Disclaimer: Why do we always have to do these dumb things??? I mean I think most get the picture that we are all flat broke. We'll at least I am, I don't know about you guys out there. I do not own Chad Michael Murray or the character he plays or anything related to the Dawson's Creek plot. I also don't own Jess or the guy who plays him (I can't spell his name too hard…) or anything from Gilmore Girls. I just love those two shows. And oh yeah, I don't own Hayden Christensen (in case you wondered who was Hayden…lol) although I sure wish I did. They all own themselves. I also don't own Sailor Moon. I think y'all get the picture that I don't own anything!!!!!!!!!!! Except maybe some lint in my pants pocket. You can have that if you want it…anyway…enough blabbering. I have to go do the author's note where I am obliged to blabber on and on and on. Hehehehe.
Author's Note: Y'all must hate me right now. You are probably going "When will this girl shut up?? I wanna read the story!!!" LOL I just wanted to you wonderful folks about the title and Sailor Moon. The title of this chapter is a quote from the Nabisco commercial, you figure out which one. I don't wanna explain the whole thing. And Sailor Moon is well because I thought it would be funny to have a grocery store with an owner that was obsessed with Sailor Moon. Okay, I'll shut up now. Go on and read the chapter…oh yeah don't forget to review!!!!!!!!!!!
Chapter Two: Smack Dab In The Middle!!!!
"Mmmm, what's that delicious smell????" Amara said sleepily into her pillow. The heavenly scent hung over her head like a mist. "COFFEE!!!! Some angel sent from Java Heaven came bearing gifts!!!" she said out loud with a squeal of delight. She jumped out of bed and was about to run out the door when she realized that she would have to cover up. 'Don't want any of those perverts to get any ideas,' she thought as she slipped on a black silk robe with a silver dragon on the back over her gray tank top with a superman emblem in the center and her low-slung red sweats. She hastily pulled her messy bed head with a black bandanna and skipped out the door.
"I'm guessing I just figured out the key to your heart now?" Jess said as he poured Amara a large mug of the hot liquid. He could see her eyes shine brighter as he handed her the mug. "Thanks!!! You are the god of all things good!!! If I wasn't drinking this right now, I'll kiss you right now," Amara said cheerily as she downed the mug in one gulp. "Let's save that for later shall we?? You kinda have bad breath right now!!!" Jess said with a grimace. Amara just glared at him and grabbed for the coffee pot. Jess swiftly pulled it away from her grasp causing her to fall into him. "Oooof that hurt. You didn't have to do that you know!!" Amara said as she pushed herself off him and brushed herself off.
"Am I interrupting something? 'Cause I can leave if you want me too," Brent said as he sleepily walked to a cabinet and grabbed a mug and the coffee pot. "You want some more Amara?" Brent said with a raised eyebrow at how she was staring at the pot of coffee. "Yup!!!!" Amara said happily as she thrust her mug in his face. "Eager isn't she??? I think you can use her love for coffee to your advantage Jess," Brent said to Jess with a smirk. "Excuse me??? I'm standing right here!!!" Amara scoffed as she stomped back to her room to get ready for the day. "What's with her?" Brent asked Jess with a puzzled expression. "Who knows?? Women are strange, one day there all happy the next all mad and shit," Jess replied.
"Wake up Sleeping
Beauty," a male voice whispered into Haley's ear in a warm, husky tone.
Haley turned over to face where the voice was coming from and slowly opened her
eyes to reveal a set of dark blue eyes that looked unfamiliar to her.
"Ahhhhhh, why are you in my bed???? With me for that matter????"
Haley said as she jumped up and grabbed her blanket to cover herself up.
"Hahaha, don't you remember Sweetums??? What we did last night???"
Charlie said with a grin as he got up from where he was lying. "What??? We
didn't you know did we?" Haley said in a panicky voice. She scrambled
around and tried to get out of bed but was pulled back by Charlie. "Relax,
I sneaked in to scare you. Turns out I did a pretty good job didn't I?"
Charlie said with a smug smile, "You really should start locking your
doors. Who knows who can get in??? Next time you won't see my face next to
yours in the morning!!!" Charlie got up from the bed and laid a lingering
look at Haley before exiting the room.
"Arrgghh, I can't stand that
guy!" Haley said with frustration as she threw her blankets off her and
leaped out of bed. She walked to the door and quickly locked it before heading
into her bathroom to take a quick shower and wash her hair. After a few minutes
of primping in the bathroom, Haley emerged fresh and rejuvenated. She had also
quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face while in the bathroom as well as
blow-dry her hair. 'Hmm, what should I wear today??' she though to herself
while she flipped through the contents of her walk in closet. She finally
selected a pair of low-rider jeans and a cute baby t-shirt that was pale pink
and had cute little angels in the center. She pulled her hair up into a high
ponytail and applied on some light make-up so she wouldn't look like she just
woke up. After checking her appearance she slipped on a pair of matching pink
flip-flops and walked out the door of her room.
"I
heard you had a rather fun night with Charlie over there," Amara said with
her trademark smirk. "Whatever, think what you want. Is that coffee I
smell??" Haley said in a tired tone but soon perked up when she smelled
the coffee brewing. She half walked half skipped over to the kitchen where Jess
was slaving over a hot stove. "I'm assuming you want some coffee
right?" Jess said grumpily as he filled a mug full of coffee and slide it
over the counter top to her. "Thanks, watcha making???" Haley said as
she slowly sipped her coffee. "Omelets, want one?" Jess answered
while expertly flipping the omelet on a plate and handing it to the eager hands
of Amara's. "Yummy!! Of course I want one!!!" Haley said happily.
"With everything in it??" Jess asked as he glanced over in her
direction. Haley nodded eagerly and filled her already empty mug with more
coffee. She casually walked over to the living room forgetting that Travis was
still asleep on it. "Ahhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! My coffee!!!!" Haley wailed as
she tripped over his arm and her mug flew out of her hands and landed smack dab
on Travis' face. Haley started to fall forward onto the coffee table until a
strong pair of arms grabbed her around the waist and stopped her falling.
"You really need to watch where you're walking Haley," Charlie
whispered into her ear.
"Ahhhhh,
HOT!!!!!" Travis shouted as he leapt up from where he was sleeping and ran
to the kitchen sink where he dumped his head into the dirty dishwashing water.
