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| Brian and Howie waited for her after her set was over. Kendal stepped off the stage, and brushed past them, not even acknowlaging their presence. "Hey, whoa. Hold on a minute." Brian reached out, and took a soft hold of her arm. She spun and looked at him, eyebrows raised, ready for a lecture on not allowing their friend the proper chance to apologize. "Where'r you going?" Kendal shrugged. Her eyes seemed even colder today than last night, if that was possible. "Out. I'm hungry, I was gonna look around for a good resturaunt. Don't worry, though. I'll be back in time for the concert. I know the drill. In the wing by five." "We weren't worried about you." Howie assured her. He smiled while he spoke to her, and said everything so jovially, she didn't think to take offense. "We kinda got the impression that you can take care of yourself." She lowered her eyes. "Yeah, well." There was a silence, and Kendal glanced down at her watch. "So, I'll see you guys tonight then." She turned again, and walked away. "Wait!" Brian called after her. "Can we come with you?" She kept walking. "Please?" A loud sigh erupted from her, then she stopped. "Well, hurry up then. I'm starving." Brian and Howie exchanged quick glances, wondering if it really was impossible to break down the sturdy walls Kendal had seemed to have built up around herself. Brian shrugged, and they hurried to catch up to her. Most of the walk was silence, interupted occasionally by Brian or Howie making some comment that was directed to Kendal and never actually answered. Presently, she stopped in front of a dingy looking pizza joint. "I'm going in here." She announced, and pushed her way through the swinging doors. While they waited for the food they ordered (a large vegie pizza, because Kendal didn't eat meat, and three side salads), Howie tried another time to strike up a conversation. "Those songs you sang were really amazing." He told her, and a tiny blush crept into her cheeks. "Thanks." She muttered, swirling her straw around in her Diet Coke, and chewing on her bottom lip. Brian leaned towards her, a little excited by the fact that she hadn't snapped at Howie. "No, really, Kendal. You wrote all of those yourself?" She nodded, her cheeks becoming more noticably red. "That's impressive. Really. Did you write the music to them and everything?" She nodded again, then cleared her throat, and hastily changed the subject. "Ya'll did fine, too." She told them, which wasn't quite a compliment, and at the same time, not at all insulting. Howie smiled. "Thanks." He said. He didn't blush. Kendal guessed he was used to praise by now. Why wouldn't he be, after all? Logically, any man who had a million girls throwing themselves at him every day telling him that he was a god among men and would he please marry them would need to know how to take a compliment. "First soundcheck's always a little rough. They don't usually take that long. Usually we just run through a couple dances and call it a day." "But you know that already." Brian interjected. "You've toured before. With O-Town, right? That must have been fun." Kendal smiled sarcastically. "As fun as it can be to share a tour bus with five sweaty guys who couldn't care less what kind of person you are, and pass judgement on you the first second you walk onto their bus." Brian raised his eyebrows a little unsurly. "I don't really know whether or not to take that as an insult, but either way, let me just tell you that I'm sorry for whatever made you so mad at us. And," he added as an afterthought, "whatever we do in the future that's going to make you mad at us again." Kendal looked him straight in the eye, holding his gaze for a full minute. "There's a difference between being mad at someone and disliking them." She said simply, then blinked and looked away. The Boys were silent. There wasn't a lot to say when someone told you straight up that they didn't like you. The meal was quiet and awkward, and Kendal reveled in the tension, knowing that they were regretting begging her to take them to lunch, and knowing that it wouldn't happen again. She offered to pay the check, but Howie grabbed it from her, and handed the waitress his credit card. Kendal's mouth dropped a little. Still chivilrous after the way she'd been treating him? What a non-typical man Howie seemed to be. And Brian, too, for that matter. He still helped her on with her coat, and held the door open when she walked through. Her amazement grew when they reopened the lines of conversation with more little unanswered comments and unlaughed at jokes. Weren't they even mad at her for saying she disliked them? She shrugged off her questions, and quickened her pace a little, wondering if it would be possible to lose them in the crowd. |