I opened my eyes and peered at the clock. Nine AM. I rolled over, stared at the ceiling, and listened to the rain pouring down outside. I hadn't slept well that night because all I could think about was the Expedition. How in the world was I going to tell AJ?
Everything had been taken care of that day. The tow-truck arrived and towed away the vehicle. They told me that they would call me on Monday with an estimate of how much it would be. Howie showed up a few minutes after the tow-truck left and picked up Nick and me. He thought the entire situation was funny! He laughed all the way to my house, and Nick even laughed, too. They had no idea how much trouble I was in.
I threw off the covers and got up. I was in no rush because we didn't have anything to do until three, and that was just an interview and a photo shoot. I had gotten used to those, and they didn't scare me so bad anymore. I stumbled down the stairs, wiping the sleep out of my eyes and walked into the living room. I crashed on the couch, grabbed the remote, and...the doorbell rang.
I got up and walked to the foyer. I peeked through the eyehole, and my heart skipped a beat. Standing on the porch and dripping wet was Nick. My first thought was, He can't see me like this! But then I remembered that I was still AJ.
I took a deep breath and opened the door. Nick was looking down at the ground, and he looked up when the door opened. He had a sad look on his face, and his tears mixed with the raindrops dripping from his blond locks. My heart went out to him.
Without saying a word, I invited him in and led him into the living room. He sat down on the couch, and I went to get dry towels. I returned to find his tall frame shivering. I sat down next to him and draped one of the towels around his broad shoulders.
"Nick, what's wrong? What happened?" I asked quietly.
He turned to look at me. "I know I don't talk to you very often, but I didn't have anyone else to turn to. My family's in California, Brian and Kevin have family visiting, and Howie's not home." He paused and sniffled. "She left me, AJ."
"Who did? Missy?"
He nodded. "She said that I was fat and clumsy and that my fame alone wasn't enough to make her stay. Can you believe that? She only loved my fame," he said. The last sentence was filled with the sound of shock.
I placed my hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," I apologized.
"How could I have been so stupid? I didn't even see it coming."
"You're not stupid, Nick. Love at one time or another blinds everybody. It happened to me, and my heart was broken for a long time."
"Yeah, I guess, but it still hurts." As he told his story, Nick had been looking down at his shoes. He now slowly looked up, and his eyes met mine.
Then, something weird happened. I knew I had loved Nick from the moment I first met him, but in that moment, I think he had fallen in love with me. He looked deeper into my eyes. "AJ, when did your eyes change color? They used to be brown, and now they're...hazel?" he observed.
My heart stopped. He couldn't, could he? Could he actually see...me? Could he tell that I wasn't AJ?
The moment only lasted for a split second. Nick apparently realized what he was doing and slid as fast as he could to the other end of the couch. "AJ, man, I'm sorry. I don't know what just happened or what just got into me. I guess all of my sadness is driving me crazy," he apologized nervously.
He took off the towel and stood up. "Thanks for all of your help, but I think I need to spend some time by myself."
I stood up, too. "Okay, are you sure you're going to be alright?"
His nervousness seemed to disappear for a few minutes. "Yeah, thanks." He managed a small smile.
I walked him to the door and opened it. He turned around, and our eyes met again. He looked away, shook his head, and left. I stood there and watched him as he walked away. Was it possible that he knew?
"Heather, I’m still not sure I believe all of this, but I’ll see what I can find. I’ll call Amy and ask her if I can come up this weekend," EmmE said. I smiled; after trying to convince her about who I was for an hour, she had finally agreed to come to Boone and help. "So, you honestly think you’re AJ?" she asked after a short pause.
"Correction: I know I’m AJ. I know you think I’m crazy now, but when you come up, I’m sure Heather and I can straighten out this whole mess," I reassured her.
EmmE sighed. "Alright. Look, I’ve gotta go. See you in a week." We said our good-byes and hung up. I strolled into the living room, sat down on the couch, and looked up at the clock. It was 7:30. Sandee’s date would be arriving in thirty minutes.
I gritted my teeth. I didn’t like this; I didn’t like this idea at all. But I had kept quiet because Sandee had looked so happy.
