The alarm clock in AJ's room went off. He let it ring for about a minute then finally got pissed of and hit it with his pillow, knocking it off of his desk. It stayed silent for about five seconds then started to ring again. AJ finally got up, got his pool stick and smashed the alarm clock and went back to bed. His mother came upstairs to find out what all the noise was about. She looked at the mess of a alarm clock on the floor and then at the bed. "You could have just turned it off, you know. Exactly how do you plan to get up every morning now? I'm not going to wake you up," she said.
From under the covers, AJ said, "I'll just buy another one later."
"AJ, what's wrong? You've been up in your room ever since you came home last night. It's already noon, you need to get up," said AJ's mom.
"I don't feel good," said AJ.
"Do you need to see the doctor?" asked AJ's mom.
"NO, I just need some rest. I'll be fine, Mom," said AJ.
"Alright. There's lunch downstairs if you want any," said AJ's mom, as she left. Once AJ heard the door close, he took the cover away from his face and stared at the ceiling again.
Tomi walked into his room and saw AJ staring blankly at the ceiling. "Is there something that interesting on the ceiling, AJ?" asked Tomi.
AJ, a bit startled, said, "Tomi? What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see how you were doing. Exactly when are you going to get up so we can go talk to Nick?" asked Tomi.
"I highly doubt he's going to talk to me," said AJ.
"He's going to have to talk to you someday," said Tomi.
"No he doesn't," said AJ, trying to get out of the situation.
"You are going to talk to him, AJ. I'm going to make sure of that," said Tomi, pulling the covers off of AJ, revealing him in only boxers.
AJ turned bright red and said, "Alright, alright, at least let me get dressed!" He ran into his bathroom. Tomi blushed but started to laugh her head off.
Meanwhile, Brian was over at Nick's. Nick was also staring blankly at his ceiling. "Nick, you aren't going to find anything on that ceiling, I promise. You've been staring at it all day since I got here and probably before that. Come on, talk," said Brian
Nick sighed and said, "Talk about what?"
"Hmmm, maybe about what happened last night?" asked Brian.
"I told you, I saw AJ and Misty kissing," said Nick.
"Did you talk to AJ or Misty after that?" asked Brian.
"No," said Nick.
"So you don't know why or exactly what happened," said Brian.
"I saw them kissing, what more explanation do I need?" asked Nick.
"Probably why it happened? AJ wouldn't do something like that to you, man," said Brian.
"But it did happen," said Nick, "Brian, he's had the longest crush on Misty."
"Him and about every guy in school," said Brian.
"As much as I'd like to sit here and argue with you all day, I have to go to work," said Nick.
"Fine, I'll drive you to work. Just promise me one thing," said Brian.
"What?" asked Nick.
"Talk to AJ," said Brian.
Nick sighed, "Fine, I will, later."
Brian dropped off Nick at work and then drove himself down to the park. A few minutes after Nick clocked on for his shift, Misty showed up. Nick was putting some videos away and right when he turned around, Misty was standing there in front of him with a smirk. "Hi, Misty…" said Nick.
"Hi, Nick. Sorry we didn't tell you earlier," said Misty.
"Sorry you didn't tell me what earlier? And who is "we"?" asked Nick.
"Why, that me and AJ are going out. I'm sure that surprised you yesterday when you saw us kissing," said Misty.
Nick dropped the remaining videos that were in his hands and froze. "What?" asked Nick, hoping he heard wrong.
"Nick, you're cute and all, but you're so boring. AJ's just a lot more exciting. Anyways, I'll see you around," said Misty, walking off, and pretty proud of the mess she just made. Nick couldn't handle it anymore and walked out of the store. AJ got dressed and he and Tomi drove off to Nick's workplace. AJ got even more nervous seeing Nick right in front of him. "I think I need to go to the bathroom," said AJ, trying to make a run for it. Tomi quickly grabbed him by the collar.
