"Everyday? Ya'll talk EVERYDAY?" Lori asked surprised.
"Yeah? So…what's wrong with that?" Alesha asked peeking in on Taelen who was showing AJ some secret codes to Mortal Kombat on the N64.
"It's just…weird," she said shaking her head and sitting down at the table.
"Why is it weird? I use to talk to Nick all the time on the computer."
"Yeah, but that was Nick. This is some weirdo that just started talking to you out of the blue. What do you know about him?"
"Well, as I've told you, he loves comics. He thinks Kevin Smith is a god when it comes to comedy. He lives here in Tampa," Alesha said checking off the list on her fingers.
"He lives in Tampa?" Lori asked, her eyes wide.
"Yeah. Somewhere in the suburbs or something," Alesha shrugged. "Umm…"
"But you said he doesn't get to see the ocean very much. Hello," she said making a face. "Tampa's on the ocean."
Alesha laughed. "He travels a lot."
"Oookay…what does he do?" Lori asked rolling her eyes.
"I don't know. I never asked," Alesha said.
"Hmm…why not?"
Alesha shrugged. "I don't know. Didn't think about it. We're too busy talking about movies and music and stuff."
"Kay," Lori said looking at her like she was crazy.
"He knows that I was dating Nick, though," Alesha said softly.
"Oh? And how's that?"
"Because he noticed the address to the web page in my email signature."
"You've emailed him?!"
Alesha laughed. "Yeah. Lots."
Lori shook her head. "This is insane, Lesh," she said.
"Why? He seems really cool. We have a lot of the same interests, he's a perfect gentleman when we talk…do you know that he loves Metallica and KoRn. He says that he listens to the Backstreet Boys some, and he can not stand *Nsync."
"Oh, there ya go…that qualifies him for Mr. Perfect," Lori said sarcastically.
"He's not a wrestler," Alesha laughed.
"Funny Lesh. What about Nick?"
"What about Nick? How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not going to run away with this guy. We just talk. Although…" Alesha trailed off.
"Although what?" Lori asked. "Don't tell me he wants to meet you."
Alesha nodded. "We've been talking for over a month now, and I'm pretty comfortable around him. At least online. I was going to ask you if you and AJ wanted to come along. To kind of protect me."
"When?"
"Next week," Alesha said. "He's going to email me again with the details."
"Have you talked on the phone with him?" Lori asked.
Alesha shook her head. "No. Not yet," she sighed. "He wrote me a letter the other day. Kinda freaked me out."
Lori looked at her, "What kind of letter?"
"Come here," Alesha said standing up and walking into the other room.
"No Sarah, I don't want to start over with you," Nick said shaking his head.
"Why? You aren't with Alesha anymore. You finally came to your senses and dumped the bitch," Sarah said looking at him across the table.
"Sarah. Stop calling her a bitch. You don't know her. And I'm fully aware that I dumped her. Although I wouldn't exactly call it coming to my senses," he sighed looking down at his plate that still had over half of his meal on it. Pushing it away, he rubbed his hands over his face, crossing his arms on the table.
Sarah looked at him, shaking her head in disgust. "I don't understand you, Nick. I honestly don't. I can give you all that you want to make you happy. Yet you sit here and pine after that tramp of an ex-girlfriend. She was just using you. Why do you think she waited until she had moved into your house before springing her son on you?"
"Whatever. You don't know that. And if you were so capable of making me happy, why didn't we stay together?" he asked.
Sarah shrugged. "Because you kept leaving."
"I kept leaving because you kept messing around with other guys. I couldn't trust you. And not trusting you kept me unhappy."
"So, you're saying that if I'm faithful to you, you'd be happy with me?"
