The Legend of Piedmont CoveA Story by Joey Hubbard A rock band group of high school graduates decide to travel across the country to stay together as friends and a band, and they eventually end up in a small town that nobody believes exists. The Legend of Piedmont Cove By Joey Hubbard
Have you ever heard the legend of Piedmont Cove? Do
you even know what Piedmont Cove is? Piedmont Cove is a small suburban town hidden
somewhere in
Some time ago, Adam T. Logan (the T. stands for
It was less than three weeks before graduation day
and each of them had no idea about what would become of each other after that
day. They wondered, “Would the pressures of college and summer jobs force their
band apart, or would the bitterness of adulthood simply pull them apart no
matter what?” Adam, who had always been somewhat of a natural born leader, was
determined to make sure that they stayed together no matter what the cause. He
decided to spend some time over the next few days thinking and considering what
ideas he might have and which could possibly be the best of them all.
One day while
they were in his garage having a rehearsal, Adam said to them, “Hey you guys,
let’s settle down for a minute. I want to ask you guys something.” Wes struck a
riff on his drums to get everyone to quiet down. Eric stopped plinking and
asked, “What’s up Adam T.?” Adam cleared his throat and said, “As you all know,
in less than two weeks we’re all going to graduate from high school and we’ll
have to move on with our lives and all that, right?” Lucas struck a few keys
and said, “I hope you’re going somewhere good with this A.T.L, because if
you’re not then I see no point in listening to this conversation.” Wes added,
“I’m with Lucas on this one man.” A.T.L was the band’s personal nickname for
Adam because they were his initials. Katie said, “Why don’t you guys just keep
quiet and listen to what our leader has to say? After all he is the one that brought
us together, and he’s also the one that keeps us together.” Trip added, “Yeah
you guys, settle down and listen to our buddy.” Adam replied, “Katie and Trip. Thank
you both very much for looking out for me, now what was I saying? Oh yeah, what
I want to suggest is that after grad week, why don’t we all just pack up our
gear and band equipment, and take a little cross country road trip across the
Midwest? If you guys think about it, it could really be a lot of fun. I mean
after this summer is over, some of us are gonna go off to college or get
full-time jobs and we’ll only get to see each other on holidays, weekends and
on our birthdays if we’re lucky. This could be the last chance we have to be
together as a band. It could also be our last chance to spend real quality time
with each other and have some real rock n roll fun. What do you think guys?”
Tori didn’t have to think twice because she immediately stood up and said, “Adam,
I’m in!” Katie stood up next, raised her tambourine in the air and said, “You
can count on me to come along.” Wes stood up with both drumsticks raised in the
air and said, “As Fleetwood Mac once said, “I wanna be with you everywhere.”
I’m definitely in.” Eric plinked a few notes on his guitar and said, “I’m with
you all the way buddy.” Lucas slowly got up and said, “I will tag along too my
friend. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.” Trip said, “I’m behind you
100% of the way my brother from another mother.” Jen stood up and asked, “What
kind of songwriter and band member would I be if I didn’t come along?” Adam
replied, “Okay then, it’s decided. After graduation week, we’ll put all of our
gear and band equipment together in my dad’s truck, gather up all the money we
have, and then we’ll pack up all our clothes, and hit the road for the summer.”
Over the course of the next week, Adam and the
others spent a lot of time rehearsing and talking about where they would go and
what they would do. The reason they continued to rehearse was because Miles
Warren, their school principal had asked them to perform at the prom and at the
graduation ceremony next week. They had decided to work their way south towards
Finally, it was Sunday, the night of the school
prom. Wes, Lucas, and Trip were all going with Tori, Katie, and Jen, but Eric
and Adam unfortunately were unable to get dates for the prom that night, but it
didn’t matter to them all that much anyway. They were going to be too busy
setting up their band equipment for the night. They had even offered to let
Katie, Tori, and Jen sing a few songs that night, which they were all too happy
to pass up. Adam and Eric spent most of the afternoon setting up the equipment
on the stage in the school gym. After they finished setting up shop, they both
went to the nearest restrooms to change into their tuxedos. Eric was wearing a
complete tux, but Adam was only wearing a pair of tuxedo pants and a jacket
along with a button-down shirt and a pair of black Converse sneakers. He even
put on a black haberdasher to top it off (because for one thing he hated to
wear ties and he had never been one of those natty-daddy dressers anyway). Then
they called up the rest of the gang to tell them to meet them at the gym as
soon as possible.
The rest of the gang arrived at the school around a
quarter to
The juniors and seniors started arriving around
They walked up the stairs and Adam opened a door
with a sign that said, “Rooftop access. Maintenance only.” and began to climb
up the ladder with Eric right behind him. The roof had become a little bit of a
hangout spot for them since the beginning of their senior year. The reason they
had access was because at the beginning of the year, when they told Principal Warren
about starting their own band, he gave them a roof access key after they asked
if they could use the roof to rehearse after school hours. Adam and Eric both
climbed out of the roof access panel and sat down on top of a steel air duct. For
a while they just sat there watching the stars come out in the night sky and
neither of the boys said anything to each other, mostly because they felt like
they had nothing to talk about. Finally, Adam broke the ice and said, “Man,
this whole thing really sucks doesn’t it? I mean it was bad enough having to go
to our junior prom without dates, and now this is even worse.” Eric replied,
“Who’re you telling? And you know what makes it worse even more? We could be
down there right now dancing with Katie and Tori like we got to do the last
time.” Adam said, “I know Eric, but I didn’t wanna go through that whole
sympathy thing again. You know that’s what it was right? They were only gonna
dance with us because Wes and the others felt sorry for us, and they thought
they’d be sympathetic. I mean, if I was that desperate, I’d rather take my
chances and dance with Jen all night.” Eric replied, “I know, but do you know
what makes it worst of all? We are gonna graduate and be the only ones in this
school who didn’t get any all year.” Adam pointed at Eric and said, “There now,
that right there, that’s exactly why it’s a good thing that we’re taking that
little road trip of ours. I guarantee right now my friend; you and I will get
lucky and find love on this little trip.”
Meanwhile, downstairs in the gym, the music was
almost done playing and the principal was getting ready to announce Adam and
the others to the stage. By now Lucas and Trip had honeycombed the entire gym
and didn’t find hide or hair of Adam and Eric. They went back to Wes and the
girls and Trip said, “We checked the whole gym and we can’t find either of
them.” Tori asked, “You guys don’t think they got so upset that they left the
school do you?” Lucas shook his head and replied, “No way. Adam and Eric would
never do that to us. The band means everything to them. Heck, we mean
everything to them.” Jen looked at Katie and asked, “Katie, did you see Adam or
Eric leave the room?” Katie replied, “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you
guys. I saw both of them walk out the gym door a little while ago.” Wes said,
“I think I know where they are. They must’ve gone up to the roof. Jen, you go
and tell Principal Warren to wait a little longer to announce us while we go upstairs
and get our two lead guitarists.”
Wes, Lucas, Trip, Katie and Tori all headed upstairs.
Wes opened the roof access door and climbed up the ladder with Lucas and Trip
right behind him. Tori and Katie stayed by the door because they couldn’t climb
the ladder in their long gowns. Wes pushed open the access panel and
practically jumped onto the roof. Then he reached out his hand to pull up
Lucas, and then he did the same for Trip. Adam and Eric were still wrapped up
in their conversation and they hadn’t noticed any of the guys. Wes cleared his
throat to get their attention. They both turned around and Adam said, “Oh, hi
guys. What happened, did the prom get too boring for the rest of you?” Wes
shook his head and Trip said, “No actually. We just came up here to tell you
guys that the principal is going to announce us up on stage in a few minutes,
so you two need to get your butts in gear and we all need to get back
downstairs.” Adam and Eric slid off the air duct and all five of them walked back
to the access panel. Adam led the way and Trip brought up the rear. Adam lifted
the access panel and all five of the boys began descending the ladder. Trip
went first, and then Wes, Lucas, and Eric went next. Adam went down last. He
took a few steps down, locked the access panel, and climbed the rest of the way
down.
The seven of them quickly headed downstairs and back
to the gym. Trip went to double check the smoke machines and the rest of them
took to the stage. The principal and Jen went up to the stage as well. Mr.
Warren tapped the microphone to see if it was on. He softly spoke into it,
“Testing 1, 2, 3. Good evening Nicolet high school. Tonight, we are proud and
honored to present in their first onstage appearance, Adam and The Alley Cat
Blues!”
The principal stepped down and Adam stepped forward
and said, “Hello Nicolet High! Is everybody having fun tonight?” The whole room
exploded with cheers and applause. Adam said, “Okay everybody. We’re gonna
start off small with some hits of yesterdays and then we’re gonna rock out
loud.” They started off by playing a pop rendition of Silhouettes, followed by
Message in a Bottle, I Melt with You, Jessie’s Girl, Summer in the City,
Everybody wants to Rule the World, One Thing Leads to Another, Our Time Now,
Hey There Delilah, Dirty Little Secret, Move Along, Be My Escape, Found Out
About You, and You Wanted More. While they performed, Trip turned on the smoke
machines one by one, and the smoke blew all over the stage. After playing
fourteen songs in a row, Adam spoke into the mike and said, “Yeah! Did ya’ll
enjoy that?” The room was buzzing with applause and shouts of, “Encore! Encore!
Encore!” Adam said, “You guys want an encore? Well we’ll give you an encore.
But, unfortunately my fellow students, my voice is feeling a little low so I
don’t think I can sing anymore tonight. But do not fear; because we asked our
three lovely ladies to sing tonight as well and now they are gonna take it from
here. So without further ado, let’s all give it up for Jennifer “Jen” Scotts,
Katie Walker, and Tori Hanson!”
Katie, Tori, and Jen picked up their microphones and
stepped to the center of the stage. Tori stood on the right, Katie stood on the
left, and Jen stood in the middle. Jen spoke into the microphone, “Okay Nicolet
high, now it’s time to really (as Hannah Montana puts it) pump up the party!”
They started playing again and the girls sang wonderfully. They started with
Let’s Hear it for the Boy, followed by Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia, Can’t Stop the
World, Just What I Needed, No Ordinary Girl, A Thousand Miles, Linger, Sway,
Kiss Me, I Just Can’t Help Myself, Pieces of Me, A Public Affair, and they
topped it off with You’re Still the One. Trip carried one of the handheld smoke
machines around the stage while the girls were singing. He was hoping it would
be enough to spark up the ambience.
By the time the girls had finished singing, it was
After the rest of the students left the gym, Adam
and the others began closing up shop. Trip packed up the smoke machines, Adam,
Eric, and Tori put their guitars in their carrying pouches, and Lucas put his
keyboard in its case. Adam said to Jen, “Hey Jen? Would you do us a favor?”
Before she could answer, Adam reached into his pocket, pulled out his keys and
tossed them to her. He asked, “Could you bring the truck around to the front of
the school so we could start loading up our equipment?” She nodded and headed
out the gym door. Katie asked, “What about me? What do you want me to do?” Adam
replied, “You? I know what; you, Tori and Trip can carry the rest of the equipment
out to the front door while Eric, Lucas, and I help Wes with his drums.” Katie
picked up her tambourine, Adam’s guitar and Lucas’ keyboard, Trip carried the
smoke machines, and Tori carried hers and Eric’s guitars. Wes tucked the
drumsticks in his pocket and picked up the cymbals, Eric carried the tom drum,
Lucas carried the bass drum, and Adam carried the snare drum.
Before Adam could walk out the door, Mr. Warren came
up to him and said, “That was a wonderful show Adam, and it was worth every penny.”
Adam asked, “What do you mean sir?” He replied by reaching into his pocket and
pulling out a big roll of money. He unrolled it and pulled out six separate dollar
bills. He had a $50, two $20s, and three $10 bills in his hand which he handed
to Adam. Adam was shocked and said, “Oh no sir, we can’t accept this money. We
didn’t ask to be paid for this.” Mr. Warren replied, “I know Adam, but you and
your friends earned this money. That’s why I’m paying you for it. Also, I
thought you might want to know that I’m going to cancel school for tomorrow
because I’m sure that you, your friends, and all of the juniors and seniors
will be too tired to come tomorrow anyway.” Adam said, “Thank you very much
sir. We’ll see you on Tuesday then.” Adam turned and headed out the door with
the snare drum in his right hand and the money in his left hand.
By now, Jen had brought the truck around, and
everyone had loaded their equipment into the back. The truck was a black 2001
Chevy Trailblazer. There was a small trailer hitched to the back of it for all
of their instruments to be placed in. Eric had gone back inside to get his
extra clothes and Adam’s extra clothes. He didn’t watch where he was going, and
he nearly bumped into Adam and the snare drum. Adam asked, “Hey man, what’s the
big rush?” Eric replied, “I’m sorry man. I was just going to get our clothes. I
wanna get out of this tux.” Adam said, “Yeah me too.” Just then, Trip came back
inside to get a drink of water. Adam looked at him and said, “Hey Trip. Can you
do me and Eric a favor?” Trip wiped his mouth with his sleeve and said, “Sure,
what’s up?” Eric replied, “Would you carry the snare drum out for us while Adam
and I go change into our regular clothes?” Trip nodded and said, “No problem my
buddies.” He picked up the drum and walked back outside. Adam went into the
restroom first and changed back into his regular clothes; blue jeans, a
sleeveless shirt, a button-down striped shirt, and a leather vest. The only
things he kept on were his sneakers and the haberdasher. Eric went in next and
changed as well. He stepped out wearing a pair of camouflage jeans, white Nike
shoes, a blue Nike t-shirt, and a silk jacket. They both folded their tuxes and
walked out of the school.
Adam and Eric put their tuxes underneath the backseat.
Adam looked and saw that there were three other overnight bags with clothes in
them, and there were supposed to be five. From the looks of the contents in the
bags, they must’ve belonged to Wes, Lucas, and Trip. Adam turned around and
said, “Katie, Tori, would you both come here a minute?” They both walked over
to him and Katie asked, “What’s wrong Adam?” Adam replied by asking, “Where are
your overnight bags?” Tori asked, “What overnight bags?” Adam said in disgust,
“Aww, don’t tell me you girls forgot about the party.” Again, Tori asked,
“What? What party?” Adam sighed and said, “The post-prom party we agreed to
have at my house tonight. Don’t you remember? We were gonna order pizza, watch
some movies, and play some games. Does any of that ring a bell?” Katie replied,
“Oh yeah, that party. I’m sorry Adam. I guess I forgot because I’m so excited
about our road trip.” Tori said, “Yeah. I’m pretty much the same story.” Adam took
off his hat, ran his fingers through his hair and said, “Okay. This shouldn’t
be a problem. I’m sure that Jen can lend you both some of her clothes.” They
didn’t waste another minute. Trip, Wes, and Lucas got in the second backseat.
Jen, Katie, and Tori got in the first backseat. Eric got in the front seat and
Adam got into the driver’s seat. He started the engine and drove out of the
school parking lot. As they headed towards Adam’s house, Adam suddenly
remembered and said, “Oh. I almost forgot to tell you guys. You are not gonna
believe what Mr. Warren said to me and what he gave us.” Eric asked, “Really?
What did he give you?” Jen asked, “What did he say to you?” Adam replied,
“First off, he said he’s gonna cancel school for tomorrow so that we and the
rest of the juniors and seniors can get some rest after this big night. As for
what he gave me...” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the nice little chunk
of change, “Cha-ching, cha-ching.” They were all gawking at the money like
lions to a big hunk of meat. Eric reached out and took the money to look at it
and said, “Jeez you guys, this is like 120 bones right here.” Adam took back
the money and said, “That’s right Eric, and these bones are going into our
emergency road trip fund.” He put the money back into his pocket. They stopped
at a local corner store on the way home and picked up some supplies like chips,
pretzels, pop, and some candy.
Finally, they arrived at Adam and Jen’s
house. Adam let the others get out while he parked the truck in the garage. Jen
got inside first, followed by Eric and the others. Lucas picked up the phone
and dialed up the number for Dominos pizza. Trip and Wes went into the kitchen
and began sorting out the supplies. Katie and Tori went upstairs to Jen’s room
to borrow some of her clothes like Adam had suggested. They both went into her
room and looked through her closet and drawers. Katie picked out a black skirt
and a matching sleeveless shirt. Tori picked out a cerulean skirt and a purple
shirt. Katie unzipped the back of Tori’s baby-blue dress, and Tori untied the
back of Katie's pink dress. They both peeled out of them like fresh ripe bananas.
They both took some hangers out of the closet and hung up their dresses. They
began to put on their clothes when there was a knock at the door. It was Lucas with
the phone still in his hand. He had cupped the phone to his shirt and said,
“Girls? It’s me Lucas. Are you decent? I need to ask you something.” They both
finished putting on the clothes and Katie opened the door. Lucas popped his
head in and asked, “Did you guys want your own pizza or should I just order
something at random?” Katie replied, “Order us a pepperoni and sausage pizza
and a side order of cheesy bread.” Lucas put the phone back to his ear and
asked for that to go with their order.
By now Adam had come into the house
through the garage door. He had gone into the kitchen, grabbed an already
opened bag of nacho cheese Doritos from the counter and a Pepsi from the
fridge, turned on the big screen TV and had made himself comfortable on the big
black leather couch in the living room. He was in the middle of watching
Knocked Up, one of his all-time favorite movies, when Jen and Eric came into
the room and plopped down next to him. Jen asked, “Adam?” He took a swig of his
pop and replied, “What’s up?” Eric said, “Lucas already placed our order to
Dominos if you want to know.” Adam asked, “So, what’d he order?” Jen hesitated
and replied, “He ordered three medium pizzas and one of each side dish.” Adam
stopped munching on his Doritos and suddenly had an angry look in his eyes.
