Spacegrace: That's not what I had planned! If you haven't read my other story…you probably should…it would explain some things about Kostos! (This story is like a sequel to that one.) But thanks for reviewing and I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens with Holly…there are plans…but like the part where Lena decides to send Holly to Greece, the next few plans will be spontaneous. I don't have time to sit and think about the storyline!
Disclaimer: I figured it was time to do another one of these disclaimer things. I don't own any characters Ann Brashares created….Tibby, Lena, Bridget, Bee, Eric, Paul, Brian, Effie, or Kostos…I did however have the privilege of creating Holly, Ella, Esperanza, Anna, Alexia, Sean, Stephen, Jack,…and some other ones that haven't come into the story yet. Oh yeah….Stephen is in this story…he just hasn't had a close up yet! oh! And there are more characters to come...i can never stick with just the ones that are in the beginning of the story. I have to keep adding...and subtracting.
Brian and Tibby had sent their driver to pick Anna up from the airport. She ran up to him and hugged him. "How've you been Mike?" The driver took her bags and placed them in the trunk. "Not bad Ms. Anna. How was soccer camp?" "It was awesome! I can't wait to be able to lie down in my own bed…how have the parental units been?" Mike pulled out of the parking lot and turned on the radio. "They've been great. They can't wait till they can see you again…the only thing I've been hearing is Anna this and Anna that." "Ahh," Anna laughed. "You know you love me!"
Anna let herself into the suite and ran to her bedroom, knocking over a few house keepers on the way. There, on her bed, lay a package. She grabbed it and tore it open. Sure enough, the pants fell out, along with a note. Anna picked it up. It was from Ella.
Annabella baby, nothing really exiting happened in the pants on my first go around. I hope you have more luck. I send all of my love in them though…so have fun!
Ella
Anna slipped out of her skirt and pulled on the pants. She heard a knock at the door. It was her little sister. She handed Anna the phone and walked out. Anna took the phone and went to stand in front of her mirror. "Hello?" She could hear people talking in the background. "Hey Anna!" It was Eric. "Oh hey Eric." "I just talked to your mom…she called me at my office. I'm having a practice tonight. Do you want to come? Sam and Zach are going to come too…their dad is fine." Anna sighed a sigh of relief. "Well if my mom says its ok…I guess…what time?" "In about thirty minutes on the south field. You'll be able to find us." "Ok…thanks Eric."
Thirty minutes later Anna walked onto the south field. Eric saw her and ran over to her. "Hey Anna…ready to go?" Anna nodded and put all of her stuff on the bleachers. Eric led her down onto the field and over to the group of men, and women that were gathered. "The women's team is practicing with me this summer. Sam and Zach are coming later. But now…we do about two and a half miles at the beginning…then the real fun starts after that. Sprints…drills…" A male player interrupted his coach. "Real fun if you ask me!" Eric slapped him upside the head. "Ok guys…lets go!"
Anna was doing drills with some of the women's team. She heard someone calling her name. It was Zach. She let the ball roll past her and she starting running towards the bleachers. Zach jumped off the edge, much to the dismay of his sister, who had gone in the direction of where Anna had come from. Anna ran up to Zach and jumped on him. Zach pulled her in for a kiss. They hadn't kissed in public…it felt weird to Anna. But she didn't' seem to really care. "I missed you!" She jumped down and followed him over to Eric. The two men hugged and Zach sat down on the bench to put on his gear. "Sorry we're late Eric. Dad had a doctor's appointment." Eric waved it off. Anna still thought it was eerie that they both did that. Zach stood up and caught the ball that Eric had thrown him. "Let's go coach!"
Eric had paired everyone up. Since there were an odd number of girls, he had to pair Anna with one of his guys. "Ok, Zach I've paired you with Tommy. And Anna, you are with Nate. Anna started running in the direction Eric had pointed. She soon realized that Nate was the guy who had interrupted Eric when he was telling them what to do. "Oh great…I get the wise ass," She said out loud to herself.
Esperanza came running back into the house and placed her camera in its bag. Andy was sitting on the couch eating a slice of pizza. She sat down next to him, and took it. "Thanks, I am starving." "No problem." Andy said as he got up from the couch. "Are you going to that party tonight at Van's?" He asked her. Esperanza got up and followed him into the kitchen, where he conveniently opened a box of pizza and got another slice. "Oh yeah…he came by about an hour ago while you were down by the river." Esperanza sat down at the kitchen table. "Oh…but yeah I was planning on going. You?" Her cousin shook his head, his dark curls moving with it. "I've got to work. But I need to tell you something…that you may not like." Esperanza sat back down in the chair she had just tried to leave. "Ok…I'll try not to hate it." Andy sat down across from her. "You go to that party tonight…but keep your eye on Nevan." "Why?" Esperanza asked him. "Because Esi. I guess Nevan hasn't told you this…and I'm not surprised. He was pretty into cocaine…he said he cleaned up. He just got back from a rehab center a few months ago. But this afternoon when he came over…I saw it in his eyes…he was high." Esperanza didn't know how to deal with this. "So you're telling me that my boyfriend was…or no wait…is a druggie?" Andy nodded cautiously. "That's exactly what I'm telling you. What do have to say?" "Umm…I'm shocked that you would tell me this at this point in time! And I don't know what to say…if I was selfish and idiotic I would storm off after I fussed you out…but I've noticed that he's been acting strange lately…and I care about myself and my well being…so I'll be careful tonight…don't worry." Andy got up and grabbed another piece of pizza. "Thank you for hearing me out. And you might want to go or he'll be mad that you were late." Esperanza didn't hug her cousin or say good bye. She walked out the back door.