"Uhh, Charlie you could let go of me now," Haley said uncertainly as
she stepped away from his grasp and walked over to the kitchen to see if Travis
was alright. Charlie sighed and walked over too. Amara just stood there
laughing her head off at what had happened to Travis. "Hahaha, I think he
gets the idea that we don't like him here huh??" Amara said as a fit of
laughter escaped from her mouth again. "Whatever happened, I don't want to
know," Jess said as he handed Haley her omelet. He glanced over at Travis
who seemed to be trying to drown himself in the sink. Everyone else just looked
away with laughter in their eyes when Jess looked around for answers on why
Travis was doing what he was doing.
"How can someone sleep with
all this racket??" Angela said sleepily as she padded out of her room with
her fuzzy blue slippers on. She was wearing a sky blue baby tee with the word
Angel in the center in sparkles and a pair of blue pajama bottoms with clouds
all over it. She rubbed her eyes, trying to get the sleep out of her eyes.
"Sorry, we had a slight accident," Haley apologized sheepishly. She
pointed at Travis who was now inspecting his extremely red face on a skillet.
"Slight accident??? You spilled coffee on him!!! Good coffee too!!! You
could have at least spilled something else on him!!" Amara said with
astonishment. Haley just hung her head and looked defeated. "I have failed
you O' Mighty Coffee Master!!!! Please pardon my mistake!!" Haley said in
a mocking tone to Amara. "Yeah, yeah, you better be sorry!!! You wasted
perfectly good coffee on that slimeball!!! Perfectly good, hot coffee!!!!"
Amara said angrily with a huff. "I said it was an ACCIDENT!!! Do I have to
spell it out for you???" Haley said with a roll of her eyes. "You
know I can't spell big words…anyway, at least it got him to shut up didn't it?
I'm sure Jess will make more," Amara said with a grin, finally forgiving
Haley. "Oh yeah…." Haley said. She then grinned and poured herself
some more coffee. As soon as Travis saw her pour the coffee he ran to the guest
bedroom, "Uhh…I should get ready for the day!"
Angela stood there
watching the whole scene with a bemused smile. "Have you guys seen
Brent??? Is he still asleep?" Angela asked everyone in the kitchen.
"Oh yeah, he wanted me to tell you he wanted to run down and get the
morning paper or something. I swear that guy gets older every second, next time
he might want us to tuck our shirts in or something!!" Jess replied as he
expertly whipped some eggs for another batch of omelets. "How do you cook
like that?" Amara questioned him. "I spent a few months with my uncle
who owned a diner and he made me help out a lot," was his quick reply.
'Arrgghh, why does she want to know about my past to much?' Jess thought
angrily. Amara looked at him with concern, he seemed to be debating with
himself. "I guess I should go get ready. Oh yeah, we need to do the
laundry today girls," Angela said as she grabbed a bottle of orange juice
and walked to her room.
Angela quickly
showered and washed her hair as well as brushed her teeth and washed her face.
'Where is that goddamn hairdryer???' she thought to herself as she dug through
her bathroom cabinets. There were towels and toiletries flying every which way.
"Aha!!! Owww!!!" Angela said with delight but sudden pain as she hit
her head on the cabinet door. She pulled out her hairdryer and quickly
blow-dried her hair. She walked to her closet and started to flip through until
she found a peasant blouse and a billowy skirt. After putting on her clothes
she selected a pair of dangly bead earrings and a few leather bracelets and
necklaces to complete her bohemian look. After applying some natural looking
make up she put on a pair of comfortable leather sandals and pulled her hair up
into a messy bun with a pair of Chinese take-out chopsticks.
"Oww!!! Why did you knock
on my head?" Angela said angrily as she rubbed her forehead. Amara was
knocking on the door and didn't notice that Angela had opened her door and
ended up hitting Angela in the head. "Sorry…I didn't know you opened the
door!" Amara said with a sheepish smile. She quickly drew back her hand
and looked around nervously. "It's okay, I forgive you. What did you want
anyway?" Angela said with a small smile. "I wanted to ask if I could
borrow your shampoo. I ran out yesterday morning and I forgot to get
some," Amara said. "Sure, but remember to return it!! Don't steal like
you did last time you borrowed my shampoo!!" Angela said, she went back
inside her room and fetched her bottle of Thermasilk shampoo. "Thanks!!!
We're going down to the laundry-mat today right?? 'Cause I really need some
clean clothes, I can't tell the difference anymore from clean to dirty,"
Amara said as she took the bottle from Angela. "It might be because you
always throw your clothes on the floor with the clean and dirty clothes so you
can't exactly tell the difference!" Angela called out Amara's back.
Amara walked over to her
bedroom, but not before going through the kitchen to grab another cup of
coffee. "Sheesh, don't you get sick of this stuff?" Jess grumbled as
he poured her a cup. Amara just grinned and happily skipped back to her room.
She made sure to lock her bedroom door knowing that one of the guys might
decide to peek in on her or something. After a twenty-minute shower and washing
of her hair, she brushed her teeth again and washed her face with her facial
cleanser. She even blow-dried her hair in that time period. After finishing up
in the bathroom she rummaged through her seemingly empty closet (most of the
clothes were on the floor currently) and put on a pair of worn in flare jeans
and a yellow tank top. She applied some tinted moisturizer to her face and some
chapstick to her lips. Afterwards she pulled on her new pair of sneakers and
jogged out the room with an empty coffee mug in hand.
"Travis!!!!!! Hurry up
in the goddamn bathroom other people in this place need to use it too!!!!"
Haley heard Charlie yell in the guestroom. She cautiously tiptoed over to the
door of the bedroom and peeked in. Charlie was leaning against the door of the
guest bathroom with a defeated yet annoyed look upon his face. He glanced up at
her and grinned. "Think I can use your bathroom? I promise not to go
through your girly things!!" Charlie said with a smirk as he pushed
himself off the door and walked toward her. He circled her like a hawk before
closing in and gently lifting her head up to face his with a finger. "I
guess," Haley said hesitantly as she turned away from his touch.
