“So, where are you kids headed off to?” Grandpa asked, finally acknowledging that someone other than Justin was present.
“Hey Justin... didn’t the others tell us to bring Alex by when we picked her up?” Lance asked.
“Yeah, yeah they did,” Justin said, remembering.
Grandpa looked around Kelly at Lance. “And you must be the Lance I was hearing about.”
“Yes sir.”
“Grandpa, your right. This is Lance. Lance, this is my grandpa,” I said.
Grandpa extended his hand to Lance. Lance shook his hand. “Lance, I’m telling you the same thing I told Justin. Well, in a different sort of way. I think of Kelly as my own. Therefore, I better not find out you’ve touched a hair on her head, you got it?”
“Yes sir,” Lance said politely.
“Well, I think we need to go,” I suddenly said, jumping up, hoping the others would follow my lead.
“Good idea,” Lance agreed. He slid off the stool and held his hand out for Kelly to help her down. She jumped down and held securely onto his hand even after she was on the ground. The two of them walked out of the soda shop as Justin shook grandpa’s hand once more. Then, Justin and I turned and headed to the door.
“Justin?” Grandpa asked as Justin opened the door.
“Yes sir?” Justin turned.
“You remember what I’ve said.”
“Will do,” Justin replied as he left. I turned and gave grandpa an innocent smile before following him.
“Oh my God!! There’s girls in here!!” He yelled before running into the bathroom and slamming the door. It wasn’t until he was gone that it registered in my mind what he was wearing. A pair of boxers. That was it. But, neither Kelly nor I cared about seeing him like that, so he had nothing to worry about.
“Hey Chris?” I asked, going to knock on the bathroom door.
“Yes Evil Woman?”
“Why don’t you save that screaming for a couple of girls who actually care about seeing you in your underwear?”
The door swung open. “You saying you don’t care?"
“Couldn’t care less.”
“Kelly?”
“Sorry Chris,” She answered sweetly.
“Well... that just bites,” he replied, causing all of us to laugh.
“Ahh... Alex, it’s great to see you,” JC said, standing and coming over to where we stood to give me a hug.
“Good to see you to JC.”
“What about me? Isn’t it good to see me?” Chris asked.
“Not in your boxers.”
“Damn!”
Joey hung up the phone. “Hey Alex.”
“Hi Joey!” I excitedly said, running over and jumping into his arms, knocking him backwards onto a bed.
“Whoa... down girl, down...” He said with a laugh. “See, no matter what you guys say, the girls still go crazy for me.”
“Sorry Joe... it doesn’t count if they’re one of your best friends,” Lance said with a smile.
“Dude, you trying to lower my self esteem here or what?” Joey asked.
“Aww.. poor Joey... I still love you,” I said giving him a hug.
“See... someone still loves me... even if you guys don’t.”
“Yeah... my girlfriend,” Justin said with a smile.
“Okay... that’s not the point... at least it’s someone!” I picked myself up off of Joey and stood up.
“Can we leave now?” I asked.
“And go where?” Kelly inquired.
“To my house!” I exclaimed.
“Sure... I’m up for it,” JC said. “I’ll drive my car, and Justin, you can drive yours.”
It was then that we left the hotel in pursuit of more exciting things than Chris running around half naked. Well, we got to leave after he got dressed. I swear, that boy takes longer to get ready than a girl does!
We split up into two groups to ride to my house. Justin, Lance, Kelly, and I rode in Justin’s car while JC, Joey, and Chris rode in JC’s. I gave Justin directions and he began to drive. After about fifteen minutes, he sighed. “Alex?”
“Yeah?” I answered.
“Are you sure you know where you live?”
“Yes!” I exclaimed. “Okay, there’s a gravel road up here. Turn on it.”
“Where is it?”
“It’s the next road.”
Justin turned his blinker on and turned onto the gravel road. “Your positive you know where you live?”
“I’ve lived here my entire life. I think I know,” I said with a smile.
“So, we’re not lost?”
“No!” I exclaimed. Then, a thought occured to me. “Hey Lance? Is JC still behind us? The way Justin is talking, I’m afraid they got lost.”
Lance turned and looked out the back window. “Nope, no such luck. They’re still there.”
