A/N: Hey guys! I've been really busy at school, but thanks to the wondrous air quality here in Orange County, I get time to continue with my stories!

Ahem. Where were we?

Oh yes…

Reunions

Chapter 2

It was a week since Derek left, and Marti was well into her summer vacation. The date with Matt wasn't as tender as she'd hoped, since instead of Little Italy's, they had gone toLamppost Pizza with his football buddies. Nonetheless, Marti was over it, and enjoyed investing time into taking other boys' phone numbers. On this particular day, though, she was bored out of her mind. She had a summer project to do, but she would never be thatdesperate. Instead, she decided to try calling Casey, again.

She took her cell out of her pocket, since the home phone was about six feet from where she was, and dialed Casey's number.

Casey, please pick up…Oh God! Don't let it be Ryan…

Apparently, God wasn't very happy with her today.

"Hello?" the same deep, enthralling voice spoke through the speaker.

"Oh…hi Ryan! This is Marti…umm…Is Casey there?"

"Actually, yes! She just got back…Hey baby, how did your day go? Marti called. Here you go."—A bunch of undefined noises—

"Hey, Marti! What's up?" Casey's voice was clear and sounded really happy.

"Oh, nothing…just kind of bored…I wanted to know what you've been up to." Marti didn't exactly know what else to say. With Ryan probably sitting right next to Casey, Marti couldn't even think of talking about Matt.

"Oh, Smarti, I almost forgot! Now don't tell anyone, this. It's top secret! –a shriek- You're the first to know…Ryan and I are getting married!"

Wow. Marti didn't really know what to say. Was she happy? Was she upset? Was she worried? She had no idea.

"Case, that's – that's great! Congrats! I wish I could be there…err…you could be here…"

"I know it's kind of sudden, so you need to remember not to tell Nora or George, all right? They would have a heart attack."

"No, umm…I don't think so…they can be very understanding at times…" Marti had absolutely no idea what she, herself, was saying. She was in complete shock.

-PAUSE-

"You okay, Marti?" Casey's voice through the receiver was starting to crack.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine…umm…I just—I just broke up with my boyfriend…well, he's not exactly my boyfriend – well, not anymore…but…you know,"

"Oh, sweetie! I was just rambling on about my love life, and I forgot about you. So tell me all about it…"

Just as Marti was going to spill her guts out to her sister, Casey giggled, yelled "Stop it!" to Ryan, presumably, and said, "Oh! Can I talk to you later, hon? I'm getting late for a – a conference at my workplace…Bye!"

Yeah right, thought Marti, more like a conference in her bed. How young does she think I am? Marti hit the off button on her phone and adjusted her i-pod earphones. The rest of the day passed by pretty quickly.

Lizzie was coming home from college on the fine Sunday morning of another lazy summer day.

"Hey, Marti! Look at how you've grown! Are you still playing soccer?" Lizzie asked, her blue eyes wide.

Gaak…what could I say to that? Marti thought, as she recalled her current height and the hope for a future growth spurt.

"Thanks…I guess…umm…no, I'm not playing soccer anymore…too much competition…the girls were, uh…cramping my style." Stupid line…

"Right…hey, speaking of that, did you go to that summer camp in the States?"

"Well, am I in the States right now?"

"Don't try to act smart with me!" Lizzie shrieked, and then giggled good-heartedly.

"Hey, I've heard that Edwin's University is only a few miles away from yours. Did you meet him there?" Marti asked earnestly. She shouldn't have. Lizzie's face went pale.

"Well…um…you know I drove there…" Lizzie scratched her head, gulped, and then continued, "…a couple of times…you know to…umm…get some books that he had, and that I didn't want to buy."

Oh boy, that was awkward. Moving on…

"Oh, I see…Well when is he coming?" Marti inquired.

"Marti! Lizzie! It's time for dinner!" Nora called from downstairs.

"Be there in a minute, Mom!" Lizzie said, then jumped off Marti's bed and ran downstairs.

Marti's POV

Casey called. After her naughtiness with Ryan I'd witnessed via the phone, I felt like vomiting when I heard her voice again. I motioned for Lizzie to pick it up, but she was reading a magazine.

"Hey, Marti! You're probably surprised that I called, myself, this time," Casey said.

"A little, I guess…So, what's up, Case? Would you like to talk to Nora or Dad?"

"Oh, you read my mind so well! My mom, please," Casey's voice faded out, and I went and gave the phone to Nora.

Blah, Blah, Blah….talk, talk, talk…chatter, uh-huh, yeah, yeah

"Oh, guess what, everybody? Casey's coming over! Oh, and I just realized, Casey doesn't know that Derek is coming, too! It's going to be like old times, isn't it?!!" Nora exclaimed, a little creepily. I'm glad she was happy, though – I guess Casey didn't tell her about her mischievous friend.

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The day on which Casey arrived had a clear blue sky and the fresh Canadian breeze was noticeable in the air. Lizzie and Casey were in tears when they "reunited" after all the hugs and kisses. Derek was coming next week, but I wish he'd come today. When Ryan got out of the car and attempted to pick up the luggage himself to impress everyone, whispered questions were being shot like cannons at Casey. Haha…that's what she gets.

Ryan was definitely good-looking. His hair was this fresh, new, short to medium length. It was dark red in color and his eyes were this really pretty brown. His arms – not so attractive, but, hey, no one's perfect, right?

Well, I decided to help Ryan with his luggage since he wasn't looking so good, and his hand seemed to brush upon something that shouldn't be brushed upon, but I disregarded that – probably just an accident.

Well, that afternoon passed pretty quickly. Emily, Casey's best friend, came over with her family, and attention was mostly on Casey, obviously. She then gulped down one too many martinis. She put an arm around Ryan, and coaxed him into a deep kiss.

Once that was done, Casey announced that she and Ryan were engaged and going to be married very soon. Though Nora and Dad were a bit disappointed that she would make such a big decision by herself after only a few months of dating, they applauded, and sat down Casey and Ryan for a long talk after everyone had left.

I was too tired and disgusted to go back down there, but Lizzie and I hung out in my room, talking about things (definitely not mentioning Edwin) until she, too, decided to get ready for bed.

After some time, I changed into a tank top and sweat pants to go to bed, when I heard a knocking on my door. I went to check, but the door swung open and I realized that I was only centimeters away from Ryan.

"I'm guessing this isn't the bathroom…" Ryan said, unconvincingly, but before he went out of the room, put a hand right over my spaghetti strap, and held it there, looking into my eyes, and said, "You have beautiful eyes."

I shrugged my shoulder out of his grip and informed him, "You know, the bathroom is right across from here."

"Thanks, babe," he said, and then left, much to my joy.

Ryan was sleeping in Derek's room for tonight, since Casey wasn't able to convince her mom that they were all grown-up now and deserved to sleep in the same room…I would definitely talk to Casey about him tomorrow.

A/N: So, do ye like it? Tell me what you think. Any kind of feedback is appreciated...