Chapter 2
From Strangers to Friends
"Wow, what a life you have back home, and you keep your grades up too!" Mrs. Carter mused. "Congrats! Really, you are doing a great job" she continued. Then she heard her son's feet racing down the stairs. "Hey no running in the house, you know that. Nick not down the stairs!" She hollered at her sons, who of course didn't hear over the racket they were making. "They are coming," she said making her voice sound spooky. Jessy laughed and turned to look toward the stairs. Nick and Aaron landed at the base of the stairs and slowed to a walk as they got to the living room.

"Are you guys done talking like business partners, or do I have time for another nap" Aaron asked jokingly.

"Yes, we are Aaron" Jessy said emphasizing his name, "I was just telling your mom about Paradise, you know, my home" she stated mater-of-factly.

"I was kidding, geeze! I wanted you to meet Nick" Aaron replied as he pulled Nick into the room from the hall by the arm.

"Okay, it seams like he didn't agree to this," Jessy and Jane said in unison and then laughed.

"No, I didn't. I didn't even know that she was here" he said in his defense, "but know that I am here, hi" he continued, over-acting on the politeness, and shaking Jessy's hand.hard.

"Umm, you can let the circulation back to my hand anytime now" Jessy said, hinting that her hand hurt.

"Oh, I am sorry" Nick said releasing her hand.

"Okay, can I introduce you to my friend Jessy Patkins." Aaron announced. "Jessy, this is my brother Nick" he continued as Jessy stood up. "Hi, wud up?" she greeted, straitening her skirt, that had wrinkled while sitting.

"Hey, Aaron says you play basketball" Nick said taking Aaron's seat in the chair. He was lightly dressed, almost lazy like. He wore kakki shorts that sagged down to his knees, a huge tee shirt, and some socks. Jess wished she could be so comfortable.

"Well, I actually are not that good, but yes, I do like playing basketball." Jessy answered him sitting back down. Jane and Aaron left the room, leaving Jessy to talk to Nick by herself. Jessy didn't notice the absence of her friend. Nick was acting quizzical, asking question after question. Aaron must have heard the tension in Jessy's voice, because he came back into the room again.

"Jess, this is normal, he ALWAYS does this. He is just overprotective." Aaron explained, then disappeared again.

"Sorry, I am making you uncomfortable, I don't mean to." Nick said apologetically.

"Oh, I am not really that nervous, just meeting new people mostly. Why does he keep doing this!?" Jess exclaimed.

"Doing what?" Nick said, genuinely confused.

"Leaving me alone in this big house by myself." Jess mumbled felling quite dumb afterward.

"Well technically, you are not alone, I am here, but Aaron gets bored easily, plus, he thinks that you do not need him here with you all the time. He thinks you are a strong independent person." Nick explained, hoping that his true feeling about the young blond girl didn't come through.

"Oh" was all that Jessy could say. She knew that Nick was acting, she knew that by just how he hid his own nervousness behind this gorgeous face where no one could see it. Except for her of course. Nick's mind raced, he didn't know that anyone that Aaron could meet could be so..cool as Jessy was. She obviously didn't come from around LA, just by looking at her he could tell that. She had something different, something that caught his eye; he just could not put his finger on what it was. He decided to keep it cool, after all, he was almost 4 years older than she was, they would have nothing to talk about. He found later that he was wrong.

"Well, what'cha want to talk about now?" Jessy asked, getting the ball rolling again. Nick grabbed the last few goldfish and ate them.

"You of course. Like where do you live and stuff like that." he said chewing the last bites of crackers. He got up and took a seat next to Jessy. Jessy was surprised. She was searching for words to say, but her mind was on other things. Nick Carter wanted to find out information about her, HER! A girl from a small town, nothing like this all famed blond boy.

"Well, you mean basic stuff right?" Jess mumbled shakily.

