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Post by HburgEagle44 on Jun 9, 2011 23:06:10 GMT -5
We sat down to eat and I noticed what Jeffrey had done. He had placed me in between Emmett and Damian. I sat down nervously. Even if they did seem normal, they were stars and so cute! When we joined hands to pray, I kept thinking, “Settle down. It’s just a prayer.” It didn’t work. Well, it did a little. We ended the prayer and everyone dug into their food. Stroganoff. It wasn’t Mexican, which was a surprise. But it was good! Emmett stopped eating long enough to say, “What a blessed relief from popcorn!” We all laughed (except Papa, who looked confused). Grammy asked, “So, why are you here anyways?” Damian explained how they were trying to get a concert set up in Eugene. They had decided to stay in Hburg because they didn’t realize they had such big fans in the vicinity. Everyone looked at me. Except for Papa, of course. Grammy nodded. “Ah, you are Celtic Thunder members? Debbie’s told me about you guys.” Emmett nodded. “Yes, we are. Debbie, may I have some more?” Laughter burst out around the table. Emmett looked surprised. “What did I say?” “It’s much better than popcorn, isn’t it?” Papa asked teasingly. He looked relieved. He had caught on, I saw. Emmett nodded and realization slowly spread across his features. “Most definitely!” he agreed. “May I have more?” Mom complied. We ate in genial small talk until the “March Madness” talk threatened to spring up again. Lukas turned to Papa. “So, how many did you get right on your bracket?” I groaned. “No, please,” I whispered. “Not today.” Grammy turned to Jeffrey quickly. “Jeffrey! Have you done your homework for Spring Break yet?” She was really reaching. Jeffrey shook his head. His eyes started twinkling. “No, but Jenny has. She tried, at least.” I sighed despairingly. “She was doing her math homework, when she slammed her book and declared that she couldn’t understand and Mr. Moore is torturous,” Jeffrey finished proudly. “Really?” Mom asked happily. “There’s something that you don’t know how to do? Something that confuses you?” I nodded sadly. “What math is it?” Damian asked. “Trigonometry,” I replied. “It’s awful.” “I loved Trig!” Damian exclaimed. I eyed him suspiciously. “I really understood math after taking it. Really.” I looked at him in astonishment. “Really? You loved Trig?” Him and math? I couldn’t see it. Mom beamed. “Good,” she said. “Can you help her with it? I can’t believe you actually don’t understand something!” she said to me. Damian nodded. “Tonight?” he asked. “Sure,” I replied. “The sooner, the better, right?” I sighed. I really did not want to do math that night. After the dishes were done (which Emmett and Damian helped with), I went and got my math book. I stayed in my room a moment and said, “Lord, please help me with these conflicting emotions.” It helped a little. I went downstairs ready to do some math homework. Half an hour later, I was starting to get it. “You mean, it’s transformed into a cosine graph when you…” I muttered and wrote down the equation. “Like that?” I asked. He grinned. “Perfect! See, you got it, you just needed someone to tell you that you understood.” I smiled. “I guess,” I said. I looked at him teasingly. “Now do you want to help me with my English homework?” “Oh! Um…” he thought for a moment. I cut in. “I was just kidding. I don’t need help with my English. It’s easy.” Damian sighed. “I’ve never been very good at English. I always loved the other subjects more.” “Well,” I said in mock seriousness, “maybe you did get it, but you didn’t have someone to tell you that you understood.” He punched me playfully. “Very funny.” I stuck my tongue out at him. “I thought it was.” He stuck his hand near my waist, threatening to tickle me. I cringed. “Are you ticklish?” he asked. “No!” I jumped up from the table. “Let’s go see what they’re talking about in the living room.” I started gathering my stuff. He laughed. “You are ticklish! But, ok, let’s go to the living room.” He even led the way. We walked in. They were talking about Grammy’s best friend, Sue. She was coming up from California that week. Mom looked at us as we walked in. “Hey, how did it go?” I smiled. “I understand it now!” Mom smiled ruefully. “Of course you do. So, Damian, you’re a good teacher?” “Not for English!” he said quickly. “Only if I really get it, I guess.” We both laughed. Grammy looked confused this time. “But I thought you were doing math in there. You were doing English?” “We were,” I explained. “But I asked him if he would help me with my English. He said no.” Damian grinned. “Did you know she’s extremely ticklish?” Mom and Grammy burst out laughing. Mom exclaimed, “She’s even ticklish if someone is close to her waist!” Grammy added, “That’s what they call personal bubble, there.” I had to smile. “Ok, guys, enough. Where are Lukas, Papa, and Emmett?” “Upstairs on the Xbox,” Mom answered. “I want to play!” Damian said, and he went upstairs quickly. I heard their greetings and Lukas’s “do you want to play with us?” Grammy smiled at me. “He’s very, very cute,” she said. “I think he likes you, too.” She winked at me. I felt the color rising in my cheeks. “Well, he’s just a nice guy and a good friend,” I protested. “Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” Grammy said. “Don’t judged, lest ye be judged,” I answered. “Sure, he’s cute. He’s famous. And I don’t think he likes me.” Grammy leaned back, a knowing expression on her face. “Thou dost protesteth too much,” she said. “Those who speak know nothing, those who know are silent,” I said, and went upstairs, leaving a speechless Grammy behind me. I heard Mom applauding me. Ok, I honestly know nothing about what Damian likes schoolwork wise, but I thought it would work hope ya'll like it!
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Post by HburgEagle44 on Jun 10, 2011 14:19:03 GMT -5
Here's the next update! Just letting you know, Because of Mr. August (Part 1) is drawing to a close here....then we start part 2 Hope you like it! “What’s going on down there?” Papa asked, curious. My eyes flew to Damian, who was looking back, also curious. “Nothing.” “Well, I liked the way you quoted your grandmother to silence,” Emmett said. My eyes opened wide. “How much did you hear?” I gasped. “All of it,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “I think I agree with your grandmother.” He winked at me very slowly. I turned bright red and went to my room quickly, hoping to avoid more comments and questions. I grabbed a book and tried to relax. A knock came at my door. I sighed. “You can come in,” I said, putting my book down. Damian walked in. “Are you ok?” he asked. The concern in his blue eyes touched me. “Yes…well…” I hesitated. “Not really. But it’s hard to explain.” “Do you want to talk about it?” I frowned. “Well, it’ll be kinda awkward…” He smiled. “That’s all right with me. Believe me, I know awkward. It’s called sharing a bus with five guys for three months.” I smiled. “I can only imagine. Well, it’s…um.” I paused. “Is it me?” Damian asked. “Should I leave? Something Emmett said made me think that maybe – well, maybe it was tough for you to have me here.” I stayed quiet for a moment. “Well. Um. It’s nothing, really.” I stood up. Damian looked around my room and laughed. “Nice painting of me. And are you sure it’s nothing?” “Can we please not talk about it?” I asked. Looking at the picture on my wall, I smiled. “Yeah, Jeffrey painted that as a joke for Valentine’s Day a year ago. He didn’t actually think I’d keep it. It was a joke.” He smiled. “Valentine’s Day, huh?” He was lost in thought for a moment before he turned to face me. “If you ever need to talk to me, I’m here for you. Ok? Don’t go to Keith or Emmett, they’ll tell the world!” I smiled. “Thanks. That’s so sweet. It really is nothing, but if I need to talk to someone ever, I’ll think of you. Ok?” Damian gave me a quick hug before smiling and going back to the Xbox. I sat on my bed and held my head in my hands. “Why didn’t I tell him?” I asked myself. I knew why. I was fourteen, had never had a boyfriend, and didn’t even know if I wanted one. Besides, he lived in Ireland and was a famous singing star! And who knew? Maybe he didn’t like me after all. I called my sister. I needed some counseling. After a half hour talk, I was relaxed. “Just wait it out,” she advised. “A little over a week, and they’ll be gone. And of course Damian likes you! You’re beautiful!” She paused. “One more thing.” “Yes?” I asked. “Can you get Ryan’s cousin’s phone number for me? Or his email?” I laughed and hung up. I had a great family. I decided to go to bed early and said good night to everybody. I fell asleep to Lonestar’s “Walking in Memphis” playing on my cd player. The next day was Sunday. Keith texted me that most of the guys wanted to go to mass; did I know any good churches? In Hburg? I texted back. This is Protestant town here! He didn’t reply. I went to church. The day was fairly uneventful. None of the guys showed up. I relaxed significantly and decided that if Damian and I was meant to happen, it would. Until then, I would be his friend. On Monday, Keith texted again. “Are you sure that the beaches are so cold here?” he asked. “They’re cold,” I said bluntly. I turned my phone off. He showed up ten minutes later. “Can you recommend a good beach?” he asked as I ate my breakfast. I sighed. “It’s a beach, Keith. What difference does it make?” He left. I think he went to the beach. On Tuesday, I was informed (by Lukas this time, he ran into Ryan jogging earlier) that all the guys were in Eugene, having a business lunch with a movie afterward. Wednesday I went to Dee’s softball game. Hburg barely won. When Dee came and gave me a hug, she glanced around. “You didn’t tell Keith, did you?” she asked nervously. When I shook my head, she breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. I really like him, but Preston…” I nodded. “I completely understand,” I murmured. She smiled. “Right! How’s Damian?” I stuck my tongue out at her. “I haven’t seen him since Saturday night, FYI.” “Do you miss him?” Dee jumped back just in time to avoid a bruise on her shin. “Um. Don’t know.” I answered slowly. “I sure don’t miss the confusion that comes with ‘liking’ someone.” Dee grinned wickedly. “This is your first crush, isn’t it?” “I guess. Wait,” I said. “I never said I had a crush, did I?” “You just did,” she said, dancing away from danger. I sighed in despair. Saying good bye to Dee, I waked home. When I walked in, Mom told me that I had just missed George, Keith and Damian. “What a gentleman George is!” Mom exclaimed. She had always like George the best. “I still haven’t met him,” I said as I started to go upstairs. “I’m taking a shower,” I said. Another day went by without seeing Celtic Thunder. Thursday felt like the calm before the storm. The Thunder storm, I laughed to myself. I did my English homework, made my toothpick bridge, and baked a double batch of cookies. It was a quiet day. The next morning, I was putting my cookies in a container when Ryan and Keith showed up.