I laughed as Justin came to a stop at a gate that was locked across the road. “Hey Alex?”
“Hang on. I’ll get it.” I jumped out of the car and went to the heavy padlock that closed the gate. I quickly did the combination and swung the gate open, allowing Justin and JC to drive through. I left it open then, because the only time it was locked was when no one was home. I went and climbed back into Justin’s car. “Okay, about five more minutes up the road.”
Finally, Justin pulled up in front of my grandparents house. I opened the door and got out, Kelly and Lance following me. I ran up the steps to the porch and unlocked the door. I turned back around and tried to hurry the group up with my eyes, but it just didn’t work. Kelly was the first one in though. She ran through the door, trying, I think, to escape Joey. Because he was the second one through the door, and he too, was running. Lance was the next one. He began running through the house trying to find Kelly. One by one, the others slowly trickled in. When Justin, the last one, finally entered the house, I went to the living room to find the entire group except for Kelly.
“Hey guys?” I asked.
“In there,” Lance answered, pointing to a hallway.
“How’d you know what I was going to ask?” I asked him. Lance just shrugged.
I stepped into the hallway to find Kelly looking at the cases of Barbies that my grandma had collected through the years. “Hey Alex,” She said as I poked my head around the doorway to see if she was alright.
“Yeah?”
“Your right. Your grandma is a Barbie fanatic,” She said as she came into the living room with the rest of the group. “And I don’t even understand why. I mean, Barbie is such a fake picture of what the perfect woman is like.” She sat down on the floor in front of Lance and leaned her head on his knee.
“I know. Actually, I heard that if Barbie was a real woman, she’d have to walk on all fours due to her proportions. She is all screwed up if you ask me,” I said with a smile.
“Hey...” Joey said slowly with a smile.
It got quiet for a second before Kelly lifted her head and said, “Eww!!! Joey!” This caused everyone to laugh.
“And the woman can’t keep a job. I mean, one day, she’s an astronaut, the next, a doctor. The next, a rock star, and I’ve even seen her as a housewife! What’s her problem? Does she have a decision making disorder or something?”
JC got ready to reply when the sound of another car in the driveway stopped him. “Expecting someone?” He asked.
“No. Mom’s just probably home.” I jumped up and went to the front window. What I saw made my mouth drop open. Diana was getting out of her mom’s car. I turned and quickly went back to the living room. “Okay, you guys need to do something for me. No questions asked.”
“What?” Justin asked.
“Get in that closet... NOW!” I ran over and pulled the closet open to show them the spacious (NOT) square.
“But-” Lance began to say.
“I mean it!” The five of them got up and got in the closet. It was pretty much a tight fit, but we made it work. I went to close the door, but someone’s hand was in the way.
“OWWW!” Chris yelled.
“Sorry Chris. Now shut up!” I exclaimed as Diana knocked on the door. I went to answer it as Kelly plopped down on the couch with a magazine. “Hey Diana,” I said as she walked in.
“Hi Alex.”
“What are you doing here?”
Diana held up a couple bags from the local grocery store. “Your having a party, remember? We agreed that I’d come over a few hours early to help you get ready.”
I stumbled across the room and sat in the chair closest to the closet. I had forgotten that I was having an ‘End Of Summer’ bash that evening. Kelly looked up from her magazine and caught Diana’s eye. “Hi. I’m Kelly.”
“I figured,” Diana said with a smile. She went over and sat on the couch next to Kelly. I smiled as I listened to the whispered conversation taking place in the closet.
“Who’s here?” JC asked.
“Diana,” Justin answered.
“What about Kelly?” Lance asked.
“She sounds okay about her being here,” Justin answered.
Someone in the closet began to cough then, but I covered it up by starting to cough myself. “Are you okay?” Diana asked, jumping up and running over to me. I nodded and waved as if to say, I’m okay, go sit down. I wanted her to sit down in case our ‘closet captives’ decided to start talking again. She went over and sat down next to Kelly again when someone in the closet sneezed. “Bless you,” Diana said to Kelly.
“I didn’t-” Kelly began to say when she caught my glare. “Oh... thanks.”
We had covered this up well until someone exclaimed, “EWW!! You sneezed on me!!!”
“What’s going on here?” Diana asked, looking from Kelly to me.
