*-* The Road to Take*-*

Kevin was back behind the wheel as they continued on their way through New Mexico much to Alex’s dismay. He was literally sitting on his hands to keep him from fidgeting and wanting to smoke. He had been like that for about 45 minutes and his hands were tingling with pins and needles, but he suffered in silence, he didn’t want to tick Kevin off again, not until tomorrow at least.

Brian was quiet in the backseat, keeping mostly to himself all scrunched up against the door. He was pretending to be in awe of the scenery, but in truth he was feeling rather uncomfortable. CJ was still in the middle, only she was now sitting mostly on Howie’s side of the car. Their legs were touching and they were deep in conversation about Howie’s last trip to Vegas. CJ wasn’t listening to a word he was saying, she was so taken with his striking profile in the light of the setting desert sun. Howie was someone who had made her heart go “wow!” the first time she saw him, when he came by the apartment to pick Morgan up for their second date. CJ had been happy for them that they had found a beautiful love, but she was even happier now that he was here with her.

As Kevin drove along, his stomach was rumbling so loudly that he had to grab it and then turn the radio up. He could see Alex glance over at him, but he ignored it. He hadn’t eaten anything since lunch, Brian had been right, all there was in that service station was chocolate bars from before he was born, kinds that had been out of circulation for years. “Guys, I think we better plan on stopping soon, like at the next town...” Kevin said. “Why are you getting tired? I can drive if you need me to,” Brian offered. “No, it’s not that, but I’m starved!! Aren’t you guys hungry?”

It was agreed that they would stop to eat and hopefully be able to find a place to crash for a few hours sleep. It was almost dark and Kevin wasn’t too keen on driving in the dark if he didn’t have to. Another 30 minutes or so went by before Alex finally spotted a light in the distance, a light which read “Bed & Breakfast.”

“Perfect!” Kevin said as he pulled up in front of the quaint, ranch style bungalow. Alex hopped out and ran up to the door and knocked. Nobody came and there were no lights on in the house. “Great! Now what do we do?” Alex yelled back to the car.

“I dunno, but where is that music coming from?” Brian asked. The street was desolate, no cars, no people, no animals, but somewhere in the distance there was a mighty bass banging away. Kevin got out of the car and started to walk in the direction of the music. “Where there’s music, there’s people,” he thought. Brian hopped out and followed. CJ smacked Howie to get out too. They walked a hundred feet or so up to an intersection, they looked left and saw nothing but darkness. They looked right and saw a street light shining brightly down on a young girl. They called out to her but the music was too loud for her to hear them. She was twirling and grooving away with herself in the glow of the street light. The spotlight was on here as she practiced what seemed like a well choreographed dance routine. It seemed to be a combination of hip-hip meets jazz & tap. They walked up to her, the music booming louder the closer they got, but she didn’t see them. She was focused on the moment and when the music suddenly stopped she collected herself and waved and bowed to her invisible audience.

Kevin broke out into applause and the rest soon followed. This young girl jumped out of her skin when she turned and realized that 5 complete strangers had been watching her. Her face flushed tomato red under the gleam of the street light.

“Oh my goodness,” she blushed. “I didn’t realize that anyone would be watching me.” she said as she grabbed her sweater and pulled it on in haste. Her brown hair was pulled up into a tight ponytail and her body was lean and trim. “We didn’t mean to startle you,” Brian said. “No, please don’t stop on our account....you were very good,” Howie said. “Thank you,” she said as she blushed again. “Are you guys lost or something? I don’t remember seeing you before.” “I don’t think we’re lost....are we?” Kevin said. “We’re just looking for somewhere to eat and sleep for the night.” “Ya, I knocked on the door to that Bed & Breakfast around the corner, but nobody was home.” Alex said.

“Oh ya, nobody’s home, not there or anywhere. Britney Spears is playing tonite in Albuquerque, so the whole town has gone to see her. I don’t understand why. It’s just me here....that’s why I was jumping around out here.....I don’t usually do that y’know!” she said quite shyly. “Oh we........we weren’t thinking anything....”CJ started. “Only how lovely you are.....ere.....I mean, how good you were.” Brian corrected himself. “Thanx,” she said as she picked up her radio. “C’mon, I run the B&B with my sister and Aunt. I’ll make you guys something to eat.”

“My name is Meg, by the way,” she said as she led the troops back to where they had left their car. The short walk back had forced them to realize that they were all more tired than they had originally thought. Everyone except for Alex, who seemed to be talking the poor girls ear off about nothing. Kevin’s stomach, on the other hand, had stopped growling; he had passed his hunger, all he could think about now was crawling under some warm covers. CJ was clinging onto Howie for dear life as he struggled to stay on his feet. Brian was busy straining his heavy lids, squinting, trying to determine what was hiding under her leotard.

