The Time of Our Lives – Chapter 55

The Peach Pit

'You know, Andrea, you've been in here every night for the past four nights. What's going on? I know it isn't the food,' Nat says with a smile.

Andrea smiles and laughs a little. 'Oh, Nat, I just can't stay away. It's not the food that brings me back, it's the company,' she says.

'Yeah, right, what's really going on?' Nat says with a smirk.

Andrea looks around the restaurant. She was meeting Brandon and Kelly here and wanted to make sure there were no signs of Casey.

'There's this girl that Steve had a one-night stand with a while ago and we think that she's stalking him and that maybe she's starting to stalk us too,' Andrea says quietly.

'Well, that's not good, Andrea,' Nat says. 'Have you told the police?'

Andrea smiles at him. 'No, unfortunately, Steve doesn't believe that he's being stalked and there is no way to convince him. We have all tried and have not been very successful.'

'Listen, if you see Steve come in here, just keep your eyes out for a girl that may look kind of suspicious, okay?' Andrea says as she gets up to greet Brandon and Kelly who had just walked into the diner.

'Uh, sure, Andrea, sure,' Nat says with confusion. 'They all look suspicious to me.'

"Hey Andrea,' Brandon says, giving her a hug before sitting down at a table.

'So, how are you doing, Kelly?' Andrea asks.

'Um, okay for now. Nothing out of the ordinary happened today, but I still have a bad feeling every time I exit a building,' Kelly says.

'Yeah, I know what you mean, it'll get better. I'm sure it will,' Andrea says as they order dinner.

'Any luck with Steve?' Brandon asks Andrea.

'No. I knew he was bullheaded to a certain degree, but I didn't think it would be this hard to get through to him. Maybe you should try, Kelly,' Andrea says, hopefully.

Kelly looks up at Andrea and sighs. 'Yeah, maybe,' she says, defeated.

Dylan's House

Brenda returns from her parent's house shaking her head in disbelief. It was hard for her to accept her father's complete understanding of her situation. She wasn't entirely sure he was completely sincere, since he had never warmed so quickly to a decision she had made without having some sort of ulterior motive.

Brenda enters the house and notices quickly that Dylan had yet to return. She shrugs and goes into the bedroom to start packing for San Diego. She would be living down there starting on Monday and she wanted to be prepared.

The Campus Café

Dylan sits at one of the tables with Monica. They had several stacks of papers strewn over the table and a few books open.

Dylan puts his pen down, leans back in his chair, and rubs his face with his hands. Monica yawns and rests her head on her hand.

'Dylan, I can't think straight anymore,' she says.

'Yeah, me either. What time is it?' he asks her.

She picks up her head slowly and glances at her watch. 'It's almost eleven,' she says in shock. 'Have we been here for that long?'

'What? Damn,' Dylan says quickly. He begins to pack up his books and papers. 'I have to get home.'

'Yeah, I should get going too,' Monica says, as her stomach growls loudly. She quickly places a hand over her abdomen and looks at him with wide eyes.

Dylan looks at her when he hears her stomach and realizes that he hadn't eaten since lunch.

'I guess we forgot to eat, huh?' he says with a smile. 'Why don't I take you for a very late dinner and then drop you off at your dorm?'

Monica stares at him with fear in her eyes. She quickly looks down at the table and hopes that he didn't see it.

'Um, yeah, sure, that sounds good,' she says quickly, packing up her things.

Dylan leads her to his car and drives to the Peach Pit.

The Beach House

Steve parks his car a few houses away from Kelly and Donna's house in hopes that he might catch the stalker again. He had watched Kelly and Brandon leave the Peach Pit and had followed them back to her house. He hadn't seen anything yet, but he wanted to be sure about what he had seen earlier before he did anything.

He sees Donna skip out of the house and to her car with a giant smile on her face. He smiles as he watches her and follows her with his eyes as she drives down the street in the opposite direction.

'Wow, Donna must be really happy with this new guy.'

He turns his attention back to the house and sees the lights go out. He sighs and starts to car to head back to campus.

