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After we landed, AJ immediately spotted Riley waiting for him. His face lit up as he swung her around. She giggled at him and hugged him tightly. As the rest of us approached them, she turned and welcomed Nick, Howie and I with hugs, too. We went and picked up our bags at the claim then headed out to Riley’s Suburban.

“Did you guys have fun?” Riley questioned as she pulled out of the airport.

“It was a blast, baby. You have to come with us next time. I got you a souvenir, though!” AJ grinned widely as he looked at her from the passenger side seat.

“What about you boys?” she looked at us in the rearview mirror.

“It was so cool, Ri!” I smiled at her, leaning up in my seat. “We had a lot of fun in the snow and AJ got pictures of the moose that Nick almost hit!”

“You almost hit a MOOSE?!?” Riley exclaimed with wide eyes. She looked from AJ to Nick with a shocked expression. AJ snickered and nodded but Nick rolled his eyes.

“I didn’t almost hit it! I stopped in plenty of time,” Nick narrowed his eyes but ended up grinning.

“I still got some cool pictures of it though. That thing was HUGE, Ri!”

“I’m sure it was,” she giggled and shook her head as she pulled into our driveway. “You three should come over tomorrow around noon and we will have a barbeque. I have been lonely without you knuckleheads here to bug me.”

“Knuckleheads? Is that what you think of us?” AJ scrunched his eyebrows and frowned. Riley rolled her eyes, as we all got out of the Suburban, and then hit him lightly on the arm.

“You know I can’t live without you guys. Fortunately for me, I don’t think I could get rid of any of you, even if I tried,” she smiled at him.

“That’s because we love you and you love us back. Right?” I smirked. AJ shot me a look, but I ignored it.

“Oh for pete sake, I guess I’m not good at hiding it am I?” she chuckled while throwing her arm around my neck, pretending to choke me. Playing along, I gently elbowed her in the ribs causing her to fall to the ground, pretending to be hurt.

“How could you, Baylee?” AJ gasped as he flung himself on his girlfriend.

“She started it!” Nick stepped up beside AJ.

“Wanna make something of it?” AJ cocked an eyebrow. I was well aware of where this was headed. Howie shook his head as he began unloading our bags.

“I think you already did!” Nick countered, poking AJ’s chest.

“Hello? Dying girlfriend down here!”

“Aw, I’m sorry, baby,” AJ kneeled down beside her again. That was when Nick jumped on his back and yanked at his hair. “Aw, now that’s not fair!”

“How cute,” Riley laughed as she got up from the ground. AJ’s face fell as he looked at her skeptically. Narrowing his eyes he shrugged Nick off his back and walked up to Riley.

“Don’t tell me that you were using me, all this time, to get to Nick,” he asked seriously. Everyone else rolled their eyes and chuckled at him because we all knew he was playing.

“Actually, it’s all one big plot. See, I’m going to hook up with Nick next but my ultimate goal is to snag Howie,” she smirked, throwing her arm over Howie’s shoulder.

“That’s cold, Ri, reeeeeeeal cold,” AJ titled his head to the side.

“Oh please. Don’t give me that, you know that you’re the only man for me,” she left Howie’s side and walked over to kiss AJ’s cheek.

“Aw, nasty, this is the part where they get all mushy, making everyone else evacuate the area,” I grabbed my bags and headed toward the front door.

“You all should go home to do that crap,” Nick instructed them as he approached the door with his own bag in hand. Everyone said their ‘goodnights’ before Riley and AJ left. Howie, Nick and I all headed up to our rooms to unpack. I tossed my bags on the floor and flung myself on my bed. I wasn’t about to unpack, I had more important things to attend to. The anticipation, of my dad’s next journal entry, was enough to kill me!

Lord knows, I didn’t even get the journal open before Nick was knocking on my door! It figures. He asked me to round up all my dirty laundry so that we could get things going. I rolled my eyes before getting up and following his instructions. Rushing around, I quickly gathered my laundry and ran down the stairs. Dropping the pile on the laundry room floor earned me a dirty glare from Nick.

“Aw man,” I grumbled as I quickly started to load the washer. I filled the fabric softener ball and poured in the laundry soap before closing the lid and running out of the room.

“Slow down Baylee! Where’s the fire?” Howie asked, stepping to the side of the stairway as I whizzed past him. I continued to take the stairs two at a time.

“Can’t talk…got things to do…” I breathlessly called over my shoulder. I opened my bedroom door to the sound of my phone ringing. “Great, another distraction. Hello?”

“Hi, Bay, I’m glad to hear that you made it home okay,” Morgan’s voice floated into my ears. I was a little less agitated, now that I knew who was on the other line.

“Oh, hey, Morgs.” I greeted happily. I hadn’t been able to talk to her for almost a week so I was actually quite happy that she called.

“How was your little vacation?”

“It was a lot of fun. We went sledding and Nick almost hit a moose!”

“A moose? Are you guys all okay? I have heard that those things can cause a lot of damage,” her voice carried a tone of worry, which wasn’t really surprising. She was as protective of me as I was of her. It was a two way friendship.

“I said ALMOST hit a moose,” I chuckled. Sitting on my bed, I rested my back against the headboard and kicked my feet up.

“Oh, okay. Hey, I talked to Sean yesterday. He said he won’t be back until the day before school starts back up,” she sighed.

“Well, that sucks. Oh, I almost forgot, how did your…um…date, with Jason, go?” I questioned. I wasn’t really looking forward to the answer because I knew how Jason was, but I needed to know if he hurt her or not. After all, I could have him beat up, if I wanted to. I guess, being the most popular guy in school, has its advantages.

“Oh, Baylee, it was horrid!” she drew in a short gasp before continuing, “he took me to some upscale fancy place and everyone knows that I don’t have things to wear to places like that! I felt so weird and out of place! Then he took me to some lame movie and tried to make a move on me. He wanted me to go out to…well…you know,” her voice was aching with sadness and disappointment. “Just, don’t say it, okay?”

“Say what?”

“I told you so.”

“Oh, Morgan, you know I wouldn’t do anything to make you feel any worse. Hey, you should see if your mom will let you come over for a while tomorrow. We are going to have a barbeque at AJ’s place. You know, that’s always bound to be a lot of fun,” I was trying to lighten her mood a little. She always liked to hang out with us; we always had fun. Every once in a while, AJ would take one of his shopping moods and take us to the mall so he can spoil us. Have I mentioned how much I love him? HAHA!

“Sure, I’ll ask. It sounds like fun. Could we go swimming?” Her voice was cheery again. I could tell that she was smiling at the thought.

“What kind of a question is that? You know, we always do.”

“Cool! I’ll find a way to make sure mom lets me come.”

“Awesome. Give me a call if you need someone to come pick you up or anything. As usual, you just have to bring yourself, a swimsuit and a change of clothes. See you tomorrow, sleep well.”

“Thanks, Baylee. Sweet dreams.” With that, we hung up. I grabbed a Coke from my little refrigerator and settled in with my dad’s journal. Flipping it open, I found my spot and started to read…