“What do you guys feel like eating?” she asked as she slipped her key into the lock and opened the door. With the flick of one switch inside the hall, the entire house was illuminated. After an informal ‘group meeting’ it was decided that soup and sandwiches would be fine. “You guys are so cute the way you just did that. You must all be friends from a way back!” she smiled as she showed them the living room where they could rest. “Would you believe me if I told you that we’ve only know each other a few days?” Brian quickly answered. “NO!”

“We only met Alex this morning.” Brian said, finding it hard to believe himself. “It’s true though, we’ve just sort of clicked.....it does feel like we’ve known each other for ages, doesn’t it?” They all nodded. “I can help you in the kitchen if you like,” Brian quickly volunteered. “Don’t be silly, I’ll only be a few minutes. Y’all just sit down and rest.” she smiled. So they did and they remained that way until Meg called them into the dining room for their late supper.

By the time Meg had finished preparing their meal, they could hear other voices in the house. Apparently everyone was coming home from the concert, early. Kevin had dozed off in his chair, he didn’t mean to, he didn’t mean to be rude, but all of the driving he had been doing the past few days was finally catching up to him. A voice woke him up, calling them into the dining room for dinner. They all followed the voice through french doors and saw a beautiful table set with a white table cloth and candles. The table was full of 3 different kinds of soups and several different kinds of sandwiches. “Meg, you shouldn’t have gone to all of this trouble for us,”Brian said as he took a seat and began to ladle out some soup.

“I’m not Meg, she’s in the kitchen,” the girl replied, sounding a little annoyed. Brian stopped ladling and stared at her, she was too Meg, she looked like Meg, she sounded like Meg. “Oh, God is she bi-polar?” Brian thought to himself. “No wait, she’s not wearing the leotard anymore.” Brian thought again. He was more tired than he realized. “Don’t look at me that way....I’m not crazy,” she laughed. “I’m Nat, Meg’s twin!” Brian, as well as everyone else at the table, breathed a huge sigh of relief. Just then Meg came into the dining room carrying a basket full of bread.

“Oh I see you’ve met Nat! Isn’t the resemblance freaky?” she laughed. Brian, and now Kevin, were fixated on these ravishing twins. Double your pleasure, double your fun. It was amazing. Kevin had seen twins before, but usually by the time they reach their 20’s they start to take on their own identity a bit; cut their hair different or something, but not these two. Exactly identical in every respect, or so they initially thought.

“Bad news guys,” Nat began as she cleared away the dishes. “There’s 5 of you and we only have 4 rooms...someone’s gonna have to double up!” CJ immediately looked at Howie and winked, but Brian quickly volunteered to double up with Kevin.

“Wouldn’t be the first time, right Kevin!” Brian joked, deflating CJ just a bit. Brian could see Howie breath a slight sigh of relief. He wasn’t too sure what to make of CJ just yet. He had known her for years, but he had never thought about her in that way before. He could feel in his heart that he wanted her, but for the time being, his brain was telling him to wait. “Well c’mon then, I’ll show y’all to your rooms,” Nat said with a bright smile. Everyone got up from the table except Brian. “Aren’t you comin’?” Kevin asked. “I’ll be up in a minute. I think I’m just gonna sit down here and think for a while.” “Don’t hurt yourself,” Kevin replied as he told Nat to lead the way.

After everyone had made their way upstairs and the house fell quiet, Brian got up from the table and made his way, through the darkness, into the living room. He sat down on the couch with a thud and rested his head back. He began to quickly rewind the past 3 days in his head. CJ, golfing, meeting Alex, Vegas, meeting Howie and Morgan, finding his best friend sleeping with his best man, meeting Kevin..... his head began to swim at all that he had been through. “I should have been on my honeymoon!” he said aloud to the empty room.

“Is someone in there?” a voice came from the dining room. Brian blushed when he realized that someone heard him talking to himself. A small light clicked on, casting a dim shadow on the living room wall. “Oh, sorry, Brian. I thought that everyone had gone up to bed,” Meg said as she hesitantly took a step inside the room. “That’s OK, I was just going,” he said as he sat up and rubbed his hands vigorously over his face, trying to rub away the sadness. “Don’t go on my account.....I can leave you if you want me to.......If you want to think or something.....” Meg started to say, feeling as though she had just walked into weird situation. “No, thinking is not what I need to do right now,” he said. The room was dim and Meg couldn’t quite make out the _expression on Brian’s face, but she could sense sadness in his voice.

“Are you OK? Can I get you something?” she asked as she took a few more steps into the room. Brian didn’t answer, instead he hung his head down and clasped his face in his hands. Meg’s shoulders dropped as she realized that he was hurting. A terrible feeling formed in the pit of her stomach as she walked over to the couch and sat down beside him. She raised her right hand in the air and hovered it over his back, reluctant to actually touch him. “C’mon Meg, he needs you. He needs someone!” she scolded herself.