Nevan was anxious or nervous about something. Esperanza noticed it when she walked into the party. He walked over to her and kissed her passionately on the lips, but Esperanza could feel his hands shaking. "What's wrong Van?" She asked him, taking his hands in hers. He was sweating profusely as well. He looked around the room and looked up at the ceiling. "Oh nothing babe, I'm fine…enjoy yourself. I'll be right back…" Nevan let his hands slip out of Esperanza's. She watched him walk out of the room. Walking over to the nearest couch, Esperanza sat down next to a girl she had met at the first party she had gone to. "Hey Nicole." Nicole lifted her tanned hand to her mouth and took a sip of the drink she had in her hands. "Oh hey Esther." Esperanza sat back in astonishment. "Nicole…its Esperanza…I was just at your house yesterday." "Oh yeah…I have a bad memory…" Nicole tried to get up, but tripped on another girls shoes and fell over, spilling her drink all over a guy's shirt. Esperanza jumped off of the couch and helped Nicole up. "Come on Nicole…you need to get into a quieter room."
"Oh thanks…Esperaaanza…" The slurred speech came slowly out of Nicole's mouth.
Esperanza helped Nicole into the kitchen and sat her down in a chair. "You need to get home…I'm going to call your house…ok?" Nicole raised her hand to stop Esperanza, but it fell back down and Nicole said nothing. Esperanza called Nicole's house and explained everything to Nicole's older brother. Her brother said that he would be there in about ten minutes, and asked if Esperanza could stay with her while he came. Esperanza hung up the phone and sat down next to Nicole. "Your brother is on his way…" Esperanza's gaze drifted to an open door. She knew it led down to the basement. Getting up, she stepped inside the door. She heard faint noises coming from the room. Quietly and slowly, she made her way down the stairs, but stopped when she came to a point where she could see what was going on. There in the basement of his house, Nevan sat in the corner with two other guys and a girl…smoking weed.
One of them must have heard Esperanza, because they turned. Nevan looked up. Esperanza saw his eyes go wide. He got up to go catch her, but she had already run up the stairs and was out of the house. (In reality she had only stayed in the front yard, she had to wait for Nicole's older brother…but Nevan was too stoned to notice anything different. He had, in reality, only stood up off of the ground.)
Max, Nicole's older brother, found Esperanza sitting on the steps. She wasn't hard to miss. He would recognize that dark and curly hair anywhere. He went up to her and she looked up. "Hey Max…Nicole's inside." Max sat down next to Carmen. "Don't you need to come in and help me find her? I've never been in this house?" Carmen stood up, but didn't move towards the front door. "Actually…I don't think I want to go back in there. She's in the kitchen." Max acknowledged what Esperanza had said and turned to leave. She caught his arm. "And Max…do you think that you could take me back to my house? I don't have a ride…" "Yeah Esperanza. Don't worry about it." Max said as he walked inside the house.
Esperanza was sitting in the front seat with Max. Nicole was passed out in the backseat. Max pulled up into the driveway to let Esperanza out. "Your cousin working tonight?" Esperanza nodded as she unbuckled her seatbelt. She was surprised when Max unbuckled his. "I'm just going to walk you to the door. Can you get in?" Esperanza got out and walked over to Max, who was standing on the side walk. "Yeah…my parent's are home. My brother had a hot date tonight…he has the car." The two were now at the door. "Well thanks for bringing me home Max. I'll come by tomorrow or something and check on Nicole…" Esperanza stated as she went to open the door. "No problem Esperanza. And I'll make sure she's fine…but feel free to come by anyways. She'll be happy to see you." 'Yeah right!' Esi said under her breath. She watched Max get into his car and then she walked inside. Her mom was sitting on the couch watching television. Esperanza went over and joined her. "Mama…this has been a horrible night!"
Carmen let Esperanza lay her head on her lap. "What happened baby?" Esperanza wiped away the tears that were falling. "Before I left tonight Andy told me something that I really didn't want to know…Nevan is a drug addict…he just got back from a drug rehab center a few months ago." "Ahhh Esi…what happened at the party?" Carmen said it like she knew what had happened at the party. Esperanza sat up and pulled her knees up to her chest. "I was there for like five minutes and Nevan disappeared…then Nicole had a mishap so I took her into the kitchen. I heard some voices coming from the basement, so I went down…and I saw him…getting high…so I left…Nicole's older brother brought me home." Carmen pushed her daughter's falling curls out of her face. "Are you going to talk to him about it?" Esperanza shook her head and the curls fell back down. "I'm just going to go to bed…don't wake me up in the morning. I know I was supposed to go shopping with you…but I'm not in the mood Mama."
Esperanza was being shaken by someone. She opened her eyes to find Andy in her face. "What in the hell do you want Andy?" She asked him angrily. Andy moved out of the way of her vision and turned on the television that was in his room. He turned it on to the news. Esperanza saw Nevan's face flash onto the screen.
LALALALALA! Don't you love cliff hangers…this one just came to me…I wasn't going to leave ya hanging, but it's just too much fun! I Just finished watching this thing on the Backstreet Boys…talking about how AJ was a drug addict and how he had all of these problems…inspiration I guess you could say! And don't mind my screw up of all the drug talk…I know nothing of drugs…well I do…but not too much. And I'm watching the news right now…that's where the cliff hanger part came in. So I hope you like this chapter…I had so much trouble trying to write Esi's part. But it came! And I'm trying to decide if I should do something about Max…so please give me your opinion! Love you all! Rachel