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Post by HburgEagle44 on Jun 10, 2011 18:11:49 GMT -5
The party is typically what happens with newbies in my family, so watch out sorry for updating twice in one day, but I couldn't resist LOL “Cookies!” Keith exclaimed. “May I?” I nodded. “Sure. No more than five, though, ok? I need some for myself. You, too, Ryan.” They both ate one quickly. Ryan smiled. “These are almost as good as Sas’s. Her cookies are definitely the best I’ve ever eaten.” He groaned good-naturedly. “Just promise me that if you ever meet her, you won’t make any deals with her. Believe me. It’s a dangerous thing to make deals with her.” He laughed reminiscently. Keith laughed also. “Yeah, remember the time when she beat you in that cookie eating contest?” Ryan glared at him. “I didn’t need your opinion.” Keith pushed on. “And the time where you kidnapped her and she turned the tables on you and said she was going to make ice cream, and somehow beat you at that contest? Or am I confused on something?” He pondered for a moment. Ryan said quickly, “I think you’re just confused.” He smiled at me apologetically. “Sorry, Sas is kind of a sore subject with me. She somehow manages to beat me at my own game every time.” “I know Sas,” I said. “Texas. Bakes cookies. Gets involved in paintball fights. We’re good friends!” I smiled wickedly. “She’s told me all about when you guys met. Everything that Keith has mentioned has been true. He’s not confused.” I looked at him triumphantly. I’ve gotta tell Sas about this conversation! I thought. Ryan looked surprised. “Wow, it is a small world! Where did you meet her?” “Your website,” I replied casually. “Are you going to want any more cookies? Not you, Keith, you’ve already had your five.” Ryan looked shocked, Keith looked crestfallen. “Uh – sure,” Ryan said, grabbing four more cookies. “You’re on my website?” “Are you on mine?” Keith put in. “Yes. And no,” I answered to each of their questions. “I’m Hburg on your website, Ryan.” “You’re Hburg?!” Ryan asked. I smiled. “That’s right.” Keith interrupted. “I’m going to the mountains with Neil and Emmett. Paul might go, too.” He rolled his eyes. “So I was wondering if you wanted to come.” I shook my head. “Sorry, but I can’t. My mom is having a party for Jeffrey and Grammy tonight. Do you not get along with Paul at all?” Ryan chuckled. “They fight all the time! Every time I turn around, they’re arguing again.” Keith groaned. “Paul starts it. Jeff and-“ he paused – “Grammy have a party on the same day every year?” “Their birthdays are a day apart,” I explained.”Well, technically, seven minutes. Anyone who wants to come may, I’m sure. It’ll be loud,” I warned them. Chris and Johnny came storming downstairs just then. “Jenny!” Johnny said. “Chris pushed me!” They walked into the kitchen. “Hello, Keith!” Chris said. “Hi, Ryan!” Keith and Ryan said hello back. “Chris,” I asked gently, “did you push Johnny?” “Well, yeah, but-“ “Apologize,” I said firmly. “I’msorrywillyoupleaseforgiveme,” Chris muttered. Johnny nodded. Ryan laughed and tried to cover it with a laugh. “Well, Jenny,” he said, “thank you for the cookies. I will talk to the guys and see who wants to come to the birthday party. I know I want to. I like loud parties.” He and Keith made their leave. I jumped when he stuck his head in again. “There won’t be drinking, right?” “No…” I said. “Ok,” Ryan’s head disappeared again. I laughed, harder and harder, as I thought about this short visit. Chris and Johnny stared at me in fascination. “Are you all right?” Johnny asked. I wiped my eyes and tried to control myself. “I’m fine,” I said when I had slowed down. I finished putting my cookies into the container and went into my room to read. I was halfway through my Southern Sisters book when there was a knock at my door. “Come in!” I yelled. Damian walked in with a soccer ball in his hands. “It’s beautiful outside,” he said. “Do you want to play football with me?” I smiled. “Sure!” I replied. “Just let me change really fast.” When I ran downstairs in basketball shorts and tennis shoes, he was ready to go. We walked over to the field next to my house. He was right. It was beautiful. As we marked the spots where the goals were going to be, I relaxed in the warm light. It this really Oregon? I wondered. Playing in the sun wasn’t as nice, though. I sweated through the game, losing by one point. I was the one declared the game over; I was exhausted. “I haven’t played soccer in so long,” I said, breathless and laughing. “It was fun!” he said. “You aren’t that competitive, are you?” “What?” I asked. “I am.” “Well, you ended the game while you were losing. I would never have done that,” Damian explained. I laughed and led the way into the house for a drink. “I few had been playing basketball, you would have ended the game. And you would have lost.” He threw up his hands in protest. “Ok, ok, I take it back! You are competitive!” We talked until people began arriving for the party. Ryan showed up at the same time as Aunt Jo and her four boys. “Is anyone else coming?” I asked Ryan. He shook his head. “No, George was all alone tonight. He decided he needed that alone time. I think he’s Skyping his family.” I smiled. “That’s cool.” I think Ryan and Damian enjoyed Mom’s side of the family. Damian told me later that it was great craic. Their mouths fell open as we sang Happy Birthday (all off key and VERY loudly). And then we played Hug the Potholder. Ryan and Damian were the "huggers" in this game. Aunt Kim decided that they had to leave the room, and we got two potholders from the kitchen. We placed them on the floor--and got a pot from the kitchen as well. We handed the pot to Aunt Kim. She yelled, "Guys, you can come back!", hiding the pot as well as possible. They came back tentatively. She smiled at them. "Ok, here's what you do. See the potholders?" They nodded. "You have to hug the potholder without using your hands. The first one to do that wins!" Damian and Ryan looked at each other teasingly. "GO!" she yelled. The noise was tremendous. Everyone was screaming, "HUG THE POTHOLDER!" The guys finally managed to "hug" the potholder, and then got mad when we told them it wasn't what we meant. They tried again, but still got it wrong. Finally, Ryan laughed as he looked at Aunt Kim. He gave her a hug, and everyone cheered. Damian looked a little upset that he lost. Ryan got a phone call a few minutes later in the midst of all the hubbub and answered it outside. He came back about ten minutes later. Kneeling down beside Damian and me, he murmured, “We’re going back to Ireland tomorrow night.” “What? Why?” Damian looked distraught. I’m sure I did, also. Ryan shrugged “Sharon said that we aren’t having a concert in Oregon this year and that we’re leaving a few days early. Ergo, we are leaving tomorrow.” I only heard the first part, though. “No concert in Oregon? What?” I felt like crying. “But…” my voice trailed off. Ryan sighed. “Well, let’s just finish the birthday party, eh?” Damian and I finished it in silence.
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Post by HburgEagle44 on Jun 10, 2011 23:42:56 GMT -5
lol CB.....you are in for a disappointment, then lol can you tell I'm bored? Posting three times today...I spoil ya'll! Saturday, I thought as I lay in bed the next morning. The guys are leaving. I would miss them, I knew. And I would miss seeing their concert! I sighed and got up. Just the day before, I had been so happy. And one sentence had ruined it. Ok, maybe two. I moped around until one o’clock, when I texted Keith. “Are you still packing?” Three minutes later, my phone buzzed. “Nope, we’re all done. Be right over.” I smiled and put my phone down. Keith showed up with all the guys. I blinked in surprise when they showed up. “Hey,” I said. I was introduced to George, and everyone sat down for one last chat, joined by my mom. As I looked around at all of their faces, I realized that I was a very lucky girl. I had hung out with Celtic Thunder, I was friends with them. I smiled, happy with that thought. Or, as happy as I could be. Before they left, my mom took a picture of all of the guys around me, then individual pictures. I knew that I would cherish them. They all gave my mom and me hugs as they left. Damian and Keith stayed behind to talk to me. Mom tactfully disappeared into her room. We talked about nonsensical things until Keith said he had to leave. I bit my lip. “I’ll text you,” he promised. I tried very hard not to cry, but I’m afraid a tear a two slipped by unnoticed. I gave him a hug. “Bye, Keith,” I whispered. He pulled my hair and grinned. Then Damian and I were alone in the room. “I should probably go, too,” Damian said quietly. Tears started flowing freely down my face. “Why do I always cry when someone leaves?” I said, trying to laugh at myself. Damian smiled half heartedly. “What do you do when someone leaves and you cry?” he asked. “Read,” I said. He nodded. “Of course.” We sat in silence for a moment, when Damian said he really had to go. I sniffed. “Ok,” I said, knowing I didn’t really mean it. I stood up. He stood up at the same time. “I’ll text you. Or call. Or whatever. Just remember me if you need to talk.” He drew me in for a hug. I tried very hard not to let myself go. “Sure. If I need to talk, I’ll think of you.” We hugged for a while longer, then he let go and smiled at me. “I’ll see you again. Promise.” He kissed my forehead and was gone. I went up to my room and read a book. When I was sufficiently calmed, I thought about the fun I’d had in the past week. Walking to school. Playing basketball and soccer. Sweet Life and the ride in the Camero. Them eating my cookies. Actually understanding my math homework. I smiled. I had grown a lot this week. I got a text from Keith. “Tell Dee good bye for me?” “Sure thing,” I said back. I texted Dee back and got a “They’re leaving already?!” I smiled. I had had an amazing week. I tried to think of how it had all started. Then it came to me. It had all started when Mr. August had set jazz band time so early, and I ran into Ryan and Damian. I smiled again. Going to Lukas’s room, I asked him, “Do you want to play soccer?” ~Epilogue~ 6 Months Later I was outside in the warm September light playing basketball when I heard someone say with a thick Irish accent, “Ah, basketball. Are you still so competitive?” I whirled around to face a young man with dark hair and bright blue eyes. If possible, he was even more handsome than the last time I had seen him. I felt a smile slowly spread over my face, amazed that he was here again. “Damian!” I exclaimed. I impulsively ran over and gave him a hug. “How are you? What are you doing here? Aren’t you on tour?” He hugged me back and laughed. “Too many questions! I don’t have much time here; I only got two days off. But I was in Southern Washington, so I decided to come see how you were doing.” He held me back a little and studied me. “And I’ve decided that you’re more beautiful than ever. You look great, Jenny,” he said with a big smile. I smiled and flushed. Is he teasing? I wondered. “Th-thanks. I feel great!” I said jokingly. “I’ve been really busy. And I didn’t expect to see you here again.” I smiled up at him. “But it’s nice to see you, of course.” “Of course I came again,” he said gently. “I told you I would.” He smiled teasingly. “So, school’s started for you, right? How’s math going?” I punched him playfully. “I’m in Statistics this year. I didn’t want to do Calculus. You can understand that, can’t you?” “Let’s see, you’re taking Statistics because I won’t be around to help you, right?” Certainly he was teasing this time. “Oh, definitely,” I laughed. “Can I have dinner here?” he asked. “Of course!” I said. “I think we’re having Mexican for dinner.” “Of course you are,” he answered. “I don’t mind.” I laughed. “No Paul anymore, right? Do you miss his popcorn?” Damian looked at me in mock horror. “I can’t say something about not missing anything about Paul! So, I plead the fifth?” I shook my head, laughing. “No, you can’t do that! You aren’t American!” We walked in. “Mom! We have a guest for dinner!” Mom and Rachelle, my sister, walked in from the kitchen. Rachelle’s eyes widened. “Hi,” she squeaked. “Damian!” my mom exclaimed. “It’s so nice to see you again!” As they caught up, I smiled happily. It’s so nice to see Damian again, I thought. All’s right with my world. And all because of Mr. August. Don't worry, part 2 is coming up shortly
