Written by: Nichole Feedback to: Gotto26@aol.com CHAPTER ONE "I'm definitely lost," Angela muttered. "I knew I should have had Krista drive out here with me. She takes me here 2 weeks ago and expects me to remember where the house is." As she drove around the unfamiliar streets of Orlando, she tried to look for something that triggered her memory. Her brown eyes darted from side to side and found nothing. Angela had finally decided to get directions, when her car broke down. Lucky for her, it died on a small sidestreet. What wasn't so lucky was the fact that Krista had their cell phone. "Why? Why do I forget the important things? Gas station here I come." She pulled back her shoulder-length brown hair and started to retrace her footsteps to the last gas station she saw. She hadn't walked too far when a small, green car pulled up next to her. The window rolled down and a man with sunglasses began to talk to her. "Are you OK ma'am?" "Yeah, I'm fine," she said as she kept on walking. "Is that your car back there?" he asked. "Yeah.....Is there something I can help you with?" Angela demanded. "No actually I was wondering if I could help you." The man finally pulled his sunglasses down to reveal very blue eyes. "Would you like to use my cell phone?" Angela's face softened, not only because this strange man was being so nice to her, but he also had the nicest eyes she had seen in a long time. "Yes, please." First, she called the local gas station with number the guy had given her. Then she called Krista who picked up on the first ring. "Hello?" "Krista, it's me." "Where in the world are you? You were supposed to be here 2 hours ago!" She exclaimed. "I've been worried sick." "Yeah, well thanks to you and your whacky idea to show me the house 2 weeks before we move out here, I got lost. Then my car decided to break down on some side street. As I was making my way to the closest gas station, this man, who's name I didn't even catch....." "Brian," he said. "I'm Angela," she said before continued her conversation. "Anyway, Brian pulled over and offered to help me and let me use his cell phone. So here I am, calling you, and asking you if you would kindly pick me and my stuff up." "Sorry about the whole situation, but you have to admit that it was an interesting way to spend your first day in Orlando. Where are you at?" Angela gave her directions with help from Brian. "I'll see you in 10 minutes. Bye," Krista said. "Bye." She pressed end on the phone and handed it back to Brian. Angela got a glimpse of his eyes again and blushed. He knew she was staring at him. She quickly looked away. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. So you're that new to the area, huh?" "Yeah," she replied. "My best friend, Krista, and I moved down here to go to the University of Central Florida. We're not sure what exactly we want to major in yet, but the campus was nice and everyone was friendly." "That's cool. So where are you moving to?" "47 Clover Ave. and I have no idea where it is," she laughed. "Really?" he asked. "We're neighbors then. I live a couple of blocks down at 29 Clover Ave." "No way! Since we're going to be seeing more of each other, we should have a formal introduction." "OK," he said. He pulled the car over and got out. He stuck out his hand. "My name's Brian." "And I'm Angela," he giggled as she shook his hand. "What's so funny?" "You being so serious," she answered. Just then, Krista pulled up. So the three of them helped Angela put her things into Krista's car. After that, the tow truck pulled up. Both the girls thanked the guy in the tow truck and Brian before they got into the car. As the girls were driving down the road again, Angela said, "You that guy's name was Brian right?" "Yeah, I know." "Well, he lives right down the road from us. Cool, huh?" "Definitely," Krista replied. "Wouldn't it be funny if he was....?" "No way!" Krista interrupted. "He moved away 5 years ago to God knows where in America. Remember your boyfriend wouldn't even tell you where he was moving to? So what are the chances of seeing him again my friend? "I know, I know. Slim to none. But those eyes do a number on me," Angela confessed. "Get over it, Angela. You're never gonna see him again. Besides, that guy doesn't even look like the Brian we knew in high school." Angela sighed as she felt for her fire pendant. She looked out the window to take in the Orlando sights and thought about her past. CHAPTER TWO "Mom, this is the most unfair thing you've ever done to me in my whole life," Angela screamed. "Don't you talk to me like that," her mother warned. "You don't understand! You're killing me by doing this!" "You're 16 Angela. 