“Can I help you? Whatever it is?” she asked as she gently dropped her hand onto his back and rubbed up and down. She could feel him tighten and then relax. She relaxed and she began to rub a little harder. “No, there’s nothing to be done....” he replied with his face still buried in his hands.

“But you seem so sad.......can you tell me why? Did I hear you say something about your honeymoon?” Brian lifted his head and turned to face her. He could see in the dim light a soft look in her brown eyes. A look of caring and support. “I’m just feeling sorry for myself......I know, it’s not very manly of me!” he laughed nervously. “Anyone can feel sorry for themselves, as long as they have good reason,” she said. “So why don’t you tell me yours.”

Kevin was thrilled to find that the room which he would be sharing with Brian had twin beds in it. If it hadn’t, he decided that Brian would be spending another night on the floor. Big man get the bed y’know. He laughed to himself about this as there was a quiet knock at the door. He was partially naked, shirt off, but figuring it was Brian he yelled for them to come in.

“I just wanted to give you some fresh towels for the morning,” Nat said as she entered and placed them on top of the desk in the corner. She hadn’t yet look at him, but when she did, she stopped and stared. She didn’t mean to, but it had been quite some time since she last saw a half naked man who looked so beautiful. OK, the last time she had was, I know, never! The boys, ere, men in her town, if naked, were anything but beautiful. She dropped her eyes to the ground quickly, so that he wouldn’t notice her staring, but it was too late. “Why don’t you tell me about the concert tonight?” Kevin said with a caring smile as he sat down on one of the beds. He motioned for her to sit across from him on the other bed. She looked curiously at him. “It’s OK, I won’t bite!” he said as he pulled his shirt back on, hoping to make her more comfortable.

“Well, it wasn’t very good....she was too naked all the time! I dunno, she lips syncs a lot to the back track...I was a little disappointed. Meg should have gone though......Meg wants to be a dancer and Britney is an AMAZING dancer!” Kevin raised his eyebrow a little and then decided to just nod in agreement. Nat realizing that she probably sounded like a naive school girl quickly changed the subject. She swallowed hard, her throat felt dry. “I admire you y’know!” she said, amazed that she had said it aloud. “What do you mean?” he asked puzzled. “I admire all of you, the way you’ve just picked up your lives and hopped in a car and are following your destiny. It’s a beautiful thing!” “Following our destiny?” Kevin repeated. “I’ve never thought of it that way. I’ve always felt as though we were running away from our past.” “Oh, no! Destiny has brought y’all together. Things happen for a reason. I hope that one day I have a chance to follow my dream.” “What dream is that?”he asked as he checked the clock, 12:16am. “To be a singer! Meg wants to be a famous dancer and I wanna be a singer! Always have, but as long as we’re here......” “Then leave.”

“We can’t. It’s pathetic, but we are held under our Aunts thumb. We’re 26 years old and yet we let her guilt us into staying here. She says that she can’t run this place on her own, which is true. But the truth is, we haven’t had a guest in here in over 15 months until tonite!” her eyes were held steady by Kevin’s, afraid to blink, they began to well up with tears. “Then follow your destiny.....come with us, both of you!” For a brief second, her eyes lite up as the thought of being free and living her own life crossed through her mind, then in a flash it was gone. “We can’t. She’d never let us go!”

“Then just go, run away,” he suggested, not believing that it was him saying these things. 72 hours ago, telling people to run away from home in the middle of the night would have been the last piece of advice he would have given. “We could get up and go, before sunrise. It will be OK. CJ’s here, so you won’t be the only girls, only I don’t think we have enough room for everyone in my car,” he said, his voice sinking a little. “That’s alright! I’ve got my own car!!! Meg and I bought it together a few years ago!!!” she paused, the glimmer of hope flickered in her eyes. “Think about it, you’re more than welcome to join us, if you’re sure that’s what you wanna do!” he said as he stood up and walked over to the desk where the towels lay. He could sense her brain going a mile a minute as she quickly weighed the pros and cons of leaving her life as she knew it behind. Suddenly she leapt to her feet.

“You’re right!!! We could do this!!!!I I’ve gotta go tell Meg!!!!” she said as she jumped up and down, not caring that she could have woken up the entire house. “Oh, Kevin! I don’t know how to ever thank you!” she squealed as she continued to jump up and down until she jumped right into Kevin’s arms and planted a big kiss on his cheek. Realizing what she had done, she pulled away and turned beet red. “I’m so sorry......I.........” she stammered, fearing she’d die of embarrassment right there in Kevin’s room.

