Staggered through these Empty Streets

"I met a guy." Angela boasted to Rayanne and Ricky, who had finally found time to spend with each other. It seemed like forever since they just sat down and chilled out over popcorn and meaningless chatter.

"Ooh. Spill." Ricky focused his full attention to Angela who was completely loving it.

"I met him this afternoon." Angela began.

"In that little bit of time I left you alone?" Ricky interrupted while Angela nodded, eager to finish her story.

"Anyway, it happened when I was on the phone with you Rae. I wasn't looking where I was going and I bumped into this guy … he's totally different from all the other guys I've met before." She added with a smile.

"And what about Catalano?" Rayanne chimed in, bursting Angela's bubble, while Ricky nudged her. "I had to ask. Just yesterday you were so caught up with him that you could barely get out of bed. And now look at you."

"Are you calling me fickle?" Angela stood up, amazing that her friends seemed to be supporting her in everything, but this.

"Rayanne's just saying that maybe you should fix one situation before you jump into another one." Ricky added, trying to ease the tension.

"So, you're on her side?"

"I'm not taking sides." Ricky sighed. "What do you know about this guys anyway."

Angela looked down and away, tucking her deep red hair behind her ear. "Nothing." She shrugged, now forced to think about and focus on Jordan and no one else. "I just invited him here, but don't worry … he probably won't come anyway."

"So what are we doing tonight?" Jordan wondered, never able to keep up or remember what was on their schedule.

"Well, we had to cancel our magazine shoot because you walked out." Trixie complained, upset that Jordan was interfering with her big debut.

"That's not what I asked." He mumbled.

"We have a radio show tonight and … some business party." Tino answered, walking past the two and into his own private room.

"So I guess I have to go then." Jordan looked down at the paper he had gotten from Angela earlier … not wanting anyone else to know what was going on, even though there was nothing to know about … he was never going to see her again anyway.

"I don't know why we can't just go there and surprise him." Isabella pouted, getting bored with Eric quickly. "I mean everyone loves me here … and everywhere. Why can't I do like Britney and take some time off?"

"Well, first of all, Britney's career is quickly falling because of that break." Gwynne chimed in.

"Yeah, well Britney's old news. And someone will need to be replacing her soon." Eric suggested, referring to Isabella.

"Replace her?" Isabella scoffed. "I'm already better than her. And with that, I demand a break."

"But I don't think--"

"Don't think hon, just do." Isabella motioned for Eric to hand her the phone, wanting to talk to Jordan again.

"I'm so excited." Angela admitted to Rayanne, even though they had had an argument earlier. They had been friends for years and one stupid argument wasn't going to tear them apart.

"So, what does he look like?"

"He's tall, has dark hair … mysterious." Angela grinned, happily.

"Was he wearing a black coat?" Angela nodded as Rayanne directed her attention to the door. "I think I saw him."

"Really?" Rayanne nodded as Angela rushed to the door. She had to know if he was here.

"Angela. Angela Chase." A tall, lanky blonde-haired guy stepped in front of her path, delaying her seconds of waiting to minutes.

"Yeah. Hi." She smiled, trying to peer behind him to see if "Dan" was out there waiting for her.

"It's Brian."

"Brian Krakow." They said in union as her jaw dropped. He had gone from being a complete goober to having enough social skills to pass as someone with a life.

"Wow. It's nice to see you." She nodded, as he gave her a hug they continued talking about what they'd been up to since high school.

"This is the business party?" Jordan rolled his eyes. Of course, it was at the exact same time as the party Angela invited him to. He really wished that he could've been there to see her to …

"You coming in?" Trixie wondered as Jordan followed her into the house. He hadn't even bothered to look at the directions Angela gave him because he knew that it wasn't going to happen.

"Guess I have to." He put his phone on vibrate, knowing that his manager would probably get upset that he wasn't going to answer, but also knowing that Isabella would be calling him every five minutes about wedding plans or how much she missed him.

"Hey Jordan. Come meet Mr. Vasquez. He's going to be taking care our of in-town security and hotel business." Tino informed him as Jordan rolled his eyes.

"Hey." Jordan barely looked up, noticing that he was standing face to face with one of Angela Chase's best friends. "Jordan Catalano." They shook hands as Jordan looked around, trying to figure out how he was going to get out of this and answer his phone.

"I'm Ricky Vasquez." Jordan looked up abruptly, immediately thinking of Angela. "Yes, she's here."

(A/N: Val, you were right. I did mess up … I meant that when Jordan first saw her, she reminded him of Angela, but it wasn't until the end that he realized that he was talking to Angela. I'll fix it. Thanks!! Special thanks to: Selma, Jill, and clairedanesfanatic for reviewing!—NL)