16! You shouldn't be sneaking out at all hours of the night just to see your boyfriend. One month is plenty of time to think over why you shouldn't do this again," her mother said calmly. Her father had then walked into the room. "Daddy, please help me," Angela begged. Her father almost gave in to the look on her face. He didn't want to hurt her. She was "Daddy's little girl." But, in the long run, he knew this was for the better. He put the stern "don't fight with me" look on his face. "Angela, your mother and I both feel that this is a reasonable punishment." "But, Daddy....," she started. "Don't you 'but Daddy ' me young lady. Our decision is final." With that, Angela burst into tears and ran upstairs to her room. At Brian's house..... "Brian! Get down here! We need to talk to you!" his father hollered up the stairs. "What did I do now?" Brian asked as he came down the stairs with a goofy grin on. "Nothing," his mother answered him. "Remember how Kevin called you and asked you to be in that singing group of his?" "Yeah?" "Well," she continued. "Your father and I know how much you love to sing, so we've decided that we'll support you if you want to do it. We already bought a plane ticket to Orlando for you." "No way!" he said as he leaped off the couch. "This is great! Wait until I tell Angela!" Both of his parents looked at each other. "Oh Angela. What am I going to tell her?" "She might have to be one of the sacrifices that you make to do this," his father said. Just then, the phone rang. "Well, I guess I'll have to tell her now." He got up and headed upstairs. In their rooms.... "Hello Princess," Brian said as he answered the phone. "Oh Brian. I'm not allowed to see you for a whole month! My parents grounded me for sneaking out to go with you to the lake," she cried on the phone. "A month isn't that long." He remembered that he wasn't going to be here in a month. "Ummm.....Angela I need to tell you something, but I can't do it over the phone." "Alright," she said slowly. "See if you can sneak out the house tonight and meet me at the park." "Brian! Are you crazy? My parents will kill me if they find out." "Please Angela! This can't wait," he pleaded. "OK," she sighed. She had heard the urgency in his voice. "Give me a half an hour. Bye." "Bye." After he hung up, Brian went to his dresser and pulled out a necklace box. In it was a gold chain with a gold fire pendant on it. And on the fire pendant was a small diamond and a pearl. He had wanted to give it to her for their 2 year anniversary, but plans had changed. At the park.... When Angela finally reached the park, she saw her boyfriend swinging on the swings. "He looks so cute," she thought. Brian saw her and hurried over to her. "I didn't think you'd really come." "Oh so now I go back on my word huh?" she punched him playfully. "No sweetie....I never doubt you." "What's wrong Brian?" She saw the saddened look on his face. "Angela.....I'm, uh, moving. Tomorrow." He looked away because he didn't want to see the look on her face. She actually started laughing. "That's really funny. Now what's wrong?" "I'm serious. I'm getting on a plane tomorrow morning to go to Orlando." Angela felt the tears stinging her eyes. "You're really not kidding, are you?" she whispered. "Why?" "Kevin started a group and he wants me to join. He wants me to sing with him. I figured that this would be an awesome opportunity," he explained. "What's that?" she interrupted. "This?" He lifted his hand that held the wrapped necklace box. "I was going to give this to you on our 2 year anniversary, but considering the circumstances.... " He gave it to her. She slowly opened it to reveal its contents. "Brian, it's beautiful." "Put it on," he said. And she did so. "Listen to me, when I get settled down there, I'm gonna call you. OK? We'll still talk." "No Brian. As much as I love you , I don't want to have just a phone relationship. I can't to that to myself." She couldn't believe what she had just said. Her tears flowed feely now. "What?" he asked in disbelief. "I wouldn't be able to handle that," Angela said. She leaned up to him and kissed him. "Good-bye Brian Littrell. I will always love you." Brian watched her walk away and felt himself start to cry. CHAPTER THREE As Krista's car pulled up to the quaint house of their picture perfect neighborhood, Angela snapped out of her blast to the past. "Here I am. 21 and still wishing that we'd be back together someday. He'll never find me out here. I might as well just give up." But in her heart she knew that she couldn't take off her fire pendant and give up hope. "What's wrong Angela?" Krista asked. "Nothing," she muttered. "Oh, now I know that something is up," she said. She gave Angela that face that pleaded with her to tell her