He’d forgotten that Lucas had a knack for getting carried away every once in
awhile. He especially went in over his head when it came to food. He remembered
the one time that they ate at Long John Silver’s and Lucas ate so much that he
got sick and wound up throwing up in both of the restroom trash bins, but it
wasn’t completely his fault. The shrimp that he’d eaten was tainted and that’s
what made him sick. He asked, “And how much is this going to cost us?” Eric
said, “I think he said it’d be like $36.50 or so.” Then Adam asked, “And where
is our friend Lucas?” Jen replied, “He’s up in my room with Katie and Tori.”
Adam took a deep breath and stood up, brushed the chip crumbs off of his
clothes and walked out of the living room and into the hallway. Trip and Wes,
who were still in the kitchen watched Adam walk past them. Trip said, “Ooh,
he’s mad about something man.” Wes nodded his head in agreement. Adam continued
making his way upstairs. Lucas and Katie were now sitting on Jen’s bed talking;
and as for Tori? She had excused herself to go to the bathroom. Adam pushed
open the door, waltzed right over to Lucas and grabbed him by his shirt. He
said in a very sneer tone, “I’d like a word with you right now old buddy, old
pal, old dear good friend.” Lucas said, “Wait dude. If this is about the
pizzas, then don’t worry about them. I knew exactly what I was doing and I’ll
pay for it all.” The angry look on Adam’s face faded as he let go of Lucas.
He’d also forgotten that his temper could sometimes get the better of him and
that caused him to act without thinking. He straightened out Lucas’ shirt and
said, “I’m sorry about that old friend.” Lucas patted him on the shoulder which
was his way of saying, “It’s all right.” Adam patted him back and left the
room.
Half an hour later, their food arrived.
Katie and Tori got their pepperoni and sausage pizza and their cheesy bread,
Adam and Jen got a cheese pizza and regular breadsticks, and the rest of the
boys split a meatZZa feast pizza and they split two sides. Eric and Lucas had
the Buffalo wings and Wes and Trip had the They all wound up sleeping until
They were all dressed and ready fifteen
minutes later. They left the house and ended up driving all the way out to
The next day was Tuesday, the last day of classes.
Adam and his friends spent most of the day signing a few yearbooks. Adam and
his friends got a few signatures too, as well as a few phone numbers from
various friends. After school, Adam, Jen, Eric, and the rest of the gang went
out for a pre-graduation dinner at Hooters. After dropping off the gang, Adam
and Jen drove home themselves. They all were almost too darn excited to sleep
that night, but they somehow managed to find a way to do so. It was especially
hard on Adam.
The following day was graduation day. Adam and the
others spent part of their morning in the school gym rehearsing their rock ‘n
roll rendition of “Pomp and Circumstance.” Several of the other students came in
during the rehearsal to get some signatures for their yearbooks. They rehearsed
until they were called to get into their gowns for the ceremony. After putting
on their gowns, they went back to the gym ahead of everyone. By now, the gym
was filling up with students, teachers, and parents. Principal Warren stepped
up to the podium and spoke into it, “Hello everyone and welcome to the
gymnasium of Nicolet high school. We are here today to honor the graduating
achievement of several of our wonderfully gifted students. Eight of which are
the band for the ceremony here. Let’s give a small round of applause to Adam
and the Alley Cat Blues.” The room was exploding with applause. Adam and the
others began to play while the other students made their way into the gymnasium.
After the rest of the students sat down, Adam and his friends put down their
instruments and joined them at their own seats. First, the teachers gave out
the awards to their students, including the graduates. Then one by one,
Principal Warren called up the graduating students to step up and receive their
diplomas. The order was as followed: Steven LaRusso, Wendy Davis, Jessica
Evans, Theresa Rogers, Lisa Turner, Toby Morgan, Andrew Collins, Kenneth
Heywood, Jeremy Thomson, and Sarah Lewis. Then it was their turn to go up. Trip
was called up first, followed by Tori, Wes, Katie, Lucas, Eric, and Jen. Finally,
it was Adam’s turn. He stepped up to the podium and delivered a very small but
very meaningful speech. He said, “Thank you Principal Warren, and good
afternoon my fellow students. I first wanna start off by thanking my mom for
being here today, I also wanna thank my dad and stepmom. I wanna thank my
teachers for helping me persevere for the past four years. There is one more
little group that I wanna thank. As the Beatles once said, “I get by with a
little help from my friends.” That is a true statement right there. I have
gotten by, but not just the past four years. I have gotten by my whole life
with some help from my friends, whom I’m happy to say are graduating with me
today. You know what else? I look around this room today and I see many, many
wonderfully gifted students, eighteen of which are about to embark on a
journey. I look at us and see eighteen students including myself that are about
to make their leap into the real world and show it what they can do; and as for
me? I hope to further pursue my dream of being a famous rock star. My friends
share that same dream, and together we will make it happen. As to the rest of
you, I say good luck on your challenging and hard but wonderful and enjoyable journeys
into adulthood. Oh, and one more thing. Remember that life is what you make it,
so make it good and make it rock.” He stepped down from the podium and
Principal Warren stepped back up. He said, “Thank you for that wonderful speech
Adam Logan. Now without further ado ladies and gentlemen, I give you the
Adam, his friends, and all the other graduate
students left the gym and headed into the staff lounge for the post graduation
buffet. There were two kinds of cake, candy, cupcakes and punch. They picked
out what they wanted and stepped out of the room. While they were outside the
lounge, Adam’s parents came up to him and hugged him. His mom, Allison Williams
Logan (Williams was her maiden name) said, “I’m so proud of you sweetie. Congratulations.”
Isobel said, “I’m proud of you too Adam.” Michael added, “I’m very happy for
you son and I hope you’re happy too.” Adam replied, “We’re all very happy for
each other. You guys know that.” The rest of the graduates came out of the
lounge to extend their congratulations. Several other students and parents
offered their congratulations as well. After shaking hands and offering
congrats, Adam let out a low sigh and said, “Man, what a day this has been,
huh? I don’t know ‘bout the rest of you guys, but I’m glad this part of it is
over. The sooner we get outside; the sooner we get out of these itchy gowns.”
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Then he added, “Oh, and don’t forget
you guys, my parents are treating us to a graduation dinner tonight at Old
Country Buffet. So everybody dress up sweet and sharp.” Lucas asked, “What time
are we gonna go there?” Adam replied, “Jen and I will pick you guys up around
Adam excused himself and went to find his parents. He
wasn’t so much concerned about finding Isobel as he was about finding his own parents;
after all it had been a long time since he’d seen his mom. He found them
standing outside one of his classrooms talking to Principal Warren. He cleared
his throat and said, “Excuse me. Mom and dad, I just want you guys to know that
Jen and I are gonna go ahead and take the others home and then we’ll meet you
guys back at the house, and then later at the restaurant.” His mom said, “Okay
honey, we’ll see you guys there. I hope you’re in the mood for some surprises
because you’re gonna have quite a few of them coming your way tonight.”
Adam, Jen, and the others hopped into the truck, but
not before removing their caps and gowns. They pulled out of the parking lot
and drove off towards home. They stopped at a Dairy Queen for some ice cream
and sundaes. Then they continued on and Adam dropped off Trip, Tori, Katie,
Wes, and Lucas. They were going to drop off Eric, but he insisted on sticking
with Adam and Jen. She asked, “Don’t you wanna go home and freshen up and
change your clothes before the celebration dinner?” Eric replied, “I’ve already
thought about that. I can just freshen up at your place. I have some extra
clothes in my backpack. All I really need to change is my shirt anyway.” Adam,
who was in no position or mood to complain said, “I say we just bring him home
with us Jen. In my opinion, the fewer stops we have to make on the way to
dinner the better.”
Later that afternoon around
The three of them picked up the gang and continued
on to Old Country Buffet. They parked in the front of the lot. Adam and the
others walked in and saw his parents sitting at a table for 12. His dad waved
them over and they all sat down. Adam sat next to his mom, Jen and Trip sat
next to her mom, Eric, Lucas, and Katie sat next to Adam, and Wes and Tori sat
next to Trip. They spent an entire two hours eating. They ate deep dish cheese
pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, French fries, baked chicken, biscuits,
macaroni & cheese, ribs, and mashed potatoes. After polishing off that
gourmet meal, it was time for dessert. They helped themselves to ice cream, cupcakes,
chocolate cake, brownies, cookies, and sundaes. While they were eating, they
were also making conversation. Adam told his mom about the road trip and she
was delighted. She was especially thrilled when he asked about staying with her
at the end of their trip. Both his parents and Isobel kept mentioning how much
they loved his graduation speech. After dessert, Allison and Isobel gave Adam
and Jen their graduation gifts. Allison’s gifts to Adam were a brand new Dell
laptop computer, a Nintendo DS along with five games, and the complete series
of
It was almost
They pulled out of the parking lot and drove off.
Adam wasn’t sure where he was going and right now he didn’t care. As they were
driving, Adam suggested, “Hey guys. What do you say we blow off the last day of
school tomorrow and just spend the day at
They were all practically up at dawn the next
morning. Adam picked up the gang and they all got breakfast at Burger King. As
the day went on, Adam began feeling grateful that his friends suggested they go
to the last day of school. They got to perform in the gym again. Adam sang
seven songs including Two Princes, Margaritaville, Couldn’t get it Right, and
What’s Going On. The girls sang five songs including Everywhere by Michelle
Branch. Lucas and Eric even took over and sang a few songs. There was also a
big buffet luncheon in the cafeteria. They spent the rest of their last day in
one of the classrooms watching TV, but they didn’t care. To top it all off,
Principal
When they got to
They stopped on the way and got Wendy’s for dinner.
Trip asked Adam, “So tell me Adam, what was so exciting about that dream you
were having before I woke you up? What was so stimulating about it?” Adam
replied, “Oh man. I just gotta tell you. There I am walking up some stairs and
I come up to a hallway. I notice that the door on my left is hanging open a
smidge, so I walk in and find myself standing in some girl’s bedroom. I call
out hello and then a voice says to me that you’re in the right place. I walk
outside to the balcony and there she is man. A tall, beautiful and extremely
gorgeous redhead sitting on a big futon-like thing and she just takes her shoes
off in front of me. The next thing I know, I sit down next to her and we start
talking. The talking leads to a little sensuous back rub which in turn, leads
to a little kissing action. I think there may have even been a little bit of
the tongue tango if you know what I mean. But then that’s it. That’s as far as
it got before you woke me up Trip.” Trip said, “Again man, I’m very sorry I
ruined it for you.” Eric said, “Boy. That sounds like every man’s dream to me.”
Adam dropped off the rest of the gang and then he and Jen headed home as well.
Adam was up at dawn the next morning. He got up
around
It took them the entire morning before they finally
reached
They paid for three games and played for the next
two hours. All of them were split into teams of four. Adam, Jen, Eric, and
Lucas were one team. Trip, Wes, Katie, and Tori were the other. All of them
bowled fairly well. By the end of the third game, each of them had bowled a
little over 100. They wound up eating lunch in the Alley Dogs snack bar. Adam
and Trip had the hotdog specials. Eric and Wes had the burger platters. Lucas
had a plate of mini tacos and the girls all had the chicken strip platters.
After that gourmet lunch, they hung out in the arcade area for a while to kill
some extra time. They played Dance Dance Revolution Max, the Spider-Man arcade
game, and Street Fighter. They left the bowling alley around
They were cruising around another neighborhood when
Trip asked, “So what should we do now guys? The day is still pretty young.” Wes
added, “Yeah, what else is there to do? You guys wanna catch a ball game?” Adam
shook his head and said, “I know what we can do. My mom told me that there are
a couple of water parks in her neighborhood. We can check them out and then go
find my mom’s house. What do you say guys?” They didn’t have to think twice
because they began chanting, “Water Park.
When they got to the water park, they were met with
a bitter disappointment. The pool was just being closed for the day. Then Adam
had a thought. He said, “I just remembered. My mom has a pool in her backyard. Let’s
stop at a gas station and get some supplies. Then we’ll go to my mom’s house.”
That’s just what they did. They got their supplies and made their way to
Allison’s house.
Eric, Lucas, and Trip unloaded the bags while Adam
unlocked the door. The first thing he did was go into the garage to open the
door. Jen pulled into the garage and parked the truck. The rest of them went
into the house. The boys put all of their stuff in the front room. The girls
went upstairs to change into their swimsuits. Adam plopped down on the couch
relieved that he could finally relax. Eric plopped down next to him. The rest
of the boys were ready to plop down too when the girls came downstairs. As soon
as they saw the girls in their bikinis, Lucas, Wes, and Trip grabbed their
stuff and headed upstairs. The girls went outside, laid their beach towels on
the lounge chairs and sat down to unwind and relax. The boys joined them
shortly thereafter. Adam and Eric were left inside watching TV. After
awhile, Eric got up and said, “Adam, I’m gonna go check out the rest of the
house.” Adam replied, “All right but remember, this is my mom’s house so
whatever you do; try not to make a mess of the place.”
Eric went upstairs and Adam settled back into the
couch. He slowly fell asleep and began to dream. He had that same dream like at
the beach. Only this time instead of a redhead, it was a pitch-black brunette that
he saw. Also, instead of giving her a back massage, he gave her a soothing foot
massage. He wasn’t sure how, but this time he managed to go all the way with
the girl. It wasn’t until after he finished the deed that he woke up. He opened
his eyes and noticed the room had gotten very dark. He figured it must’ve been
night time. He tilted his head up and saw Katie’s head hovering over him. He
shouted, “Whoa!” She began giggling. Adam sat up and said, “Very funny Katie.”
She stopped giggling and said, “Hi.” He replied, “Hi.” She asked, “I trust that
you slept well?” Adam said, “Yeah of course.” Then she asked, “Did you have any
special dreams during your nap?” Adam replied, “I had a dream about that girl
again, but this time it was a brunette. Why?” Katie said, “Oh, it was just a
hunch.” She pointed down at him until he looked down as well. He saw what she was
pointing at and immediately flipped out. He put a pillow on his lap and said,
“Oh my God!” Katie started giggling again and he said, “Stop laughing Katie, it
isn’t funny.” She sat down next to him and said, “You have to admit it’s a little
funny and I don’t know what you’re flipping out for. What you’ve got there is
perfectly natural.” Adam replied, “Yeah, but you seeing it is what’s
embarrassing. Furthermore, you sitting next to me in that little teeny-weeny
yellow g-string bikini of yours is not helping me.” She giggled again and he
said, “For cryin’ out loud, would you stop laughing? It isn’t funny. Geez, does
your family have a history of incessant laughter or is that just a trait you
developed on your own?” She responded by continuing to giggle. Adam shrugged
and said, “Whatever. Now if you’ll excuse me, I will be going upstairs to
downsize if you know what I mean.” He got up and went upstairs to his mom’s
room to lie down. He was thinking about that funny comment he made to Katie
about her family. It was times like that when he was glad that there were no
racial problems between him and his friends. Katie was African-American, Lucas
was Filipino, Trip was Hispanic, Adam, Eric, Wes, Jen, and Tori were all
Caucasian. Adam checked his watch and it read
As soon as he walked into the kitchen, Lucas put his
arm around him and said, “Hey buddy. Man, I cannot get over how nice your mom’s
house is.” He was interrupted by a grumbling noise and said, “Listen, my
stomach’s growling like an old hound dog. What’s for chow you guys?” Jen looked
up and said, “It’s my specialty. Deep fried chicken tenderloins and baby back
ribs with homemade French fries, salad and macaroni & cheese. For dessert,
we have chocolate cake and crème brulee a la mode.” Trip pretended to lick his
fingers as Wes said, “Mmm, mmm. Sounds like some finger licking goodness.” Adam
looked at the girls with a suspicious look in his eyes and said, “I don’t know.
How is it that you girls managed to cook all of that food in a hurry like
that?” Katie looked at him and said, “Well, we didn’t have to cook the desserts
because they were already in your mom’s fridge.” Tori added, “Plus there was a
whole bucket of ribs in the fridge as well, so we just reheated them in the
microwave. I just hope your mom won’t mind us eating her food.” Adam reached
for a French fry and replied, “Nah, she won’t mind. After all, you guys are her
houseguests.”
The girls each picked up a tray and carried them
into the dining room while the rest of the gang sat at the table. You would
never have seen such a funny looking bunch gathered around a table. Adam and
Eric were the only ones fully dressed, the girls had shawls wrapped around
their waists, and the boys had changed into their jeans but were either
shirtless or partially dressed. Lucas was wearing a sleeveless shirt, Trip was
wearing an unbuttoned shirt and Wes was shirtless. While they ate, Lucas said,
“So Adam, Katie was telling me that you had that dream again. She also said
that you had a little visit from premature peter.” Adam felt himself blush with
embarrassment. Trip said, “I wouldn’t worry if I were you old buddy. We’re not
gonna knock on you about it.” Adam replied, “Good, because what I do in my
dreams is none of your business. Is that clear you guys?” Tori said, “Whoa,
ease up A.T.L.” They all laughed and finished eating mostly in silence.
