Chapter Six
A few days later it was time to go and Antoinette was packing things up so they could go back to Barstow. In the four days that she'd spent in L.A. had made her realize how much she'd missed the constant life in the big city. She had already started looking in a housing guide for a place to live because as much as she loved her brother and sister; they all knew that she couldn't live there. With the wild parties every weekend and the fact that there was barely enough room for the people who lived there now it wasn't a place to raise her daughter. There wouldn't be enough rooms, let alone space for two extra people. All that was left was to find a place that was decent and within her price range. That's why she needed to talk to her roommate as soon as she could. She was hoping that she might agree to move with her. They'd been best friends since their senior year in high school, when they were both on the cheerleading squad together. She was one of the few people to whom Antoinette told everything.
The time that she was at the house with everyone was usually spent with her and Brian avoiding each other like the plague. Neither of them had said a word to each other since that day in the parking lot of Harry's shop. She was still a little pissed that he'd held her hostage in his car, and he was trying to figure out what to do about the situation that they were in. Folding Thalia's clothes, Antoinette thought back to Saturday night when, even though it was race night, all of the team had come to the hotel and stayed with her and Thalia. The only person that wasn't there was Brian. It was starting to seem that everywhere she went Brian wasn't there and the last thing she'd wanted to do was make him feel unwanted or keep him from his friends. She still hadn't told Dom, or anyone else for that matter, who Thalia's father was and wasn't about to even though she'd been asked multiple times. That was something that she didn't think they needed to know at this point, she was still trying to deal with Brian's reaction and didn't need the added stress. Shaking her head she thought to herself 'I need to stop thinking about that. I'll handle that when I'm ready and not a second sooner.' Before she knew it, Antoinette was finished folding and packing up their clothes, and was going into the bathroom to get their things and put them in the overnight bag that was serving as more of a make up case and shower kit rolled in one. Soon she had all that packed up and, slinging the bag over her shoulder and pulling the suitcase behind her, she walk out of her room and knocked on the door right next to hers. As soon as she knocked she heard a loud bump and a man say loudly 'Ow' followed by the giggling of a little girl. Standing there she waited until the door was finally opened and saw Rome rubbing the back of his head, while her daughter sat cross legged on the bed, back facing the door, still laughing. Looking at him and smiling Anni simply asked,
"Do I even want to know what just happened?" Hearing her mother's voice Thalia turned around and faced the door.
"Mommy!! Know what Uncle Room did?" the little girl asked excitedly.
"No, what did he do Talli?" She asked her daughter sounding just a enthused about it.
"He fell off the bed and bumped his head." Talli answered and fell into another fit of giggles while Antoinette turned around laughing and looked at her friend,
"Please tell me that isn't true."
"Believe me I wish I could. Unfortunately I'm not as graceful as I am good looking." Rome answered her.
"Don't you mean funny looking?"
"Ha ha you're real hilarious. I should make like your brother and throw you in a pool only I'll actually do it."
"Aww you know you couldn't do that to me. Ya love too much."
"Just keep telling yourself that sweetie." Antoinette, pretending to gasp, said in mock surprise,
"And here I thought you were telling me the truth when you said I was gorgeous." Soon she felt a small pair of arms wrap around her legs and as she looked down, her daughter looked her in the eye and said,
"Its otay Mommy, I think you're pretty."
"Aww baby, you're so sweet. You know I love you bunches don't you?"
"Uh huh, and I lub you Mommy." Rome, who had been grabbing his stuff from the bed, came up to them and said,
"We better get going if you're gonna say bye to everyone and be back in Barstow by four."
"Alright, Tals you ready to go? We're gonna go say bye to everyone and then we're gonna go home and see Aunt Ashton."
"Yay, we gonna go see Aunt Asht'n!"
"So I'll take that as a yes. Let's go Rome." And with that they went to check out and go to the Toretto house. Soon they were there and parked outside the house, getting out of their cars, and walking up to the door. Not bothering to knock, Antoinette opened the door and yelled in the house,
"We're here. Where is everyone?"
"We're in the kitchen, hurry up we're eating lunch." Mia yelled back. Hearing anything about food had Rome hurrying for the doorway which lead to the kitchen, Thalia right behind him. Looking at the two of them, Antoinette followed them. As she walked into the kitchen she looked around and saw that hardly anyone was actually eating.
"What's for lunch?" She asked while looking at the people sitting around the table.
"Tuna sandwiches." Dom said dryly taking a bite of his and swallowing hard.
"You know Talli doesn't like tuna so I'll just make her a peanut butter and jelly." Antoinette said, she knew what Mia's tuna tasted like and would never subject her child to that if she could save her from it. Rome could deal with it, hell the boy could eat anything, He always said that after being in prison and seeing how bad the food really was that anything on the outside tasted good, and she was about to test that theory.
