Stone's Dream
Chapter 2

The next morning, all of the tour arrived at a hotel deep in Mississippi. Everyone who had never been there complained that everywhere in the whole state looked exactly the same.

"Why are we at a hotel when Lance's house is near here?" Cassi slung her suitcases onto the cart carriage as she waited for Chris to make up his mind of what he was taking and what was staying.

"Because... we have to get everybody else settled in here first." Cassi nodded and shoved him out of the way so she could grab some bags of his. Up in the mega-suite, Justin sat in the lounge and worried about his girlfriend. He hadn't gotten a word out of her since she had climed back on the bus the day before, muttering bad things about Amber. He noticed Amber coming out of her room, the farthest one in the suite, and figured now was a good time to get someone to talk to him.

"Why is she mad at you?" Amber loked up from her book as she came into the lounge and peered at him over the rims of her glasses.

"Hmmm? Why is who mad at me?"

"Lindsy. What's with you two that you can't get along for more than three seconds?"

"You really want to know?" Amber came into the room fully and took a seat across from him. They stared at each other, waiting for an answer. Neither one seemed to realize that everyone else in the group, including Lindsy, was peeking out of their doors to hear this. Finally, Justin got fed up.

"Well, are you going to tell me, or are we going to sit here some more?" Amber put down her book and made herself comfortable.

"Fine, here's how out troubles started. Four years ago, Wendy and I were Seniors, and Carrie and Lindsy were Juniors in high school, and everyone knows that people are very competitive at that age. No one was more competitive than me and Lindsy. We fought over everything and anything, and being new witches didn't help because that's what we fought over most. We each wanted to be the leader of our group: I because I was the oldest; she, well because she was brave, and she thought I was too reckless. I was, and that's the truth. It didn't go well. Wendy was the first to leave. Carrie threatened to follow her, but we all know Carrie's got a soft heart. Finally, I just got fed up and I threw in the towel. I didn't speak to Lindsy again until a year later." Justin was completely enthralled by this side of Lindsy he had never seen. He was surprised when Amber stopped talking.

"Well, what happened?"

"I tried to be nice and play 'Let's Make Up and Be Friends Again'. I invited her to dinner to talk, and things got out of hand."

"How?"

"Is broken china and flying pans and silverware good enough for you?" Justin flinched at the thought. Amber got up and made her way back to her room. He waited until her door closed and knocked on teh door to the room he and Lindsy were supposed to be sharing.

"Lindsy, can I come in?"

"Why not, it's your room too.." Justin closed the door gently behind him. He stood there against the door, and just looked at Lindy sitting on the bed. He could tell she had been crying.

"What's wrong, Babe? Is it something about what Amber told me?"

"No. Everything she said was true. What's bothering me isn't something you should be concerned about." Justin came over and sat on the edge of thebed.

"I shouldn't be concerned? Well, that's a relief, I thought my hair was going to turn white before I even hit thirty. Don't lie to me, Lindsy. That's all I ask." Lindsy glanced at him for only a moment and went back to doing nothing. Justin grabbed her hands and held them in his own. He had seen a hint of a smile in her eyes. "I understand if it's a super-secret witch thing, but if it's about your friend, you've got to spill your guts."

"I'm crying because I ran out of frog toes." This time the smile had crept to her lips. "I think I really needed to overhear how Amber felt about everything that happened in the past. It's helped me think more clearly about everything."

"That's really nice to know." Justin said and kissed her. She could only return the favor.

Carrie stormed into Amber's room shortly after hearing her story. She went so far as to slam the door behind her to demonstrate how angry she was. "I am so sick of you blaming Lindsy for all your problems! This damn fighting has to end before the past repeats itself! You, all of you, need to make amends once and for all!" Amber was silent through the torrent of Carrie's rage and kept her head lowered in respect.

"You know it's not me she's fighting with." The voice that came from Amber was familiarly chilly.

"You?" The one who wasn't Carrie' happy, cheery friend raised her head. Carrie stepped back when she saw burning red eyes instead of the cool blue-gray she was used to.

"I'm a very good actress, wouldn't you agree? But you and Wendy already sensed that." "It was you all along." That was a statement not a question. "Where's Amber, she's the one I want to talk to."

"She's on vacation at the moment." A small smile crossed her lips, and those familiar lines of ruthlessness apeared. "Don't worry so much, she's just fine. It's funny what someone like me can learn from a girl like Amber, whose mind is as fluttery as her heart when she thinks of Ares. My Ares." The smile widened and became more real. Carrie raised an eyebrow. 'Is she actually trying to be funny?'