After dinner, the girls brought in the dessert. Adam
took both a piece of cake and the crème brulee, excused himself and went out to
the porch. He was sitting on the lounge chair chewing the brulee when Lucas and
Wes came outside to join him. They both sat down and Lucas asked, “So what’s up
chicken butt?” Wes couldn’t help but chuckle. Adam slowly replied, “Nothing
much Luke.” Lucas said, “Luke? Heh, no one’s ever called me that before. Are
you sure you’re okay buddy? You look kind of down and seem distracted about
something.” Wes added, “Yeah man. You don’t seem like your normal, cheerful,
happy-go-lucky self. You were awfully quiet during dinner. Is something on your
mind?” Adam got up, walked to the end of the porch, and set himself up on the
banister next to the porch gate. Adam let out a low sigh and said, “I just
don’t know anymore. I feel like a total emotional wreck right now. I don’t know
what to think, I don’t know what to do.” Then he said, “I think I need to take
a drive.” He got up and went back inside the house with Lucas and Wes following
right behind him. Adam went into the dining room and reached down to pick up
his keys off the table, but he stopped short. He fell back and plopped down on
the couch. Lucas said, “What’s the matter Adam? I thought you said you wanted
to go for a drive.” He replied, “Yeah, but I just realized that it’s getting
kind of late out and I wouldn’t know where to go. Besides, I’ve probably just
got a lot on my mind and need time to clear my head.” He picked up the remote
and started scanning through the channels trying to find a good movie. He found
it in the form of A River Runs Through It starring Brad Pitt. As it began, he
said, “All right, I haven’t seen this one in a long time. Do you guys know
that’s one of my all-time favorite books?” Wes replied, “No Adam, I didn’t know
that.” Lucas added, “Me either.” The rest of the gang came in and joined them
soon afterwards. After the movie, they finally decided to turn in and call it a
night.
They were all up bright and early the next morning.
It was a beautiful balmy Saturday. The girls showered up and began cleaning the
house. Adam and Eric showered up and helped them. The rest of the boys cleaned
themselves up as well. They put their dirty clothes in a separate bag. Adam
unlocked the garage door and Eric hitched the trailer to the truck while Lucas
pulled out onto the driveway. While the others piled into the truck, Adam
locked both of the garage doors and then the front door. They stopped for
breakfast at one of the local diners. After breakfast, they left the diner and
drove towards the quickest expressway entrance.
They had been driving for an hour when Tori asked,
“Hey Adam? What are we gonna do once we get to
They entered
They continued driving down the road towards another
gas station. Adam kept checking out Sarah and he began noticing something. He
wasn’t sure of it or not, but it seemed to him that Sarah was being rather flirtatious
and touchy-feely with Katie and Tori. She kept saying things like, “You girls
are pretty hot, do you know that?” It was so very overwhelming that Adam
finally had to ask, “Sarah, please tell me that this isn’t your way of telling
us that you’re a lesbian.” Sarah was shocked and said, “No. No Adam, I’m not a
lesbian; god no. I’m anything but that. I love boys but at the same time, I love
girls. I’m not a lesbian. I’m... I’m… I’m a bisexual young woman and I’m not
afraid to admit it.” Their discussion was cut short because just then, the
engine of the truck started making funny noises and white smoke started coming
out of the hood. Adam slowly pulled over to the side of the road. He got out, pulled
the switch to open the hood, and went around to the front to see what the
damage was. Eric and Lucas got out of the truck to see if he needed help. Eric
asked, “Is there anything we can do Adam?” He replied, “Yeah. There’s a kit for
the engine in the trunk. Would one of you get it?” Eric popped open the trunk
and grabbed the kit. He closed the trunk and began to go around to the front,
but as he did, one of the tools fell out of the kit. As he reached down to pick
it up, he looked at the left rear tire and saw that it was looking kind of
flat. He pressed his hand against it and it seemed to push through. Adam asked,
“Come on Eric where’s that kit?” Eric replied, “Sorry Adam, but I think this tire’s
low on air.” Adam said, “Well don’t worry about the tire right now. Right now,
we have to worry about the engine.” They spent more than ten minutes looking
over the engine before Adam said, “It’s no use guys. We can’t fix this thing on
our own. I’m afraid we’re gonna have to call in for a tow truck.”
As fate would have it, just now coming down the road
was a big black tow truck. It wasn’t one with a hook on the back, but one with
a ramp on the back. It was being driven by a full grown man with brown eyes,
sideburns and a goatee and a young woman with blue eyes and chocolate brown
hair. The man saw Adam’s truck and slowed to a stop. The young woman rolled
down her window and asked, “Hey, are you guys having some engine trouble?” Adam
looked up and said, “Yeah we are. Could you help us out?” The man and woman
both got out of the truck. The man lowered the ramp and together, they unhitched
the trailer and they all pushed the truck onto the ramp. Then they hitched the
trailer to the back of the tow truck. The rest of the gang had to get out of
the truck so the man could lift it. After lifting the ramp, the gang climbed on
top of it and clambered back into the truck except for Adam. He would have to
ride with the man and woman. They got into the tow truck and drove on. The
woman sat in the middle and Adam sat on the right end side. As they drove on,
the woman asked, “So, what’s your name stranger?” Adam, who was enjoying the afternoon
breeze looked and said, “What? Oh, my name is Adam Tyler Logan. What’s yours?”
She replied, “My name’s Rachel Dawson, and this is my uncle Russell Dawson.” Russell
looked at Adam for one second and said, “Good to meet you sonny.” Rachel asked,
“So what exactly is the problem with your truck?” Adam replied, “I’m not
exactly sure. My guess is that it could probably be a loose distributor cap or
the carburetor might be busted. The left rear tire is low on air as well.”
Rachel then asked, “So are you guys from here or are you just visiting?” He
replied, “Oh no. We’re all from
Adam didn’t realize it, but he was gonna come to
regret it all too soon. Exactly ten minutes later after turning onto a deserted
forest road in a sequestered glen, the tow truck came to a clearing. Russell
drove onto a bridge that covered a beautiful little babbling brook. Adam took
one look at what lay ahead of him and was not only taken aback but was left completely
and utterly astonished. For what lay ahead of them was a small but incredibly
wonderful town. From what Adam could make out, there before him was a type of
diner/nightclub, a movie theater, a grocery store, a book, music and movie
store, a gas station and auto shop, a radio/record company building, a park, and
several different sized houses. Adam had never seen anything like it before.
Russell said, “Well Adam my boy, welcome to the beautiful little town of
Russell slowed to a stop in front of his house. Adam
and Rachel got out of the truck. The rest of the gang piled out as well.
Russell said to them, “You kids might wanna grab all of your stuff while you
can, because I’m gonna take your car over to my garage so I can look it over.
Rachel will show y’all into the house and I’ll join you as soon as I can.” Upon
hearing this, Jen and the others wasted no time. Jen popped the trunk open and
Eric, Trip, and Lucas began taking everything out one by one. First, they
unloaded the suitcases, and then they unhitched the trailer and unloaded the
instruments and band equipment. It took all ten of them to carry everything
inside the house.
Rachel went into the kitchen while the others put
their belongings in a corner of the front room. Adam, Jen, Eric, and Sarah
settled down on the sofa, Lucas and Katie made themselves comfortable on a
recliner, Trip settled onto a chair, and Wes and Tori sat down on another sofa.
Rachel came back into the front room carrying a tray of glasses and a pitcher
of either pink lemonade or raspberry lemonade. She poured a glass for each of
them and then handed it to them. Adam tasted it and immediately felt his lips
pucker. That told him that it was raspberry. Finally, Rachel poured a glass for
herself and sat down next to Wes. They all sat around and talked for the next
few minutes. Adam filled Sarah in about everything, the graduating, the
vacation, the whole nine yards. It turned out that Sarah also had an interest
in singing, and the instruments she could play were the trumpet, the trombone
and the acoustic guitar. Adam said, “That sounds great Sarah. I don’t know if
we have a need for those instruments, but we’ll give you a fair shot and if we
like what we hear, we’ll keep you around.” Russell came in a minute later and
said, “Hey kids, I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news for you. It looks to me like
your carburetor is completely shot. Either that or you need a new engine
altogether. It’s gonna take a few days to get a new one, and it’ll take even
longer for me to put it into your engine. I’m afraid that you all are gonna
have to stay here in town for awhile. You’ll have to stay for four days, a week
tops.” Adam angrily stood up and said, “Great, that’s just perfect. What could
possibly be worse than having to stay in a town that doesn’t exist? I’m sorry,
check that. A town that nobody believes exists.” Russell replied, “Adam, relax
son. Like I said, it’ll only be for a week or so. You and your friends can stay
here and meet the people and maybe even play at the club. Who knows? This town
does have a knack for growing on people in a hurry. Anyway, there’s nothing
more I can do about your truck tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll drive around the city
and look for a carburetor and Rachel will show you the town and you can find an
empty house to stay in, goodness knows we have plenty of them. Tonight you’ll
stay with us. Rachel and I will get started on fixing dinner while you all get yourselves
settled in.”
This wasn’t easy for Adam to accept, but unfortunately
he had no choice. Rachel and Russell went into the kitchen to start preparing
dinner. Adam and the others went into a bedroom and laid out their stuff. Adam
said, “Hey listen guys; believe me when I say this. This little detour will not
interfere with our trip. We’ll spend a week in this hick town and be out of
here before they know it.” They went back into the kitchen and gathered around
the table. Dinner was pretty much silent for everyone. The girls ended up
bunking up with Rachel and the boys slept in the spare room.
During the night while Adam slept, or at least while
he tried to sleep, thoughts kept racing through his head. His mind got so
bottled up that he woke up, got dressed and decided to go outside for awhile.
He sat down on a lawn chair in the yard. He looked at his watch and it read
The very next morning by dawn’s early light, Russell
got up early and left. He probably wanted to get an early start on finding a
new carburetor. Rachel and the girls woke up an hour later. They all showered
up and put on clean clothes. Rachel offered to throw their dirty ones in the
wash. After the girls gathered up their dirty clothes, they walked into the
front room and saw Adam and Sarah asleep together on the couch. They all
thought it was rather lovely and sweet seeing them holding hands like that. The
boys were awoken up from the sound of the washing machine. They also showered
up one at a time and got dressed. They walked into the front room and saw Adam
and Sarah asleep together. Eric looked first and said, “Hey guys, check it
out.” They all looked and Lucas said, “Well I’ll be doggoned.” Trip added, “I
wonder what they did last night.” Wes said, “I think I can guess.” They went
into the kitchen to join the girls. Eric asked, “So Rachel, what’s for
breakfast?” Rachel replied, “Actually, as soon as Adam and Sarah wake up and
get cleaned up, I’m gonna take you guys out for breakfast at the Hard Times
Café. You’ll get to meet some of the townspeople, including my boyfriend and
his two buddies.” Jen went into the front room to wake them up. She gently
shook Adam’s shoulder and he slowly opened his eyes. He saw Jen and said, “Oh,
good morning Jen.” She said, “Good morning.” He asked, “What time is it?” She
replied, “It’s about
They left the house and Rachel led the way towards
the diner. Adam walked with the guys and Sarah walked alongside the girls. The
boys kept ganging up on him and Lucas asked, “So? Don’t hold out on us man.
Give us the juicy details.” Adam replied, “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re
talking about.” Trip said, “Come on Adam. You always tell us everything.” Adam
finally caved and said, “All right. Here’s what happened. I couldn’t sleep last
night so I sat outside for awhile. Sarah came outside too for the same reason.
We talked and then I asked her to sing me a song. She sang me Stay by Maurice
Williams. I complimented her and before I knew it, she leaned over and started
kissing me. That’s it in a nutshell. There was a little bit of the tongue
tango, but that was all it was.”
They entered the diner and sat on the stools at the
counter. They waited for a minute before Adam asked, “Hey Rachel, who do we
have to call on to get some service in here?” Before Rachel could answer, a
grown man with a beard came out from behind the kitchen holding a bunch of
grocery bags. A young man with light brown hair came up behind him. The older
man saw Rachel and said, “Sorry we’re so late Miss Rachel. We had to get
groceries for our breakfast rush.” She replied, “That’s okay Justin. These are
my new friends. They’re a couple of out-of-towners. Meet Adam, Jen, Eric,
Lucas, Trip, Wes, Katie, Tori, and Sarah. You guys, this is Justin McKnight.
He’s the owner and head chef of this place, and this is his nephew Conner
McKnight.” Each of them shook hands with one another. Justin said, “Pleased to
meet y’all. Now what can we get you?” Adam asked, “Uh, what do you have?”
Justin replied, “Of course, how silly of me. Conner, get these kids some menus
and let’s get to work.” Conner said, “You got it uncle J.” He reached under the
counter and handed each of them a menu. He said, “I recommend you try the chicken
frittata. It’s our breakfast special of the day.” Lucas said, “That sounds both
tasty and exotic.” After looking over the menu, Lucas was the only one who
ordered the chicken frittata. The others either ordered a breakfast sandwich or
a breakfast platter. While they waited for their food, they were joined by two
young men. One was black and the other was Hispanic. They both sat down next to
Rachel. She said, “Hi sweetie” to the black man and kissed him hello. She
looked at the others and said, “Hey guys? This is my boyfriend Ethan James and
his friend Trent Fernandez.” They waved hello to each other and Ethan said,
“Nice to meet you guys.”
When nightfall came around, Justin and Conner began
closing up shop for the kitchen, and began setting up shop for the nightclub
bar. Conner brought out bottles of cider and various flavored juices. While
Justin was laying out glasses on the counter, five more people entered the
diner. The only one Adam and the others recognized was Russell. There were two older
looking men, a young man who looked about 20, and one young woman. Adam guessed
that the woman was Monica, and he got his answer all too quickly. She walked
over to the counter, leaned across it and gave Conner a kiss hello. He said,
“Hey sweetie. How’s it going?” She said, “I’m pretty good. How was work?” He
replied, “Work was a little different today. Ethan, Trent, and I made some new
friends.” He pointed at Adam and the others and continued, “You guys, this is
my girl Monica Reynolds. Monica, these are our new friends.” They all said
hello and introduced themselves. Monica said, “It’s nice to meet y’all.” Adam
said, “Same here. Is that a southern accent I detect in your voice?” She
replied, “Yeah. I’m from
Five minutes later, the curtain of the stage opened
up and several overhead spotlights turned on. Johnny stepped onto the stage,
tapped the microphone, and spoke into it, “And now ladies and gentlemen, The
Hard Times Café is proud to present, our entertainment of the evening. Here
they are everyone, three lovely ladies that you can’t help but love, The
Heavenly Angels!” Everyone clapped as Adam asked, “The Heavenly Angels?” Monica
replied, “It was the best name they could come up with at the time.” Johnny
stepped off the stage, walked over to the counter, and sat behind Sarah. Three
young women stepped out on the stage, the one in the middle was holding an
acoustic guitar and the other two had tambourines. The spotlight turned on and
the one in the middle, a blonde began singing and playing her guitar. The other
two, a black haired brunette and a brown haired brunette began playing their
tambourines and singing along. Adam recognized the brown haired one as Charlie,
the girl from the portraits. He asked Monica, “Which one is Nikki and which one
is Kira?” Monica replied, “Kira is the blonde and Nikki is the dark brunette.”
They sang a total of five songs, and oddly enough the songs were all by the
same artist: Emma Lahana. The songs were True Love, Patiently, Freak You Out,
Just Words, and Just a Little. While they were performing, a strange feeling
came over Adam all of a sudden. Now Adam had never been the type to believe in
love at first sight, but the moment he saw Kira, the thought seemed to stick to
him like a leech and it wouldn’t go away. The same feeling seemed to have
fallen over Eric when he saw Nikki. After the last song, Kira spoke into the
microphone and said, “Thank you everyone. You’re a wonderful audience. We’re
gonna take a little break right now, but we’ll be back real soon to sing
again.” They all stepped off the stage. Nikki and Charlie headed straight into
the ladies’ restroom, but Kira slowly made her way past everyone and walked out
the front door. It seemed to Adam, (and he wasn’t sure of it or not) that for a
brief moment, five seconds even, that she locked eyes with him and she smiled
at him. He was so lost in thought that Eric had to snap his fingers to get his
attention. Adam shook his head and asked, “Huh? What? Oh, what is it buddy?”
Eric replied, “You were zoning out man, I had to snap you back. Now I know this
is silly to ask but, where are we gonna stay tonight? Should we stay with
Russell and Rachel again?” Adam looked out the door and back at Eric and said,
“You know what? Why don’t you just hold that thought? I’m not sure at the
moment.” He slid off the stool and headed for the door. Eric asked, “Hey wait
man, where’re you going?” Adam replied, “What’s it look like? I’m going out
there to introduce myself to Kira. If I were you, I’d be doing the same with
Nikki.” He turned and walked out the door leaving Eric to think that over.
As soon as he got outside, he heard a humming noise
coming from the right end side of the diner. He walked over there slowly. He
turned the corner, and there she was. She was lying on her back on the hood of
a 2007 Chevy Camaro bumblebee. She had a bottle of water in one hand and an
iPod in the other. Adam spoke in a loud clear voice so she could hear him,
“Hello.” She leaned up, looked at him, took off her headphones and said, “Hello
there.” He said, “I um, I really enjoyed your performance in there.” She
replied, “Thank you.” Then he began walking towards her and said, “I must say
that I’ve heard a lot of wonderful voices in my time, but your voice really takes the cake on this one. That voice of yours
is that of an angel.” She replied in a very unenthusiastic way, “Uh-huh.” Adam
hastily said, “Oh, I’m not a weirdo or a creep or anything, and I’m not trying
to hit on you or pick up on you or anything like that, so don’t be afraid.”
Kira replied, “That’s some good thinking on your part, whoever you are.” He
walked right up to her, held out his hand and said, “My name is Adam, Adam
Tyler Logan.” She shook his hand and replied, “Nice to meet you Adam. My name
is Kira, Kira Ford.” He asked, “Mind if I sit with you?” She replied, “No. Go
right ahead.” She scooted over and Adam slid onto the car’s hood. Kira asked,
“So, do you live around here; because I’ve never seen you before.” Adam
replied, “No, no I’m not from around here. My friends and I are just kind of
passing through.” Then the whole story came out. Even though he didn’t wanna
explain it again, he told her everything: about him and his friends, about
being a band, where they were from and where they were going, the prom, the
graduation, the passing of the truck, the pact, the reason they were on
vacation, meeting and picking up Sarah, and how they came to be at Piedmont
Cove. Kira took a few minutes to let it all sink in. She finally said, “Okay,
let me see if I’ve got all the facts straight. You, your stepsister, and your
six friends are all part of a band and you’re all fresh out of high school.