Donna meets up with Chase at his apartment. He wanted to cook for her instead of going out to eat and she was very excited to spend a nice romantic evening with him. She walks to the door and knocks.

'Hello, beautiful,' Chase says when he sees her standing there.

'Hi,' she says with a smile. She leans in to kiss him as he shuts the door behind her.

When she opens her eyes she sees that he has filled the room with candles and flowers.

'Oh, Chase, it's breathtaking,' Donna says walking to the table to smell the roses he placed there.

'I wanted everything to be perfect,' he says with a smile. He walks into the kitchen and grabs two glasses.

He hands her one and toasts. 'To a wonderful evening,' he says.

Donna smiles and looks at the glass, wondering what is in it. 'Don't worry,' she hears, 'it's sparkling cider.'

Donna smiles again and takes a sip. 'It's delicious,' she says.

Dylan's House

Dylan pulls his car up the driveway after eating and dropping Monica back at her dorm. He sits in the car for a few seconds and stares at the passenger seat. He still hadn't figured this girl out and really couldn't tell if she was genuinely nervous and shy around him or just putting on an act to get him to flirt with her.

He shakes it off and goes into the house. He sees Brenda sitting on the couch with a blanket covering her legs and an open book in her lap. She was fast asleep and he smiles as he walks to her side.

He kneels down and puts his hand on her knee. 'Bren,' he whispers, not wanting to startle her.

'Bren, wake up,' he says a little louder.

Brenda stirs at the sound of his voice and slowly opens her eyes. She sees his face looking up at her and smiles immediately. She leans down and places a quick kiss on his lips before stretching her legs out onto the couch.

'Did you just get in?' she says while yawning.

'Yeah, I kind of lost track of time while working on this stupid project,' he says, sitting down next to her.

She nods her head and he realizes that she might still be a little asleep. He smiles again and gets up.

'Let me help you to bed, my lady,' he says, extending his hand to her.

She closes her eyes for a second and then places her hand in his so that he can pull her up off of the couch.

He picks her up in his arms once she stands up and carries her to the bedroom. He places her on the bed and leans down to kiss her.

'Did you call your father back today, Bren?' he asks.

'Yes, I did. He wanted me to go over to the house and explain myself again,' she says while yawning.

'How did that go?' Dylan says, as he takes his shoes off and gets on the bed to lie next to her.

'Surprising well,' she says, turning her head to look at him.

Dylan opens his eyes wide, fully expecting her to tell him about how her parents gave her hard time about the decisions he has made.

'Really? You didn't get into a fight or anything?'

'Nope, no fight. My dad was very calm and completely understanding. He has concerns, but told me that they're not any different than any other parent would have when their daughter tells them that she's moving out of their house and in with her boyfriend.'

'Huh, well, that's a relief, right?' Dylan says, still a little confused.

'That's what I thought at first too,' Brenda says. 'I thought about it the entire way back here and nothing has ever been that easy with my father, especially when it came to you and me. I have a horrible feeling that there may be something else going on with them, but I can't figure out what it might be.'

'I have the exact same feeling, but, and I can't believe I'm about to say this, maybe we should give your father the benefit of the doubt. This time around he has been nothing but supportive of us and as strange as that may be, it might actually be the way he feels,' Dylan says.

'I don't know, Dylan. It's weird and I'm not entirely comfortable with it,' she says, yawning again. 'I hate waiting for the other shoe to drop and I have a feeling it's going to be a steel-toed boot this time or something else really painful.'

Dylan chuckles a little.

'Let's sleep on it and revisit it tomorrow, okay?' she says.

Dylan nods and wraps his arms around her body as she turns off the light.

Chase's Apartment

Donna and Chase sit on the couch after dinner with their sparkling cider. Donna was listening intently to Chase describing what he has done so far on his thesis project.

'I don't know, Donna,' he says, 'I have no idea if I can get it done in time.'

'Aw, don't think like that. You have a wonderful vision and all of the tools at your disposal. You just need to sit down and do it,' she assures him.

