“How’s
it going in there, Nick?” Riley couldn’t help but giggle to herself. She sat on
the edge of his bed, straightening her ball gown and trying to get it to “poof”
more.
“I
really hate you right now,” He mumbled from inside the bathroom. “This is the
ugliest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Who wears red pants?”
“Prince
Charming. And now you. Hey, just be thankful you’re not Aladdin, eh? Kev has to
walk around with just a vest on. No shirt for him tonight.”
“You’ll
enjoy that, won’t you?”
“I just
might.”
The door
swung open and Nick appeared, a frown on his face.
Riley
snickered, covering her mouth from him to see.
“See!
You even think I look dumb.”
“No, I
don’t! You look adorable.”
”Adorable? I’m not supposed to be adorable. I’m supposed to be some hot
heartthrob of a sex god. Not adorable.”
“Nick,
shut up. You look great.” He looked down at his outfit, making a face at it as
though it were alive. He wore red pants with a gold stripe down the outside of
the legs and a white jacket, lined in gold with gold buttons. “How do I look?”
She
stood up and twirled for him. She caught him off guard. He hadn’t really looked
at her when he came out of the bathroom. To him, she looked amazing. The blue
ball gown fit her perfectly. She wore a simple gold necklace with a heart
locket on it, which stopped right above the neckline of the dress. Her hair was
pulled back into a bun with two curls lining her face on either side. A blue
ribbon to match her dress was used as a headband in her dark hair.
“You
look amazing.”
“Whatever.”
She laughed, looking down at the dress.
“No,
really, you look really good.”
“Thanks,”
She blushed, not used to that kind of comment from him. “Like my shoes?”
She
lifted the skirt of the dress to show off her white and pink Nike shoes.
“What?
No stilettos?”
“No way.
I’d rather be comfortable tonight than break my ankle.”
“Aren’t
I allowed to be comfortable?”
“Come
on, Nick. It’s not that bad. It’s not any worse than some of those outfits you
used to wear on stage.”
“I hate
when you make good points.” He sat down on the bed, sighing.
“You
okay?” She sat beside him.
“Yeah.
Just tired.”
“How can
you be tired? You went to be at ten last night and nearly slept til noon
today.”
“I don’t
know. I just am,” And to prove it, he yawned.
“There’s
still an hour until the party. You can take a nap if you want. I’m going to go
downstairs and help Kristin in the kitchen.”
“Nah,
I’ll be okay.”
He
followed Riley downstairs to the kitchen where Kristin was still in shorts and
a t-shirt, slipping a pan of cupcakes into the oven.
“Kris,
why don’t you get dressed and Nick and I will ice those.”
“Okay,”
She look relieved as she put a plate of cupcakes on the island beside where
Nick was standing. “The icing is already made and in a bowl in the fridge.”
Before
leaving, she took a package of cake decorations and put them beside the plate.
“Have at
it,” She said. “The cupcakes in the oven should be ready in about fifteen
minutes, so when they come out, put them in the fridge to cool before icing
them.”
“Got
it.” Riley said, taking two butter knives from a drawer. Kristin left the room
as Riley went to the fridge and withdrew the icing.
“She
should’ve made black icing,” Nick said, eyeing the bowl of orange icing. “Then
it would’ve made everyone’s mouth black.”
“Are you
a ten year old stuck in a twenty-four-year-old’s body?”
“That
was mean.”
“Get
over it,” She sat down beside Nick at the island and handed him a butter knife.
“Do you know how to ice a cupcake?”
“I
wasn’t born yesterday.”
“Well
you don’t have very many kitchen skills, Nick.”
To prove
a point, Nick dipped the knife into the frosting and slathered it across the
chocolate cupcake he held in his hand.
“You two
sound like an old married couple.” Kevin said as he came into the kitchen.
Rather than get a sarcastic reply, they remained quiet. He looked up from his
vest that he was buttoning to see the two staring at him, their eyes dancing
with laughter.
“Go
ahead, get it out.” He crossed his arms.
“Why
Kev, we’re not going to laugh. You look…”
”Lovely.” Nick said before bursting into laughter. Riley hit him in the arm and
he was quick to stop.
“Nick,
you might laugh at me, but I’m not the one wearing a red and white suit.”
The
doorbell rang interrupting their friendly banter.
Kevin
excused himself to the front door as the two remained in the kitchen,
continuing to ice the cupcakes.
“Here,
put these on top of the each cupcake and I’ll get the ones from the oven.”
Riley slid a package of plastic Halloween decorations to him as she climbed off
the stool. As she pulled the muffin tins from the oven, AJ and Howie walked
into the kitchen, each carrying an armful of alcohol.