“Don’t be sorry,” he said as he held his hand out for her to take. She looked up and took it and smiled. “If you’re going to thank me, do it right!” he smiled coyly then pulled her with great force towards him in and in one quick movement kissed her so deep and hard on her lips, that her knees buckled and he had to hold her up. He pulled back from her with a bigger smile than before on his face as she dangled breathlessly in his arms. “Now, you go and find Meg and I’ll alert the others!” he said as he gently pulled his arm away from her, hoping that she had lost her sea legs. He turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. He stopped in the hall and released a great sigh. “There’s nothing better than leaving a girl breathless!” he whispered to himself in the darkness.

Alex sat keenly in the driver’s seat of Kevin’s car, the early bird gets the worm, as Howie leaned against the trunk, asleep on his feet, clutching CJ in his arms. It was 3:45am and pitch dark out. CJ had desperately wanted to shower before they left, but the twins had warned that it would wake up their Aunt. Alex promised that they would stop to get cleaned up once it was daylight.

Howie began to doze off again as the twins came bounding out of the Bed & Breakfast, each carrying a small suitcase. Howie stirred and then noticed that CJ had actually fallen asleep in his arms. He looked down at her face, all squashed up against his shirt, and felt a pang at his heart strings. He kissed the top of her head, pausing to smell her sweet scent. Peach, he thought. Peaches were his favourite fruit. Could CJ be his little peach? He kissed the top of her head again and rested his cheek there. He loved the feeling of her in his arms, she fit just perfectly under his chin. He squeezed her tightly, which woke her up. “Oh, are we there yet?” she said groggily as she rubbed her eyes.

“No, CJ,” Howie whispered to her as he kissed the top of her head again. “C’mon, honey, let’s get you into the car so you can go back to sleep.” he said as he began to slightly drag and push her in the direction of the car door. She was limp in his arms as he struggled to open the car door. Brian and Kevin came out of the house next. Brian paused and watched Howie struggle with the very limp CJ in his arms. He rolled his eyes to himself and then made his way down to the cars.

“Now, how are we going to do this....do you girls just wanna follow us, or what?” Kevin asked, noticing that Alex already had claimed the drivers seat. “Sure that’s fine!” Meg answered as she got into the car.

“I’ll go with you girls, if that’s OK?!?!” Brian quickly volunteered and hopped into the backseat, not even waiting for an answer. Kevin raised an eyebrow, then shrugged it off. They started their engines and off they drove, destination....New Orleans!

A couple of more sleepy, dark hours passed before Kevin called back on his cell to Brian to tell them that they were going to stop to eat and shower. Alex pulled into a clean-looking motel, just the other side of Albuquerque. They went in and booked a couple of rooms for a few hours and then took turns showering and changing. There was a restaurant called Mom’s Eats just across the road, so as each one was ready, they would slowly trickle across the road for breakfast.

Deciding that they were hungrier than they were stinky, Kevin and Alex headed over to the diner first while everyone else was occupying the showers. Nat and Meg were the first to emerge clean. “What did you two do, shower together?” Alex joked while marveling at their speediness, considering that they are girls.

“NO! We didn’t shower together, you goof!” Meg replied while sitting down beside him. They quickly fell into a useless conversation about hair gel versus hair putty. Kevin, again, rolled his eyes then searched the diner for Nat. She was waiting at the counter for the waitress to refill her sugar dispenser. Her wet hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and she had on low-riding capris pants. She turned and came back to the table, Kevin watching her, as she leaned over and placed the sugar back on the table.

“I just hate it when they let these get empty!” she said reaching across Kevin to set it down, not noticing Kevin’s watchful eyes. She was wearing a sky blue halter top, the kind that ties in the back with a long string, the kind with a key hole cut-out in the front, the kind that if she were to lean over in the right manner you could see the rocky mountains. That’s exactly what Kevin saw as she set down the sugar container. She sat down beside him and began to dig into her plateful of french toast. He felt his face flush, not from bashfulness, but from need. He needed her. He wanted her. He had to have her. He couldn’t eat. He just sat staring at his plate of delicious food and smelled her, he drank her in. He listened to her chewing and laughing. He watched her chest rise and fall with every breath out of the corner of his eye. He was paralyzed with desire for her. She had cast a spell on him that he couldn’t break through, not until Brian came in and punched him on the shoulder, waking him from his daze to tell him that the shower was free. Kevin nodded silently and left, making his way across the street, into the motel room and directly into the shower, not stopping to remove his clothes, and not waiting for the water to warm, just stopping to let the cold water pour over his hot body.

Next door, Howie was patiently waiting on the bed for CJ. She had been in the bathroom for what seemed like a lifetime. The TV in the room didn’t work and there were no magazines to read. He began to pace the floor before deciding that enough was enough. He listened first at the door, then knocked. “C’mon CJ! You’ve been in there for almost an hour!!!!” he said as he knocked again. “OK! OK! Keep your pants on! I’m done, you can come in if you like!” “Thank goodness,” Howie said to himself as he kicked off his shoes and began to unbutton his shirt. The bathroom door opened and CJ emerged wearing nothing but a towel. Howie swallowed hard and felt his heart give another pang. “I thought you said that you were finished!?” he said anxiously. “I am, but my clothes are out here! Relax! Now hurry up so we can go and eat!”

