Chapter Thirteen: The Call

Is this the feeling
I need to walk with
Tell me why
I can't be there where you are
There's something missing in my heart

Rylee tapped her pencil impatiently against the edge of her desk in the large lecture hall. Her neighbor gave her a chilling glance, which Rylee took to mean that her pencil tapping was annoying. Rylee gave her desk one last loud tap, and smiled sweetly at the girl next to her, before setting her pencil down. Eleven minutes left. That’s all she had left, then she was back at home and calling Brian. Between appearances, touring, meetings, recording sessions and everything else that went along with being a Backstreet Boy, Rylee and Brian had to basically set up appointments, or “dates” as they liked to call them, once a week so they could still keep in touch. Now with Rylee’s growing commitments, they were having more and more trouble keeping their “dates. That particular week they had to reschedule three times, making Rylee more impatient to get her lecture over with and get home. 

She missed talking to him. They were both so busy, and she was lonely without him. It sounded absurd. After all she was surrounded by good friends all the time at school, and of course her own family wasn’t that far away.  But without Brian around… She had gotten used to him being around and available whenever she needed him. Now it had gotten to the point where she constantly wished she was near him. There was something about his presence that was comforting to her. But since she couldn’t be in Orlando and he couldn’t be in LA, she just had to settle for talking to him on the phone. If she could ever get there…

As she listened to the guest speaker drone on about the calming effects of animals on people with psychological problems, she mentally berated herself for sitting in the middle of a row. Not only was she sitting in the middle of a row, she was sitting in the middle of a row that was filled with dutiful students, practically the only row in the lecture hall in which people had not got up and left. “I should have sat in the back,” Rylee grumbled to herself, receiving another withering glance from the girl on her left. Rylee resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and glanced up at the clock again. Seven minutes now… Just seven itsy-bitsy minutes left.  The minutes ticked by very slowly for Rylee. Normally, she would have just left class a little early, but this time she was stuck. Finally the professor finished his lecture and people started filing out of the hall. “Finally!” she breathed none too softly, and started hurrying home.

A little later, Rylee arrived back at her and Jess’ apartment and quickly checked her watch to see how long she had before 3:15.  “Six minutes. Good!” she said cheerily. “And I still have time to eat!” She made her way to the kitchen, humming a melody that she was working on. 

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~ 

Let me tell you the story bout the call…
There she was standing in front of me
She said “Hi”…
I should’ve said no…

Brian rummaged through the cupboards in his kitchen, making a mental note to go grocery shopping soon. “Well, there’s nothing to eat in this house!” he said to himself. He glanced out the window at the gray skies, and rubbed his hands together for warmth. “I think I’d like something hot, like soup, since it is almost winter.” Suddenly he frowned as he realized he was still carrying on a conversation with himself. “Okay,” he said aloud to the empty house. “It’s a good thing Nick is coming back soon, or I might start talking to the walls. “ He paused listening to the silence that enveloped the house, since Nick wasn’t home. Nick had been gone for almost a week, visiting his family in Tampa, but would be back the next day.

As Brian busied himself making his lunch, he glanced down at his watch, noting that Rylee would call at any minute. He had just put his soup on to boil and finished making a sandwich when he heard the doorbell ring, announcing a visitor. Frowning in confusion, he made his way to the front door. “Who the heck would be coming to visit me now?” It couldn’t be anyone he knew, because it was someone who didn’t know the code for his gate. He quickly checked the video screen of his front gate, and buzzed the person in.

He opened his front door, waiting for the person to walk up to the door. “Michelle! What a surprise! Come in!”

The girl flashed him a bright smile. “Hi, Brian,” she said sweetly, twirling a long, blond curl around her fingers. She brushed past him and entered the spacious house, taking in her surroundings.

Brian closed the door behind her, genuinely, naively, surprised. “So what brings you here?”

She turned quickly to face him, a swirl of curls and perfume. “Oh my dad wanted me to come to pick up some papers for him, the ones he gave you last Friday.”

“Oh those?” Brian asked, a bit confused. “I thought he told me he didn’t need them until the meeting on Wednesday.”

She shrugged innocently. “I guess he just changed his mind. I hope it’s no problem.”

Brian shook his head. “Nope, no problem at all.” He was just about to tell her he would go get the papers, when she smiled at him coyly, her bottom lip tucked between her teeth.

“And I was thinking,” she paused, taking a step closer to him. “Maybe you wanted to go to lunch and catch a movie or something?”

