The next morning Xanda woke up feeling refreshed...and alone. AJ had quietly left Xanda early that morning after she had fallen asleep during the movie. Xanda glanced at the clock and groaned at the fact that it was barely 8:35. Her body was still used to waking up early every morning. Xanda quickly dressed in some lose sweats, pulled her hair back into a ponytail, grabbed her Nike hat, and ran out the frontdoor for her morning jog.

She jogged up the street as the cool morning sun shinned dimly through the clouds. Xanda started to think about her crazy life and how everything seemed to be working out in her favor. Except for the fact that she had no clue what was in store with her job, everything else seemed almost peaceful. She thought that she could never feel butterflies in her stomach when a certain man walked past her but she realized that AJ had changed that. It was purely sexual, of course, but he still did things to her, nonetheless. Xanda turned around and started to jog downhill when a car cut her off. "You prick!" She shouted at the thoughtless driver. She watched the car continue to drive down the street and noticed that it parked in the driveway of a house not too far away. Xanda ran faster to give that man a piece of her mind but stopped when she got to his driveway.

"Shit! I should have figured." She stated, out-of-breath. "What do you mean by that!?" He accused as he unloaded his trunk. "You practically ran me down back there!" She shouted, pointing down the street. "Then you shouldn't have ran in front of my car." He replied, trying his best to ignore her as he closed his trunk. "Pedestrians have the right of way in case you're too stupid to figure that out." Xanda shot back. "Whatever. I don't have time for this." Brian said under his breath, walking briskly past Xanda toward his front door. "You don't have time for this? Well make time cause I have a few bones to pick with you." She demanded as she followed him toward the front porch. Brian glanced around the neighborhood and noticed a group of girls staring at them with quizzical expressions. "Shit. There are fans over there. Get inside if you want to continue your bitching." Brian mumbled as he held the door opened for Xanda.

Xanda pushed past Brian and sat down quickly on the nearest couch. "Okay...what kind of bones do you have to pick with me?" Brian smirked. "You. Just you! You drive me nuts. You're rude, obnoxious, and....well, you're just a prick! Didn't your mother teach you any manners!?" Xanda shouted at him as she thought about the past few days. Brian had made little to no effort to be kind to her. Instead, he would go out of his way to piss her off. According to AJ, Brian wasn't normally like that, only to Xanda. She got under Brian's skin as much as he did to Xanda. "Woah! Wait a minute...ME? Manners? Who's the one who came running over here before you even knew me, yelling and calling me names?" Brian shouted back. "And to make it way worse..." Brian continued, "you move in on my best friend! He's been used before for his money so don't you try it!" Xanda did a double take, unable to believe what she had just heard. "You fuckin' prick! Is that what you think I'm after? His money!?" Xanda felt like she wanted to scream and rip his eyes out. Brian nodded his head, "well isn't that what you want?" Xanda shook her head, trying to compose her thoughts. "For your information, we are JUST friends, though it's none of your god damned business." She said icily. Brian smirked. "You just keep tellin' AJ that, okay?" Xanda stood and walked up to Brian slowly, glaring at him with all the anger she could muster. "You're just like every woman who's entered his life. You're all the same. You're probably gonna get him so pussy whipped that he'll do whatever you say." Xanda pulled back her arm without thinking and slapped him hard across the face. "You prick." She growled through clenched teeth. "How DARE you say that." Xanda turned around and left Brian's house as quickly as she had walked in. Brian sat down on the couch, clenching the side of his face with his hand. It was almost 9:30 though it didn't feel like it.

***

Xanda walked into her house and made a few mental notes about what she wanted to do with the furniture that would be arriving. She tried her hardest to ignore what Brian had accused her of but couldn't. She turned on her stereo and tried to figure out how it worked. Everything in the house was still new to her. She sat in front of the stereo with one of her many CD cases on her lap trying to figure out which CD to listen to, which one would cause her to forgot about Brian. She would never admit it to Brian but he had hurt her badly. Brian was AJ's best friend and a major part of his career. Xanda knew she couldn't stand in the way of that if things between the couple progressed but she also knew that she couldn't let Brian ruin their relationship if AJ turned out to be the man she had been looking for her entire life. Xanda grabbed her Paula Cole CD and put on "Road To Dead" as loudly as she could, singing and shouting along with the music.

Xanda jumped in the shower with "Road To Dead" on repeat. When she emerged she ate a quick breakfast of strawberry yogurt with banana pieces mixed in. Xanda knew that AJ would be calling soon and she wanted to be in a good mood. She didn't want to tell AJ what happened with Brian because she didn't want to cause problems between the friends. Xanda mopped and vacuumed the floors, dusted the furniture and ceiling fans, and washed all the dishes that had been in the cabinet for the past year. At 11 o'clock she decided to take a break. She sat down on the couch and lowered the stereo as she watched some on the cute neighborhood kids running around on rollerblades and bicycles. She saw Brian driving by and wanted to scream. God, she hated him. He made her want to weep with just one glance. Her hatred for him wasn't nearly as bad as her hatred for John, but with John she could at least pretend to like him. Xanda realized that she couldn't forgot Brian's accusations as easily as she thought she could. Once the music went down her thoughts came flooding back to her.

In Xanda's favor, the phone rang. She knew who it was and smiled as she answered the phone knowing that the person on the other end of the line could hear it. "Hello?" She asked sweetly. "Can it, Xanda. That's so fake!" AJ laughed. "Fake?" She asked back, with her smile still plastered to her face. "I may have only known you for two days but I can tell when you're smiling and that is fake." Xanda had to laugh, AJ knew her too well, but then again, it never took anyone long to figure her out. It just took people forever to figure her out entirely. "Yeah, it's fake. I've had a long morning. So?" She questioned. "Oh yeah...when do you want me over? And you better be hungry cause my mom is making us something to eat while we work." AJ explained. "'We'? No babe, it's you. I just get to boss you around while you do everything for me." AJ almost choked as he heard Xanda. "WHAT!? Me do all the work while you boss me around? What the hell are you talkin' 'bout, girl!?" AJ asked back. "Good girl! Your mama taught you well!" Xanda could hear AJ's mom shout in the background. AJ shot his mom a warning glare as Denise grimaced. She had forgotten what AJ had said about Xanda's mother. "Well, that's probably all she taught me." Xanda mumbled. "Anyway, tell your mom that I'm gonna have you workin' like a dog." Xanda said with a slight laugh. "You are NOT workin' me like a dog. Not unless I get something in return." AJ cooed. "Alexander James, stop thinking with the wrong head!" Denise shouted at him. "Yeah, AJ, listen to your mother." Xanda agreed. "Man, what is this? Have you two been teaming up behind my back?" AJ asked. "Yup!" Both women said at the same time. AJ groaned, "Okay, when do you want me over? And I'm bringin' some extra help. I'm not doin' this on my own. I don't need a hernia." "That's fine. As long as it's not Brian..." Xanda started to say. "...trust me, I won't bring Brian." AJ promised. "Speaking of the satanic mother fuckin' prick..." Xanda mumbled as AJ's chin dropped in shock. "Such language." AJ laughed. "And Xanda, he's NOT that bad. I think you just think he's that bad..." Xanda opened her front door where she saw Brian standing impatiently after ringing the doorbell ten times. "Hold on, AJ." Xanda stated as Brian watched Xanda talking on the phone, silently hating her.