REMEMBER to send feedback to the author, Ruby

» CHAPTER FOUR «

~ August 10, 1999 ~

"I'm so glad you're back from your Europe tour," Piper said wrapping her arms around Brian's neck.

"I'm glad i'm here with you," he said putting his arms around her stomach.

"How was it?" she asked.

"It was great, we got such a wonderful response from the fans."

"Good, I'm happy for you."

"Thank you" he said moving in for a kiss. Just before they kissed A.J. burst into the room, walked over to Piper, and yelled in her face, "What is with your friend!?!"

"What? What are you talking about?" Piper said confused.

"Jana, no matter what I do, she won't give me a chance," A.J. said calming down.

"Maybe you're not her type," Brian said.

"I'm not buying that, she would have told me by now. It's something else."

"Do you know what it is?" Brian asked.

"No," A.J. turned his look from Brian over to Piper, "but I was hoping you could tell me." Piper looked away, not knowing what to say, if she should say it.

"What, what is it?" A.J. asked walking over to her. Piper opened her mouth but nothing came out. She tried again but got the same results.

"I can't do this," she said running past him and towards the door.

A.J. ran after her, grabbed her arm, and turned her around. "Can't do what? Please, tell me." Brian noticed the look on Piper's face, "I don't think she wants to talk about this now A.J." Piper gave Brian a "thank you" smile.

A.J. looked at Piper who was still looking at Brian. "Fine, I'll just ask her." Piper stopped A.J. before he could leave the room. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry." He looked at her eyes and walked out of the room. "A.J." Piper yelled. He stopped in the middle of the family room and turned to face her. "What?"

"I hope she realizes what she's missing. You're a great guy and I'm sure sooner or later she'll realize that." A.J. walked over to her and gave her a hug. "Thanx." He left the house and closed the door behind him.

Brian came up behind Piper and wrapped her in a hug. "Now... where were we..."

"How was Europe?" Kymmi asked Howie.

"It was great, the response was incredible," Howie told her.

"I'm sure it was."

"Is something wrong?"

"Why don't you tell me?" Kymmi said showing him two pictures from Europe.

"Where'd you get these?" he asked surprised.

"The magazine mailed them to me, who is she?"

"Her name is Ellen, and she's just a friend."

She took one of the pics in his hand and held it to his face. "Funny, I didn't know friends kissed."

"I can explain."

"Save it," she said leaving.

He stepped in front of her, "Please, just hear me out." Kymmi finally agreed. "I wasn't lying, she is just a friend, or was. We were talking, just talking. Or at least I thought. Before I knew it she had her arms around me and..."

"Please, I don't need details," Kymmi said cutting him off. "So she's just a friend?" she said moving closer to Howie.

"You don't have to worry about her," he said and gave her a kiss. Howie loved Kymmi's tongue ring. She had gotten it two years ago and it completely surprised him. But he loved it. He loved her. That's why he couldn't, wouldn't tell her who that girl really was. Because he didn't know either. He just hoped he'd never see her again.

Kevin had to talk to Kymmi about Julia. He called her on his cell phone and told her to meet him at his house. Two hours later Kymmi showed up at his front door.

"Hey, what's this about?" she asked him stepping into the living room and sitting down.

"It's about Julia," he said sitting down next to her. "What am I supposed to do to get her to talk to me?"

"You understand why she won't... don't you?"

"Well yeah, I think so, it's because of that senior prom thing right? I thought she'd be over that by now."

"That's all you think it is?" Kymmi laughed at Kevin's ignorance.

"What else is there?" he asked curiously.

She looked at him for awhile and looked away. "When you dared that guy to ask her out, and then he embarrased her in front of everyone... she didn't blame him. She blamed you. If you hadn't dared him, he wouldn't have done it. You were the reason she lost confidence in herself. She lost faith in guys. A year passed and she realized she had over-reacted and she moved on. But then another year later you did it again to her. She knew then that she was a fool for thinking she had over-reacted. She couldn't let go because of you..."

Kevin buried his face in his hands. Not until now had he realized how much of a jerk he was in highschool. Kymmi placed her hand on Kevin's back to comfort him. "You need to talk to her."

"I know, but how..." he asked her.

"I'll talk to her, I'll try to get her to at least listen to you" Kymmi paused for a few seconds and then spoke, "You're not that same person Kevin. She'll come to realize that, just give her some more time."

¤ Chapter 5 ¤
REMEMBER to send feedback to the author, Ruby