Chapter Five: Let's Have a Party

Everything I do
Is for you
So what is it that you can’t see

The rest of the afternoon, Rylee flew to get ready for the party. She had just stepped out of the shower, when Brian called up to her that he was leaving for Leighanne’s. Startled, Rylee glanced at the clock to discover that she had less than two hours to do everything. Feeling a little panicked, she reached for her phone and dialed quickly.

"Hello, Kristin? This is Rylee. Yeah, It’s nice to talk to you too. I know it’s really short notice, but can you come over to Brian’s and help me get ready for the party tonight? Please, please, please? I’ll love you forever and a day!"

Rylee barely let Kristin say okay, before hanging up and flying back into the bathroom to dry her hair. She grabbed the hair dryer, and silently thanked God that Kevin’s fiancée lived close by. Her hand shook a little in nervous anticipation. "What’s wrong with you today, little girl? It’s just a party!" she admonished herself silently. Maybe the weird emotions of the night before were just getting to her again. She caught a glimpse of her dress spread out on her bed in the mirror. Maybe it was the fact that she was feeling a little less confident about the dress now than she was in the store. What if Brian really freaked at the party? Then what was she gonna do? She suddenly remembered that Nick and JC would be there that night. She sighed a little in relief. "I guess I can always blame it on them!" she said to herself with a little chuckle.

Her thoughts traveled back to Brian, and ignoring the little pain in her heart, she remembered how happy he seemed now. This summer was going to some well-deserved break for all the guys. They were tired. She could see it in their eyes. But now that she was here in Orlando, she would revert back into her role as Brian’s angel and make sure that everything was perfect for him. That was what she did. She made sure he was happy, and healthy, and smiling. In some ways, she took her role so seriously that she wasn’t happy unless he was. But that’s the way she showed him how much she cared and how much she loved him. That was the way it always was, she did everything in her power to make him happy. She had even considered going to college in Florida, so she could be closer to him. But in the end, she had followed her own dreams and picked her first choice college. A girl had to at least TRY to have her own life. Rylee turned her attention back to the job at hand and finished drying her hair. But having such long, thick hair, the job took quite a while, and she found her attention straying back to Brian. What would he think when he saw her? Was JC right about having a whole affect planed out? Would it actually work? She remembered how Brian used to look at Leighanne, his eyes full of love and desire and excitement, and she wished he would look at her like that. Her hand slipped slightly and she felt a searing blast of hot air scorch her scalp. She winced a little at her nervousness, and thought wryly, "Or maybe it’s just Brian..."

Just then the doorbell rang, and Nick let Kristin into the house and pointed to Rylee’s room. Rylee turned to see Kristin, her hair and make-up in place, but she was still dressed in shorts and a tee shirt.

"Hey, girl!" Kristin exclaimed, giving Rylee a hug. "How’s it going?"

Rylee answered her, and the two started catching up. An hour and lots of laughter later, Kristen returned back to her house to finish getting ready, leaving Rylee to examine the results of their efforts in her mirror. They had followed JC’s Claire Danes suggestion and formed a halo from Rylee’s dark hair, letting the rest hang free. Kristen had even added tiny jewels around it, adding nicely to the contrast of light and dark. Rylee smiled at her reflection. She reached for the top of the dress and slipped it on. She reached both hands behind her, but realized she couldn’t tie it by herself. "Augh!" Out of habit, she reached her hand to rake her fingers agitatedly through her hair, and barely stopped herself before messing up all Kristen’s hard work.

Seeing no other option, Rylee held the back as closed as she could, and called Nick from the doorway. Bounding up the stairs dressed in a tuxedo, Nick paused at the door. He gave her a strange look, as she was still holding the back of the top together, but was otherwise dressed in sweats. "Ya know, that dress looked a lot different in the store."

"Shut up, Nick! I need your help!" Rylee said impatiently. She turned around so he could help her tie the ribbons.

Nick smirked and crossed the room. He reached for the first two ribbons, and commented, "You think Bri would kill me if he knew what I was thinking right now?"

Rylee’s eyes narrowed. She was a little too stressed right now for him to be making jokes. "Nickolas," she said, her voice deadly calm. "Do you want ME to kill you before you’ve had a chance to be pimpin’ tonight? I don’t think so. So, shut up and tie!"

"Yes, ma’am!" Nick finished and stepped back. "All done!"

"Thank you." Rylee said, turning back around. "Now, leave so I can finish."

"Aww, man!" Nick whined as he headed back downstairs. "You’re not done yet? I’ve been ready for hours! Why do girls always have to take so long to get ready?"

Rylee ignored him, knowing she would be done in 5 minutes.

In exactly five minutes, Rylee headed for the stairs. Nick was sitting in the living room watching TV with his back towards the stairs. He turned around and stood up as he heard the click of her heels on the wooden floor. "Whoa! JC was right about the effect! You look pretty dang hot from here!"