“This
should be a fun party,” Riley said, raising her eyebrows at the amount they had
brought.
“Kevin
asked us to bring some and he knew what he was getting into,” AJ said with a
playful smirk on his face. Before she knew it, Riley was being picked up and
squeezed into a hug. “I’ve missed you girl. It’s been too long.”
“Gee, like
an entire month,” She teased. “Can you kindly put me down so I can get these in
the fridge?”
He set
her back onto the ground and she placed the cupcakes into the fridge to cool.
“AJ, can
you come help me?” Kevin called from the other room. AJ made a face as he began
to leave the room. Howie sat beside Nick and finished icing the cupcakes Riley
hadn’t finished.
“How
come Howie doesn’t have to help?” AJ whined.
“Because
I trust him with my food.” Kristin said coming into the kitchen. “Suck it up,
big boy, and go help my husband.”
Within
the hour, the rest of the cupcakes had been iced and set out in the dining room
where all the food was placed out like a buffet. The living room had been
transformed into the center of entertainment. The furniture had been moved into
the den and a wooden dance floor had been placed over the carpet of the living
room. Kevin and AJ had efficiently hung orange lights throughout the room,
along with a few pumpkin light fixtures. Once the overhead lights were out, the
room simply glowed.
“Awesome.”
Riley said from the doorway as she watched AJ set up a booth in the corner.
“Are you the DJ tonight?”
“Sure
am. Well, sort of. I burned a bunch of CDs so I can just pop one in and let it
go for awhile.”
“What
kind of music?” She asked, sitting down on the fireplace and taking a handful
of the CDS into her hand.
“Everything.
I got a bunch of fun dance songs and a bunch of those lame Halloween ones. I
even got that damned song you like so much from ‘Casper’. Figured it’d be a good
one for the couples.”
“Awww
you did?”
“Yep.
Just for you.” He winked.
She
hugged him as she replaced the CDS. “Thanks, J.”
“I only
have one request.”
“What?”
“You
dance with me during it.”
“Deal,”
She hugged him again before returning to the kitchen where everyone else sat
around on stools and chairs.
“Hey
you.” She sat down beside Nick. He continued to stare into space, not paying
attention to her greeting. “Earth to Nick,”
She
waved her hand in front of his face, snapping him quickly from his trance.
”What?”
“Just
said hey. Nice day dream you got going there?”
“Yeah,
something like that.”
“How do
you feel? Any better?”
“I
swear, if any of you ask me that one more time-“ His reply was cut short by the
doorbell.
As
everyone stood to greet the people coming in, Nick stayed seated. In truth, he
didn’t feel any better. Only worse. But he knew if he told anyone, especially
Riley, then they’d make a huge deal over nothing. Everything made sense
anyways, didn’t it? The headache and fatigue was from sleeping too much the
night before. The slight dizziness he kept feeling was from the headache. And
the damn ache in his chest was heartburn from the Mexican they had eaten for
dinner the night before.
He was
just fine and wanted everyone to quit worrying. He decided to get up and walk
around. Maybe that would help. And then people wouldn’t get such a big of
chance to ask ‘how are you doing?’.
Walking
into the foyer, he saw Brian and Leighanne come in through the door. Brian
glanced at him before turning and going into the living room.
“Nick!”
Leighanne said, pulling him into a hug. “It’s so good to see you.”
“Good to
see you, too, Leigh.”
“You
look so much better than the last time I saw you,” She smiled. “I’ve got to go
find my husband, but I’ll see you later.”
“See
you.”
He
watched as she disappeared into the living room.
“Nick,
want a beer?” AJ asked as he came into the foyer.
“Uh…
sure.”
He took
the one AJ offered and popped the cap off. Putting it to his lips, he was ready
to welcome the refreshing taste, but instead, found it to be rather disgusting.
He held it away and looked at the label.
“What’s
wrong?” Riley asked coming up beside him.
“It
tastes funny.”
Riley
took it from his hand and sipped it. She shrugged and handed it back.
“Tastes
okay to me. Maybe it’s because you haven’t had one in almost two months. Your
tastes can change.”
“I
guess. Here, you can have it.” He gave it back to her.
“I’m
going to go dance. Want to come?”
“Nah,
but I’ll find you later.”
“Okay.”
She went
into the living room, which was now full of people. He walked around for a
while, greeting people he knew. He saw a few people that worked for their
record company that he hadn’t seen in awhile and got caught up into
conversations with them.