You’re all on vacation for what may be your last summer together. Your dad
passed on the family truck to you, and yesterday you picked up a young bisexual
hitchhiker who’s very wealthy but is tired of living that kind of life; and the
only reason you’re here is because of a broken carburetor.” Adam said, “Yeah,
that pretty much sums it up in a nutshell. So until Russell can get a new
carburetor and put it in the engine, my friends and I are pretty much stuck
here for a week or so. I guess we’ll just have to make the most of this little
situation.” Kira replied, “That’s a shame. It’s a sad, sad shame. But it isn’t
completely bad. You’re lucky you guys came when you did.” Adam asked, “Really?
Why’s that?” Kira again replied, “My dad and I have been living here for the
past two years. For the last two years, Nikki’s had a party every first week of
summer. She’s having it this Wednesday night. But she doesn’t just host a
regular party; she hosts make-out parties.” Adam said “Really? Then I guess
staying here won’t be bad after all. I mean we’ve only been here for a day and
a half and good fortune is coming our way.” Kira asked, “How so?” He replied,
“Well, we’ve met all of the people. I especially got to meet you Kira. If I
didn’t know better, I would say that destiny somehow brought me here and to
you.” She leaned in close to him and said, “You know Adam? I’ve had a fair
share of men in my life and they all turned out to be a bunch of mindless,
self-centered, conniving jerks. But there’s something different about you. I
could tell it from the second I looked at you. You don’t seem to come off like
other guys.” He said, “Maybe that’s because I’m not like other guys. Maybe it’s
because I’m different and the good kind of different.” They began leaning in
close to each other when a noise came from inside the diner. It was Johnny
talking into the microphone. He was calling for Kira. She looked at Adam and
said, “We should probably go back inside. My dad and our friends might think we
eloped to
Kira went up onto the stage and Adam went back over
to his stool at the counter. By now both Nikki and Charlie had long since come
out of the ladies’ room and were sitting with Jen, Rachel and the others.
Charlie was sitting next to
It turned out that Anthony was the keeper of the
keys to all the empty houses in town. He gave one key to Jen and another to
Eric, and then told them where to go. Before any of them could part ways, Roger
took Eric aside and told him, “Say Eric, I want you to know that I noticed how
nice and polite you were being to my daughter in there, and it’s not easy
finding a gentleman like yourself. Do you know what I’m saying?” Eric replied,
“I read you loud and clear Mr. Lawrence.” Roger continued, “Good. Now let me
tell you something. If you wanna spend time with my little girl while you’re
here, then that’s fine with me. But all I’m gonna ask you is this. Try not to
get too close to Nikki okay? Because if you’re only gonna be here for a week,
then I don’t want my little girl getting her hopes up for you and then getting
her heart broken all right? My baby’s happiness is real important to me and I’d
hate to see her sad. Do you get the picture Eric?” Eric replied again, “Yes
sir.” Roger said, “Okay. Oh, one more thing. I’m not gonna be at the house when
Nikki has that party of hers. If she invites you and your friends, then all I
can ask is that you keep that snake of yours in its cage, and if it should
decide to come out of its cage, make sure its mouth is all taped up so no
poison can escape.” Eric replied yet again, “You have my word sir.” Roger
patted him on the back and walked away. Anthony meanwhile, had taken Adam aside
and had pretty much told him the same thing, and then he offered to let Adam
stay with him and Kira which he gladly accepted. Sarah asked to stay with them
too. So Jen, Katie, and Tori stayed in one empty house, Eric, Lucas, Trip, and
Wes stayed in another. Kira offered to let Sarah bunk with her, but she
insisted on staying with Adam. They both said good night to Kira and went into
the guest room. Adam took off his shirt and got into bed. Sarah changed out of
her clothes and got into bed wearing only her underwear and a pajama top. Even
though Adam had made it clear that he wasn’t willing to let her be his first,
she didn’t let that stop her from cuddling up with him, so he finally decided
to give into temptation and put his arm around her as they both fell asleep.
The next morning, Kira was up at dawn. She woke up
and went into Adam and Sarah’s room. She walked over to the bed and gently
shook Adam’s arm. He slowly opened his eyes, saw Kira and said, “Now here’s a
beautiful vision to wake up to. Good morning.” She whispered, “Good morning.”
He asked, “What time is it?” She looked at the clock on the nightstand and
said, “It’s about
She led him outside to the backyard. She opened the
gate to reveal two lawn chairs perched at the base of the wide river. Adam
couldn’t believe his eyes for he had never seen anything so beautiful and
majestic. He could also see the reflection of the rising sun in the water. He
sat down on one of the chairs and asked, “So is this what you wanted to show
me?” She sat down and said, “Yes it is. Haven’t you ever seen anything so
beautiful?” He looked at her and asked, “You mean, more beautiful than you are?”
She looked back at him and asked, “What? What did you just say?” He replied, “I
asked if you mean more beautiful than you. Was I coming on too strong?” She
replied, “No. That was honest, sincere, and rather… sweet.”
Meanwhile back upstairs, Sarah had turned over on
her side to put her arm on Adam, but all she felt was the bed sheets and the
blanket. She quickly opened her eyes and saw that she was alone. She picked up
a red bedspread and wrapped it around her practically naked body; then she got
up and walked over to the window. She looked outside and saw Adam and Kira
talking together. Seeing them together like that seemed to put a smile on her
face. Being a bisexual, Sarah wasn’t the type of person to get jealous about either
of the sexes. Watching them seemed to turn her on, because the next thing she
knew, she had let go of the bedspread and began feeling herself up. She closed
her eyes and slowly began to moan with passion. Before you knew it, she had laid
out the bedspread, picked up two of the pillows from the bed, removed the rest
of her clothes, made herself comfortable and continued to please herself.
By now, Kira and Adam had
come back inside the house. He offered to help Kira make breakfast but since
she could barely cook anything herself, she suggested they meet the rest of the
gang for breakfast at the café. Adam decided to shower up so Kira went upstairs
to get him some clean clothes, as well as to wake Sarah. As she approached the
bedroom, she heard a noise coming from inside. It was the sound of Sarah
moaning, but Kira didn’t realize that. All she could tell was that Sarah was
awake. She poked her head inside and asked, “Sarah? Hey Sarah, do you wanna get
some breakfast?” Sarah didn’t answer because she was too busy enjoying herself.
Now Kira had never been with anyone before let alone another girl, and she
certainly wasn’t planning on it anytime soon. But when she saw Sarah’s naked
body, curiosity had gotten the better of her. She walked in, closed the door
and walked over to Sarah. She knelt down right behind her and asked, “What’re
you doing?” Sarah gasped and giggled at the same time and Kira giggled too.
Sarah asked, “Um, what does it look like?” Kira looked again and said, “Oh, I
see. Well I’ll just leave you to…” Sarah wrapped her arm around Kira’s neck and
said, “Oh no. Come here.” She reached over and kissed Kira who slowly pulled
her head back. Sarah asked, “How was that?” Kira replied, “Hmm. It felt nice,
but I’ve never done it with a girl before. I’ve never done it with anyone
before.” Sarah said, “Oh, come on.” Kira replied, “I haven’t.” Sarah said,
“Come on Kira. Every girl wants to do it with another girl at least once in her
life. Don’t make me beg please. You’ll love it, I promise you will.” Kira was
still very hesitant, but at the same time, being with a girl did sound fun and
enjoyable, plus she heard that it was supposed to be very gentle. So she
finally gave into temptation and let Sarah go back to kissing and caressing
her. Kira slowly slid her hand down Sarah’s stomach and began rubbing gently
against her. Sarah said, “Mm. That’s just what I needed.” Kira asked, “Oh is
it?” Sarah giggled and replied, “Hmm-hmm yep. I think it’s my turn to pleasure
you now.” Kira hesitantly stood up to let Sarah undress her. While Sarah began
to remove Kira’s pants, Kira took off both her shirt and tankini. Sarah peeled
off Kira’s underwear and lied down on her back. Kira leaned down really close
to Sarah as they began to kiss again. Sarah slowly reached below Kira’s stomach
and began to return the favor. Kira began to moan incestuously. Sarah said,
“Slide into me with your fingers. I want… I want you to make me come.” Kira
licked her fingers, reached down and slid them in. It made Sarah moan with
ecstasy. Finally, Kira sat up, pulled Sarah up by her back, and they both began
to rub against each other yet again, but not with their hands, but with their
bodies. Kira remarked, “Ooh. My God, you’re so wet.” Sarah replied, “Yeah? So
are you. You think maybe we can both come at the same time?” Kira nodded,
“Mm-hmm.” As they continued rubbing against each other, they both moaned so
loud that they could’ve almost broken the sound barrier. They climaxed
together, then held each other close and kissed again.
Meanwhile, Adam had long since come out of the
shower. He had heard the girls moaning so he picked up his clothes and decided
to go upstairs and take a peek. Surprisingly, he found the door was unlocked.
Perhaps Kira meant to lock it but didn’t, or maybe she left the door unlocked
on purpose in hopes that Adam might watch. Either way, he got to see the last
part from when Kira and Sarah sat up together. They were so busy that they
didn’t see him. He could hear them talking. Sarah asked, “So, how was your
first girl-girl experience?” Kira’s breathing was slightly heavy and her hair
was covering her face but she managed to say, “Oh my God. I didn’t know that it
could feel so good.” Sarah replied, “And this is just your first time. It’s
only gonna get better the more you do it.” Kira said, “Yeah. But if this is
what it feels like with a girl, I can’t wait to see what it feels like with a
boy.” Sarah replied again, “You know something? You and Adam have more in
common than you think.” Kira asked, “Really; how’s that?” Sarah answered, “The
night before we met you, I came onto Adam and he wouldn’t do it with me because
he said he wanted his first time to be with someone as inexperienced as him.
You on the other hand only hesitated but still went through with it.” Kira
said, “Wait! You tried to seduce Adam? Oh my God. What’d you do?” Sarah said,
“Oh, nothing much. All I really did was kiss him a little bit, plus I took hold
of his hands and made him give me a feel-ski. Other than that, it wasn’t much.”
Kira said in a rather angry voice, “If I had known that before, then I wouldn’t
have gone through with this.” Sarah replied, “Kira, relax, it’s alright. Look,
it’s pretty obvious that you like Adam and it’s plain to see that he likes you
back. Trust me, the last thing I wanna do is mess things up for you and him.
Besides, what we just did, it didn’t mean anything. It wasn’t serious or
romantic or any of that. It was just fun.” Kira asked, “You’re right, but do
you think we can convince Adam of that?” That’s when Adam made his entrance. He
pushed open the door and said, “I don’t think you girls will have a problem
with convincing me of anything.” As soon as he walked in, the girls quickly
covered themselves up. Kira covered every part of herself with the bedspread except
for her legs and Sarah covered herself with the pillows. Adam said, “Talk about
getting a little morning glory.” Kira asked him, “How did you get in here? I
thought I locked the door.” He replied, “No. You only closed the door.” Then
Kira remembered something and said, “Oh yeah. I forgot that our guestroom door
doesn’t have a lock. No wonder you were able to come in like that.” Adam sighed
and said, “It doesn’t matter how I came in here. I just want to get out of this
robe and into my clothes. So I’m just gonna grab my stuff and change in another
room. You two might wanna get cleaned up and then get dressed as well.” He
picked up his shirt, socks, and shoes and walked out. Kira looked at Sarah and
asked, “Do you think he’s upset at me?” Sarah replied, “No, absolutely not.
He’s probably just shocked and taken aback about seeing us together like this.”
Kira wrapped the bedspread around her, got up from the floor and said, “Maybe I
should probably go talk to him anyway, just to make sure he’s okay.” Sarah
replied, “Okay. I’m gonna get cleaned up and wait for you guys downstairs.”
Kira walked down the hallway and found Adam in her
room putting on his clothes. He had already put his boxers on and taken off the
robe. She watched as he slipped on his jeans. She knocked on the door and
walked in. She looked at Adam and said, “Hi.” He looked back at her and said in
an emotionless way, “Hi.” He reached for one of his shirts and she asked, “Are
you mad at me?” He replied, “No I’m not mad, I’m just surprised, disappointed,
confused and most of all, I’m hurt. I’m hurt that you would do something like
that before you really knew a person.” He slipped on his shirt as she said,
“Well if it’s any consolation to you, she told me about what she did to you,
about making you give her a feel-ski and all that, but I’m not angry about it.”
Adam said, “Yeah, I heard her tell you.” Kira moved closer to him and said,
“You have to understand Adam that I didn’t expect this to happen. It was a spur
of the moment thing. It was like, as soon as I saw her naked body, curiosity
got the better of me and I couldn’t help myself. Speaking of which, how much of
that did you happen to see and did you like what you saw?” He slipped on his
other shirt and replied, “All I saw was the part where you two sat up and were
rubbing against each other and I’m not answering that other part.” She walked
up closer to him until they were three feet apart from each other. She gazed
into his brown eyes and said, “Adam, you are my new friend and you’re only
going to be here until your truck’s fixed. So we should make the most out of
what little time we have together. Besides, I’d hate to ruin what could be a
long lasting friendship. I say we just forget about this incident and enjoy the
rest of the day.” Then she leaned in really close as if to kiss him but he
backed away and said, “As much as I’d enjoy that, maybe now’s not the best time
for it. Besides, the gang will probably be waiting for us at the diner and you
still have to get dressed. So whenever you’re ready, I’ll be waiting
downstairs.” He walked out of her room and went back downstairs leaving her to
get dressed.
Sarah was already dressed and sitting on the couch
when he came downstairs. Adam plopped down on the chair without even bothering
to look at her. She asked, “Adam?” He neither moved nor looked at her. She said, “Okay Adam, you don’t have to look
at me, but at least hear me out. You don’t have to be angry at Kira. She’s not
to blame for any of this. I’m the one who was caught naked and touching my
self. Kira likes you and it’s plain to see that you like her. So if you’re
gonna be mad at anyone, be mad at me.” Adam sighed and then said, “I’m not mad.
I’m not mad at anyone. I’m mad at everything around me. It hasn’t even been a
week since we’ve been out of school and already this vacation is falling apart,
especially with that truck of mine out of commission. My dad and I have had
that thing for seven years and there’s never been a problem with it until now.
My friends and I shouldn’t be here right now. We should be in
It turned out that Adam was right, because sure
enough, the rest of the crew were already at the café sitting in various
booths, except for Conner who was in the kitchen helping Justin. Sarah saw
Johnny and decided to sit with him. Adam and Kira sat in a booth near the
restrooms. While they waited for Conner, Kira said to Adam, “You know something
Adam? You never got to introduce me to any of your friends last night.” Adam
replied, “You know what? You’re right. I guess I might as well point them out
to you as long as we’re here.” He began to point them out as he continued, “Do
you see the three people sitting over there with Nikki? The one with the red
hat is my best friend Eric Myers. The two people sitting across from him are my
stepsister Jen Scotts and my friend Trip Regis. The people sitting in the next
booth are the rest of my friends: Wes Collins, Tori Hanson, Lucas Kendall, and
Katie Walker. They’re all like my second family and I’m sure you’ll all come to
like eachother really quick.” Kira looked at them one at a time and replied,
“They all seem really nice Adam.” Adam said, “Oh they are, believe me.” Conner
came up to them and said, “Good morning. May I take your order?” Adam ordered a
breakfast sandwich and Kira ordered a breakfast platter. While they waited for
their food, Adam asked, “So um, is it just you and your dad or is there anyone
else in your family?” She replied, “Well there is my mom. My parents separated
from each other about five years ago. Her name is Michelle and she lives out in
After breakfast, Kira offered to give Adam and his
friends a tour of the town, to which he replied, “I think we’d all appreciate
that Kira, but I have to ask you. What’s there to do in this town?” She said,
“There’s plenty to do in this town Adam. We can go to the park, or the movies.
We could also go to the bookstore or the radio station. Nikki has a pool in her
backyard if you’d like to check that out or else we could go swimming in the
creek. What do you think?” Eric took off his hat, wiped his forehead and said,
“I don’t know about you guys, but I think going swimming is the best case
scenario right now.” Everybody agreed except for Adam who replied, “You know
what? You guys go on ahead to the creek. I think I’m just gonna spend the day
with Kira. Oh, one more thing. Be sure to get all of our gear and bring it all
over to the café later on. I got a little surprise for us. Don’t forget okay?
I’m counting on you.” So
everyone went their separate ways. Sarah decided to check out the radio station
with Johnny, Eric and the rest of the band headed for the creek, and Adam and
Kira took off for the park.
At the radio station, Johnny was giving
Sarah the grand tour. First he showed her the storage room where they kept all
of the records and old cassettes. Next he showed her the sound booth and the
broadcasting booth. Third of all, he showed her the recording studio and he
explained to her that this was where Kira and the girls would record their
first album. Finally, he brought her into the staff lounge and turned on the
coffee pot. He asked, “Would you like some coffee Sarah?” She shook her head
and replied, “No thank you Johnny. I could never stand the stuff.” Johnny said,
“Suit yourself.” Sarah sat down and asked, “So what do you wanna do now?”
Johnny sat down across from her and said, “Well, maybe we could just talk and
get to know each other better. How’s that sound?” Sarah smiled and said, “I’d
like that. I’d like that very much.” So basically for the next half-hour or so,
they just sat there and talked to each other.
Elsewhere down by the creek, Eric, Jen,
and the rest of the gang were relaxing either on the grass or in the water.
Lucas, Wes, and Eric were wading in the water up to their stomachs. Trip was
sitting on the grass playing a tune on his harmonica. Jen, Tori, and Katie were
all lying on the grass together and soaking up the sun, but unlike Tori and
Jen, Katie was sitting ankle deep in the water. Jen asked, “So girls, what do
you think of our new friends?” Tori lifted up her sunglasses and replied, “I
think they’re all really nice, especially Nikki and Charlie. I like Rachel and
Ethan too. I personally think they make for a cute couple, although their
relationship probably can’t compare to any of ours.” Katie said, “I think
Conner and Monica are pretty cool.
