| Chapter Forty-Eight: |
| "Why is there a fire truck parked in front of my condo?" Ali asked, pulling into the driveway, avoiding the firemen that were vacating the house. "I don't know... Wait a minute, was Cathy cooking when we left?" Lily asked, opening the car door. "Yeah... So?" Ali asked, rushing toward the house. "She can't cook toast! She probably burnt down the freaking kitchen!" Hallie yelled, throwing open the door to the condo. "Cathy?" "I didn't DO IT!" came a voice from the couch. "Yes, she did," Jamie answered from a chair. "She burnt down the kitchen while cooking spaghetti." "What happened?" Ali asked, looking in her now blackened kitchen. "I don't know! I put the sauce on the stove, and it started to bubble, and I turned around to grab a potholder, and I heard this breaking sound, and the pot exploded, and everything got everywhere, and I'm so sorry!" Cathy babbled, running toward where Ali stood in the doorway to the kitchen. "It's okay, don't worry about it," Ali said calmly. "It's fine, really." "I am so sorry." "Cathy, all it needs is new paint and a few new pots and pans. Everything else just needs to be cleaned, see?" Ali said, wiping a black mark off of one of the cabinets. "But why I let you cook is beyond me... You never did at home, why did you wanna start now?" Ali asked, laughing. Cathy cracked a smile. "I just wanted to try. See if I could do anything other than make the microwave explode. Apparently, though, I can't. But now that that's out of my system, I don't think I'll ever be touching a stove again." "Not mine, that's for damn sure," Ali said, leading Cathy out of the kitchen. "And YOU," she said, directing her attention toward Jamie, "you're not on the phone with Howie. What's up with that, I was sure that damn thing was attached to your ear." Jamie scowled. "It is not," she said with a pout. "But I heard Cathy screaming and I hung up. That's when I came down here and everything was turning black from smoke. It's not my fault that she can't cook to save her life," Jamie said, standing up and walking to her room. "Hold on a second," Ali said, stopping her by taking her arm as she walked past her. "What the hell is up with you? I thought you would be spending some form of time with us, that's the whole freaking reason that we even wanted to get away from Florida for a year. And you're constantly on the phone with Howie - you haven't gone out with us once, and I'm assuming you're not even planning to. Jamie, when are you gonna spend some time with your friends?" Jamie jerked her arm away from Ali's grasp. "When the phone lines go down," she said with a glare. With her comment, she walked toward her room. Once she turned the corner, a door slammed and a lock clicked. Hallie shook her head in disgust and headed toward her room while Cathy walked out on the back deck. Ali crashed on the couch, holding a hand to her temples as her head hit a throw pillow. "Don't worry Als," Lily said, sitting down by Ali's head. "Everything's gonna be fine." "Yeah, right," Ali muttered, as her cell phone began to ring. "Ugh, Lil, could you answer that please? And whoever it is, tell them I'm... In a coma, yeah, that I'm in a coma." Lily chuckled and pressed the On button. "Hello, Ali's phone, Lily speaking..." Lily paused for a moment. "Can I ask who's calling?" Lily scrunched up her eyebrows and held the mouthpiece of the phone to her chest. "Als, it's some guy named Dylan, he said it's about tonight." Ali's eyes shot open. "Gimme that!" she yelled, grabbing for the phone. "Hello, Dylan? Yeah, it's me... Scandals sounds fine, I'm up for that... Yeah, no problem... Believe me, pizza sounds better than a lot of things... It's a long story, I'll tell you later... Umm, how about I meet you at Papa John's at, say, 6:30? Yeah, great... But I gotta go now... Yeah, I'll see you later... Bye." The second Ali hung up the phone, Lily was asking questions. "Who is that? Why are you going to Scandals tonight? And why isn't he picking you up here?" "Woah, stop for a second and breath," Ali said, trying to get Lily to calm herself. "That was Dylan, I met him yesterday on the boardwalk. We are going out for pizza and then to Scandals for a few hours to see this new band play that he heard of. He seems like a nice guy, and before you ask, it is JUST a date, no strings attached whatsoever." "On your part... Ali, are you sure you wanna be going out with someone so soon after Justin? And the media would have a field day with this if they knew you were there," Lily warned, following Ali to her room. "I'll be careful, don't worry," Ali replied, opening her closet door. "What should I wear?" "Depends," Lily said, sitting down on Ali's bed. "Is this guy hot or not?" "Lily!" Ali turned around, trying not to blush. "Hot." Lily smiled. "Then I know EXACTLY what you should wear," Lily said, getting up and grabbing Ali by the arm and leading her to her room. Back to Index for Close Chapter 49 |