Smiling at her offer, Brian felt bad about declining. “Oh, I can’t, Michelle. I’ve got a date with Rylee right now.”

Michelle’s green eyes widened in surprise. “But … I thought Rylee was in California. And I thought you guys were just friends.” This was definitely NOT something she had planned on. "I thought having them fight when she left would work... But I guess I'll have to try harder. Leave it to that stupid girl to screw up my plans even from across the country.” she thought. Something would have to be done about that.

Brian laughed at her apparent confusion. “Oh, it’s not a “date” date. That’s what we call our phone calls, since we basically have to schedule them. She’s supposed to call me right about now.”

“Oh” was all Michelle said, but her mind was whirling, trying to come up with a back up plan. “Stall him” was all she could come up with, but Brian had other things on his mind.

“Well,” he said starting up the stairs to his room. “I’ll just go grab those papers for you.”

Michelle was disappointed and started to say something as Brian reached the halfway point of the stairs, but she was interrupted by the ringing of the telephone. She smiled as she thought of something. She smiled sweetly at Brian. “Would you like me to get that?”

Brian paused, thinking. He knew it was probably Rylee on the phone, and he knew that Rylee didn’t like Michelle. He knew he should say no, and answer the phone himself, but for some reason he didn’t do any of the things he knew he should do. “Sure,” he replied, continuing up the stairs. “Thanks.”

Michelle smiled again brightly and turned to answer the phone. She glanced up the stairs one more time, making sure Brian was out of earshot, and picked up the phone. “Hello?” 

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

Rylee pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at the receiver in shock. There was no way she had misdialed. Was there?

“Hello?” the voice on the other line repeated.

“Um, hello?” Rylee said, uncertainly.

“Yes? May I help you?” the sugary sweet voice asked helpfully.

"Who is this? That voice sounds familiar…” Rylee thought. “Um, I think I might have the wrong number.”

“Is this Rylee?” the girl said.

“Yes,” Rylee said, cautiously. “Who is this?”

The girl laughed a high and sharp titter. “Why, Rylee dear! You don’t recognize my voice? I’m hurt! And after all those calls, too.”

“Michelle?” Rylee asked, incredulously.

“Oh you do remember!” Michelle said, enjoying the confusion in Rylee’s voice. She paused for a moment, savoring the silence as Rylee tried to make sense of the circumstances. “You’re probably wondering why I’m answering Brian’s phone, aren’t you?” She continued, without letting Rylee answer. “Well, he’s a little busy right now.” She laughed again. “Actually, we both are.” She let that sink in for a moment before continuing. “So, Brian wants to tell you to reschedule your little “date”.

“You’ve GOT to be kidding me!”

“I’m afraid not, dearie.” Michelle said a little too cheerily. “So, bye bye now!”

“I don’t think so, DEARIE,” Rylee quipped back. “I’d like to talk to Brian first.” There was no doubt in Rylee’s mind that Michelle wasn’t telling the truth, or at least, the whole truth. Brian wouldn’t cancel on her without a good reason, and when he did have to cancel, he would tell her himself, even if he could only talk for 30 seconds. This was very untypical Brian, and Rylee was determined to find out what was really going on. In fact, she wasn’t even sure Brian was home. She didn’t know how Michelle could’ve been able to be in Brian’s house. But by insisting to speak with Brian, if he was there, she was sure to get to the bottom of it. 

“You, you’d like to talk to Brian?” Michelle asked, sounding confused.

“I believe that’s what I said,” Rylee replied, her voice unwavering.

“Um…um,” Michelle mumbled as she tried to think of how to respond. “You can’t!” she burst out suddenly.

“Why not?” asked Rylee, sounding almost bored.

“Because… because we’re BUSY!” Michelle repeated.

“So you said. But I’d still like to talk to him.”

Just in the nick of time, Brian’s voice sounded from upstairs, loud enough for Rylee to hear, but not clear enough for her to understand what he was staying

Rylee paused. She was sure Brian hadn’t even been there, but she could recognize his voice. She waited, expecting him to pick up the phone. But he didn’t.

Michelle almost breathed a huge sigh of relief when she heard Brian, knowing that Rylee wouldn’t be able to hear what he said. She smiled and replied, not loudly enough for Brian to hear her. “Okay, sweetie! I’ll tell her.”

