Chapter fourteen
"So, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Chris asked Britney, about the same time that Rae was trying to convince the girls to leave D alone for the first time.
"Take a wild shot in the dark," Britney offered.
"Is it because I kissed her?" Chris asked.
"Very good," Britney told him, clapping her hands together. "You're not as dumb as you look, sound, OR act." Chris frowned at her. "So, why did you do it?" she asked.
"I was losing," he mumbled.
"Losing what?" Britney inquired.
"A game," he said, even lower under his breath.
"A game? You were losing a GAME, so you kissed a woman against her will? Great idea, CHRIS!"
"Well, if all you guys," he began, trying to defend himself. He was cut short by Britney.
"And then, after she makes it perfectly obvious that she didn't like it," she continued, nearly shouting, "you stalk her?"
"I didn't stalk her," Chris denied.
"You don't call following someone continually from room to room STALKING someone?" Britney demanded, shocked.
"Well," Chris began. He smiled. "You want to be a lawyer, don't you?" Chris inquired. Britney returned the smile.
"How'd you know?" she asked, happy he had noticed.
"I think it was the pacing," he told her.
"Well, I'm not finished ," Britney responded, turning serious again.
"I wouldn't expect you to be," Chris said with a sigh. He just sat back and listened.
D laughed at Meagan's comment. "Let him drown, eh?" D asked. "You don't let people drown. You never LET people drown. It just happens. One minute their happy and swimming, the next, something happens--" her voice was beginning to catch, "-- and...poof." She breathed in raggedly. "Could you please excuse me?" she half whispered. "MOVE!" she shouted when they didn't move. She swam to to the stairs and ran out of the pool area. She ran right past Chris and Britney who were in the middle of a full fledged screaming match.
"If you hadn't started that damn game!" Britney shouted at him.
"Well, if everybody hadn't taken off on us it wouldn't have even crossed our minds!" Chris defended.
"Dammit, Chris. You had such a good thing going and you couldn't even see it. You had to kiss it goodbye, pardon the pun." It was then that D ran past.
"Where's she going?" Chris asked, watching her run toward the house.
"Oh, shit," Britney mumbled, turning away. "Rae!" Britney shouted.
"Oh no, you are not cutting out on me no," Chris informed. "Just what the hell is going on here?" Britney looked up at him like she really wanted to tell him something important, but couldn't. "I promise I won't tell anyone what you tell me, not even D," he promised. Britney gave in.
"Okay, but I'm only telling you this because I think you'll be good for her." He looked confused but didn't say anything. "No one knows this except for me and Rae. It's supposed to be kept a secret, and until now, it has. That why it is so vital that you don't tell anyone." He nodded and Britney took a huge, relaxing breath before continuing. "Randi had a little brother."
"She does? Where is he?" He then caught the 'had' and said, "oh." Britney nodded and took another breath.
"Seven years ago, Rae and D were 13, and I was 12, and her baby brother was 8. He would have been 16 this summer. Anyway, one day we were all swimming in the pool. Brent, her brother, was diving in and getting out and diving back in; you know the deal. One time, he dove in and didn't come back up. He did it all the time. We thought he was testing how long he could stay on the bottom of the pool. He never lasted past half a minute. After a minute, D was beginning to wonder. She went over and saw he wasn't moving. She went down and brought him back up. She just came up screaming. It took me and Rae a second to realize that she was screaming to her parents that Brent wasn't breathing. Her mom rushed out while her dad called 911. The paramedics told us later that Brent had 'broken his neck, rendering him paralyzed from the waist down.'" She laughed a bit although she was so near tears it hurt Chris to watch. "All those years ago and I still remember their exact words. After he broke his neck, of course, he couldn't swim back up to the surface, so he inhaled a bunch of water and drown-"
"And Randi blamed herself," Chris finished, felling near tears. Britney nodded.
"The doctors said there was nothing that D could have done, but she was hysterical. Not even Chelle could console her, and Chelle could always calm her out of anything. Rae and I didn't know what was going on with her, so we just stayed away. The paramedics had to give her a shot so she wouldn't hurt herself. They wouldn't let us visit her in the hospital, and when she was released she didn't want to see us. We almost lost her," Britney whispered.
"You mean...suicide?" Chris questioned. Britney nodded.