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Post by HburgEagle44 on Jun 11, 2011 17:22:15 GMT -5
Mr. August Part 2--Time Of My Life
We walked into my house. I was smiling broadly. I couldn’t stop. My life felt perfect right about then. “Mom!” I called as we walked through the door. “We have a guest for dinner!” Mom and my sister, Rachelle, came into the living room from the kitchen. Rachelle’s eyes opened enormously. “Hi, Damian,” she said in astonishment. “Damian!” Mom exclaimed. “It’s so good to see you again!” Damian smiled. “It’s nice to see you, too, Debbie! I’ve missed you. And you must be Rachelle. I’ve heard a lot about you. Your sister really looks up to you.” Rachelle smiled. “Well, I am her big sister!” Mom cut in. “Well, we’re only having a light dinner. Nothing too fancy. But you’re welcome to stay, Damian. How long are you here for?” “Two days,” he said. “Then I’m back to the tour bus.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m tired of the bus already, and I haven’t even been touring for a month!” Rachelle asked him, “Do you enjoy staying in the tour bus with the other guys?” Damian grinned. “Well, sometimes. It depends on the guy and the mood that they’re in, if you catch my meaning,” he said, winking at her. “So, are you going to school here instead of Montana now?” Rachelle nodded, surprised. “Yes, I am. I’m at the U of O now. How did you know--?” “Jenny,” he said. “She told us when we were here last that you were in school in Montana.” “And you remembered that?” Rachelle asked, no doubt amazed at his memory. He nodded. “When is the dinner going to be ready? I’m so hungry. Keith wouldn’t let us stop for food, and I was threatening him. He knows I can’t do anything to him, though.” He smiled and shook his head in amusement. Mom laughed. “It’s just about ready now. How about you all sit at the table?” Rachelle went to ring the bell, and Damian and I went to sit down. Seconds later, Mom walked in with the steaming food. Damian’s eyes lit up. “Food!” he exclaimed. I started laughing at his excitement. Johnny and Lukas came running down. “Damian!” they exclaimed. They plowed him with questions for a few minutes, until Mom made them sit and told them to be quiet, we were going to pray. We all joined hands. Mom led us in prayer. “Lord, thank You for this food that is before us. Thank You that Damian is here again and we can all enjoy talking to him or playing Xbox with him, etcetera. Please bless this food to our bodies, and help us to have a wonderful day. Thank you, God. Amen.” We all said amen and started eating. Damian smiled. We all looked at him expectantly. “Yes?” Mom asked him. “What is that smile for?” “You put me in your prayer,” Damian said. “I feel…blessed. Thank you.” He thought for a moment, and then added, “Oh, yes, and the food is delicious. Did you know that Ryan can actually cook without Paul around? I didn’t. But this is still much better.” Mom and Rachelle laughed. I thought for a moment, trying to decide what he said. Finally, I figured it out. “Oh!” I said, and started laughing. “Did you not understand?” Damian asked. “Well,” I began. Then I thought again. “Yes,” I admitted. “Your accent is thicker than I’m used to.” He smiled at me teasingly. “It’s ok. I understand perfectly. I have such a beautiful accent.” I laughed, remembering the last time he was here and Johnny and Chris told him how I described him when he wasn’t around. “I probably shouldn’t bring George over here, then, huh?” “Is he here?” I asked. “Or is he still in Washington?” “He’s in Washington. I was just trying to be funny.” He looked petulant. How manipulative. Rachelle sighed. “I guess there isn’t much chance at meeting any of the other guys, is there?” Damian laughed. “Keith and Ryan will probably come. But I can’t promise Emmet and George. Or Neil. Though he may come. Who knows, with Neil?” Rachelle looked at him oddly, and then smiled. “Ok, maybe not Neil then. But I really want to meet Ryan…” she smiled happily. “Wouldn’t it be cool?” Mom smiled. “She’s a Ryan fanatic. I tell her it’s ok as long as she doesn’t encroach on Anna. After all, I’m a George fan. Carrie has nothing to worry about!” Johnny piped up. “Yeah, well, I like Keith and you. The other guys are too old. But you guys are young enough to be cool.” Damian laughed and started counting in his head. You could tell he was counting by the way he bobbed his head at each person and mouthed numbers. “Where’s the other one…um…Chris?” “At dads,” we all chorused. “So…where’s Jeffrey?” “At God’s Storehouse,” Mom said when everybody pulled up blank. “He volunteers there every Tuesday and Thursday.” “Oh, that’s right!” Damian said. “I remember you saying that last time I was here. That’s where he was before his birthday party.” He smiled, a little sadly, at that memory. “That’s where Ryan told me we had to go….” Rachelle looked at him curiously. “Did you like it here so much that you didn’t want to go? Or did you have something here that was worth staying for?” I flushed at her hidden meaning. She can be too much sometimes. Damian looked startled. “It’s lovely here. Lovely trees, lovely homes, lovely people…” he glanced at me quickly, and then ducked his head for a moment. He brightened. “Besides, they have Sweet Life! I have to go there sometime before I go!” “So you’re leaving on Thursday?” Mom clarified. “Yes,” he said. “Then it’s back to the tour for me!” he sighed. “Sometimes, I just want to take a break. You know?” We all agreed (except for Johnny, he was confused) that if we were all internationally famous singers, we would want breaks, too. We talked and laughed for a while more, until Mom finally announced that we needed to clean the kitchen. Jeffrey came in just then. “Damian?” he asked. “You’re here again?” He stressed the again, I noticed with amusement. “Hi, Jeffrey!” Damian said happily. “Yes, I am! Isn’t that great?” “Is Keith here?” Jeffrey asked warily. He wasn’t a big fan of Keith. “Well, he should be here later. How was the Storehouse?” Jeffrey gasped. “You know where I work? How do you know that? That’s really scary…are you some kind of singer who’s also a stalker? Take Jenny, not me! I don’t want to be stalked!” Damian looked like he was in shock permanently. “Are you kidding?” he asked Jeffrey. “No! I am not a stalker! Where would you get such an idea? Besides,” he winked at the rest of us, “I don’t need to stalk the girls. They come to me.” He smiled proudly. Jeffrey looked wary. “Are you kidding? Or do the girls really come to you?” We all burst out laughing at this. Some of us cleared the table while others cleaned the kitchen. Jeffrey kept his distance from Damian. After dinner, and the littlest ones went to bed, Mom asked, “So, who wants to go to Sweet Life?” Instant havoc broke out. Mom decided that Jeffrey and Lukas had to stay home. “But, Mom,” Lukas protested, “you made me stay home last time Damian and Keith were here. And I really want to go,” he finished sadly. Mom shook her head. “Maybe next time one of them is here. So, who’s ready to go?” she smiled brightly and Rachelle and Damian and I. We all piled into her car and rode into Eugene.
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Post by HburgEagle44 on Jun 12, 2011 20:32:00 GMT -5
Here's the next update I'm too nice to ya'll Friendly banter flew around the car as everyone picked on the other. It was so much fun. Rachelle and Damian were almost fist-fighting (ok, maybe I exaggerate a bit), and Mom was tickling me while she was driving. Maybe not the safest thing she can do, but it was fun! We arrived at Sweet Life as the sun was setting. Several old hippies were there, relaxing and eating their cake. We walked inside, chatting and laughing. “Have you made your decision yet?” the person behind the counter asked a few minutes later. Damian bit his lip. “Oh, it all looks so good!” he said. “Well…” he finally chose what he wanted, and we all added our orders. We sat down happily to eat our cake. “Oh, goodness, I’ve missed this so much,” Rachelle said a moment later. We all stared at her. “Missed what?” Mom asked. She looked confused. “You’ve never been at Sweet Life with a Celtic Thunder member before. So you can’t have missed this…” Rachelle smiled. “No, I just miss Sweet Life in general. Montana has no good bakeries.” We all nodded. Damian leaned forward. “So, do you miss Montana at all?” Rachelle thought about it. “Well, I miss the open country. But we have that here, too. I miss the church I was going to… but no, I don’t really miss anything about it. At least, not much.” “Whatever happened to that German guy?” I asked Rachelle. “You used to be such good friends with him. You know, the really tall guy?” Rachelle grimaced. “He turned out to be a jerk. I just stopped talking to him. Huh. Germans. You can’t trust them.” She rolled her eyes. The sarcastic overtones in her voice made me start laughing. Damian looked mischievous. “My best friend is half German.” Rachelle glared at him. “Nobody asked you!” Damian feigned shock. “How rude! I am a famous singing star! How could you be so mean to me?” He pouted for a minute, and then got over it. “I’m going to follow Keith’s previous example and go get more cake.” He stood up and walked away. Mom looked at Rachelle and started laughing. “Nobody asked you? Really?” Rachelle smiled. “I just felt like mouthing off. No big deal, he didn’t care.” Mom looked unconvinced. “Right. You just killed his spirit. Look at him, so depressed as he orders his cake.” Rachelle and I turned around and laughed. He did look depressed. It was probably all of the choices that faced him. We watched him make the final decision. Then he came back over to us with a box. “What’d you get?” I asked. “Two cakes,” he said. “I couldn’t choose!” We all laughed and headed out. “I have jazz band tomorrow,” I noted glumly. “Ugh. No me gusta.” Damian looked at me with a stunned expression on his face. “What did you say?” he asked, emphasizing the “what” greatly. “No me gusta? I don’t like it,” I replied. “Why?” “Oh. Well. It just sounds weird to hear a different language other than Gaelic or English.” He smiled sheepishly. “In Gaelic, that sounds a lot like an insult.” “Oh,” I said. “Well, I suppose I was insulting jazz band. Or maybe the time that jazz band starts.” Mom glanced at me. “Jazz band should be your favorite class. After all, it did let you meet Damian and Ryan.” She winked. I rolled my eyes. “I could’ve met them later. You know, when they walked past the house?” We had reached the car by then. “Besides, that was a freak coincidence. It had nothing to do with jazz band.” “Damo?” we heard behind us all of a sudden. “Keith!” Damian said. “Hey, what are you doing here?” He looked around Keith. “Hi, Ryan.” Rachelle instantly looked more awake. Keith smiled. “What do you think I’m doing here? Coming to the best bakery in the whole wide world! It is even better than….well, ok, so I don’t make it to many bakeries. But it’s good! Hi, Debbie,” he said with a smile. “And you are—?” he said to Rachelle. “I’m Jenny’s sister, Rachelle,” she answered. “You must be Keith. And Ryan,” she added. “It’s so nice to meet you!” She smiled and shook their hands. “Are you sure you’re sisters?” Ryan asked incredulously. “You two don’t really look anything alike.” “We’re half sisters,” I said. “Does that make it more believable?” I smiled. “Where are you guys going?” Keith asked. Mom smiled. “Well, Jenny has jazz band. We should probably get home.” “Well,” Keith said, “you could take her home while Ryan and I take whoever wants to somewhere else. Rachelle? Damian? You want to go somewhere else?” Rachelle nodded. “Sure!” she said brightly. “I’d love to! Where?” “Don’t know,” Ryan replied. “We’ll figure it out. Damo?” Damian shook his head. “I want to get back.” He turned to me. “Would your band director mind if I came to jazz band with you?” I shook my head. “I’m sure it’s fine as long as you don’t disrupt class. Are you sure, though? It’s at 7:40 in the morning…” He nodded. “I’m sure,” he said. “I don’t mind getting up so early.” He smiled at me. “As long as I go to bed soon…” Mom laughed. “Ok, well, Ryan, Keith and Rachelle, have fun! I’ve got to take these youngsters home.” “Youngsters?!” Damian asked in indignation. “What do you mean? I’m legally an adult!” Ryan stifled a laugh. “Don’t trouble yourself too much with that thought. If she wants to call you a youngster, she can.” Damian rolled his eyes and got in the car. Mom laughed. “Never tell him I meant Jenny, ok?” I stuck my tongue out at her and got in the car. Satisfied? lol