Rylee smiled as she reached the bottom of the stairs and spun around slowly. She laughed, as Nick whistled appreciatively. "Now, do you feel bad about complaining?" she said, giving him a crooked grin.

"Heck, yeah!" Nick exclaimed. "Dang, girl! All you need is a pair of wings!"

Rylee laughed, as she took his arm. "A pair of wings? That sounded like a really lame pick-up line, Nicky, but thanks."

"A pick-up line huh?" Nick said, leading her towards the door. "How about this one ‘Why are you walking? I thought angels could fly!"

Rylee just laughed, so Nick kept going, "Did it hurt when you fell from heaven, baby?" During the whole entire drive to the party, Nick kept thinking up new corny angel pick-up lines. "It must be recess in heaven for God to be letting out an angel like you." Rylee was thankful for the distraction, since she was starting to get nervous. "Oh, how about this one! ‘You spoiled heaven for me, cuz I thought only angels looked that good!’’" They drove in silence for a while, as Nick tried to think of more. He suddenly thought of another one and turned to Rylee. But she was lost in her own thoughts, staring at the darkening sky through the window. She had a dreamy, far-off look in her eyes, and Nick couldn’t help but notice that she looked scared.

"Hey, Ry?" he said softly, waiting for her to turn towards him. "It’ll be alright. Brian will think you’re beautiful and he won’t be able to keep his eyes off you. I promise."

Rylee smiled, as Nick read her thoughts exactly, and was grateful for the assurance he gave her. "Thanks, Nicky. I hope you’re right."

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

I’ve been watching you
    You’ve been watching me
    Let’s stop playing games girl
Come and dance with me
Don’t you hear the music
Don’t you feel the groove yeah
Come on girl get on the floor
Cuz I wanna dance with you

Brian arrived at the party half an hour late, and came rushing up the marble stairs to the main room. He was a little flustered by his own timing, but he still thought about Rylee and Nick and hoped that they had made it okay. His eyes scanned the crowd in search of a familiar blond or black head, but there were so many people that it was hard to tell. Brian gave up looking and began to walk through the throng of people, hoping to see a glimpse of either of his best friends. He recognized several people and gave polite greetings as was expected of him. After several minutes, he still couldn’t spot them. He was so absorbed in his search that he ran straight into JC.

"Whoa!" JC exclaimed in shock. "Slow down, Bri! Where’s the fire?" He thought to himself for a second, and then continued. "’Where’s the fire’? Did I just say that? Man, I sound like my grandpa! I gotta get some new sayings! This one is SO not working out!"

Brian raised his eyebrows and looked at him pointedly, until JC stopped his ramblings. "Sorry, Bri. Nice to see you. So, what are you looking for?"

"Yeah, thanks. Um, have you seen either Rylee or Nick?" Brian asked, getting straight to the point.

JC smiled inwardly at Brian’s focus and answered. "Yeah. In fact, they are both right behind you."

Brian turned around, and his breath caught at the sight he saw. Rylee, or at least he thought it was Rylee, was standing talking to Nick and Justin. Her head was bent, as she listened to something Nick was saying, and the soft light of the room glittered off a halo of jewels in her dark hair. A soft smile played on her lips, as she listened intently. Both of her hands were clasped together at her waist, resting lightly on the white satin of her dress. Her skirt shimmered in the light, glowing with little rainbows tucked into the soft folds. The trio was standing in front of a large bay window that showed the beginning of stars forming in the night sky. One ray of light cascaded down from the ceiling, illuminating the statement on Rylee’s face. Brian let out a slow breath at the picture she made. 

What he didn’t know was that JC, Nick and Justin had spent the last twenty minutes arguing over where Rylee should be when Brian finally made his entrance. This was the only spot that all three of them agreed on, and they had made her stay there while they waited for Brian. Rylee felt like she was a live doll for these three boys to play with, but went along with their demands, because she figured, it could it hurt for Brian to see her in a different light, so to speak.

"Rylee?" Brian asked incredulously, finally managing to put together an intelligent sound.

Three heads turned in Brian’s direction, and JC gave them the thumbs up sign from behind him. Brian walked over to them quickly. "Ry, you look..." he faltered, trying to think of a worthy description. "You look...wow." It was all he could think of.

Rylee flashed him her shy crooked smile and replied. "Thanks, Bri. You look pretty ‘wow’ yourself!"

Brian stepped closer and took one of her hands to give it a quick squeeze. As he pulled her hand away from her waist, he was suddenly all too aware that her "dress" wasn’t really a dress after all. The skirt hung low on her hips, and there was about an inch of smooth skin showing. His eyes dropped of their own accord down to her waist, and he surprised himself by wondering how soft it would feel on his fingers. He blinked quickly, mentally shook his head, and looked back at Rylee. He started to say something about being sorry he was late, but the sentences weren’t forming in his mind. He was more flustered than he was before, and now a little confused. Luckily for him, the speakers started playing another song, Madonna’s "Music." He smiled, knowing how much Rylee liked this song, and started to lead her to the dance floor.

