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All I Have To Give Chapter 10 I woke up the next morning with a crink in my neck and a horrible pain in my back. �Jeez, this is gonna be one sucky day,� I mumbled to myself as I drug myself out of bed. Surprisingly, I wasn�t very tired, just sore, very sore. I got up and took a shower which soothed my muscles a little, but as soon as I stepped out, they all came rushing back. I groaned loudly. �Nooo, not today.� I slipped on my two piece bathing suit, which was a tankini. The bottoms were normal bathing suit bottoms but the top was a halter top that reached down to the top of my stomach. The whole thing was light green, my favorite color, Nick�s too. I put on some short jean shorts, some sandals, and pulled my hair in a ponytail. It was 9:00, so my parents were at work. I left them a note to where I was, so they�d see it when they came home for lunch and headed out the door. I walked slowly to their house and it took my 30 minutes to get there, when it usually took 15. I knocked then went on inside and found Jane and BJ in the kitchen. Leslie and the twins came down soon afterwards. �Hey Shelby,� Aaron said as he saw me, �last night when Nick came home, I was still awake, and he told me to tell you to wake him up as soon as you got here.� �He�s crazy, but I�ll go do that.� �When you come back, you and Aaron need to clean out the pool!� Jane called after me. I nodded and jogged up the stairs. I went in his room and saw him sleeping very soundly in his room. Aaron�s side of the room was fairly neat, like always, but since he was getting a little older, it was a little more messy. Nick�s side was messy since he had only been gone for a few weeks. I watched him sleep for a minute. He looked so young and innocent sleeping. I thought about everything I had thought about last night and sighed, I was so confused still. I shook his arm. �Blondie�� I said gently. He groaned and rolled over with his back to me. �Nick!� I said louder, shaking harder. �Wake up!� His arm flew at me and I dodged it barely. He stuck his head under his pillow and mumbled something about �leaving before he kills me.� �NICK!� I yelled as I pulled his pillow and all his blankets off him. �AAAH!� he yelled as he felt the warmness of his blanket gone. His eyes popped open and glared at me. �NO. GO.� �Nope,� I said as I plopped next to him on his bed. �Wake up, NOW, before I have to do something you�ll regret making me do.� Pictures of cold water flashed in my mind. I smiled. �If you don�t wake up now, I�m gonna�throw cold water over you, take away all your nintendos and hide all your Journey, Nirvana, and Foo Fighters CDs.� He was awake now. �You wouldn�t,� he challenged. I raised my eyebrows and walked out of the room straight to the bathroom. I got the biggest glass I could find and started filling it with the coldest water that would come out of the faucet. It was half full when Nick came skidding around the corner, his eyes huge. I laughed, he had sleep in the corner of his eyes and his hair was flying in every direction. �Oh my God you would,� he whispered. It filled up and I raised it. Right then, I saw him run faster than I�ve ever seen him run before. I smiled and dumped the glass out, and saw he was in the den putting all his nintendos in safe places, so I went to his room, and took out all his favorite CDs, then thought better and took all his CDs and took them in Leslie�s room. She was in there, so I told her what was up. She gladly helped me hide them. I walked down to the den where Nick was done putting his nintendos away. His back was to me, so I ran to the rack all the games were on and grabbed as many as I could. He heard me and turned around. He started running after me when I took some games. I ran through the house and lost him, so I went in BJ�s room and hid them. I�d explain it to her later. I was walking out of her room when I heard a yell come from Nick�s room. I snickered and walked in there. He was standing in front of his now empty CD rack with wide eyes. �Morning Sunshine!� I said brightly. He spun around. �You.� He pointed at me. �Yes?� Before I knew it, he had run over to me, picked me up, and was carrying me somewhere. He plopped me down on Aaron�s bed and started tickling me. �Where�s my CDs and games?� he asked. �Stop! Stop! NICK STOP! I can�t�breathe!� I gasped. I was wiggling and squirming, but I couldn�t get out of his grip. He stopped tickling, but pinned my arms above my head, so I still couldn�t move. �Where?� he asked, calmer now since he knew I couldn�t get away. I shrugged. Right then, BJ walked in with all his games in hand. �Why were Nick�s games in my room?� she asked bewildered. I looked at Nick who was grinning at BJ, then he looked at me and grinned even bigger. �Why thank you BJ!� he said extra-nicely and laying on the sarcasm thick on my part. �So nice of you to find those for me.� He looked at me and his look plainly said, �Hahahaha! Guess part of your plan backfired!� I made a face at him and stuck my tongue out at him. �Oh shut up Carter.� �What were they doing in my room?