Charlie grinned and walked off
to grab some clothes. Haley sighed and decided to go grab another cup of coffee
before he came looking for her. "Why did you wash the coffee pot? That
thing has never been washed since the first day we moved in here last
year!!!" Haley heard Amara screech. Amara was standing in the middle of
the kitchen with a wooden spoon gripped tightly in her hands. She looked as if
she was about to beat Jess with it. "Exactly, no wonder you girls act the
way you do! That thing was filthy!!! You should be thanking me right now, I
saved all of you from bad coffee!" Jess said laughingly. Haley giggled out
loud causing the twosome to look in her direction with surprise. "You two
sound like my parents!!" Haley said while she tried to stop herself from
cracking up from the thought of Amara and Jess as her parents. "Haha, real
funny!! If our coffee tastes strange to you, you know who to blame!!"
Amara said with a glare toward Jess' direction. "Well in that case I guess
there would be no more coffee for you for awhile then," Jess said with a
gleam in his eye as he witnessed the priceless look of horror upon Haley and
Amara's face. "Wait!!!!! Hayden can make us coffee!!!!" Amara said
suddenly to Haley. "Umm…good idea, but Hayden kind of lives five blocks
away from us!!" Haley said with a sad voice.
"Well, well,
well!! Whatever shall you two do???" Jess said with a smirk playing at his
lips. Haley and Amara continued to glare at him with their hands raised as if
to form a claw. "Dude, I don't think you should mess with those girls and
their coffee!!! I mean look what they both did to Travis!! I bet he's trying to
drown himself in the shower so he won't have to deal with them anymore!"
Charlie said with a smirk as he emerged from Haley's room. He was carrying what
seemed to be his clothes under his arm in a small bundle. "What were you
doing in my room might I ask?" Haley said suspiciously as she moved her glare
to him. "I thought you would be waiting for me in your room!!"
Charlie said innocently. Jess and Amara shared a look of disbelief and raised
their eyebrows at Haley. "Aaack!!! It's not how it sounds!! He wanted to
use my bathroom so he can take a shower!!! I was just going to show him how to
work the shower," Haley said in defense mode. "And all this time
I thought you wanted to join me!! The offer is still available by the
way!!" Charlie said suggestively to Haley as he sauntered back to her room
and shut the door. "Hey wait!!! Why are you closing the door to MY room??
You might be going through my drawers or something in there!!" Haley
screeched as she flung open the door to her room. "No peeking
Haley!!" Amara said with a giggle after Haley entered her room.
"You live with a couple of strange people. And all this time
I thought I have seen the weirdest women in the whole wide world, I guess there
is more of you out there," Jess said to Amara. He decided to make more
coffee for the girls. He knew he would be sorry if he didn't anyway. "I
know, what do you mean by other women? I didn't know you could actually
associate with the other sex and all. Since you're so antisocial and all,"
Amara said with sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Oww that hurt! For your
information, I do associate quite well with the other sex, just not you! You
seem to get under my skin for some reason," Jess said to her with a
serious tone. "Oh, sorry. I guess I am kinda annoying at times. But
usually I'm much nicer than this, you get under my skin too I guess,"
Amara replied after thinking about what he said.
The tension between
the two could have been cut with a knife. There was an uncomfortable silence
between them as the sparks grew and grew in the air (not literally mind you,
but hey it could happen!!). 'This feels exactly like it did with him…god I
can't even say his name anymore, what kind of person am I? I loved Eli but now
he's dead now and there is nothing I can do but move on with my life,' Amara
thought to herself. She had been remembering him more and more since the time
Jess came around.
~~*A/N*~~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Flashback time baby!!! ^-^
"Amara, you know that
I love you!! I just can't make it to your first gig with your band!!" Eli
said with a fustrated tone. Amara and him were sitting in front of the high
school that both of them went to. Amara looked away, she didn't want him to see
her cry. "Fine! Go to your stupid party with your friends! I see who is
more important to you anyway. By the way, when you decide to grow up give me a
call okay?" Amara said angrily as she ran into the school in a fit of
tears. Eli just sat on the front stoop of the school and watched her run past
her friends who were glaring at him for making her cry. He never meant to hurt
her, he promised to go to that party along time ago so he couldn't exactly back
out now. But then again, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for Amara and
she wanted to share it with him. He sighed and picked up his duffle bag and slowly
walked to his beat up Jeep. He started to drive with a heavy heart toward his
friend's house. 'Hey!!! Maybe if I leave a bit early from the party I can still
make it to some of the gig here?? I'm sure that'll make her happy that I at
least tried to make it for some of her performance!' he thought to himself as
he drove toward the highway.
"Don't worry Amara,
he'll make it to some of the show!! We all know he is madly and hopelessly in
love with you! God knows why though!!" Haley said with a small smile as
she glanced over at her worried friend who was pacing the room at an abnormally
fast rate. "It's not that, I just think that I was too hard on him and
stuff. He must think we're over or something!! God, I'm such an asshole!"
Amara said angrily. She was mostly angry with herself and her stupidity, she
always messed up the good things in her life. "Don't be so hard on
yourself Amara, he knows you still love him. You were just hurt that's
all!!" Angela said reassuringly to her troubled friend. Amara looked at
her friends and took a long and deep breath and tried to calm down. Suddenly
there was a knock at the door to their dressing room. "Who could that be?
We're not good enough yet to have male groupies!!" Haley joked as she
opened the door. The look upon the police officer's face made her smile drop
instantly into a look of concern.
"Ma'am, are you Amara
Pennington?" the police officer asked Haley who was staring at him with
big wide eyes. "Huh? No. She's over there," Haley said as she pointed
him to Amara's direction. Amara suddenly felt her whole body go cold as the
police officer walked over to her with his hat in his hands. She knew something
bad was going on, but she just didn't want to know what. "Miss Pennington?
Do you happen to know a certain Eli Grant?" he asked her. As soon as she
heard Eli's name she went icy cold. Slowly she nodded her head. "He was in
an accident. His car slid on an ice patch near the bridge into town and his car
crashed off the bridge and into the valley below. He didn't make it. I'm sorry,
Miss," the police officer, said in a solemn voice. Amara just stood there,
she felt as if someone had ripped out her heart and stepped on it. Eli was dead
was all that ran through her head at that moment. She didn't even realize that
the police officer had left and she was sitting down amongst her friends who
were all crying. She hadn't even shed one tear since she heard the news, what
kind of girlfriend was she? But all she could really think about was the fact
that before he left he had told her he loved her and she didn't even say she
loved him too. "Goodbye Eli, I love you too!!" she whispered into the
air while tears of sorrow finally sprung from her eyes.