"What about you Anni? Do you want one?" Mia asked, looking at her younger sister. Holding up a Starbucks cup she shook her head while thinking 'Thank god I decided to stop.', and said,
"Nah. I'm good. This'll fill me up and even thinking about food would probably make me puke."
"Alright, but if you decide you want a sandwich you know where the stuff is."
"Thanks Mia. I appreciate it but like I said I'm good." And saying that, she sat a half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in front of Thalia, handing the other to Rome.
"Well you guys, I've gotta get on my homework. I'll be upstairs if you guys need me. And Anni you better not leave before saying goodbye to me."
"I won't Mia; now go do your homework." She answered.
"Yes mother." She said and walked out of the kitchen. As soon as they heard her walk up the stairs and shut her door, Antoinette looked around the table at the sandwiches that had hardly been touched and the faces of the people trying to eat them. Smiling she looked at Vince and said,
"Vinny, thanks for the heads up bout the tuna. But since you were so sweet to warn me we made another little stop before coming here. I'll be right back." And with that she walked out the back door, and a few minutes later came back with four Sonic bags in her hands. "I couldn't let you guys eat that, especially since I was warned. Ya'll better love me even more now. Give me those sandwiches so I can put them down the garbage disposal." All of them willingly handed over their plates, including Rome and reached for the bags saying 'thank you' multiple times.
"So Rome do you wanna rethink that comment about prison food?" She asked him as soon as she was done at the disposal.
"Yeah, any food on the outside, except your sister's tuna, is better than the food on the inside." This comment caused everyone in the room to laugh.
"I couldn't agree with you more. I've eaten some bad things on the inside but you know Mia's tuna in same class with them."
"Which pen were you in?" Rome asked him.
"Lompoc, I don't care where I have to go but I'll never go back."
"Don't blame you. I've heard that's a pretty rough place."
"Yeah, it definitely ain't on my list of top ten places I want to visit again." Soon they all fell into conversation with each other and were all talking about various things in their own little groups around the kitchen. They continued this until Anni suddenly said,
"You guys be quiet." Immediately the noise in the room died down as they all listened for what she heard. Soon it was obvious. Someone was coming down the stairs and the only person who'd been on the second floor was Mia. "Oh shit you guys! Throw your garbage in the bags and give them to me. Quick!!" They started shoving their trash into the bags that Antoinette had brought in and soon enough had it all in there and were handing it over. Running for the door she just barely made it out before Mia made it into the kitchen.
"Where's Anni going?" She asked looking at the door that had just slammed shut.
"Oh she just went to her car for a second. Said she needed to find something." Letty answered, coming up with the best excuse she could being put on the spot like she had been.
"Oh okay. I just came down to get something to drink." And with that Mia walked over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of Snapple. Just as she was shutting the door and getting ready to walk back out, Antoinette came back in the house.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Mia asked looking at her.
"Huh?" she asked looking confused.
"Did you find what you were looking for? You know why you were just out in your car."
"Oh that. Yeah, I found it. I can't believe that my lip gloss fell out of my purse. I'm just lucky it didn't fall outta the car two it was sitting right by the door." As soon as she'd said this everyone looked at her like she'd lost her mind. "What?!? I like that lip gloss is one of my favorites and I just bought that one."
"Okay its official. The girl has lost her damn mind." Letty said looking at her and shaking her head. Everyone else in the room, minus Mia and Thalia who was sitting there eating, nodded their head in agreement.
"Oh shut up you guys. I'm not crazy!" Antoinette said trying to act serious about it. Looking at the microwave she noticed it was getting late, and that they really needed to leave. "Hey everyone, we gotta get going. We'll be back in about a month."
"Alright we'll see ya then, but don't forget to call us." Dom said to her, and got up to give her a hug. Soon everyone was standing up and moving towards her and Thalia. Saying all the goodbyes that they had to say they yelled for Mia to come back down. She came bounding down the stairs as soon as they yelled that her sister was leaving and the minute she was in the kitchen wrapped her arms tightly around her little sister.
Soon the three of them, Rome, Antoinette, and Thalia, were in their cars and driving away from the house. Staring at the back of the cars the team all agreed that they couldn't wait until the day they all came back. Antoinette had brought back what all of them knew had been missing from the house since she left. She'd brought back the life during the day that had been gone since she left. Normally their days had been filled with work and going home during the wee k but this past weekend they had actually done things, other than go to the grocery store, and had even had fun without going to the races. Something that they didn't think was possible. Quickly the cars moved away from the house, eventually so far that they couldn't see them anymore, and the team moved back inside to do whatever they felt like doing at the moment.
