Chapter 7

Two For Two

    She wore a long satin dress, dark red coloured. Her hair was curly, Sam had created a complicate hairstyle. Around her neck there was a thin silver-glooming chain with little red diamond-like stones on it.

    Mark presented it her yesterday evening when asking her out. He was quiete nervous but managed to ask: "Would you like to..." he smiled sheepishly, "Wanna go out with me?" Then he gave the chain to her, not looking into her face.

    Brianna was astonished, she didn't realized that Mark was into her. They had spent so much time together, together with the others. She was a little tensed, but that was okay. She had hoped that this would happen, but never mentioned it in front of anyone. Mark was that kind of man she could trust in, she got to know him and she knew somehow that this would be for real.

    Sam smiled slyly: "Hey girl, you better get goin' now! Mark is waiting for you in the hall." She chuckled and continued teasingly: "I tell ya, you'd better be home at 10 o'clock, dear!"
    "Aye, aye, mam!" Brianna tried to keep a straight face. There she stood, hands on hips, snorting, snickering.

    Sam hadn't told her about her problem, but now everything was alright. Brianna and also Hannah has recognized that Em broke up with Bryan, the same like Sam and Kian did. One could say that they changed their partners. Emily was now together with Kian, and Sam went out with Bryan, not secretly anymore. All were happy, even Emily said 'I'm sorry!' to Samantha, and she meant it the way she said.

    Sam laughed, but then sighed, quickly calming down. "Tell him..." the girl smiled again, gently.

    "Good luck, have fun." Sam turned around and walked out of the door.

    Brianna put on some soft and shiny lip-gloss and got herself going, trying not appear weedy. She thought about what Sam had said. Her friend knew about what had happened two years ago. "Sam's right, Mark should know this. Would be better...but how tell him?" she thought while leaving the room.

    The girl went down the stairs slowly, her face lit up when she saw Mark. He wore a black suit and brushed his hair in a very cute way. He glared at Brianna, his jaws dropped to the ground, but Mark closed his mouth soon, because of hearing the doorbell ring. Mark went over to the blond girl and took her hands, squeezing them with his own, smiling at her with a very romantic sparkle in his ocean-blue-eyes.

    The two heard Hannah screaming from upstairs, and Emily laughed.

    "Open the door. This is Shane!...Hannah, don't do that! You are ruining my work of art...No!!!!!!!!!!!!" But Em was still laughing. Mark went over to the door and opened it. His mate came in, shy, and very good looking.

    "Emily, don't pull me that way...!" Hannah cried, her friend just snorting and going on pulling and pushing her towards the stairs. As soon as Hannah saw Shane she cheered up and smiled at him. She flinged her arms around his neck enthusiastically and gave him a little kiss, exuberantly.

    Shane squeezed her tightly and smiled happily. The girl wore a short dark-blue dress, with some little sparkling embroiders on it. Shane wasn't able to wrench his gaze away from her.

    "You better get goin' now!" Sam called out of the kitchen.     "We want to watch "Celebrity Deathmatch". So, get out of here, you are keeping us from having a wonderful evening without you all!" She smiled slyly. And the two couples left.

* * * * *

    Mark rushed into his mate's room, without knocking or closing the door. Shane didn't budge but smiled a bit.

    "What's up, dude?"

    The black-haired boy dropped onto the sofa. He tilted his head, breathing loud and heavy.

    Shane eyed him extensively, he recognized that his mate was in a very difficult situation although he tried to appear as casual as ever. "C'mon, tell me about it!" Mark looked at him, but the only thing he found in the brown eyes of his friend was serenity. He knew that he could tell him everything that was on his mind, everytime, he would be there, anytime he might need him.

    "It's about Brianna, right?" Shane asked carefully. "You don't know what to make of her, do you?" Shane knew that Mark was quiete impressionable, he had been blown away when coming to Sam's house to pick Brianna up for their first date. Open-mouthed and open-eyed he had stared at her, she really looked fantastic, the other girls had done a good job! The same for his favourite girl Hannah.

    Mark piped up, singing a bit: "If she only knew what I knew but couldn't say, if she could just see the part of me that I hid away, if she could just feel what I feel here in my heart, she'd know it was real, pure and true right from the start. But I'm just a man who didn't understand what she was going through. If she could just see what I see when I close my eyes, surely she would realize, but like a fool I've waited much to long to let her know the truth. Tell me, how did I let her get away...Cause I guess that love is so easy to feel but the hardest thing to feel."

    Somehow he felt more easy, more relaxed and happy. Shane didn't say anything, he just smiled, pensively. But then he got up and went over to Mark sitting on a chair next to the door. He tapped his shoulder and whispered quietly.

    "Mark, you better sing this for her, don't you think so? I know that there is a riddle but you need to find the solving key to this' woman's mystery. So go to her and let her know...And now, get the hell out of here..."