"Okay, how do I look?" Sandee’s voice pulled me away from my thoughts. I looked up, and a big smile spread across my face.
"You look beautiful," I said without thinking. She stood there in a dress shirt and a pair of black pants. Her long, dark hair was cascading past her shoulders, and her brown eyes were tinted purple because of her contacts.
She burst out laughing. "Thanks. I can always rely on one of my best friends to make me feel better," she smiled.
I couldn’t believe it! Sandee didn’t know. She had no idea how gorgeous she was.
Just then, the doorbell rang. "Oh, my God! He’s early. Heather, answer the door," Sandee panicked. She turned towards her brother’s bedroom. "Mark! Keep Matt company for me!" She then dashed into her room.
Mark emerged from his room and waved as I passed him to open the door. I opened it to see a well-built, tall guy with brown hair and green eyes standing there. I guessed that this had to be Matt.
I reluctantly invited him in and led him to the couch. Immediately, he and Mark became engrossed in conversation. I sat on the other end of the couch and glared at him.
"Oh, I meant to ask you. Can I use the phone?" Matt asked after he and Mark had an in-depth discussion about the break-up of Degeneration X on WWF.
"Sure, man," Mark said. "You can use my room." Matt thanked him, took the cordless, and walked into his room. Mark turned his attention to me.
"You know, he seems like a nice guy. I like him. What do you think?" he observed.
"I don’t trust him," I mumbled.
"Sure." I headed to Mark’s room. Now,
rationality told me to knock on the door, but I wanted
to hear Matt’s conversation. I quietly opened the door
and sneaked in. He didn’t hear me.
"Yeah, man, I am in her house; I’m actually
going to do this. Okay, at 300 points, I have the most
in the frat, right? How much does it count for a
Puerto Rican chick?"
My eyes grew wide. I couldn’t believe he had
just said that. Without thinking, I charged towards
him. He heard me and turned around. I punched him in
the face. The impact knocked him off the bed and the
phone out of his hand.
"Matt? Matt, man, are you there?" the voice
on the other end of the phone yelled.
I grabbed the phone. "He’ll have to call you
back," I said, then pressed the off button. I turned
back to see that Matt had recovered from my fist.
"You bitch," he said and hit me in the mouth.
Blood started to flow from my newly-cut bottom lip.
The impact had knocked me flat on my butt.
I was about to get up and hit him back when
Mark’s booming voice stopped me. "What the hell do you
think you’re doing?" His question was directed at
Matt.
I turned around to see Mark’s tall,
football-player frame standing in the doorway with
Sandee standing right behind him. I turned back to
see the stunned look on Matt’s face.
"She started it; she hit me," he argued.
"Hey! You were the one bragging to your
buddies about how many points you were going to get by
scoring with a Puerto Rican chick," I shot back.
By that time, Sandee had pushed past her
brother and had knelt down to see if I was alright.
She was now glaring at Matt.
"I think you’d better leave," she said, her
voice dripping with warning.
Mark walked in and grabbed Matt by the collar.
"Allow me to escort you out. I think we have some
things we need to discuss," he said.
As Mark led Matt out the front door, Sandee led
me to the kitchen. She got a washcloth from the
bathroom, wet it, and applied it to my lip.
"I’m sorry about that," I mumbled around the
washcloth.
She managed a small smile. "That’s alright;
it’s not your fault. Thanks for standing up for my
honor, though."
"Ah, it was nothing."
Sandee continued to doctor my lip, then she
looked up. Her eyes met mine. Slowly, a puzzled look
crept across her face, and she stopped cleaning my
wound. "You’re eyes aren’t brown, are they?" she
asked.
My joking manner disappeared. Was she
seeing…me? I took the hand that was holding the
washcloth and lowered it. I looked her directly in
the eyes. "Can you see me?" I asked quietly.
She quickly looked away and laughed. "Of
course I can see you, Heather. You’re standing right
in front of me. I guess I need to clean my contacts."
She then continued to clean my lip, and we
didn’t say another word. Something had happened in
that moment, but neither of us were quite sure what it
had been.