When he realized that the door was not going to open, AJ began to pound on it. He hit the door harder with each word he said.
"Hey! Help! We’re locked in here! D! Kaos! Train! Rok! Anyone!" he yelled.
"I don’t think they can hear us," the girl standing next to him said. AJ turned, pulled his sunglasses down, and his shoulders fell. He was stuck in the bathroom with Zoey.
He began to pound harder on the door. "Help!" he yelled.
"Calm down. I’m sure that someone will realize that we’re gone," Zoey said as she headed over to the toilet.
"Of all the people I could have gotten stuck in a bathroom with, it had to be you, Miss Attitude Queen," AJ groaned as he leaned against the door.
"Hey, this is no picnic for me either. Out of all five Backstreet Boys, I get the Freak," Zoey shot back. "Freak?! Listen here, you little…" AJ began as he whirled around to face her.
"Hey! Turn around!" Zoey ordered as she held the buttons on her pants.
AJ took off his sunglasses, his dark eyes wide. "What do you think you’re doing?" he asked.
"I’m doing what I came in here to do. Turn around."
"Here? Now? With me in here?"
"Yes, now if you’d please turn around."
AJ sighed and did as he was told. He turned around and faced the door. He could hear her unzip her pants. The bathroom was silent, and the silence was killing him. He had to break it. He also had to get his mind off of what Zoey was doing on the other side of the room.
"So, you’re Tessa’s friend? How long have you known her?" he asked.
"I’ve known her for three years now. Ever since we met in World Literature. How long have you known Brian?" she replied.
"You work in a radio station, and you don’t know the answer to that?" AJ was surprised. He heard her zip up her pants and flush the toilet.
"Okay, you can turn around now," she announced. AJ turned around to find Zoey standing there with her arms crossed.
"Now, about your question. What’s that suppose to mean? I work at a college radio station. We don’t really play any boy bands there," she continued.
AJ placed his sunglasses in the pocket of his black pants. "We are not just a boy band, thank you," he said defensively.
Zoey sighed and sat down next to the toilet. AJ sat down next to the sink. They were a good four feet apart.
"I didn’t mean to sound rude. It’s just that people who usually come to our concerts know me better than I know myself," he apologized, looking over at her with his deep brown eyes.
"Yeah, well, okay. I guess the Freak comment was a little harsh," she said as she looked down at her nails.
There was a long silence between them. AJ leaned against the door and studied Zoey. Despite her attitude and her sharp sarcasm, she really was beautiful. He had never seen that much natural beauty in one person before. Her long, wavy, dark hair cascaded down past her shoulders, and her purple eyes sparkled, even when she was being sarcastic. She also had full, red lips and smooth tan skin. She had to have some Puerto Rican heritage in her.
Zoey looked up and seemed to soften under his gaze. "Look, I don’t mean to come off sounding mean, but I seem to get very defensive when I meet new people. Just ask Tessa. I think I scared her the first time I met her. Besides, if it’s any consolation, I don’t know a thing about you," she smiled. "Anyway, you never did answer my question."
AJ returned her smile. "I’ve known Brian for six, maybe seven years now," he replied. He then began to chuckle at the memory of the first time he met Brian. "When I first met him, he had the thickest Southern accent I had ever heard. Florida may be in the South, but there aren’t that many Southern accents down there.
"The first thing he ever said was," at this point, AJ put on a very thick Kentucky accent. "’Hi, how y’all doin’? Y’all doin’ alright?’" He began to roll with laughter.
Zoey also joined in. "That sounds a lot like the first time I ever met my other roommate Skylar. She came from a small town called Mt. Airy, North Carolina, and her accent was so thick," she said. She then slipped into her own version of a thick Southern accent. "’Hi, I’m Skylar. Nice to meecha. Where ya from?’"
They both doubled over, laughing harder and harder. When they both eventually calmed down, they sat in silence for a little while. It was AJ who broke it.
"So, where are you from?" he asked.
"California, originally. I moved to North Carolina when I was about fourteen. You said you were from Florida? Where in Florida?"
"Kissimmee."
There was another awkward silence.
"So, do you think they miss us yet?" AJ asked.
"I don’t know, maybe. But, then again, Tessa and Brian could still be lip-locking," Zoey answered.
"True. I just hope that they realize that we’re gone," he commented. He then banged on the door, which was right next to him, a couple of more times. "Hello?! Anyone there?!" he yelled again. There was still no answer.
"What time is it?" AJ asked after a few minutes of silence.
Zoey sighed and checked her watch. "It’s been five minutes since the last time you asked me," she answered as she looked over at him.
"So, that means it’s 12:35. We’ve been in here for an hour, and no one knows that we’re missing," he said as he stretched out his long, thin legs. He yawned and turned his eyes to Zoey.
"Zoey, can I ask you something?"
"You don’t keep quiet for long, do you?"
AJ grinned. "No, silence makes me sleepy."
Zoey shook her head and leaned against the wall behind her. "Go ahead and ask your question," she smiled.
"How come you were so mean to me?"
She laughed. She couldn’t help it; AJ was giving her puppy-dog eyes. She sighed. "Well, you gave me a pick-up line. I hate nothing worse than pick-up lines."
"Believe it or not, that wasn’t a pick-up line, or it wasn’t meant to be. I’ll admit it was cheesy, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say."
"Oh, come on, ‘I could show you the tour bus’?" she said, mimicking his deep voice. "Plus, you haven’t been short on words since we’ve been locked in here."
"Yeah, I guess it was pretty bad, but it wasn’t a pick-up line," AJ defended himself. Then he locked eyes with Zoey, and they both burst out laughing.
"AJ, can I ask you something?" Zoey asked after they had calmed down.
"Yeah."
"What does AJ stand for?"
"Alexander James. My mom and I thought AJ would sound better than Alex."
Zoey smiled. "Personally, I like Alex better.
Can I call you Alex instead?"
He really wasn’t as bad as she had originally
thought. Oh, he was still a dork, had way too much
energy, and could not shut up for five seconds, but
there was something handsome about him. His hair was
dark and curly with red tips, and the long part was
currently plastered to the back of his neck because of
the sweat. He also had brown eyes that were so deep
and penetrating that she could swear he could either
see her soul or read her thoughts with those eyes. His
arms weren’t extremely muscular, but they were just big
enough, and they were covered in tattoos. The one she
was particularly interested in was the one on his right
upper arm; the one that read "da Bone."
"What does that mean?" she asked, staring at
his tattoo.
"What?" AJ asked as he rolled up his shirt.
He placed it behind his head and leaned back on it.
"The tattoo on your right upper arm. ‘Da Bone.’"
"Oh," he smiled. "That’s my nickname. I got
it because I have skinny legs. They look like a
chicken’s." He closed his eyes.
"You’re not falling asleep on me, are you?"
Zoey asked.
AJ opened his eyes and looked at her. "Yeah, I
was thinking about it. I figured since I have this
time to myself, I could sleep. I won’t have to listen
to Howie toss and turn in the bunk above me."
Zoey grinned. "Okay, at least it’ll be quiet
in here for a little while."
AJ just stuck his tongue out at her and closed
his eyes. Zoey stared up at the ceiling. Why hadn’t
anyone figured out that they were missing yet? Tessa
hadn’t left her, had she? As more and more thoughts
drifted through her head, her eyes slowly closed and
she fell asleep.