what was wrong that combined with she knew something was wrong and Angela couldn't BS her way through it. "Alright already," Angela laughed. She knew that once Krista gave her that look, she was through. "Let's just get my stuff into the house and get me somewhat settled first. Then we can talk." So for the next few hours, they unpacked her things from the car and settled her into her room. The room was a little bit smaller than the one she had at home, but she knew she could make it work. The closet was a decent size and held all her clothes. "The posters will have to go up another day," she thought. The 2 girls shared a bathroom, but they knew that it wouldn't be a problem. Krista, was the bathroom hog. She took the long showers, blew-dry her hair, and things of that nature. Angela, on the other hand, got in and got out. She hated the all-made-up look, and got dressed up when she absolutely had to. Krista would wear skirts and dresses for fun. Angela didn't think that appearance was everything, and neither did Krista, but she loved to make herself look good anyway. So they knew that living together would definitely work. "Let's get down to business," Krista said, once they were finished. "Before we do, I just have to say that you were wrong before about Brian and not knowing where he is. He told me he was moving to Orlando and here we are!!" "You have a point there, but who's to say that he's still here?? Anyway, don't change the subject." "Hold on, " Angela said. "I haven't eaten since breakfast and I'm hungry. Let me get some food first." "Alright," Krista said reluctantly. Angela went into the kitchen and threw a bag of popcorn into the microwave. She knew that she wanted to talk more about Brian to Krista, but also knew that Krista hated hearing about him. The microwave beeped and she poured the popcorn into a bowl. She then took it into the living room and plopped onto the couch. "Alright," Krista said. "Let's talk." Angela just sat there and didn't say anything. She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk to her about him anymore. "Oh come on!" Krista begged. "You know you can talk to me about anything." "I know," Angela said. "But I'm sure that you don't want to hear anymore about Brian right now." Krista rolled her eyes, but said, "I'll listen." "You didn't seem so thrilled just a few minutes ago." "That's only because it's been so long and I don't want to see you hurt anymore. I understand he meant so much to you, but I really think it's time for you to move on." "We had something that you just don't understand Krista. It was something so special and indescribable. It was like a romance out of a fairy tale. You have no idea how much it hurt when I had to say good-bye to him that night. I was so in love with him, but I knew that it was the right thing at that time. I wouldn't have been able to only hear his voice on the phone and not having him there just to hold me. And then, I had to spend my senior year alone and go to the prom with someone that I only wished was him. It all hurt so much and it was so long ago, and yet I can't give up hope on finding him," Angela poured out. "So you're telling me that you still have the same feelings for this guy as you did five years ago? And you're telling me that you're going to wait for him for the rest of you're life?" Krista asked. "I don't know! But I just can't help it and I can't take this off," she said picking up her pendant. "Plus I'm afraid to get into another relationship because I don't want this to happen again," she confessed as she felt the tears burning in her eyes. "Oh Angela!! Please don't cry!" Krista pleaded. "I never meant to make you cry. We can stop talking about Brian. I only wanted to help you. I have one last question though. Do you really think that guy in the green car was him?" "Maybe," she replied. "It's the eyes. Only Brian had eyes like that. Remember?" "Don't you get all sappy on me! But, yes. I do remember." "Well, only time will tell," Angela said. "What a fairy tale ending that would be if it is him." "Enough of this. I think we should go out to dinner and a movie in celebration of us being on our own together. What do you say?" Krista decided. "Sounds good to me," Angela said. She wiped the tears from her eyes as she stood up and went to her room to find something to change into. "I'm gonna put this behind me for tonight and have a good time. It's been a little while since Krista and I went out together," she said to herself. She grabbed her purse after she was done changing and met up with Krista in the living room. "Ready to go?" "Yup," Krista replied. With that, the girls went out the door to have a "girls' night out." CHAPTER FOUR Brian was having a