"Yup" he said waiting

"Okay, well," she started, "I live north of here, about 12 hours drive. In a town called Paradise, its above Sacramento." She guessed by the expression on his face that he had never heard of the town before. "I have a younger brother and twin sisters, my mom and my dad." Jess continued. Her story lasted until the sun had started its descent into the horizon and splashing its colors across the sky, and its shades poured through the windows.

"Jessy, does your grandmother know that you are here?" Jane asked coming from almost out of nowhere.

"Yeah, Mr. Carter said that he would take me back later" Jess answered her, and turned to face her.

"Okay, he just called, he wont be able to make it in time, Nick would you-" Jane started.

"Yes mom, you know I would have offered." Nick interrupted, sounding a bit agitated. "But traffic it too heavy now so, Jess, why don't you call your granny and tell her you'll be a bit late." Nick finished and handed Jessy a cordless phone.

"Okay, thanks" she said as she turned the phone on. She dialed the number, and got it wrong twice, before she was successful in reaching her grandmother.

"Hello?" Mrs. Morris answered.

"Hey grandma, its me" Jess said into the phone.

"Oh hi dear, are you still at Aaron's?" came the response from Jessy's grandmother

"Yeah, Mr. Carter will not be able to get me home in time, so I am going to be a bit late." Jess stated

"That is all right, I was kind of expecting you to be a bit late, I thought it would be busy. Well, I will see you when you get home then." Mrs. Morris said to her granddaughter.

"Okay, buh bye" Jess said and hung up the phone.

"Its all right for me to stay late, she kinda expected me to be." Jess explained to Jane as she handed her the phone.

"Okay, I just wanted to be safe. Do you want to stay for dinner?" Jane asked.

"If it wont be any trouble, then I would love to" Jessy answered politely as Aaron came down the stairs.

"Mom is making pizza, you like that right?" Aaron asked as he came into the room.

"YES! Especially cheese pizza" Jessy exclaimed sounding a bit out of order. Her stomach growled and she knew that Nick at least heard it. "And my stomach is telling me it wants some" she joked rubbing her stomach.

Nick laughed and said "I like her already, so when are we going to eat?"

"It's almost done, but unfortunately BJ and Leslie are going to be late, and Angel is sleeping over at her friends, so its going to be just us tonight." Jane explained as she went to the kitchen. "Thing is though, you will have to help with clean up afterwards." She continued when she got to the entry to the kitchen.

"Come on mom, its her first time here!" Aaron protested.

"Yes dear, but I don't see why she can't help," she said entering the kitchen.

"Aaron, cool it, its okay, I am used to it." Jessy said trying to calm her young friend down. "Sure I'd help Jane, I'd do it for pizza." She jokingly responded to Jane, she laughed and turned her attention to the oven. After two pieces of pizza and a few more glasses of Pepsi, Jessy was stuffed and ready to call it a night. It was dark outside now, and the air was moist and warm. Jane, Aaron, Nick and Jessy, went out on the deck and watched the nighttime scenery. Jessy looked at the first star she saw and closed her eyes. I wish I may, I wish I might, I wish on the first star I see tonight she thought.

"Are you all right?" Nick asked concerned.

Jessy opened her eyes. "Yeah, why?" She asked him.

"Well you closed your eyes for a second and were quiet, so I kinda wondered." He explained. "Were you wishing on a star?" he asked standing by her. Jessy leaned on the railing and looked across the deck at Aaron sitting by his mom, his head on her shoulder.

"Yes, I was. I have every time I could for as long as I can remember," she said looking out to sea.

"What'cha wish for?" he asked leaning on the deck railing like Jessy. A light sea breeze blew past them, blowing whisps of hair around Jessy's face. The constant crash of the waves on sand filled their ears. Jessy realized how dreadfully romantic it was.

"I can't tell you or it wont come true." She told Nick. He chuckled, and brushed his hair out of his face.