Howie showered quickly, afraid that he was going to run out of hot water. He dried off and wrapped a towel around his waist. Realizing that he had left his razor in his bag on the bed he opened the bathroom door, allowing all of the steam to escape. CJ hadn’t heard the bathroom door open, she stood with her back to him as she rummaged through her bag. Her towel had slipped from her and she was clutching it up along her front, leaving her backside bare, glistening in the new morning sun. Howie stood and stared for just a moment then diverted his eyes as he felt his own towel stirring. He was usually rather backward, but something told him to go to her. He quietly walked up behind her and just as she stood up with her jeans in one hand he pressed his body into her backside. She at first jumped cuz she hadn’t heard him coming, but then relaxed and rested her head back on his chest. He wrapped his hands around her waist and pushed harder. She dropped her towel and groaned. He kissed her neck and the back of her shoulder. She turned around and undid his towel. She pressed herself against him and then wrapped the towel around both of them, holding it tightly behind Howie’s back. “I just came out for my razor,” he stammered, “But then I saw you and...and....”

“Ssshhhh!” she said as she raised one hand up to his full lips. He kissed her finger and then kissed her deep, with one eye open, looking for the bed. He backed their taco up and he sat down on the end of the bed, CJ followed, straddling him. Together they rocked and moaned in bliss until the sound of Alex banging on the door yelling that they were leaving, thwarted their attempts of going for round 3. CJ dashed to the bathroom and re-wet her hair, like she had just gotten out of the shower. Howie threw on his clothes and opened the door. “C’mon, man, we’re going. You missed breakfast! What have you been doing?” Alex asked.

“Oh, aahhh..........we ate here, which wasn’t exactly a lie, they had had dessert, CJ’s just getting out of the shower. We’ll be right there,” Howie said. He knew that his face was red. He knew that Alex knew what they had been doing and he didn’t care. CJ grabbed her bag and was just about to open the door, when Howie grabbed her and kissed her passionately again. When they released lips he asked her to keep this between the two of them for now. “I know that Brian likes you and I think it would be best if we kept this between us for now, OK?” he asked of her. She nodded and kissed him again. The cars were running and in another minute they were off again, on their way towards their next stop.

Just after crossing into Texas they had to stop again. CJ and Howie were starving, seeing as they had missed breakfast, but CJ made the excuse of noticing that the gas gauge was low. Kevin agreed that they should stop, not wanting to coast on fumes again. Kevin drove after that lunch stop. It had gotten to the point where he and Alex would literally race to the drivers door to see who would drive. For the first time, Kevin had beaten him, only because he had tricked him into looking at some ‘hot chick’ and then grabbed the keys and ran. For the next 6 hours, Alex sat nervously in the passenger side, fiddling with the radio and chewing his fingernails down to the quick. “I can’t take it Alex, you’re driving me crazy!” CJ yelled from the backseat. “What? What’d I do?” “It’s disgusting! I can’t take watching you chew on your fingers like you’re some beaver! When we stop tonite I’m painting your fingernails! You won’t chew them then!” “Oh, no you’re not!” he said matter-of-factly. “Does that really work?” “Yup, you just wait and see.”

“Guys, we’ve hit Dallas.....what do you think about stopping her for the nite?” Kevin said. Alex called back to the twins and Brian and they all agreed this was somewhere that they would love to look around in. It was the first really big city they had hit since leaving Phoenix.

“Oh Kevin! Pull in THERE!!” CJ yelled from the backseat, pointing at a drug store. Kevin swerved quickly and turned into the parking lot and then hit the brakes, screeching his tires as a young man leapt from nowhere into the path of the car. Kevin’s car struck the man and Alex cursed as he watched the body roll onto the pavement. Kevin hit the brakes so hard, that Nat had to swerve to avoid hitting him. “”Holy shit,shit,shit....Is he dead? I bearly touched him!!!” Kevin yelled, trying to figure out what had just happened. Alex jumped out of the car and kneeled down beside the pedestrian.

“Oh, shit Kev, you’ve killed a nerd!!!” Alex yelled as his eyes scanned the man. He was dressed in black pants, black shoes with white socks, a white buttoned downed shirt with the top button done up, a tie, black horned rimmed glasses and a pocketful of pens with a pocket protector. He had been carrying a briefcase which was now lodged under the front tire of Kevin’s car. By the time Kevin, Brian and the twins had gotten out of the car, Alex was motioning that he was waking up. A crowd had gathered and Howie and CJ were trying to keep everyone a safe distance away. “Hey. Hey, Buddy, can you hear me?” Kevin asked as the nerd gently opened his eyes and blinked into the sun. “Hey, are you alright, man?” “Am I dead? Am I in Heaven?” the nerdly man asked. “No man, you’re in Dallas. You’re not dead,” Alex answered. “I’m not? Shit!”