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Post by HburgEagle44 on Jun 13, 2011 17:01:22 GMT -5
The ride home was relaxing. It was quiet and we listened to Mom’s collection of “Ooh, Mama!” songs. Mom just quietly talked to Damian in the front seat and I sat back and tried not to fall asleep. But it was hard. I was so tired. We reached my house, and I stumbled out of the back seat. I hadn’t realized how late it was and how tired I was. Mom laughed. “Are you going to be ok? Do you need help?” The laughter in her eyes showed just how much she enjoyed this. I shook my head. “No, I’m good. Just let me go to bed. Please. I’m not really looking forward to jazz band. But oh well.” I stumbled off towards the house. I could hear Damian behind me say, “Is she going to be ok?” The tone in his voice was touching. Mom laughed. “She’ll be fine. As soon as she goes to bed, that is!” I heard her thank Damian for going with us, then him thanking her. Then I went inside and crashed. I was dreaming peacefully when I heard BANG! BANG! BANG! I jumped and yelled, “Who is it?” I was angry at whoever it was. “Are you going to jazz band today?” Lukas asked from the other side of the door. I groaned. “What time is it?” “7:15.” He paused. “You have to leave in five minutes.” I yelped. “Oh, no!” I wailed. “I’m walking with Damian, too! I can’t make him wait!” “Oh, you definitely don’t want to make Damian wait,” Lukas stressed. “Better hope you look nice for Damian!” “You…” I started. “Go away!” I jumped up and quickly changed. I brushed my teeth in record time, and then ran downstairs. “Mom! I’m leaving! Bye!” I ran out the door to her “Bye, honey!” and almost collided with Damian. “Hey,” he said. He glanced at me, then did a second take. “Are you alright?” he asked anxiously. “You look…um…” “Like I overslept?” I asked ruefully. “Well, I did. Oh well. It’s nice to oversleep once in a while.” I looked at him more carefully. “You look like you have been up for a while. What time did you get up?” He shrugged. “Six. The tour is ruining my hours. Just two days ago I was in Arizona. So now I wake up at weird times.” We walked across Main Street and waved to the cars letting us by. He smiled. “I love your Main Street. It’s so…rural.” I glanced his way. “Rural? Really? No, we live in a very city-like area.” I winked. “Yes, I suppose it is. After going to San Francisco for a few days, I realized just how very rural we are.” We walked in silence for a few minutes. At the train tracks, Damian asked, “So, what are you doing after school today?” I shrugged. “Not sure. I think it’s a relaxing day.” I thought for a moment, and then added, “Well, I’m going to do homework and watch my TV show, probably. Why?” He shrugged nonchalantly. “Oh, I don’t know. You want to hang out?” I burst out laughing. “Of course I do!” I said. “I didn’t mean that I didn’t want to hang out!” I shook my head, still laughing. “Wow, you sounded so upset there for a second.” He turned red. “Well, excuse me if I just want to hang out with you!” He switched subjects. “Never mind.” He pointed. “I found the school!” I nodded. “Good for you,” I said in a condescending voice. “That’s the middle school. The high school is a block further up the road.” “Which school are we going to?” he asked. “The middle school for jazz band and band, then we go to the high school. It’s pretty complicated,” I explained. “No, it makes sense!” he said. “What do you mean, complicated?” I stuck my tongue out at him. “We’re here.” We walked around to the back and entered the band room. “Hi, Mr. August!” I said, smiling hugely. “Why, hello, Jenny,” he said. “What are you up to today? No forks, right?” he stopped and noticed Damian. “Hi, who are you?” Damian extended his hand. “I’m Damian McGinty. I hope you don’t mind if I stay in here for jazz band. And band, too, come to think of it.” Mr. August shook his hand and thought for a minute. “All right with me, as long as you don’t disturb the class.” Damian laughed. “Yes, sir, that makes sense.” He went and sat down on a seat near the edge of the room. I took out my tenor saxophone and started putting it together. Ashley walked into the room. “Hey, Peppy!” she said. She looked at Damian. “Hey, stranger! Are you a new kid?” Damian shook his head. “No, I’m just hanging out with Jenny for the day.” Ashley thought for a moment. “Say again?” Damian laughed. “Jenny, do you have to translate for me?” I shrugged my shoulders. “Sure. He is hanging out with me for the day.” Ashley smiled. “Oh, is this Damian? I can tell by his accent.” Damian laughed. “How many people know about me?” he asked me. “I mean, do you talk about me all the time?” He paused a moment. “And Peppy?” Ashley gasped. “How many people know about you? Are you two going out?” I flushed. Now she understands him, I thought ruefully. “Bruce! No! We’re just friends! And besides, I would have told you about that. Duh!” Damian looked confused. “Peppy? Bruce? And no, we are not going out.” He paused. “Who knows, maybe someday…” he muttered just loud enough for Ashley to pick up on. He winked at me discreetly. “Oooh, Peppy’s got an admirer!” Ashley said. She smiled at me wickedly. I sighed. “Damian. Please, for my sanity throughout this day, cut it out. And Peppy is my trombone name. Bruce is her name that the trombones gave to her. Get it?” I stomped off into the back room to get my “Real Book.” Mr. August was sitting back there, laughing. “You guys!” he said. “Wow. That was priceless. And way to tell him off. You’re too young for a boyfriend.” I sighed. “Thanks. I think.” I grabbed my real book and walked out of the back room, to find a group of people all asking Damian questions. I stood by the group, wanting to sit down, but they were all too busy. “Damian,” my friend Sadie asked, “you’re that singer from Ireland that Jenny’s always talking about, right?” Damian smiled. “I think so…there are several singers in Ireland.” He thought for a moment. “Well, yes, I probably am. Jenny?” Everyone turned and looked at me. “Oh, hi, Jenny!” they exclaimed. “Hi,” I said. “May I sit down? It’s time for jazz band to start.” I sat and started warming up. After a moment’s silence, everyone migrated to their seats and followed my lead. Mr. August walked in. “Everyone warm? Kourt, give us a tuning note.” Kourt played a B flat on his bass, and we were playing songs soon.
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Post by HburgEagle44 on Jun 14, 2011 18:08:43 GMT -5
Mr. August chose a song. “Number 357!” he called out. We all turned to that page, and I started smiling slightly. “Standing on the Corner? Really?” I thought in amusement. We started playing, but Damian stopped us. Mr. August turned to him. “Damian? You told me you wouldn’t disrupt class!” Damian sighed. “It’s just that I’m a professional singer, and I sang that song in several concerts. Right, Jenny?” I nodded. “So, I’m going to say this fast. You’re supposed to play this in swing. Honestly. It’s painful this way.” Mr. August looked at him, then to me, then back to Damian. “Jenny,” he said slowly, “is this the singer you made me listen to on the California trip?” I smiled. “Best trip ever! And yes,” I said quickly. “I told you it was supposed to be in swing!” Mr. August smiled nervously. “Oh. Ok. I guess we’re playing this song in swing.” Damian smiled. “Thank you! That’s very kind of you.” He settled back and relaxed. After jazz band, the eighth graders went to their next class while all the high schoolers went over to Damian and asked him more questions. I smiled in amusement. “They’re all asking him so many questions, and they don’t even know who he is…” I muttered. Ashley ran over. “Peppy! Did you know that he is only nineteen? He sounds so much older!” I sighed. “Yes, I know. But he just turned nineteen…” I calculated quickly, “five days ago.” The band bus dropped off several kids. They all came in and started warming up their regular instruments. I put together my clarinet and got ready for “Avatar” the soundtrack. We played Nimrod instead. Mr. August changes his mind easily. After band, and more questions (several of them if Damian and I were going out), we got on the band bus to the high school. We walked in before the Nutrition Break bell rang, and Damian went to the office to get a visitor’s tag. I wondered if I should have gone with him. Soon enough, the loudspeaker said, “Jennifer Kelson to the office, please. Jennifer.” I laughed and walked to the office. Damian was standing there, talking to Carlita. She looked at me in relief. “Jennifer, is this young man with you?” I nodded. “Yes, he is. If you don’t see him with me, though, he’s probably with Tommy. He’s a family friend.” Carlita smiled. “All right, then. Thank you.” She gave Damian a visitor’s tag and we proceeded to walk to my next class. Physics time! Mr. Ellis smiled as we walked in. “Hi, Jenny. Oh, hi, are you a new student?” Damian looked disconcerted. I took pity on him. “Damian is a friend of mine, and he’ll be hanging out with either Tommy or me the entire day.” Damian leaned forward and whispered, “I hope not Tommy…he will kill me or something!” I bit back a smile. Mr. Ellis nodded. “All right, that’s fine with me. So, are you going to help Jenny with her lab today?” Damian frowned. “Well…physics isn’t really my thing. You know?” Mr. Ellis smiled. “Come on! It’s so much fun!” Damian nodded warily as the bell rang. “All right, I’ll do it.” Mr. Ellis smiled. “Great!” Next thing I knew, Damian, Wesley, and I were all in a group with aprons and goggles on. Damian moaned. “I hope we aren’t blowing anything up.” Wesley grinned. “This isn’t chemistry! We’re probably just building something!” “Then why the goggles?” Damian asked suspiciously. I laughed. “Mr. Ellis just likes aprons and goggles. Trust me.” Mr. Ellis spoke up. “Today we’re going to conduct an experiment. First, turn on the Bunsen burners.” Damian turned and glared at me. I laughed nervously. “Ok, maybe not,” I conceded. He turned and focused on Mr. Ellis. I noticed he followed the directions as carefully as he could. We eventually ended up just doing an experiment having to do with waves. But Damian didn’t really enjoy the burner part. As we got our homework for physics, Damian and Mr. Ellis talked. Damian asked, “Do you know a Neil Byrne?” Mr. Ellis smiled. “Yes, I know the Byrnes. But Neil…I don’t think so.” Damian thought. “Well, you look a lot like my friend Neil. He’s in my singing group.” “Oh, he’s a singer? And I look like him? Strange,” Mr. Ellis laughed. The bell rang just then, signaling the switch to AP Lit. As I walked to class, Damian kept smiling and waving at people he had met during band. I smiled at his friendliness. We walked into class. “Hi, Mrs. Johnson!” I said happily. “Hi, Jenny,” she said. “How are you?” I replied, “I’m good. This is my friend Damian. He’s visiting for today and…tomorrow?” I asked him. Damian shrugged. “So, anyways,” I continued, “may he sit in on class today?” Mrs. Johnson smiled. “Sure, that’s fine. We’re just writing an essay today. You can write one too, if you like.” Damian shrugged. “Why not?” One hour later, he stumbled out of class. “Wow, that was brutal!” I laughed. “Well, it is Mrs. Johnson. She’s pretty brutal. But she is a good teacher.” He sighed. “So, what’s up now?” “Health,” I said. “You want to come to that?” He sighed. “Where’s Jeffrey?” “In lunch,” I replied. “Do you really want to go sit with him? He might say something about you being a total womanizer or something like that.” I laughed as I remembered what Jeffrey had said the day before. “Maybe I am, though,” Damian said. He winked at me. “See ya later.” He walked off with a bounce in his step. I stared after him in astonishment. Did he really just say that? I thought. I shook my head in amusement and some confusion, and walked into the Health classroom.