The drive back to Barstow seemed to take forever to Antoinette. She didn't know why, but decided that it was due to the fact she hadn't seen or talked to Ashton, in four days and that she was missing her best friend. The two hour drive felt like the longest road trip she'd ever been on, and as much as she loved to drive she was ready get out of her car for a while. When they were about halfway to Barstow, they decided that they should stop for lunch, and after eating went to a gas station filled their tanks and were on their way again. Driving gave the Antoinette a lot of time to think because within the first fifteen minutes Thalia was asleep in her car seat. She wondered how she was going to tell Ashton what was going on and why she was moving. She kept hoping that she would agree to move with her. The two of them had wanted to get out of Barstow forever. They were both sick of the small town life, well what they considered small at least. They'd both grown up in the heart of big cities, Ashton in Miami, and Barstow just wasn't cutting it for either one. Rome also had some time to think about the past few days. Ever since he'd first seen Anni and she'd kissed him on the cheek he'd felt differently towards her. He'd always thought that she was beautiful, but being away from her for those six months he spent in Miami only made her seem even more so than before. He'd never really had a relationship with a woman that had ended up being long term and had never even thought of really having one, but with Antoinette he could see himself settling down and being with her. He'd known her for years and she knew him like the back of her hand, it all made sense, except that he'd never felt anything like this for her before. He didn't know how he was going to handle this situation, but knew he'd have to deal with it when the right time came.
Soon they had made it into Barstow and were pulling into the apartment complex that Antoinette lived in. Gently lifting Thalia out of her car seat so that she didn't wake up, she and Rome began the walk up the stairs to her door. Pulling out her keys she unlocked the door and opened it. Looking in the living room she saw the head of her blonde roommate resting on the arm of the couch. Shaking her head she sat her purse down on the side table next to the door and walked down the hall to Thalia's room to lay her down. When she came back she kneeled next to the couch and gently shook her friend's shoulder and said softly,
"Ash, we're back girlie. Wake up." Yawning the girl who had previously been sleeping sat up, stretching, and rubbed her eyes. Then looking in front of her she lunged herself at her friend exclaiming,
"Anni! God I missed ya Cheer One!"
"Aww, I missed you too Cheer Two! I wish you coulda came with me."
"Well now you're back so it's all good. Where's Talli at?"
"In her room sleeping. Poor kid she's so out of it." Antoinette said, then looking behind the couch that she was now sitting on, noticed Rome standing behind them looking a little out of place. "Oh and look who I found while I was visiting my family." She said and pointed at him over Ashton's shoulder. Turning around she looked at him and smiled,
"Well if it ain't Mr. Roman Pierce. And just where the hell did you up and disappear to?"
"Miami darlin' and I gotta tell you it wasn't all that bad. Woulda been better with you two there with me."
"I told ya Miami kicked ass. Now you gotta believe me when I say it."
"Hey you guys, I gotta go call my aunt" Antoinette said, getting up and walking into the kitchen where the cordless was sitting on the counter. As soon as she'd said "hello' into the receiver Ashton decided that she was going to get some more information from Rome, she knew there was more to the story.
"So why'd you come back to California, and why didn't you just come back here?" She asked deciding not to waste anytime with small talk.
"I came back with a friend and he needed to set some things straight with people he did wrong, and those people happened to be Anni's family." He told her.
"She didn't kick his ass did she? I know my girl and I was here when her brother called. I don't think I've ever seen her more excited than that."
"Nah, she didn't kick his ass as far as I know, but I think that it was only because of the shock of who it was."
"Why who was it?"
"Brian."
"WHAT!" Ashton whispered fiercely, "Why the hell we're you with him in the first place? And does he know about Talli?"
"He's the reason I left in the first place. He offered me a deal to get my record cleared and I couldn't pass it up. And yes, he knows about Talli. Anni told him though, not me!" Rome added quickly seeing that Ashton was ready to hit him. It was then that Antoinette decided to walk back into the room.
"My god, do you know how much my aunt worries? It's ridiculous, you'd think the way she was talking she was never gonna see me again." This caused Ashton to laugh. "You think that was bad she came into the café everyday asking if I'd heard from you. Hell if I was lucky she only came in once a day."
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. I don't even know how to describe how overboard her worrying is getting."
"She's worse than she used to be?" Rome asked, looking at them with a surprised look.
"Yes! Ever since you left its gotten so bad that she calls here who knows how many times a day just to check up on us. It's awful." Antoinette said.
"No sweetie, it's insane." Ashton said, deciding to call it like it really was.
"You're so right Cheer Two. Hey Rome can you do me a favor?"
"What's the favor?" He asked not knowing what to expect from her.
"Can you watch Tals for me? I wanna have dinner with Ashton, you know Cheer to Cheer."