Rylee raised her eyebrows, a look of disbelief on her face. “What the…”

“Okay, well, Rylee. I really have to go now. You know how impatient he gets.” She laughed, and knowing she had to get Rylee off the phone before Brian came back downstairs, she quickly hung up without saying bye.

She turned away from the phone, just as Brian walked into the room, papers in hand. “Did you hear me call you?” he asked.

“Oh, um,” Michelle was still glowing over her apparent success. “Yeah I did, but I couldn’t hear what you said,” she lied.

“Oh,” Brian responded simply. “I just asked you if that was Rylee.”

“Oh yeah it was,” Michelle said, still a little distracted.

Brian raised an eyebrow. “Well?”

“Oh!” she said, understanding his meaning. “Um, Rylee said that, that, um…” she twirled her hair around her finger, trying to come up with a good story.

Brian folded his arms across his chest, and leaned against the doorjamb, waiting patiently. The faint autumn sun shone down on him, illuminating his face.  He had an amused expression on his face and his eyes stood out, contrasting with his deep green shirt.

Michelle was about to drool.

Brian gave her a strange look at the expression she was giving him. He wondered why Rylee wasn’t still on the phone and why she didn’t ask to speak to him. 

“Rylee said she couldn’t talk now,” Michelle said, finally coming to her senses. “One of her classes was rescheduled and she only had a minute to phone before she was late.”

“Oh,” Brian said, disappointed at not being able to talk to her. “Well here are those papers you wanted.”

Michelle took the papers from him, purposely letting her fingers brush his gently. She flashed him another big smile. “So does this mean you’re free for lunch?”

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

If you knew what I knew
You wouldn't say what you said
If you knew what I knew
We'd be together instead
Of you breaking my heart

Rylee stared at the phone, still in shock. “That did NOT just happen!” She exclaimed. “No way Brian would flake on me like that.” She debated whether or not to call back, but decided against it. Calling back would just result in another pointless conversation with that girl, and Rylee did think her blood pressure could take anymore. “Fine,” she said harshly to herself. “That’s just fine. Sure, Brian’s BUSY! It’s all good. I mean I don’t need to talk to him. I have plenty of other things I could be doing.” With that she quickly turned on her laptop, drumming her fingers impatiently as she waited for it to start up. When it was ready, she rubbed her hands together gleefully, and poised her hand over the mouse pad in anticipation to do whatever it was that she was going to do. 

Staring at the screen for a moment, Rylee heaved a big sigh and leaned back in her chair in frustration. “It’s no use,” she grumbled. “I don’t have anything to do now. I totally cleared my schedule for today, and NOW he has to go and cancel.” She sighed again, and sat for a moment, her eyes scanning her room for something she could do. A burst of inspiration hit her and she walked over to her closet and threw open the door. “Now I have time to clean my closet!” Ten minutes later Rylee’s closet was cleaner than it had been in months, yet she was still left with nothing to do. Rylee looked at the clock and groaned. 

For the next 45 minutes, Rylee busied herself around the apartment and cleaning her room, checking the clock after finishing each chore. Time moved by so slowly, as she tried to keep herself occupied and away from any intention of calling Brian and demanding an answer. Finally when there was really nothing left to do, Rylee flopped down on her newly made, newly sheeted bed and closed her eyes. Turning to her left, her eyes landed on her phone, and she sat up quickly. After hesitating a few times, she picked up the phone and quickly dialed Brian’s number.

The phone rang once, twice, as Rylee closed her eyes in breathless anticipation. After twelve rings, she finally acknowledged that no one was going to answer and reluctantly replaced the phone in its cradle. What on earth could be going on down there? She lay back down on her bed for a minute before popping up and reaching for the phone a second time.

Nick answered the phone almost immediately. “Ry, what’s up? I was just about to go play ball with Aaron. Squirt thinks he’s finally gonna beat me this time.”

“Oh, Aaron’s home too?” Rylee said distractedly.

“Sure, why do you think I chose this week to come home?”

“Oh yeah, sure” Rylee paused, now rethinking her motives for calling Nick. He was busy visiting his family, something that was very rare, and she didn’t want to disrupt what little time he had with his parents and siblings, because of her little problem.

“Rylee?” Nick asked, wondering at the long silence. “Is something wrong?’

“What?” Rylee asked, jogged back to reality. “Oh, um, no. Everything’s fine. Why?”

Nick sighed patiently. “Rylee, you are a horrible liar. What’s wrong?” He thought for a second, then added, “And why aren’t you talking to Brian instead of me?”