“Well, actually, Diana,” I began to say when I was interrupted.
“You idiot! She heard you!” Diana’s eyes narrowed and she got up and walked slowly to the closet.
“Is it my imagination, or is this closet... talking?”
“Your imagination. Diana, I think you need to seek professional help.”
“Diana... I am God... you will go stick your head in the oven...” A voice from the closet said. Diana arched one eyebrow at me.
“Did that closet just claim that it’s God and that I would go stick my head in the oven?”
“Umm... no! Why would you think that?” I asked.
“Something really odd is going on here...” Diana reached over and pulled the closet door open. All five guys tumbled out, landing in a heap on the floor. Diana just stood staring at them in surprise. All five looked up at me sheepishly.
“Okay, guys, the covers blown. Take a seat.” JC was the first to pick himself up off the floor.
“Hi again,” he said to Diana.
“Hey,” She replied, her eyes on Lance who was still on the floor. JC crossed the room and sat next to Kelly, leaving an empty spot between them. Chris took that empty spot. JC had left it open for Lance, but apparently, Chris didn’t realize this. Justin perched on the arm of the chair I was in, Joey sat in a rocking chair against the opposite wall, and Lance literally crawled over to the couch where he leaned against it in front of Kelly. My eyes were on the two as Kelly glanced down at Lance and then up at me. I nodded.
“Hey Diana... we need to tell you something.”
“What?” She asked, sounding annoyed and confused all at the same time.
“Well, actually, Lance and Kelly have something to tell you.”
Diana’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Kelly. She crossed her arms. I nudged Justin, who nodded. I raised my eyebrows at Joey, and he stood and came around to stand next to Justin. He leaned against the wall in case he was needed.
“Um... Diana...” Lance began to say. He looked scared for Kelly, considering we had told him the entire situation. “Diana,” He started again. “Kelly and I... we...” He stopped again. He took a deep breath. “Kelly and I are going out,” He finally said as he reached up to take her hand.
Diana started across the room but Justin jumped up and held one arm while Joey was on the other side of her holding the other. “I’m sorry Diana... I mean, that nobody said anything earlier,” Kelly almost whispered.
Diana ignored Kelly, but through clenched teeth, she did say, “Alex? May I speak with you in the kitchen? ALONE?” She emphasized the alone as if to say, ‘let go of me now!’
Justin and Joey released her arms and she stalked into the kitchen. I followed her. As soon as I shut the door, she exclaimed, “Alex, how long have Lance and Kelly been together?”
“Why does that matter?”
“How long?”
I sighed. “It’ll be a year in December.”
“So, when we went to Houston, they were together?”
“Yeah,” I softly replied.
“And you let me flirt with him?!”
“Yeah, I mean, I couldn’t tell you about those two, because I knew that would make you hate her. You hated her just because she said that Lance was her favorite in the group.”
“Well, I’m over that now and completely filled with embarrassment!”
“Diana, if it makes you feel any better, I don’t think any of them care now, okay?” She nodded. “Come on... let’s get back in there before they think that we deserted them.”
I placed an arm around her shoulders and lead her back into the living room where we found the six in conversation. It aburptly stopped when we entered the room however. I did notice that Chris had given up his spot on the couch for Lance. As Diana walked across the room to a chair, I noticed that Kelly watched her. Diana glanced up, noticed Kelly’s eyes on her and gave her a smile.
“Well, now, we got a party to plan for, right? Let’s go!” Nobody moved. “Okay, come on, I can’t do this myself.” Everyone just looked at each other. “Alright... let’s try it like this... Justin, your going to the trailer with me to get the food from there... Lance and Kelly, you work on the music... Joey and Diana, you work on the food here, and JC, you just help supervise everyone... make sure their doing their jobs.”
“What about me?” Chris asked.
“Chris... you can... go outside and find the dog.”
“Why?”
“Because we gotta know where the dog is at.”
“Okay...” Chris stood and was on his way to the door when a dog ran in from the back of the house barking. “You were saying?”
“Umm... you can help move the stuff out of the way in here so that we can have dancing room and whatever.”
“Alright,” Chris answered and began to inspect how the rug was placed under the couch.
“Come on Justin,” I said, heading for the door as everyone went about their respective jobs.