Chase smiles at her and takes a sip of his cider. He stands up and reaches for her empty glass.

'No more for me,' Donna tells him. He nods and puts the glasses back into the kitchen.

'So, um, I really didn't have anything else planned other than dinner,' Chase says, a little embarrassed. 'I was so worried about getting everything perfect, that I didn't really think about after dinner.'

Donna smiles and then lets out a little laugh. 'It's okay, we're not on a schedule or anything. Let's just sit here and enjoy each other's company.'

Chase returns her smile and sits next to her. He reaches for her hand, which she gives him willingly. She leans up against his body as he strokes the back of her hand and she can hear him breath out a sigh of relief.

The Beach House

Kelly gets up early on Saturday morning. She had some work to do for Monday's classes, but decided that she would do that on Sunday. She had to de-stress a little today and she was going to do the only thing that made her forget about everything else.

'Kel, what are you doing up so early?' Brandon asks her with his eyes half open.

'Brandon, I'm not going to let this stalker ruin my life. I need to relieve some of this stress and anxiety that I've been feeling, so I'm going out,' she says to him with a smile on her face.

'Where are you going? Do you need me to go with you?' he asks, hoping that she wouldn't say yes.

'No, I don't need you. I'm going to the gym and then I'm going shopping,' she tells him. She finishes putting her shoes on and grabs her purse from the dresser.

'I will see you later, okay?' she says and leaves the room before he has a chance to answer her.

Brandon rolls over goes back to sleep until he hears the door open about 10 minutes later. He smiles, gets up and opens the bedroom door to give Kelly his 'you-do-need-me-don't-you face, but is shocked when he sees Donna taking her shoes off by the front door.

'Donna?' Brandon says with confusion.

Donna's head snaps up quickly to see Brandon standing a few feet from her.

'Uh, Brandon, what are you doing awake this early?' Donna stammers.

'I normally wouldn't be, but Kelly got up to go to the gym. Are you just getting back from your date?' Brandon asks with a smile on his face.

Donna sighs and slowly nods her head. She tries to slink past Brandon so that she can hide her humiliation from him, but he catches her arm.

'Donna? Is there something you want to tell me?' Brandon asks her.

'No, Brandon, there is nothing I want to tell you. Now, can you let me go so that I can go and hide in my room?' she pleads.

Brandon lets go of her arm and she runs to her room and shuts the door. Brandon starts to laugh out loud.

'Donna, you don't have to be embarrassed. We've all done the walk of shame once or twice,' he says loudly in the direction of her room.

'Shut up, Brandon, that's not what this is,' he hears Donna say muffled through the door.

He sighs to himself as he stares at the bed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep.

He grabs his stuff from Kelly's room and makes his way out to his car.

Dylan's House

'Bren, you're not leaving today, right?' Dylan asks her as he watches her grab things from each room and pack them in a bag that is sitting on the living room floor.

'No, tomorrow, but I just want to be ready. I don't want to have to worry about anything while we spend this night together. We're going to be apart for the entire week, Dylan,' Brenda reminds him.

Dylan nods and says, 'Yes, I know that and we'll get through it just fine. I'm just sitting here you know,' he says suggestively.

'I thought you were working on your English assignment?' she asks.

'Yeah, well, I may need more inspiration for that from you,' he says.

'I think you have enough and besides, I'm not done packing,' she says, moving through the house to the bathroom.

Dylan sighs and goes back to reading what he had written so far.

'Hey Bren?' he shouts to the back of the house.

'Yeah?'

'I'm going to go and pick up some lunch for us. I don't want to have to stop because you're hungry,' he says with a laugh.

'Ha ha, Dylan, that's really funny,' she says dryly, coming out of the bathroom with a few toiletries.

Dylan smiles, gets up and puts his arms around her. 'I really just don't want you to stress about anything else, okay?'

'Okay,' she says and lifts her face to kiss him.

'I'll be back,' he says and grabs his keys before leaving the house.

Brenda smiles to herself and goes back to packing her bags.

The Peach Pit

Dylan walks in to the diner and takes a seat at the counter.

