Tori laughed out loud as she read the note she recieved. It was from Casey. The two had become pretty close lately, and Tori began to let down her guard and let him in. She figured that since they had to sit right next to each other in class for the rest of the year, there was no point in ignoring him. It was a pretty good thing she did, because as it turns out they had a lot in common. They both loved John Travolta movies, Weird Al, and they both had a strange obsession with eating raw cookie dough.
Tori looked up from the note to look at Casey. She liked his eyes, they were this piercing chocolate brown-like color. They seemed deep, like he was hiding this mysterious secret that only a few people knew about. Of course, as piercing and beautiful as his eyes were, they could never compare to Ryan's. Casey smiled back at her. He loved to see her laugh, he thought that she had the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. He was happy that they were finally friends, even though he still wished for more. But at that moment he would take anything he could get.
"Casey!" Nicci screamed down the stairs. "Casey stop whatever you're doing and get your ass up here!"
Casey sighed and dropped his video game remote. He was starting to get tired of his sister's antics. "What do you want?" He yelled up the stairs at her.
"Just get up here, we gotta talk!" She yelled back.
Casey growled as he turned off his video game and ran up the stairs to Nicci's room. "What is it?" He said rather unhappily.
"I hear you've been getting rather chummy with Tori lately," she said to him. "Do you care to explain at all?"
"Not really considering it's none of your business who I hang out with," he said as he folded his arms across his chest.
"None of my business? Casey you're hanging out with the enemy. It wasn't part of the plan for you to go ahead and start making a move on Tori. This could ruin everything!"
"This will ruin nothing, I don't want to be a part of this stupid plan anymore," he replied. "I really really like Tori, and if I'm ever going to get Ryan out of the picture so I can have her, it's going to be without you, and it's going to be on my own terms. I don't feel like ruining lives anymore."
Nicci pouted. She wasn't sure what to say, but she knew that Casey had made up his mind. "I can't do this alone. I need a partner, and you're my brother, my twin. If you don't help me, who will?"
"Nic, I don't care who helps you, but it's not gonna be me. Go destroy lives if you want to, but it's only going to come back and bite you in the ass when you're done." With that statement, he turned around and left the room.
"I miss her so much," said Jon. Dan rolled his eyes at his lovesick friend.
"Jon, Jonny Boy! She left two days ago!" He replied.
"Yeah, but she's so far away, ya know? I can't see her anytime I want to," he said. "You'd feel the same way if Melissa lived in. . .in. . .Victoria."
Just the mere thought of Melissa living so far away made Dan wince. He still couldn't even fathom how Jon was feeling, although in that split second that he imagined Melissa living across the country, he felt a certain amount of sympathy for his friend. "Dude, I'm sorry. But don't worry, I mean, you guys still talk all the time. You've got a hold on this whole long distance thing."
"Two months. . .it's been two months since we first 'met'. I can't believe that I could've lived two months being so close to her without ever seeing her."
"Well that's a good foundation to be on. It's strong, and you guys definitely don't take the time you'll be spending together for granted."
"Yeah, maybe so. . .but who knows when we'll be able to see each other again. . ." Jon trailed off.
"Then writing and missing each other gives you something to look forward to. Don't stress man, I'm sure you guys will do fine. You've made it this far already, which means the best is yet to come."
Jon looked at Dan curiously. He was starting to wonder where this guy suddenly got his newfound wisdom, it was almost starting to creep him out majorly. He decided to shrug it off, no sense in getting all uptight over a friend giving him sound advice. "Maybe you're right. . .the best may be yet to come. I just hope it's sometime soon. . .I love her too much already to let this die."
"I love you Ryan," said Tori.
"I love you more," he replied back with a smile.
"Are you sure about that? I love you a lot, I don't know if you could possibly love me more than I love you," she said jokingly.
Ryan clutched his chest and pretended to be shocked. "Tori! I'm hurt, you don't think I could love you that much? Oh twist the knife to the left just a little!"
"Keep up that fake act of yours and I'll ram that very same knife elsewhere," she said, giving him a look as if to say, "You know where."
Ryan caught on, and winced at the thought. "Ugh. . .you're no fun. I'm never gonna joke with you anymore. . .and remind me never to piss you off when there are sharp objects around."
Tori laughed. She was having fun with this. "Ryan, do you honestly think I'd do such a thing to you?"