"The last time you said you needed to go to the bathroom, you disappeared on us. You're going in now," said Tomi. Right when they were about to walk in, Nick stormed out. "Nick!"
Nick didn't see AJ or Tomi as he passed them, but stopped when he heard Tomi's voice. He turned around and saw AJ. He walked right up to him and grabbed him by the collar. "Why didn't you tell me?!" demanded Nick.
"Nick, stop!" said Tomi, trying to pull him away from AJ.
"Tell you what?!" asked AJ.
"You know very well what," said Nick, punching him in the face and walking off.
"Nick!" said Tomi.
"Forget it," said AJ, getting into his car and driving off.
"AJ!!" said Tomi, but she ran after Nick and stopped him. "Nick, what's going on?!"
"I just want to be left alone!" said Nick, pushing Tomi out of his way.
"Nickolas Gene Carter, damn it, STOP!" said Tomi. Nick stopped but didn't turn around. Tomi held onto Nick's shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. "Tell me what the hell is going on."
"Didn't AJ tell you? He and Misty are going out," said Nick.
"What?! What in the hell are you talking about?!" asked Tomi.
"I saw them kissing yesterday and I thought something might be up. Today, Misty came up to me and told me that they were going out. I didn't want to believe it but I guess something was up," said Nick.
"So just because Misty said that they were going out, you're going to believe it?! Nick, we're talking about one of your best friends here! He would never do that to you!" said Tomi.
"Tomi, I saw them kissing, it DID happen," said Nick.
"WHAT happened? Nick, you saw them kissing, that's all you saw," said Tomi.
"What else do I need to see? Do I need to be hurt more?!" asked Nick.
"Nick, just think about it. First off, you only heard Misty's side of the story. You didn't even attempt to talk to AJ. He came here to explain what the hell happened but instead you hit him. Maybe you didn't see everything. Did you ever think about maybe AJ didn't want to be kissed by his best friend's girlfriend?" asked Tomi.
Nick stood their silently and calmed down a bit. "I gotta get back to work," he said, walking past Tomi.
"Nick, please," said Tomi, almost begging.
"I'll talk to you later," said Nick, walking back into the store. Tomi ran to a payphone and made a few phone calls. She called AJ's house to see if he went back there and his Mom said that he wasn't there. She then called his work but no luck there either. She tried Brian and Kevin's house but no one was home. Finally, she called Howie.
"Hello?" Howie said as he answered the phone.
"Howie? Is AJ over there?" asked Tomi.
"No, I haven't seen him. Why, what's wrong?" asked Howie.
"Let's just go for Nick and AJ didn't do much talking. I have no clue where AJ went," said Tomi.
"What happened?" asked Howie.
"It seems that Misty made this situation oh so better by telling Nick that her and AJ were going out," said Tomi.
"What?!" said Howie.
"Yeah, it's news to me too. I think it's going to be news to AJ as well," said Tomi.
"Where are you right now?" asked Howie.
"I'm at Nick's work," said Tomi.
"Okay, meet me at the park. I think I know where he is," said Howie.
"Alright, but it might take me a while," said Tomi, hanging up the phone.
Howie got into his car and drove down to the park. Brian was there watching some kids play some basketball when he saw Howie pull up. He walked up to the car and said, "Hey, Howie."
"Hey, Brian. What are you doing here?" asked Howie.
"Well, since I can't play any basketball, I thought I might watch some. What's up?" asked Brian.
"It seems that Nick and AJ didn't do much talking. Courtesy of Misty," said Howie. Brian rolled his eyes, "What happened now?" he asked.
"It seems that Misty told Nick that her and AJ were going out," said Howie.
"What?!" said Brian.
"That's what I said. Come with me for a second," said Howie, walking into the small forest next to the basketball court. Brian followed. There, they saw AJ sitting down next to a tree, smoking. "It seems like I'm not the only predictable one."
"What are you two doing here?" asked AJ.