Rylee followed him, but glanced back once to find all three guys grinning at her. Nick gave her a quick wink, before she turned her attention back to Brian. "Fast songs are good," she thought. "The more space between his hands and eyes from my back the better!" Although, he hadn’t freaked yet, so she found herself hoping that she had over reacted. In the meantime, he looked GOOD in a tux. Well, she actually thought he looked good all the time, even when he had just woken up, but this was something different. She started to get into the music, keeping time with the fast pace of the song. She wasn’t really one to go clubbing with the guys too often, so when she did dance, she let all her energy loose. She smiled at Brian as she listened to the lyrics.

Hey, Mr. DJ, put a record on. I wanna dance with my baby...
And when the music starts, I never wanna stop. It drives me crazy…

Brian smiled back at her, as she leaned in and said, "You know, you didn’t even say hi to Nick or Justin."

"It’s alright," he said with a laugh. "I can say hi to them all the time. But I haven’t danced with you for a really long time, so they can wait."

The DJ played another fast song, and Rylee kept seeing glimpses of the other guys grinning at her. She smiled and shook her head, but forgot about them as she danced. A couple minutes later, she heard the soft piano notes to "I Need You Tonight", and forgetting to try an keep Brian from discovering the back of, or lack thereof, her dress, she automatically stepped closer to him and placed her arms around his neck. She also heard Nick shouting something as Brian positioned his hands on her hips. She laughed as she heard Nick and Justin arguing.

Brian looked at her questioningly as he asked, "What was that about?"

Rylee smiled and explained, "They had a bet going about whose song would be played first. So I’m guessing Justin owes Nick twenty bucks and Nicky’s gloating."

Laughing along with Rylee at the antics of their friends, Brain shifted into a more comfortable position and pulled her tighter against him as they danced. Brian’s mind was still reeling from his reaction to seeing Rylee’s waist, and having his hands right there wasn’t helping much. He tried to think of somewhere else he could put his hands, and eventually moved to rest them against her back. Brian froze, as his fingers grazed, not the cool satin he was expecting, but instead the warm silk of her skin. He uncurled his hand, only to find that he spanned the entire width of her back with his hand, and no fabric in between. He pulled his hand back in surprise and stopped dancing. He looked strangely at Rylee, and she steeled herself for the lecture that she knew was coming.

"What are you wearing?" Brian’s voice was low and soft, so Rylee wasn’t sure what to think.

"Um, a shirt?" Rylee answered a little uncertain.

"THAT is not a shirt!" Brian raised his voice, and several people around them looked up in shock.

Rylee glanced around nervously and then pulled Brian by the hand into a semi-secluded hallway.

"I’m waiting for an answer, Rylee!" Brian stated, his blue eyes flashing.

Rylee was taken aback. She had expected him to be overprotective and concerned. But the emotion she saw flashing in his eyes was neither protecting nor concerned; it was angry. She could feel her own emotions rising in self-defense. "Calm down, Brian!" she said, pronouncing each word carefully. "You’re overreacting!"

"I’m overreacting? You think I’m overreacting?!?!? So what exactly were you thinking when you bought THIS?" He pointed at what she was wearing.

Rylee took a small step back. "I was thinking that this is a beautiful dress, and I like it!"

"What they didn’t have mirrors in this store?"

Rylee's eyes slid shut. She could not believe he had said that. Her eyes flew open again. "You’re being a jerk, Brian. I don’t know what the heck is wrong with you, but you’d better snap out of it in the next two seconds."

"Or what?" he challenged.

Rylee shook her head in disbelief. Her eyes narrowed, anger radiating out them. "Or you’re about to find yourself flat on your back, nursing a broken jaw. And you know I would! I’m twenty-one years old, Brian. I’m not a little girl, anymore! I CAN think and decide things for myself, without needing your permission!"

When Brian didn’t say anything, she turned on her heel to walk back to the party. Before she could get very far, his arm shot out and his fingers closed around her wrist.

"Wait." He said, his voice softer. His tone was still rather gruff, but she stopped anyways, her back still towards him. "I’m sorry…" He paused then said, "At least you could have tied it right…"

Rylee rolled her eyes, as she was still pretty annoyed with him. "You know what, Brian? If it bothers you so much, why don’t you re-tie it?" She flipped her hair to the side again.

He sighed loudly but stepped towards her to fix the ribbons. He started to pull on the first ribbon, his mind still racing from spilling his anger out at Rylee a minute ago. He didn’t know what was wrong with him.

Normally, he wouldn’t have lost his cool, but something just made him snap. Of course, where Rylee was concerned, he tended to be a tad overprotective. But this time he completely blew up at her. Brian chalked it up frustration at being late to the party, but as others would inform him later, it was a whole lot more.