The
dizziness that had left him for the previous part of the party had suddenly
returned. He realized he hadn’t eaten much that day except for lunch, so went
into the dining room. Grabbing a plate, he put a few chips and vegetables on it
before slipping out the back door onto the deck. He welcomed the cool LA air.
It was nothing like Florida’s, but it was refreshing at the moment. The deck
was dark except for the light streaming through the windows, but it wasn’t
much. He found the stairs and sat the top, resting his legs a few levels down.
“I
thought I was the only one that needed out of there.” A voice said from behind,
startling him. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
He could
see the silhouette of what used to be his best friend.
“Why
start apologizing now?” Nick asked, setting the food down, no longer hungry.
“Look…
I’m not sorry for what I’ve done the past few months. I am sorry for hurting my
friends and family because of it. I’ve been an ass to all of them-“
“But you
haven’t been an ass to me, huh?”
“Can I
finish?”
Nick
shrugged, turning his face away from Brian and looking at the city lights over
the fence.
“I don’t
blame you for keeping it from us for a while, but what you did… was incredibly
stupid and selfish. And for that, I can’t ever forgive you. You risked the life
of my own son because you were afraid of being shut out. I’m not sure what the
hell happened to your mind that you would’ve thought we would’ve shut you out.
But anyways… I can’t go back to having
it the way it used to be. I can’t be a friend with you like that anymore. But I
also can’t just ignore you because that would end up ruining the band and
showing to the public and I don’t want that.”
”So you just want to be an acquaintance?”
“Basically,
yes. I know on TV or in concert we’ll have to act like we’re still friends, but
I can’t do it in reality, Nick. I’m sorry.”
Looking
down at the grass, Nick couldn’t speak. He didn’t know what to say if he could.
He heard the door shut from behind him and turned to see that Brian had gone
back inside. Throwing the remainder of the food into the yard, Nick stood and
went back indoors.
Tossing
the plate into the overflowing trash, he made his way into the living room and
found Riley.
“Hey!
Having a fun?” She asked, stepping off the dance floor.
“A
blast.”
“What’s
wrong?”
“Nothing.
I won’t let it ruin my night.”
“We’ll
talk about it later, though?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.
Come on, let’s dance.”
Before
he could protest, she had him on the floor. Kristin and Kevin soon found them
and they ended up dancing in a big group with other friends.
“All
right everybody. I’m going to slow it down a bit now. This next song is a
favorite by one of my favorite girls. I promise Casper won’t show up, though.”
He out from behind the booth and made his way towards Riley.
“Excuse
me, Nicky, but she promised me a dance.” AJ said, taking Riley into his own
arms.
“Nick,
come here. Kevin left me.”
Kristin
put her arms around Nick’s neck as the song started.
“Are you
having fun?” She asked.
“Yeah,”
He lied. “You guys pulled off a great party, Kris.”
The
floor had become less populated as everyone took the song as a break for food
or a drink, though couples still remained.
Every
now and then
We find
a special friend
Who
never lets us down
“Thanks
for playing this, AJ,” Riley said, her head resting against his chest.
“You’re
welcome, babe.”
Who
understands it all
Reaches
out each time we fall
You’re
the best friend that I’ve found
Nick
glanced around the room as Kristin and he danced. He saw Leighanne holding tightly
onto Brian as they danced. Shaking his head, he grasped Kristin’s hand tighter.
“You
okay?” She asked, looking up at him.
I know
you can’t stay
A part
of you will never ever go away
Your
heart will stay
“Nick?”
Kristin asked again. His face had paled and he looked as though he might be
sick.
“Yeah,”
He mumbled. The room had begun to spin slowly, but he figured it was heat in
the room. It felt like someone had turned the furnace on full blast.
I’ll
make a wish for you
And hope
it will come true
If life
will just be kind
To such
a gentle mind
The room
spun faster. The ache in the chest became worse. It was like someone was
sucking the air out of him.
“Nick?
Let’s sit down. Come on.” He felt Kristin take his hand and begin to lead him
off the dance floor. He stopped suddenly, feeling unable to breath at all, and
the world became black around him.
If you
lose your way
Think
back on yesterday
Remember
me this way
“Nick!”
Kristin screamed as he collapsed.
AJ’s
eyes widened as he saw his friend lying on the floor.
”What?” Riley asked, turning around. She felt her legs become shaky as she ran
to his side.
“Someone
call 9-1-1!”
I don’t
need eyes to see me
The love
you bring to me
No
matter where I go
And I
know that you’ll be there
Forever
more a part of me and everywhere
I’ll
always care
[Song is
“Remember Me This Way” by Jordan Hill off the “Casper” soundtrack.]