I didn’t see Damian for the rest of the day. As I walked through the school, though, I heard, “Jenny! I met Damian today! He’s so cute!” several times. It got to be rather annoying. I was standing at my locker at the end of the school day, when Edgar walked in. “Hey, Jenny,” he said in his Hispanic accent. “How are you?” “Good,” I said warily, knowing that Edgar would never ask without a reason. “That’s cool,” he said. “So, who is this Damian kid everyone keeps talking about?” I sighed. Looking outside, I said, “Here he comes. You can ask him yourself.” Damian and Jeffrey walked in. They seemed to be getting along well, surprisingly. “Hi, Jenny!” Damian exclaimed. “How did the rest of your day go?” He smiled at Edgar. “Hi, I’m Damian McGinty. What’s your name?” Edgar just stared at him. “What did you say?” he gasped, his accent showing off his confusion. I sat down with my back to the lockers and just laughed. **********
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Post by HburgEagle44 on Jun 15, 2011 14:56:14 GMT -5
Okay, here it is...hope you like it! Keep the comments coming I really appreciate it! At home, Damian announced that Keith was coming over. I rolled my eyes. “How marvelous,” I said. “Of course he is.” Damian cocked his head. “You don’t want Keith to come over?” he asked. “I could tell him, and he wouldn’t come.” “No! No, no, no, no!” I said hastily. “No, I don’t mind if Keith comes. I was just being sarcastic. It’s fine.” I smiled reassuringly. He nodded suspiciously. “Right. So, what do you want to do?” I shrugged. “I don’t know. What do you want to do?” He shrugged. “I don’t know.” Rachelle walked down the stairs as we were looking at each other in exasperation. “Hey, guys. What’s going on?” she said. “We can’t decide what we want to do,” Damian said glumly. “Oh,” Rachelle said. “Well, I heard that there’s a great movie coming out at the dollar fifty theater. You two should go.” She winked at me discreetly. “Dollar fifty theater? Is that how much you pay to get in?” He was catching on. “And what movie?” Rachelle shrugged. “I don’t remember. But Kate told me that it was good.” I raised my eyebrow at her. “If Kate says that it’s good, that means that it could be really good, or really bad. You know that!” Damian stood up. “Well, let’s go see what it’s about. What is the movie?” Rachelle had already pulled out her phone. “I’m texting Kate,” she informed us. “She’ll let me know if my fifteen year old sister should watch it or not.” Two minutes later, a text came back. “No, she probably shouldn’t watch it…but I’m sure there’s something else.” Rachelle was thinking deeply when her eyes lit up. “Hey!” “What?” I asked. “Is it a good idea?” Rachelle looked excited. “You should go to Sweet Life and then to Skateworld! You know, like when we tried to do that with McKenna and Eric and Kate and it didn’t work out?” I thought about it. “In our formal wear again?” She nodded. “Sure! And can Kate and I join?” Damian looked hopelessly confused. “Wait, why would we go to Skateworld in formal wear? You mean tuxedos and full dresses, right?” We both nodded. “We went to Sweet Life one time like that, and then tried to go to Skateworld, but it was closed,” I explained. “But it was a good experience.” Rachelle had her phone out again. “I’m asking Kate if she can come. Just hang on!” Damian looked at me. He looked amused. “Really? We’re really going to do this?” I grinned. “Do you have any formal clothes with you?” I asked him. “Or are they all in Washington?” He groaned good-naturedly. “Ok, I guess I can put up with it. Should I ask Keith to bring me my clothes?” I nodded. “Sure. Unless you want to drop by the apartments…” He shook his head. Rachelle looked up from her phone. “Oh, dear, this is going to be one full car,” she said. “We’ll make it work.” She grinned. Kate and Keith showed up about the same time. Keith had brought Damian’s suit and had worn his own as well. I laughed. “Oh, I guess Keith is coming!” I exclaimed. He nodded proudly. “Well, girls,” Kate said, “are we ready to party?” She looked at Keith and Damian and added, “Oh, yeah, guys, you can party also.” Keith laughed. “Oh. Thank you very much.” She smiled sweetly and pushed Rachelle and me up the stairs. “Let’s go get ready!” she exclaimed, holding her red dress in excitement. We ran up the stairs, leaving the guys downstairs. I heard Keith ask Damian, “What are you waiting for? Go get dressed!” Damian asked him in confusion, “Where?” We reached my room a moment later. Kate bounced in. “Now, what dress are you two going to wear?” she asked, bubbling over in excitement. I went to my wardrobe. “I thought I would wear this black one,” I said. “Rachelle?” Rachelle shrugged. “I don’t know what I want to wear. I didn’t think this was actually going to happen.” Kate was already tearing through my wardrobe. “You could wear this one,” she said, holding up my green dress. Rachelle shook her head. “No way! I cannot wear Jenny’s clothes! She has a completely different body shape than I do!” Kate shrugged. “All right.” She disappeared again, and then came back. “No Narnia, but I found your Junior homecoming dress!” Rachelle tried it on. When she decided that she liked it, I got dressed. We put on our shoes and walked downstairs, three girls in elegant dresses. Damian and Keith whistled appreciatively. “Nice,” they both commented. They didn’t look so bad themselves. Damian had found somewhere to change and they both were in their black suits that they wore in It’s Entertainment. Kate curtsied. “Thank you,” she said, smiling broadly. “Now, we need to do our hair and makeup. Do you want to watch?” Keith looked scared. “Well, it’s very nice for you to ask, but I don’t know….” Rachelle said, “Oh, come on. You’ll like it. It’s really interesting how much girls go through to look pretty.” Keith looked helplessly at Damian, who laughed. “No way am I getting you out of this one. Honestly, I’m curious to see how many pains girls really do go through.” Keith groaned. “Fine. But I’ll remind you, I do have a sister. I do have some idea what’s going on.”
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Post by HburgEagle44 on Jun 16, 2011 13:12:41 GMT -5
Keith is so mean to me.... lol hope you enjoy the update! Kate grinned. “Sweet!” She ran to my mom’s room and knocked. “Debbie? You in there?” She came out, talking on the phone. “Kate!” she exclaimed. “Hold on, Luis,” she said into the phone. She looked at all of us. “Where are you going?” she asked, laughing. “We’re going to Sweet Life,” I explained. “You know, like we did with McKenna?” Mom just shook her head and started cracking up. “Oh, ok,” she said, gasping. When she had recovered, she asked, “Guys, you’re ok with this, right?” Keith spoke up. “Actually, I showed up because Damian here asked me to bring his fancy duds over. So you could say that I invited myself.” Mom turned to Damian. Before she could speak, he said, “Jenny and I were wondering what to do when Rachelle suggested that. We jumped at the chance.” He flashed a brilliant smile. Mom melted. “Well, all right, then. I’ll get off the phone and help you get ready.” We all grinned. “Great!” All of us were crowded in the bathroom a minute later. Keith looked very embarrassed, but the rest of us were enjoying ourselves. My mom started curling hair and chatting with everybody happily. Damian and she started a conversation about something; I can’t remember what. I curled my hair while Mom was curling Kate’s. Rachelle was putting her hair in hot curlers. Keith slowly edged himself away. He was almost out the door before Mom called, “Keith!” He whipped around. “Yes?” he asked nervously. “Where are you going?” Mom asked, cocking an eyebrow. She looked very ornery. I feared for Keith. “Um,” he started. “Nowhere. I was staying right here.” He smiled very convincingly. Mom smiled. “Good!” she said. “I was wondering if you could help me curl Kate’s hair.” Damian snickered quietly. “Yeah, Keith, help Debbie curl Kate’s hair.” Keith looked at my mom with narrowed eyes. “Are you just messing with me or what?” Mom smiled innocently. “Now why would I do that?” Kate was staring at my mom nervously. “I really would prefer it if Keith didn’t curl my hair. Or Damian. Please, Debbie?” I could see Keith holding his breath in the background. Mom shrugged. “Sure, I guess.” She winked at Keith and continued curling. Right about then, the door opened. “Jenny!” I heard Dee yell. “Where are you?” “In here!” I called back. Dee walked into the bathroom, but had to stop at the door. “Woah,” she said. “This is…. Um, a crazy bathroom!” she said. “What’s going on?” She smiled at Keith and Damian. “Hey, guys, nice to see you again.” “We’re going to Sweet Life,” I said. “Want to come?” She looked at us dubiously. “In those outfits?” Damian nodded and said quietly, “I know. Crazy.” I looked at him and saw he was grinning, so I didn’t worry. Keith looked at Dee. “I think you could come in what you’re wearing.” He turned to the rest of us. “What do you think?” We all looked at her clothes. Black slacks, blue button up shirt, nice shoes. “Where were you today?” I asked. “I was in Portland for my FBLA meeting,” she said. “I missed school today.” She smiled. Mom cut in. “Sit down.” Dee made her way over to the chair and sat. Mom started curling her hair. Dee smiled. “Does this mean I’m going to Sweet Life, too? Are we taking a Camero?” Keith shook his head. “Not this time. Sorry, Delanie.” She shrugged. “That’s ok. You remember my full name?” He nodded. Rachelle’s eyes opened wide. “Wait. Which car are we going to take?” Kate’s head popped up. “I don’t know.” She turned to my mom. “Debbie, may we take the van? Otherwise we’ll need two cars.” Mom nodded. “Of course!” she said. She looked at Kate one more time and said, “I pronounce you done. Can you get up so Dee doesn’t have to sit there?” Kate smiled and got up. Dee took her spot. Mom started curling her hair in that chair instead of the other one. I finished my hair and left the bathroom, Damian following me. We sat down on the couch and waited. We could hear Mom yelling at Keith to stay in the bathroom, and we both started laughing. “Your mom can be really fun!” Damian said. I nodded. “I know. She just doesn’t like to show it around people she doesn’t really know.” I smiled at him. “You know what that means?” He thought for a moment. “We’re becoming family?” I nodded. “That’s right.” He smiled. “That’s a cool feeling,” he said. “I’m glad.” His eyes sparkled. We sat in silence for a few more minutes, and then Damian cleared his throat nervously. “Um, Jenny,” he started, “I don’t know if I told you this…” I waited for a second. “Yes?” I said. “You look gorgeous in that,” he said quickly. I smiled and ducked my head. “Thank you,” I said quietly. “Honestly, I feel gorgeous in this dress. But it’s nice to hear it, too.” I smiled at him, loving the way that he looked at me but feeling guilty at the same time. I shouldn’t be thinking this way about him, I thought. Not again. Keith finally managed to escape from the bathroom. “Wow, that’s a madhouse in there!” he exclaimed. He stopped and looked at us. “What on earth is going on here?” he asked. “Your faces are really red.” Damian’s head snapped up. “Keith!” he said. “Really? You really have to tell us that?” “I’m sorry,” Keith said, taken aback. “I was just making sure…” his voice trailed off. Damian groaned. I heard him mutter quietly, “Really, Keith? Really?” several times. He kept glancing over at me, presumably to make sure I was fine with this. I kept my head down, refusing to notice anything. Keith smiled nervously. “Hey, you guys? Are you ok?” When we didn’t answer him, he nodded. “Right. I’ll