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Chapter 13
Meanwhile…
"HELLO?!?" Kevin knocked on the door for the fifth time.
"Maybe we should try opening it; it could be un-locked ya know..." A.J. pushed
in front of Kevin. He was getting mad. They had been knocking on the door
for the past fifteen minutes, and the sound was annoying him. He pulled on
the doorknob, and was surprised when it swung open.
"Should we go in?" Howie was reluctant about entering the house.
"If Brian's in here, we're going to find him." Nick walked through the door,
followed by the others.
"HELLO? Sierra? Brian?" All four of them searched the downstairs, calling
for Brian and Sierra; who could not be found anywhere. The rooms were empty,
with no sign that anyone lived there.
" Should we really be searching Sierra's house like this? I believe this
is called breaking-and-entering." Howie was beginning to get really worried.
"Don't worry, D. The door was un-locked…we're allowed, right Kev?" A.J.
looked over as Kevin joined the rest of the guys in the living room.
"How should I know?" He sounded extremely mad, so everyone stood there for
a few minutes, not talking.
"Okay. So now where do we look now, huh?" Nick was becoming annoyed again.
He didn't care if Kevin was mad. He was mad at Brian.
" Come-on." A.J. pulled Nick's arm and started to climb the stairs.
. . .
Sierra sighed and closed her eyes. She could smell Brian's cologne and smiled
to herself.
"What-cha thinking about?" Brian questioned her, and she turned her head
to look up at him.
"Nothing." She lied. "You?"
Brian took a deep breath and thought for a minute, looking into the bright
green eyes that watched him.
"Come-on! You can tell me, Bri." She gave him an innocent smile and gently
poked his stomach.
"Oww!" He leaned forward, pretending to grimace in pain. "You're a violent
little thing, aren't you?" Brian changed the subject quickly. He laughed
as he recovered from his so-called 'injury'.
"Am not!" Sierra sat up and turned her back to him.
"Oh, come-on! You know I was just joking with you!" Brian was worried that
she was mad at him again. He pulled her back around so she was facing him
again.
"Yeah, I know. I just think it's funny when you get all upset!" She laughed.
"Oh REALLY?"
Brian jumped up, and before Sierra had any time to react, he pushed her down
and began tickling her stomach and sides.
"STOP!" She managed to gasp out between giggles. " Brian Stop!" She yelled
at him, but the more she fought, the more he wouldn't stop.
"Take it back and I'll stop." Brian bargained with the laughing Sierra underneath
him.
"Ok, Ok!" She hic-upped. "I…take…" She couldn't stop laughing.
" I…take it…b-back…"
"Not loud enough, young lady!" Brian grinned when she gave him a scowering
glance through her almost watering eyes.
"Okay, I'm stopping…I'm stopping!"
He stopped tickling her and she tried to take deep breaths to calm herself
down. She was still laughing, and Brian was still sitting on top of her when
an angry deep voice came from the door.
"BRIAN THOMAS LITTRELL!" Kevin was standing at the bedroom door. Nick, Howie,
and A.J. could be seen standing behind him.
"Whoa." A.J. commented when he pushed past Nick. He could feel his body tense
up when saw the two on the bed.
"Kevin?!" Brian got up and helped Sierra to her feet.
"What are you doing?!" Kevin was obviously pissed. "We've been looking for
you all morning."
"Yeah, Frick. A note or a phone call would have been appreciated. But…"
Nick paused and blushed. "…I guess you were busy." He nodded to his
best friend.
Howie elbowed Nick, just as Brian walked closer.
"Look," He paused, seeing how angry his cousin was. "I came over here last
night to apologize to Sierra, then the storm knocked the power out…and
we just kind of fell asleep, that's all."
"Sure, Rok…whatever." A.J. said, looking at Sierra.
"He's telling the truth, A.J. Nothing happened." Sierra watched Kevin; he
looked really upset.
"Alright, fine." Kevin finally spoke. " Brian, we were just really worried.
We couldn't find you anywhere, and you hadn't said a thing to any of us about
coming over here."
"Yeah, I know. I probably would have reacted the same way. Like I said
before…I'm really sorry." Brian looked at his four friends.
"Hey, well, since that is all cleared up…" Howie tried to lighten the
conversation. "…And since we're all up, let's all go out to lunch."
He glanced at his watch. "I mean, it's already almost twelve o' clock." Howie
looked up to see if anyone was still mad at each other.
"Did you say it was twelve o'clock?" Sierra's voice was trembling.
