CHAPTER 3:

The doorbell rang at the Carter household, Tara was busy upstairs and didnt notice that the bell had rung.
Brian got up off the couch and fixed his shirt, and walked over to the door.
He opened the door to see a shorter girl, around 5'5, with brown hair that went a little past her shoulders, and beautiful hazel colored eyes.
"hello" Brian said, looking at the girl infront of him.
"Hi.. is Tara home?" she asked.
"Sure.. come on in" Brian said. The girl walked past him into the main entranceway, and Brian watched her as she passed by him.
Tara came down the stairs a few moments later to find a CD.
"Laura!!!!" Tara said excited.
"Hey Tara! Just thought I'd stop by, maybe hang out for a bit.." Laura said.
"great! I really need to talk to you anyways, so its a good thing you came by! Come on upstairs" Tara said.
"I'll take your jacket" Brian said, taking off Laura's jacket, and placing it in the front closet.
"Thank" Laura said with a smile.
"Brian, you remember Laura, dont you? She hung out with us for a little while at Nicks birthday party"
"Oh.. yeah, now I remember.. nice to see you again" Brian said. He smiled at the two girls then left the room to retreat to the kitchen.
"Come on up" Tara said, going back up the stairs.

"You have a beautiful home" Laura said, looking around the house while they headed to Nick and Tara's room.
"Thanks.. its Nicks and mine.." Tara replied. They entered hers and Nicks room, which was very large. white, bright and well furnished. A big screen TV installed in an entertainment system stood infront of a wall that projected out near the foot of the bed, so that Nick and Tara could watch TV or movies in bed.
The rest of the room had chairs, a couch, tables, a desk, dressers and a computer. Two balcony doors led out back to a little balcony that overlooked the pool and the canal.
"Sooo what did you need to talk to me about?" Laura asked, taking a seat on the couch. Tara sat down in the chair which was in the corner.
"A couple of things... three things, actually" Tara said "first of all, I was wondering if you wanted to study together for the exams.. which are next month" Tara asked.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.. we both have good notes, we might have something the other doesnt"
"okay, secondly.. are you still planning on coming to spring break with us? I need to finish your reservation if you are"
"Oh, yeah Im coming for sure. I have enough money saved up for it"
"Great!!" Tara said happily "and the third thing is really personal... but I want to tell you since your my friend.."
"What is it?" Laura asked.
"Im pregnant" Tara said. Laura's mouth opened a little in shock.
"You are?? really? congratulations!" Laura shouted out.
"Well.. its a secret right now, Nick doesn't know. The only people that know, are you, Brian and me" Tara said.
"How come Nick doesnt know?"
"I wanted to tell him when I found out for sure, and I found out yesterday. Now, I want to surprise him with the news, I am going to tell him at Spring Break" Tara said.
"Thats a great idea, he's going to be soo happy" Laura said.
"I hope so" Tara said with a smile.
"ahh dont worry! The boy worships the ground that you walk on, Tara! He's going to faint when he hears the news!" Laura said. She got off the couch and gave Tara a hug. Laura's smile turned into a little frown after.
"Whats wrong?" Tara asked.
"Nothing, just seeing you happy makes me wish that I had someone in my life.. Brad never treated me the way that Nick treats you" Laura said. Brad was Laura's ex boyfriend, who just had broken up with her about a month ago.
"Dont worry, Laura! You'll find the right guy someday.. and when you do, he'll treat you the way you deserve to be treated" Tara said to her friend.
"Hello girls" Nick greeted Tara and Laura, throwing his backpack onto the couch.
"hello Nick" Laura said.
"Hey hunny" Tara greeted him back, giving him a kiss.
"I missed you, honey" Nick said to Tara, holding her closely to him.
"I missed you more!" Tara replied, grinning at him.
"Honey, Laura's coming on spring break with us. Isnt that great?" Tara said, looking over at Laura.
"Thats awesome! Im glad that you can come! Its going to be alot of fun" Nick said.
"Well thank you for inviting me!" Laura said excited.
Brian walked into Nick and Tara's room, where the rest of the crowd was.
"Whats going on in here?" Brian asked. He was holding a basketball in his hand.
"Just talking about spring break, Frick" Nick said.
"oh, thats coming up soon.. I keep forgetting" Brian said "oh hey.. wanna go shoot some hoops down at the Sports Center?" Brian asked Nick. He held the ball out infront of him.
"ahh... I'd like to, man, but Im taking Tara to the beach this afternoon" Nick said.
"oh.. alright.." Brian said.
"I'll go with you, Brian. I like basketball" Laura offered. Brian looked over at her.
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I used to play high school basketball.. was one of the best on the team" Laura said proudly. She grabbed the basketball from Brian's hands.
"Alright! See you guys later" Brian said, and followed Laura outside to the cars.