Rylee was in a whole other frame of mind. As angry as she was right then, nothing could have prepared her for the feel of Brian’s fingers lightly grazing her bare back as he tied the ribbons. This was crazy. It was nice and it was annoying that he had to retie them anyways. But then he was radiating way too much attraction right then for her to really be angry. She almost tightened her back involuntarily, but fought the urge. She was confused, and a little sad, but happy and angry. All in all, it was just crazy.

Brian had just started on retying the second ribbon when Nick passed by the entrance to the hallway. Nick paused when he recognized his two friends. Making his way over to them, he smiled with an evil look on his face and said, "And just what are you two doing in this dark, secluded hallway all alone?"

Brian barely glanced up, before replying, "I’m fixing this. Cuz whoever tied this before wasn’t thinking straight."

"Hey!" Nick interjected. "I tied it!"

"Like I said..."

"Well, fine then!" Nick said. "What’s wrong with it anyways? I think she looks hot!"

He glanced at his two friends, and noticed the anger in Rylee’s eyes, and the protective look on Brian’s face. "Okay then. I think I’ll just be leaving before one of you kills me." With that, Nick disappeared into the crowd, and Brian and Rylee were alone again.

Once Brian was done, Rylee stepped away from him. "Thank you," she said, swiftly. Then she turned and walked back to the party.

Left alone in the hall, Brian sighed out of frustration. "Oh great." He said out loud. "I guess she’s not gonna forgive me that easily. Of course it doesn’t help that I hardly have any idea why I got so mad. What was I thinking? Okay, now I’m talking to myself! Augh! I’ve been hanging out with JC too much!" Brian returned to the party in search of Rylee, to try and figure out a way to apologize.

Meanwhile, Rylee had found a little alcove balcony, towards the rear of the party, and made her way there to escape the crowds of people and Brian. She leaned against the stone railing and sighed deeply. The beginning of this night, starting with Brian’s initial reaction to her appearance, was perfect. She had almost been walking on air. But all of a sudden, her mood took a downward spiral. She sighed again, her eyes drifting to the few stars that were bright enough to be seen over the glare of city lights. She was so angry with Brian right then. He absolutely had no right to treat her like a twelve year old. The longer she thought about it, the more disheartened she became. Of course he treated her like a little girl. That’s just how he thought of her. Their closeness had always come as a shock to people when they were younger because of their three-year age difference. While she often appointed herself Brian’s guardian angel, protecting him in any way she could, his age and his gender naturally drove him to take the role as Rylee’s big brother. She had always known that Brian considered himself her honorary older brother, but only just now did that actuality hold such potential for heartbreak. Of course he would do anything for her, just as she would for him, but his motives were based on pure innocence friendship, while Rylee’s motives were subconsiously telling him how much she was in love with him. Just as she was starting to despair that Brian would ever think of her in any other way, a voice broke through her thoughts.

"There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you." A familiar voice said softly.

Rylee didn’t have to turn around to see Nick, as he approached and leaned in next to her. She kept her gaze on two tiny pinpoints of light, twin stars, shining bravely to make themselves visible to the earth below.

Nick’s voice was soft. "He’s looking everywhere for you, Ry. I know he’s feeling guiltily and he’s sorry." He paused waiting for some sort of response from the girl next to him. When she didn’t respond, he continued, "Ry, you aren’t gonna stay mad at him all night, are you?"

Rylee gave a small, sad, almost heartbroken sigh. "I’m not mad anymore, Nicky." She finally pulled her eyes away from the sky, to look at her friend. "I think I’ve been fooling myself. I’m not sure Brian will ever be able to see me as anything other than his best friend, his little sister. His little hissy fit tonight pretty much proved that."

Looking down, Nick saw the sadness in her eyes. "Don’t even tell me you’re giving up, Rylee Angeline Kwan! I know that’s not like you!"

"Giving up on what, Nick? Some hopeless fantasy that Brian and I will someday end up together? Unfortunately, reality doesn’t always work that way."

Nick was shocked at the bitter tone in her voice. She wasn’t acting like herself. She was always so optimistic, how could her entire attitude change so fast? "Don’t say that, Ry. Bri will come around-"

"That’s just it!" Rylee interrupted. "I don’t want him to ‘come around’! I don’t want to force him into changing his feelings towards me. What’s meant to be, will be, and," she turned her eyes back to the twin stars. "I guess this isn’t meant to be."

Nick followed her gaze, until he too spotted the two celestial bodies. Thinking quickly, he pointed to the shining pair. "You see those two stars, Ry? That’s you and Brian. Those two are so close together it almost looks like they’re one. I want you to remember that. You are meant to be together. You have to be, it’s written in the stars!" He swept his arm to the side, dramatically.

Despite her reflective state, Rylee couldn’t help but to laugh at Nick’s serious statement. "Nicky, you sound like an out of work fortune teller."