Meanwhile at the park, Adam and Kira
were talking it up, laughing it up and having a good time on the playground.
They tried everything from the slide to the monkey bars, to the swinging tire
to the tunnels, to the teeter totter to finally the swings. Best of all, Adam
had turned his frown upside down and he was enjoying his time with Kira. They
were both sitting on the swings slowly pumping back and forth. Kira asked him,
“So do you feel better yet?” He kicked at some wood chips and replied, “Yes. I’m
feeling a little bit better. Can I ask you something Kira?” She chuckled and
said, “You just did.” He chuckled and asked, “No seriously though, can I?” She
replied, “Okay, shoot.” He said, “First off, this probably isn’t a question
you’re asked on a regular basis. You don’t have to answer it if you don’t
wanna. I’ll understand if you don’t.” Kira shook her head and said, “Adam,
you’re stalling. What is it?” He took a deep breath and asked, “Do you believe
in love at first sight?” She was silent for a moment but then she smiled and
said, “Most of the time… I really do. What about you?” Adam said, “Up until I
met you, I didn’t believe in it myself.” He slowly leaned in close as if to
kiss her but then he stopped short. He didn’t feel like pushing the envelope,
so to speak. Kira smiled at him and mouthed, “Thank you.” Adam checked his
watch and it read
They walked past the trailer which was
still sitting outside. Adam knocked on the door but there was no answer. He
knocked again and there was still no answer. He looked at Kira and said, “I
guess that Russell must be out trying to find a carburetor for my truck.” Kira
replied, “Maybe you’re right. But hold on, let me try something.” She reached
for the doorknob, turned it, and pushed it open. She smiled and strolled right
into the house. Adam just stood in the doorway too stunned to move and too
confused to think. Kira stuck her head out and asked, “Are you coming in or
not?” All Adam could ask was, “Who leaves their door unlocked?” Kira took him
by the hand and pulled him inside. She said to him, “Adam, we’re in a town that
nobody believes exists. Everybody knows each other so it’s not like someone’s
gonna break in and ransack the place.” He replied, “Oh yeah, I forgot.” He
followed her inside and went straight to the guest room. He rummaged through
everything until he found the bag with his gifts. As he reached out to pick it
up, he saw his suitcase sitting next to it and he realized that he was still
wearing the clothes he’d worn yesterday. So he took both bags and decided to
change into some clean clothes. While he was busy doing that, Kira was in the
living room checking out and admiring the instruments. She looked at the
guitars, the drum set, and the keyboard. She picked up the Gibson Les Paul and
began to strum it softly. She was so busy playing that she didn’t notice Adam
standing in the hallway. His backpack was perched on his shoulder and he had
his gift bag in his hand. He set the stuff on the table and sat down next to
her. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. He asked, “Do you like that
guitar?” She nodded her head as he continued, “That’s Eric’s guitar. Mine’s a
Fender Stratocaster. Here, let me show it to you.” He got up and picked up his
guitar carrier, took out the Stratocaster and sat back down. Together they
began to play In My Life by the Beatles. They also played Ticket to Ride, All
My Loving, Yesterday, P. S. I Love You, Do You Want to Know a Secret, If I
Fell, This Boy, and Nowhere Man. Then they began to play some Elvis Presley
songs including Follow That Dream, I’m Not the Marrying Kind, Angel, What a
Wonderful Life, Sound Advice, King of the Whole Wide World, This is Living, I
got Lucky, Riding the Rainbow, A Whistling Tune, and of course One Broken Heart
for Sale and Return to Sender. Then their fingers began to get sore so they
decided to stop playing. They put the guitars in the carriers and set them on
the floor. Adam said, “Wow. You’re pretty good at that Kira. I didn’t think you
would know all of those songs.” She replied, “Are you kidding? I practically
grew up listening to Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Frankie Valli and the Four
Seasons, and the Beach Boys. They’re all my musical influences. I think the
first song I ever heard was Return to Sender.” Adam said, “Me too. But the
first song I ever heard was either This is Living or I’m Not the Marrying Kind.
I just can’t remember which one it was.” Kira said, “You wanna know something?
My dad gave me my first acoustic guitar when I was nine years old and I’d been
playing ever since then. Three years ago, he bought me another guitar for my
fifteenth birthday. It was one of those Gibson Flying-V guitars.” Adam asked,
“You have a Gibson Flying-V? I’ve always wanted to play one of those. Maybe you
could show it to me later.” Kira straightened out her dress and asked, “Adam?”
He looked at her and said, “Yes Kira?” She said, “I want the truth. What did
Sarah do to make you kiss her and touch her like you did?” He sighed and said,
“Oh boy. It was just one of those things you know?” She moved closer until
their knees touched and said, “I want you to tell me everything, and I want you
to show me everything too.” Adam wasn’t really feeling up to it but he realized
that Kira would probably do the same thing that Sarah had done, so he
succumbed. He leaned back and rested his head on the couch pillow and said,
“Well, we were outside in the yard sitting on some lawn chairs. She had just
sung a song for me and I was complimenting her singing. She got up from her
chair and lied down on top of me.” He paused as Kira leaned forward so her body
was on top of his, “Like this?” She asked. He continued, “Yeah. Then she put
her arms around
They all entered the diner and put each
of their belongings in the booth by the door. Then they put all of their
instruments backstage for when they needed them. The rest of the townsfolk were
already there sitting in various tables and booths conversing with each other and
placing their dinner orders. Kira saw her dad and decided to go sit with him.
Russell went to sit with Rachel and Ethan. Adam and the rest of the group sat
at the counter once again. Conner came out of the kitchen balancing two trays
of food. He noticed Adam and said, “Hey guys. I’ll be right with you.” Adam
replied, “Take your time Conner. We’re in no hurry.” He looked into the kitchen
and saw Justin. He asked, “Hey uh, Justin, do you have a minute?” Justin
replied, “Hold on Adam. I’ll be with you as soon as I finish fixing these
burgers and sandwiches.” Conner finished serving the food and headed back
towards the kitchen to pick up the next order. He said to Adam, “As soon as I
take care of these orders, I’ll be ready to take yours too.” Adam looked at
Eric and Jen and asked, “Is it just me or do Conner and Justin have too much
work on their hands?” Eric replied, “It certainly would seem that way man.”
Justin wiped his hands with a paper towel and came out of the kitchen. He said,
“Okay Adam, now I can talk. What’s on your mind?” Adam asked, “What would you
say if I were to suggest that my friends and I play as the house band tonight?”
Justin replied, “I’d say that that’s a mother lode of an idea. I like it. I’ll
uh have a word with Anthony, Roger, and Johnny and see what they think about
it.” Justin excused himself as Conner came back behind the counter and said,
“Okay, now I’m ready to take your orders.” The girls ordered sandwiches and
side salads. Eric, Wes, Lucas, and Trip ordered some burgers and onion rings.
Conner asked, “How ‘bout you Adam? What’ll you have?” Before Adam could answer,
there was a really, really loud grumbling noise that seemed to echo throughout
the entire diner. Conner asked, “What in the name of all that is good and
decent was that?” Adam replied, “That was my stomach C-man. I haven’t eaten
anything since that breakfast sandwich this morning.” Conner said, “Well,
judging from that grumble, I’d say you must have a ravenous appetite right
about now.” Adam replied, “Yeah. Now that you mention it, I am feeling pretty
hungry. So I think I’ll have a grilled cheese sandwich, a side of fries, a
chicken strips platter, and a double dog if you make that.” Conner said, “I
know exactly what you’re talking about. I’ll get started on your meal first.”
He picked up the menus and went into the kitchen. Justin came back around the
counter and said, “Hey Adam, we talked it over and guess what? You and your
friends are playing tonight.” Adam replied, “That’s great Justin. Thanks.” Conner
said, “Hey uncle J, I need some help back here with this food.” Justin went
back into the kitchen to help out his nephew. In no time at all, they both
brought out the orders to Adam and his friends. Adam and his friends were so
filled with excitement that they could hardly contain themselves as they gorged
themselves.
After polishing off that gourmet meal,
Lucas popped a toothpick in his mouth and said, “Man that’s what I call some
real down-home cooking.” Adam replied, “I agree wholeheartedly. I just hope you
guys have had your fill.” Then he looked at Justin and asked, “Hey Justin, when
do we go on?” Justin looked at the clock and said, “I’d say you guys got about
fifteen minutes before show time.” Eric suggested, “Maybe we should get
backstage and get ready.” Adam replied, “You guys go on ahead. I’ll catch up
with you in a minute.” Eric and the others got up and went onto the stage and
behind the curtains while Adam stayed behind and continued drinking his glass
of pop. Conner came out to collect the glasses and the dishes. He looked at
Adam and asked, “What’s wrong Adam?” Adam looked up and asked, “What?” Conner
replied, “I said what’s wrong. You look like you’re depressed.” Adam said,
“Yeah, well a lot has happened today and I’m still trying to take it all in.”
Conner again replied, “Hey uh, Russell told us the good news about finding you
a replacement carburetor. Isn’t that great? You and your friends could be out
of here by Saturday morning.” Adam halfheartedly said, “Yeah I know.” Conner
said, “Well you don’t sound happy about it.” Adam said, “No. No I am believe me
I am. It’s just that…” He paused, looked over at Kira, and continued, “I’m just
not so sure that I want us to leave yet.” Conner looked over and replied, “Oh.
Of course, I get it. It’s Kira right?” Adam said, “Yeah, she’s incredible.”
Conner asked, “You like her, yes?” Adam asked, “Hmm. Does it show?” Conner
replied, “You should tell her.” Adam said, “Conner, it was hard enough for me
to accept the fact that a girl like her would even talk to me, let alone hang
out with me. The thought that a girl like her could love me is another thing
entirely.” Conner simply said, “As long as you think that way, it will be that
way.” Adam said, “Conner, love is a complicated thing. It’s kind of like an
entirely different language almost.” Conner replied, “There’s only one language
of the heart Adam. Speak to her in it, and trust me, she will listen and she
will understand.” Adam thought that over for a minute and then said, “You’re
right Conner, and I know just the way to do it. I’ll sing some love songs when
we’re up on stage. Maybe she’ll get the message.” He chugged down the rest of
his pop, got up and headed for the stage. He stopped short, turned around and
said, “Hey Conner, wish me luck man.” Conner asked, “With what, your
performance or with Kira?” Adam thought and said, “Both.” Conner replied, “Very
well then, break a leg.” Adam walked onto the stage and slipped in behind the
curtain. Everyone was doing a final check. Lucas was adjusting his keyboard
system, Eric and Tori were tuning their guitars and Trip was setting up the
smoke machines. Adam saw his guitar in the corner so he went over and picked it
up. He turned around and said, “All right guys, listen up. If it’s alright with
the rest of you, I wanna do a solo number to start us off.” Eric asked, “What
do you wanna do that for?” Adam replied, “I wanna sing With a Little Help from
My Friends. This way, the folks will see and know how much I appreciate and
care about you guys. It’ll show them how much you guys really mean to me.” Jen
said, “That’s very considerate of you and it’s not a half bad idea.” Adam
replied, “Okay then. I’ll get out there and warm them up, and you guys just be
ready for when I introduce you all.”
Johnny stepped up to the stage and spoke
into the microphone, “Ladies and gentlemen. We have a real treat for you.
Tonight, we are proud to welcome a group of young individual musicians. Here
they are folks, making their debut appearance here in Piedmont Cove; let’s give
it up for Adam and the Alley Cat Blues.” Adam pulled open the curtains and
stepped out. He rose up his hands and said, “Thank you everybody. My friends
and I talked it over and they agreed to let me do a solo performance before I
introduce the rest of the band.” He reached back behind the curtain and pulled
out a stool. He set it in front of the microphone, sat down and began to play
With a Little Help from My Friends. By the end of the song, everyone was giving
him a standing ovation. Adam said, “Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Now, it is
my distinct honor and pleasure to introduce to you my best friends in the whole
world, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Alley Cat Blues!” Trip and Johnny
quickly began to pull the ropes. The curtain opened up and each of his friends
took a bow. Eric said, “Thank you Piedmont Cove. Are you guys ready to start rockin’?”
They replied with a great big applause. Adam said, “Okay then, let’s start
rollin’.” They played several love songs like Uptown Girl, Somebody’s Baby,
Come Go with Me, In Too Deep, I’m Not Crazy, If You’re Gone, You Get What You
Give, An Everlasting Love, Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want, The
Reason, Brighter Than Sunshine, and You and Me. They ended up playing long into
the night, but Adam wasn’t the only one who sang. The girls sang a few songs. Sarah
even joined them onstage for a few songs. At one point, Adam let Eric sing a
few songs while he asked Kira to dance with him. Eric sang You Make Me Feel
like Dancing, When a Man Loves a Woman, Stand by Me, Happy Together, and
Dancing in the Moonlight. Kira joined them onstage for the last performance of
the evening. She and Adam sang A Whole New World.
It was
Kira basically gave him the same tour
that Johnny had given Sarah. But instead of bringing him into the staff lounge,
she suggested, “Adam, I’ve got a great idea. Why don’t we check out the
recording studio and cut ourselves a few demos?” Adam said, “That sounds great,
but I don’t know if I can do that because my voice is still feeling a little
low from last night.” Kira replied, “You don’t have to sing loud, just sing softly
enough so it doesn’t hurt your voice.” Kira sat at the control panel while Adam
went into the recording booth. He sat down on a stool, put on some headphones,
and tapped the microphone. Kira adjusted the controls until the sounds matched
his voice. He started off by singing a few Elvis Presley songs. He sang Flaming
Star, Summer Kisses Winter Tears, Young and Beautiful, I Want to Be Free, Don’t
Ask Me Why, Crawfish, Young Dreams, Lover Doll, Home is Where the Heart is, Didja
Ever, Beyond the Bend, and Pocketful of Rainbows. The last song made him a
little teary-eyed. It made Kira feel somewhat teary-eyed as well. Kira finally
said to him, “Okay Adam, I think it’s your turn to listen to me now.” Adam
nodded as he removed the headphones and got up. Kira went inside, put on the
headphones and sat down. She began to sing Permanent Midnite by Saucy Monky.
Then she sang three Sam Cooke songs: Cupid, Chain Gang, and What a Wonderful
World This Would Be. Finally, she sang a few songs by the Four Seasons: Sherry,
Big Girls Don’t Cry, Walk like a Man, December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night), Dawn
(Go Away), Working My Way Back to You, Rag Doll, and Who Loves You. By the time
they finished cutting their demos, it was almost four in the afternoon. Adam
said, “I swear your voice just keeps getting better and better all the time.”
Kira replied, “Thanks. I think yours is getting better too.” Adam looked at his
watch and said, “Boy, time really does fly when you’re having fun. What do you
say we head over to the diner and get some chow?” Kira pushed her hair back,
smiled and said, “Sounds like a plan.” Adam picked up their CDs and the both of
them left the radio station.
As they walked towards the café, Adam
looked at Kira and asked, “Can I tell you something Kira?” She replied, “Sure,
go ahead.” He cleared his throat and said, “It’s starting to become clear to me
that the more time I spend with you, the more I find myself liking you, and the
more I like you, the more I regret the moment when my friends and I will leave
here.” Kira replied, “That’s very deep of you Adam, but don’t you mean if?”
Adam asked, “What?” Kira said, “Adam, there’s nothing set in stone that says
you guys have to stay here, but
there’s nothing that says you and your friends don’t have to stay here either. If you really do care about me as
much you say you do, then maybe you should talk it over with your friends. I’m
sure that they’ll all support you if you tell them, especially Eric since he
feels the same way about Nikki, and Sarah might agree with you since she feels
the same about Johnny.” Adam asked, “Do you really think so?” She replied, “No
doubt about it. From what you’ve told me, you and your friends have supported
each other all your lives. So there’s no reason why they shouldn’t support you
now.” Adam nodded his head and said, “Maybe you’re right. I’ll see if I can talk
it over with them after dinner.”
Adam and Kira both entered the café and sat down at
the counter. Eric, Jen, and the others came up and sat with them. Trip said,
“Hey Adam, you missed a lot of fun today. We hung out at the park and we
checked out the bookstore.” Lucas added, “That bookstore has the coolest stuff
ever. It had movies, books, CDs, magazines, comic books and even a coffee shop.”
Conner came up and took their orders. They mostly ordered some sandwiches and
burgers. Adam and Kira shared a platter of chicken strips and French fries.
After dinner, Kira, Charlie, and Nikki got up and headed backstage to rehearse.
Adam chugged down the last of his soda and said, “Hey guys, would you mind
gathering around? I wanna talk to you about something.” They all moved in
closer and Eric asked, “What’s up buddy?” Adam asked, “What do you guys think
of this place?” Sarah asked in a joking way, “What, the café?” Adam giggled and
said, “No. I meant what do you guys think of the town, like what are your
general perspectives about Piedmont Cove?” They all responded one by one. Sarah
said, “It’s certainly hospitable, I’ll give it that. What really catches me is
that Johnny character. I think he’s smooth and sexy.” Katie said, “I personally
think this place is great.” Wes said, “Let me put it this way man, if I could
describe heaven, it would resemble this little town.” Tori said, “I agree with
Wes. This town is like heaven on earth.” Trip said, “As hard as it is for me to
believe, this place is actually starting to grow on me, and that’s no lie.”
Lucas said, “Well, this town sure is peaceful, I’ll give it that. It’s also got
a lot of friendly features as well as friendly townsfolk.” Eric said, “I think
everyone’s really nice around here, especially Nikki. I’m really growing fond
of her.” Finally, Jen said, “I’m slowly but surely beginning to like it here
too. I wouldn’t mind living here.” Adam looked at her and asked, “Do you mean
that Jen?” She replied, “Yeah. I guess so.” Adam suggested, “Then how about it?
