| "Hey, Tara!" Kevin stood at the bottom of the staircase, yelling up at his cousin. "Will you come down here? We're about to leave." Tara sighed, and stepped away from the mirror. How had she let herself get roped into this? She couldn't', for the life of her, remember why she'd let Kevin talk her into going out with him and AJ. Sure, it was only to lunch. But AJ had kissed her hand. And, from what she'd gathered, AJ had said something about the way she looked when he was on the phone with Kevin that upset him. And knowing Kevin, that meant he'd said that she was hott. Or some such thing. Another thing she didn't quite understand was why she was so worried about the whole day. It wasn't like it mattered what AJ thought of her, anyway. She didn't want him to start looking for a relationship or anything. In fact, that was the last thing she wanted. So why was she up here, modeling the seventh hairstyle of the night in the mirror? "Get down here! We're waiting!" Kevin shouted again, and Tara Anna grabbed the coat she'd left on her bed, and ran downstairs. "Finally." Kevin said, pretending to roll his eyes. "What took you so long anyway?" Tara Anna shrugged and smirked at him. "A woman has her secrets." She laughed, then noticed AJ, standing next to Kevin, grinning at her. "Oh, hi." She said, giving him a reserved smile. "Hows it going?" "Good, now." He said, winking at her. "It's been too long since we've seen each other." He reached for her hand again, but Tara Anna stepped away. "Should we go?" She asked, stepping a little behind Kevn, as though she was using him to barricade herself from AJ. AJ looked at her, a little confused, then shook away the look and led the way out the door. Kevin leaned back to his cousin, and squeazed her hand. "It's gonna be okay." He whispered. "We'll get through this together." Tara Anna blinked back a few tears that had gathered in her eyes, and smiled up at him. "I love you, Kev." "I love you, too, Tara Anna. AJ sighed, and rested his hand on his hand. What was wrong with him? Usually he had girls throwing themselves all over him. But Tara Anna wasn't even looking at him. She hadn't lifted her eyes from her plate the entire meal, and since Kevin was busy talking to Christy, the cute little red haired girl he was casually dating, it had been quite a boring meal for AJ. "Enjoying your stay with Kevin?" AJ asked, trying for what seemed like the billionth time to start a concersation. Tara Anna nodded. "Yeah. It's great. We've always been really close, and it's nice to have a little break from my parents, too. I guess I could just move out, but I don't really want to." She still hadn't looked up. "Are you in college?" AJ asked. "No. I'm taking a while off before I go. But I have a few schools to pick from when I decide to go. I'm leaning towards NYU." "Wow, that's a good school. We've got a smart one here." Tara Anna blushed. "Not really. I just studied a lot. It's not like I'm one of those people who's just naturally smart." "Sure you aren't." AJ teased. "I can tell just by looking at you. You're one of those child prodigies." Tara Anna finally met his eyes. "Yeah, right. The first time you 'just looked at me', you thought I was a ten year old." "A very smart ten year old!" AJ insisted, and they both laughed. "Well, thanks, I guess. I suppose that could be taken as a compliment." "That's how it was meant. As a compliment. I promise." AJ paused for a minute, happy that he'd finally got her talking. Tara Anna became silent again, suddenly, and resumed eye contact with her food. AJ didn't try to start another conversation. He didn't want to force to much on her the first day. Baby steps, after all. |