tough time getting Angela out of his head for the rest of that day. There shouldn't have been any time to think about her though; all of the Backstreet Boys were at AJ's house having a barbecue and Leighanne was there with him. He kept shooting nervous glances at her wondering what she would do if she knew that he was thinking about another woman. He had a slight feeling that Angela was the girl he had fallen in love with so long ago. At the same time, he liked Leighanne. She was sweet, funny, smart, and pretty. Brian was just confused. "You OK, Bri?" Kevin asked, interrupting his thoughts. "Yeah. I'm just tired from the photo shot today," he replied. "You sure?" "Yeah." He turned away from Kevin to go get some food. Leighanne hurried over to Kevin hoping that he knew what was wrong with Brian. "Is he OK?" "He said he's tired from the photo shoot." "Oh, OK," she said. Leighanne may have been OK with that excuse, but Kevin didn't buy it. He decided to get Nick to talk to him. "If Brian won't talk to me, he'll definitely talk to Nick," he thought. He pulled Nick aside and explained what he thought. "No problem," Nick said. "I can get anything out of him." "Frick, come here. I need to talk to you." Brian got up and followed Nick into AJ's kitchen. "Why don't you tell me what's going on?" "I don't know why everyone keeps asking me that. I'm just tired." "I know you better than that Bri. You know I won't tell anyone if that's what you're worried about." "Fine. I'll tell you," he finally gave in. "But you have to swear that you won't tell anyone." "Alright! I swear. You sound like such a girl when it comes to this stuff. Now tell me," Nick said. "Remember that girl I helped earlier today that I told you about? The one with the car?" "Yeah?" "I have a feeling that's Angela Connors. The girl I dated in high school." Nick just looked at him. "You've got to be kidding me. What if it isn't her?" "I know it's her Nick. She had on that necklace I gave her the night before I moved," Brian insisted. "I don't know man. There's still that chance that it's not her. Wouldn't Kev know?" he asked. "Yeah, he would. That's why I'm telling you and not him. He would want to see her and he would make a big deal out of it. They got along well. Anyway, then Leighanne would find out and I don't know what I would do," Brian explained. "I wouldn't get too upset about it because you don't even know if it's her or not. If I were you, I'd try to find out. Knowing you, you won't let this go. Besides, even if it is her, you may not develop feelings for her again and you guys may just be friends," Nick pointed out. "That's true." Just then, Howie came in. "You guys better come out here. AJ just pushed Kev into the pool and he's pretty mad." "OK," Nick said and Howie left. "Feel better now?" "Yeah. Thanks man." "Come on. I have to see AJ get his butt kicked because he's had this coming." They walked out just in time to see a very wet Kevin grab AJ, pick him up, and toss him into the pool. He finally surfaced to say, "You got my favorite hat wet!" "Oh you poor baby!" Kevin teased. "And my glasses are at the bottom of the pool!" he complained. Everyone laughed at AJ as he dove down to retrieve his beloved glasses. Brian slipped his arm around Leighanne and decided to take Nick's advice. "What's the worst that can happen?" he thought. CHAPTER FIVE The next morning, Angela woke up to the sun filtering through the window and onto her face. She rolled over, threw the covers over her head, and tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't. Defeated, she rolled back over and looked at her alarm clock. It was only 9:30 am. "This is crazy. I never wake up this early on my own for anything," she thought. She decided to get up and get some breakfast. On her way out to the kitchen, she saw Krista still in bed. "There's no way I'm waiting for her to get up," she said silently and continued out to the kitchen. Angela rummaged through the cabinets and the refrigerator to find nothing for breakfast. She had an idea though and quickly got dressed. When she came back out to the kitchen, she left Krista a note. Krista, Don't eat anything for breakfast. I went out to get our favorites: blueberry bagels with cream cheese! Be back soon. Love, Angela Angela knew that Krista was going to love this. With a smile on her face, she left. Krista woke up at the sound of the door shutting. "This is not cool," she thought. "It's only 9:45 am." But she got up anyway to find out why the door slammed. She went out to the living room and discovered that her car was gone and so was Angela. A bit confused, Krista went to go find breakfast, but found Angela's note instead. "That girl sure knows how to treat a best