| “Come on Leighton! The court awaits!” “I’ll be right there!” Kallie ran out of her bedroom, pulling her hair into a high ponytail as Nick was spinning the basketball on his finger. Nick cradled the basketball under his arm and checked his watch. “Half an hour to get ready to play some b-ball. Women!” “Hey, you wanted to play today, not me,” Kallie laughed. “Let’s go.” ~*~ Kallie and Nick had their first free afternoon in three days, so Nick had wanted to get out his frustrations on the basketball court. It was the one thing he loved more than work, and he wanted to play pro ball. However, his father’s insistences led him to the business world. Nick and Kallie walked to the neighborhood courts, run down with graffiti, cracked pavement, broken bottles, and makeshift hoops were hollowed out milk crates tied to boards. However to the people in the neighborhood, it was their Madison Square Garden, where locals had been trying out their skills on the hoops as if they were the Lakers. Nick stopped as Kallie crawled into the court through the hole in the fence. “Come on Nicky, you said you wanted to play.” “Yeah, but…” Nick looked out into the court, “This is a LOT different than St. Martin’s.” Kallie rolled her eyes. You can take the kid out of the mansion… “Relax. Come on,” Kallie dragged his hand as he made his way through the fence. They found an empty area in the far left. Nick began dribbling the ball furiously between his legs. “Out of twenty?” Kallie faced him, hands outstretched. “No problem,” Nick smiled. He faked left, then ran along the edge of the court and swished the ball in the hoop. Nick smiled again, pumping his fist towards himself. “One for the man!” “Oh please! Can we play some ball?” Kallie laughed. He took the ball out again, this time faking right where Kallie was waiting for him. She stole the ball away, went for the lay-up and sunk the ball. “Ha! One for the woman!” She took the ball and went to the outer court. As she was going to make the play, she felt someone crash into her back and she fell on the pavement. “Oof!” Kallie yelled. “Man, I’m sorry, are you OK?” the person said. She felt 4 hands on her as she was helped up. She turned to see Nick, who was glaring at the perpetrator: AJ. “Yeah, I’m OK,” Kallie brushed off the dirt from her shirt. “Why don’t you watch where you’re going!” Nick said, his eyes not leaving AJ for a second. “It was an accident. Jesus!” AJ returned the glare. Kallie, knowing Nick’s overprotective nature as well as his temper, got a little scared. However, the next event shocked her even more. AJ looked at Kallie, and for the first time, his eyes softened as he looked at her. “Are you sure you’re OK Kallie?” “Y-yeah, I am.” “You know this guy?” Nick said, again his intense stare boring into AJ. “Yes. Nick, this is AJ, my neighbor. AJ, this is my friend Nick.” No exchanges of hellos were shared as Kallie, feeling the adrenaline wear off, felt a stinging in her knee. “Kallie, your knee,” Nick knelt down at the blood seeping down her leg. “I’m fine,” Kallie said as Nick checked out her injury. “He your boyfriend or something?” AJ asked. “No,” Nick said, standing above AJ. “What’s it to you anyway? AJ rose his hands in defeat. “Nothing to me man, chill.” “Chill! You…” Nick was stopped by Kallie. “Nick, I don’t want to bleed all over the court.” “Yeah, let’s get you cleaned up,” Nick said as he grabbed the basketball. “Bye AJ,” Kallie said as she and Nick walked off the court. “What the hell is wrong with that asshole?” Nick huffed as he helped Kallie walk down the street. “Nick it was an accident,” Kallie sighed. “He had no right getting into my face like that!” “If memory serves me, you got into his face.” Nick stopped and looked at Kallie. “You’re defending him?” “I am just saying that you have the worst temper in the free world.” “Well, he better be staying away from me as long as I’m here,” Nick sulked. ~*~ Later that night, Kallie and Nick drove to the Blue Note to meet up with Amy, Deana, Howard, and Kevin. Brian, who had been seeing Amy quite seriously lately, was playing guest instead of waiter. They walked to find all of them standing outside, as Amy waved to greet them. “Hey guys,” Kallie said. “Nick, this is Amy, Kevin, Howard and Deana. Guys, this is my friend Nick Carter.” “Nice to meet all of you,” Nick said as he shook everyone’s hands. They all walked inside, where a table was waiting for them. “So Nick,” said Howard. “Tell us a little about Kallie. She seems to keep a little to herself about her past.” Kallie exchanged