"Hey, but it made you smile, so I’ve completed my mission!" Nick said, with grin. "Now, come back to the party. There are a lot of handsome, talented guys waiting to dance with you, like me!" He wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

Rylee smiled. "Thanks a lot, O Conceited One. But I think I’ll hang out here for a while. I have some thinking to do."

Knowing he couldn’t change her mind, Nick just bent to kiss her gently on the temple, and replied, "Okay, but don’t think too hard, or your head might explode!" He laughed along with her, then turned to make his way back to the gathering, calling over his shoulder, "If you’re not back inside in twenty minutes, I’m comin’ after ya!" Then he cocked his head, just before pushing open the glass doors which would take him inside and said, "The fly hunnies await!"

Rylee just shook her head, before refocusing on the stars. ‘Those two are so close together it almost looks like they’re one.’ Nick’s words came back to her. The mass confusion that encompassed her life at this point was almost too much to take. On one side, she wanted to forget ever falling for Brian, so that everything would be much simpler. She wouldn’t have to worry whether or not he thought of her as a little girl or what he thought of how she dressed. But on the other hand, there was this certain feeling that she got when he was near, like everything was right in the world. And even if it wasn’t, he had the power to make things a whole heck of a lot better. This was new territory she was exploring with her mind, as previously, she had focused on what it was like to be in love with Brian, rather than if it was the right thing for her to do. But this new idea could not be taken lightly, but also couldn’t be taken too seriously.

Ten minutes later, Rylee had just started to make a mental list of pros and cons, when she heard the soft creak of opening doors behind her. She turned, ready to tell Nick that twenty minutes had not yet passed, but was startled to see someone else there. It was Brian, standing with an uncertain smile on his face.

"Rylee?" he questioned softly, striding up to her.

 She opened her mouth to speak, but he put a finger to her lips. "Wait. Let me talk first." He took a deep breath, then words just started rushing out of his mouth. "I’m so sorry, Angel. I was completely overreacting. I mean, I’m still not sure why I reacted like I did. But I’m sorry. And you’re right, you are twenty-one, and I shouldn’t treat you otherwise. I just... You know I love you and I just want to look out for you. I even promised your dad about a dozen times that I would, before you came. I guess I was just surprised, cuz you look so grown up." He rushed on. "Not that you didn’t look grown up before. You were, I mean, you are... And, um," He paused and sighed in frustration. "I’m sorry." He looked at her, truly sorry for his actions, waiting for a response.

Rylee smiled softly. Technically, she wasn’t angry with him anymore. But even if she was, there was no way she would have been able to resist those pleading sky-blue eyes. "I’m sorry too, Bri." she said, stepping closer to him to give him a hug. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she tucked her head comfortably under his chin. She signed in contentment, pushing her earlier crazed thoughts to the back of her head. ‘No matter what,’ she thought. ‘This feels too perfect not to give it a chance.’ She sensed he was smiling, even though she couldn’t see his face. She was right too, for he pulled back slightly, an easy grin in place.

"Dance with me again?" he asked, stretching out his hand.

Her answer was to smile again, and tuck her hand in his. He returned her smile and moved to open the double doors. Right as they stepped over the threshold, Rylee recognized the opening strains to her favorite song, "This I Promise You". Glancing quickly over at the DJ, she caught a knowing wink aimed at Brian. She looked up at him, and Brian smiled, looking rather pleased with himself. Rylee knew then that he had arranged it, and couldn’t help but start to fall a little bit deeper as they started to dance, both oblivious to the rest of the crowd.

"When the visions around you
Bring tears to your eyes
And all that surrounds you
Are secretes and lies
I’ll be your strength
I’ll give you hope
Keeping your faith when it’s gone
The one you should call
I’m standing here all alone
And I will take you in my arms
And hold you right where you belong
Till the day my life is through
This is promise you
This is promise you

Rylee leaned her head against Brian’s chest, right above his heart. She could hear the steady beat of his heart pounding. The rhythmic beats lulled her into a sense of perfect security. She felt like no one could even hurt her as long as Brian was there. For some strange reason, that night Rylee’s inner reality check, having previously been way underused, was working over time. It seemed as if with every dreamlike thought about what the future held for Brian and Rylee was countered with a dozen reasons for Rylee to keep grounded. This time, it was telling her that even though she felt like no one could ever hurt her when she was with Brian, the truth was that Brian himself had the utmost power to basically destroy her heart and rip it to shreds. But being the dreamer, Rylee tried to ignore those types of thoughts, believing deep down that nothing bad could come from loving Brian.