* * * * * * At the beginning of April, Tara, Karine, Mar and Laura went shopping for new spring break outfits, like girls usually do before they go on a big trip.
While taking a break from the hustle-bustle of the busy stores which were crowded of annoyed shoppers, the girls sat down at a table and sipped at cups of cappucinos and dined over a few donuts.
"Have you ever been to the Dominique?" Karine asked Laura, taking a bite out of her donut.
"No, I hear its a really beautiful place tho.." Laura replied. Tara searched through her bags and pulled out one of her new magazines she had bought, it was Teen People.
"So you two are sharing a room?" Karine asked Mar. Mar and Laura had decided to share a room together, since Mar and Kevin were on their 'off' stage.
"Yup.. we're gonna have a fun girl time" Mar said with a laugh.
"How so?" Karine asked with a grin.
"Oh you know, since we are both single, we can walk up and down the beach and look for hot guys!" Mar said.
"I agree with that!" Laura interrupted. Both Mar and Laura started to laugh.
"Hey.. Karine.. check this out.. we're in a magazine!" Tara said. She passed the Teen People over to Karine, and pointed out the picture of her and Nick with Karine and AJ. The picture was of them at the American Music Awards the past november.
"Wow thats a cool pic" Laura said, looking at the picture.
"I'm going to the girls room... I'll be back" Tara said. She grabbed her purse and left the table to go find the nearest mall bathroom.
On the way out of the bathroom, without looking where she was going, she rounded the bend and smacked into the person walking by.
"Oh my God, Im soo sorry" Tara said to the young man. The young man leaned over and picked up his bag, and looked up at Tara.
"Hello Tara" Justin said. He let out a half smile at her.
"Hello... Justin.." Tara replied. What timing she had!
"Aren't you supposed to be on tour right now?" Tara asked.
"Yeah, the end of the tour got cancelled though, Lance had to go home due to family problems, and JC was starting to get sick"
"oh.. im sorry to hear that" Tara said.
"Its alright. How are you doing?" Justin asked.
"Im doing good! Just getting ready for spring break. What about you?" Tara replied.
"I just came to go to Walgreens, I needed to get some stuff for home.." Justin said, holding up the bag of shampoo.
"oh.. cool" Tara said. She felt awkward, knowing that this time a year ago, her and Justin were the happy couple, and here they were a year later, their first actual confrontation since she left him on the plane.
"Well, I have to get going" Justin said quietly "mom's waiting for me at home, grandparents are coming over for dinner"
"Alright.. well.. it was nice seeing you again.." Tara said, trying to be polite.
"yeah, you too. Maybe I'll see you around sometime soon... bye" Justin said, and then he left. Tara walked back to the table, where the three girls had finished their drinks and were waiting for her.
"What took you soo long, Byng?" Mar asked.
"I ran into an old friend.." Tara said.
"Justin Timberlake?" Karine said with a grin.
"How did you know?"
"We saw him" Karine replied.
"Well.. yeah, I was talking to him. It was weird, oh well, no big deal. Lets go home" Tara said. She grabbed her bags from the table.
A sudden inch of pain ran through her stomach, and she placed her hand on her stomach.
"are you okay?" Karine asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine... its just the.." Tara said. She remembered she hadn't told anyone except Laura and Brian.
"Just the.. what?" Mar said, picking up on the conversation.
Karine turned to Tara and started at her blankly.
"baby" Tara said. She turned red and then turned away, feeling a little embarassed.
"BABY?" Mar screeched.
"You're pregnant?!? since when?" Karine asked, kind of excited, but also surprised.
"Well.. since.. Nicks birthday" Tara said "at least, thats what the date of conceiving was.. that's what the doctor said when he ran tests on me.."
"How come you never told us?" Mar asked.
"Cuz Nick doesnt even know yet, I'm planning on telling him over Spring Break. Dont ruin it for me, k, guys?"
"dont worry, you're secret is safe with us!" Mar said happily.
"I cant believe it.." Karine said, still in surprise.
"Well.. Congratulations!"
"Thanks!" Tara replied with a smile. "Come on, lets go home..I have to start packing for spring break!"

Chapter 4