a worried look with Nick. It wasn’t that Kallie was ashamed of her former life, but she didn’t want people thinking she was looking for a charity case by working in an inner-city school. Right now, she was being taken seriously as an educator, and being known as rich would undermine her credibility. “Well,” Nick said as he took a sip of coffee, “Kallie and I have been friends since high school. She was different than most people I knew, and we hit it off right away. However, she was the one who went off on her own. She was the rebel in our neighborhood. I mean, who do you know that would leave everything behind to work all the way across the country? I couldn’t.” “But you’re here right?” “Yeah, but I have to travel in my line of work. I love living in Jersey.” “What do you do for a living?” asked Deana. “I work in the boating industry.” “Wait a minute,” Kevin smiled. “Carter… you don’t mean Carter Yachts do you?” Nick leaned onto the table. “You know about yachts?” “Are you kidding? Back in New York I used to play at yacht parties all of the time. I got to know a little about them. You own Carter Yachts?” “My father actually.” “Wow, never met a guy like you in this part of town,” Amy smiled. “Can we please stop talking about money?” Kallie said as she tried to put on her best smile. “She’s right,” Brian said. “We’re here to have fun, not to discuss finances.” They quieted down just as the set began. AJ went up on stage and began to set up his guitar. “You mean HE,” Nick pointed to the stage, “is gonna sing?” “HE is actually very good,” Kallie whispered back, surprised at the slight anger in her voice. Nick sat back as he began his song, the same Kallie had heard all of this time she has been in LA, with a little added to the melody. Kallie smiled, leaning on the table as Nick leaned back. When he finished his song and after the applause, he began to speak. “This is another inspirational song from way back. Hope you all like it.” I guess the time was right for us to say, We'd take our time and live our lives together day by day. We'll make a wish and send it on a prayer, We know our dreams can all come true with love that we can share. With you I never wonder, will you be there for me? With you I never wonder ... you're the right one for me. I finally found a love of a lifetime, A love to last my whole life through. I finally found a love of a lifetime, Forever in my heart, I finally found a love of a lifetime. With every kiss our love is like brand new, And every star up in the sky was made for me and you. Still we both know that the road is long, But we know that we will be together because our love is strong I finally found a love of a lifetime, A love to last my whole life through. I finally found a love of a lifetime, Forever in my heart, I finally found a love of a lifetime. I finally found a love of a lifetime, A love to last my whole life through. I finally found a love of a lifetime, Forever in my heart, I finally found a love of a lifetime. I finally found a love of a lifetime, I finally found a love of a lifetime, I finally found a love of a lifetime, Forever in my heart, I finally found a love… Of a lifetime The applause rang through the place as AJ gave a slight wave and began to leave the stage. “Wow,” Amy said, “that boy keeps getting better and better each time I hear him.” “I know,” added Deana. “Why doesn’t he just get signed already?” “Well, from what he’s told me, he’s trying to find that one song,” said Brian. “What song?” asked Howard. Kallie stared at AJ as he left the Blue Note and turned to the table. “THE song. The one that makes him complete. The one that makes him feel like he’s accomplished something. Everyone always wants to find that niche in life, the one that puts your mark on the world. For him, it’s a song.” “All over a song? Please!” exclaimed Nick. All eyes turned to him, especially Kallie’s, who seemed to burn a hole through his head. “What’s wrong with that? I mean, we have all seemed to. Your passion is the ocean, so that’s what your industry is. The rest of us have decided that educating others is ours. And you don’t feel good when you cook a great meal for someone or win a basketball game?” “You cook?” Deana asked. “Yeah… but that’s different.” Kallie folded her arms. “Really, how?” “It just is! Look, when you left for LA, you found your niche instead of living the high life in Jersey. You were set…” Kallie’s eyes automatically focused on the five pairs of eyes shift from Nick to her. She knew that her secret had been blown as he