I’ve loved you forever
In lifetimes before
And I promise you never
Will you hurt anymore
I give you my word
I give you my heart
This is the battle we’ve won
And with this vow
Forever has now begun
Just close your eyes
Each loving day
And know this feeling won’t go away
Till the day my life is through
This I promise you
This I promise you
Over and over I fall
When I hear you call
Without you
In my life, Baby
I just wouldn’t be living at all

Brian sighed with contentment. As far as he was concerned, everything was going like it should. He himself wasn’t flipping out for no reason and acting like a huge jerk, and Rylee… Rylee was happy, so what else could matter? He half expected being around Rylee now would seem uncomfortable, because of their talk the previous night. But that day at the mall, everything was normal. He really needed to give his best friend more credit. He mentally shook his head. Of course she wouldn’t act weirdly around him. They had too much history and were too close to let something like the mere exploration of deeper feelings to change her attitude towards him. Rylee was great… what a friend.

And I will take you in my arms
And hold you right where you belong
Till the day my life is through
This is promise you
This is promise you
Just close your eyes
Each loving day
And know this feeling won’t go away
Every word I say its true
This I promise you
Every word I say is true
This I promise you
Ooh, I promise you"

Nick smiled as he watched the two best friends glide across the dance floor. This was certainly a dance to remember.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

Always forever
What things she said
Never say never
The simple lies that she fed

Rylee took a small sip of water as she talked and laughed with Kristin. Several hours had passed and she had started to enjoy herself a lot more. Big parties weren’t usually her thing, but something about this party made it more enjoyable. She smiled; it was probably just Brian.

Looking up, she saw Brian, Nick and Kevin heading in their direction. Kevin came to claim Kristen for another dance, while Brian and Nick plopped themselves down on either side of Rylee.

"Man! This is great!" Nick exclaimed.

"Yeah," Rylee agreed. "I’m sure the only thing bothering you is the knowledge that you gotta get up and face the teenage world tomorrow without the aide of your loyal body guards." she said, casually.

Both Nick and Brian stared at her. "Where the heck did that come from?" Brian asked.

Nick stuck out his bottom lip. "I didn’t even think about that." He fake-sniffed and pretended to cry. "What am I gonna do without Mike? I need Mike!"

Rylee just laughed at his dramatics. "You’re a dork, Nicky!"

He looked up and smiled. "I know. That’s why I’m so endearing and lovable to the human race."

Suddenly the three of them turned as they heard a female voice shriek, "B-Rok!"

The voice belonged to a girl about Brian’s age who was walking quickly towards them. Brian stood up and went to greet the girl while Rylee looked on in surprise. She looked to Nick for some sort of explanation, but Nick had slumped down in his seat and muttered, "Oh, great!"

Rylee was puzzled. She turned back to the girl who met Brian and threw her arms around his neck. She was even more puzzled as Brian returned the hug and began chatting with her like they were old friends. "Nick? Who is that?"

Nick groaned again. "THAT is Michelle, one of the executives’ daughters, and a Britney wanna-be, small-time model, of sorts. As you can probably see, she’s a complete ditz. I cannot stand her at all. She’s always all over us, the guys from *N Sync, and any other male artists at Jive. Mostly just Justin and Brian, especially Brian, actually. But he’s a little too jaded to think that she’s anything but a…"

"Nick!" Rylee exclaimed, stopping him before he could complete his sentence. She gave him a reproachful look.

"What?" Nick said, throwing up his hands in defense. "I was gonna say a brat!"

Rylee shook her head at Nick’s animated statement. She looked back at Brian and Michelle who were walking in their direction. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Nick slouch down again, and mutter something under his breath. "Be nice, Nick." Rylee admonished softly.

"Yes, Mother."

As she watched them, Rylee got her first good look at this girl, whom Nick could not stand. She was tall, with long blond hair and green eyes. In fact, she looked kind of like Leighanne; she had the same gorgeous figure, not too big, not too skinny, full in all the right places. But unlike Leighanne, Michelle taste in clothing ran much deeper in the revealing department. Michelle was wearing an extremely short and low cut black beaded dress and matching stilettos. Also unlike Leighanne, the smile on her face wasn’t genuine and sweet, but seemed entirely too fake.

"Nick," Brian said, as he and Michelle stood by the table. "You remember Michelle Jacobs. Her father is one of the executives here at Jive." Michelle glanced at Nick and Rylee was a little surprised to her voice sound so sweet towards Nick.

"Hello, Nick!" she said in a syrupy sweet voice. "It’s so nice to see you again!" She leaned forward to pat his knee affectionately and to Nick’s credit, he didn’t even flinch.

Nick’s voice sounded forced and anything but enthusiastic, but he put on a pretty good front and replied, "Sure, same here."

Brian’s attention was directed back to Rylee, and he motioned to Michelle. "And this is my best friend, Rylee. She’s visiting us this summer from LA."

Propriety reminded Rylee to reach her hand forward to greet Michelle, and Rylee smiled, trying to give Michelle the benefit of the doubt.

Michelle’s green eyes, which had been all soft and sparkly towards Nick, suddenly turned cold, as she looked at Rylee.

"Well, hello there. It’s so very nice to meet you, dear." Michelle completely ignored Rylee’s offered hand and sat down beside her, leaving an open seat for Brian on Michelle’s other side.

