Giving up Kaylee crawled out of bed and over to her computer. She pushed the button to turn the monitor on and winced at the bright light. Quickly Kaylee logged on to the internet.
TattooedFreak: Hey
Kay_Lee: what do you want?
TattooedFreak: what�s your name?
Kay_Lee: Madden DON�T fucking start with me
TattooedFreak: sorry�I�m not Benji. This is Joel
Kay_Lee: I should have known by the spelling
So�can I know you�re name?
Kaylee Russell
I remember you! You should be 18 by now
lol yes I am�actually I�m 19
Finally. Do you know how long 2 years is?
730 days?
lol�so do you wanna meet up tomorrow?
Thought you�d never ask. What time?
I have the day off. What time is good for you?
Noon? Where do you wanna meet?
I don�t know
How bout I meet you at the hotel, we can go from there
That works. I�ll email you the hotel info
Okay�wait why are you on Benji�s screen name?
He was already logged on
Okay. So tomorrow at noon?
Noon
Bye Joel
Bye Kaylee. I�ll see you tomorrow
Kaylee smiled as she logged off the internet. She stretched out on her bed, starring up at the ceiling.
~*~*~*~*~*~
�You look happy. You get some?� Kayla asked with a smirk.
�No.� Kaylee didn�t let her sister bother her.
�Are you sure, cause that usually sets you off.�
�Trust me, if I had I wouldn�t tell you.�
�Wouldn�t tell her what?� Jessica asked as she came into the room.
�Did Lee get some last night?� Kayla asked.
Jessica raised an eyebrow. �I don�t know. Ask Jamie.�
�Ask me what?� Jamie sat down on the couch as Kaylee stood.
�Nothing.� Kaylee stuck her cell phone in her pocket and grabbed the keys to her truck.
�Where are you going?� Kayla, Jessica, and Jamie asked in unison.
�I�ve got an appointment.�
�When will you be back?� Kayla asked.
�Before dawn,� Kaylee shrugged.
�Benji?� Jamie mouthed.
Kaylee shook her head. �I�ll be back in a bit.�
Kaylee parked her truck in front of the large hotel. Calmly she walked inside and up to the reception desk. �Hi can you call up to room 513 and tell them Kaylee Russell is here?�
The woman nodded and did so. �He�s on his way.�
�Thanks,� Kaylee smiled before walking over to the bank of elevators and leaning against the fall facing them.
One set of doors opened and Joel walked out.
�Howdy Stranger.�
Joel smiled as he looked her up and down. �You look good.�
Kaylee laughed. �Thanks. And this time I�m legal.�
Joel�s smile grew wider. �So where do you wanna go?�
�Are you hungry?�
He nodded. �Starving.�
�That�s good. There�s a truck stop off the interstate that serves really good food. Sound good?�
�A truck stop?� Joel laughed as they started walking towards the door. �Why a truck stop.�
�Every summer when we come up here to stay with our mother, Daddy would always stop at the same truck stop right before he�s drop us off at her house. And I�ve been craving it since we got here.�
�Didn�t your dad take you?�
�No. We drove up by ourselves.�
Joel stopped and eyed her truck. �All four of you came in your truck?�
Kaylee laughed as she got in. �No. Me and James took the truck. Kayla and Jess took Kayla�s convertible.�
�Identical twin sisters. One with a Ford F350 and the other a convertible.�
�It�s easier to pull around a horse trailer with a truck.�
�You ride horses?�
�Not much, but Jamie does. Daddy use to drive her to every competition. But he started getting really busy with work around the time I turned sixteen. So I told him if he got me a truck, I�d drive Jamie and pull the trailer.�
�When you were sixteen? Damn, I wouldn�t have thought of that now.�
�Now you would�since I just told you,� Kaylee laughed. She pulled off the interstate and drove into the truck stop�s parking lot.
�You�re sure this is where you wanna eat?� Joel asked. �I could take you somewhere nicer.�
�As sweet as that is, no thanks. Have you ever eaten at a truck stop?�
�Not really. Why?�
�Don�t order a lot. They serve really big portions.� She waved at a few drivers as she led Joel to a booth by the windows. Kaylee sat down and handed him one of the plastic covered menus.
�Sense you�ve eaten here, what�s good?� He asked reading over the menu slowly.
�If you like spicy food the chili is really good.�
Joel looked over the top of his menu at her. �What are you going to have?�
Kaylee thought for a moment. �Grilled cheese and a cup of chili. You?�
�Probably a burger and fries.�
The waitress came over and took their orders.