continued. “… and you decided to take the chance and start over, but…” He finally got the chance to look at her, and the seething look on her face was enough for him to keep his mouth shut. ~*~ They all left the Blue Note after the final performance. Howard checked his watch. “Well, I have to be going.” “It was really nice to meet you Howard,” Nick said as he shook his hand. “Likewise,” Howard responded. “See you all on Monday.” “Bye,” said Kallie as he headed to his car. “So, do you guys want to go to a bar or something?” “Uh,” Kevin said as he shifted his eyes to the rest of the group. “I have to get going… I got a million tests to grade.” “Yeah, me too,” said Deana, “I’m tired.” “Amy? Brian? You up for it?” Kallie asked. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife, ever since Nick had talked about Kallie’s life. Amy looked at Brian. “No, I, um have to get up early tomorrow morning. I’ll see you on Monday.” “Yeah, I have an early shift,” agreed Brian. “Oh… OK, see you then.” “Nice to meet you all,” Nick smiled, shaking everyone’s hands. “Bye,” the group said as they all went to their cars. ~*~ Nick and Kallie returned to her apartment, where Kallie tossed her bag onto the chair and Nick sat on the couch. “Your friends are really nice, even though I was watching Kevin like a hawk, after everything that has happened.” Kallie sat down on the chair facing him and took off her shoes. “Yeah, they are.” “So, you wanna play a vid…” Kallie had been looking down, hearing the cheer in Nick’s voice after what he had done. She quickly stood up and waved her hands frantically. “How could you do that to me!” Nick quickly looked up at her. “How could I do what?” “Tell them!” “What are you talking about?” Kallie sighed. “The whole point of me moving to LA was to get a fresh start. Don’t you see? I’m not the heiress here. I’m just a teacher trying to start on her life. And you telling people that I was living in the, and I quote, ‘high life,’ you took that away!” “Kallie, I didn’t mean…” “And now they’re disillusioned with me.” Kallie sat down and held her head in her hands. Nick went to her side. “Leighton, look at me…” Nick tipped her chin up to look into his eyes. “Kallie?” “What?” “I didn’t mean to tell your friends about you. I didn’t know. You have to believe me on this. I know that I fly off in the mouth sometimes; and that’s why I have you to shut me up.” Kallie let out a silent chuckle. “Yup, that’s right.” “So you forgive me?” “How could I ignore those pathetic baby blues looking at me?” Nick gave her a hug and kissed her on the cheek. “You wanna play a video game or something?” “Nah, I’m OK.” “Tell you what. I saw the corner store was open on our way home. I’ll go and get some junkfood; we’ll have one of our famous pig-out nights. Sound good?” “Sure.” “Great,” Nick grabbed his coat. “I’ll be back in a little while.” Kallie sighed. “You can never hate the man.” She went onto her computer and checked her e-mail. Immediately she got an IM. Strngalong: Hey hun Musekgrl: Hey Strngalong: How’ve you been? Musekgrl: OK Strngalong: Just OK? Come on spill it… I can see it in your words LOL Musekgrl: ::sigh:: I’m at a crossroads Strngalong: which is? Musekgrl: traveling the road to what I want to be but at the same time, the path I left is catching up on me Strngalong: I see… well, I wish I knew what the situation was in this cross roads, but all I can tell you is that you can’t blow off the past. What’s done is done. Never have regrets. If we all regretted what we did then we would all be miserable. Musekgrl: But what if the past is something that I could not control? I made friends here and now they think because of my past they can’t connect with me anymore. Strngalong: if they are your friends, then they would understand. They like you for who you are now, not what you were then. I like you and I don’t know that much about you. Do I ask for someone’s background before talking to them? No. Musekgrl: you’re right Strngalong: You’ll get through to them, I know it Musekgrl: thanks. Listen I’m gonna go, but thanks again. You’re the best Strngalong: don’t I know it LOL. You take care Musekgrl: bye Strngalong: see ya babe Kallie signed off with a smile as Nick came inside with a bag and put it down on the table. “You look better.” “I feel a little better.” “What brought it on?” “A friend.” Nick looked around. “Who?” Kallie winked. “You-know-who.” Nick smiled. “You better be careful. This guy could be a psychopath.” Kallie laughed. “But a nice psychopath.” Chapter 12 Contents Chapter 10 |