Nick shook his head. "No, it's too late for us. It was too late for us the first time we broke up. I was just too stupid to realize it." Looking around the restaurant, he sighed. "I love her, Sarah. With all that I am. And I have to get her back somehow. I've really made a mess of things with her. I should have…"
"You should have what? Bowed down and kissed her feet? You were already doing that Nick." Leaning towards him, she said, "There wasn't anything else you COULD do. She betrayed your trust by hiding her past from you. And you think that you couldn't trust me? Alls I did was sleep with a couple of guys. She was a junkie with a kid."
Nick's eyes flashed with anger. "I walked away from her when she needed me the most. I should have been there for her. Instead, I listened to you and pushed her out of my life," he said. "Now, I have to figure out how I'm going to convince her to forgive me."
"Whatever Nick. You're just as much of a loser as she is. I can't believe I've wasted this much time on you," Sarah said standing up. Smoothing her dress down and flipping her hair over her shoulder, she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. "Bye SweetPea. Hope you have a wonderful life. Watch your back, she'll stab ya again," she said as she walked off.
Nick sat there, staring after her, lost deep in thought. Standing up a few moments later, he placed a couple of bills on the table, and left the restaurant.
"Lita!! AJ's being mean," Taelen pouted as the girls walked into the front room.
"Whaddya mean I'm being mean? You're winning," AJ said pointing at the MK symbols underneath Scorpion's name.
Alesha laughed. "Go Tae," she said grinning. "Scorpion is the man."
"SubZero bites lizard tails," Taelen said turning his attention back to the game.
AJ, Lori and Alesha all looked at Taelen and then busted out laughing. Lori and AJ looked at Alesha. "I have no idea. Do you really think I'd say something like that?" she asked.
"Yes," AJ said, scowling at the TV. "Man, stop that," he grumbled trying to get his secret moves to work.
Lori laughed and patted him on the head. "Poor AJ, getting beat by a 7-year old," she said as she followed Alesha down the hall to her room.
Turning on the light, Alesha turned on her computer, logging onto the net. "Anyway, the letter was kind of disturbing."
"Why?" Lori asked looking at the miniature pewter Marvel Universe figures Alesha had sitting on her shelf.
"Well, it was kind of haunting," she said as she opened up her email. Changing folders, she clicked on the recent letter from DarkStar. "Here," Alesha said stepping back and letting Lori see the screen.
Celtieon, My Love…
"Wow," Lori said softly.
Alesha nodded. "Scary isn't it? I haven't talked to him in a couple of days. I just got that this morning."
"Hmmm…" Lori said reading the letter again. "That's a Backstreet Boys song," she said suddenly.
"What?" Alesha asked.
"Here." Lori went to the shelf, scanning Alesha's CDs, finally finding what she was looking for. Putting it in the CD player, she found the track she wanted and pushed play. "Listen."
o~/7am/Thinking about you/Wondering if the thoughts I'm feeling/You're feeling too/Like a newborn child/Soft to the touch/Baby is it possible to love someone so much/I wish I may/I wish I might/Be that certain someone/You wish for every night//If you knew what I knew/You wouldn't say what I said/If you knew what I knew we'd be together instead/Of you breaking my heart/With all the things that aren't true/My lady yes/If you knew what I knew//Time passes by/The only tears I cry/Are filled with disillusions and fears I have inside/Like a lost soul/I feel like I'm all alone/If only I could feel your pain/Within your heart of stone/I wish I may/I wish I might/Be that certain someone/You wish for every night//Then you wouldn't have to go/Away/If you knew what I knew/Then you would be here to stay/Right by my side/Always//If you knew what I knew my baby/You would never have said what you said/If you knew what I knew my baby/We'd be together instead//~o
How did it happen? God only knows. Fate's cruel joke on the world. I tried to deny it. God knows I did. Too risky, too soon…just too everything. But God knows that I love you. It won't go away. No matter what I do. Your touch, I dream about…your smile, I imagine brightening my day…your voice, I hear in the soft music of nature. So many questions I have, but so few answers. So many intentions, but no way of meeting them. So many plans, but I fear they'll never happen. All of these I would love to share with you, but am not sure how to go about it. The stars don't shine as bright for me when I spend a night away from you. It seems that heaven frowns on me when we're apart. I need you here. I miss you so much, and I just talked to you. I sit sometimes, just thinking of you…wondering if what I'm feeling you feel as well. Is it really possible to love someone as much as I find myself loving you? Every night I look out and find this certain star to wish on, hoping that one day I'll be that someone special you're looking for. It seems to come and go. There was a time, not too long ago when it wasn't there at all. But after meeting you and talking with you, the star is shining brightly. Almost beckoning me to look at it, to wish on it. Like it possesses some supernatural power to bring us together. Each moment that passes, I feel more alone. I'm like a lost soul searching for the answers that it seems only you and the love in your heart can provide for me. I know that nothing may ever come of what we have online, but if that is all that I'm able to have of you, then SO BE IT (yes, another Christian Slater reference just for you).
