"Look... flames."
Nick and Lily walked outside from the sliding glass doors, with Cathy on their heels. All three immediately stopped at the sight of the two pyromaniacs. Lily leaned over toward Nick and Cathy and asked, "Do they do this often?"
Nick shrugged. "I dunno about Jamie, but Howie... Well, he gets pretty bad at times."
"Jamie was always a pyro," Cathy said, shoving her way in between Nick and Lily. "Yoo hoo! James, How, guys, come on, the doctors told you to stay away from fire."
"No... flames good," Jamie protested.
Cathy turned around with a devious smile on her face. "I have an idea."
Nick smiled in return. "Whatcha got in mind?"
"Where's AJ? We need him for this..."
~*~*~
"Hey, guys, umm, some white truck just pulled up in the driveway," Ali mentioned casually. Jamie and Howie were still mesmerized by the fire and were totally oblivious to her.
"Oh, that's just the, umm, friends I called," Kevin replied, trying not to laugh too hard.
Ali elbowed him in the ribs as she walked to the gate leading to the backyard, where she was met by two men in white jackets, both carrying straight jackets. "Oh, come in, I know why you're here." She turned around to face Jamie and Howie. "Guys! The men in the white jackets are here! They're gonna take you home now!"
"That's nice," Howie muttered. He returned to earth quickly. "What?"
The two men walked toward Jamie and Howie with the jackets opened. "No, come on, we won't hurt you, we just wanna take you back home," the taller one said. Howie couldn't see their faces because they had hats on.
"Jamie, stop it!" Howie yelled as he pulled her away from the torch. "No, we.. we're fine, completely fine!"
"I wanna see the flames, Howie, no!" Jamie protested.
"Shut up Jamie!"
With Howie's last outburst, everyone started laughing uncontrollably. Howie looked around in confusion. "What's so funny?"
The guys in the white jackets took off their hats and sunglasses and grinned. There stood AJ and Nick, laughing like monkeys. Howie signed and realized how funny the situation really was, along with Jamie, and started laughing. The only person in the yard that was not laughing was Brian. Ali noticed and walked over to him. "Bri Bri, I know that you miss Hallie. She'll be back soon."
Brian looked up from his seat on the patio swing. "How can you be sure? I mean, I'm just so worried about her."
"I know Hallie, she'll be okay. She's a strong person, and Carson's with her. He'll take care of her."
"That's what I'm afraid of, he'll take care of her too much," Brian muttered as he walked toward the pool, where AJ, Nick, Cathy and Lily were in the middle of a chicken fight.
~*~*~
"Are you sure that there's no more room on the dancer's bus?" Hallie asked the tour manager through her cell phone. JC sat in a chair across from her; they were at Carson's house with the rest of the group drawing up plans for the tour. Hallie sighed heavily after a few moments. "Okay, thanks anyway."
Justin looked at her questioningly. "There's no more room, so I'm gonna be with you guys."
Joey jumped up from the couch and started jumping up and down on it in triumph. "There's gonna be a girl on our bus! There's gonna be a girl on our bus!"
"Joe, man, you have gotta lay off the Ring Dings," Chris grunted as Joey jumped on his leg. "You're heavier than you think you are."
"I am not," Joey said with a pouty face as he jumped off the couch.
Hallie sighed again. These guys are gonna drive me crazy.... "Hey, do you guys think I can bring a friend along for like, a week or so?"
Justin's attention was caught. "A friend? Like, a female friend?"
"Umm, yeah, like, I dunno, maybe Ali..."
"Is she cute?" Joey and Justin asked at the same time.
"She's engaged."
"Damn. Oh well, I guess so, there's an extra bunk in the bus. She can come along for like, two weeks or so."
"Cool."