Chapter
17
“Hey,
girls, you up to doing something tonight?” Howie asked. It was Friday night, and the four girls had
just been hanging around in their hotel when Howie had knocked at their door.
“Yeah,
sure,” Serena replied. “What did you
have in mind?”
“I
thought we could go dancing or something,” Howie said.
“I’m
in,” Jenna immediately said.
“Yeah,
me too,” Elyssa agreed. They all looked
to Ashalyn.
She
shrugged. “I don’t know, guys, I’m
pretty tired. I think I’ll just stay
here,” she said.
“Aw,
come on, Ash,” Jenna protested. “We’re
in New York. They have awesome clubs
here. You’ve gotta come with us.”
“Jen,
I really don’t feel like it,” Ashalyn insisted.
“You guys go ahead without me.”
Jenna
was about to press her more, but Elyssa shot her a look saying, Give it up. Jenna rolled her eyes, but shut her mouth.
“So,
who all’s going?” Elyssa asked casually.
“I
know for sure that Nick, AJ, and I are going,” Howie said. “I’m not sure if Bri and Kev want to or not.”
“When
are we leaving?” Serena asked.
“About
nine or so,” Howie said. It was eight
then.
“Ok,
we’ll be ready,” Elyssa said.
“Ok
then,” Howie replied. “See ya later.”
“Bye,”
Serena said, ushering him out the door.
“Come
on, let’s get ready,” Jenna said, jumping up.
“We’ve only got an hour.”
Ashalyn
watched as the three of them scrambled around, getting themselves pulled
together. She felt detached from the
activity, yet the thought of going dancing exhausted her. Normally, she would have gone with them, but
she still wasn’t over Mike, and she knew she wouldn’t have any fun anyway.
Obviously
Brian felt the same way, because at nine, only Howie, AJ, Nick, and Kevin
showed up.
“Hello,
ladies,” AJ said, grinning, especially at Elyssa. “Ready to go?”
“Yup,”
Elyssa said. She looked back at Jenna,
who was hurriedly putting her shoes on.
“Even Jen’s ready.”
“Great,”
Nick said, smiling at Jenna. “Let’s go.”
“You’re
not coming, Ash?” Kevin asked, as Jenna, Elyssa, and Serena grabbed their
purses.
“Naw,”
Ashalyn said. “I don’t really feel up to
it tonight.”
“Oh,
okay,” Kevin said, offering her a sympathetic smile. “I understand. Brian’s feeling the same way. Maybe you should go hang with him tonight.”
“Yeah,
maybe,” Ashalyn said. “Well, have fun
guys.”
“See
ya, Ash,” they all said and left, leaving her alone.
***
Two
hours later, Elyssa, Jenna, Serena, Nick, Howie, Kevin, and AJ were having a
great time at the club. Kevin was having
a drink off by himself, while Jenna and Nick were dancing. AJ sat with Elyssa off at a table in the
corner. They had been together like that
for most of the night, much to Jenna’s dismay.
But she was having fun with Nick, so she didn’t take much notice to them
anymore. Meanwhile, Serena and Howie had
also spent the whole night together.
They were also on the dance floor.
The
fast song that was on ended, and a slow song started.
“Hey,
you wanna dance?” AJ asked Elyssa.
“Sure,”
she said casually. AJ offered her his
hand and led her out to the dance floor.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, and she let hers drape loosely
around his neck. He pulled her close to
him, and they began to dance.
Jenna
watched as AJ pulled Elyssa close to his body, and she wrapped her arms tighter
around Nick’s neck. Happy, Nick wrapped
his around her waist, and they also began to sway with the music. Nick gazed at Jenna the whole time. But her attention was not on him. She was looking over his shoulder, to where
Elyssa and AJ were. Her eyes narrowed as
she watched them.
Meanwhile,
Serena was pulled close to Howie, and she leaned up against his broad chest as
they danced.
After
the song ended, a fast song started up.
“You wanna step outside for some air?” Howie asked, speaking over the
music.
“Sure,”
Serena said. Howie took her hand and
led her outside to the front of the club, which was nearly deserted.
“So,
are you having fun?” Howie asked.
Serena
grinned up at him. “I’m havin’ a great
time,” she said.
“Good,”
Howie said, smiling back. He cleared his
throat. “Hey, Rena… what would you say
if I asked you to be my girlfriend?”
She
grinned, her cheeks turning rather pink.
“I’d say yes,” she said.
He
returned her smile, his eyes lighting up.
“Well then, Serena, will you?”
“Of
course,” Serena said, kissing him lightly on the cheek. Howie grinned again and put his arm around
her waist. She lay her head against his
shoulder, and they slowly walked back inside, together.
***
