Chapter 14
During dinner
~*~AJ’s POV~*~
Wow, this girl is fly! He thought, as he glanced appreciatively at her. She had been entertaining him with funny stories about her and Stacey’s high school years, with the acception of last year.
"And then the principle was like, ‘Stacey put your shirt back on. And she smiles at him, and jumps of this guy Scott and goes, ‘I was just teaching him Mouth-to-Mouth, whats your problem? It is safety week!’ And then she walks out like nothing even happened!!!"
Her and AJ bursted out into laughter. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he clapped Nick on the back. "Watch out man! You’ve got a feisty one!"
Stacey looked up from her plate, and raised an eyebrow. "What did you tell him?" she said, shooting a look at Sam.
Sam shrugged and giggled. "Nothing!" she sang sweetly.
Batting an eye at AJ, Sam reached for his hand. "So which club are we gonna go to? It looks like those two need some excitement."
AJ laughed and looked down the table to where Stacey and Nick sat, talking quietly to one another. Pretending not to notice how good it felt that Sam was touching him, he continued. "Well there’s this cool place in Tampa bay, if you two don’t mind getting home really late."
Sam shook her head. "Nah, I’ve got my car so she leaves when I leave. Do you mind if I go out for a quick smoke?"
AJ laughed. "Not if I can join
you" then getting up, the two quickly ran out to the porch.
~*~Nick and Stacey~*~
"Where are they running off to so quickly?" Nick
muttered, watching the couple walk outside.
Sighing Stacey wished she were with them. "Probably outside, smoking." She answered glancing around the walls of the kitchen. This whole atmosphere makes me sick. The whole Carter family is so happy. I wish I still had mine.....
"Uhh....Stacey? are you Okay?" Nick asked, as he starred into her sad silver eyes.
She nodded her head, and starred at her plate. "Yeah, I just, need some fresh air." She said and got up from the table quickly and followed to where AJ and Sam were.
As she approached the couple she noticed that they were holding hands, and talking quietly. "What? Did you guys already do the nasty, or has AJ kept his brain in his pants tonight?"
Sam snorted and AJ chuckled. "And to what do we owe this wonderful presence?" AJ asked, struggling to light his cigarette.
Glancing nervously back towards the house, she could still see Nick sitting at the table, playing with his food, his head propped up on his elbow. Groaning in frustration, she grabbed the cigarette from AJ and in one swift motion, had it lit.
Inhaling deeply, she sighed. "He makes me nervous" she muttered, as she glanced around the large backyard.
Sam and AJ exchanged glances. AJ got up. "I’ll go see if Nicky needs any help cleaning up"
Stacey took his spot, next to Sam. "Why does he make you nervous?" she asked quietly, already knowing the answer.
Stacey took a deep breath. "He has it all....perfect friends, family, house, car....why can’t he just go pick on somebody else....someone who’s as perfect as him?" she said, as she inhaled again.
Sam rolled her eyes. "First of all, he’s not perfect. His family is not perfect. And does AJ look perfect to you? This isn’t about him. Its about you. Why can’t you just except that this guy is sincere, and go with the flow? Why can’t you admit to yourself, that you kinda like this guy back? He’s not picking on you, he just likes you, and wants to get to know you better. Is that soooo wrong?"
Stacey nodded. "You know why I can’t go with the flow Sam? Huh? I can’t go with the flow, because every time I do something bad happens, and its always my fault."
Then
stamping out the smoke with her heel, she ran back into the
house.