'Dylan, it's good to see you,' Nat says. 'I heard you closed the place down last night.'

Dylan looks at Nat to try to figure out what he heard. 'Get your mind out of wherever it is,' Dylan says. 'She's my English project partner.'

'Uh huh,' Nat says, handing Dylan a cup of coffee, 'that's what they all say.'

Brandon walks into the diner and sees Nat and Dylan at the counter.

'Mind if I join you?'

Dylan looks up and sees Brandon. 'Hey, B, sit your ass down,' he says.

Brandon gives Dylan a quick hug and sits next to him. 'How's it going, Nat?' Brandon asks him.

'Ah, it's nothing like the good old days, Brandon,' Nat says forlornly.

'I'm not coming back to work for you, Nat,' Brandon says knowingly.

'Worth a shot,' Nat says with a laugh. 'What can I get you guys?'

'Actually, Nat, I'm picking up some lunch for me and Brenda. She in packing mode and won't stop for anything,' Dylan says.

'Packing? Where is she going?' Nat asks.

Dylan explains to Nat about the play and the apartment in San Diego and orders lunch for both of them.

'Just coffee for now, Nat,' Brandon says.

The door swings open and Dylan and Brandon both turn at the same time to see Steve walk in.

'Hey Steve,' Brandon says.

'Hey guys,' Steve says and takes a seat. He looks around the diner looking for Kelly, assuming that Brandon wouldn't go anywhere without her, but doesn't see her.

'Where's Kelly?' he asks.

'Oh, she went to the gym and then she was going to do some shopping or something,' Brandon says.

'You left her alone?' Steve asks. 'What about the stalker?'

'Well, she thought,' Brandon stops. 'Hey, how did you know about the stalker?'

'Andrea told me that someone may have been following her and Kelly,' Steve tells him.

'Well at least he's talking to someone, because he certainly isn't talking to me about anything real,' Brandon thinks.

'Wait a second, other people are being stalked?' Dylan asks.

'What do you mean other people?' Steve asks not understanding what Dylan meant.

'I meant, other people are being stalked besides you,' Dylan says.

Steve shuts his mouth and feels the frustration rise inside of him. He was determined to not believe what his friends were trying to tell him.

'Look, Kelly decided, on her own, that she wasn't going to let her fear get the best of her. She is a big girl and if she gets scared, I'm sure she will call right away,' Brandon assures Steve.

Nat brings Dylan a bag of food and greets Steve as Dylan drops money on the counter.

'Guys, I have to get going,' Dylan says and walks quickly out of the diner. He was glad that he didn't have to engage in a conversation about how blind and ignorant Steve was about the stalker.

The Gym

Kelly finishes showering at the gym and gets dressed. She felt so refreshed after working out. She was excited to get to the stores and give her credit cards a workout too.

She gets in her car and drives to her favorite store.

Steve leaves the diner quickly after being lectured by Brandon and tries to figure out where Kelly might be at that very moment. He decides to stake out a few of the most popular stores in hopes of catching up with her so that he could protect her from whoever might be following.

After shopping for about an hour, Kelly leaves the store with two handfuls of bags and happily walks back to her car. After putting her purchases in the trunk, she looks behind her briefly and sees Casey trying to hide herself.

'Casey,' Kelly says loudly and with determination, 'I see you. Come out here right now!'

After a few seconds, Casey reveals herself from where she was trying to hide and takes a few steps toward Kelly.

'Why the hell are you following me?' Kelly demands with a confidence she didn't know she had.

Casey stands in front of Kelly with her arms folded across her chest. 'You know what I want, Kelly.'

Steve pulls around a corner in his car and spots Kelly. He pulls into a parking spot on the street and gets out of the car. He tries to hide himself as he gets closer to Kelly and as he does he sees who she is talking to.

'Listen, crazy girl, I can't help you get to Steve and even if I could, I certainly wouldn't. You need to give it up and realize that you were a one night stand and get over it,' Kelly says.

'I think you can help me. If Steve thinks that you're in trouble, he will come running to try to save you,' Casey says.