just go back to the bathroom. It’s great craic in there, anyway.” He waited for a moment, and then turned and walked away. Damian let out a breath. “Wow. I’m sorry,” he started to say. I cut him off. “It’s all right, really.” I smiled at him. “It’s not your fault.” He sighed. “He really needs to be more tactful, though.” He studied my face. “Are you sure you’re ok with this?” My face heated up. “Yes, Damian. Please. I’m positive. I’m fine.” I looked at him, my face begging for him to drop the subject. He nodded. “Ok.” After a moment’s pause, he asked, “What is taking them so long to just curl their hair?” “They have to do their makeup, too,” I reminded him. “Right,” he said. “Girls!” He looked at me again. “Wait, you don’t wear makeup, do you?” I shook my head. “Nope. Never have.” He cocked his head to one side. “Wow. Never would have thought about that.” He smiled. “I’m glad you don’t, though,” he whispered. “Why?” I asked quizzically. Kate and Dee ran out of the bathroom. “Yeah, well, we’re going to go get our coats and we’ll see who’s riding in what car!” Kate yelled. Keith came out after her. “I was just joking…” he said. Dee laughed as Kate ran upstairs. “I think she is, too,” Dee informed him. “Don’t get too worried.” Keith nodded slowly. “So, are we taking two cars?” I spoke up. “I thought we were taking the van.” Rachelle appeared suddenly. “No, we’re taking my car and Kate’s car,” she said. “That way we can arrive in semi-style.” I nodded slowly. “Ok, that’s cool.” “Semi-style?” Damian asked. “What is that supposed to mean?” Rachelle said, “Oh, well, we’ll take my red Chevy Cavalier and Kate’s little car instead of just the one van. We’ll look a lot better arriving that way.” “Oh. Ok. Who’s riding in what car?” he asked. Rachelle said, “That’s what we’re trying to find out.” Dee said, “I call Rachelle’s car!” and ran up the stairs to tell Kate. Damian rolled his eyes. “Why is she so hyper?” he asked, turning to Keith. He stopped and turned back to me. “Look at lover boy,” he said, laughing. Keith snapped out of his upward glance. “What?” he demanded. “You have a girlfriend,” Damian reminded him. “I don’t care how pretty she is.” “Well,” Keith spluttered, “Jenny has a boyfriend!” “What?” Damian asked. He looked at me in astonishment. “You do?” He looked crestfallen. “No!” I exclaimed. “No, I don’t! Keith Harkin!” I was really getting angry at him. “What?” he asked innocently. “I just had to get him back for that.” Rachelle was looking at us in amusement. “Look, guys, let’s just try to get along. Ok? I feel bad for Dee and Kate if we don’t get along. So let’s just be friends.” She smiled at us hopefully. “I know that Keith thinks Dee is pretty, Damian. But that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. And Keith, Jenny has been told by several of her ‘brothers’ that she is not allowed to go out until she is in college.” She winked at me. “So let’s just not fight.”
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Post by HburgEagle44 on Jun 17, 2011 13:55:32 GMT -5
Auntie, Auntie, Auntie......your caps are starting to freak me out Hope you like the update! I thought about that. “Wait, Rachelle. I’ve only been told once that I couldn’t go out until I was in college.” “By who?” Damian asked. Rachelle cut in before I could talk. “Well, by my ex-boyfriend, honestly. But the principle is the same.” She silenced me with a look. Kate and Dee came downstairs. “Everyone ready?” Kate asked happily. I grinned and stood up. Damian rose with me. Keith held out his hand. “Wait, wait, wait. Who’s riding with who?” he asked. Mom came out of her room. “Have fun!” she said brightly. She saw our faces. “What’s the matter?” she asked. “We’re arguing about who’s riding in what car,” Dee explained happily. She's always happy. Mom laughed. “You’ll figure it out. Now, go have fun!” She practically shoved us out of the door. We stood out by the cars. Rachelle said, “Ok, Dee is riding with me. Who’s riding with Kate?” Keith said, “Can I ride with you, too?” Rachelle smiled. “Fine, I don’t care. Kate, Damian and Jenny are riding with you.” Kate grinned. “Great!” she said. Rachelle leaned over and whispered to her, “And remember what I told you,” and winked. Kate nodded. We watched Rachelle, Keith and Dee climb into her car. They drove off, waving. “Pile in!” Kate said. “Let’s go have fun!” Damian and I climbed in the back. Kate’s car was a mess, as usual. She got in the front seat and placed her purse on the pile in the passenger seat. “Let’s go!” she exclaimed. She blasted her music full blast and started rocking out. I grinned. “This is such a good song.” I started singing along with Kate. Damian looked left out. “What song is this?” he asked me. “You’ve never heard this?” I gasped. “Kate, restart the song!” The song restarted a moment later. Damian listened. By the third chorus, he was singing along. “This is a good song!” he said, grinning. “What about now? How about tonight?” he sang an octave lower than the lead singer. We drove onto the highway, singing and laughing. We didn’t talk, just sang. As we neared Sweet Life, Damian turned to me. “You don’t have jazz band, right?” I nodded. “No jazz band on Thursdays and Tuesdays!” I said, smiling. “It’s really nice.” He nodded. “I bet.” Kate looked back. “I thought your mom said none of you had to go to school tomorrow because Damian and Keith are here,” she said. “Really?” I asked excitedly. “That would be amazing!” Damian nodded. “Yes, it would.” Kate nodded. “That’s what she said. I’m pretty sure.” I pulled out my phone. “I’ll ask her,” I said. I dialed her number. “Mom?” I said when she answered. “Do I have to go to school tomorrow?” A soft laugh came over the line. “No, you don’t. Unless you want to go to school….” “Thanks, Mom!” I exclaimed. “Talk to you later!” “Bye, honey,” she said. I hit the off button and smiled. “No school,” I informed them. Damian looked down and smiled. “That’s awesome,” he said. He looked up. “Do you have to go pick up your homework tomorrow, or can you make it up later?” I thought for a moment. “I think I should go pick it up tomorrow.” Kate called back, “Yeah, you probably should. Especially for English. You don’t want to fall behind there.” “Well,” Damian continued, “I can go with you tomorrow to pick up your homework.” “Thanks!” I said. “That would be great.” “Sweet Life!” Kate called. “We’re here!” We drove by the bakery and saw that the parking spots were filled. Rachelle, Dee and Keith were walking into the bakery. Kate said, “We’ll park at Pacific Winds.” We drove around and got out of the car. As we locked the doors, Mr. August came out of Pacific Winds. He looked at us in astonishment. “Jenny, Kate! Um…Damian? What are you all doing here? And why are you dressed up?” “We’re heading over to Sweet Life,” Kate said. “We felt like dressing up.” “Right,” he said slowly, confused. “Are you here saying hi to that cute little English baritone?” I asked Mr. August teasingly. He looked at me quizzically. “How did you know about that?” he asked suspiciously. I shrugged. “The guy at the counter told me about it.” I smiled innocently. He frowned. “I’m going to have to have a talk with that guy…” he muttered. He smiled after a moment. “Well, have fun!” he said, getting into his car. We waved good-bye and walked over to Sweet Life, my dress swishing against Kate’s. Damian started looking very self-conscious as people stared at us. We walked into the bakery and ran into Keith. He was having a difficult time with his decisions. Dee and Rachelle were at a table already. People kept walking up to us as we ate, laughing and asking us why we were dressed up. We would answer, “Why not?” One lady behind the counter recognized us. “Do you always come here when you want to dress up?” she laughed. We nodded, enjoying ourselves. We ate our cake and got out of there, laughing about our quick stop. Rachelle turned to Kate. “What should we do next?” she asked. She shrugged. “What do you want to do?” she asked. Damian and I looked at each other and rolled at our eyes. Dee spoke up. “How about we go back and just hang out, take some pictures, you know. Watch a movie.” She paused. “NOT Hangman’s Curse!” Rachelle, Kate and I laughed. We all knew how freaky that movie could be. “Fine, not Hangman’s Curse,” I agreed. “Let’s go! Is that alright with you guys?” I asked Damian and Keith. They nodded. “Definitely!” Damian said, looking around. “I don’t want to be in this suit any longer than necessary.” Rachelle smiled. “C’mon, let’s go put Damian out of his misery.” She looked at Keith, who just stared back coolly. “Let’s leave Keith in his misery, though.” We all laughed, except for Keith. We got back into our cars, driving away happily. Kate looked back at us. “Do you two mind stopping at a gas station?” she asked. “I really need to fill up.” I shook my head, and Damian said, “That’s fine, as long as I don’t have to get out.” Kate smiled. “Ok. Don’t worry. We don’t pump our own gas here.” “Good,” Damian said fervently. We stopped at Safeway for discount gas, and Kate mentioned, “I hate how much we have to advertise if we get Safeway gas.” Damian grinned. “You know, Safeway reminds me of that one time in Wal-Mart…” I shook my head. “No. We’re not going to be talking about that.” Kate looked confused, but let it pass. Damian pressed on. “That was an awesome time. Popcorn everywhere, you making cookies…” “Damian!” I yelled. Then I started laughing. “That was awesome. But we’re not going to talk about it.” He grinned sheepishly. “Sure. I just love winding you up, though,” he said, punching me on the arm. We stopped next to a gas pump, and a gas attendant walked up. “Hey, guys,” he said. He looked at us. “What’s going on tonight? Is it homecoming?” He winked at Damian. “You got two hot girls for a date, huh?” Damian turned red. “No, it was just a fun thing,” he started to say. His accent got thicker from embarrassment. “Oh, and these two girls got a nice Irish guy for a date,” he continued. “Congrats, dude!” he turned to Kate. “What’ll it be?” Damian’s face said that he gave up. We filled up and left, the guy waving good-bye and yelling for us to have a great evening. I wondered what was going on in his head. “Did he even think about the fact that it’s Wednesday night and we can’t have dances on Wednesdays?” Kate shrugged. “Maybe he just likes seeing people party.” We drove past the Harrisburg bridge quietly and reached my house quickly. We walked in. “What took you so long?” was the general question. “We stopped for gas,” Kate explained. Damian turned to Keith. “Where are my clothes?” he asked. Keith handed him his clothes and he went into the bathroom quickly to change. Keith had already changed and looked very comfortable and relaxed. Dee was still in her outfit, but Rachelle had put on jeans and a t-shirt. Kate and I went upstairs to change. We felt out of place. As we changed, Kate asked, “So, do you two have a thing?” she looked eager. “What?” I asked. “Me and Damian?” She nodded. “Duh!” she said, laughing. “He’s cute. And he likes you. You can totally tell.” I nodded. “Sure….” I said slowly. “No! We’re just friends. Promise. We may think that the other is cute, but that’s about it. Nothing will ever come of it.” I knew I was babbling, but I couldn’t seem to stop. She nodded wisely. “Sure. I know that form of speech. I used to talk like that when trying to get my friends to stop asking about my crushes.” I frowned. “Listen. A lot of people have asked me about that. But it’s not true. Please believe me.” I put on my wide-eyed look. Kate shrugged. “Sure, I believe you. But I still think that you and Damian would make a good couple!” she grinned, dodging a couple pillows.