"Yeah you know that ain't a problem. You two need to talk anyway."
"Thanks babe. So where ya wanna go chica?"
"Umm... how bout Katz? We haven't been there in a while." Ashton answered.
"Alright I'ma hop in the shower real quick and get ready then we'll head on out." And saying that she went into the bathroom and began what Rome had dubbed 'The Process'. About an hour later both girls were ready and walked out of their rooms. Ashton was wearing a white skirt that ruffled at the bottom half and stopped four inches above her knee with a pale yellow halter top and white heeled thong sandals on her feet. She'd left her blonde hair down and curled the bottom. Her make up was simple, mascara, a skin toned eye shadow, and a pale pink lip gloss. Antoinette was wearing a black linen dress with spaghetti straps and slanted at the hem making the shortest side reach mid-thigh and the longest go on til about two inches above her knee. Her shoes were strappy sandals that circled her ankles twice before tying. She too had left her hair down, letting it fall in soft curls down to the middle of her back, taking only two small pieces from each side and pulling them back to keep her hair out of her face. For make up she wore black mascara and eye liner, a shiny translucent eye shadow, and the same pink lip gloss that Ashton had on.
"Damn you two look fine." Rome said letting out a low wolf whistle.
"Aww thanks Rome." Antoinette said hugging him. She was shocked that she felt a tingle run down her spine at his touch and pulled back.
"Whose car are we taking?" Ashton asked looking at her.
"Yours. It isn't a convertible and plus I've got Talli's car seat in mine."
"Alright, let's get going Cheer One."
"After you Cheer Two."
"Why thank you. C'mon let's go." And with that the two friends walked out the door laughing. Soon they reached the restaurant and were seated. Looking over the menus they were silent, not saying anything to the other while trying to figure out what they wanted to eat. Soon they had decided and given their orders to the waiter, who they could tell was checking them out, and sat there. As they waited for their food to arrive they made small talk, mostly what had gone on while Antoinette had been gone and what she'd done while she was in L.A. It wasn't until the food had arrived the two women had started eating until they got to the matter at hand.
"Ash, I've got something to tell you. But you have to promise me that you'll let me finish before you say anything." Antoinette said after taking a bite of her grilled chicken.
"Sure girly you know that you can tell me anything. What the hell else are best friends for?" She answered thinking that she was going to tell her about seeing Brian.
"I'm moving back to L.A."
"What!?! Why?!?" Ashton interrupted. That had been the last thing she'd expected.
"You didn't let me finish, Cheer Two. I want you to come with me."
"But why are you moving back?"
"I miss my family. And no matter how much I'm going to miss my aunt and uncle I know that I'm going to be ten times happier being closer to my brother and sister."
"Cheer One, you know I'll go with you. I'm surprised you thought that you even had to ask. We've both wanted to leave Barstow for a while now, so my only question is when do we move."
"I thought it'd be polite to ask."
"Since when do you have manners?"
"Shut up!" Antoinette said, and picking up the tip and asparagus spear threw it at her friend.
"Oh my god, you did not just do that. You're soo gonna pay!" Ashton exclaimed and getting a small amount of mashed potatoes on the tip of her spoon flung it at Antoinette. Unluckily for her though it completely missed her friend, who had leaned over to dodge it and hit the guy behind them in the back of the neck. Both girls had looked to see where it would land and seeing it hit the man, quickly got up, paid their bill, and made it to the parking lot before losing control over the laughter and leaned over on Ashton's Honda S2000, laughing until their faces were streaked with mascara. After gaining control over themselves enough to talk Antoinette looked at her friend and, still laughing, said,
"I can't believe you did that!"
"It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't thrown your food at me first." Ashton quipped.
"I know, but it was hella funny."
"Oh god yeah. I haven't laughed that hard in forever."
"I guess we should be getting back to the apartment. God only knows what Rome's fallen off of now."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'll tell you in the car. I think that there's an angry hostess looking for us." Antoinette said pointing at the doorway of the restaurant. Seeing her walk towards them they quickly climbed into the car and sped off, never looking back.
A/N: Kay hope ya'll liked that chappy. The mashed potatoes thing has actually happened in real life. I was like four and we were in a restaurant and all the sudden my grandma feels the back of her head and goes "What the HELL" as loud as she possibly could and looks at her hand that has mashed potatoes on it. The poor guy who did it was soo short and itty bitty, and here my grandma is almost 6 feet tall. It was hilarious!! We still don't know how the guy managed to do it but his fork or spoon must have been sitting on his plate funny and he hit it with his arm and voila grandma has mashed potatoes in her hair. It was soo classic. Oh guess what this chappy was over 4,000 words long!! YAY ME!!! Wellz I'ma go now. I love ya all tons!! Thanx for reading!!