"Her mom told us, when she went back into the hospital, that she had tried to drown herself too. We couldn't do anything to help her. They still wouldn't let us in to see her. When she got out they'd packed up everything of Brent's so it wouldn't up set her. Eight years of stuff, gone in one week. We were just happy that she wanted to see us again. She had to go to therapy for a year. It helped a lot, but she still blames herself. She just never shows it, unless something like the guys dog piling up on you happens, then she goes crazy cause they were holding you under. We had to promise not to tell ANYBODY about it, Rae and I that is. After a year or so, everybody stopped mentioning it. Not even the other girls know about it. We don't know what it will do to Randi. They think the reminder could cause her to try and take her life again. I never thought in a million years when I was 12 that Randi could be driven to suicide." Britney took a shuddering breath, wiping tears away from her face. "I think that's it." Rae rushed up at that moment.
"I'm sorry, they were just asking me all these questions about why D was acting so weird," Rae told them. "That's why it took me so long to come when you called." She looked at Britney's face. "You told him," Rae knew. Britney nodded.
"I had to." Rae understood and wrapped her friend in a hug.
"Where is she?" Chris asked.
"On her roof," Rae told him from experience. "Go up the stairs in the house. Her room is the third door on the right. Go out the window." He rushed off, leaving Rae to calm Britney back down.
Chapter fifteen
Chris climbed through D's window an onto the flat roof extending from the side of her house. He walked slowly in her direction and sat a bit away from her.
"How ya doin'?" he asked tentatively, scooting toward her. She looked up from her knees and over at him. Her face was streaked with tears. It pained him to see her this way. He scooted over so he was right next to her and hesitantly put his arm around her. When he did this, she broke.
"OMG," she sobbed, leaning into his shoulder. "I couldn't save him."
"Shhh," he soothed, rocking her gently.
"My poor baby. How could I let him drown like that? I should have known there was something wrong when he didn't come right back up. How could I not have known?"
"There was no way you could have known," Chris told her softly. "It's not your fault."
"YES IT IS," she screamed. "You weren't there. You don't know. I should have been able to save him. I was his older sister, he depended on me for things like that. It's not right, he should still be her."
"Have you ever thought that it's better that he didn't live?" Chris asked.
"Don't say that!" D demanded, trying to pull away now. He put his arms around her, holding tight until she collapsed again in a fit of sobs. "Don't say that," she repeated, hitting him lightly in a last attempt to break free of his embrace.
"If he had lived," Chris continued, ignoring her pleas, "he would have been paralyzed from the neck down, unable to do anything for himself."
"No," D sobbed, shaking her head. She didn't want to hear this.
"And on top of that, the lack of oxygen to his brain would have caused a lot of brain damage, and he would have probably been a vegetable. He wouldn't have been your brother anymore, at least not the way you think of him and remember him now. He wouldn't have the same life and vitality." He stroked her hair gently. "you think of him, not being able to move, speak, and when you look at him, him looking right through you with no recognition if you in his eyes. Then you tell me he is not better off in heaven with God, where his can look down on you and take care of you like you always wanted to take care of him. Randi, he loved you and he would want you to be happy, not sad like this, blaming yourself all the time." She looked up at him and he saw a glimmer of hope in her tear stained face.
"You really think so?" she asked.
"I know so," he answered in a whisper. He leaned toward her, not even realizing it. He looked into her eyes, and saw them beginning to close.
"I think we should get back," D whispered, breaking the spell. "Rae and Britney will be worried about me."
"You're right," Chris said, pulling away. He stood and held out his hand to help her.
A sixteen year old boy with brown spiked hair and clear blue eyes sat on the roof above Randi and Chris. He looked down at them, irritation clear on his face.
"Kiss her, you damn idiot!" the boy exclaimed to Chris, although Chris didn't hear a word of it. "Yep, that's her, my sister the prude. Twenty, still hasn't kissed a guy. I had such hopes for this guy. You know there's a reason I brought you here, don't you??" he shouted at Chris. "And it wasn't so all your friends could make a move on her friends!"
"Brent," sighed the girl sitting beside him. "Why can't you ever just leave her alone?" The girl had flowing golden white hair, and large green eyes with a hint of blue in them. She wore a white flowing dress.
"Because she's my sister," Brent told her for the hundredth time. "Shit, they're getting away." Brent stood and ran over to the window, as if he could block them. "Come on, help me out a bit here," he asked, trying desperately to close D's window.
"Brent..." She gave up with a sigh and snapped her fingers. The window flew shut, causing Brent to land on his face. The girl giggled.
"Thanks, Angel," Brent said sarcastically. He stood and dusted himself off. "One of these days I'm gonna MAKE you teach me that. What kind of a name is 'Angel' for an angel anyway. It's just redundant."
"I see you've been looking through the thesaurus again," Angel said with a smirk. He gave a fake laugh.
"It is pretty stupid though," he pointed out. "You'd think they'd pick something a little original. It's not like you were born mortal and they picked it. No, they had a baby angel and named it 'Angel.'"