� she asked. �I was hiding them from Nick,� I told her. She smiled. �Oops! Sorry, I�ll go rehide them somewhere else in the house!� She walked out and I burst out laughing. Nick let go of me and ran out of the room. I quickly scrambled up and ran after them. �BJ! RUN AND HIDE THEM QUICK!� I yelled. That started an all out chase thing, with Nick chasing BJ all over the house and outside property (believe me, by the time we were done, we were EXHAUSTED. They have a ton of property) and I was chasing Nick trying to stop him and get BJ more of a lead. One time I got close enough to Nick to tackle him, so I did. It tripped him, and he looked at me, surprised. �Wow, that was good. How come you never went out for football?� he asked before getting right back up and running again. Awhile later, BJ must have thought she lost Nick and me, so she slowed down, and when I came around the corner of the house, I saw Nick sneaking up on her. She was standing in the middle of the yard looking through the games. �BJ!� I screamed. �NICK IS RIGHT BEHIND YOU!� She spun around and Nick grabbed her. He grabbed all the games and held them above his head. �Yeah! I got �em!� he yelled triumphantly. I walked up to a tired BJ, and a happy Nick. I stood next to BJ and glared at Nick. �Well, you may have the games, but you won�t get your CDs, cuz people know where they are and helped me hide them and they won�t tell you.� BJ kind of nudged me. �Um, where are they?� I leaned over and whispered as softly as I could, �Leslie�s room.� Nick tried to lean over and listen, but I shoved him with my foot in his knee to push him back. BJ nodded and smiled at him. �Good hiding place Shelby,� she said looking straight at Nick. Right then Jane stuck her head out the back door and yelled, �NICK! Get some clothes on! Do you want everyone in the neighborhood to see you in only your boxers? Then you need to help Aaron and Shelby clean out the pool! BJ! Come help me in the kitchen! Chop, chop everyone!� We all went inside and Aaron and I went to the pool and got all the stuff and started cleaning out the inside. We did this every time a party came along and it was warm enough to go swimming. I got the sucker upper thing that�s like a vacuum and I sweep it along the bottom. Nick and I always did the deep end, since I can�t stay under very long and if you pick it up before it�s turned off, everything starts flying out the end. So, he stays up, while I go down, and when I run out of breath, I start to come up, and he goes down, then when he runs out of breath, he comes up, I go down, and so on and so on. I jumped in the pool, which thankfully, had already been heated, as Aaron started scrubbing the diving board and slide. I had most of the shallow end done by the time Nick came out. He jumped in next to me after he had gotten the net out and started picking up the big pieces off the top. We worked silently for awhile, then I remembered my parents were coming. �Hey Nick, did I tell you my parents are coming tomorrow?� He looked at me and grinned. �Really? Cool! So you asked them?� �Yup, right after I told them about my, uh, problem with Bret. I�d better go tell Jane two more people are coming,� I said as I hopped out of the pool. I gave the vacuum to Nick who started vacuum and went to the door. I stood on the rug right inside the door. �Jane!� I called. �Yeah?� �My parents decided to come to the party tomorrow. Sorry for the short notice, but I asked at the last moment.� She came out of the kitchen wiping her hands off. �That�s great Dear! I haven�t seen your parents in a long time, it�ll be nice.� �Cool, just thought I should let ya know.� �Thanks Hun,� she said as I ran back outside. Nick was sitting on the edge of the deep end with the vacuum, so I figured he was waiting for me. �Okay, we can do the deep end now,� I said coming up behind him. �Okay,� we both hopped back in and treaded water for a moment, catching deep breaths. �I�ll go first,� I offered, reaching my hand for the long vacuum handle. He gave it to me, and I took a deep breath and went down. I slowly opened my eyes underwater, something I hate to do, and started vacuuming. The deep end always took forever, since each of us couldn�t do a whole lot in each breath. I figured we�d be doing the deep end until lunch or so. I ran out of breath, and when my lungs were about to explode, I started to come up. I saw Nick come down and I gave him the pole and went back up and gasped in the air. I really hated doing this, but Nick and I did the best job at it. I saw Aaron was done scrubbing, so he was netting all the big leaves that had fallen off the trees just in a little bit and netting them off the top. I saw Nick coming up, so I went down, and this all lasted until about noon, like I predicted. When I came up on my last air, right after I did the last part, I rested on the side. �Oh God, finally. I hate that,� I said as we hopped out of the side of the pool. We put up all the pool cleaners, when Bob called outside, �I got McDonald�s!� Nick and I looked at each other, grinned, and dropped the stuff and ran inside. �Mickey D�s!� Nick exclaimed grabbing his usual. �Mac Daddy�s!