Jess
A few days later it was time to go and Antoinette was packing things up so they could go back to Barstow. In the four days that she'd spent in L.A. had made her realize how much she'd missed the constant life in the big city. She had already started looking in a housing guide for a place to live because as much as she loved her brother and sister; they all knew that she couldn't live there. With the wild parties every weekend and the fact that there was barely enough room for the people who lived there now it wasn't a place to raise her daughter. There wouldn't be enough rooms, let alone space for two extra people. All that was left was to find a place that was decent and within her price range. That's why she needed to talk to her roommate as soon as she could. She was hoping that she might agree to move with her. They'd been best friends since their senior year in high school, when they were both on the cheerleading squad together. She was one of the few people to whom Antoinette told everything.
The time that she was at the house with everyone was usually spent with her and Brian avoiding each other like the plague. Neither of them had said a word to each other since that day in the parking lot of Harry's shop. She was still a little pissed that he'd held her hostage in his car, and he was trying to figure out what to do about the situation that they were in. Folding Thalia's clothes, Antoinette thought back to Saturday night when, even though it was race night, all of the team had come to the hotel and stayed with her and Thalia. The only person that wasn't there was Brian. It was starting to seem that everywhere she went Brian wasn't there and the last thing she'd wanted to do was make him feel unwanted or keep him from his friends. She still hadn't told Dom, or anyone else for that matter, who Thalia's father was and wasn't about to even though she'd been asked multiple times. That was something that she didn't think they needed to know at this point, she was still trying to deal with Brian's reaction and didn't need the added stress. Shaking her head she thought to herself 'I need to stop thinking about that. I'll handle that when I'm ready and not a second sooner.' Before she knew it, Antoinette was finished folding and packing up their clothes, and was going into the bathroom to get their things and put them in the overnight bag that was serving as more of a make up case and shower kit rolled in one. Soon she had all that packed up and, slinging the bag over her shoulder and pulling the suitcase behind her, she walk out of her room and knocked on the door right next to hers. As soon as she knocked she heard a loud bump and a man say loudly 'Ow' followed by the giggling of a little girl. Standing there she waited until the door was finally opened and saw Rome rubbing the back of his head, while her daughter sat cross legged on the bed, back facing the door, still laughing. Looking at him and smiling Anni simply asked,
"Do I even want to know what just happened?" Hearing her mother's voice Thalia turned around and faced the door.
"Mommy!! Know what Uncle Room did?" the little girl asked excitedly.
"No, what did he do Talli?" She asked her daughter sounding just a enthused about it.
"He fell off the bed and bumped his head." Talli answered and fell into another fit of giggles while Antoinette turned around laughing and looked at her friend,
"Please tell me that isn't true."
"Believe me I wish I could. Unfortunately I'm not as graceful as I am good looking." Rome answered her.
"Don't you mean funny looking?"
"Ha ha you're real hilarious. I should make like your brother and throw you in a pool only I'll actually do it."
"Aww you know you couldn't do that to me. Ya love too much."
"Just keep telling yourself that sweetie." Antoinette, pretending to gasp, said in mock surprise,
"And here I thought you were telling me the truth when you said I was gorgeous." Soon she felt a small pair of arms wrap around her legs and as she looked down, her daughter looked her in the eye and said,
"Its otay Mommy, I think you're pretty."
"Aww baby, you're so sweet. You know I love you bunches don't you?"
"Uh huh, and I lub you Mommy." Rome, who had been grabbing his stuff from the bed, came up to them and said,
"We better get going if you're gonna say bye to everyone and be back in Barstow by four."
"Alright, Tals you ready to go? We're gonna go say bye to everyone and then we're gonna go home and see Aunt Ashton."
"Yay, we gonna go see Aunt Asht'n!"
"So I'll take that as a yes. Let's go Rome." And with that they went to check out and go to the Toretto house. Soon they were there and parked outside the house, getting out of their cars, and walking up to the door. Not bothering to knock, Antoinette opened the door and yelled in the house,
"We're here. Where is everyone?"
"We're in the kitchen, hurry up we're eating lunch." Mia yelled back. Hearing anything about food had Rome hurrying for the doorway which lead to the kitchen, Thalia right behind him. Looking at the two of them, Antoinette followed them. As she walked into the kitchen she looked around and saw that hardly anyone was actually eating.
"What's for lunch?" She asked while looking at the people sitting around the table.
"Tuna sandwiches." Dom said dryly taking a bite of his and swallowing hard.
"You know Talli doesn't like tuna so I'll just make her a peanut butter and jelly." Antoinette said, she knew what Mia's tuna tasted like and would never subject her child to that if she could save her from it. Rome could deal with it, hell the boy could eat anything, He always said that after being in prison and seeing how bad the food really was that anything on the outside tasted good, and she was about to test that theory.
