Chapter 17

“Hey..” said Samantha.

“Hey, hold up, what are you doing callin’ me?” asked Nick, “What happened to prom, did you back out?”

“No.. I went.” Said Samantha.

“Ohh skipped out on the other part huh?” asked Nick as he started to laugh.

“Not really.. just wanted to come home that’s all. I won Prom Queen…” said Samantha.

“Really, that’s great. Was Jake king?” asked Nick.

“Yeah.” Said Samantha, “I just wanted to come home.”

“You alright, you seem really weird.” Said Nick.

“No.. I’m fine. I just I don’t know… just I don’t know.” Said Samantha.

“Sam, do I need to come home, what’s wrong? Something’s not right. What happened?” asked Nick.

“I realized that the best part of my life is almost over. I’m gonna be graduating in a little over a month… I’m gonna be on my own.” Said Samantha.

“No you’re not, you’re going on to FSU and become a doctor so you can get me all those drugs….” Said Nick as he looked around, “Wait did I say that?” as Samantha started to laugh, “Did you get to thinking about Megan?”

“Yeah….” Said Samantha as she looked over at her and Megan’s picture.

“Well it’s over with now. High school is almost over and then you can move on to college.” Said Nick.

“Yeah we’ll never see each other then. You’re barely ever home. Like you’re going to come to Tallahassee just to see me.” Said Samantha.

“Hey I might can catch a football game while I’m there.” Said Nick laughing as Samantha smiled, “Just go on to sleep, you sound tired.”

“Okay…. I’ll call you tomorrow.” Said Samantha.

“Okay.” Said Nick as he smiled, “Bye.”

“Bye.” Said Samantha as Nick hung up the phone and he looked over across the isle to see Kevin looking at him.

“Was that your friend Samantha from back home?” asked Kevin as Nick nodded his head a little.

“She misses her friend….” Said Nick.

“The one that was with her New Year’s Eve?” asked Kevin.

“Yeah.. that died in the wreck.” Said Nick as he put his cell phone back in his bag that was in the seat beside him.

“Well that’s good that you’re there for her. That’s what a good friend is for.” Said Kevin as Nick smiled and looked back out the window.

Samantha just laid there looking at the picture of her and Megan when she reached in the drawer and pulled out a picture of her, Nick, Megan, Brian, AJ, Howie, and Kevin from New Year’s Eve from before they went out on stage and started to cry. She looked at herself standing there in-between Nick and Megan, her two best friends. She couldn’t believe that in not even a year’s time, her and Nick had became best friends, and now he was all that she had left.

She put the picture back in the drawer, closing it when rolled over on her back and closed her eyes. Every time she closed her eyes, she remembered Jake and what he did to her, so she moved back and laid on her side, trying to cry herself to sleep.

“No… I don’t feel like going to church.” Said Samantha as she laid there in bed while her father stood in the doorway that next morning.

“Okay… we’ll be home later this afternoon.” Said Roger, “Beep me if you need anything.” As Samantha nodded her head. Roger shut the door as Samantha laid there. She hadn’t had any sleep that night. She just lay there, continuously moving so that she wouldn’t think about Jake and what happened.

Not too long after her family had left to go to church, she laid in bed when she heard the doorbell ring. She just laid there, knowing who it was. She didn’t want to see him this morning. She didn’t wanna see him again, but she knew she had to. She got up and walked downstairs, pushing her hair behind her ears, as she opened the door to see Nick standing there and she looked in shock.

“Oh my god, hey!” said Samantha as they hugged and Nick looked around.

“Well you could put on some clothes or something.” Said Nick as he walked on in and Samantha realized she had on at the oversized t-shirt that she slept in sometimes.

“Uhh sorry.. what the hell are you doing here?” asked Samantha as Nick sat down on the sofa and looked around smiling.

“I was on the plane when you called last night. We’re doing the Grad Night stuff in Orlando… duh… I’m home some.” Said Nick as Samantha smiled.

“For real?” asked Samantha as she sat down in a chair, pulling her t-shirt over her legs sitting in Indian style and Nick looked at her.

“Who slapped the hell out of you?” asked Nick as he looked at her and Samantha put her hand on the side of her face as she looked around.

“Nobody..” said Samantha as Nick got up and looked at her face.

“Nobody my ass…. What happened, you look so good last night some other guy was hittin’ on ya and his girl knocked the hell out of ya?” asked Nick as Samantha got up and looked in the mirror.

“Oh no, I ran into one of those statues at the prom.” Said Samantha as Nick sat back down and started to laugh.

“Oh.. just tell everybody someone hit ya. You don’t wanna look like a moron or anything.” Said Nick as Samantha sat back down and looked at him, “You still seem weird….”

“No I’m not.” Said Samantha, “I’m fine, so how long are you here for?”

“Ummm, the day after graduation… Rok, well Brian is having heart surgery, in a week and a half, so we’re off for a month and then we go into rehearsal so he can get better while learning the dances and stuff and the tour starts in July.” Said Nick.

“So you’re here like over a month?” asked Samantha as Nick smiled, shaking his head yes.

“Thought maybe you could hook me up with one of the honey’s at school or somethin’.” Said Nick as Samantha rolled her eyes.

“Find one on your own.” Said Samantha as Nick smiled.

“So where’s the family?” asked Nick.

“Sunday, it’s church, I didn’t feel like going.” Said Samantha.

“Where’s the hubby.. Wait… boyfriend, fiancée.. Whatever he is now.” Said Nick as Samantha looked down, “Where’s Jake?”

“Home I guess..” said Samantha.

“So you two get it on last night?” asked Nick smiling as Samantha looked out the window and looked back at Nick.

“Yeah…” said Samantha as Nick smiled.

“That’s my girl.” Said Nick laughing as Samantha stood up.

“I’m gonna go up there and like get dressed okay?” asked Samantha as she walked upstairs and Nick looked around confused.

“What the hell did I say wrong?” he thought as he sat there looking around.