Forever yours…DarkStar
"Oh my goodness," Alesha said, her eyes wide. "That's crazy," she laughed.
Lori smiled. "So, he likes Backstreet Boys a little more than ya thought," she hugged Alesha tightly. "It's a sweet letter. I can understand why you'd be willing to meet him. Just be careful."
Alesha nodded. "Of course. That's why I want you and AJ to come along."
"Okay," Lori said. "We'll see how it all works out."
~~~***~~~
Nick sighed as he walked in the house. "What am I going to do?" he muttered as he walked over to the phone. Picking it up, he dialed Brian's number. "Hey," he said.
"Hey Frackman. How are ya?" Brian asked.
Nick shrugged. "Here. What's up with you?"
"Not much. About to go over to Kevin and Carrie's. Where've ya been? I called you earlier."
Nick sighed. "I was out. With Sarah."
"Oh man," Brian groaned. "What are ya thinking?"
Nick chuckled. "You're so melodramatic sometimes. I was telling her to get lost."
"So you took her out to dinner? I wonder about you sometimes," he said shaking his head.
"Anyway, she thinks I'm crazy for wanting to fix things with Alesha," Nick said walking over to the couch and stretching out on it.
"Hmmm…did you know she has some mysterious Internet friend?" Brian asked.
"Who? Sarah? Or Alesha?" Nick asked confused.
Brian laughed. "Alesha. Who cares what Sarah has?"
"Anyway. No, I didn't know that," Nick murmured closing his eyes. "What's he like?"
Brian shrugged. "I don't know. Leah says that Lesh talks to him everyday. She's also supposed to be meeting him sometime. He lives in Tampa."
"God, I hope it's not Chad," Nick said suddenly.
"Damn. I forgot about him. Weird how they kind of showed up around the same time, huh?"
Nick nodded. "Yuppers. I'm sure she'll be okay."
"Yeah, she seems pretty good at taking care of herself. Have you…have you talked to her at all?"
Nick shook his head. "No. She…she avoids me. When I took Tae back over there the other day, she was in her room working on the web page. She didn't bother coming out to say anything to me."
"Hmmm…" Brian said thoughtfully. "I honestly don't know what to say man. Leah thinks that she's hooked on this DarkStar guy."
"DarkStar?" Nick asked laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"Is that the guy's name?" he asked.
"Yeah," Brian replied still confused by Nick's amusement.
"They're a loser wanna be Green Lantern Corp," Nick chuckled.
"A comic book? Alesha's talking to a comic book?" Brian asked.
"She's not talking to a comic book dumbass, she's talking to someone who likes comics. Wonder if she knows that she's fraternizing with the enemy?" Nick grinned.
"Whaddya mean?"
"The DarkStars are a DC comics. Her precious Spider-Man is a Marvel Comic."
"Oh," Brian mumbled. "Anywho Nickyboy, I have to go. We're going to be late as it is. I'll talk with you later."
"Okiedokie," Nick said hanging up the phone, smiling to himself.
