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Chapter 19
Atlanta, Georgia
Brian's View
I picked up my backpack and walked off the bus pulling my hat over my head. It was rainy outside and there was no sign of sun light. Elizabeth decided to ride on the other bus with the dancers. She's real good friends with all of them. I pretty much sat alone on the bus talking to nobody. I was hoping to talk with Danielle and play games like we usually did but she kind of avoided me. She went and talked to AJ and Sophia most of the time. I don't know if I made her mad or what but it was really bugging me.
"Hey Dani," I said walking over to her. She was putting on a coat and getting her things together.
"Oh hey Bri," she said looking at me for a moment and then looking back down at her things.
"Can I ask you something?" I asked.
"Sure," she said.
"Are you mad at me?" I asked. She looked at me shocked and then shook her head saying, "No, why do you think that?"
"Maybe it's because you have barely said a word to me all day. You didn't even come and talk to me on the bus. You always do," I said.
"I'm sorry, I've just been distracted," I said.
"By what?" I asked.
"Just some stuff..." she shrugged.
"Like?" I asked.
"Stuff you don't need to know," she said.
"Oh...but you can tell me anything. You usually do," I said.
"Yeah, well, not this time," she said looking at me. I just looked at her. I was hurt, why couldn't she tell me what was bothering her? It had to do with me I was guessing and if it does involve me I would seriously like to know.
"Look, I'm sorry Brian..."
"No, it's OK, you don't want to tell me. That's fine," I said and then turned around and walked to the hotel.
Danielle's View
I groaned and stomped my foot on the wet ground. Now I have Brian mad at me! I didn't mean to do that but...oh I don't know.
"Hey Chica, what's up?" Howie asked coming over and looking in the massive amount of luggage.
"Oh, nothing," I said quietly. He grabbed a bag and swung it over is shoulder.
"What's wrong?" he asked looking at me.
"It's nothing," I said.
"You sure?" he said. I crossed my arms over my chest and nodded.
"All right, but Dani, if you want to talk...I'm here OK?" he said. I slightly smiled at him and said, "Thanks Howie."
He smiled at me and then walked over to the hotel. I sighed and walked after him.
A Few Hours Later
I took a deep breath and raised my hand to knock on Brian's hotel door. I knocked twice and then stood there waiting. A couple moments later the door opened and Elizabeth smiled widely at me.
"Hey Danielle!" she greeted me.
"Hey Beth, how's it goin'?" I asked.
"Good, how about you?" she asked.
"Alright," I said. "Did I interrupt anything?"
"Oh no! Of course not, we were just watching a movie. Do you want to come in?" she asked.
"I was hoping I could...I need to talk to Brian," I said.
"In that case, I'll leave you two alone. I'll be down in Kevin's room watching TV if you need me OK?" she smiled.
"Thanks Beth," I said.
"No problem," she said and then walked down the hall. I walked into the room and closed the door after me.
"Honey, who was it?" Brian asked not taking his eyes off the TV. He was stuffing a hand full of popcorn into his mouth.
"Hey," I said. He looked at me shocked and dropped the popcorn onto his lap.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I was hoping we could talk," I said. "But if you don't want to, I can leave."
"Oh no no no! Sit down..." he said picking up some of the popcorn on his lap and putting it in the bowl. I sat down on the couch and got comfortable.
"Where's Beth?" he asked.
"Down in Kev's room," I said.
"Oh OK, so what's up?" he asked.
"Are you mad at me?" I asked.
"No," he said shaking his head.
"You sure seemed like you were outside."
"I was just frustrated because you wouldn't tell me what was wrong. You always tell me everything and it just sucks that you won't tell me what's bothering you now."
"I know...it's just hard to talk about. Colleen and Darlene don't even know. I haven't told anybody," I said quietly. He touched my hand and said, "You can tell me, you know that."
I looked up at him and I couldn't help but get lost in his eyes. They were so beautiful. Any girl could fall for him, of course I had to be one of them. I couldn't tell him what I was really thinking or what was really bothering me because if I did that I probably would ruin what we had...ruin our friendship. I decided to just lie.
"It's just...I'm home sick," I said. He looked at me and said, "That's it?"
I looked at him and nodded.
"Why were you afraid to tell me that?" he asked. I could tell he was having doubts about what I had just said.
"It's just that I thought you would think I'm some baby and that I can't handle being out here. I didn't want you to think that I couldn't handle it," I said. He smiled at me and said, "We all get home sick. You would think we'd be used to everything by now, you know, touring and stuff like that, but we aren't. You shouldn't be afraid to tell me. I totally understand and besides, now I can help you cheer up!"
I smiled at him and said, "Thanks Bri."
"Anything for my lil Sis," he smiled and then hugged me.
"Thanks for telling me," he said.
"You're welcome...I'm happy to have it off my chest," I slightly smiled. To be honest, of course I wasn't happy. I didn't get anything off my chest. I didn't get anything off my chest! I'm not home sick, it was a total lie! At least he bought it but still, I really want to tell him what is actually bugging me. I will sometime, but for the time being, I was just going to act like everything was OK. I'll tell Brian someday...but, it won't be that soon. I don't want to ruin anything. I then remembered what Howie had said. He said I could talk to him about anything and he'd be understanding, same with AJ. Maybe I should go talk to them about it and see what they think. It would be the best thing to do. Oh nevermind, they would go tell Brian and it would ruin everything.
I frowned and said, "Bri, I'm gonna go back to my room OK?"
"You OK?" he asked.
"Yeah I'm fine," I smiled.
"All right, I'll talk to you later. Stay out of trouble!" he teased. I laughed lightly, kissed him on the cheek and then got up and left the room. I needed to think, I needed to think long and hard on what I was going to do.
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