'How the hell do you know that? You don't know anything about me and Steve,' Kelly says.

'He talked about you a lot in the short time that we were together. You're very special to him, Kelly, although I don't know why,' she says.

'If that is true, then do you think putting me in some kind of danger is going to get him to like you?'

'Maybe not, but following him around hasn't done me any good and that nerdy girl with the glasses wasn't getting me anywhere either. You're the last one,' Casey tells her.

'What?'

'If putting pressure on you doesn't work, then I guess I'll have to resort to something that will.'

Steve puts his hand over his mouth to keep from screaming Kelly's name. He can't deny what he just heard. 'Damn it, they were right. I am being stalked.'

'Look, if you don't leave me, Andrea, and Steve alone, I'm going to call the police and you can spend the rest of your miserable life in jail,' Kelly says.

She turns and gets into her car and drives away as quickly as she possibly could.

Casey drops her head and stares at the ground. 'We'll see,' she says out loud before turning and walking down the street.

Steve waits until she is completely out of sight before moving from his hiding spot. He drives back to campus trying to figure out what to do next.

The Community Center

'Thanks for staying and helping us clean up. I didn't think this project would make this much of a mess,' Sam says.

'No problem,' Andrea replies. 'It's not every day I get to scrape plaster off of the undersides of tables.'

They laugh for a second and turn when Ethan enters. 'What's so funny?'

'Nothing,' Sam and Andrea say at the same time.

'Hey, Andrea, we're having a little get together with a few friends at our house next Saturday and we'd really love it if you came,' Ethan says.

Andrea smiles and nods her head. 'You bet, I'll be there.'

'Great! You're welcome to bring someone if you want,' Sam says as she gets up and goes to the trash can.

'Okay,' Andrea says. She finishes cleaning up and goes back to campus. She starts getting nervous and uncomfortable about the invitation she just accepted. She was so focused on the anxiety she felt that she jumped when the phone began to ring.

'Andrea, it's Steve, are you busy?' she hears through the phone.

'Um,' is all she has time to get out before he interrupts her.

'Look, meet me at the café, I have to talk to you about something that's really important,' he says and hangs up.

Andrea stares at the phone for a second before she puts it back on the receiver. She grabs her coat and walks to the café.

The Club

David and Hannah walk in to the club and wave to the manager.

'Thanks for covering tonight, David. You're saving me here,' he says.

'No problem,' David smiles and moves to get his equipment set up. Hannah follows behind and carries whatever she can.

'You didn't have to come, Hannah,' David says. 'I know that we were supposed to go out tonight and standing around watching me DJ might be a little boring for you.'

Hannah smiles at him and puts her hand to his face. 'I'll be fine. I just want to be with you.'

David lights up and leans over to kiss her. She kisses him back and then starts to giggle.

'What's so funny?' David asks her when he pulls away.

'Nothing,' she says, blushing.

David shrugs and turns to begin setting up his equipment.

Dylan's House

'Bren?' Dylan calls from the living room.

Brenda walks out with a few more things to shove into her bag. 'Yeah?'

'I don't want to sound like I'm complaining or anything, but you know that you've been packing for like twelve hours, right?' Dylan says.

Brenda sits down next to Dylan and puts her hand on his leg. 'Dylan, I'm sorry. I just don't want to forget anything.'

'Brenda, you're a two hour drive from here. If you forget anything, you can come back and get it or I can bring it to you. You're not moving to Siberia,' he says, a little dejected.

Brenda registers the tone in his voice and realizes how unreasonable she's been all day.

'You're right, Dylan. I'm going to stop packing. I'm going to put on something really nice and then we're going to go out,' Brenda decides.

'Really? Are you sure you don't just want to stop packing, put on something insanely sexy, and stay in?' Dylan asks her with an edge to his voice.

'Yes, I'm sure. We're going to go out and then come back here and I'm going to show you how much I love you for being so understanding,' she says and winks at him as she leaves the room.

'Now, that's what I'm talking about,' he says loud enough for her to hear.