"Why are we doing this again?"
"So D will be happy and all that crap, preferably with this whack job. Why I thought they would be good together, I can't remember for the life of me," Brent told Angel.
"Well, if you want them to be happy, why don't you let them get back to their friends, hmmm?" Angel suggested, raising one perfect eyebrow.
"Okay, fine," Brent said. "You know, you're no fun." She just smiled, and snapped her fingers. The window flew open while D was trying to open it. D stumbled, and Chris caught her quickly. He smiled down at her as she laughed.
"Are you okay?" he inquired. She nodded. They went through the window and out to the pool to join their friends.
"Human's," Brent said, shaking his head. Angel snapped her fingers and suddenly disappeared. "Quit doing that!!" Brent exclaimed to the space Angel had previously occupied. He jumped from the roof and stomped to the pool. "I hate it when she does that," he mumbled to himself.
Chapter sixteen
As soon as Randi got into the pool, Meagan, Ali, and Jen approached her.
"We're really sorry," Meagan told her. "Britney and Rae just told us." D looked over at Britney and Rae, horrified.
"Ya, we had no idea," Ali added. She looked at her hands. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"Tell you what?" D asked, praying that it wasn't what you thought.
"That you almost drown," Jen told her. "How horrible for you. We're so sorry that we said those things. Can you forgive us?"
"Y-ya," D said. "Of course I do. I'm sorry I over reacted so much."
"That's okay," Ali said at the same time as Meagan said, "you didn't over react." They looked at each other, almost confused at what the other had said.
"We're really sorry too, Randi," JC said, apologizing for the group. D accepted.
"Well," Britney called, grabbing everyone's attention. "I'm sure that D has had a depressing enough time as it is. Why don't we think of something FUN to do?"
"Good idea," Jen exclaimed. "But it should be as a group. Nonna this going off in pairs and...well.. you know what I mean."
"How about Truth or Dare?" Rae suggested. They guys looked a little reluctant.
"Eww, Truth or Dare?" Brent exclaimed from atop the pool fence. "Girls. And here I always thought that Rae was the cool one."
"I like her," Angel commented.
"Ya, but you like everyone. You have this little flaw in your personality that you can't find fault with anybody."
"Funny, I don't like you that much," she pointed out with a smile.
"Ugh, I'm hurt, really I am."
"Come on, guys," Chris said. "It'll be.....fun." It almost looked like it pained him to say it. Britney looked at JC expectantly.
"I-I'm playing," JC added. Finally, seeing that the fun one and the fearless leader had joined, the rest of the guys reluctantly went for it.
"Who starts?" Justin asked.
"I'll start," D said after there were no takers. "Okay, umm--Jen. Truth, dare, double dare?"
"Double dare," Jen exclaimed, getting into it already.
"Okay. Umm, I double dare us to... oh I hate these things. Ok, I dare us to sing... 'Time after Time.'"
"Oh, you know I can't sing!!" Jen exclaimed.
"Too late now," D commented. Jen shrugged. They pretended to warm up their voices, making it worse. They began singing. They didn't totally torture the song, but they came aweful damn close, especially at the start when neither of them knew where to start. The guys gave them a pity standing ovation when they finished.
"Bravo," Justin cheered, smiling widely.
"Okay, your turn," D told Jen, going to stand beside Chris again.
"Hmmmm," Jen said, looking around at her friends. "JC, Truth, dare, double dare."
"Dare," JC chose.
"Okay. Hmmm," Jen began to think. She suddenly giggled. "You have to run around the house buck naked, while screaming at the top of your lungs, 'I'm The King Of The World!'" Brent chuckled from beside Jen's ear after he had finished whispering the suggestion into it.
"How do ya like dem apples, huh? Huh, huh?"
"You're perverse," Angel told him, disgusted.
"Thank you," Brent accepted, smiling.
"Are you insane?" JC demanded. He looked to Britney, who was laughing at him. "You gonna stop her or something?"
"Stop her?" Britney asked. "I think it's funny. Besides, you know the rules, you have to do it." JC glowered at his girlfriend.
"Come on, JC," Lance prodded with a laugh. "You can do it."
"Ya, JC," Chris told him, trying to hold it in. "Buck up."
"You're hilarious," JC commented.
"Thank you."
Chapter 17
"I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!!!!" JC screamed, running through the house, buck naked, covering himself. "JEN, YOU ARE SO DEAD!! I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!!!!!" Everybody stood outside the picture window of D's house, doubled over with laughter, leaning on someone for support. Everyone had just about stopped laughing, when all of the sudden they heard, "I AM THE KING OF THE WORLD!!!!" causing them all to shriek with laughter again.
