"Pop Life"

Chapter 76

I stare out the window and look down at the pool below me.

"Adriana?"

"What?  I'm sorry," I tell my tutor, Jenine.

"I want you to work on that problem now," she says pushing the math book at me.

"Okay," I sigh.

I start working on the Algebra problem and finish it in a matter of minutes.  She looks over the paper and smiles.

"Very good.  You were paying attention."

I smile back.

She looks at her watch.  "I think we can wrap it up.  Have a good weekend, okay?  Got any big plans?"

"My boyfriend's coming to visit," I say beaming.

"That's great.  It's been awhile since you've seen him, hasn't it?" she asks as she gathers her books.

"Yeah, it's been a month."

I stand up and walk her to the door just as the phone rings.  Ashleigh jumps off the couch to run and answer it.

"Bye Jenine.  I'll see you Monday."

"See you later," she says as she waves, walking out the door.

"Adrianaaaaaa, it's for youuuuu," Ashleigh screams.

"Okayyyy, I'm just right hereeeee," I say, mimicking her loud voice.  I put the phone to my ear, thinking it's Brad to confirm last minute plans.  "Hello?"

"Hi Adriana...please don't hang up on me."

I sigh.  It's Darcy.

"I won't hang up."

"I just wanted to see if you wanted to come with me and Tracy and Ginger.  We're going to the movies tomorrow."

"I...I uh can't tomorrow."

"Oh, I see," she says, sounding very disappointed.  "I understand..."

"Brad's coming into town tomorrow.  I haven't seen him for a month."

"Oh.  Well, I'm glad you get to visit with him.  Maybe some other time?"

"Sure.  I really would have gone with you guys if he wasn't going to be here.  I'm..."  I stop and try to collect my thoughts.  "I'm sorry about the way I overreacted to the news thing.  My mama explained things to me and if you say you didn't say things the way they appeared, I believe you.  I know you're not out to intentionally hurt me."

"Thanks...I'm glad you realize that.  I also see what you were saying about accidentally saying things though.  I only meant to help."

"I know."

"Well, have fun.  Tell Brad I said hi," she laughs.

"I will.  Have fun at the movies."

"Okay.  Bye."

"Bye."

I hang up the phone and smile.

"Let me guess...Brad," daddy says in a girly tone when he walks in the room and sees me smiling. 

I laugh and put the phone back on the receiver.  "No, actually that was Darcy.  I think we kinda made up."

"That's good.  So, have you decided if you're coming with me to pick Brad up from the airport tomorrow?"

"I think I'll wait here since I can't go in anyway."

He nods as mama walks in the room.

"Do I have everything?" she asks looking in her purse.

"Probably not," daddy says rolling his eyes.

"Where are you guys going?"

"Another doctor visit," daddy says rubbing mama's tummy.

"Do you get to bring back a picture?" Ashleigh asks from the couch she's sitting on.

"We'll bring one back," mama says.  She walks over to her and kisses the top of her head.  "Be good for sissy."

"Cody should be home in less than an hour," daddy says looking at his watch.  "His friend's mom is bringing him home from play rehearsal."

I nod.  "Okay. Bye," I say as they walk to their car.

I look out the front window when I think I hear another car pull up.

"Adriana, you're making me nervous," mama says from the dining room table.

"Sorry," I say, biting my nails.

Finally I see daddy's car pull up.

"He's here," I scream, which makes mama jump.

I open the front door and walk down the front steps to the driveway.  The passenger side door opens and Brad steps out just as I reach him.  I jump into his arms and he swings me back and forth.

"I missed you," he says.

"I missed you too," I say.

He sets me down and stares into my eyes.  Even though I know my daddy is on the other side of the car, probably watching, I pull Brad's shoulders down so that our lips meet.  I kiss him slowly and then back away.  I think daddy avoided watching that by getting Brad's bag out of the trunk.

"How was your flight?" I ask as I take his hand and lead him into the house.

"I'll just get this," daddy says from behind us.

"Oh, sorry sir," Brad says, heading back to retrieve his bag.

Daddy laughs.  "I was only kidding Brad, go ahead, my daughter missed you."

He smiles.  "Thank you."

Mama and Ashleigh are standing at the door with smiles on their faces.

"Hi ma'am," he says as he leans down and gives mama a kiss on the cheek.

"Hello Brad.  I'm glad you got the time to take us up on our offer."

"I would have been here sooner if I could have been, trust me," he smiles.

"Hey big girl.  Where did Ashleigh go?  Last time I saw her, she wasn't this tall," he says bending down to be eye level with Ashleigh.

She laughs.  "I did grow an inch."

"That's great.  I knew it," he says patting her on top of her head as he stands up.

We walk inside and I say, "Let me show you the room you'll stay in."

Daddy hands Brad his bag and we walk down the hallway.

"Is this your room?" he asks as we pass by my room.

"Yeah.  How did you know?"

He rolls his eyes.  "Well I could tell it wasn't Cody's and I imagine Ashleigh's room having a lot of her paintings and stuff all over.  Besides, this room smells like you," he whispers.

I smile and we continue to walk to the guestroom.

I push the door open and turn on the light.  When he walks into the room I close to door and stand behind him.  He turns around and doesn't realize how close I am so he laughs.

"Well, hello."

"Hi."

We pretty much attack each other.  Our hands seem to be everywhere and our mouths are frantic on one another's.

"I missed this," I mumble in between kisses.

"I missed feeling you," he says.