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Post by HburgEagle44 on Jun 18, 2011 13:08:18 GMT -5
lol this story is winding down.....unless you want me to go on. It's summer, I can do it...if not, then there will be two or three more updates. Comment We walked downstairs a moment later, calm as could be. Dee and Rachelle were talking while Damian and Keith were learning how to make popcorn from a popper instead of the microwave. Mom was teaching them. I went into the kitchen and Kate stayed out in the living room. Dee followed me happily. “Hey,” I said. Damian and Keith turned around. Mom was busy keeping the popcorn from flying everywhere. “Hey,” Damian said, his eyes lighting up. “Do you know how to do this? It seems impossible!” I laughed. “No, it’s really easy.” Keith rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right.” Dee skipped in. “What movie should we watch?” she asked. Mom thought. “You should watch The Goonies.” She started laughing. “That movie never gets old!” “I’ve never seen it,” Keith said. “Neither have I,” said Damian. “Really?” I asked. Dee and I looked at each other in amazement. “Then you have to see it!” I exclaimed. Keith and Damian looked at each other. “Ok,” Keith said. He grinned. “What kind of movie is it? Scary?” Mom burst out laughing. “No, it’s a comedy. Of course, if you’re six, it could be scary.” Damian nodded without Keith noticing. He made gestures meaning, “Keith’s six.” We all started laughing at his gyrations. Keith looked behind him and glared at Damian, who had hastily stopped and put on his “innocent face.” Rachelle came into the kitchen. “So, what’re we watching?” she asked. “The Goonies,” we all said at the same time. “Ok, then,” she said, laughing. “Let’s go!” We all walked upstairs and put the movie in. We somehow managed to fit all of us on one couch. We don’t know why we tried this. We just wanted to see if we could. And it was fun! I was crushed in between Damian and Kate. We were sitting there, cracking up at the movie. Damian was constantly whispering, “What does that mean?” When I would explain it, he would laugh. A little late, but a laugh nonetheless. It made us all smile. Mom came up with the popcorn that Damian and Keith were making. It was good for their first try. Burnt, but that didn’t matter to them. We just watched the movie, relaxed and laughing. Chris and Johnny were in bed, Lukas and Jeffrey were who knows where, and we were having fun. When the movie ended, Dee looked at her phone. “I should probably go home,” she informed us all. “I do have school tomorrow, unlike certain people.” She glared at me good-naturedly. “So, I guess this is good-bye?” she asked Keith and Damian. They nodded. “Yup. Tomorrow is when we leave,” Keith said. She nodded. “That’s right. I’ll see you all later,” she said. Damian walked over to her and gave her a hug. “It was nice seeing you, Dee,” he said, smiling. A huge smile came over her face. “Oh. Yeah, it was nice seeing you, too, Damian.” She hugged him back. Keith walked over to Damian and tapped him on the shoulder. “Ok, my turn. Step aside.” He gave Dee a hug. “It was really nice seeing you again. Talk to you later.” She nodded. “Sure thing, Keith, you have my number.” She smiled kind of sadly. She went downstairs, calling “Bye, Debbie!” and the door slammed shut. Kate jumped up. “We should play Twister!” she said. Rachelle slapped her hand against her head. “No, Kate! No! We cannot destroy these poor innocent souls this way!” Kate scoffed. “I didn’t mean hardcore Twister. Besides, what innocent souls?” Keith pointed at Damian instantly. Rachelle pointed at me at the same time. Damian and I looked at each other and shrugged. Kate nodded reluctantly. “Well, if you think so,” she conceded. “Besides,” Rachelle said, “we don’t have Twister.” Kate gasped. “That is a criminal offense! How can you not have Twister? Especially after that Halloween party!” Rachelle just shrugged. “I think we played it so much the tarp ripped.” She rolled her eyes. “I think you scarred five guys at that Halloween party...” she reminded Kate. “Why would I want to play Twister with you ever again?” “Good point,” she said. “Well, I think I will take Dee’s lead and leave this crazy house. Good night, all!” She gave all of us a hug and left, calling out to my mom as she did so. Keith looked amused. “Wow, she’s exuberant,” he said. We all started laughing at that comment. “Yes, she is!” Rachelle commented. “She’s also quite the Russian Ninja.” Damian’s eyes opened wide. “Wait. What does that mean? Did I hear that correctly?” Rachelle looked at me teasingly. “You didn’t tell him about the Russian Ninja?” I shook my head. “No...It just didn’t come up!” I defended myself. “Besides, it’s past midnight. I know I don’t have school tomorrow, but I should get to bed.” I dared Rachelle to contradict me. “Yeah, I was just thinking that,” Mom said, startling us all by coming up the stairs just then. “Jenny, you should probably get to bed now.” I nodded. “Yeah, I’m tired,” I said, surprised at the truth in that statement. I yawned. “I’m really tired!” I laughed. Mom gave me a hug. “Sleep well, sweetheart,” she said. “I’m going to bed, too,” she informed the others. Rachelle gave her a hug. “Night, Mom,” she said. Damian awkwardly gave her a hug. “Good night, Debbie,” he said. “See you tomorrow?” Mom smiled. “Of course. I’ll be here.” She looked at Keith and opened her arms. “C’mon, you know you want to!” Keith walked over and gave her a hug. “Night, Debbie,” he said. “Sweet dreams.” “Go to bed, young lady,” she said to me. “Good night!” She walked downstairs. Keith came over to me. “Night, Jenny,” he said, grinning. “Hopefully you don’t sleep until ten like last time we were here,” he said, winking. I socked him in the arm. “Fine. Just rub it in that you woke up earlier than me last time.” I hugged him. “Good night, Keith.” He grinned and walked downstairs with Rachelle. I rolled my eyes at this not-so-tactful way of giving me time alone with Damian. He looked at me awkwardly. “Well. I guess this is good night.” I nodded. “Yeah.” We stood there in silence for a moment, and then Damian said, “Come sit on the couch for a moment. Please.” I complied, sitting down next to him. “What’s going on?” I asked. “Look,” he started. He heaved a deep breath. “Why are we so awkward around each other?” I almost laughed at that. “Are you seriously asking that question?” He rolled his eyes. “Ok, I know that everyone thinks that we’d be a ‘perfect couple’,” he said. “I don’t see why that should make anything awkward between us.” I bit my lip and turned my head. “Well, it’s awkward for others reasons,” I whispered. “Which are?” he pressed. I thought for a moment before answering. “You do realize that you are a very good-looking boy with a very sweet personality, right?” I asked him. He blinked. “Well, kind of.” He was silent for a second. I could sense the wheels turning in his head. “Wait, you don’t mean that...” he gasped. I looked away. “What, you don’t get it, do you?” He turned my head towards himself. “Get what? That you’re beautiful and amazing and you like me?” His eyes glimmered. “Damian...” I said warningly. “You do realize that...” “That it would never work?” he asked. I nodded slowly. “Yes. It would never work. That’s exactly what I was going to say.” He frowned. “Well, that’s ok. I just love being with you. It’s going to be hard to leave tomorrow. But we can be friends, right? Just enjoy being together?” I gave a half-smile. “Sure. Enjoy being together. That works.” He grinned. “You should go to bed,” he reminded me gently. I laughed. “I know, I know. Thanks for the reminder, though.” I stood up. He stood up after me. “See you tomorrow,” he said. “Bright and early!” He gave me a hug and whispered, “Let’s not let anything come between our friendship. Ok?” I looked up at him. “Never,” I whispered back. “Nothing will ever come between us.” He smiled and let go. “Good night, beautiful,” he said. I flushed. “Good night...Damian,” I said. He went downstairs after flashing that beautiful smile at me. I was getting ready for bed when Rachelle walked in. “So, how’d it go?” she asked. “Did you two kiss?” I looked at her in confusion. “Rachelle, do you think we kissed?” I asked. “I mean, seriously. I have never kissed a guy in my life.” She grinned. “Yeah, well, he’s a good guy to start on,” she said. “Cute, funny, great accent. I mean, he’s the perfect guy! You gotta admit it!” I laughed. “Ok, I admit it. And no. We did not kiss. Happy now?” “No,” Rachelle said, winking. “Keith and I wanted you to kiss. That’s why we left you there.” I glared at her and climbed into bed. “See you in the morning,” I said. She stuck out her lip. “You’re no fun,” she said teasingly. “Fine. Go to bed. See if I care.” “Ok, I will,” I said. “Good night!” She turned off the light and I went to sleep, dreaming of cute boys with Irish accents.
