Chapter Four

We ordered our food at Mickey D's and Brian paid. He always was a sweetie when it came to stuff like that. Once we had our food, we all went and found a place to sit so we could talk and eat. Nick was the first to start asking questions.

"So are you and Brian related or something?" he asked between handfuls of french fries.

"Nope," I said, drinking my Diet Coke.

"Then why'd you call Kevin cousin?" Howie asked.

"Oh, well, I grew up right down the street from Brian. Both my parents were only children and I was an only child too. I didn't have any cousins or siblings, so I kinda got adopted into the family."

The men nodded and Kevin said to me, "So what are you doing here?"

"Well, you owe me a trip to Disney World, Cousin." I grinned. Because Brian had joined the Backstreet Boys, we never got to go on that trip to Disney World and I still hadn't gone. "But, I work here now, at the junior high school. I'm teaching PE. At least, I will be, in the fall."

"You know, it was the weirdest thing, Bre," Brian said to me.

"What?"

"When I came out of surgery, I could have sworn you were there."

"I was."

Brian about choked on his food. "You were?"

"Yeah. You were so groggy I figured you wouldn't remember. Your mom called me as soon as she found out that you were going into surgery. At first I assumed it was joke you were playing on me. You know a graduation gag, since they couldn't screw it up like last time. And then my mom called me and told me it was true. So I went right down the hospital and because I knew one of the nurses in recovery, she let me in and I was the one holding your hand and singing to you."

"Awww," the guys chorused.

"No, you guys' don't get it. I thought I'd died and she was my angel. But then when I finally opened my eyes all the way and was awake, I saw my mom. So..." His voice trailed off.

"Yeah, well, your foundation got a big fatty check from me." I said, changing the subject.

"How big?" AJ asked.

"Three thousand dollars."

"So you're the three thousand dollar anonymous donor?" Brian asked.

"Yep. That was my financial aid money and some graduation gifts. But I knew what your parents had gone through and I didn't want any other children's parents to go through the same thing." I paused. "Okay, enough of this sad stuff. What's the deal with Lil' B-Rok?" I asked.

"Oh, well, you know Brian's nickname is B-Rok, right?" AJ said.

"Who doesn't?"

"Well, when I saw you out there on the court, you reminded me of Brian, only shorter," Nick told me.

"And that move...wow, where did you get that from?" Howie asked.

"Too many years of dance." I told them.

"You never took dance lessons," Brian said.

"Yes I did. Where do you think I went on Saturdays? I just never told you because I didn't want you to know. My mom made me."

"So do you still do it?"

"Yes. And play b-ball, something I think you don't."

"I play, just not very often."

"I would never know. I mean, you were on the verge of beating me our junior year in high school and then you go off and join your boy band and get flabby."

"Hey, what do you call this?" he said, pulling up his shirt sleeve and flexing a muscle.

"Did I say flabby? I meant weak."

"Yea, well you try playing basketball after open-heart surgery."

I blew air out of my pursed lips. "Wuss," I said. "You gave me the same excuse when we first met. Grow up."

"You're only saying that because you've had the perfect, healthy life. You don't have to worry about taking medication every day. Or that maybe something has happened and that's why you're out of breath." Brian was getting upset with me. I could tell because he was starting to raise his voice. We had had arguments before, so it was nothing new to me.

"Brian, you're the one who doesn't know what my life has been like. Because of your status, I've been able to follow you. But do you bother to check up on your best friend? No. You have no idea how much it hurts to play against you. Beating you today was just luck. I'm almost convinced you let me win, but then again, you don't know what happened. You were too busy with Stephanie and touring Europe to notice or to care." I got up from the table and headed out the door of the restaurant. I stood there for a moment and watched the guys. They were telling Brian to go after me, I could tell. Brian finally got up and headed towards the door.

I turned towards the door and started walking. I heard Brian jog up behind me. "Bre, what's going on?" he asked, coming up beside me.

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"Bre, come on. We've always been able to talk about everything. What do you mean it hurts to play against me? Hurts emotionally? Hurts physically? What?"

I stopped and turned back towards the McDonald's. I didn't say anything to Brian the entire walk back, which was about a block. I walked inside and headed back to where the rest of the guys were sitting. I picked up my soda and reached into my pocket. I pulled out a pill bottle and popped it open. I poured out two white pills and put them in my mouth. I then swallowed as much soda as I could.

"What was that?" Kevin asked.

"Pain medication," I said flatly.

Nick looked at me. "What for?"

"Just a nagging pain, that's all." I looked down at my watch. I had an appointment to get to. "Look guys, it's been fun, but I have someplace to be." I looked at Brian and said, "Meet me at the hospital in two hours and I'll tell you everything." I then walked out of the McDonald's. I was limping because my left ankle was killing me and my back was stiff. I tried to walk normally, as to not arouse suspicion, but I could feel the weight of the guys' eyes on my back.

To Chapter Five