"What about you Anni? Do you want one?" Mia asked, looking at her younger sister. Holding up a Starbucks cup she shook her head while thinking 'Thank god I decided to stop.', and said,
"Nah. I'm good. This'll fill me up and even thinking about food would probably make me puke."
"Alright, but if you decide you want a sandwich you know where the stuff is."
"Thanks Mia. I appreciate it but like I said I'm good." And saying that, she sat a half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in front of Thalia, handing the other to Rome.
"Well you guys, I've gotta get on my homework. I'll be upstairs if you guys need me. And Anni you better not leave before saying goodbye to me."
"I won't Mia; now go do your homework." She answered.
"Yes mother." She said and walked out of the kitchen. As soon as they heard her walk up the stairs and shut her door, Antoinette looked around the table at the sandwiches that had hardly been touched and the faces of the people trying to eat them. Smiling she looked at Vince and said,
"Vinny, thanks for the heads up bout the tuna. But since you were so sweet to warn me we made another little stop before coming here. I'll be right back." And with that she walked out the back door, and a few minutes later came back with four Sonic bags in her hands. "I couldn't let you guys eat that, especially since I was warned. Ya'll better love me even more now. Give me those sandwiches so I can put them down the garbage disposal." All of them willingly handed over their plates, including Rome and reached for the bags saying 'thank you' multiple times.
"So Rome do you wanna rethink that comment about prison food?" She asked him as soon as she was done at the disposal.
"Yeah, any food on the outside, except your sister's tuna, is better than the food on the inside." This comment caused everyone in the room to laugh.
"I couldn't agree with you more. I've eaten some bad things on the inside but you know Mia's tuna in same class with them."
"Which pen were you in?" Rome asked him.
"Lompoc, I don't care where I have to go but I'll never go back."
"Don't blame you. I've heard that's a pretty rough place."
"Yeah, it definitely ain't on my list of top ten places I want to visit again." Soon they all fell into conversation with each other and were all talking about various things in their own little groups around the kitchen. They continued this until Anni suddenly said,
"You guys be quiet." Immediately the noise in the room died down as they all listened for what she heard. Soon it was obvious. Someone was coming down the stairs and the only person who'd been on the second floor was Mia. "Oh shit you guys! Throw your garbage in the bags and give them to me. Quick!!" They started shoving their trash into the bags that Antoinette had brought in and soon enough had it all in there and were handing it over. Running for the door she just barely made it out before Mia made it into the kitchen.
"Where's Anni going?" She asked looking at the door that had just slammed shut.
"Oh she just went to her car for a second. Said she needed to find something." Letty answered, coming up with the best excuse she could being put on the spot like she had been.
"Oh okay. I just came down to get something to drink." And with that Mia walked over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of Snapple. Just as she was shutting the door and getting ready to walk back out, Antoinette came back in the house.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Mia asked looking at her.
"Huh?" she asked looking confused.
"Did you find what you were looking for? You know why you were just out in your car."
"Oh that. Yeah, I found it. I can't believe that my lip gloss fell out of my purse. I'm just lucky it didn't fall outta the car two it was sitting right by the door." As soon as she'd said this everyone looked at her like she'd lost her mind. "What?!? I like that lip gloss is one of my favorites and I just bought that one."
"Okay its official. The girl has lost her damn mind." Letty said looking at her and shaking her head. Everyone else in the room, minus Mia and Thalia who was sitting there eating, nodded their head in agreement.
"Oh shut up you guys. I'm not crazy!" Antoinette said trying to act serious about it. Looking at the microwave she noticed it was getting late, and that they really needed to leave. "Hey everyone, we gotta get going. We'll be back in about a month."
"Alright we'll see ya then, but don't forget to call us." Dom said to her, and got up to give her a hug. Soon everyone was standing up and moving towards her and Thalia. Saying all the goodbyes that they had to say they yelled for Mia to come back down. She came bounding down the stairs as soon as they yelled that her sister was leaving and the minute she was in the kitchen wrapped her arms tightly around her little sister.
Soon the three of them, Rome, Antoinette, and Thalia, were in their cars and driving away from the house. Staring at the back of the cars the team all agreed that they couldn't wait until the day they all came back. Antoinette had brought back what all of them knew had been missing from the house since she left. She'd brought back the life during the day that had been gone since she left. Normally their days had been filled with work and going home during the wee k but this past weekend they had actually done things, other than go to the grocery store, and had even had fun without going to the races. Something that they didn't think was possible. Quickly the cars moved away from the house, eventually so far that they couldn't see them anymore, and the team moved back inside to do whatever they felt like doing at the moment.