"Haley??? You in
there?" Angela whispered through the door of Haley's bedroom. Angela
slowly cracked open the door and peeked in to find Haley sitting on her bed
with her earphones on. Angela and Brent could hear strains of No Doubt's
"Don't Speak" coming from the earphones. "Haley??" Brent
hissed as he waved a hand in her face. "Huh? Oh hi!! I didn't hear you two
come in, sorry," Haley, said as she glanced over at them and immediately
pulled off her earphones. "Whose in your shower???" Angela inquired
as she glanced over to the closed and locked bathroom door. "Would you believe
me if I said Charlie is??" Haley said sheepishly. Suddenly her cell phone
started to play Star Wars theme song. "Frankly I do believe he is in
there, I think he took an interest in you Haley. And aren't you going to get
that?" Brent replied to Haley who was rummaging through her purse hoping
to find her cell-phone. "Arrrgghh, dammit!!! My cell is in the
bathroom!!!!" Haley said with a shriek.
"Come on, it can't be
that bad! Maybe Charlie would be nice enough to find it and answer it. He might
even come out in a towel to give you the cell phone!" Angela said with a
snicker. Haley did a double take and threw one of her many stuffed animals at
Angela who was too slow to catch it so it bounced off her head. "I believe
I heard my name being said in here," Charlie said as he sauntered out of
the bathroom with her cell phone in hand. He was dressed (thank god…I don't
think Haley could take it if a bit of him was exposed) in a pair of loose jeans
and a red t-shirt and his hair was messy but still cute in his own special way.
"Well whatever was said probably wasn't good," Haley retorted as she
made a grab for the cell phone but Charlie lifted it out of her reach at the
last minute so she had to fall into him. "Whoa, I knew you had a thing for
me but in front of them?" Charlie said suggestively as he raised an
eyebrow. Haley grimaced and smacked him hard on the shoulder.
"Whatever, who
called?" Haley asked as she finally snatched the cell phone out of his
hands. "Why it was your little puppy dog boyfriend, Hayden," Charlie
said with a smirk. "Oh, and what did he say then?" Haley said with
curiosity. By then Angela and Brent had gotten bored with the squabbles between
Charlie and Haley and decided to go to Angela's room to do who knows what.
"Well, he wanted to know where you were first of all and who the hell I
was. And also why I have your cell phone with me in your bathroom while I am
taking a shower. And oh yeah, he said he was coming over right this minute. I'm
guessing he should be here by now judging by the sound of his voice,"
Charlie said with a big grin. "Oh okay, you should gather up your dirty
clothes we are having a laundry day today," Haley said as she hurried out
of her room with Charlie behind her.
"What
are you in such a hurry for? It's not like we have something going on that we
should be ashamed of," Charlie said as he blocked her path in the hallway.
"Move!!" Haley said with an exasperated tone of voice. She tried to
push past him but he unfortunately held fast and did not budge. Haley sighed
and looked up into his eyes and said with defiance, "Nothing is going on
with us. I don't know what you are thinking but nothing is going on between
us." "Okay, okay. Sheesh, didn't have be so mean about it,"
Charlie said with raised hands as if in defeat. He let her pass and slowly
followed her to the kitchen with a sigh.
"What's the matter with
you Charlie? You're not usual cocky self today," Brent asked Charlie as
Charlie sat down heavily on the couch beside him. Charlie ignored him and put his
head in his hands like a man who just lost everything important to him.
"She must have really gotten you man!" Travis said as he plopped down
on the floor in front of the couch. Amara and Jess had decided to leave for a
long walk to calm down for a while so they no longer occupied the living room.
"She gets to me, I tried to ignore her but it's impossible!!" Charlie
said sadly. The other two guys just looked at each other with a knowing look of
pure amusement. "Hey, look at it this way, at least you know you don't
competition with me for a change! But instead him," Travis said jokingly
as he gestured toward the door where Hayden stood.
"You
just drank three cups of coffee in a role, what's wrong?" Angela asked
Haley who was downing her fourth cup of coffee. Angela glared at Haley, who
seemed to be ignoring her, with her hands on her hips and a frown upon her
usually smiling lips. "Why all the long faces??" Hayden said
cheerfully to the two girls in the kitchen. He was obviously oblivious to the
conflict going on in there. "Hayden!!! When did you come in?" Haley
said with a small smile. She allowed him to wrap his arms around her and place
a soft kiss on her lips before pulling away to await his answer. "I came
in a few minutes ago. Where is everyone?? I know the guys are in the living
room but I don't see Amara and the Jess character anywhere," Hayden
replied. He let go of Haley reluctantly and grabbed her cup of coffee and took
a few quick sips. "Hey!!! I wasn't done with that!!! Give that back young
man or suffer the consequences!!" Haley protested as she started to tickle
him for taking her precious coffee. "I literally have no clue where Jess
and Amara went off too. They should be back in a little while though, we have
to go to the laundry-mat today to do laundry," Angela said.
"Well,
in that case then shouldn't you be in your room gathering up your dirty
clothes?" Hayden asked Haley with a raised eyebrow. "Why Hayden! Is
that just an excuse to make out with me in my room?? You are soo scandalous!"
Haley said with a girlish giggle as she tugged on his hand and dragged him to
her room. She closed and locked the door behind her. "But I was honestly
just suggesting that I help you gather up your dirty clothes!!" Hayden
said with a smirk. Haley stared at him with an astonished expression upon her
delicate face. When she saw the look of amusement on his face she scowled and
threw a throw pillow at him. "Hey!!! I was just kidding around!"
Hayden said with a grin as he deftly caught the pillow and threw it back on the
bed. "Sure……" Haley said as she grinned back at him. She grabbed a
large wicker basket from her closet and threw it at him. Hayden quickly caught
it and gave her a puzzled look. "Well, you said you wanted to help me with
my laundry!!" Haley said with an evil gleam in her eye. The two spent the
rest of the hour gathering up dirty clothes and occasionally kissing and having
pillow fights.