While we're still kissing he sits down on the bed and pulls me to sit on his lap.  His arms go around my waist as I wrap my arms around his neck.

"We better stop," he says breathlessly.

"Why?" I ask as I start kissing his neck.

He moans.  "Because your parent's probably know what we're doing in here and they'll knock any second now."

I kiss his neck two more times and pull away.

"You're probably right."

He studies my face and runs a couple of fingers through my hair and then tucks it behind my ear.

"I think you've gotten even more beautiful."

I blush.  "Thank you.  I think you got more handsome," I say tracing his jaw line.  "So tell me all about what you've been writing."

"Oh, I brought my guitar...it's in your dad's car.  I was going to play you a song."

"Ohhh, go get it."

"Now?" he laughs.

"Yes, I want to hear it now," I say standing up.

"No, I just want to spend time with you right now.  I'll play something later."

There's a knock on the door.

"Adriana, your mama's fixing lunch, we wanted to know if you two were hungry?" daddy's voice booms from the other side of the door.

Brad and I look at each other and laugh into our hands.

"Yeah, we'll be right out," I yell.  "Oh God, you know my parent's too well," I say.

"They'll be right out," Justin says with a Cheshire cat grin on his face as he walks into the kitchen.

Britney looks up from the deli platter she's fixing.

"What did you do?  You didn't barge in on them, did you?" she asks in a serious tone.

"I just told them that you're fixing lunch, that's all.  And no, I didn't barge in."

Britney hides her laugh behind her hand.  "I told you to give them a few minutes alone."

"I did.  I gave them five," he says holding up five fingers.

She shakes her head.  "You're terrible."

He sits down at the island and grabs a slice of turkey before Britney can slap his hand and he drops it into his mouth.

"I'm not terrible...I'm a concerned father."

"Just think what it would have been like if either of my parent's had interrupted us after not seeing each other for weeks."

"I was thinking about that...that's why I did it."

Ashleigh comes running into the room.

"What time do we leave tonight?" she asks as she leans on Justin's leg.

"The play starts at eight so we'll leave here a little after seven.  Why?" Justin asks running his fingers through her hair.

"I just wanted to know how much time I had to get ready."

"You're so beautiful, you only need a minute," Justin winks at her.  She smiles up at him.

Britney gets a few loaves of bread from the counter and places them next to the deli tray.

"Go ahead and fix your sandwich," she tells Ashleigh.

Brad and I walk into the kitchen.

"Do you want something to drink?" I ask him as I walk over to the refrigerator.

"Water's fine," he says standing next to daddy.

"I left my guitar in your car."

"Oh, you going to play something for us later?  Maybe you and Justin can have a jam session or something," mama says.

"That would be cool," Brad agrees.

"Here you go," I say as Brad walks over to me.

"What's this?" he asks pointing to the picture of the ultrasound that's on the refrigerator door.

"Oh, that's my ultrasound picture from yesterday.  Ashleigh wanted to put it up there," mama says as she helps Ashleigh reach the pickles.

"Isn't she cute?" Ashleigh asks.

I laugh.  "She's bound and determined to think the baby's a girl."

"Are you going to find out the sex of the baby?" Brad asks.  He's now standing at the island watching Ashleigh finish making her sandwich.

"We haven't decided yet.  We think maybe we will this time," daddy says.

"Go ahead Brad, help yourself," mama says.

"Thank you."

"You coming to the play with us tonight?" Ashleigh asks as she takes her plate to the table to sit down.

"What play?" Brad asks.

"Cody's in a play at school.  They're going tonight," I tell him.

He looks at me.  "Did you want to go?  We can go, I'd love to see him perform."

"You would?"

He smiles and nods.

"Good, because tonight is opening night and I really wanted to be there."

"Then we'll go."

We all make sandwiches and sit down at the table, making small talk.

"So is it what you thought it would be...being in this group?" daddy asks before he takes a bite of his sandwich.

Brad finishes his bite and says, "It's different.  I tried not to go in with any expectations, so I think that helped.  The guys are really great.  They welcomed me in right away.  I think they were just desperate for a keyboard player," he laughs.

"It's not desperation that will help you get along with them.  It takes more than that to become a family with them and I think that's important."

Brad looks over at him and nods.  "Actually, my uncle used to talk about *Nsync a lot and how he liked how close you guys were.  So when I was old enough I watched some old videos of you guys and read some stuff and I saw what he meant.  It helped you on stage as a group to be close like that off-stage."

Daddy nods.  "I always felt that way.  I never understood how you could go on stage every night and have to trust these other people in your group like that and not be close to them."

"So have you decided on a name for the band yet?" mama asks.

"We've narrowed it down to two, I think.  Either Unrefined or The Transformed."  He shrugs.  "I just let them talk, I don't care if we are called Those Guys," he kids.

"I like that name," Ashleigh smiles.

"Those Guys?" Brad asks.

She nods.

He starts to scratch his chin.  "I'll let them know," he winks at her.

"Adriana, we're ready to go," mama yells up the stairs for me.

"Okay, I'm almost finishedddd," I yell back.

I turn around, looking in the mirror one last time and nod.  "Good enough."

As I walk down the stairs my whole family is staring at me.

"What?"

"Oh nothing, we've only been waiting for fifteen minutes," daddy says, trying to act like he's irritated.

"Oh sorry," I say, giving him a kiss on the cheek.  It works every time.

"Let's go," I say before we head out to the SUV, on our way to Cody's school.

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