"Yeah. Why? What's wrong?" Howie stated, only to be cut off.
"Shit!" She swore beneath her breath.
"Sierra, what's wrong?" The rest of the guys chimed in, forgetting about
being mad at her and Brian.
"My friends!" She yelled as she ran over to the dresser and started grabbing
clothes. "I'm supposed to pick up my friends at the airport in a half and
hour!"
"Oh, yeah…the friends that you were talking about before." A.J. spoke
up, suddenly interested in the conversation again. He was wondering if her
friends were anything like her. The four other guys just looked at him.
"Well… she mentioned them when I invited her over to our place yesterday."
A.J. answered their looks sheepishly.
"Do you want me to drive you up there?" Brian took a step backward when Sierra
rushed past him and the others, and into the hallway.
"No-No, I'll be fine. I just hope I get there in time." She called back from
the bathroom. She didn't want Brian to come…she didn't want to lose
him to her friends, if he was ever hers in the first place.
"I guess we should go now." Nick said so the others could hear. The guys
nodded in agreement.
A.J. stopped them before they could walk down the stairs. Sierra popped her
head out of the bathroom door to see all five guys discussing something.
They saw her looking and A.J. walked over to where she was standing.
"Hey Sierra." He called out to her in his raspy voice as he came closer.
"Do you and your friends want to have dinner with us later? We could all
go out on the beach and have a picnic type thing."
Sierra looked up and met A.J.'s expectant eyes.
"Sure, that sounds great. What time?"
"Umm…what time will you be back from the airport? It usually helps to
know that first." He gave her a crooked grin.
Sierra simply rolled her eyes at him. He acted so immature, but it was in
a cute way. "The latest is two o'clock. We won't be any later than that!
If we are then I got us all lost." She finally answered, laughing.
"Ok, so we'll meet you girls on the beach around two-thirty?"
"Yeah that's good, they're going to love to meet you guys."
"That's cool. See ya then sweetie." He leaned forward and kissed her on the
fore-head, backed away, still watching her, and walked out of the bathroom
smiling, not noticing Brian as he passed him in the hall.
What was that about? Sierra thought to herself. He's just a
flirt. She reassured herself. She shook the thought away as she heard
another knock on the door.
Brian walked in and slipped his arms around her waist casually.
"Hello you." Brian whispered in her ear, cradling her in his arms.
"Hello back at ya." Sierra smiled uncontrollably, biting her lip to hold
it all back…but failed miserably.
"So…" Brian could see her smiling and he broke the awkward moment.
"…You coming tonight?" His eyes questioned hers through the mirror they
stood in front of.
"Yeah…I wouldn't miss it for the world." Sierra wanted to scream! How
could she have said that out-loud! She backed away from his hold, embarrassed.
"...Well, I got to go get ready now."
"Oh yeah…okay…I'll see you in a few hours then?" He smiled over
at her as he walked to the hallway. Still wishing he was holding her.
"Yeah, bye Brian." She grinned and closed the door.
"Bye." Brian walked out of the room smiling and joined the others that were
waiting downstairs by the door.
"What was that about?" Nick questioned Brian, seeing the happy look on his
face.
"I was just talking to Sierra about tonight. That's all."
"Did she mention what her friends look like?" A.J. grinned.
"Is that all you think about, J?" Howie shot A.J. a useless glance.
"Hang on, lemme think…" He tilted his head back and scratched his chin,
pretending to be deep in thought. He shifted his weight to his right foot,
and then spoke. "My conclusion is Yes."
The guys groaned at A.J. and rolled their eyes.
"You should've seen that one commin', D." Nick looked at A.J., who was putting
on an innocent face and acting confused.
"Yeah, I know." Howie laughed as they walked out of Sierra's house and onto
the beach.
Kevin slowed down and let Nick, A.J., and Howie pass in front of him. He
walked next to Brian.
"Hey, Bri?"
"Yeah Kev?" Brian looked up at his cousin.
"You know Brian…she's only 18." He watched Brian for a response. He
didn't want to seem rude, but it had to be said.
"I know." He knew what Kevin was getting at. "Kev, you just don't understand.
I love being around her. I've only known her for one day, but it's like…"
He stopped.
"That's great Bri. You guys can be friends, that's cool. I'm just saying
that she's young."
"Kevin," Brian took a deep breath. "I know you're trying to help out and
all, but just stay out of this, okay?" He walked up ahead, leaving Kevin
behind him.
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