"Where
are we going??" Amara suddenly asked out of the blue to Jess. They were
walking through Central Park (which I might add is huge!!) at an unusually fast
pace. "No clue, just felt that we needed some fresh air that's all,"
was Jess' clipped remark as he dragged her along at top speed. Amara struggled
to keep up but she wasn't used to being pulled like that.
"Huff…huff…can…we…stop…for a few…minutes??" Amara said breathlessly.
She used up most of her energy to pull back on Jess' hand to make him stop.
"Sorry, I just felt that I needed to get as far away from the apartment as
possible and I assumed you wanted to get away too," Jess said sheepishly.
He slowed down his pace and gently led her over to a nearby bench near one of
the many fountains located in Central Park. "Thanks, the fresh air did
help me calm down a lot," Amara said thankfully as she seated herself next
to Jess on the bench. She shivered from the cold because in all the rush she
had forgotten to grab her jacket before heading out the door. With the fast
pace they were walking at she didn't feel the coldness until they had sat down
for a rest. "Here," Jess said while he placed his leather bomber
jacket over Amara's shoulders. He had realized she was cold when he glanced
over at her on the bench and noticed she wasn't wearing a jacket but only a
yellow tank top. "Thanks, I must have been really out of it to forget my
jacket," Amara said with full gratitude as she pulled the jacket closer
around herself. She could smell a faint cigarette scent on it mixed in with the
unmistakable scent of brewed coffee.
"I
think we should start heading back, the others might be wondering where we went
off to," Jess said as he got up from the bench and offered his hand to
help Amara up. Amara quietly accepted his hand and let her hand linger in his
before finally letting go. "Can we stop somewhere for some hot coffee?"
Amara asked as she strolled along with Jess beside her. She still had his
jacket on her shoulders. "Didn't you get enough at the loft? You drank
five cups in a roll!" Jess said with a bemused look. Her friends and her
addiction to coffee reminded him of Lorelai and Rory back in Stars Hallow. 'I
thought you said you didn't want to live in the past anymore!!' a voice inside
him chided. Jess just tried to ignore the annoying voice that sounded very
close to Luke's voice. "OoOoO!!! I went to this coffeeshop yesterday with
Hayden and Haley!! They serve the best double chocolate fudge coffee cake
here!! Let's go in!" Amara said excitedly when they passed by a quaint
little coffee shop with bright cheerful curtains on its display windows.
"Sure, why not. I'm sure
the others wouldn't mind if we aren't around that much," Jess said with a
grin. He allowed Amara to drag him inside the coffee shop with the force of at
least three strong men. "Yay!!!! Come on, I want some of that delicious
cake I smell!!" Amara said happily while she jumped up and down in
anticipation. "Easy, don't get soo excited. People are staring at us
funny!!" Jess hissed into Amara's ear as he helped her with his jacket.
Many of the more elderly folks in the coffee shop glared disapprovingly at
them, they must have thought that Amara and Jess were sharing phrases of
affection. "I wonder what they are staring at…" Amara said cluelessly
as she took a seat next to Jess. Their table was tucked in a tiny cozy corner
near the back of the shop with a wraparound plush seat. Jess just looked at her
like she was a complete idiot and then grinned at her in a way that caused more
disapproving glances from the other customers. "What can I getcha???"
one of the waitresses asked the twosome. The waitress stood there with one hand
on a hip and chewing her gum like no tomorrow. "Two white chocolate mochas
sound good to you?" Jess said to Amara who nodded and watched while the
waitress took down the order. "Oh yeah!! And a double chocolate fudge coffee
cake to share please!!" Amara said sweetly to the waitress and smirked at
Jess as he looked at her in with surprise. Amara shrugged at him when their
order came and dug into the cake.
"Okay folks!! Gather up your dirty
laundry!! We are going to go down to Sunni's Sunshiny Laundromat in minus
forty-five minutes!!!" Angela shouted throughout the whole apartment.
"Minus forty-five minutes???" Travis said from the couch where he was
sprawled over flipping through the TV channels trying to find something good to
watch. "Sorry, I don't know what that means. I just thought it sounded
good," Angela said sheepishly. She grabbed the remote from him and turned
off the TV, "No more TV for you mister!!! No go gather your
laundry!!" she said with a stern look. Travis obediently obeyed and
slinked off toward the guest bedroom to do the task. "I like a girl that's
bossy," Brent said seductively as he grabbed her from behind causing her
to screech with laughter. "Geez, you people are a bunch of lunatics in
here!!" Charlie said with a shake of his head as he walked out of the
guest bedroom with a canvas bag filled with what seemed to be his laundry. He
dropped his bag near the door and plopped down upon the couch and flipped to a
channel where they were playing a Simpson's marathon. "Where is Jess and
Amara????" Haley inquired as she walked out of her bedroom with Hayden
behind her. Hayden stopped for a second to glance over at Charlie with a
suspicious look. "No clue, they just went up and left us here,"
Charlie replied while giving an once-over to Hayden.
"Well they should be back soon, they left an hour ago," Angela said reassuringly to Haley who looked out the window with concern for her best friend. "I don't know, they might have run off to Vegas by now. They looked pretty close when I walked in on them and their little crying fest. You should have seen the girl…crying buckets I tell you!!!!" Travis said with a smirk as he leered toward Haley who was looking up at him with an annoyed expression. "Buzz off man!!! Can't you see the girl is upset?" Charlie said as he shoved Travis away. Hayden gave a menacing glare at Charlie for the very boyfriend-like act and at Travis for hitting on his girlfriend. "I'm sure Amara wouldn't do that. She has enough sense to know how much that would affect the rest of us. Plus, they probably went out for coffee or something!" Haley said with a scoff at Travis as she also gave him the hairy eyeball. "Geez, you two are perfect for each other. You both don't know how to take a joke!" Travis said with a smirk as he sauntered out toward the balcony for a smoke.