The drive back to Barstow seemed to take forever to Antoinette. She didn't know why, but decided that it was due to the fact she hadn't seen or talked to Ashton, in four days and that she was missing her best friend. The two hour drive felt like the longest road trip she'd ever been on, and as much as she loved to drive she was ready get out of her car for a while. When they were about halfway to Barstow, they decided that they should stop for lunch, and after eating went to a gas station filled their tanks and were on their way again. Driving gave the Antoinette a lot of time to think because within the first fifteen minutes Thalia was asleep in her car seat. She wondered how she was going to tell Ashton what was going on and why she was moving. She kept hoping that she would agree to move with her. The two of them had wanted to get out of Barstow forever. They were both sick of the small town life, well what they considered small at least. They'd both grown up in the heart of big cities, Ashton in Miami, and Barstow just wasn't cutting it for either one. Rome also had some time to think about the past few days. Ever since he'd first seen Anni and she'd kissed him on the cheek he'd felt differently towards her. He'd always thought that she was beautiful, but being away from her for those six months he spent in Miami only made her seem even more so than before. He'd never really had a relationship with a woman that had ended up being long term and had never even thought of really having one, but with Antoinette he could see himself settling down and being with her. He'd known her for years and she knew him like the back of her hand, it all made sense, except that he'd never felt anything like this for her before. He didn't know how he was going to handle this situation, but knew he'd have to deal with it when the right time came.
Soon they had made it into Barstow and were pulling into the apartment complex that Antoinette lived in. Gently lifting Thalia out of her car seat so that she didn't wake up, she and Rome began the walk up the stairs to her door. Pulling out her keys she unlocked the door and opened it. Looking in the living room she saw the head of her blonde roommate resting on the arm of the couch. Shaking her head she sat her purse down on the side table next to the door and walked down the hall to Thalia's room to lay her down. When she came back she kneeled next to the couch and gently shook her friend's shoulder and said softly,
"Ash, we're back girlie. Wake up." Yawning the girl who had previously been sleeping sat up, stretching, and rubbed her eyes. Then looking in front of her she lunged herself at her friend exclaiming,
"Anni! God I missed ya Cheer One!"
"Aww, I missed you too Cheer Two! I wish you coulda came with me."
"Well now you're back so it's all good. Where's Talli at?"
"In her room sleeping. Poor kid she's so out of it." Antoinette said, then looking behind the couch that she was now sitting on, noticed Rome standing behind them looking a little out of place. "Oh and look who I found while I was visiting my family." She said and pointed at him over Ashton's shoulder. Turning around she looked at him and smiled,
"Well if it ain't Mr. Roman Pierce. And just where the hell did you up and disappear to?"
"Miami darlin' and I gotta tell you it wasn't all that bad. Woulda been better with you two there with me."
"I told ya Miami kicked ass. Now you gotta believe me when I say it."
"Hey you guys, I gotta go call my aunt" Antoinette said, getting up and walking into the kitchen where the cordless was sitting on the counter. As soon as she'd said "hello' into the receiver Ashton decided that she was going to get some more information from Rome, she knew there was more to the story.
"So why'd you come back to California, and why didn't you just come back here?" She asked deciding not to waste anytime with small talk.
"I came back with a friend and he needed to set some things straight with people he did wrong, and those people happened to be Anni's family." He told her.
"She didn't kick his ass did she? I know my girl and I was here when her brother called. I don't think I've ever seen her more excited than that."
"Nah, she didn't kick his ass as far as I know, but I think that it was only because of the shock of who it was."
"Why who was it?"
"Brian."
"WHAT!" Ashton whispered fiercely, "Why the hell we're you with him in the first place? And does he know about Talli?"
"He's the reason I left in the first place. He offered me a deal to get my record cleared and I couldn't pass it up. And yes, he knows about Talli. Anni told him though, not me!" Rome added quickly seeing that Ashton was ready to hit him. It was then that Antoinette decided to walk back into the room.
"My god, do you know how much my aunt worries? It's ridiculous, you'd think the way she was talking she was never gonna see me again." This caused Ashton to laugh. "You think that was bad she came into the café everyday asking if I'd heard from you. Hell if I was lucky she only came in once a day."
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. I don't even know how to describe how overboard her worrying is getting."
"She's worse than she used to be?" Rome asked, looking at them with a surprised look.
"Yes! Ever since you left its gotten so bad that she calls here who knows how many times a day just to check up on us. It's awful." Antoinette said.
"No sweetie, it's insane." Ashton said, deciding to call it like it really was.
"You're so right Cheer Two. Hey Rome can you do me a favor?"
"What's the favor?" He asked not knowing what to expect from her.
"Can you watch Tals for me? I wanna have dinner with Ashton, you know Cheer to Cheer."