�So what are you guys doing in Cali?� Kaylee leaned forward on her elbow.
�Working on our third album over at Barefoot Studios.�
�Eric Valentine�s place, right? Didn�t he work on your sophomore?�
He nodded. �How�d you know?�
�I had to do a couple interviews there last summer. Eric was really nice about it.�
�You wanna stop by the studio tomorrow?� Joel�s eyes shinned hopefully.
Kaylee took a sip of her coke before responding. �Sure. Jamie might wanna come, is that okay?�
�Yeah, that�s fine.�
She smiled at him as the waitress set their plates on the table.
After a few minutes of quiet eating, Joel cleared his throat.
Kaylee looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.
�Can I ask you something?�
She nodded and swallowed her bite of chili.
�Why don�t you like staying with you mom?�
Kaylee sighed. �I was five when my parents divorced. She didn�t want the responsibility of four kids. So mom left. Daddy raised us. Well a year later mom went to court to get full custody. They wouldn�t give it to her fully, but she could have us during the summers. Mom�s never home and when she is she acts like we�re some kind of burden. Daddy treats up like princesses.�
�So you�d rather be a princess over a problem.�
Kaylee nodded. �That and Daddy doesn�t expect me to be all sugar and fluff.�
�So if you�re not sugar and fluff, what are you?�
�Sugar and spikes. Or as my editor puts is �spice and leather�.�
Joel smiled. �Both are very fitting. You really like working for that online magazine, don�t you? What�s it called? Gravity?�
�I love working on Gravity.� She chuckled and reached out to wipe a bit of ketchup from Joel�s mouth. Kaylee licked the ketchup from her thumb slowly.
�Can I ask you a personal question?� Joel asked not taking his eyes off her lips.
�Go ahead.�
�Do you have a boyfriend?�
Kaylee smiled. �No. Why are you interested in the position?�
He smiled back at her. �I�ve only waited two years.�
�The fact that you�re five years older doesn�t bother you? Joel, you�re twenty-four and I�m only nineteen.�
�It�s only a number, Lee.�
Kaylee smiled and blushed slightly.
�You look really innocent when you smile like that.� Joel reached across the table and gently stroked her cheek with his thumb.
She turned her head and kissed the inside of his palm. �It�s a lie.�
He smirked. �Yeah, but I still like the way it makes your eyes light up.�
Kaylee lowered her eyes and blushed again. About that time her two-way pager went off. She sighed and she pulled it out of her pocket.
�A two-way and a cell phone? Damn Kaylee.�
�The two ways from work. It�s easier than calling.� She sighed, heavily.
�That doesn�t sound good.�
Kaylee shook her head and quickly replied to the text message. �Looks like I�m not gonna be able to come by the studio tomorrow, after all.�
�Why not?� Joel sounded almost crushed.
�Duty calls. I�ve got to do an interview with a band. The girl that was suppose to do it is vomiting from a stomach flu.�
�That was an over share.�
She smiled. �Sorry.�
He shrugged. �It�s okay. Maybe you can come by some other time. Who do you have to interview?�
�Simple Plan. One of the few bands I�ll still interview. I might have to kidnap David though, that�s kids just too adorable for his own good.�
Joel laughed. �Tell them I said �hello�. They�re pretty good friends of ours.�
�So I�ve heard.� Kaylee sighed again. �I�ve got to get back to the house to prepare for tomorrow. I�d rather stay here.� She looked around the table quickly. �Did our check ever come?�
He chuckled. �Yeah. I already paid.�
Kaylee pursed her lips and shook her head. �You didn�t have to.�
�I wanted to.� Joel stood and helped her from her seat. He leaned down and softly brushed his lips against hers. �It�s not exactly what I pictured for our first date, but I still liked it.�
She smiled. �I did too.�
June 1 5:49 pm
My oh my. After my last post things sucked�well things are starting to look up kids. Damn are they starting to look up.
I know you�re all still really confused but let�s just say�there�s a guy. Damn is there a guy.
And to add onto the guy-joy I get to interview Simple Plan tomorrow. I love those kids. Even if they are Canadian. I�ll try to get that interview up as soon as I can. Actually I think it�s gonna be one of those interviews they record on camera�yeah I won�t have to write anything down. But for those of you who can�t download videos I�ll make sure someone puts up a transcript.
For now that�s all.
Kaylee