"Oh, my goodness," Britney exclaimed, trying to force herself upright. "This is definitely wedding reception material."
"You better invite me to that wedding," Meagan ordered. Britney nodded.
"You're all invited," Britney promised.
"Well, this is definitely gonna be an interesting wedding then," Ali said, only to be cut off by,
"I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!!! Guys, can I come out yet?" JC pleaded.
"Fine, ya wussy!!" Lance called in. "Get your bare white ass out here."
"What the hell were you doing looking at my ass?" JC demanded.
"Ya, what were you doing looking at his ass?" Britney echoed. Britney shook her head at Lance as he turned beet red (is it just me, or are beets like purple or something?) from the comments. JC walked out of the house in his swim pants.
"That was NOT funny," he told everybody. Justin smiled evilly.
"No, but this is," Justin yelled, and ran behind him and whipped down JC's swimming shorts. JC looked at his friend shocked and covered himself quickly.
"You little sonova--- I'm gonna kill you." He turned around and pulled up his pants. When he turned back, he pointed at Justin, a psychotic look in his eye. "Sleep with one eye open little man. I'll be watching you."
"JC, did you take your medication this morning?" Joey inquired. JC's finger shifted to Joey, causing him, and Ali who was holding his arm, to flinch. "Sorry man, no offence meant, I swear."
"Josh, honey," Britney said in a calming tone. Everybody looked, confused, at her as she said this. She ignored them and continued. "Why don't we go back into the pool. Everything will be fine in the pool." JC backed away with Britney toward the pool, pointing randomly at people, the deranged look still in his eye. After a few more seconds of that, D couldn't take anymore and burst out laughing hysterically. They all looked at her like she had a problem. She just continued laughing, sputtering something about JC.
"D, what's wrong with you?" Jen asked. "I don't see what's so funny."
"I'm sorry," D apologized. "He just looked so.."
"Insane?" Chris suggested. D nodded, wiping a tear away. By this time, even JC was paying attention. He looked at her laughing and kinda smiled.
"Ya," JC said with a chuckle. "I guess I did sound a bit nuts, sorry 'bout that guys!" They all nodded in acceptance and patted him on the back.
"It's okay," Justin said. JC growled at him. D cracked up again. After they calmed D down, and got everyone back into the pool they continued their game.
"Okay, my turn," JC exclaimed once everyone was settled. "Okay, Britney..." The evil glint was back.
"What?"
"What was it again?"
"Truth, dare, double dare," all the girls chorused.
"Oh ya, what they said," JC chuckled.
"Truth," Britney said, quickly.
"Okay, did I hear you say something about a wedding out here?" JC asked.
"Yes," Britney replied.
"Was that about me?" JC added.
"Too late, only one question per customer!! My turn," she announced. "Juuuustin."
"Uh oh," Justin mumbled.
"Truth, dare, double dare?"
"Truth, no double dare, no dare!! ugh!!! I hate this game!!"
"Well?"
"Dare!" Justin finally picked. The evil glint and smile transferred from JC to Britney.
"I dare you to kiss the guy beside you for no less than 30 seconds AND then look deeeep into their eyes and say in your sexiest voice 'I love You. Take me big daddy!' If you don't do it for 30 seconds at the least the whole dare doesn't count and you have to do another one."
"Well, that shouldn't be too hard," Justin said, looking over at Jen. Britney cleared her throat.
"I believe I said the GUY beside you." Justin looked to his other side. Lance and Justin cringed at each other.
"No less than 30 seconds," Joey reminded.
"Hey, I shouldn't have to do this," Lance pointed out. "This isn't my dare."
"Then I guess," Britney retorted, "you shouldn't have sit beside Justin over there."
"What's the matter, Lance?" Ali asked. "Afraid you'll like it?"
Chapter 18
"This is really horrible," Angel told Brent.
"Hey, you can't blame me for this one," Brent stated. "Britney came up with this one!!"
"Ya, right," Angel said.
"Hey. What can I say? It's...Britney." Brent gave a shrug.
"Ready?" Britney asked the two guys who stared intently into each other's faces and cringed in turn.
"Wait, we need a watch," D called. They looked at her. "To time them, in case they don't do it for 30 seconds."
"Don't you trust my counting skills?" Ali asked.
"No, I've seen them. And around present company," D told her, nodding blatantly toward Lance, "you'd probably get to one Mississippi and start laughing your ass off." Ali smiled.
"You know me too well," she told D. D shrugged. "My watch is on the table," Ali offered. D quickly retrieved the watch, careful not to get it wet, and came over to get a good spot by Lance.