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Post by HburgEagle44 on Jun 19, 2011 20:26:57 GMT -5
I woke up the next morning to a buzzing in my ear. I glanced at my phone and groaned. “Keith Harkin!” I yelled at him. “It’s not time to get up yet!” “It’s ten o’ clock. I thought you should be getting up now.” I could hear his smirk coming through the phone. I groaned and rolled over. “Fine. I’m getting up.” I hung up on him and started laughing. Rachelle sat up and stared at me. “Keith just called,” I said. She rolled her eyes and lay down again. I got up and went downstairs to eat breakfast. I ate my cereal, read my book, and felt relaxed. My brothers were at school and my mom was in bed along with my sister. I had the house to myself. I was getting into my book when the door opened. “Jenny? Debbie? Rachelle?” I heard a very Irish voice call. Damian. “In here!” I called out. Damian walked in, followed by Ryan. “Hey, Jenny,” Damian said. “You know Ryan, of course.” I suddenly felt very uncomfortable, sitting there in my pink pajama pants eating breakfast. “Um, hi, Ryan,” I said. “How are you?” He smiled. “Good. It’s a beautiful day, and I thought I could come see your mom again. Except for Tuesday, it has been a long time since I’ve seen her.” I smiled. “That’s nice. Can I – can I get dressed?” Damian and Ryan laughed. “Sure,” they both agreed. I went upstairs in a hurry. Rachelle cracked an eye open when I walked in. “Hey,” she said. “Who’s downstairs?” “Ryan and Damian,” I said. “I’m getting dressed.” Rachelle sat up really quickly. “Ryan’s here?” she asked excitedly. “Why is he here? I thought he would be in Portland with Anna.” “Apparently not,” I answered. “He said he wanted to say hi to Mom.” Rachelle smiled. “Aw, that’s sweet of him,” she said. She got up and started getting ready for the day. “You’re getting up?” I asked, amused. “Of course! We have guests,” Rachelle said with a smile. “Besides, I really want to see if I can get Damian to blush today.” She grinned wickedly. I stuck my tongue out at her. “Really? That’s your big plan for the day? That’s distressing.” She laughed. “Let’s go downstairs.” We walked downstairs. Mom had gotten up and was chatting mildly with Ryan and Damian. They looked up as we entered. “Good morning, girls!” Mom said happily. “Look who decided to show up!” Ryan smiled. “I just felt like coming over.” “I’m surprised that you didn’t go to Anna’s,” Rachelle commented. Ryan’s face clouded. “She’s not here right now. Of course, the one time I’m in Oregon she isn’t here.” He frowned. “But I’ll talk to her later,” he finished. Rachelle looked embarrassed for bringing it up. “Oh,” she said. “I’m sure you will.” Mom looked at Damian and me. “Why don’t you two go walk around Hburg? Have fun without talking to us old folk,” she said, winking at Ryan. “Excuse me?” Ryan asked in mock indignation. “I consider myself younger than most of the guys! Even Damian!” Damian scowled at him good-naturedly. “Whatever, Ryan. Come on, Jenny. Let’s get out of here.” “Bye, Mom,” I said. We walked out of the house. We walked around Hburg tranquilly, taking in the sunlight and just chatting. We walked to the gazebo, to the store, over to the high school (I laughed at the kids inside while I wasn’t), and then we walked over to my grandparent’s farm. We sat in their barn and talked, knowing that they were both at work and wouldn’t be coming back for a while. After an hour of talking, we decided to get back. We had been gone for a good hour and forty-five minutes. Hburg may seem small, but it’s spread out. We were about three blocks away when Damian’s tone changed. “Listen,” he said, “you realize that I’m leaving today. I’m really going to miss you. Can we talk about what we were talking about last night?” I looked at him quizzically. “What were we talking about last night?” “You honestly forgot?” Damian asked, almost laughing. “Well, about...um...liking each other. Can we talk about that?” I nodded slowly. “Um, yeah. That’s fine.” “Oh.” Damian sounded embarrassed. “Well. I know you said that it wouldn’t work.” “It wouldn’t,” I said quickly. He took hold of my arm and stopped me. “Why wouldn’t it work?” he asked. “Just give me a good reason. Please.” His eyes begged me to answer kindly. “Well,” I said cynically, “we do live four and a half thousand miles away from each other. Is that a good reason?” He blinked. “And you know that how?” I flushed. “Well, actually, I looked it up. But that isn’t the point. Is it a good reason?” He shrugged. “That’s the easy answer. But you have to remember that I’m here a lot for the Glee Project and on tour. I just wish that we could make it work. I really, really wish it could work. It would be...awesome if it could work. And I really-” “Damian!” I interrupted, laughing. “I get that you want to make it work. But...I’ve never had a boyfriend and I think it would be weird...especially if it’s a guy from Ireland. Also, I don’t know how my mom would feel, and it... well, it just wouldn’t work.” “Oh,” Damian said. He looked so depressed, it hurt. I felt really bad. Then I saw a smile slowly creep over his face. “It just so happens that I already asked your mom if it would be all right if we...went out.” “Really?” I asked, astonished. “And my mom said what?” His smile got bigger. “You think I would ask you to go out with me if your mom said no? She said that if you said yes, she said yes.” I couldn’t believe it. “My mom...said...yes?” I started smiling. “Wow. That really changed my world.” “That changed your world?” Damian asked, almost smirking. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought he was smirking. “Wow, a little dramatic, huh?” His eyes turned serious. “So... what do you say? Do you want to be my girlfriend?” he whispered to me.
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Post by HburgEagle44 on Jun 21, 2011 2:06:33 GMT -5
hahaha you guys make me laugh.... here's the next update. And don't worry, I'm writing a part 3 right now, due to popular vote I simply smiled and laced my fingers through his. His eyes lit up. “Let’s just start slow. Really slow. Please. And it’s not like we’re going to see each other a lot,” I pointed out. He smiled. “So?” We started walking again. “Let’s just go to your house.” We walked to my house slowly, holding hands and talking. We walked in through the front door. I dropped his hand quickly. “We’re back!” I said. Mom and Ryan looked up from the computer. “Hey, guys,” Mom said. “Good walk?” she asked, winking at Damian. He winked back. “Yes, very,” I answered. “It’s beautiful out today.” Ryan nodded, still bent over the computer screen. “What are you looking at?” Damian asked curiously. Ryan looked up at him. “Oh, well, some group on Facebook is writing a story in installments. They each take turns with their part. And guess who the main characters are?” Damian shrugged. “I don’t know. Who?” I groaned. “Really, Mom?” I asked. “You have to tell him about that story?” Mom smiled at me. “But it’s so hilarious!” she said. “You should be proud of yourself.” “Right,” I scoffed. Turning to Damian, I said, “The main characters are you guys. Celtic Thunder, I mean. Our job is to protect you. And you aren’t supposed to know. That’s what the story is about. It’s hilarious, true, but also kind of embarrassing.” Damian grinned. “Sounds like fun,” he said. “I can’t wait to read it.” “No, no, no,” I said. “You can’t read it!” I realized too late that he was teasing me. Rachelle came downstairs. “What are you doing?” she asked. “Looking at the story in HH + 1,” I said. “Ryan loves it, or so he says. I’m not sure if he’s just being polite.” He looked up. “What? Oh. No. It’s seriously hilarious! Great craic!” Rachelle smiled. “You really like it?” she asked. “I thought it was hilarious, but I didn’t know how other people would take it.” “Well, this person is taking it great!” Ryan said. He read on, and his smile froze. “Sas?” he asked slowly. “The person who started this is Sas?” Damian laughed. “Sas. Wow, we really haven’t heard from her for a while.” I laughed. “Sas is awesome. Come on, let’s go upstairs,” I said to Damian. “These people are boring.” I winked at Mom. Ryan was reading the story again. “Sure thing,” Damian said, smiling down at me. He linked his fingers through mine, self-consciously on my part. We walked upstairs, Rachelle staring after us with an open mouth. Ryan didn’t notice, still engrossed in the story. We sat upstairs on the couch and talked for another two hours. We talked about the most random things, just enjoying hanging out with each other. Keith came over and we hung out. We played Apples to Apples with Rachelle, Mom, and Ryan, ate lunch, talked again. It was a good time. We lost track of time, having fun with our Irish friends before they left again. Keith finally stood up. “Well, I think I should get back to the apartments.” I suddenly had a sense of déjà vu. My eyes filled with tears. “Right,” I said. “So this is good-bye. Possibly forever.” “Hey, hey,” Keith said softly. “Don’t sound so upset. I’ll see you again.” I smiled. “Ok. See you later, Keith.” I knew there was next to no chance of ever seeing him, no matter what he said. He smiled and gave me a hug. He held for a moment in silence, and then let go. He tipped my chin up. “I’ll text you. At ten in the morning,” he said, grinning. I smiled ruefully. “Sure. You do that.” He left, walking down the stairs slowly. I watched him go with tears streaming from my face. I couldn’t believe those two short days later, I was saying good-bye to my friends again. And for one person, more than a friend. Damian and I looked at each other in depressed silence when Keith had gone. He swallowed hard. “So...” he said. “So,” I said. “This really is good-bye.”
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Post by HburgEagle44 on Jun 22, 2011 0:58:24 GMT -5
lol thanks Auntie...what I'm in the middle of writing right now--but I won't tell you. Have fun with the update! He bit his lip. “Yeah,” he said. We sat there awkwardly for a few moments. I felt as if I were in middle school again. I stood up. “Um, shouldn’t you go now?” Damian nodded. “I should. That doesn’t mean I will.” I glared at him. “Yeah, right. If you don’t get back, I think everyone will be mad at you. Especially me. I really want to see your performance on OPB. So you should get going.” “Nice pep talk, lady,” he said teasingly. He touched my chin. “I’ll miss you,” he whispered. I almost whispered I’ll miss you, too, but before I knew it, he was pulling me in for a kiss. I almost melted at the touch of his lips on mine. It was my first kiss, and it shocked me for a moment, but I relaxed after a moment. He pulled away and smiled at me. “Was that moving slow enough for you?” he asked. I shook my head. “No. But,” I smiled, “it was worth it.” I hugged him tightly. “I’ll miss you so much, Damian McGinty. I’ll miss you.” I was openly crying by now. He hugged me back. “I know.” After a few minutes of just standing there that way, he pulled away. “It’ll work,” he promised me. “We’ll make it happen.” I sobbed. “Yes. It’ll work.” He hugged me again. “Cry. Just cry. It’ll make you feel better in the long run.” I cried and cried, thankful that I didn’t wear makeup. When I finally had slowed enough to be comprehensible, I cleared my throat. “Your shirt’s all wet,” I said. Wow, that sounded dumb, I thought. He nodded. “It’s ok.” He was leaning in for another kiss when Mom came walking up the stairs. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, turning around. “No, it’s ok,” Damian said. Mom reached the top hesitantly. “Damian, Keith says to tell you fifteen minutes and you’d better be at the apartments.” He nodded. “All right. I will be there on time.” Mom smiled and went back down the stairs. Damian looked at me again. “Now, where were we?” he asked, smiling easily. He leaned over, breathing quicker. He kissed me again. My heart quickened. We broke apart after a moment. “Damian,” I said, gasping. “You realize I’ve never kissed a guy, right? Well, that was...simply amazing. I’ve missed out.” I smiled at him. He grinned. “Well, no one kisses like I do,” he said gently, raising an eyebrow teasingly. We kissed one more time, and then his smile faded. “I should go now. Keith will get upset with me if I don’t.” I froze. “Yeah. You should go.” He backed up. “Um. I’ll see you later, beautiful. I promise. And I’ll call you. And text you. And be there for you.” He started backing down the steps. He stopped on the third one. I saw a tear stream down his face. “I can’t do it,” he said, his voice breaking. He came back up and gave me a hug. “Walk down with me?” he asked. I nodded. “Definitely. Anything for you.” We were both crying. We walked downstairs and outside. He kissed me and said huskily so that I could barely understand him, “I love you, beautiful.” Another tear slipped by unchecked. “I love you,” I whispered. And then he was gone, walking down the street. He looked back once. I walked inside slowly. Mom was standing there. “You do realize that you may never see him again, right?” she asked me gently. I started bawling. “Yes. I kissed a guy that I may never see again, and I realized that I love him today. What am I going to do?” Mom held me. “You’re going to call him. Talk to him. Don’t lose touch with him, Jenny. He’s a relationship you cannot afford to lose. Trust me on this.” I nodded. “Ok. Thanks.” I walked up to my room and read a book. Soon enough, my phone buzzed. “Hey, beautiful, getting ready to leave. Talk to you when we start rolling. The road again. Ugh. I miss you already.” I smiled sadly. “And I miss you, too,” I whispered to the phone. I dialed Damian’s number and waited. “Hello?” I smiled.
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