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By: Calliope
“Hello?” “You owe me a fucking explanation.” “Lana!” He sounded downright delighted. “You’re speaking to me! I was worried that you weren’t ever going to do that again.” “If you don’t start talking, McLean, you’re going to WISH I decided NOT to talk to you,” I growled. So what? I was pissed. Pissed. Well, a little bit pissed and a lot confused, but I was trying to ignore that part. Ignoring things had proved a very nice, sheltered, successful way of dealing with these boy band idiots. He sighed, and for the first time since I’ve known him, AJ didn’t sound happy. “I take it you talked to Nick.” “Never let anyone tell you you’re slow,” I snapped. “May I ask what happened?” “NO,” I fired back, “but you may tell me what the hell is going on.” “Nick was supposed to explain it to you,” he said softly. “That’s why he’s there.” “Nick is not here. Nick is at Hannah’s. I am speeding down the highway trying to figure out exactly how stupid I am for falling for this game of yours.” “It’s not a game…” “Then what the hell would you call it, AJ?” AJ groaned. “Shit. I knew I should’ve stayed at Hannah’s.” I narrowed my eyes at the phone. “Why?” “Because now you’re mad as a hornet and I bet Nick’s just sitting over there with his head in his hands trying to figure out why none of the right words came out when they were supposed to.” He laughed lightly. “Man, he took this whole thing so seriously too. He wrote this little speech with all these eloquent words and spent all night last night memorizing it.” I sucked in a breath and tried to ignore the urge to awww at the thought of Nick doing something so disgustingly chick-flick. “You’re lying.” AJ chortled. “No, I’m quite finished with lying, thanks. This is officially the LAST time I go along with one of Nick’s schemes.” And, just like that, I remembered why I’d called AJ: to yell at him. Suddenly, there wasn’t enough yelling going on for my tastes. “Clarify.” “Pull over.” I frowned in confusion. Oh no. I was giving out the orders here. I’d had enough of these boys. “What? No! Why should I listen to you?” “Fine. Take the next exit and meet me at the lake.” “How the hell do you know where I am?” He laughed. “I can see your car, baby. And, despite all of the shit that’s gone down in the past few days, I care too much about you to watch you have an accident. You’re going to want to concentrate on what I have to tell you.” “Fine,” I bit into the phone and hurled it into the passenger seat. Grudgingly, I took the next exit and pulled over. When I opened my door, AJ was waiting with an outstretched hand. “Come on, walk with me.” I yanked my arm back and folded it across my chest with its twin. “Explain.” He sighed heavily and shoved his hands in his jean pockets. “Nick knew you had a crush on him.” I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I figured that part out.” He glanced over at me and stifled a smile. “I bet you gave him hell this afternoon, huh?” “Maybe,” I muttered. “But he SO deserved it!” AJ nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah, he did.” I groaned and bumped AJ with my shoulder. “Keep going. Nick knew I had a crush on him.” “Yeah. You know that. But, Lana, he had a bit of a crush on you too.” “Oh.” I didn’t know THAT part. “He was just worried that you’d spend more time around him and decide that he wasn’t worth your while.” AJ risked a glance at me. “He knows how smart you are. He knows how ambitious you are. Hell, Brent brags about you all the time. And Nick…he knows he’s not quite like you. He was afraid you’d get bored with him.” Nick Carter, insecure? Right. “Bullshit.” AJ grabbed my shoulder and turned me so I was facing him. “No bullshit. I’m done with the bullshit, okay? If I didn’t like you so much, I would’ve been done a long time ago, but I actually think you’d be good for Nick.” I waved my hands around to shut him up. “So, wait…all this time, you’ve been trying to set me up with Nick?” AJ rolled his eyes. “Duh. Even you knew that.” “Well, I kinda thought you actually liked me,” I retorted angrily, folding my arms back in place. “I did. I do. But for Nick.” I swallowed hard and tried to ignore the way his words pinched my heart a bit. “And Nick likes me back?” “Hell yes,” AJ laughed. “Hell yes.” “So why was he dating Stephanie?” AJ shrugged. “He wanted to make you jealous.” I didn’t want to believe it. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I wanted to believe that he was just an oblivious idiot. It was so much nicer than thinking he was a childish asshole. “That’s so…juvenile.” AJ rolled his eyes. “That’s our Nick. Juvenile and generally clueless.” “So why the double date?” AJ sighed. “You weren’t acting jealous enough for Nick.” “What?!” “He didn’t think you were acting jealous enough,” AJ muttered. “He figured that, if you really did like him, Stephanie’s presence would have more of an effect on you, but you were never outright rude to her.” “’Cause I have CLASS,” I spat. AJ laughed. “That you do, Lana. More than Nick deserves sometimes. He didn’t expect you and I to get along so well, though, and he DEFINITELY didn’t expect you to say you were falling in love with me.” I narrowed my eyes in confusion. “I thought he was in on your plan?” AJ winked at me. “Hell no! I wasn’t supposed to have a plan! I was supposed to be an asshole on the date so Nick could rescue you, but I liked you too much. I gave you my stamp of approval and told Nick I’d set you two up.” He chuckled lightly to himself. “And damn, did that work better than I thought it would. He fell for you like a box of rocks off a building. That night with the dress? I spent half the time listening to him talk about how beautiful you were. When you said what you said about me…he was crushed, man. Crushed.” “So he drags me onto the dance floor to tell me what an asshole you are?” AJ grimaced and rubbed a hand over his face. “He was grasping at straws. He thought he was losing you. Besides, he was half right. These past few days, I’ve definitely felt like an asshole.” I wanted to tell him he deserved it, but looking at him…I just couldn’t do it. AJ had told me from the beginning that he’d help me get Nick, and he’d delivered. Almost too well… I sighed heavily and dropped a tentative hand on his arm. “AJ…you’re not an asshole.” “No?” “No.” I shook my head. “Far from it. You were only doing what you said you’d do.” “So you don’t hate me?” I sighed. I wanted to hate him. Of course, wanting is quite different from doing… “No, I don’t hate you.” “But now you hate him, right?” I groaned. “Jury’s still out on that one.” When AJ finally spoke again, his voice was quiet. “Don’t hate him, Lana. I mean, he’s still pretty middle school. He does stupid shit, yeah, but he really does care about you. He’s so worried you’re going to drop him like a bad habit after seeing him like this.” “Seeing him like what?” “Like a normal kid. Like someone who screws up.” AJ’s mouth quirked in a smile. “Like your brother.” I half-smiled at the memory of Brent trying to bribe me with chocolate-covered gummi bears. “Brent’s not all bad.” AJ looked at me meaningfully and reached over to squeeze my hand. “Neither is Nick.” 25.
Just Go For It
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