"Think we should head back now?" Jess asked for the second time that day. As much as he enjoyed spending time with Amara he knew it was too good to last long anyway. Plus, he also thought that her friends might be in a frenzy worrying about where they went of too. "Okay, I think today is laundry day. I seriously need some clean clothes because if I don't I might have to borrow from Haley and Angela," Amara replied as she handed the waitress the money and grabbed her coat. She cringed at the thought of having to wear a skirt or worse something in pink that Angela and Haley happened to own. Jess smirked at the thought of Amara in a frilly dress that one of the other girls had offered to lend her to wear. "What are you smirking at??? You better not be thinking of something perverted!!" Amara demanded suddenly after glancing up at him and seeing his smirk. "Wha???" Jess asked before he was interrupted with a loud exclamation (actually it was "You Perve!!!" said by Amara) from Amara who hit him with her coat and ran away giggling. Jess was left in the middle of the sidewalk watching the figure of Amara get smaller and smaller in the distance as the other people on the sidewalk glanced at him with disgust.
Jess glanced around with a sheepish and embarrassed grin. "She was just joking…go back to whatever you were doing," Jess said hurriedly as he ran after her in the direction of the loft. Jess finally caught up to Amara who was sitting on a stoop in front of the apartment building laughing her heart out. "You…should…gasp…have… seen…gasp…your…expression!!! It was…hilarious!!" Amara said breathlessly in a burst of giggles. "Real funny…" Jess said sarcastically but even he couldn't help but smile a little at the horrified expressions of the pedestrians that were walking by at that moment. "I knew it!!! You thought it was funny!!" Amara said happily as she saw his grin that was growing bigger by the second. "I never said that, you just assumed since I was smiling and all," Jess said trying to cover up his huge grin. "Whatever you say!! Come on, let's get to the loft and tell the others about what happened!!" Amara said while grabbing Jess' hand and lugging him upstairs toward the loft door. "Lucy, we're home!!!" Jess said in his best Ricky Ricardo impression. Six anxious heads turned toward the door with sour expressions. "Geez, what's wrong with you folks?? Did someone die, let's hope it was Travis!!" Amara said trying to break the tension. "You had us sooo worried!! We thought you two were kidnapped or something!" Haley said in a scolding tone. "Actually, we weren't so worried but Mommy here certainly was. You should have seen her; she was pacing around like a worried mother. It was hilarious!" Travis said jokingly. "Shut up!!" Hayden and Charlie both said at the same time to Travis.
"Sheesh, you two just need to chill. I mean I know Haley is hot and all but is she really worth it?" Travis said with a smirk. Hayden and Charlie just glared menacingly at Travis who decided to shut up before he got jumped by one of them. "So, why don't you two go gather your laundry and we head down to the Laundromat?" Angela said with a small smile. "Sure, I sure don't want to where one of those awful articles of clothing you two girls own," Amara said pointedly to Angela and Haley. "Like you could pull off one of our outfits!!" Haley said jokingly. She giggled and threw a throw pillow at Amara who dodged and the pillow landed smack dab in Angela's face. "Hey!!! No fair!!! I didn't say anything mean!" Angela said as she grabbed the pillow and threw it back at Haley who giggled again and ducked causing the pillow to hit Hayden who was sitting behind her. "PILLOW FIGHT!!!" Hayden shouted at the top of his lungs. Everyone except for Travis who slinked off somewhere rushed to grab pillows and started whacking the nearest person with it. "Hey, that's not fair!! Two against one!" Amara said in a midst of laughter while Jess and Angela pelted her with pillows. She tried desperately to fight back but soon gave up and tried cheating by grabbing Jess' legs and making him fall on the floor next to her. "Ahhh!!!!!!" Jess said as he crashed down on top of her. "Oommph, damn you're heavy!" Amara grunted out as she tried to detangle herself from Jess. "You were the bright one who thought of making me fall down!" Jess said as he tried to block himself from the pillow hits.
Eventually the pillow fight started to calm down and everyone dispersed to his or her respective rooms except for Charlie and Jess who wandered outside on the balcony to get some fresh air. That is if you can call it fresh air since Travis was polluting the air with his cigarette smoke. "Cough…cough. Don't you think you should chill on all that smoking? At the rate your going you're going to die by the time you actually get laid," Jess said while he tried to make some of the smoke go away. Jess was known to smoke occasionally to relieve stress but what Travis was doing was just pure suicide. "That is if he ever does…" Charlie said with a smirk. Travis was known for having the worst luck in the world with women. He seemed to be too cocky and too arrogant. Plus, he hit on anything that was the opposite sex. "SHUT UP!!!" Travis said with a frown. Charlie just shook his head and looked out toward the amazing view. "Amazing isn't it?" Jess asked with a loud sigh of amazement. "Yeah, the view is incredible here," replied Charlie as he gazed transfixed at the view. "Dude, not the view!! I meant that billboard over there!" Jess said as he pointed over to the billboard advertising Starbuck's Coffee, "I mean I knew these girls liked their coffee but this is crazy!! A huge picture of it in perfect view??" Charlie glanced at the billboard and chuckled under his breath. He could just imagine the girls automatically buying the loft just because of the "coffee" view. "So you two think any of the girls are hot?" Travis asked out of the blue to the two guys standing next to him, "I personally think that Amara chick is totally hot." Jess glared at Travis for calling Amara a "chick". "That's incredibly disrespectful you know that?" Jess said with an edge. "Whatever, I knew you had a thing for her anyway. Now I bet I know who Charlie is hot for!!" Travis said with a sneer. "And who might you think that be?" Charlie asked with nonchalance. "Are you blatantly stupid?? You are so into Haley, which by the way I think is a major babe!" Travis said with a smug look. Charlie just continued to stare out at the city skyline, pretending he didn't hear a word that Travis said about Haley. So what if he liked her? She was totally unattainable, which made the chase and capture that much sweeter for him.