"Well. . .I guess I trust you, but I don't know if Junior does," he replied.
Tori nearly choked to death on her own saliva at Ryan's comment. She couldn't believe that he just said what he did. "Ryan," she said when she finally managed to catch her breath,"Did you just say what I think you said?"
"What, that Junior might not trust you?"
"HAHA! There you go again!" she exclaimed as she laughed harder than she had ever laughed before. "Don't tell me you actually named it!"
"What? You're surprised that it has a name?" he asked.
"Ry, it's just a tad off the deep end, don't you think?"
"It's not as odd as you think," he replied. "Tori, welcome to 1999, all guys name it."
"You gotta be kidding me."
"No I'm not. Do you want examples?"
"I'll pass."
Ryan ignored her and proceeded to give out names. "Okay, first of all, there's Stever. . ."
"Ugh! Ryan! I do NOT care to know what Stever calls it!"
"That would be Spike, and Dan. . ."
"Ryan you can stop at any time."
"His is Jackson. . .and Jon is Mini-Me, oh how original."
"Ryan I cannot believe you just told me this crap."
"Hey, if you're going to be Serial Joe's number one fan, you gotta know the essentials."
"Excuse me? Who said anything about me being Serial Joe's number one fan? I do NOT want to be Serial Joe's number one fan."
"Oh, so you hate us now?" he asked, pretending to be hurt again. "Oh man, I don't know if I can handle this."
"Yeah, exactly it Ryan. Dear God, if I have to hear you sing one more time. . .I'll scream," she lied. She loved his voice, and she loved hearing him sing. She especially loved it when he would call her up at night just to sing her to sleep. He could be so thoughtful like that sometimes. She had never dated anyone like him before. All the other guys that she had dated back in the States were complete assholes. They never really respected her, they just wanted to get into her pants. Ryan on the other hand, he was the only guy that actually liked her for who she was on the inside. He didn't care about getting laid, and he didn't have it in his heart to hurt her. Even after the whole incident with Melissa, she knew that he would never intentionally hurt her. He actually cared for her, which was something that she had never had before.
"Well fine then," he replied. "That's the last time we get you front row seats and backstage passes."
"Ry, I know when and where you guys practice, and all the security guards know that I'm 'with the band'," Tori laughed. "It's not like I'm not going to be able to find some way into a concert or rehearsal."
"I'm going to lock the doors and tell security not to let you in anymore," he said. "You insulted my singing, therefore, you lose all 'Serial Joe' privileges," he joked.
"Aww Ryan!" she pretended to be hurt. She knew he wasn't serious about anything he was saying. "And what do I do to get back my prized ever-so-wonderful 'Serial Joe' privileges?" Tori asked as Ryan pulled her into his lap. Ryan tried his best to give her his "I'm-a-rock-star-you-know-you-want-me look" without laughing. In only succeeded in making a face which looked like he was trying to hold down his dinner. "Oh yeah, that's real sexy Ry," Tori said as she rolled her eyes.
"Well I can't help it! I just had this sudden urge to laugh," he said as he finally managed to control his laughter. "Well if you really want to be forgiven. . . ."
Tori tried to read the look in his eyes, she was pretty good at that, and she knew what he was thinking about. He had this way of semi-arching one eyebrow, and one of the corners of his mouth slighty curved upward. "Ryan Dennis, I'm so. . . .not surprised at you," she smiled. She laughed a little at his expression, and kissed him lightly on the lips.
"Why are you not surprised at me," he asked her. "I'm not that bad am I?"
"Ryan, that is an understatement," Tori said. "You're like a walking hormone, you're one of the most horny guys I know."
"Oh really? Well that's only because you make me extremely hap-py," he said while he began to nibble on her ear.
"Oh there's a great line, where'd you pick that one up Ry?" she asked sarcastically. "Lemme guess, 'www.pickup-lines.com'? Very original." Ryan didn't respond, he only semi-laughed and his kisses began to trail to the sweet spot between Tori's neck and collarbone. Tori knew what he was trying to do, and tried her best to keep her composure. "Like I said. . .walking hormone. . . .a really cute. . .walking hormone."
Ryan stopped working on the sweet spot and moved back to her lips. "Aww, you called me cute," he said between quick kisses. His kisses didn't stay short for long. Each one became longer. . .and longer, and deeper. . .and deeper. . . .