| Chapter 29: Poker �You cheated!� �No I didn�t! Lau, tell me did I cheat?� Brian looked at Lauralee. She eyed Nick, his hands on hips. �Sometimes I think I�m a teacher watching her kids at recess.� �Funny,� Nick glared. Bianca walked in the room. �Finally, a third opinion.� �What�s up?� �Brian is reading the deck.� Bianca turned to Brian. �Well are you?� Brian threw the deck on the floor. �Yeah, she�s fair. Of course she�ll side with you! She�s your girlfriend!� �Does that matter?� Nick held Bianca�s hand. �I give up.� Brian stormed out of the room. �Can�t you ever play nice?� Lauralee laughed. �No, I like to play dirty,� he grabbed Bianca. �You�re so bad!� Bianca giggled. �Ugh, I�m getting out of here before I get sick,� Lauralee walked out of the room, as to not witness their �game.� She went into the patio, where she was waiting for Alex to come back from an interview. They were in New York, where they had gotten a break from touring before going on their second run. Laura, Kevin, Howie and Veronica were off to �conduct some business� as they called it, and she was hanging out with Brian, Nick and Bianca at Lauralee�s house. She saw Brian at the driveway, dribbling a basketball furiously. �You OK?� �Yeah,� he spun the basketball on his finger. �Our friendship is based on trying to piss the other off.� �Don�t let it bother you.� �Don�t worry. He�ll be outside in 5 minutes apologizing.� �Is something else wrong?� Brian sat on the concrete floor. �Can we talk?� �Sure.� Lauralee sat to join him. �It�s just� well sometimes it stinks to be the odd man out. Y�know what I�m saying?� �That you�re friends are making calls to their girlfriends, and you�re waiting for them to finish.� Brian sighed. �Exactly.� �Brian, you are a great guy. There are millions of girls out there who wouldn�t love to be with you.� �Yeah, but not the type of girl that I can talk to about stuff. Those others just want to hear what I do as opposed to who I am.� �She�ll come around.� �Think so?� �I know so,� Lauralee gave Brian a smile. �You think you can teach me that spinning trick?� �No problem� hold on,� Brian checked his watch. �5, 4, 3, 2, 1.� Nick came out to the patio. �I�m sorry man. I�m a sore loser.� �It�s OK Nick. I was in a bad mood.� �Buds?� �Buds.� Brian and Nick exchanged a hug. �Now go back inside. I�m trying to teach Lau how to spin the ball.� �Good luck Rok, you�ll need it.� Lauralee smacked him on the arm as he ran back inside. ~*~ Lauralee was sitting with the rest of the group who had returned, trying again to play cards, when the phone rang. �Hello?� �Hey Lau.� �What�s up Liz?� �You gonna be home?� �Sure, why?� �I was gonna drop off those notes you lent me. Is it cool?� �Yeah, sure, come on over.� �OK, bye.� �Bye.� Lauralee hung up the phone. �Liz is dropping off some of my notes.� �She isn�t gonna freak out or anything, right?� Nick got two cards from the deck. �Nah, she probably won�t even recognize you guys. Not everyone is a fan you know.� �Just checking.� Elizabeth arrived a few minutes later. They were engrossed in their game of poker when the doorbell rang. Lauralee went to answer it. �Hey,� Elizabeth stood there. �Hey, come on in,� Lauralee closed the door behind her. �Here ya go,� Elizabeth gave her the notebook. �Thanks, they were real helpful.� She heard the commotion inside the living room. �Am I interrupting something?� �No, why don�t you come in?� �I don�t think I should,� she started to back away from the door. �Come on, you can meet some of my friends,� Lauralee grabbed her arm. �They�re not gonna bite or anything.� �OK,� Elizabeth walked in unsurely. They walked inside where Kevin won the hand. �Straight flush!� �Damn!� Brian threw his cards on the table. �Thank God we weren�t playing strip poker, or else I�d be naked.� �Now that I wouldn�t like to see,� Alex said seriously. Lauralee cleared her throat. �Guys, this is Elizabeth. Elizabeth, this is Kevin, Howie, Nick, Brian, and Alex.� Elizabeth gave a slight wave. �Hi.� Brian smiled at her. �Feel like joining us?� �Uh, no. I don�t think so. I suck at poker.� �Join the club,� Brian smiled again. �I just wanted to say hi. I really have to go.� �I�ll walk you out. Guys, deal me out on this one,� Lauralee gave Alex her cards. �Us too,� Veronica gave Howie a kiss on the cheek. Laura followed suit. They all walked out on the porch. �I�m sorry I just walked out on you guys,� Elizabeth said. �Hey don�t worry, it�s only been 2 months. It takes time,� Veronica gave Elizabeth a sympathetic look. �You�ll get used to people again. Trust me,� Laura put her hand on Elizabeth�s shoulder. �Those guys look so familiar to me.� �Uh, I think you�ve seen them before,� Lauralee gave a knowing smile. �Yeah, those are the Backstreet Boys, and you�re dating them,� Elizabeth nodded. Laura, Veronica and Lauralee exchanged looks of concern. �Liz, you see�� �Hey don�t worry about it. I know those guys are supposed to be �single.� How can you not look at their faces and think they aren�t?� �We know,� Veronica agreed. �Even little Bianca�� Elizabeth shook her head. The girls laughed. �I won�t tell a soul,� Elizabeth started to walk to her car. �Bye!� The girls waved to her then went inside to join the others at poker. �Thank God you walked in,� Alex put his arm around Lauralee. �Brian is giving us the interrogation.� �About who?� �Elizabeth,� Alex batted his eyes. �BRIAN�S GOT A CRUSH!� he sang. �I do not! I was just asking about her is all.� �What do you want to know?� Lauralee leaned on the table. �Well, typical questions: how old is she, how you know her� is she single,� Brian said nonchalantly. �20, from school, and yes.� �Think we could get together again?� �Uh maybe,� Laura was shuffling the deck. �Some other time though.� �Why?� �Brian,� Veronica looked at him. �Elizabeth just got out of a really bad relationship a couple of months ago. I don�t think she�s really ready to date yet.� �How bad?� �You don�t want to know,� Lauralee looked down and turned to Alex. He knew what had transpired a few months ago, and it took all of his strength not to fly out to New York and beat the hell out of Robbie. �Soon Rok,� Alex fanned out his cards. �Maybe a little while longer.� �OK, besides, I was just asking,� Brian looked fallen. Lauralee gave him a �I�m sorry� look. He nodded. Chapter 30 Contents Chapter 28 |