The sliding glass door behind them suddenly slid open and to reveal a silhouette that looked strangely like Amara's. "HEY GIRLS!!!!! I FOUND CHARLIE AND JESS!!!!" Amara shouted into the loft before grinning at the three bewildered guys in front of her, "Oh yeah, I also found Travis even though no one was looking for him!" Amara smirked at Travis who just mumbled something under his breath that made Jess give him the hairy eyeball. The three guys quietly filed behind her back into the loft where everyone was putting on their jackets and shoes. "Damn, I forgot my quarters!!! I have to go back to my place, I'll meet you guys at the laundry place okay?" Hayden suddenly realized. He grabbed his car keys and rushed out the door but not before giving Haley a soft lingering kiss. "Gee, I wonder why he needs quarters for???" Charlie said with a snicker at some guy joke that made all of the girls give him a blank look. Haley eventually figured it out and smacked Charlie upside his head for the rude comment about her boyfriend to stop his snickering. "Okay, we should get going now," said Angela while dragging Brent out of the door behind her. The rest of the gang minus Hayden filed close behind the couple toward the parking lot. "So…who drives what?" Amara asked while struggling with her huge bag of dirty clothes. Jess calmly switched his bag for hers since hers was a much bigger load than his and Amara gave him a look of gratitude. "I'll take the Audi with Brent!!!" Angela said brightly, "You five can all go in the Escalade." "Uhh, no thanks. At that rate we won't get our laundry done until next Tuesday. You just want to make out somewhere with out us watching," Haley said with a smirk. Angela and Brent glared at Haley for stating the obvious. "How about Jess, Haley, Charlie, and me take the Escalade while you two with Travis take the Audi?? He can chaperone you two," Amara said with a sickly-sweet smile. Travis and Haley groaned at their predicament. Travis because he wasn't near Amara or Haley and he certainly couldn't hit on Angela; Brent would kill him. Haley groaned because she would be stuck with Charlie in the backseat (a potential make out area in case y'all didn't know).
"Well troops, you heard the lady!!!! Let's get cracking!!!" Jess said in a mock military voice. Amara gave him a scowl of disapproval; which only caused him to salute her and give her a huge grin. Angela and Brent slowly trudged over to the Audi with Travis, who was moving even slower, behind them. Haley reluctantly slid in next to Charlie who was giving her one of his usual satisfied smirks. "What are you so happy about???" Haley said finally to Charlie whose smirk slightly faltered at the annoyed tone of her voice. "Why it's not any day a lucky girl like you gets to be in the same backseat as I am in," Charlie said while leering at her. He was using his arrogance as his cover. Haley sighed loudly and turned away from him to face the window. "You're so arrogant it's not even funny. Men and their pride," Haley said finally which caused Charlie to smile slightly. He knew that she did have some attraction to him but was trying desperately to hide it. 'So this isn't just a one way feeling,' Charlie thought to himself with an air of satisfaction. Amara who noticed the strong tension in the air tried desperately to find some common ground between the quarreling pair in the back. "Does anyone want back there want to listen to some music??" Amara asked cheerfully. After waiting five minutes for them to respond; which they didn't by the way; she gave a huff of distaste and annoyance. "I don't think they're up to some music," Jess whispered into Amara's ear. He gave her a small smile to try to calm down her temper at the very immature people in the backseat.
After five minutes of hell for both cars they eventually arrived at their final destination. "Ahhh, fresh air finally!!!!" Brent said while stretching his arms a bit from the cramped space in the car. Travis was of course smoking again, you would think the guy would realize he would die one day because of all the chemicals but unfortunately he's a moron. "A little help from my boyfriend with the laundry bags would be nice Brent!!!!" Angela said while struggling with three laundry bags two of them which weren't even hers. "Oops, sorry sweetie. Didn't mean to forget you!!" Brent said with an apologetic grin. He effortlessly grabbed the top one and threw the second one at Travis since it was his anyway. "Ooofff, you didn't have to throw so hard you know? You could have bruised something!!!" Travis said with an extremely fake grimace of pain. "Yeah right, just admit you're a weakling so the rest of us can get on with our lives," Amara drawled out with a cruel smile. Travis just gave her a glare and stalked off toward the Laundromat. The outside was painted a bright sky blue with big puffy white clouds painted on it. There was a huge sign over the entrance on of the store that said Sunni's Sunshiny Laundromat in bright yellow letters with little happy suns surrounding the letters. "Kinda overkill with the whole sunny theme don't you think??" Jess muttered under his breath to Amara who just giggled in reply. The inside wasn't much better; it was painted a very bright shade of lime green that sort of blinded you if you looked at it too long and the washing machines were painted with a sunflower pattern that made you dizzy when you looked at it. "Now this is overkill," Amara whispered to Jess who firmly agreed with her.
"Okay, let's get down to business!!! You go get us some change from that change machine over there!!!" Angela said in a bossy tone. She thrust a few five-dollar bills into Jess' hands and shoved him off toward the change machine. Jess stumbled a bit before gathering himself after the initial shock of sweet Angela being a total tyrant. "I'll go claim us some washing machines," Amara said while giving Angela a mock salute. Angela scowled and pointed Amara toward the nearest washing machines. "You two," Angela indicated Charlie and Haley with a glance before continuing, "You two are on sorting duty; whites, lights, and darks, please. And oh yeah, before I forget; Haley you sort the girl's bags and Charlie will sort the boy's bags. Don't want him to get any ideas." Haley grinned at Angela's last comment and trounced off toward the laundry bags and easily picking out hers and her friends'. Charlie hesitated and finally went off in the same direction as Haley did. "Is she related to Hitler or something??" Charlie asked Haley. Haley continued to sort the laundry into three carts before finally answering him. "She gets like that when she really needs clean clothes," Haley said with a quick smile. "Brent and I will be in charge of loading the dirty clothes inside the washing machines while you two," Angela nodded at Jess and Travis who were both lounging on the many rainbow colored couches in the place, "Will unload them and reload them into a dryer," Angela finished with a curt nod toward everyone. After everyone had digested the orders they all went off to do their tasks at hand. "Uhh…sorry to interrupt your flow of rhythm but what am I supposed to do now???" Amara asked hesitantly to Angela who was busy pouring equal amounts of cleaning solution into every one of the washing machines they were using. "Oh yeah, forgot about you. I want you to wait for Hayden and go with him to go pick up some things for us at the grocery store. There's a list in my purse that you can use," Angela said without batting an eyelash.
Amara blinked a few times before the information sank into her. "Okay…I guess, but really shouldn't Haley go with Hayden to the grocery store??? I mean I could just fill in for her at the sorting table," Amara asked Angela who was now pouring equal amounts of fabric softener into each washing machine they were using. "Amara; let's think about this logically. If I let Haley go off with Hayden to the grocery store; who knows when they will come back???" Angela said with a raised eyebrow, "Besides, I recall last time when I put you on sorting duty and most of our whites turned pink." Amara blushed at the embarrassing moment just a few months ago when she accidentally put a red sock into the whites pile. "It wasn't really my fault!!! If you weren't distracting me with questions about fabric softener I would have paid more attention to what I was doing," Amara said trying to gain control of the argument. "True, true," Angela agreed and bustled away to stalk Jess for the change for the washing and drying machines.