Rylee’s eyebrows flew up in surprise, and she turned to Brian to see if he had noticed. But judging by the smile on his face, he hadn’t noticed a thing. She turned back to Michelle who was looking at her with a hard look on her face.

Michelle turned as Brian started to say something, the fake smile in perfect place.

"Rylee’s going into her fourth year at UCLA…"

The blond girl whirled around to look at Rylee. "UCLA?" she questioned. "That’s a… state school, isn’t it? How… quaint."

Rylee stared at her in disbelief. The fact that someone could be so completely two-faced and fake was new to Rylee. And worse yet, how could Brian be naïve enough not to notice? The next hour or so continued in the same fashion, with Michelle being all sweet and flirty towards the guys, and openly hostile towards Rylee. Rylee’s anger had started growing once Michelle opened her perfectly lined lips and started talking. Her anger was mostly directed towards Michelle, of course, but somehow there was a good-sized chunk reserved for Brian. How on earth could he NOT notice? She had heard of guys being dense before, but Brian could win an Olympic medal. At first Rylee tried being nice to the other girl, but nothing seemed to make any difference. Nick had graciously excused himself towards the beginning of the conversation, and Rylee found herself wishing she had joined him. She almost sighed with relief when Brian got up to talk to someone, but her relief was short lived.

The moment Brian was out of earshot, Michelle turned her flashing green eyes towards Rylee and any hostility from before was replaced with pure evil.

"Listen, little girl," Michelle began. "Let me just make this clear. I don’t like you and I doubt you like me, and your "best friend", well, let’s just say he won’t be single for much longer." She smiled lazily. "And don’t even think about running to him with this information," she added. "Brian adores me. And," she eyed Rylee skeptically, "you really should stick to playing with little boys your own age. Leave the men to me."

"Excuse me?" Rylee was taken aback. "Do you really think you can just waltz in and declare that Brian is yours? He does have his own mind!"

Michelle laughed evilly. "Not when I’m through with him, he won’t!"

Rylee leaned back slightly, startled at what she just heard. "Are you deranged or something? What do you want from him?"

Michelle laughed again, and Rylee’s back tightened involuntarily at the grating sound. "Simple," Michelle answered, with a self-satisfied smile curving the corners of her perfectly lined lips. "I want him." She paused, enjoying the mix of emotions playing across Rylee’s face. She waved her hand lazily in the air, and looked up as she continued. "Brian is the possessor of many things, things that I want or need." She turned back to look at Rylee. "I’m sure you’ve noticed that Brian is completely hot… But that’s more of an added bonus. He has money, he has status and he has fame. And that’s what I need. If I was with Brian, do you know how much that would do for my modeling career? It would put me in the public eye, like free publicity. Look, how much more recognition Leighanne Wallace got from dating Brian."

Rylee couldn’t argue with that. Although, right about then, she was thanking God that the similarities between Michelle and Leighanne ended with physical attributes. She looked back at the girl before her, steeling herself for whatever Michelle would say next.

"That’s what I want. And, well, after I get what I want, I guess you can have your little friend back. Cuz I won’t need him anymore."

Rylee could feel her stomach churn, sickened at the shallowness of Michelle’s plans. Her best friend senses were kicking into overdrive, and her protective nature was about to come blasting through. She titled her chin defiantly. "Brian will be able to see through you. Maybe not right now, but he’s not stupid. He’ll see that you’re using him. And trust me, I WILL make sure that he knows." She looked towards Brian, who was still engaged in a conversation. He smiled and laughed, and Rylee’s heart skipped a beat at the thought of his being hurt by Michelle. She returned angry eyes to Michelle. "Your little plan just hit a road block. Stay away from Brian." And with those parting words, she got up and walked away.

The girl left at the table smirked as she watched Rylee stalk away. "Ooh, a road block, huh? I don’t think so. No one stops me from getting what I want. Not even little confused and hopeless best friends. Just wait and see, Rylee Kwan, just wait and see."

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

Cuz every time I close my eyes
I see your face and I wonder
When you close your eyes
Do you think about me?

When Rylee left the table, her anger was already boiling and she knew she had to get away before she did something she would regret later. And she was capable of anything while she was this angry. While making her escape, she ran straight into Nick.

Nick looked up startled at the angry look on Rylee’s face. He quickly guessed the source. "Ry, what’s wrong? What did she say to you?" He placed his hands on her shoulders, stopping her from going any farther.

"She- that girl… She’s…augh!" Rylee exhaled loudly in frustration. She almost ran her hand through her hair again, but stopped short and instead impatiently swept away a bothersome lock of hair. "She’s using him, Nick. She’s using him for fame." She looked up at Nick, wondering what his reaction would be to this shocking bit of news.

To her surprise, Nick just sighed, and dropped his hands. "I know. Ry." He said quietly.

