When we got to Dea's (the tropical grill) Serena was about to burst at the seams with questions. We were seated quickly. As soon as my butt hit the chair, Serena popped. "Oh my God!" she hissed at me, trying to keep her voice down. Her arms draped across the table and she repeatedly smacked my hands in a hyper I-have-to-do-something-with-my-energy type way. I jerked my limbs away to a safer distance and laughed at her. "Oh my God!" she repeated, then put her hands back onto her side of the table.
"So, have you... you know... with anyone?" she asked me, wide eyed. I got her meaning and looked at her with my 'that-was-a-serious-question?' face. She shrugged, then leaned across the table. "I have no shame!" she giggled. I nodded and told her 'no duh.' To answer her question I, just as she had sone, shrugged. "Nothing that counts, I'd say. Ooh, wait, wait, wait!" I said, hyping her up. I thought she was going to pee in her pants. "Oh yeah! Me and AJ... picked up beer cans before we came over here! Pretty sexy, huh?" I said sarcastically, smiling at her bummed face. "I'm telling you, nothing has happened and nothing probably will happen with me and anyone else... unless you count the steamy sex I had with Brian last night," I said nonchalantly, tossing a glance her way. Her mouth dropped then shut again as she realized I was joking. "You know, if you want to give me a coronary then keep it up," she said as our waitress brought us our drink orders. I had to laugh at her for falling for that.
After lunch Serena and I high-tailed it over to the house so we could get there before everyone else did. I wanted to show her the house without having to vie for her attention from the guys. I showed off the house, earning several 'ooh's and 'ahh's from her, especially when we passed by Nick's room. Yeah, Serena was a fool for the Blonde Kid. SO... I waited for about five minutes while she strutted around his room, touching practically everything he owned. Finally I said enough was enough and dragged her into my room. She was muy impressed, I'd say. She hopped onto the bed and flounced around on it. "Jeez, this is the most comfortable bed I've ever been on. Swear to God!" she added when I raised a questioning eyebrow at her. "You should ask them to let you keep it when you leave." I smirked and joined her on the bed. "I'm sure that'd go over real well. 'Oh yeah, since you guys are already paying for my rental car, food and other necessities, would you mind throwing in this mattress, too? Thanks a bunch!'" We giggled over that for a minute, Serena throwing in her impression of 'Officer Doofy' saying it. We finally stopped laughing, and got serious. "I'm so glad they got you down here," I said, "This job just got a whole lot easier for me." Serena had that 'aaw!' look on her face, and we hugged.
Just then Nick walked in the room. "Hey, can I get in on the action, or is it girls only?" he asked, smiling. I had the feeling Serena would've said 'sure, come an' get it!' so I told him to be serious. "I was being serious," he huffed in a valley girl voice, then threw me and Serena each a clothing box. "What are these?" I asked, popping the top off mine. "They appear to be dresses, dearest," said Serena, dumbfounded. I looked at Nick. "Hey, I didn't buy 'em, don't blame me," he said, holding his hands up. I shook my head, smiling. "No, what are they for?" I asked. He came over to the bed and knelt down on one knee. "We have a little coctail thing to go to tonight at the Marquis downtown," he explained, "and Brian, AJ and I need dates." He fluttered his eyelashes at me and I looked at Serena. I could tell she was about to pass out. "Hey, I claim Brian and AJ," I said, shrugging my shoulders at him, smiling. "That's fine... cuz I get Serena!" he said, blinking at her innocently. "Well, if you insist," she managed to get out, her voice quavering a little. "Oh, trust me, Nick always insists, he never does the proper thing and asks," I chided, patting his shoulder. He glared at me in mock anger and stood. "Well, ladies... I guess you have about... three hours to get ready, so I'll see you two downstairs at 6!" With that he left us.
At 5:45 Serena and I walked carefully down the stairs. She and I thanked God that we'd somehow each brought a pair of shoes that matched our dresses. We stopped in front of the full-length mirror at the bottom of the stairs and primped. My dress was light pink, spaghetti-strapped, and mid-thigh length satin. Serena's was black, low backed, and just below her knees. I think she also thanked God she'd brought support cups... wouldn't want big 'ol bra straps showin'. She was happy with the black dress, as it accented her green eyes and light brown hair. My dark features contrasted sharply with the light pink, but Serena assured me I looked great. "Pink is so your color. You should wear it more often," she said as I put a bit more gloss on my mouth. "Yeah she should!" came a voice from the living room entrance. It was AJ. He was wearing a black dress shirt and dark grey pants. "Sexy man!" I hooted, and he threw up his hands. "You can't help speaking the truth," he bragged, walking over to us. "That dress looks realy nice on you," he told Serena politely. She smiled and smoothed it down in front. Nick came downstairs then, and smiled at Serena. "Wow. You look really great," he said, genuinely complimenting her. Her cheeks flushed, and she whispered 'thanks'. He wrapped his navy sleeved arm around her waist, seeing how nervous she was. "Hey, this is just a little get-together. You'll have a great time, ok?" he told her, and she smiled greatfully at him.
"Where the Hell is Brian?" AJ asked, taking his head off my shoulder where it had been for the last ten minutes. As if those were the magic words, Brian walked into the room. He was wearing a light-blue dress shirt and cream pants, I noticed; he matched me, how cute. "So, I take it you bought the dresses, huh?" I asked as he joined us. "Yeah, I hope I got your sizes right. I have both of those in a larger and smaller size in my room if they don't fit," he said casually, like the thousand dollars he spent was no big deal. "I swear you guys have got to stop buying me things! I do have money, ya know," I said. They all three shrugged, and laughed at their (pardon the pun) in sync movements. "Aiight, we gotta go," Nick said, putting his arm through Serena's. "Wait, aren't Kevin and Howie coming?" I wondered aloud. "They're at the studio. This thing isn't really for promotion, so we don't all have to be there," AJ said, opening the front door for us.