Amara decided to wait by the door for Hayden to come in so she can drag him off to the shopping before he got sidetracked by the image of Haley and Charlie; so close together sorting dirty laundry together. She giggled at the thought of Hayden fuming about Haley cheating with Charlie over a pile of underwear. The image was so hilarious she couldn't help but burst out laughing which caused Haley and Charlie to look over with surprise and Jess look over with concern thinking she had finally lost her marbles. Finally Hayden's car came into view and parked near the front of the Laundromat. "Hey Amara, why are you guarding the door like that??? Is some criminal going to come in or something?" Hayden asked her with a warm smile. "Nope, just waiting for you to come in," Amara said with an equally warm smile. "Gonna kidnap me are you??? Just let me drop off my clothes and the change to Angela and we can be on our way," Hayden said catching on the act. He casually walked over to where Angela was standing near Haley and Charlie. "Hey Hayden, finally decide to show up are we??? You're lucky we haven't started the boys' wash yet, just hand your bag to Charlie," Angela said after finally noticing Hayden who was staring at Haley and Charlie next to each other. "Sure," he finally said and dropped his bag near Charlie and handed the extra quarters to Angela who immediately sorted them out into neat little piles.
"Hayden!!! I was wondering when you would show up!!!" Haley said with surprise as she dropped the pizza stained t-shirt into the correct pile and ran toward Hayden. She jumped up onto her tippy-toes to give him a quick kiss before he could respond. "Hey Haley," he said quietly which caused her happy smile to falter a bit before quickly recovering. "What's wrong???" Haley asked with a concerned expression. Hayden looked deeply into Haley's eyes and knew that she was absolutely clueless to what was happening all around her. "Nothing, nothings wrong. I was just drifting off," Hayden said with a reassuring smile he gently placed a tender kiss on her forehead. "Sorry to interrupt your little love fest but some of need you to get back to work!!!" Angela said in a scolding tone. Her hands were at her hips in a disapproving stance but inside she was gushing at how sweet those two really were to each other. "Yeah, I have to kidnap you remember?? So come on before the others realize you're gone!!!" Amara said with a mischievous grin upon her face. "What is this I hear about my best friend kidnapping my boyfriend??? Some of us will miss him!!!! Why don't you kidnap Travis, at least no one will miss him unless you count his mommy," Haley said with a giggle. "Well, I see you still want me around," Charlie spoke out from the piles of dirty clothes he was still sorting; the boys obviously didn't do their laundry often. "Oh no, Haley just wanted to leave someone as her personal coffee-boy," Amara said sweetly in Charlie's direction who gave her a strained smile, "Since Travis is going to be my human punching bag. Or I could just sell him on the black market, otherwise known as E-bay!!!"
"Come on, we better get going before Hitler over there decides to stuff us into the washing machine," Hayden said to Amara who was glancing evilly at Travis. Travis' response was of pure and utter confusion, he was probably thinking that Amara had the hots for him (as if that's likely) or something. Haley and Angela and gone back to what they were doing and left the two friends to fend for themselves. "Yeah, we better leave before Travis over there starts getting into his puny little head of his that I actually have something for him," Amara agreed before waving exaggeratedly at Haley and Charlie who glanced at her like she was a maniac. "Well, it seems quite obvious who you like in that little band of theirs," Hayden said with a raised eyebrow as he led across the street to the grocery store named Sailor Yumyum's. Supposedly the owner was a huge fan of Sailor Moon and just had to dedicate his grocery store to her. The whole inside of the store was what seemed to be a large memorabilia of Sailor Moon stuff. "Why do I feel like a geek whenever I go into this store????" Hayden asked Amara in a low whisper. He didn't want to attract any attention from the cashier who was dressed up to look like Sailor Venus. "Maybe because you were one to begin with???" Amara said with a giggle. She waved at the Sailor Mercury-like dressed girl who was restocking a self with cans full of beans. "Hey!!! I resent that!!!!!" Hayden said with an angry scowl as he grabbed a shopping cart and they started to walk down the aisles meeting many Sailor Moon characters along the way. Finally after thirty minutes of breathless laughter at the strangely accurate costumes the employees were forced to wear they had gotten everything on their list that Angela gave them. "Shaving cream??? Why the hell do we need shaving cream??? Its not like any of us have grown beards lately," Amara said as she picked up the last item on the list and put it into the cart. "Uhh, I think it's for the guys," Hayden said with an amused expression of Amara naïve way of thinking. "Oh, okay…" Amara said after pondering his answer she finally accepted it as a logical reason.
"We're back!!!!!!" Amara said loudly and quite proudly to the ten something people in the Laundromat; six of them she actually knew. "Good to know you freak!!!!" a bored looking teenager with a ridiculous amount of piercings on her body. Amara glared at the rude girl and was about to give her a piece of her mind before Haley who was greeting Hayden at the moment with a shower of sweet kisses grabbed her arm. "No way are you going near that girl. She's soooo not worth it," Haley said calmly and quietly, "Come on, let's go join the others!!!!" Amara reluctantly agreed but not before she gave the little brat an evil glare that made the younger girl look away fearfully. Haley happily led Amara over toward where the rest of the group was gathered. Hayden being the nice guy that he was had already put the groceries in the girls car while Haley was calming Amara's temper down. Amara sat next to Jess who was on one of the couches that was facing each other around a table. Haley of course had no choice but to sit next to Charlie who was sitting on the other couch since there was obviously no room next to Hayden. Hayden immediately stood up and sat down next to Haley on the couch as well. Charlie gave Hayden an amused look. "Not very trusting are we???" he said with a slight edge at Hayden. Haley who was stuck between the two was feeling pretty uncomfortable owing the fact that Amara was singing an annoying jingle. "I'm squeezed in the middle!!! Smack DAB in the middle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Amara sang loudly in a sing-songy voice. Haley glared at Amara angrily and shifted uncomfortably in her position. 'This is gonna be a long sixty minutes…' she thought to herself as she glanced over at Charlie and then at Hayden.
