| Chapter Forty-Nine: |
| "I don't know about this," Ali said, sticking her head out of the bathroom attached to her room. Lily sat on the bed, waiting for Ali to get ready for her date with Dylan. "Come on, it can't be THAT bad," she said. "Does it not fit?" "No, it fits, pretty much, it's just kinda big, is all," Ali said, figiting in front of the mirror. "You ARE taller than me by a good four inches." "Okay, you're smaller than me. Rub it in," Lily said. "Lil, I didn't mean-" "I know what you meant, ever hear of sarcasm? Jeez.. Lemme see it!" Lily whined. "Fine," Ali said, walking out of the bathroom, pausing to put her other shoe on. "How does it look?" Lily smiled in approval. "Looks great. This guy is gonna have a heartattack when he sees you." Ali smiled and spun around. "Perfect. But now for your hair..." Ali frowned. "What's wrong with my hair?" she asked, running a hand through her shoulder-length auburn hair, which was down around her shoulders. "It has to be... Up," Lily said with a smile. "I can fix it, hand me that brush." Ali made a face. "The last time someone said that they could 'fix' me... Urgh, what am I getting myself into?" she asked as Lily walked toward her, holding a brush as if it were a lethal weapon. ~*~*~ "Howie? Hi, honey..." Jamie leaned back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "Yeah, I miss you too... Cathy burned down the kitchen... Everyone's fine... Yeah, just needds new paint... What's on? Why... Okay, I'm turning it on, hang on a second." Jamie turned on the TV and flipped the channel to MTV. "...And in other news, it has been brought to our attention that Justin Timberlake from 'N Sync has gotten back together with Britney Spears. In a press conference today in Miami, the two reported that they were dating. Justin says that his split with Ali McLean, Backstreet Boy AJ McLean's cousin, was an amicable one, and the two are remaining friends." Jamie turned off the television and rolled her eyes. "Damn media... We are never gonna hear the end of this Ali/Justin/Kevin story... I pity the poor sap she ends up dating next... Well, at least he said that they were friends. I wonder if he actually means it, though, like he wants to be friends with her... Yeah, I doubt it, too..." ~*~*~ "So I burnt down the kitchen... Big deal, it's still in working order," Cathy mused as she and Hallie walked the Boardwalk out of pure boredom. "Cathy, like Ali said before, it's not a big deal, all it needs is some new paint and it'll be fine," Hallie said, scanning the crowd of people for anyone interesting. A blonde haired guy about twenty or so caught her eye. "Hey - he looks really familiar," she said, pointing the guy out to Cathy. "The blonde? Wait a minute, isn't that... ASHLEY!" she yelled, grabbing his attention away from the group of friends he was talking with. Ashley looked up at the sound of the familiar voice. "Cathy?" he asked, excusing himself from his group and walking over to Cathy and Hallie. "Oh my God, it is you, what are you doing here?" he asked, hugging her. "On vacation, out of the media's camera lens, hopefully," Cathy said, hugging him back. "Did you grow?" Ashley laughed. "No, it's the hair, that's the only thing that grew since I saw you last. Wait a second, Hallie, is that you in there?" "Ashley, I can't believe that you're here," she said, giving him a hug. "I can't believe that you're here," he replied. "I thought you would have been with Brian." "Oh, we got sick of each other. I killed him, he's in Tampa Bay behind Nick's house," she said sarcastically. "Kidding. But seriously, how have you been? I haven't seen you since..." "Since Cathy's sixteenth birthday party," Ashley supplied, smiling at the memories. "That was an interesting party," Cathy said. "You were the only one of my cousins that I even wanted to come. Ali'll be thrilled to see you again." Ashley shook his head. "I heard about her and Justin... And her and Kevin." Ashley laughed. "Back to her old flirty self, right?" "You could say that," Hallie said, looking toward the ocean. "So she's here with you guys?" "Yeah, her and Jamie, you remember her? And Lily, we're all here for a little vacation..." "Little?" Hallie asked. "Is a year a short amount of time?" "Okay, so it's not a little vacation," Cathy laughed. "Either way," Hallie began, interrupting Cathy. "Are you free tonight? We were thinking of grabbing some Papa John's since Cathy burned down the kitchen and making it a Blockbuster Night, you wanna join us?" "She burned down the kitchen? Did someone let her cook?" Ashley asked, rolling his eyes. He smiled as the girls laughed. "I'm free. What time do you want me to be... Where are you guys staying?" "Ali's condo - it's about a block that way," Cathy said, pointing down the beach. "The number is 1776, it's on the back of the house, which is the only light blue beachfront condo, by the way. You can't miss it. We were heading to Papa John's now, so if you wanna come with us..." "Yeah, that's great," Ashley said, walking with Cathy and Hallie down the Boardwalk, heading toward Papa John's. Chapter 50 Back to Close |