What do you guys say that we all move down here together and make this place
our new home?” Everyone was so taken aback in surprise and shock that they
didn’t know what to say. Finally, Jen said, “Wow Adam. That’s an awfully big
proposition you’re throwing at us. I’m afraid we’re gonna need some time to
think about this.” Trip held up his hand and said, “Ding-dong. I’d like to
interject for a second and say something. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and
give my decision right now. If Adam wants to stay here, well then doggone it,
I’m gonna stand beside him all the way.” Lucas added, “I say ditto to that
Tripper.” Katie said, “Well if Lucas, Trip and Adam want to stay here, then
they’re gonna need a sisterly figure like me around.” Eric threw in his two
bits and asked, “What kind of best friend would I be if I didn’t stick around
to support my buddy when he needs it?” Wes said, “I’m with you all the way A.T.L.”
Tori added, “Same here Adam. I’m with you to the end.” Sarah added, “I know
that I’m not technically part of the group yet, but I’m willing to stay here
with the rest of you guys.” Adam looked at Jen and said, “Well Jen, it seems to
me that everyone else has already thought it over and made their decision. I
guess it all comes down to you my dear stepsister.” Jen said, “Well I’m just
gonna take my time and think this over thoroughly before I do something I might
regret.” Adam replied, “Whenever you’re ready to decide what it is you wanna
do, you just say the word to me.” Jen said, “Don’t worry. When I make my
decision, believe me you’ll be the first to know.”
After Kira and the girls finished their
performance for the evening, Kira went up to Adam and asked, “Can I see you
outside for a minute?” Adam quickly got up and they both stepped outside. She
asked, “Well, how did it go and what did they say?” He replied, “It went well.
Everyone’s convinced that this place might not be so bad to live in. Jen’s the
only one who’s not convinced quite yet.” Kira said, “I guess that stepsister of
yours has a one-track mind.” Adam replied sarcastically, “More like a one-crack
mind.” They both looked at each other and then quickly broke out in laughter.
Adam said, “Come on. Let’s go back inside because I’m sure everyone will be
itching for us to perform.” They went back inside as Johnny began to call them
up to the stage. Adam picked up his guitar and spoke into the microphone,
“Thank you everyone. We’re gonna take things a little slow with a little soul
music. This first one goes out to all the lovely ladies in this little
establishment, especially my girl Kira.” He began strumming and before you knew
it, he was singing My Girl by the Temptations. He also sang Sitting on the Dock
of the Bay, Limbo Rock, its All Right, Smokestack Lightning, My Babe, Under the
Boardwalk, On Broadway, Blue Moon, Save the Last Dance for Me, Walk Away Renee,
and Baby, I Need Your Lovin’. They finally closed up shop at a
They all woke up late that Wednesday morning. All
that Adam and his friends had to look forward too was a day of relaxation
followed by a night of fun at Nikki’s party. Jen, Katie and Tori decided to lay
out by the creek and do a little tanning in the sun. Lucas, Wes, and Trip
wanted to check out the radio station. Sarah planned to meet up with Johnny at
the bookstore. Adam and Eric decided to find and spend the day with their
girls. They decided to start by looking at the café. They entered and were
immediately greeted by Justin. He said, “Good morning boys. What can we get
you?” Adam replied, “Nothing right now Justin, but thanks. We were just looking
for Kira and Nikki. Are they here?” Justin said, “You know what? I don’t
actually, but Conner might know. He was on his way to the grocery store with
Ethan and Trent the last time I saw him. If you hurry, you can still catch them.”
Eric said, “Okay, thanks Justin.” They quickly bolted out the door and took off
down the street towards the grocery store.
Eric and Adam entered the grocery store and the
first two familiar faces they saw were Rachel and Monica standing over by the
delicatessen. Adam approached them and said, “Good morning ladies.” Monica
turned around and said, “Hi y’all.” Rachel said, “Morning boys.” Eric asked,
“By any chance, have either of you seen Nikki or Kira?” Monica said, “Oh yeah.
They’re ‘round here somewhere. Everybody’s here in fact.” Adam asked, “Really;
how come?” Rachel replied, “Because Nikki needs to load up on supplies for her
party tonight. She needs all the basics: food, refreshments, cups, utensils,
plates, the whole enchilada. The reason we’re here is to help her load it all
into her dad’s pickup truck and then we have to help her set it all up at her
house.” Eric asked, “Say, what time does this party start anyway?” Monica said,
“Well her dad’s gonna leave around seven so I’d say it’s gonna start around
eight.” Adam said, “That should be pretty cool.” Eric added, “I can hardly
stand the wait.” Adam said, “Well c’mon E-man, let’s split up and go find our
girls.” Adam decided to look in the dairy section while Eric looked in the
frozen food section. Adam eventually found Kira in the cereal and fruit snack
section. She was rummaging through the granola bars when Adam came up behind
her and covered her eyes with his hands and said, “Guess who.” Kira smiled and
said, “Hi Adam.” He said, “Hey sweetie, what are you doing?” She replied,
“Helping Nikki pick out supplies for the party tonight.” Adam replied, “Cool.
So I guess I’ll see you there tonight?” Kira said, “I guess you will.” Meanwhile,
Eric had found Nikki and Charlie in the chips and snacks section. He
straightened out his hat and casually approached them. He cleared his throat
and said, “Hi ladies.” They both turned around and Charlie said, “Hi there Eric.”
Nikki said, “Hey baby.” Eric asked, “So, what’re you girls up to?” Nikki
replied, “Oh, we’re just picking up a few odds and ends for the party tonight.”
Charlie asked, “So will you guys be attending or do the Alley Cat Blues have a
no party policy?” Eric chuckled and said, “No. We’ll be there all right. I um…
I’m especially looking forward to seeing you tonight Nikki.” He slowly reached
out and ran his fingers across her cheek. She said, “I’m really looking forward
to seeing you tonight too.” Just then, Adam came around the corner and said,
“Hey E-man. C’mon, we gotta get going.” Eric looked at Nikki and said, “Well,
I’ll see you later. Bye for now.” As the boys left the grocery store, Eric
asked, “Where are we going now?” Adam replied, “Well, I’ve seen just about
everything there is to see in this town except for the bookstore, so that’s
where we’re going now.”
The boys entered the bookstore and the first place
Adam went was to the directory. He looked through it until he saw what he
wanted to find. He looked at Eric and said, “Okay man. I’m gonna go upstairs
and check out the movie section. Let me know if you need me for anything.” Eric
gave him the thumbs up sign. Adam slowly made his way up the stairs to the
movie section. He couldn’t believe how many movies there were in that entire
section. He was rummaging through the musical section when he felt a pair of
soft hands wrap around his stomach. He smiled and said, “Hello Kira.” A soft
voice said, “Sorry, wrong answer. Would you care to guess again?” Adam gasped
and pulled away. It was Sarah who had put her arms on him. He asked, “What’s
the big idea Sarah?!” She began unbuttoning her blouse and asked, “What’s the
matter? Aren’t you happy to see me?” When he saw what she was doing, he took
hold of both of her wrists and said, “Hey! What the heck are you trying to do,
start some trouble?!” Sarah replied, “What? It’s hot in here and I want to cool
off. That’s why I’m taking off my blouse.” Adam let go of her and said, “I’m
sorry Sarah. I didn’t mean to overreact like that. It’s just that first you put
your arms around me and then you began unbuttoning your shirt. I thought maybe
you were gonna try and put the moves on me again.” Sarah replied, “Now why
would I do that when I know that you’re still a virgin and that you’re completely
hung up on Kira? But I still meant what I said about promising to save myself
for you.” Adam remarked, “Yeah, well you sure did a bang-up way of showing it
when you slept with Kira the other day.” Sarah shrugged and said, “First of
all, I don’t think you could call it sleeping together since we did it during
the morning. Second of all, when I said I’d save myself for you, I meant I
wouldn’t sleep with any other men. I never said I wouldn’t sleep with women
because that’s a different story entirely.” Adam said, “Man, you just may be the
weirdest, strangest, most uncontrollable, and most obnoxious girl I’ve ever
met. I never should’ve stopped my truck to pick you up. I should’ve just kept
on going and left you to wander the lonesome trail. Why I picked you up is
because I’m too much of a gentleman. Maybe you should just go back to your
Johnny boy. Speaking of which, where is he and furthermore, what are you going
to do if he wants to try and hook up with you tonight?” Sarah replied, “Oh, he
went to the store to help Nikki and the others with all of their stuff. I also
saw your buddy Eric leave as well. So it looks like you and I have the whole
bookshop to ourselves. As for hooking up tonight, I’ll handle it in my own way
if the situation calls for it.” Adam asked, “So, you wanna find some place to
sit so we can talk?” Sarah said, “Yeah sure.” Adam added, “Just to talk.” Sarah
replied, “All right, fine.” So Adam and Sarah found a spot to rest in and they
decided to talk things over with each other until they both came to a mutual
understanding regarding their relationships with Kira, Johnny, and each other.
They spent most of the rest of the afternoon talking together.
The night finally fell upon Piedmont Cove. Adam,
Sarah and the rest of his friends gathered up in the town square. Together they
all walked towards Nikki’s house. The boys pulled back a few inches from the
girls because Lucas had something to tell them and give them. He reached into
his jacket pocket and pulled out a pack of contraceptives. He quickly began
pulling them apart and handing them out to the others. He handed out one to
Wes, Trip, and Eric. When he reached out to Adam, Adam was completely taken
aback. Adam asked, “Lucas?! Where in the heck did you get those things and
what’re you carrying them around for?” Lucas put his arm around Adam and said,
“Adam, Adam, Adam. I’m about to give you a valuable little piece of advice, a very valuable piece of advice. I’ve been
to quite a few make-out parties in my time. If there’s one thing I’ve learned,
it’s that people can go from making out, to making love in a real hurry. So if anyone should happen to get lucky
tonight, you might as well get lucky while protecting yourself and your girl.”
Adam said, “You still didn’t answer my other question. Where did you get them?”
Lucas replied, “I found a whole bunch of them in the pharmacy section at the
grocery store, so I thought I’d grab some of them for us.” Adam took the condom
unenthusiastically and looked at it. Then a thought struck him and he asked, “Are
they at least silicone based contraceptives? Because you know that I’m highly
allergic to that latex stuff.” Lucas replied, “Relax man. I didn’t forget about
your allergy condition. Yours is a 100% pure silicone based condom. I made
double sure of it. I have an extra one for you just in case.” Adam sighed and
said, “Well anyway, thanks for looking out for me Lucas.” Lucas said, “Anytime
old buddy, old pal, old dear good friend.” Adam put both of the condoms into
his back pants pocket and the rest of the boys put them in either their pants
pocket or their jacket pocket. Then they broke out in a quick sprint to catch
up with the girls. All nine of them walked right up to Nikki’s house.
As soon as Adam and the gang entered the house, they
were immediately greeted by Charlie. There was music blaring from the speakers
in the front room as everyone hung up their coats except for Adam who wanted to
keep his on. While Jen and the others settled themselves in the front room,
Eric went over to talk with Nikki, Sarah went to look for Johnny, and Adam
decided to look for Kira. Eric found Nikki in the dining room lighting some
scented candles on the table. He came up behind her, put his arm around her
waist and held her close so their skin touched. He said, “Hi Nikki.” She
giggled and replied, “Hello Eric.” He let out a short sniff and said, “Those
candles smell great. But they don’t smell nearly as great as you.” Nikki smiled
and said, “Flattery will get you everywhere and anywhere with me baby.” Eric
replied, “That’s kind of the general idea. You wanna go someplace and talk?”
She said, “Oh, there’ll be plenty of time for us to do that later, I assure
you.” Eric said, “Okay. We’ll meet up later.”
Meanwhile, Sarah had found Johnny down in the rumpus
room. He was getting ready to shoot a game of billiards with Trent and Ethan.
Rachel was sitting on the couch flipping through channels on the plasma-screen
TV, and Charlie (who had followed Sarah downstairs) was now at the bar pouring
herself a glass of sparkling cider. Sarah went up to him and said, “Hi
Johnny.” He replied, “Well howdy little
Miss Sarah.” She asked, “Do you guys need a fourth?”
Back upstairs, Adam had made his way into the
kitchen. He didn’t spot Kira, but he did spot Conner and Monica. Conner was at
one end of the counter slicing up some deli meats and various cheeses on a
cutting board, and Monica was at the other end of the counter chopping up
vegetables. Adam cleared his throat and said, “Excuse me guys.” Conner looked
up and said, “Oh, hi Adam. I’m glad you could make it to the party.” Adam said,
“Thanks man. Have either of you seen Kira?” Monica looked up and said, “Oh
yeah. She’s around here somewhere, and if I’m not mistaken, she brought her acoustic
guitar along with her.” Adam asked, “Well where do you think she is?” Conner
said, “Don’t worry about it Adam. You’ve been spending the whole week with her,
and you’re probably gonna spend the rest of the night with her. In the
meantime, you might as well unwind and enjoy yourself and this party.” He
reached across the counter, picked up a slice of deli meat, held it out to Adam
and said, “Here. Try some of this.” Adam took the piece of meat and bit into
it. He smiled and said, “This is delicious. What is it?” Conner replied, “That
is a fresh piece of smoked turkey. You ought to try the rest of the deli meats.
Goodness knows we have plenty of it to go around.” Monica said, “Ooh, you’re
darn tooting.” Adam finished chewing the piece of turkey and said, “Say guys? I
don’t wanna sound rude or anything, but I’m curious. Monica, just how is it
that a good ole
As Adam began making his way up the stairs, he suddenly
realized something. What he was about to do right now was just like what he had
done in his dreams. All he could think was “Wait a minute. Is this it? Is this
what my dreams were about? Was all of that leading up to this? Is my fantasy
finally going to come true?” He couldn’t answer the questions himself, but he
knew that the answers lay ahead for him upstairs and outside on the patio. He
reached the top of the stairs and entered Nikki’s room through the first door
on the left just like she’d said. He paused for a minute and looked around her
room. It was no different than any other girl’s bedroom that he’d seen before.
It had a canopy bed, some posters of male pop stars, and there was an abundance
of the colors purple and pink. It was then that Adam heard the sound of a
guitar strumming. He looked outside and saw Kira sitting on a big black
futon-esque couch. Her back was to him and she was singing. From what Adam
could tell, she was singing Midnight Rider by Gregg Allman. As quietly as he
could, he pushed open the door, walked outside, closed the door and locked it
behind him. Adam paused and looked around the patio. He had never seen anything
like it. Aside from the couch, there was also a glass table with an umbrella in
the center, a canopy hammock on the left and a porch swing with a cabana cover on
the right. He walked up behind the couch and set the platter of deli meats down
next to her. She stopped playing and looked at the plate. Adam said, “Nikki
told me that I might find you up here.” Kira batted her eyes at him and said,
“Well you’re in the right place so your inside info was right.” Adam went
around the left side of the couch and sat down next to Kira. He said, “Man,
this place is absolutely amazing. I can see why you wanted to come up here.”
She said, “Actually Adam, I sort of came up here to escape the party.” He
asked, “How come?” She took off her shoes and replied, “Well, the last two
times I came to Nikki’s party, I was the only one who didn’t have anybody to
make-out with. So I came up here with my guitar and played long until the wee
hours of the night. I could’ve made out with Johnny, but I knew that it
would’ve been out of pity and I didn’t need that.” Adam slowly put his hand on
her arm and began moving it up and down as he said, “Well, now that I’m here,
maybe we could change all of that.” She rested her hand on his and said, “Adam,
you are the nicest and most wonderful boy I’ve ever been lucky enough to meet,
and whether you decide to stay or go, I’ll never forget about you.” Adam pulled
back his hand so he could let out a short stretch. He asked, “Remember when you
asked me if I liked seeing you and Sarah together and I told you I wouldn’t
answer?” She replied, “Yeah.” He said, “Well the truth is I did like what I
saw. In fact, I was jealous that I wasn’t part of it.” She said, “I’m really
sorry about that.” He replied, “Ah, forget about it.” Then he asked, “May I see
your guitar?” She said, “Sure.” and handed it to him. He put the strap around
his shoulder and said, “You know, there was one soul song that I wanted to sing
last night but I didn’t get a chance to do it. This one in particular always
helps me when I’m feeling down.” He began to play and sing Up on the Roof by
the Drifters. Then he sang Where Are You Tonight, Strawberry Fields Forever, I
Should Have Known Better, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, and I Saw Her Standing There.
Kira said, “You’re pretty darn good at that. How did you get into the world of
music anyway?” Adam said, “I guess I owe all my thanks to Elvis Presley. From the
first time I heard his voice, I wanted to learn all I could about popular
music. I think that one of my favorite songs of his is Kismet from his movie
Harum Scarum.” She asked, “But wasn’t that always considered one of his worst
movies of all time?” He replied, “Yeah. He was only paid $1,000,000 to make
that movie, but I personally think it was one of his best. The reason I like
the song so much is because of the scene in which he sings it. He’s at the
riverbed with the beautiful princess and they’re holding hands and then he
sings to her about love.” He took the guitar strap off of his shoulder and then
took hold of Kira’s hand. He began to sing Kismet to her. By the time he
finished the song, Kira was so entranced that she leaned over and kissed him. They
slowly began to caress each other as Adam moved down to kiss her neck. She
began to moan with passion. She became so turned on that she whispered, “Adam?”
He replied, “Yeah?” She leaned forward and whispered something in his ear,
something he almost couldn’t and didn’t want to believe, “Let’s make love.”