"I thought that you would say that, but it was worth a try." He said smiling. He wondered what she thought of him. She didn't mention that she even might be a fan of BSB, she certainly didn't act like most of the ones he had met before.

The indoor lights caught her face so the shadows made her look almost angelic; Nick almost could not help going up and embarrassing such a beauty. The breeze caught in her hair and made it swirl around her face. And that smile, the smile that could break any man. Now he thought that he was overdoing it, and he made himself stop that train of thought.

Nick looked at his watch and then back at Jessy. "I think that we can get to your grandmothers a lot easier now." He said, as he walked over to his mom. They exchanged a few words and then Nick, followed by Jessy went back inside. Jessy found her bag and went out and said good bye to Aaron, who was partly asleep.

She got back indoors and found Nick. "Ready to go, how 'bout you?" Jess asked, swinging her bag on her back.

"Yeah, just a sec." He answered from the hall. When she heard the rattle of keys, she knew he was ready to go. She retraced her steps to the front door, where Nick was waiting for her; his back turned to her. She noticed then how child-like he looked, He was tall, yet had all the same features that Aaron had. His hair had grown out now, and was cut just above the ears. He just stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, keys in hand.

Jessy stood there until she realized that she was staring. She shook her head and told herself in a whisper, "No. He probably has a girlfriend, he is not interested in you like that." even if she wished greatly that it was otherwise.

"Hey what took ya'!" Nick said when he heard the door shut behind Jessy. He smiled to himself, and didn't know why.

"You never told me you were leaving!" she scolded him teasingly.

"Hey, if you know me at all, you would know that I never tell people when I am leaving." He joked, laughing as he said it.

"Yeah, whatever!" Jess said exasperated and lightly hitting him on the shoulder (flirting of course).

"Ouch! That hurt! Naw, just kidding. Are you coming?" he said as he walked down to the parked gray Explorer in the driveway. Jessy followed him and tried to open the passenger door. It was locked. Nick (now inside) started the engine and gestured her to get in. Jessy just gave him a hard stare, and put her hand on her hip, hardly laughing. He gave an over exaggerated sigh and unlocked the door. Jessy opened it and said "Gee, thanks for getting me home so fast!" They both laughed and Jessy got in and shut the door and buckled up.

In no time at all they were back on the highway, headed toward Mrs. Morris's house.

As the night breeze ran through the open windows of the SUV, music boomed from the speakers. The adolescence sang, laughed, and danced down the highway.

"Hey, you're not bad!" Nick yelled over the radio.

"What?!" Jessy exclaimed, not hearing anything the boy said.

Nick turned down the radio just a "I knew I Loved You" by Savage Garden came on.

"Hey, I like that song!" Jessy exclaimed when she recognized the tune.

"I said you're not that bad, at singing I mean." Nick repeated looking at Jess for a second and then toward the road.

"Uh, thanks Nick, but why are you turning red?" She asked, facing the window.

"I'm not, but I can now see that you are, but I'm not at all" Nick lied glancing back at himself in the rearview mirror, just to make sure (he was a little pink, but not red).

"I'm not red, what are you talking about!" Jessy exclaimed hiding her face from view, which was hard and ultimately unsuccessful.

"Yes you are!" Nick fought

"Not! Jess defended

"Are"

Not, not, not, not, not!" Jess protested. "This is lame, we are young adults (yeah right) here, we should at least act sixteen, not three."

"Gee, look who is talking now!" Nick replied, then whispered "are" under his breath, and of course, Jessy heard, and Nick got another slap on the shoulder.

"Even if I did, you would not be helping any Nickolas!" Jessy commented. Nick gave her a dirty look and turned up the radio. The song had long since ended and a faster-paced song was in its place. Nick drummed on the steering wheel and Jessy pretended to play the guitar for the rest of the dark ride home. The explorer pulled up in the driveway just before 10 p.m. Jessy got out thanked Nick for the ride and went inside. Nick just watched her disappear into the mobile home, then backed out of the drive and headed back home.