"Yeah you know that ain't a problem. You two need to talk anyway."
"Thanks babe. So where ya wanna go chica?"
"Umm... how bout Katz? We haven't been there in a while." Ashton answered.
"Alright I'ma hop in the shower real quick and get ready then we'll head on out." And saying that she went into the bathroom and began what Rome had dubbed 'The Process'. About an hour later both girls were ready and walked out of their rooms. Ashton was wearing a white skirt that ruffled at the bottom half and stopped four inches above her knee with a pale yellow halter top and white heeled thong sandals on her feet. She'd left her blonde hair down and curled the bottom. Her make up was simple, mascara, a skin toned eye shadow, and a pale pink lip gloss. Antoinette was wearing a black linen dress with spaghetti straps and slanted at the hem making the shortest side reach mid-thigh and the longest go on til about two inches above her knee. Her shoes were strappy sandals that circled her ankles twice before tying. She too had left her hair down, letting it fall in soft curls down to the middle of her back, taking only two small pieces from each side and pulling them back to keep her hair out of her face. For make up she wore black mascara and eye liner, a shiny translucent eye shadow, and the same pink lip gloss that Ashton had on.
"Damn you two look fine." Rome said letting out a low wolf whistle.
"Aww thanks Rome." Antoinette said hugging him. She was shocked that she felt a tingle run down her spine at his touch and pulled back.
"Whose car are we taking?" Ashton asked looking at her.
"Yours. It isn't a convertible and plus I've got Talli's car seat in mine."
"Alright, let's get going Cheer One."
"After you Cheer Two."
"Why thank you. C'mon let's go." And with that the two friends walked out the door laughing. Soon they reached the restaurant and were seated. Looking over the menus they were silent, not saying anything to the other while trying to figure out what they wanted to eat. Soon they had decided and given their orders to the waiter, who they could tell was checking them out, and sat there. As they waited for their food to arrive they made small talk, mostly what had gone on while Antoinette had been gone and what she'd done while she was in L.A. It wasn't until the food had arrived the two women had started eating until they got to the matter at hand.
"Ash, I've got something to tell you. But you have to promise me that you'll let me finish before you say anything." Antoinette said after taking a bite of her grilled chicken.
"Sure girly you know that you can tell me anything. What the hell else are best friends for?" She answered thinking that she was going to tell her about seeing Brian.
"I'm moving back to L.A."
"What!?! Why?!?" Ashton interrupted. That had been the last thing she'd expected.
"You didn't let me finish, Cheer Two. I want you to come with me."
"But why are you moving back?"
"I miss my family. And no matter how much I'm going to miss my aunt and uncle I know that I'm going to be ten times happier being closer to my brother and sister."
"Cheer One, you know I'll go with you. I'm surprised you thought that you even had to ask. We've both wanted to leave Barstow for a while now, so my only question is when do we move."
"I thought it'd be polite to ask."
"Since when do you have manners?"
"Shut up!" Antoinette said, and picking up the tip and asparagus spear threw it at her friend.
"Oh my god, you did not just do that. You're soo gonna pay!" Ashton exclaimed and getting a small amount of mashed potatoes on the tip of her spoon flung it at Antoinette. Unluckily for her though it completely missed her friend, who had leaned over to dodge it and hit the guy behind them in the back of the neck. Both girls had looked to see where it would land and seeing it hit the man, quickly got up, paid their bill, and made it to the parking lot before losing control over the laughter and leaned over on Ashton's Honda S2000, laughing until their faces were streaked with mascara. After gaining control over themselves enough to talk Antoinette looked at her friend and, still laughing, said,
"I can't believe you did that!"
"It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't thrown your food at me first." Ashton quipped.
"I know, but it was hella funny."
"Oh god yeah. I haven't laughed that hard in forever."
"I guess we should be getting back to the apartment. God only knows what Rome's fallen off of now."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'll tell you in the car. I think that there's an angry hostess looking for us." Antoinette said pointing at the doorway of the restaurant. Seeing her walk towards them they quickly climbed into the car and sped off, never looking back.
A/N: Kay hope ya'll liked that chappy. The mashed potatoes thing has actually happened in real life. I was like four and we were in a restaurant and all the sudden my grandma feels the back of her head and goes "What the HELL" as loud as she possibly could and looks at her hand that has mashed potatoes on it. The poor guy who did it was soo short and itty bitty, and here my grandma is almost 6 feet tall. It was hilarious!! We still don't know how the guy managed to do it but his fork or spoon must have been sitting on his plate funny and he hit it with his arm and voila grandma has mashed potatoes in her hair. It was soo classic. Oh guess what this chappy was over 4,000 words long!! YAY ME!!! Wellz I'ma go now. I love ya all tons!! Thanx for reading!!
Jess
