JQ."
"Well, I never claimed to be good at it, Alexander!"
Lexie couldn't help it. She burst out laughing. "You two are hysterical! It's just a game, and you are fighting like you're brother and sister!"
AJ and Jacquie grinned sheepishly at Lexie, then at each other.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you, JQ."
"S'ok, AJ. I'm sorry too. Next time, I'll try to keep my eyes open."
Lexie moved around the pool table and picked her next shot.
"See what happens when you keep your eyes open, JQ? The ball goes in the pocket," AJ teased as Lexie sank one in the corner pocket Jacquie aimed for and missed earlier.
Jacquie suddenly reached for her pocket. She raised the pager in order to read the message. "Oh, I gotta take this call. It's my mom. AJ? Will you play for me while I'm gone?" She jumped off the stool and handed him her pool cue. Before he could say anything she was darting across the room to find a payphone.
AJ and Lexie watched her departing figure before turning back to the game.
"Do you mind if I play for her?"
Lexie shook her head. "No, she should be back soon."
Twenty minutes later, they were battling it out trying to sink the eight ball. When she was playing Jacquie, Lexie was easily winning, but AJ quickly caught up.
"Oops! Missed again." AJ stepped back from the table. Lexie glared at him.
"Are you trying to let me win?"
"Of course not. It's your shot."
Lexie wouldn't move. "You ARE trying to let me win! Jacquie could have made that shot!"
He ran his hand through his hair as he watched her purposely miss the shot. "Now you're trying to let ME win?!"
"Of course not," Lexie countered playfully, throwing AJ's words back at him.
And so the battle continued - each one purposely not sinking the eight ball that would end the game.
Then it happened.
"You won!" Lexie stared at the corner pocket where the eight ball disappeared into.
AJ was shocked. "I didn't mean to!"
"A-ha! So you WERE trying to let me win!" Lexie dug into her pocket and pulled out a twenty-dollar-bill.
"No way!" AJ threw his hands up in protest. "I'm not taking your money!"
"A bet's a bet, AJ."
"You made that bet with Jacquie, not me."
"Take the money, AJ."
"No, I can't"
Lexie shook her head at him. "What do you mean, you can't? Of course you can. You stick out your hand and accept it."
Sighing, he took the twenty from her, but before she could step back, he folded the bill up and tucked it back in her jeans pocket.
"I can't take money from a beautiful girl in a bet that she didn't make with me. Especially when it's her birthday." AJ looked into Lexie's eyes. "Happy Birthday, Alexandra."
She closed her eyes as he leaned down and gently brushed his lips over hers.
He stepped back as his pager went off. "Damn. We have to go." They put the pool cues back and headed over to the others where the rest of the Boys were receiving similar pages.
Everyone was saying their good-byes when Lexie noticed Jacquie hand Kevin a small black box. Before she could comment on that, AJ was taking her hand.
"Thank you for a wonderful evening, Lexie. And happy birthday again." She could only smile as he lifted her hand and kissed it before walking out of the club with the other Boys.
On the way back to their hotel, Melissa and Faye were telling Nikki about their dart game with Nick and Brian.
Jacquie noticed that Lexie was lingering behind and dropped back to walk with her.
"What are you thinking about?" Jacquie asked.
"Why your mother decided to page you at two in the morning."
Jacquie blushed. "Um... ah..."
"And what was that thing you gave to Kevin before he left?"
"His pager."
"His what?!" Lexie stopped walking as she realized that there was no page that summoned Jacquie away from the pool table.
Jacquie tugged at her arm to get her moving again. "You didn't expect me to hand around you two all night, did you?" Lexie shook her head as Jacquie continued talking in a louder voice. "I figured you and AJ would be okay together. Besides, I couldn't leave Kevin all alone, could I?"
Jacquie winked as Nikki whirled around. "He wasn't all alone! I was there!"
"With Howie!" Jacquie countered.
"Howie and I are just friends! How many times do I have to keep telling you that?!"
Faye nodded. "Sure, Nikki. You keep telling yourself that." She nudged Melissa and everyone laughed.
"We ARE just friends!" Nikki protested as they entered their hotel. They continued to tease Nikki about her relationship with Howie, but when they got to the elevators, Lexie hung back.
"Lex, you coming up?" The other girls were on the elevator and Jacquie was holding the door for her.
"I'll be up in a sec. There's something I have to do quickly."
Jacquie shrugged. "Okay. See you up in the room." Lexie waited until the elevator doors closed before heading for the fountain. She stood there for a few minutes watching the water arc over the glistening pool. Digging in her pocket, she pulled out a coin and tossed it in the water.
"Thanks, I owe ya one."