"You know?" Rylee leaned back slightly in shock. "But…how? Why didn’t you tell him? You have to tell him!" She couldn’t believe that Nick already knew, and yet Brian was still spending time with this girl and acting friendly towards her.

"I did tell him, Ry. He just thinks I’m overreacting."

"What? But we have to make him understand. She’ll only hurt him!" Rylee was starting to freak out. She couldn’t let this girl get what she wanted, especially at Brian’s expense.

"Ry," Nick said gently. "I know that, and you know that. But Bri doesn’t believe it. We can’t do anything. He’s already been warned. He has to make his own decision."

Rylee’s shoulders slumped in defeat. Nick was right; until Brian realized how conniving Michelle was, there was nothing either Nick or Rylee could do about it. "I don’t want to just stand by and let her hurt him."

"I don’t either. So we’ll keep an eye out for him and try our best to keep her away from him." He placed his arm around her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze as they made their way back to the party.

As they rounded the corner, Rylee stopped short. Directly ahead of her were Michelle and Brian. Brian had a smile on his face, as he spoke to Michelle. "Hey, Michelle, you wanna take a picture with me? They have this whole prom like set up over there."

Michelle agreed readily and took Brian’s offered arm as they made their way to the picture area. As they were walking away, Michelle, who had spotted Rylee and Nick, turned to give them a smug smile.

Rylee looked away and sighed.

"Jealous, Ry?" Nick asked quietly.

"Sort of. I mean, why does it have to be Brian?"

"So you would rather have Michelle sink her claws into, say... Justin?" Nick asked teasingly.

Rylee smiled back. "Yeah, pretty much. Sorry, Justin!"

Nick laughed. "Come on, you have had a chance to dance with the best-looking guy in the room yet!" he said, leading her onto the dance floor.    

"Where? I don’t see JC anywhere!" she asked in a puzzled voice.

Turning around, Nick eyed her. "Oh, you suck!"

"I know!" Rylee replied with a bright smile. They began to dance, and after several minutes, Rylee found her thoughts straying to Brian yet again. Sure, she was jealous, but somehow it was a little more than that. She loved to see Brian happy, but she knew that, in a way, she herself wasn’t enough to keep him happy. She remembered her earlier thoughts to how she wished she had never fallen for Brian. There would have been so much less heartache involved. But now it was to late for wishing, she had to move forward. She didn’t know if she’d ever get over Brian, but she had to try. It would be easier, for herself, for him, and for their friendship. It was tiring to play little mind games with herself, and she was sick of it. But on the other hand, this wasn’t some little crush where she could just wake up one day and be over Brian. It would take a lot of time, but she figured that she had to give it a shot. It wasn’t that their friendship was on the verge of dissolving right then, but it was putting too much of a strain on Rylee’s heart and mind. She had no doubt that Brian would be worth it. But "it" would be that somehow miraculously she and Brian would get together. And she didn’t have enough certainty that "it" would actually come true.

Rylee was so lost in her thoughts that she almost didn’t realize that she and Nick had stopped dancing. And she almost didn’t hear Brian as he called her name. She looked up as if she was awakened from a dream.

"Hello, Ry? Are you awake?" he said, with a curious smile.

"Yeah, sorry, Bri. I was just thinking."

He smiled wider. "Uhuh, yeah, sure. Anyways! Take a picture with me, ‘kay, Angel?" he grabbed her hand to lead her away, calling to Nick from behind him. "You gotta see this too, Nick. It looks really cool."

After threading their way through the mass of people, they came to a room set apart from the main hall. Inside the room was the most beautiful backdrop. It consisted of a hazy painted blue background, which faded into different shades of blue and gray, and had little stars scattered around it. To set it all off, there were tiny twinkling white lights forming a border around it. Brian pulled her hand to go talk to the photographer, and Rylee couldn’t help but feel a little redeemed for her earlier jealousy. It was a childish insecurity, but it still made her feel a little better. A second later, Brian pulled her towards the backdrop and turned to face the camera. He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and rested his chin against the side of her head. Rylee smile as she leaned back against his chest and covered his hands with her own. The photographer snapped just snapped one picture, when they heard a loud collective "Aww!" come from the side of the room. Rylee turned her head to see Nick, AJ, Howie, Justin, and Lance all grinning brightly at them. Then Nick said something quietly to the guys and they all suddenly rushed to join Brian and Rylee. Before Rylee could even start to laugh, Kevin, Joey, Chris, and JC came running in to join them as well. Rylee just laughed and looked up at Brian to see his reaction. Rylee stopped laughing and a soft smile played on her lips as she just watched Brian for a moment. His blue eyes seemed brighter than usually and sparkled with laughter and happiness. His face was slightly flushed from rushing around and he gave a genuine laugh as he watched his friends try to situate themselves for the picture. Rylee’s smile widened a little as she thought, "He’s so beautiful."

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

*chapter four*

*chapter six*

*back to novels*