"Are you telling me you gave amber a permanent vacation from life?"

"Would I be so cruel? No, I've just decided it's my turn to drive for a while." Carrie turned to leave before she could decide that her mind had left her. "Where are you going?"

"To tell Lindsy to stop fighting with a corpse." She stood up from the bed and grabbed Carrie's arm. Carrie jerked, expecting ice but was instead greeted with growing warmth.

"Tell the others that the flame is back." Carrie glanced back to see Amber's eyes had returned. She broke out into a smile.

"Sure think, Drake." She left the confines of the room, feeling a little bit like celebrating, but the celebration would have to be put on hold until after she talked to Lindsy and Wendy. Wendy wasn't available at the moment, so Lindsy would have to come first. She knocked on the door to her toom even though the 'Do Not Disturb' sign was on the door knob. She was ready for just about anything when the door opened.

"Can't this wait? I'm kind of busy!" Lindsy at least had the decency to wrap a sheet around herself. Carri shook her head and Lindsy closed the door.

"Damn it! Every single time!" Carrie heard Justin yell. Amazingly, she kept a straight face the whole time she stood out in the hall. She stood back from the door as Justin stormed out, still buttoning up his pants. Smiling at him, Carrie went in and closed the door. Left in the hall, Justin did up the buttons on his shirt and went into the lounge where Joey was sitting, flipping through tall the channels. Justin plopped himself in an armchair and scrubbed at his curly locks.

"Got kicked out?" Joey never missed a flick of the remote.

"Yeah." Joey nodded and settled on Pay-Per-View. He started checking for good movies.

"Carrie does that to people. She blew me off to yell at those two. It's like ever since they all got back into their little group; everyone else is excluded from from their lives, even us: the guys that love them." Just sat up straight. Joey had just described how he felt down to a "T".

"You're so right, you know. LIndsy, well, Lindsy's just gotten wilder." Indigo ran into the room from checking out every little detail of the place. She tumbled over her own tail and rolled over to the chair. Justin laughed and picked up the small dog. "Even the dog acts more human than she does sometimes." He began cuddling Indigo. "Maybe I should... um, take a break from her for a while."

"Do you think she'd let you? She's a witch. She's probably shrink you down and keep you in a glass jar." Joey meant it as a joke, but he could see Justin was taking it very seriously. "Hey J, I was only kidding about that. Don't get so uptight, man. Things will work out. You just watch."

"Yeah, youre right. I shouldn't worry so much." But there was still that nagging feeling that things were far from ever being all right. They both turned to see Lance and Wendy walk in from their lunch date. Wendy sensed something was wrong and gave Lance a quick kiss before exiting down the hall. She didn't dare stop at Justin and Lindsy's door, instead she headed straight for Amber's room. Knocking lightly, she disappeared from view. Lance shrugged and sat down with the guys to watch the movie.

"So, what have I missed?" Wendy leaned against the door and looked at her friend. Amber shrugged and got up off the bed. She grabbed a comb off ehr dressed and began fixing her hair for the afternoon.

"Nothing much. I spilled practically everything to Justin. Carrie rags on me when I'm ready to burst into Lindsy's room and scream out 'I'm sorry!'. Now, she's ragging on Lidnsy to do that same. Anything else you want to know?" She had undone the single braid and was turning her hair into a work of art. She finished without a word, and Wendy didn't say anything either. Amber smoothed her skirt and turned to go. Wendy moved from the door, and they both left together. They entered Lindsy's room without bothering to knock and the shouting was silenced for the moment. Amber and Lindsy starred at each other from across the room.

"Lindsy, I'm sorry for everything that has ever happened between us that has hurt you. I don't care if you hurt me, I deserve it sometimes. That's all I came back for, was to apologize to all of you, but especially you, Lindsy." Tears began to well up in Amber's eyes but she didn't let one fall. Wendy and Carrie stood dumbfounded at the sudden outburst from her.

"Do you really mean that?" Amber nodded. Lindsy went over and hugged her friend dearly. "Then, I'm so sorry for everything too." Amber let her go gently.

"Get dressed, we have soem celebrating to do. The war's over and it's time to party!" And all the guys heard from the room was non-stop giggling.

"Party?" Lance asked and the other guys nodded.