The man lay beside Kevin’s car, blinking in the sunlight with a look of sadness on his face. Kevin had begun to panic; he was pacing around his car and yelling and screaming for no apparent reason. Nat quickly dashed over to him and took him away from the scene and sat him down on the curb.

“Take some deep breaths, Kevin, it’s OK. The guy looks OK,” she said in a soothing voice. Sweat was trickling down his brow and he began to rock back and forth like a crazy person. She took his hand in hers and pulled him close to her, snuggling him into her bosom.

The sound of sirens approached and by the time the ambulance arrived, the young man was sitting up and wiping off his face with his handkerchief. The paramedics quickly assessed his wounds and determined that he seemed to be OK, but they strapped him to the stretcher and took him to the hospital just to make sure there were no internal injuries. Alex took control of the police and explained what had happened. One officer spoke with him and the other questioned Kevin. With the help of an eye-witness explaining that the man had literally leapt in front of Kevin’s car, he avoided being arrested. He didn’t even get a ticket. Feeling very lucky to be alive, lucky to not be in jail and thrilled that the man seemed to be OK, Kevin began to calm down. Driving, or even getting back into the car, was the last thing that Kevin wanted to do, but Nat took him aside and comforted him and said that she would ride in the back with him and he could rest. Howie drove and CJ rode in the front. Meg was really shook up too, so Brian drove her car, while Alex stowed away in the backseat. “I still would like to go shopping,” CJ said as Howie drove through downtown Dallas. “Is that all you can think about right now?” Howie said. “I can’t get my mind off how hungry I am!” Howie laughed. Nat smacked his arm and Kevin rolled his eyes. Kevin began to rock back and forth again, so Nat pulled him close to her and held him tight. She stroked his hair and rubbed his back, calming him into a sleepy state.

“If you guys wanna stop, Kevin and I can wait in the car,” Nat said as she kissed the top of his head. CJ called back to the other car and Alex agreed that shopping would take their minds off everything. They found a mall and parked. Alex hopped out first, practically skipping all the way to the store, while Brian thought about staying back with Kevin, but Meg grabbed his hand and dragged him to the mall. “Don’t be too long,” Nat said to CJ as she and Howie ran to catch up to the rest. “You can go too, if you want to,” Kevin mumbled. “That’s alright, I’d rather stay here with you.” Nat answered still stroking his hair. Kevin lay silently in her arms for ages, just staring at the back of the seats.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you have my mother’s touch.”Kevin said. “The way you tossle my hair, it has the same comforting effect that my mom used to have when I would get a boo-boo,” he said. Nat thought about this for a moment. “Great, does he look at me like I’m his mom? That must be a real turn on!” “I don’t like seeing you so upset,” she finally said. Kevin sat up and looked her in the eye.

“It means a lot to me that you would stay here with me, even though you don’t even know me.” he took a deep breath. “I’m feeling a lot better now. I’ve stopped shaking, if you wanna go and find the others.” he smiled. “Do you want me to go?”

“No.” and he leaned in and kissed her gently. She kissed back hard and began to run her hand down his back, searching for the tail of his shirt. She found it and with it found bare skin. Her fingers ran up his spin, stopping at his shoulder blades, where they dug into his flesh, making him stiffen and groan. He released her lips and kissed his way down her neck until he found the sweet spot, the spot that had been driving him crazy all day, the key hole in her halter top. His tongue slipped through, unlocking a world of beauty....... “Couldn’t you two have put the top up at least?” CJ’s voice startled them causing them to split apart and take their places at opposite side of the car like they had just been caught by their parents. Nat wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and pulled her shirt back down.

Everyone piled back into the cars and they made their way in search of somewhere to eat. Since they were in Texas, they figured that a steak house wouldn’t be that hard to find. Sure enough about a mile down the road, there were several to choose from. Brian took the lead and pulled into one with Howie following. Kevin was feeling better, but he wasn’t hungry. Nat convinced him to come in and at least have a drink. He reluctantly got out of the car and started to put the top up. “So what’d y’all buy anyway?” he asked as he fiddled with the top. “CJ bought me nailpolish!” Alex said quite proud of himself. “It’s black!” “Actually, I got black and purple....I thought I do a double french manicure!” she smiled. Howie raised an eyebrow and looked at Alex. “Whatever that means,” Howie said. “How ya doin’ Kev?” “Better, thanx. I feel so bad though....and I didn’t even learn his name.” Howie helped Kevin with the top then turned around.