friend," she laughed to herself. She decided to get dressed because she knew that after breakfast Angela would want to go explore the city. It was a good thing she got dressed when she did because the doorbell rang. "Who could possibly know we live here? And where's Angela? It doesn't take that long to get bagels," she thought. She took a quick glance at the clock to see that it was 10:07 am. Krista opened the door to see Brian on her doorstep. "Hi," she finally managed to get out. "Why hello Krista MacPherson," he greeted her with a smile. She stepped back in surprise. "How do you know my full name?" "Take a good look at me Krista." Krista looked at him for a minute and then something clicked. "Brian Littrell!! How are you?" she screamed as she hugged him. "I'm great. How about you?" "Alright. Wait until Angela sees you. She's gonna kick me for second guessing her about you. Why don't you come in and tell me what's going on in your life?" As the headed toward the kitchen, Brain realized that she had no idea that he was a Backstreet Boy. Angela probably had no idea either. Krista made coffee for the both of them and sat down to talk with Brian. "Well, there isn't really much to say about myself. I moved down here, got started singing with Kevin, and stuff." "Not to interrupt, but how is Kevin?" she asked. "Alright. He's got a girlfriend so he's been keeping busy. Anyway, I'm on a break from the group for a few days so maybe we can catch up." "I didn't catch the name of your group." Brian smiled. "The Backstreet Boys." Krista's jaw dropped. "Angela has been singing your new song for the past few weeks. Wait until she finds this out." "Yeah, I'm excited. So how's she been?" "Not too bad. But I don't know how she's gonna take this Brian." "What do you mean?" he asked. "Don't get me wrong. She's talked about you and has wanted you back since you moved. And she hasn't taken off that necklace either. But, I don't know if she's going to be thrilled or what. It's going to be one extreme or the other." "Are you serious?" "Actually Brian, I am. I think that she's dreamed about this for so long, that she may not know how to handle to having you back in her life after so long," Krista explained. Brian's face fell. Krista wasn't exactly sure how to interpret that. She wished she knew how Angela was going to take this. She decided to change the subject a little bit. "I wonder how much longer she's gonna be." "She shouldn't be too much longer because the nearest bagel place isn't that far from here," he replied. "I feel bad just sitting here and waiting for her. I would have called, but I never got your number; she only gave me your address." "Yeah, I know," Krista said under her breath. "What?" he asked. Krista didn't mean for him to hear that, but there was no turning back now. She had to explain. "Well, she had a feeling it was you. She said it was your eyes; that no one had eyes like yours. But I told her to forget about it. I said that this strange guy didn't look like the Brian we knew in high school. But I see it now. Your hair is shorter, you grew more, and you got buff. If Angela had a feeling it was you, then you had to have a feeling it was her." "I did, but I couldn't just say 'hey, are you Angela Connors?' That's a little awkward. I didn't think the odds were with me anyway," Brian said. "She tried moving on from you. She went out with other guys, but it never worked out. She always said that they weren't as good as you." "Maybe that's a sign that we can be together again." He tried to shove Leighanne's face to the back of his mind. They both heard the car door slam and knew that Angela was home. "I guess you'll find out right now," Krista said. When Angela came through the door, she heard voices coming from the kitchen. "I wonder who's here," she thought. So she headed to the kitchen to see Krista and Brian sitting at the table. "Hey," she said while setting down the bagels. "Hey," they both said back. "What are you doing here?" she asked him. "I came to see how you made out with the car and your things." "I made out OK. Thanks," she said with a smile. But when she saw the weird looks on both their faces, her smile faded. "What's wrong?" "Angela," Krista said. "This is Brian." "I know who he is silly, " she laughed. "You're not understanding me. This is Brian Littrell." Angela just stood there in complete shock. A thousand thoughts swirled through her head in the minute that she stood there. She felt the tears coming. She didn't want to cry and yet she couldn't take all the feelings that she was experiencing at once. She took off for her room and left Brian and Krista just sitting there. BACK NEXT |
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