Adam slowly pulled his head back and asked, “Are you sure?” She nodded her
head. He asked, “You’re positive?” She replied, “I’ve never wanted anything
more in my life.” He replied, “Okay. But first.” He picked up the guitar and
the plate of deli meats and put them both on the table. Then he said, “One more
thing.” He reached around the back of her head and removed the clip that was
holding up her hair, thus letting it all flow down like a gleaming golden
waterfall. He looked at her and said, “I think you look better that way with
your hair down.” Kira replied, “Thanks Adam.” As he leaned forward to kiss her
again, she asked him, “Have you ever done this before?” Adam wasn’t sure how to
answer the question or if he even wanted to answer it. Oh, sure he could’ve
lied to her. He could’ve said something like, “Sure, I’ve done this before.”
But at this point, Adam didn’t feel like he needed to lie to Kira just to get
with her, so he said, “No. Have you?” She responded by removing his jacket and
saying, “I want to with you.” She sat up and began to pull off his shirt as he
ran his fingers through her hair. She asked him, “Do you have something for
me?” Adam wasn’t sure what she meant at first, but then he remembered. So he
reached into his back pants pocket, pulled out the contraceptive, held it up
and asked, “Are you talking about this?” She looked up and nodded her head.
While Adam reached back to pull off his shoes and socks, Kira began to unbutton
and unzip his jeans. Soon, Adam had been stripped down to only his boxers. Kira
leaned back as Adam began to undress her. First, he removed her vest and then
her shirt. Then he untied the long skirt she was wearing. Finally, he
unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans. But as he began to remove them, Kira
suddenly said, “Adam? Adam wait, stop!” He looked up and asked, “What? What’s
wrong?” She replied, “Nothing. I’m… I’m just… I’m just having a lot of
thoughts.” Adam asked, “Are you really sure that you wanna do this?” Kira replied,
“No.” He asked again, “Well do you want me to stop?” Again she replied, “No. I…
I do want to do this. I’ve just got too many thoughts on my mind.” Adam rested
his fingers on her lips and said, “Shh. Just relax Kira. You’re probably just
scared about this and I can understand that. It’s always hard and scary the
first time, and it can even hurt too. In fact, I’m just as scared as you are. The
difference is that I’m handling it better. The key is to know how to handle it
just the way that I’m doing.” Kira slowly opened her mouth and Adam’s fingers
slid onto her tongue. They finished undressing each other and then Kira lied
back on the couch. Adam slowly began to go down on her, moving from her chest,
to her stomach, and then down towards her legs. Kira continued to moan with
passion. Then Adam lied down on his back and Kira began to return the favor. Finally,
Adam picked up the condom, unwrapped it and slid it on. Kira turned over and
Adam got up. He started out by taking her in from behind. Then Kira turned over
on her back again and Adam took her in from her front. All the while when they
were going at it, Kira continued to moan louder and longer in ecstasy. Adam
lied down on his back and Kira got on top of him with her back faced toward
him. She slowly began to thrust back and forth and then up and down. Then she
turned herself around again so they faced each other. As she continued to
thrust her body up and down, Adam raised up his arms and they took hold of each
others hands. Kira continued to moan and thrust, until finally both she and
Adam moaned so loud that they couldn’t help but climax at the same time. She
lied down on top of Adam and they kissed each other passionately. She rested
her head on his chest as Adam reached for a nearby blanket and covered both
himself and her with it. They both felt hot, sweaty, bothered and almost unable
to move or breathe. Adam put his arm around her and said, “It’s okay Kira.
Sometimes it can feel this way too. I’m here baby. I’ll take care of you.” Kira
wrapped her arms around him and said, “You’ve gotta be kidding me. All of this
time and that’s what I’ve been missing?” Adam replied, “Yeah I know. It
surprised me too.” They soon fell asleep in each others arms.
Back downstairs, most of the partygoers had long since
called it a night. In fact, the only ones that were still there were Eric, Sarah,
and Johnny. By now, Johnny and Sarah were still in the rumpus room downstairs.
But they weren’t playing billiards anymore. They were now lying down together on
a futon. They had been conversing with each other for the past few hours. Sarah
told Johnny everything there was to know about her. She told him about her
family, being bisexual, what she had done with Kira, and how she had feelings
for both him and Adam. She expected Johnny to be angry about the last thing,
but instead he seemed more ecstatic. They soon began to kiss and make out with
each other like crazy. There was even a little under the shirt action at one
point. They had become so into each other that they had soon stripped themselves
down and were making love. But the love they were making wasn’t the same as what
Adam and Kira had done. The love they were making was the romantic type, but to
them it was mostly just for the fun of it. They seemed to focus more on the
physical part rather than the emotional part of the act. Their transcendent
fusion was fun and short, but at the same time, it was serious and cosmic. Just
like Adam and Kira, Sarah and Johnny had soon fallen asleep in each others arms
after doing the deed.
Meanwhile elsewhere, Nikki had led Eric outside and
into the pool house. They had spent the last few hours talking to each other.
Their conversation had consisted of several topics, mainly music, movies, books,
and sports. By now, their conversation topic had turned to love and sex. Nikki
asked, “So Eric, when did you have your first time?” Eric felt sheepish as he
replied, “Well, you might find this hard to believe, but I’m actually still a
virgin.” Nikki asked, “You, still a virgin? How come? I would think that a boy
as handsome as you wouldn’t have a problem getting a girl.” Eric said, “Well.
It’s not that I didn’t want a girlfriend. It’s just that at the time, I was so busy
focusing on everything else in my life that I never found time to go out with
girls. I didn’t even get a date to my prom this year. Plus, I guess I’m just
the type of guy who wants to wait until the time feels right. Say, if the right
girl came along and we were really into each other, then I’d probably be
willing to, how shall I put it, throw my inhibitions out the window.” Nikki
took hold of his arm and said, “Well maybe I could be the right one for you to
share the moment with.” Eric replied, “Oh, I think you would definitely have
the right qualifications for something like that.” Nikki added, “Besides, I’ve
never done it either.” Eric replied, “Well, I guess the experience will be
special for both of us.” They leaned towards each other and began kissing.
Before you knew it, they had both undressed and were going down on each other.
Their intimate act was much like the one that Adam and Kira had shared, except
their act mostly involved the classic missionary position. Nikki and Eric made
love long into the night until finally they both fell asleep holding each
others hands.
Everyone woke up really late the following morning.
Nikki and Eric were the first ones up. They showered up, got dressed and went
back inside the house. The first thing they did was handle the cleanup. They
picked up the empty bottles, plastic cups and paper plates. Johnny was the next
one to wake up. He didn’t wanna wake up Sarah because she looked so peaceful.
He cleaned himself up and put on a clean set of clothes. Then he left a note on
the bed for Sarah, left the house and headed down to the radio station. It was
shortly after he left that Sarah woke up as well. She read the note and then
took a long hot shower. She put on her clothes, went upstairs and offered to
help Nikki and Eric finish cleaning up the house.
Adam and Kira were the last ones to wake up. The
morning sun was shining brightly outside. In fact, it shone so bright that Adam
seemed to squint as he slowly opened his eyes. He looked over at Kira, leaned
forward and gave her a good morning kiss. She moaned and smiled as he said,
“Good morning Kira.” She replied, “Good morning sweet Adam.” With her eyes
still closed, she asked, “What time is it?” Adam looked at his watch, which
read
After that soothing and cleansing shower, Kira and
Adam both wrapped a towel around their bodies and went back into Nikki’s room
to dry off. Kira picked up a hairdryer from Nikki’s dresser, sat down in front
of the mirror and began to dry her hair. Adam picked up his clothes which he’d
left on Nikki’s bed and got dressed as soon as his body was dry. He asked, “Hey
Kira? Where are your clothes at?” She replied, “They’re still outside. Would
you mind getting them for me?” Adam said, “Sure thing baby doll.” Adam went
back out onto the patio and picked up all of Kira’s clothes. Then he went back
inside the bedroom. He said, “I’ve got all your stuff Kira, but I didn’t find
your shoes.” She replied, “They’re probably underneath the futon; why don’t you
double-check and could you grab my guitar too while you’re at it?” Adam said,
“No problem.” He went outside once again to look for her shoes. He found them
underneath the futon like Kira had predicted. He slowly stood up and picked up
the guitar from the table. But instead of going inside, he sat down on the
porch swing and began strumming the guitar. Kira heard the strumming and soon
came outside. She asked Adam, “Hey sexy, what’s taking you so long?” Adam
replied, “Oh, nothing. I was just strumming and thinking.” She asked, “Thinking
about what?” He replied, “Everything really. I was thinking about you and me,
this whole week, and especially last night.” She sat down next to him and said,
“Yeah. That was really something last night, wasn’t it?” He replied, “Uh-huh.”
Kira sadly said, “It’s too bad that this can’t last forever.” Adam asked,
“What?” She replied, “You and me. I don’t wanna see things end between us.”
Adam said, “Maybe it doesn’t have to.” Kira asked, “How’s that?” Adam replied,
“Remember what I said about talking it over with my friends? They all told me
that they like it here and they might like the idea of moving down here and
making this place our permanent home. If they do decide to live here, then you
and I will be able to see each other everyday. We’ll be able to spend forever
together.” Kira said, “I hope you’re right Adam, because you know what? When
I’m with you, I feel like I’m in heaven.” Adam replied, “Same here baby. I got
the same feeling.” Their conversation was cut short as Eric came outside to the
patio. He said, “Oh good. You guys are awake. I was just coming to wake you
myself.” Kira asked, “What’s up Eric?” He replied, “The rest of the gang is
waiting for us to join them at the diner. Nikki and Sarah have already gone
ahead. But before we join them, we should probably head to the houses and put
on some clean clothes.” Adam said, “I like the way you think Eric.” The three
of them made their way downstairs and headed out of the house. Kira headed back
to her house, while Eric and Adam went to the empty house.
When they got to the house, Eric picked up his bag
and decided to change his clothes upstairs while Adam stayed downstairs to
change clothes. Eric soon came back downstairs wearing his favorite black
jacket, a green t-shirt and a navy blue pair of jeans. Adam had changed into
his camouflage cargo pants, a black sleeveless shirt, a white long sleeved
button-down shirt and his blue Converse sneakers. Adam asked, “So Eric tell me,
did you and Nikki ever hook up last night?” Eric replied, “I could ask the same
question about you and Kira.” Adam said, “Let me put it this way. Last night,
was the most incredible, magical and most romantic night of my life man.” Eric
said, “I could only say the same my friend.” Adam said, “We’d better get going
buddy. The rest of the crew is gonna be waiting for us.” Eric picked up his
hat, and they both left the house.
As they made their way to the diner, Eric asked,
“Hey Adam? What should we say if Lucas and the guys ask us to give them the
details of last night?” Adam shrugged it off and said, “Hey Eric. If you’re not
gonna kiss and tell, then I’m not gonna kiss and tell. So don’t worry about
it.” Adam pulled open the diner door and they both went inside. Lucas waved
them over to the booth he and the boys were sitting in. So Adam and Eric sat
down and joined them. Eric asked, “So, did you guys have a good time at the
party last night?” Lucas replied, “I think we could ask you guys the same
question.” Adam said, “Well I don’t know if I can speak for Eric, but I am not
one to kiss and tell, or should I say make love and tell.” Eric said, “That
goes double for me.” Lucas said, “Aw, come on fellas. I wanna hear all the
juicy details.” Trip said, “All right Lucas, relax. If they wanna tell us, then
they’ll tell us. If they don’t wanna tell us, then they won’t. So let’s just
squash it and order some breakfast.” Wes added, “Yeah. Let’s just squash it and
chow down on some grub.” Conner came up and asked, “What’ll it be my good friends?”
They each ordered a breakfast platter. While they were waiting, Adam saw Kira
walk into the diner. He excused himself, got up and walked over to her. He
said, “Hey there you sexy baby.” She looked at him and said, “Hey sweetie.”
Adam pulled her close to him and kissed her. Lucas looked over at them and
said, “Hey fellas, there’s some major lip-lock action at
Trip sat down on the swing while Adam made the call
to his mother. The call went to her voicemail so Adam left her a message. He
said, “Hey mom, it’s me Adam. I’m just calling to say hi and to let you know
that we’re having a good time on our vacation. Right now, we’re somewhere in
When Adam and Eric got inside the house, they saw
that the rest of the guys were all plopped down on the couch. Adam approached
them and said in a joking way, “You guys look like somebody bludgeoned you all
and left you for dead.” Lucas said, “Oh hardy har-har Adam, very funny.” Adam
settled himself into a recliner chair and Eric settled into an easy chair. Wes
began to rub his right shoulder as he said, “I don’t know about you guys, but
that was the most exhilarating and exhausting game of b-ball I’ve ever played.
It really took a lot out of
As Adam made his way over to the diner, he walked
past the gas station and saw Russell in the garage working on his truck. He
decided to peek in and see how it was coming along. Adam slowly pushed open the
door and walked inside. Russell looked up and said, “Oh, howdy Adam. What’re
you doing here?” Adam replied, “Oh I just wanted to come by and see how my
truck’s coming along.” Russell said, “It’s coming along fine. I should have it
finished by tonight or tomorrow. As soon as I put in the carburetor, all I’ll
have to do is put air in that tire of yours and you’ll be all set to go.” Adam
said, “Great. That’s great news. Say, you haven’t seen my friends anywhere have
you?” Russell replied, “Yeah. Now that you mention it, I did. I saw them about
an hour ago. I think they’re all gathered up at the café.” Adam said, “That’s
great. I was just on my way there anyway. I guess I’ll see you later pal.” Russell
said, “All right then.” Adam walked out and slid the door shut.
Adam entered the café and the first thing he saw was
all of his buddies sitting in one of the booths. He also saw Jen, Katie, and
Tori sitting at the counter with the rest of the girls. He walked right over to
the booth and said in a low gruff voice, “Hello boys.” They all looked up and
Eric said, “Oh, hey buddy. How was your nap?” Adam replied, “Oh, it was swell.
But the real question is why didn’t any of you blockheads wake me up?” Trip
said, “Well, you looked tired and we didn’t wanna wake you. Besides, it’s not
like we had anything to do all day.” Adam shrugged in agreement as Kira came up
to him and asked, “Hey Adam, can we talk?” Adam replied, “Yeah sure.” He
followed her over to one of the tables and they both sat down. Adam asked,
“What’s up baby doll?” Kira said, “I’ve been thinking on the subject all day
and I’ve come to a decision. I’ve decided that I can’t go through with it.”
Adam asked, “What? Why not?” Kira replied, “Well Adam, I’ve only just begun to
experience my sexual awakening and I wanna take it in one step at a time. I
just realized that a threesome is a really big step that I’m just not ready
for.” Adam asked, “Well what’re we gonna do? Sarah wants an answer and she won’t
quit until she gets me in bed with her.” Kira said, “I know, which is why I’ve
come up with a solution to the problem. I’m gonna give you a guilt-free pass
tonight.” Adam asked, “A what?” Kira replied, “I mean that I’m giving you a
license to fly tonight. You can sleep with Sarah so she can get it out of her
system and there won’t be any consequences between you and me.” Adam asked,
“Really? You’re willing to make that sacrifice for me?” Kira replied, “Yes
Adam. So tonight, you and Sarah get it over with so she can stop bugging and
hassling you about it.” Adam slowly reached forward, placed his hand on hers
and said, “Thank you Kira. I appreciate that you’re being so very understanding
with me about this. Do you wanna know something?” Kira nodded her head as he
continued, “I think that if we can talk about getting through a situation like
this, then maybe, just maybe we can get through anything together.” Kira nodded
her head in agreement, but the truth was that the both of them had doubts about
whatever might or might not happen that night. It was especially hard for Adam.
He wasn’t sure how he’d be able to enjoy being with one girl when he clearly
had feelings for another girl altogether. In fact, if it were up to him, he’d
have called the whole thing off, but he really wanted to get the whole thing
with Sarah over with. So the only thing he could do now was wait until night
fell upon him.
Adam spent the rest of the afternoon back at the
house watching his DVDs, all the while feeling slightly unsure of himself. He
didn’t wanna go through with it but at the same time he felt like he had to. It
wasn’t as if he didn’t like Sarah because he did like her, but all that really
mattered to him at this point was his relationship with Kira. If there was one
thing he wouldn’t deny, it was the way he felt about her. He was in the middle
of watching more of
Adam soon heard the sound of the shower running as
he sat on the bed trying to recuperate himself. He picked his boxers up from
the floor and slipped them on. Then he glanced at his watch which read a
When Adam got to the park, he didn’t spot Kira anywhere.
So he called out, “Kira? Kira, are you here?” Then he heard her voice say, “I’m
over here, in the tunnel.” He walked over to the tunnel, took three steps up
the ladder, looked inside and asked, “Hey, what’re you doing in there?” She was
lying on her back looking up at the night sky. She replied, “This is where I
like to be when I watch the night sky. Every now and again I see the stars come
out. It’s a beautiful sight isn’t it?” he looked up at the sky and said, “Yeah
it’s a beautiful view up there, but I like the view down here better.” Kira
asked him, “Do you wanna come in here and join me?” Adam asked, “Do you think
we can both fit in there?” Kira said, “Sure, come on inside.” As careful as he
could, Adam wiggled into the tunnel feet first, all the while making sure he
didn’t bump Kira. As soon as he was settled, Kira asked him, “So, how did it go
with Sarah?” Adam replied, “I’d say it went as well as could be expected.” Then
she asked, “Did you enjoy it?” He again replied, “Well naturally I enjoyed it.