“Well here’s your chance, isn’t that HIM???” Howie said, pointing across the parking lot. Everyone turned their heads and looked. Kevin was shocked. It was him and he was walking nonchalantly across the parking lot like nothing had happened. “Holy shit!” Kevin yelled and took off running after him. “Hey! Wait!” he yelled after the man. Startled, the man looked over his shoulder and stopped when he saw Kevin running after him. By this time, Alex was running to catch up to Kevin as the rest stood and watched. “Hey, wait! Stop!” Kevin said as he ran up beside the young nerd-man. “Are you OK?” “Yes,” the man answered and dropped his eyes to the ground. “God, I’ve been worried sick that you were hurt. Are you hurt? Did I hurt you?” “I’m fine. I have a bump on my head, but that’s all,” he replied in a monotone voice. “Uhm.....why do you sound so down?” Alex couldn’t help but ask. Kevin jabbed him in the stomach and then said, “We’re just about to have dinner, won’t you join us?”

“Ya, buying you dinner is the least I can do, considering I almost killed you!” Kevin joked. The young man shook his head and began to walk away. Alex and Kevin persisted and reluctantly, the man agreed to join them. Kevin put his arm around the man’s shoulder as they walked back over to meet the others. “Everyone, we have another person for dinner, he’s agreed to join us. I’m sorry, but I never even asked you your name,” Kevin said. The young man pushed his glasses up with his middle finger and gave a little snort. CJ raised her brow, she thought little of dining with a geek. His dirty blonde hair was parted down the middle and greased to his head. She curled up her nose a little, but Howie caught her and nudged her. She held out her hand to the young man.

“It’s OK, we won’t bite. I’m CJ, this is Howie, Meg, Brian and Nat. I think you know Alex and Kevin,” she said waiting for him to reciprocate the introductions. He shyly took her hand and shook it with a ‘dead-fish’ handshake. He was reluctant to make eye contact with anyone and he began to nervously wring his hands together. In an inaudible voice he said “Carter. My name is Nicholas Carter.” Brian smacked him on the back and said, “Oh it’s nice to see you’re OK, Nick!” “NO! It’s Nicholas! You have to call me Nicholas! My dad would be angry!” he said anxiously while grabbing at the side of his pants, his eyes still fixated on the ground. Everyone exchanged glances then made their way into the restaurant.

Throughout dinner Meg and Nat couldn’t help but notice how impeccable Nicholas’ manners were. He even seemed to chew every mouthful 50 times and after swallowing, would dab his lips with his napkin. He remained quiet as the others were laughing and picking on Brian or Kevin for some reason or another. “So, tell us about yourself, Nicholas,”Alex said while there was a lull in their conversation. “Where were you off to in such a big hurry earlier?” Nicholas dabbed his mouth with his napkin, placed his silverware in the centre of his plate and took a sip of water, to rinse his mouth. “Well, I wasn’t going anywhere exactly.” he started annunciating every word precisely. “Uhm, when you woke up, you asked us if you were dead. Did you really think that you had died?” Alex asked as Meg kicked him under the table and shot him a look. “No!” Nicholas answered solemnly. “But I was hoping.” Kevin nearly choked. “What? You were hoping?” Kevin repeated. “Well yes, I was hoping that jumping in front of your car.....that it would have killed me.” “Why?” “Because I hate my life.” “How could you hate your life? Life in general is such a gift. How bad could it be?”Meg asked.

“I am my fathers robot. I am his creation. I don’t think that I have processed an original thought of my own since I was 12. It was then that my teachers realized that I was a mathematical genius. There I was, 12 years old wanting to do kid stuff, wanting to practice my air guitar and sing into my hair brush, but instead I was sent to a special school for math prodigies.” he hung his head and began to fiddle with his pants again. “I’m 21 years old and I’ve already finished my Ph.D. in Physics from Texas A&M and I’ve already been working for NASA for over a year.” he never looked up, but his face turned bright red and he began to sniff. “I’m 21 years old and I’ve never even kissed a girl.” he said, his voice trailing off as a tear fell into his lap. He reached in his pocket for his handkerchief and dried his eye and wiped his nose. Everyone sat silently, listening to his story, marveling at his grief. “What is it that you want out of life?” Brian finally asked. Nicholas raised his head and looked around the table.

“I want to live. I want to have fun. I want to be like all of you. I’m tired of living under my fathers thumb......I can’t do it anymore.....” he cried, this time burying his head in his handkerchief. “Well I guess that’s what you’re gonna have to do then,” Kevin said. “What?”Nicholas mumbled through his handkerchief. “Become one of us.”

The remainder of the dinner was uneventful as the group divided, boys at one end of the table, girls at the other. The men bonded by discussing a safe topic, sports, while the girls giggled and laughed as though they had known each other for years. Brian couldn’t help but watch them and observe how easy it was for them to fall into a friendship. He knew that they were hatching a plan, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what. “No Howard! We won’t. We’re just going to retrace our steps back to the mall and the hotel is right down the street from there!” CJ said sticking out her tongue at him. “You’re going back to the mall?” Alex said with a ‘take me with you’ _expression on his face.

