Mike stumbled sleepily into the kitchen at 3:00 in the morning to find that Devyn was sitting at the laptop typing away. “What the hell are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m sending out an e-mail to the US Adoption Search Company, they were interested in my case.”
“Yeah, interested in the publicity that your case could bring,” Mike muttered. “I can see the headlines now: ”Girl-Who-Lives-With-Pop-Sensation Nick Carter Finds Birth Parents And Guess Who Helped...”
“They’re a non-profit organization which means that they could give a damn if people know who they are or not. They get their publicity and their funding through wealthy lenders…If it weren’t early, I’d swear you were Nick.”
“I’m not kidding Devyn, just keep your eye out. People are assholes sometimes.”
Devyn just gave Mike a look and completed her e-mail. “There, now may I ask why the hell you are awake at 3 in the morning?”
“I’m not sure exactly, I just can’t sleep.”
Devyn shut the laptop off. “Well, I know that I can,” she said heading for her room.
Mike stopped her. “Oh real cute Dev…” Before Devyn could stop him, Mike was tickling her relentlessly.
A bowl of Frosted Flakes lay on the kitchen table as Nick sat, pouring over documents. At this particular moment, Nick was going over files that he had hoped would solve the mystery of Devyn’s birth parents however he hadn’t found anything in the two hours he had been reading and re-reading paragraphs. Unbeknownst to Devyn, Nick had become financial supporter in searching for Devyn’s birth parents and he was really starting to get into it but he was aware that Devyn wouldn’t be exactly thrilled that he had gone behind her back and taken her packet of information sent by the US Adoption Search Company…a “non-profit” association. Suddenly, a paragraph caught his eye:
Mr. Donald Lockwood (34) and Miss. Hannah Blanc (19) (Affair suspected): 1981. Baby girl, 6 pounds 11 ounces, dark hair at the time of birth, green eyes, mole on left side of forehead. Baby mysteriously disappeared after burglars broke into the home of Mr. Donald Lockwood.
Nick read the sentences over and over and even mumbled it out loud to be sure he had seen it correctly. Once the words actually registered, Nick found himself searching for a picture of Devyn. He could’ve sworn that she had a mole on the left side of her forehead but wasn’t exactly sure and if the picture proved it to be true, then Professor Lockwood, the physics professor that Devyn “knew and loved”, could be her father. Finally Nick ran into Devyn’s room and grabbed a recent Polaroid of her and this guy Eric whom Nick disliked for the sole reason that Eric hadn’t screwed up his chances with Devyn and Nick had. In it, Devyn was turned in such a way that Nick found the mark he had been looking for. Nick’s emotions were mixed. He didn’t know what to do next. Fortunately, he didn’t have to worry for too long as the sound of Devyn’s voice coming from the kitchen startled him back to reality. “I’m home.” Panic surged through Nick’s body when he realized that he had left the packet of information on the table out and open. He quickly ran out of Devyn’s room to find her reading through the same packet he had been scanning moments earlier. Nick tried to look in her eyes to detect any emotion whatsoever, but he couldn’t find anything. “Hey Nick,” Devyn said, setting down the packet. Nick breathed a sigh of relief causing Devyn to ask, “is everything okay?”
“Yeah…fine…everything is fine.”
Devyn gave Nick a weird look and then just nodded her head. “Hey, a bunch of us are going out to dinner tomorrow for Valentine’s Day. You wanna go? Alicia’s gonna be there…”
“…Oh, um…I have a big report due in Music Theory on the 15th…I don’t think I can make it.”
“Oh c’mon Nick, it’ll be fun.”
“Is Eric going?” Nick asked
“Yeah…” Devyn said questioningly.
“Then it’s not going to be fun. You two are so disgusting sometimes.”
“Are you sure you’re 21? I mean, are you sure?”
“Obviously. I’ve only lived half of my life acting three times older than I actually am. Why do you ask?”
“First of all, Eric and I have only known each other two days, second of all…oh, why would you care? Last I checked you still had a thing for Alicia…oh nevermind. I’m not going to get in to the Dawson’s Creek of it all. If you want to go, we’d love you there. If you want to be a nerd…then go ahead.”
Nick looked up to see Devyn actually smiling at him as through she were joking with him as a friend and not an enemy. This caught him off guard. “I guess I’ll make an appearance.”
“Oh good,” Devyn said genuinely. “Then we’ll reserve you a seat…next to Alicia.”
“Oh would you,” Nick said in giddy sarcasm. When Devyn had left the room, Nick was wondering why he had pinned Devyn to the always-a-bitch stereotype. He was really enjoying this friendship stuff. But if this was true then why did Nick feel as though he was about to screw everything up?
Mike was so tired that his eyes were closing even before he stumbled through the door to the dorm. He was almost ready to mumble a hello to Nick when he saw that Nick looked deeply engrossed in some activity involving a ton of papers and the laptop. “What’s up?” Mike asked trying to steal a glance at whatever Nick was working on.
“Nothing much,” Nick said, slowly attempting to hide the papers and pamphlets without drawing attention to himself.
“Okay…” Mike decided to change the subject. “Did Devyn ask you about the dinner tomorrow?”
“Yeah, she mentioned it.”
“You going?” Mike asked.
Nick shrugged. “Dunno.”
Realizing that Nick was keeping his sentences short, Mike decided that he would just head to his room for a quick nap rather than attempt conversation. “Well I’m gonna go lay down for a while. Could you wake me up at 4? I have to make sure I get to Philosophy on time?”
“Yeah, sure, I’ll get’ya then.”
After Mike disappeared into his bedroom, Nick clicked the send button on a e-mail he had been working on for almost a half an hour and watched as the screen quickly shifted from the e-mail addressed the United States Family Retrieval Center in New York to a blank screen which flashed the words “Message Sent.”
Chapter Sixteen
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