Rylee was silent for a moment, unable to find a way to explain what was going through her mind.

Just as she was about to say something, Nick interrupted, “Wait, what did he do?”

“What? What makes you think he did something?”

Nick sighed again. “Rylee, Rylee, Rylee… You forget how long I’ve known you. Of course, not as long a Brian, but he can be pretty oblivious sometimes. First of all, I know something’s wrong; you get this funny little hint of desperation or something in your voice when something is the matter.” Nick continued, without giving Rylee a chance to respond.  “Second, you’re talking to me instead of talking to Brian, which can only mean that whatever is wrong is about Brian,” he finish, proud of his in depth analysis.

“Wow, Nicky, “ Rylee said dryly. “You are just so brilliant, I am totally blown away.”

Nick chuckled. “Yeah, I know I’m good.”

Rylee laughed, picturing Nick’s smug look in her mind. 

“So what did Brian do?”

“Ah, I don’t know. Maybe nothing. Something weird is going on though. I supposed to call him today, you know? But when I did, MICHELLE answered the phone.”

“Wait, who?” Nick interrupted.

“You know, Michelle. Blond hair, green eyes, not very smart? Any of this ringing a bell?”

“What? Wait, wait, wait… Does this mean she’s at MY HOUSE?!?!”

“Yup!”

“What the…? Oh, heck no! I leave for three days, and Brian invites MICHELLE in to MY house? What is wrong with him?!”

“I don’t know! That’s why I called you!”

Nick took a deep breath. “Okay, sorry, I got a little distracted. So what did she say?”

“Oh, something about how they’re ‘busy’, and he can’t talk to me and then she called him ‘sweetie’.”

“What?”

“That’s what I thought!” Rylee exclaimed. “I don’t understand, which annoys me even more than having to talk to Michelle.”

“Tell me about it,” Nick added. “Though, Brian’s been sorta weird lately.”

“What?” Rylee asked, suddenly very attentive. “What’s wrong with him? Is he sick or something?”

Nick rolled his eyes. “No, calm down, ‘mom’!” he teased. “He’s fine. He’s just been ACTING weird. Like he’s mostly quiet, and really focused on whatever he’s doing, and you KNOW that’s not normal Brian behavior!”

“But he’s okay, right?” Rylee asked, still slightly worried.

“Yeah, I guess. I think he just misses you.”

“What? But I’ve been gone for like three months!”

Rylee heard noises in the background, and wondered until she heard Nick’s voice call out to Aaron.

“Wait a sec, Squirt, I’m talking to Rylee!”

“Hi, Rylee!” she heard Aaron call loudly.

Rylee laughed. “Tell him I said hi.”

Nick relayed her message, before turning his attention back to the phone. “ANYways! What was I saying? Oh yeah, but when I said “lately”… well, that was my way of saying since you left.”

“What?!?!”

Nick rolled his eyes again. “You’re telling me that you, Rylee Kwan, Brian expert, ‘Miss-I’m-gonna-get-my-psychology-degree-AND-become-a-pop-star’, didn’t notice?”

“WELL, when you put it THAT way!” Rylee said. “Actually, I did notice that he acted like really happy every time I talked to him. Even when you told me that you guys were stressed out, he always said that he was perfectly fine.”

“Yeah, well, Bri’s a better liar than you are,” Nick said flippantly.

“Thanks, Nick, “Rylee said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “You always know how to say the right things.”

“A little touchy, are we?” Nick teased. 

“Oh, you know how you get when your best friend flakes on you for no reason,” Rylee said breezily.

Nick sighed, “Look, tell you what, I’ll be home in about a couple hours or so. I’ll talk to Brian and figure out what’s going on and make him call you, alright?”

“I guess,” Rylee said half-heartedly. 

“Oh, don’t grumble,” Nick admonished. “You got any better ideas?” He waited a moment for Rylee to respond. When she didn’t, he continued, “Okay, so, go work on your thesis for an hour, until Brian calls, alright?”

“What? But, NI-ICK, my thesis isn’t due until the end of the year! And I’ve already started! I’m way ahead of most people! I have SO much time to finish it!” 

Nick shook his head. “Rylee, Rylee, Rylee, whining is very unbecoming, so just be quiet and go get to work!”

“But-“

“GO!”

“Fine…” Rylee said, with a little less whine in her voice. “Hey, Nick?

“What, Ry?”

“Thanks…”

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

*chapter twelve*

*chapter fourteen*

*back to novels*