“Yes....we forgot to get some things there...and NO ALEX, you can’t come with us!” laughed Nat as she stood up and threw her purse over her shoulder. “We’ll meet you back at the hotel in an hour!” CJ yelled over her shoulder as she ran to catch up to the twins.

“I don’t like this....what if something happened to them,” Kevin said as he paced the floor of their hotel room. “Maybe they have returned to their hotel room without telling you that they are back,” Nicholas chimed in, growing dizzy from watching Kevin pace back and forth. They had only booked 2 hotel rooms for tonite, one for the girls and one for the guys. Nobody liked it, but it would have to do until they got to New Orleans. “Why do you have to use so many freakin’ words in a sentence?” Kevin yelled at Nicholas, who was already grating on his nerves, his politeness and properness was too much for Kevin to handle, it was making him even more edgier. Nicholas dropped his eyes to the floor and began to fidget with the leg of his pants again. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.....my temper’s just a little short tonite, I guess,” Kevin quickly apologized, realizing that Nicholas was on the brink of tears.

“C’mon, Kevin, lighten up...I think you’ve hurt him enough for one day!” Alex said as he channel surfed. Kevin shot a look at Alex like he was going to tear his head off. Brian watched as Alex threw the converter down on the bed and gave that ‘bring it on’ look. Just as they were about to go at it, the door flew open and in ran CJ, Meg and Nat, giggling and laughing, each carrying one too many shopping bags. “Holy shit, what the hell did you do, buy the whole store?” Alex said, distracted for the moment from punching Kevin’s lights out. The girls didn’t answer, instead they kept their hurricane moving through the hotel room, CJ grabbing Nicholas’ arm and dragging him into the bathroom with them, shutting the door behind them. “What just happened here?” Howie asked bewildered.

“I have no idea, but I think that was the girls returning from their errand!” Brian laughed. Kevin cracked a smile and sat down in the chair at the desk and began to write. He wrote five full pages out, one after another without taking a break. When he was done he sat back in the chair and read through the pages. After he was done he turned to Alex and asked him if he had a lighter. Confused, Alex reached in his back pocket and handed it to Kevin. Kevin then took the waste basket and placed it ontop of the desk. He held the five-page letter up and held the lighter underneath them and set them ablaze, dropping them into the wastebasket to finish burning. “What the hell was that all about?” Howie asked after Kevin had sat back down on the end of one of the beds. “What? Oh, that. I had some things that I needed to tell Jennifer, my fiancee. I had somethings that I needed to get off my chest. I feel better now,” he said lying back on the bed. He never spoke of Jennifer again.

Two hours passed before anyone emerged from the bathroom. It was Nat, wondering why it smelled smoky in the room. She noticed that Kevin looked sad and she wanted to be there for him again, but time was almost up for her bathroom experiment and she had to get back in there.

Another 45 minutes passed before the 3 girls finally emerged, minus Nicholas. CJ bounded out and sat down close to Howie on the bed, while Meg ran over and sat down, boldly, on Brian’s knee. Brian smiled and tickled her stomach. Nat stood in front of the bathroom door and looked as if she was going to break into some soft shoe. “Ladies and gentlemen.....well, men anyway.........can I have your attention please,” she began while rubbing her hands nervously together. Everyone stopped what they were doing, waiting to see what the big secret was. Alex flicked off the TV and Kevin put down his magazine. “Us girls have been busy the last couple of hours, REALLY BUSY! We have been busy performing what we like to call ‘our little miracle.’ We understand that everyone has their own sense of style and fashion, but sometimes we, as women, believe that you, as men, could use a little help. So I would like to introduce to you our latest and boldest experiment.” She backed up and nervously put her hand on the knob of the bathroom door. “I welcome you to view our “Geek To Sleek” experiment. I would like to introduce you to Nick Carter, aka, Nicky,” she said while throwing the bathroom door open.

Jaws dropped, heads turned and gasps were heard as Nicholas emerged from the bathroom. Gone were the glasses, gone were the white sox, black shoes, and stuffy clothes. Gone was the pocket protector and briefcase. Instead there were sexy tight-assed jeans and motorcycle boots. Instead there was a Harley-Davidson tank top worn underneath a smart black leather jacket. Gone was the blunt hair, greased to the hilt, it was replaced with a short cut, gelled into a wild and untamed ‘do, the tips frosted blonde to compliment his beautiful blue eyes. Gone was the stereotypical image of a math genius, instead there was a strikingly beautiful boy filled with confidence and pizzazz standing before them in that hotel room. Gone was the meek man-child who was a victim of his father’s thumb. Blonde ambition was born.