"No," Dani said staring at her hands.

"I know you had a fight with Sara," Wade said ignoring her "no". "I don't know the facts but I'm guessing she pissed you off."

"She called me immmature," Dani said. The tone of her voice shocked Wade. It was cold and sharp. Like there was no feeling.

"And you don't agree," Wade said.

"No, I do happen to agree. What makes me mad is she was so blunt. She acted like she was Miss Perfect. I literally made me want to snap her neck," Dani said now glaring at her hands.

"You really do have a violent streak," Wade commented shaking his head.

Dani chose to ignore hm and continued on. "That made me mad at myself. How could I think that about my friend. Sara's rarely ever mean and when she is, she is usually right."

"What else did she say?" Wade asked wanting to, no needing to know more.

"Seeing Sara cry, well almost cry, kinda woke me up a little. I have been a bitch but I have a reason. A good one to me but maybe not to you." Dani took a deep breath as if drwing strength from the outside air. "You see, watching my friends fall in love or just having a boyfriend makes me want to throw a fit. I could of had that."

At Wade's look of surprise she smiled wryly. "Yeah, I had a boyfriend. We were very serious, like Sara and Scott. Together through high school and talking about marrige. It seems like another life, now that I look back." Wade watched as Dani got swept away in memories of long ago.

Of the dances, football games, and just the nights they spent together. The inside jokes they shared, their first kiss, and the tears. THe fights that had made sense then but now seemed so petty. When he had given her a promise ring that he had spent a long time saving for. And then that final day, the day Dani had almost thought her life would end. THe day they had said goodbye, forever.

"I knew that he wasn't going to be happy with the news that I thought was great. THe minute Sara and Kayla showed up on my doorstep rambling about a phone call, a sense of dread washed over me. But I pushed it out of my mind and let myself be swept away by the illusion that everything was perfect," Dani said shaking her head at the naive girl she use to be.

"The minute I saw Neil, I literally yelled that we had gotten a phone call and would be flying to New York in two days. He didn't take it well. He was mad and confused about why I would go and do that behind his back."

Wade interrupted her then. "He was mad that you were following a dream. He wasn't the least bit happy for you."

Dani smiled at him. "You have to understand one thing about Neil. He doesn't think being a musician is a practical job. Before we got the call, I was studying law and was going to switch schools with Neil. He was shocked when I announced my nw career choice."

She turned so she was facing him more. "I admit I didn't handle the situation well at all. I was enraged by the lack of support he was showing. He had known music was a huge part of my life but I admit he didn't know to what extent."

"That doesn't mean anything," Wade protested. "Any boyfriend should always support the girlfriend, even if he doesn't agree."

"That's the difference between Neil and you," Dani explained. "Neil is more important to him than anyone or anything else. I know he cared for me and he even said I love you to me but it doesn't mean a thing."

"So what happened next. You guys didn't break up just because you were switching careers," Wade said hopeing that wasn't why they had parted.

"You would think that," Dani said. The tears started to fall then. She couldn't think about that day and not cry. "He demanded that I tell him every thing. Especially how ong I had been planning this and etcetera. He complained that I was making decisions in my life that he should have been a part of."

Dani stood up and paced in front of him. "I explained that I had thought nothing would come of it. I needed to take the chance and surprise, surprise, something did happen."

"Something great happened to you," Wade said quietly.

"I know that but Neil didn't think so. In the end, he cage me two choices. Go to New York and lose him or stay in Bemidji and keep him." Dani smiled at him. "Obviously, you know the choice I chose."

Wade smiled. "And you made the right choice. The right one for you anyways."

"Did I? I mean, I am making a substancial amount of money and I get to rub elbows with the rich and famous. But I don't get to have a relationship, I can't. The only way would be to date somebody in the business. Like Kristen or Sara and I guess Kayla is now too."

"That's what bothers you," Wade commented. "The fact that your friends have found someone to make them happy and you can't. Your jealous."

"Am not," Dani denied.

"Are too," Wade declared.

"Not!" "Not!"

"Too!"

"Fine! Maybe I am! But I miss Neil," Dani added more softly "Well, not him exactly but we had."

"But, I that Sara's fault?" Wade asked gently. "I mean, it seems Sara has been going through a lot these past couple weeks and now she's finally happy."

"God, don't you think I know that?" Dani asked glaring at him. "Why is everybody ganging up on me? What did I ever do to you?"

"Dani you didn't do anything to me. I'm not ganging up on you, I'm trying to understand you but your not letting me," Wade said getting frustrated. "I get a call from AJ telling me you got into a fight with Sara and might want to talk. So I found you and talked." He paused to gather his thoughts.

"I'm sorry Neil was a jerk and I'm sorry you are feeling lonely but not everything is about you. Your feelings matter of course but so do everybody elses,' Wade exlained as nicely as he could.

Dani stared at him. She wanted to yell and scream that he was wrong but then she was in denial. And she never wanted to be in denial.

"Dani," Wade said softly, before he leaned over and pressed his lips to hers.

The kiss took Dani by surprise. She sat frozen in place for a couple seconds but soon became an active particpator.

Wade was shocked at all the sparks that the kiss had set off. He felt alive in places that had been shut off for a long time. But the only negative thought that ran through his head was, was Dani kissing him or Neil?

Dani felt Wade pull away before he actually did. She watched as he mumbled an apology before he hurried into th e hotel. He never even looked back to see the hurt on her face.

Sara groaned as she rolled over in her bunk. It was like two feet wide and maybe two and a half feet tall. She was so tired but could not sleep.

She heard Kayla, who was right above her, roll over and groan.

"Could these beds be any more uncomfortable?" Sara asked loud enough for Kayla to hear.

"I don't think so," Kayla said peeking over the top. "You can't sleep either."

"No, I was thinking about writing in my journal or working on a little song idea I have but I'm not sure I have enough enerygy."

Kayla smiled. ""Hey, two semi-creative brains are better than one, want some help?"

Sara smiled back. "Yeah, you might be able to help me with the words."

"Oh, you're only hat far?" Kayla asked.

"Yeah, it's one I started a long time ago but I never finished it," Sara explained rolling ot of her bunk. "I really, really despise these bunks."

Kayla followed her into the kitchen where sara opened her song notebook and handed it to her so she could read.

"When did you start this?" Kayla asked after she read through the little bitshe had.

"When Scott and I first started going out. I got stuck though and couldn't finish," Sara explained softly.

"So Scott made you feel this way."

Sara thought about it for a couple minutes. "Yeah he did. He always made me feel this way. Scott made me feel like I could do nothing wrong. It was like he put me on this pedistal and I never felt like I lived up to it."

Kayla bit her bottom lip as she thought of what to say. She didn't want to talk about Scott, she was still mad about him breaking up with Sara because of her job. That had been pretty mean, considering he had always supported her before.