"Lance, I'm really sorry about this," D told him, grimacing to hide her smile.
"Ya, I bet," Lance said with a frown.
"Okay, so I'm not, but I hope that we can still be friends after this is all finished."
"We'll see," Lance told her. She gave him a hug, then got ready to time.
"Hey," Meagan exclaimed, playfully. "Keep your paws offa my boyfriend." D smiled.
"Are we ready?" Britney asked. All parties nodded, Justin and Lance still cringing. "Good, go." The two men cringed one last time and leaned in, touching mouths.
"Oh, come, on, you were kissing ME better than that!" Jen shouted at Justin. He glared at her.
"So, are ya?" Ali questioned Lance.
"What?" Lance asked out of the corner of his mouth.
"Enjoying it," Ali reminded. Lance felt the urge to dive for her throat, but he couldn't break contact with Justin or they would have to start all over, or have to do something worse.
"Ten seconds," D called out.
"Left?" Justin asked hopefully. D made a little laughing sound.
"No, ten seconds have gone past." Justin groaned to himself, it seemed like forever had gone past about 15 times. He didn't know how he was going to survive this. D looked up from the watch to look.
"Eww," she exclaimed, and hid her face in Chris' shoulder. Chris chuckled and put his arms around her. She placed her chin atop his shoulder.
"Fifteen," D shouted, right in Chris' ear.
"Ow, shit," Chris said, covering his ear. D showed a guilty face.
"Oops, sorry," she giggled.
"It's okay," he told her reluctantly. "Just warn me next time."
"Okay," D said with a nod. A little more time seemed to go past. She covered Chris' ear and shouted, "twenty."
"Thank GOD," Justin said from behind Lance's lips.
"Ya, no shit," Lance responded.
"Twenty five," D shouted, turning. She made a funny sound.
"What is it?" Chris asked.
"Ali? I think your watch stopped."
"What?!?!!?!?" Lance and Justin shrieked in unison. Ali walked over to D and Chris.
"Hmm, I wonder what happened," Ali commented calmly. "It's never stopped."
"Come on you guys, hurry," Lance exclaimed, not breaking contact.
"Ya, it must have been five seconds by now!" Justin shouted.
"Just sit still," Britney ordered.
"This isn't fair," Justin whined.
"Look, it's had to have been five seconds."
"It hasn't," Britney told them.
"One two three four five," Justin rattled off. "I'm done, there ya go."
"Got it!" Ali shouted quickly so the guys wouldn't end the lip lock.
"What happened??" Lance demanded, still kissing Justin.
"Randi pulled out the pin by accident," Ali lied.
"Ya, I bet!" Justin shouted. "How long?"
"Five seconds," D told him.
"Oh, D, come on," Meagan said.
"You callin me a liar?" D inquired. "Com'on, I can take ya." D laughed and looked back at the watch.
"Time," D called. The two men broke apart thankfully.
"We're waiting," Britney said, evil smile on her face and arms crossed across her chest.
"For what?" Justin yelled. She looked at him as if she didn't believe him. "Please!" Justin pleaded. "Haven't I done enough for you?" Britney shook her head.
"What about me?" Lance exclaimed. "This isn't even my dare," he repeated. Britney stared at them blankly. Justin huffed, then turned to Lance again.
"Buddy, I hate to do this to ya, but--" He took at deep breath, then stared deep into Lance's eyes. "I love You. Take me big daddy," Justin half whispered, in a deep sexy voice that almost made Jen pass out and Meagan drop Lance.
"Whoa," Chris said, shocked. They were all surprised, Justin almost sounded like he actually meant it. D burst out laughing, Lance was second. D began to clap.
"I think you turned JOEY on," Ali commented. Everybody laughed at this. Justin just smiled and blushed a deep red.
"Okay, my turn," Justin exclaimed. "Truth, dare, double dare, Ali, since you had so much fun watching us suffer."
"Hey, I'm not the only one," Ali defended. Justin shrugged.
"Truth, dare, double dare?"
"Truth," Ali said with a shrug.
"Okay, what base are you and Joey at?"
"Base? Base? Who talks like that past the age of 15?" Ali asked, laughing. "My goodness, I don't even remember which base is which anymore." Justin looked at her exasperated.
"Just answer the question," Justin asked.
"Umm, two? Sure, why not," Ali said with a shrug. She laughed again, shaking her head. "Lance, truth, dare, double dare?"
"Uhhhh, double dare," Lance exclaimed.
"Ooookay, I double dare us toooo--go into the deep end and strip."
"Brent!" Angel shrieked.