� I exclaimed at the same time as I grabbed my usual. �Bob, you always know what really hits the spot,� I complimented half way through my burger. �Did you two get the pool done?� Jane asked us three. We all nodded. �Okay, BJ, Leslie, and I will finish up the cooking, Bob, I want you to mow, and you three I want to clean the house. I want you all to clean each room at a time, slowly and thoroughly. I don�t want to see one spec of dust in the whole entire house, even places people probably won�t go. The house needs a really good cleaning anyway. So, when you get finished, get back to work!� she said cheerfully. I looked over at Nick who rolled his eyes and when I looked at Aaron he made a face. Automatically, I started eating slower and taking my time. I had only helped clean once and believe me, I didn�t like it. When we couldn�t delay any longer, we all went and grabbed the supplies and headed to the far corner of the house, Nick and Aaron�s room. �Shelby,� Nick said, looking longingly at his CD tower. �Where are my CDs?� He gave my puppy dog eyes that he knew I couldn�t stand from any Carter male. They all had the exact same look and each one was as pathetic as another. �Nick, don�t look at me like that,� I warned, turning my back to him and dusting off the TV. He came up behind me and rested his head on my shoulder. I looked over at him and he was still looking at me like that. �Pleeeaaase?� he begged. �Oh fine,� he grinned, �I�ll get them when we get to the room they�re hidden in,� I said. Leslie�s room was about halfway across the house, so I figured I wouldn�t have to admit defeat very soon. I was right, we did every room very slowly and thoroughly like Jane said (I think that house grew in the time we were cleaning, it had never seemed as big as it did while we were going from room to room) and doing a pretty good job. In every single room, Nick looked at me with questioning eyes and I would just shake my head. Finally, Leslie�s room came and he looked at me and I looked down. �Really?� he yelled then started lifting every tiny space and crevice, creating havoc on the room. By the time he found his CDs, the room looked like many, many tornados had gone through it. �My CDs!� he yelled. Then he started singing his �I Got My CDs Back From Mean Ol� Shelby� song and dancing to it. �Nick,� I interrupted during the 3rd or 4th verse of his song. �Yes?� he replied innocently. �Look what you did to this room,� I pointed out. Aaron was still standing staring at the mess with wide eyes. He hated cleaning more than anyone I know or probably every will know. Nick looked around, then blushed. �Oops, sorry,� he said softly. �Nick!� Aaron suddenly yelled, lunging for him. Nick jumped back startled. I caught Aaron, barely, and I saw Aaron was MAD. �Calm down AC,� I said softly. �How can I calm down when he just made this room a huge mess?!� he yelled. �Sorry Aaron! I just wanted my CDs,� Nick said apologetically. �I am not cleaning a room that I didn�t mess up,� Aaron declared, wiggling out of my grasp and walking out of the room. As he walked out he said, �Shelby shouldn�t either.� Nick looked at me with pleading eyes. He looked down. �You don�t need to help,� he said softly. �I�ll do it.� I knew Nick also hated cleaning. �Nah, I�ll help.� I started picking things up and putting them away. �Thanks,� he breathed and I could tell by his voice he was very relieved. It took us about 45 minutes to clean up the room, then we headed to the next room. Aaron had been reassigned and was helping Bob get all the food we�d need all day. Nick and I finished the house completely about 2� hours later. We sat down for a late lunch and talked. �This is gonna be cool,� Nick said as we carried our paper plates out onto the back deck. �Yup,� I agreed. �What time are people coming over?� He shrugged. �10:00?� he guessed. �Good enough for me. I�ll be over then.� �Are you happy your parents are coming?� he asked. I thought a minute. �I guess so. It�s gonna be weird having them here. They haven�t been here in, how many years? 8 or 9 years? They didn�t even know we were still friends. I practically live here and they�ve only been here like 3 or 4 times. But, I guess I am happy.� �Brian called last night and said he�s bringing a new girlfriend. I think her name�s Leighanne. AJ�s bringing Marissa too.� AJ and Marissa had been dating for about three years. She was really cool. �Do Howie or Kevin have girlfriends yet?� He shook his head. �Nope, but God knows they date.� We laughed. �How�d Brian and Leighanne meet?� �Um, I think he said she was one of the model�s friends in �As Long As You Love Me� and came with her one day and they hit it off or something. Well, they hooked up again, and now they�re dating.� The guys had just finished shooting their video �As Long As You Love Me� and it was so funny. We finished up eating then spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening finishing up stuff Jane thought of. I think we probably went to the store about 6 times. Plus, we had to walk since most of the cars were being used, so it took awhile. Around 9 that night I headed home, very ready for the next day.Next: Chapter 11 |