"Tomi said you were missing. I thought you might be here. I remember finding you here once when we were younger. This was my hiding spot and one day I come down here because I got in trouble with my Mom, and I find you camping out here, for the same reason," said Howie.
"Yeah, yeah, memories, how sweet. So what do you want?" asked AJ.
"It seems that Misty talked to Nick today," said Howie.
"Oh joy," said AJ, taking another puff.
"And told Nick that you two were going out," said Howie.
AJ dropped his cigarette and choked on the smoke. Brian quickly put out the cigarette before AJ became responsible for a forest fire. "What?! Me and who are going out?!" asked AJ.
"According to Misty, you and Misty," said Brian.
"Yeah right!" said AJ.
"You need to talk to Nick," said Brian.
"I tried that earlier today. I don't want to lose anymore teeth, thanks," said AJ.
"So what are you going to do?" asked Howie.
"I don't know what the hell I'm going to do alright? I can't talk to him because he ain't gonna listen to me. I have no friggin clue on what to do, alright?!" said AJ, getting pissed off.
"What if we all talk to him?" asked Brian.
"No, that's okay, Brian. I don't want all of us to get hit. Look, I just want to be alone, alright?" said AJ, getting up and walking off.
"AJ, we're trying to help," said Howie.
"Yeah, well, thanks. But I don't think there's anything you guys can do right now," said AJ, walking off to his car.
Brian sighed. "Well, that did wonders. Let's go talk to Nick when he gets off from work," said Brian.
"I guess that's all we can do now," said Howie.
AJ drove down to McDonalds to check his working schedule. He pulled out the book from the other side of the counter and sat down at one of the tables. Someone tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around. "Yeah?" he asked. It was Misty.
"Hey, sweetie," said Misty.
"What the hell do you want from me?" asked AJ.
"Aww, is that any way for you to talk to your new girlfriend?" asked Misty.
"And exactly what the hell have you been smoking? Since when the hell am I your boyfriend?" asked AJ.
"Since I told Nick today," said Misty.
"And you think I'm going to go out with you because why?" asked AJ.
"Why not?" asked Misty.
AJ stood up. "You have the damn nerve to ask me why not? I guess your small head can't handle too much information. I'll tell you why. Because you ruined my life, you ruined my damn life! What the hell did I ever do to you? You now want me to be your boyfriend? Haven't you done enough damage to my life?! Just stay the hell away from me," said AJ, pushing Misty away and walking out of McDonalds.
When Nick got off from work, Howie, Tomi, and Brian were all waiting for him outside. Nick rolled his eyes and asked, "You guys are here again?"
"Nick, we need to settle this stupid misunderstanding," said Brian.
"Whatever, I'm going home," said Nick.
"Fine, we'll settle it at your house. Get in the van," said Howie, "Unless you want to walk home."
"Fine," said Nick, getting into the van.
Howie drove all of them down to Nick's house and they gathered in the living room. Tomi came from the kitchen and said, "I paged AJ for the 5th time and he still hasn't called back."
"We'll worry about that later," said Howie, "Nick, you need to give AJ a chance to explain."
"I don't think I need the details of kissing my girlfriend, Howie," said Nick.
"Nick, stop being such an asshole," said Tomi.
"I didn't do anything," said Nick.
"Well you're doing a really good job of being an asshole right now," said Brian.
Silence. No one knew what else to say. There really wasn't much to say until AJ was there as well. Aaron came downstairs from his room and asked, "Why is everyone yelling so much lately?"
"It's nothing, Aaron," said Tomi.
"Hey Nick, why are you mad at AJ?" asked Aaron.
"I don't want to discuss it right now, Aaron," said Nick.
"Was it because he was pushing Misty yesterday?" asked Aaron.
"Look Aaron, I… what did you just say?" asked Nick.
"I asked if you were mad at AJ because he was pushing Misty yesterday in the backyard," said Aaron.
"Aaron, you saw AJ pushing Misty?" asked Brian.
"Yeah," answered Aaron.
"Aaron, what did you see yesterday?" asked Tomi.