But I didn’t enjoy it with her as much as I enjoyed it with you. With Sarah, it
was just fun, but with you, it was passionate, serious, hot, steamy, animal
wild and meaningful. I mean I could go on forever describing what it was like
with you.” Kira said, “I could say the exact same things to you Adam.” Adam
rubbed his shoulder and said, “It’s getting kind of chilly out here Kira. Maybe
we should head back to the diner.” Kira said, “I’m with you on that.” They both
slowly crawled out of the tunnel, climbed off the playground ladder, and began
walking back to the café while holding each others hands. Kira asked, “Say
Adam, that friend of yours, is he okay?” Adam asked, “Which friend? What do you
mean?” She replied, “Trip. Why did he wanna go with you when you made that call
to your mom? Is something wrong with him?” Adam said, “No. Trip’s kind of had a
rough go in life. His parents weren’t nurturing enough to him and he got picked
on a lot as a kid. He really didn’t have many friends until he met me. I defended
him once and he’s been a really close friend to me ever since. Eric may be my
best friend, but when it comes to loyalty and care, Trip’s my main boy. He’s
always looked up to me a lot, almost like the older brother he never had but
always wanted.” Kira took that in and said, “Okay.”
When they got back to the diner, Johnny called Kira,
Nikki, and Charlie up to the stage for their evening performance. Adam went and
sat in a booth with his buddies. He sat down next to Eric, who slid him a plate
and said, “Hey buddy, I ordered you a burger and fries incase you might be
hungry.” Adam gratefully took the plate and said, “Thanks E-man, and thanks for
giving Kira my number.” Eric replied, “No problem A.T.L.” Lucas asked, “So,
Adam? Are you gonna give us the juicy details or not?” Trip asked, “Yeah, did
you and Kira go through with it?” Wes said, “Hey cool it fellas. Give the guy a
chance to eat.” Adam said, “No it’s okay Wes. I don’t have a problem telling
them. If you guys must know, it was only me that went through with it. Kira
decided that she wasn’t ready for something as big as a threesome. So she gave
me a license to fly with Sarah tonight. But the important thing is that Sarah
and I got it out of the way and now Kira and I can enjoy our relationship in
peace. Just for the record, I did enjoy it with Sarah, but not as much as I
enjoyed it with Kira.” Eric said, “That’s good for you Adam. You know who
you’re comfortable with and that’s all that matters.” After
the girls’ final performance, Justin and Conner began to close up shop for the
evening. Kira went home with her dad, Sarah went with Jen, Katie and Tori, and
Adam went home with his buddies.
Adam and his buddies woke up early the
following morning. It was a beautiful, balmy Friday, as far as Fridays go. Adam
was already dressed and sitting on the couch when the rest of the boys came
downstairs. Trip asked, “So, since we’ve seen just about everything there is to
see in this little town, what’re we going to do today?” Lucas suggested, “Maybe
we should just stay in today and relax.” Eric said, “You guys can stay in if
you want, but I’m planning on spending the day with Nikki.” Adam added, “Yeah,
and I’m planning on doing the same with Kira.” Wes asked, “You guys are really
hung up on those girls aren’t you?” Adam said, “I’m not just hung up on Kira
Wes. I don’t just like her anymore, I’m in love with her and I’m gonna tell her
later on tonight.” Lucas said, “Wow! That’s an awfully big step Adam. You might
wanna think that through before you do something you might regret.” Adam
replied, “I’m not gonna regret it Lucas. I already know that I might never find
someone else like Kira, and I’m not gonna let her be the one that got away. I’m
gonna tell her today and nothing’s gonna change my mind, and as for you Eric? I
suggest you do the same with Nikki.” Eric replied, “You don’t have to tell me
twice buddy, because I am gonna be all over it.” Adam said, “Okay then. If
there will be no more implications, I suggest we go meet the others at the
diner for breakfast.” They all gradually got up and left the house. Wes, Lucas,
and Trip were all completely unnerved, for none of them knew what to expect or
think for what lay ahead that day for Adam and Eric.
Jen and the rest of the girls were
sitting in a booth waiting for their orders when Adam and the guys came inside
the café. They all sat down at the counter and Conner came over to take their
orders. Adam, Lucas, and Trip ordered sandwiches and Wes and Eric ordered
breakfast platters. Shortly after being given their orders, Kira entered the
diner and sat down at the counter two seats down from Adam. He looked over to
her and said, “Good morning Kira.” She looked back at him and said, “Good
morning Adam.” Conner came up and asked, “Hey Kira. What can I get you?” She
replied, “I’ll just have some scrambled eggs and sausage with some apple
juice.” After Conner brought out her food, Adam got up and slid his plate down
towards Kira and sat next to her. He said, “Kira, there’s something I wanna
tell you, something very serious and important. It’s hard for me to say. I
don’t know how to say it or how to begin.” Kira replied, “Maybe you could just
say it and make it easy on us both.” Adam said, “I don’t feel comfortable
telling you here in front of everyone. After we finish eating, we’ll go to the
park and I’ll tell you there, all right?” Kira said, “That sounds like a good
idea to me.” They both finished eating in silence.
When they got to the park, Kira sat down
on the swinging bridge and Adam stood in front of her. She asked, “So what is
it that’s so important that you wanna tell me out here?” Adam took a deep
breath, took hold of her hands and said, “Kira Ford, I know that I’ve only
known you for a week, but I feel like I’ve known you forever. All my life, I’ve
been hoping to meet the right woman and I’ve never found her before now. You
and I have so much in common. We both love the same things, especially music.
If my truck had not broken down, I never would’ve come here to Piedmont Cove.
It was almost like destiny had brought me to you. You know how there’s always
one person that you know you’re destined to be together with forever? When I
look at you, I see that person. You and I are just like Patrick Swayze and Jennifer
Grey in Dirty Dancing. We’re also like Rob Lowe and Demi Moore in About Last
Night, uh, like John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga in The Sure Thing. I can think of a lot of onscreen couples that
I can compare us to. I feel that what we share is a bond that can never be
broken by anyone or anything. What I’m trying to say is, Kira Ford, I am in
love with you.” Kira just sat there too stunned to speak. Adam said, “Kira, I
understand that this is a big shock to you, but please say something,
anything.” She finally said, “Adam, I’m sorry, but I don’t know if I can or how
to respond to that. I have to think about that before I can give you an
answer.” She quickly slid herself off the bridge accidentally knocking Adam to
the ground, and she started running. Adam got to his feet and cried, “You just spoiled
the whole doggone thing! Kira, wait a minute!” He took off running after her.
Kira ran all the way to the back of the diner. She got into her Chevy Camaro,
pulled the keys out of the glove compartment and calmly started the car. She
drove around the side of the diner just as Adam reached the diner. He spotted
her in the car and called out, “Kira!” She reached over and began to roll up
the window, but Adam reached in and covered the handle with his hand. He asked,
“Kira, can you please just get out of the car so we can talk about this?” Kira
responded by putting the car in gear and pushing down on the gas pedal. Adam
held onto the door and began running with the car. Kira said, “You’re gonna
have to let go eventually Adam. You can only keep up with me for so long.” Adam
asked, “Why are you making this so hard on yourself? Why can’t you just admit
that you’re in love with me just as much as I am with you?” Kira said in a
tearful way, “Because it isn’t easy for me. Love’s never been easy for me. I
need time to think before I can give you an answer.” The car began to pick up
more and more speed and Adam finally had to let go. He cried out, “Whoa!” as he
fell to the dirt ground. As Kira drove away, Eric and the rest of the guys (who
had watched the whole thing from inside the diner) ran up to Adam and helped
him struggle to his feet. Eric asked, “Adam, are you all right?” He gruffly
replied, “Yeah, I’m all right.” Lucas asked, “Adam, are you gonna be okay?”
Adam brushed the dirt off of himself, looked up and watched the last cloud of
dust disappear and said, “You were right Lucas. I shouldn’t have said what I
said to her, because I just made the biggest and stupidest mistake of my life
and now I totally and completely regret it.” The impact of the fall and all the
running he’d done had temporarily weakened his knees and leg muscles, so he
leaned on Eric and Lucas as they helped him walk back to the diner. Trip and
Wes followed close behind them.
When they got back inside the diner,
Eric and Lucas helped Adam sit down in one of the booths. Then they went to get
him some icepacks and a beverage. As Adam winced in pain, Anthony came up to
him and said, “Hello Adam.” He slowly looked up and said, “Oh hi Mr. Ford.”
Anthony asked, “May I sit down?” Adam replied, “Go right ahead sir.” Anthony
sat down and said, “I um, I saw what happened out there Adam, and I just wanna
say I’m sorry.” Adam asked, “Who’re you sorry for, me or your daughter?”
Anthony replied, “I’m sorry for you Adam. My daughter wasn’t the one who held
onto the door of a moving car, ran alongside said car and then fell down and
hurt their self. What I saw you do out there was probably the craziest, most
desperate, daring, surprising and bravest thing I’ve ever seen a man like you
do for the woman he must love.” Adam said, “Yeah well, love can make a person
do some crazy things like that. I just don’t understand. My heart was in the
right place and I thought I was doing the right thing. Did I do something wrong
to deserve that? Was I wrong in telling her how I felt about her?” Anthony
replied, “No Adam, you didn’t do anything wrong, and you did do the right
thing. It’s just that Kira and love have never exactly seen eye to eye. She’s
only had three other men in her life. Two of them cheated on her and one was
just using her to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. They all broke her heart and
she’s been running away from love ever since then.” Adam said, “But that won’t
happen to her with me. Can’t she understand that?” Anthony replied, “Of course
she can understand it. She just can’t
see it yet. That’s why she left,
because what you said caught her off guard and now she needs time to be alone.
She probably has to clear her head and think about everything. You give it time
and I guarantee you that she’ll be back here before the end of the night.” Adam
asked, “But isn’t there a way I can get a message out to her now?” Anthony
replied, “I don’t know. You may have to figure that out.” Adam slowly turned
his head and looked out the window. All he could see was the radio station, and
then it hit him. He looked at Anthony and asked, “Anthony? Does Kira ever
listen to the radio station?” He replied, “Yeah she does. Why do you ask?” Adam
slowly stood up and said, “Because I’m gonna send her a message, through the
healing powers of music.” He hobbled his way over to Johnny and the rest of the
gang. He asked, “Hey guys? How do you feel about broadcasting our music over
the radio?” Everyone looked at each other, and then they looked back at Adam
with smiles on their faces.
Kira meanwhile, was riding down the highway. She
wasn’t sure where she was going and right now, she didn’t care. All she knew
was that she had to get as far away from town as possible, and she had to find
a place where she could be alone and think about Adam and what he’d said to her
about his feelings. The truth was that she was too proud and scared at the
moment to admit anything to anyone, including herself. All she could think was,
“I can’t believe I let myself get involved with another man. For all I know, he
might still leave town whether or not he has real feelings for me and that’s a
risk I’m just not willing to take.” She couldn’t hide the tears that were
developing in her mud brown eyes as she continued driving down the highway.
Ten minutes later, Johnny, Adam and the
rest of the band had rendezvoused at the radio station. Everyone had their
instruments and a microphone. As Adam settled himself on the stool, Jen asked,
“Adam, are you sure you wanna do this?” Adam raised up his right arm and said,
“Jen, I made this mess and now I’m gonna fix it. But I’m gonna need all of you
to help
By now, Kira had driven herself out to
the middle of a grassy meadow. She had turned the car off and was sitting
inside of it trying awfully hard to recuperate herself. She had calmed herself
down enough to stop crying. She had changed to a different radio station, but
she kept hearing romantic songs like Sway, Linger and
Back in Piedmont Cove, Adam was inside
the diner sitting in a booth sulking with himself. Everyone else was sitting
either in a table or at the counter. Trip looked at him and said, “
Meanwhile, Kira had driven all the way
out to
Later in town that afternoon, right
before night began to fall, Adam was slowly but surely starting to come around.
He still wasn’t happy, but at least he was showing a different emotion other
than sadness. Eric and the rest of the gang were sitting with him. Eric said to
him, “I’m really glad to see that you’re on your way back to a smile Adam. You
just keep on thinking positive and before you know it, things will get better.”
Lucas added, “That’s right Adam. It’s just like the song goes, “I’m not gonna
stop ‘cause that’s who I am. I’ll give it all I’ve got because that is my plan.
Will I find what I lost? You know that you can bet on it.” You remember those
words and they’ll cheer you up in no time buddy.” Adam said, “Thanks guys. I
always knew I could count on you all to be there for
When nightfall came around, it was
Elsewhere outside, Kira was in her car making her final approach back
into Piedmont Cove. She had turned off her car lights because she didn’t want
to be seen by anyone. Instead of going around the back of the diner, she drove
on towards her house. She went inside and came back out three minutes later
carrying both her acoustic guitar and her Gibson Flying-V guitar. She got back
in the car and drove it around the back of the diner. Then she took the keys
out of the ignition and put them back in the glove compartment. With one guitar
in her hand, and another strapped on her back, she went into the diner through
the backstage entrance.
While Kira was sneaking in backstage,
Adam was speaking into the microphone, “I wanna dedicate these songs to our
beloved friend Kira. Wherever you are, I hope you’re on your way home girl.” He
began singing Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac. Then he sang Rock Steady, Always and
Forever, Cruel to Be Kind, Just the Girl, Maggie May, Some Guys Have All the
Luck and he rounded it off with I’m Still Here. Then he spoke into the
microphone again, “I uh, believe this song will pretty much self-explain the
way things have been going for me today. It only goes to show that breaking up
is a really, really hard thing to do.” That was when Kira decided to make her
move. She picked up a microphone headset from a table, put them on, hit the on
switch, and spoke into it, “Nobody’s gonna be breaking up anybody or anything
tonight Adam.” The room suddenly went eerily quiet. Adam called out, “Kira? Is
that you?” She replied, “Yes Adam. I’m back, and I’m here to tell you something
very important, and I think the best way for me to tell you is through song.” Adam
asked, “Where are you?” She smiled and said, “Right back here.” Nikki, being
the closest, quickly pulled on the curtain rope. As it opened up, Kira began to
play on her Gibson Flying-V. The entire place boomed as everyone began to
applaud while Adam slowly turned around. Just like the first time he saw her,
Adam was completely awestruck with happiness. She was wearing a white dress
with yellow daisies all over it and yellow heels. She began to sing I Don’t
Want to by Ashley Monroe and Ronnie Dunn. Adam quickly stood up and began to
play and sing along with her. They both slowly moved closer to each other. They
moved closer and closer until they were both three feet apart from each other.
It was quite a sight to behold. When the song ended, Kira asked, “Adam, can I
talk to you outside please?” Adam said, “Sure thing.” He walked over to the
mike and said, “Listen up everyone. Kira and I are gonna step outside for a
minute, so until then, please enjoy the musical styles of my buddy Eric and The
Alley Cat Blues.” They both walked off the stage and went outside the main
entrance.
They stood right outside the door and
Adam asked, “Okay, so what’s up?” Kira said, “First of all Adam, I just wanna
say that I’m really, very, truly, madly and deeply sorry for everything I put
you through today.” Adam said, “Maybe we could hold the apologies until the end
of this. What I really wanna know is why you ran away like that today.” She replied,
“Adam, love is the most powerful force on earth. But it’s also the most
complicated force and it can sometimes do really, really crazy stuff to you.
When you told me that you were in love with me, instead of returning my
feelings to you, I got scared and I panicked. So I ran from you and I drove out
of here.” He asked, “What did you get scared for? Were you mad at me or
something?” She said, “No Adam, it had nothing to do with you whatsoever. It
was me. I was scared and afraid of being hurt again. But now I realize that I
was wrong. I’m not gonna make a mistake like that ever again. That is a solemn
promise.” He asked, “Well if you weren’t mad at me, then why did you take off
the way you did?” She replied, “I left because I had to be alone and have time
to figure out what to do. I also needed to think, and I mean do some very
serious thinking.” He asked, “Think about what?” She said, “You, me and love.”
He asked, “What did you decide?” Kira replied, “I decided that, oh Adam I love
you.” Adam said, “You know what? I love you too Kira.” They put their arms
around each other and shared a long, meaningful, passionate kiss. They soon
heard applause coming from inside the café. They looked inside and saw everyone
applauding them, everyone except for Eric, Nikki, Sarah, and Johnny. Sarah and
Johnny were lip-locking with each other. Adam saw Eric telling Nikki something
who responded by leaping into his arms and kissing him. That meant he’d told
her that he loved her too. With their guitars holstered on their shoulders, Adam
and Kira once again took hold of each others hands and walked back inside the
café together. Everyone sang, played, and danced long into the night. As she
had promised, Kira let Adam play her Gibson Flying-V when they played the final
songs of the evening, all of which were considered some of the best love songs
of all time: (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life, The Start of Something New,
Breaking Free, You Are the Music in Me, Right Here Right Now, If I Never Knew
You and Can You Feel the Love Tonight. Adam and Kira ended the night with
another passionate kiss.
By the end of the summer, Adam, Jen, and
the rest of the gang had all decided to make Piedmont Cove their permanent
home. Roger Lawrence made good on his promise and helped launch the musical career
and recording deal of Adam and the Alley Cat Blues, which Kira, Sarah, Nikki,
and Charlie were all lucky to become part of. Adam and Jen’s parents would
later go on to visit them in Piedmont Cove at least three to four times a year.
Adam and Kira dated each other for three years before they got married. Adam
and the Alley Cat Blues later went on tour after their meteoric rise to fame.
Trent and Johnny went along on their grand tour as well. Over the course of the
next five years, Adam and The Alley Cat Blues had cut and released a total of
seven albums, had over twenty chart-topping singles, earned three Grammy awards
and had even garnered themselves a movie deal. But through all the fame and
fortune, and the glitz and the glamour, Adam and the others always remembered
where it had all started: in the small legendary town of Piedmont Cove
The End © 2018 Joey HubbardAuthor's Note
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Added on January 29, 2018 Last Updated on January 29, 2018 Tags: young adult, coming of age, teens, musical, romance Author
Joey HubbardChicago, ILAboutI’m a 28 year old man from the Windy City of Chicago. I’ve been writing since I was about 11. I’ve written three stories since I was 16. I’ve been working on my latest story fo.. more..Writing
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