Smile

Home Sweet Home

"I'm home!", I said bursting through my front door. I had expected Dad to be on the couch eating a sandwich and watching TV. He was of course, but I hadn't expected to see Chris, Crawford, Kirsten, Karisma, Mr. and Mrs. Collins, Ky, Euriah, Tank, and Justin there too.

"Welcome home!", everyone shouted enthusiastically, except Dad. His eyes were glued to the TV.

Mr. Collins slapped Dad on the back of the head pulling his attention from the TV. They sure had gotten close over these last two months. "Welcome home", Dad looked completely embarrassed as he set his sandwich down and came to give us a hug. I stared at him dully but hugged him anyway.

He and Vanessa started talking about the trip while I went to greet my friends. I approached Justin first. "How'd you get here before me?", I asked feeling cheated.

"Ancient Chinese secret", he laughed pulling me in for a hug.

"Ancient Chinese secret my a-", I shut my mouth when I saw Mrs. Collins shoot me the stink eye. Oops! I moved over to my best friends Euriah, Tank, and Ky. "I missed you guys the whole forty-eight hours I was gone", I said as we group hugged. Kirsten just waved but Karisma gave me a hug and so did Crawfish. When I finally got to Chris I wasn't sure what to do with myself. Should I hug him or what?

Chris made the decision for me and pulled me in for a very awkward hug. I didn't know if I should hug him like I did the guys or if I should loop my arms around his neck. Finally, after a painfully awkward session of flailing arms I hooked my arms under his armpits. Kill me now. "Miss me?", he teased.

"Yes, actually", I laughed.

When we pulled away, that's when he noticed my hair. "When'd you do this?", he said tugging on a flyaway.

"Um, yes-ter-day?", so much had happened over the span of a day and a half that I was having a hard time piecing events together. He raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Yesterday. It was definitely yesterday", I settled on the date remembering that I had worn that stupid white dress to both dye my hair and go to that dumb party.

"Before or after you saw...", his voice trailed off and he nodded discreetly in Justin's direction. My mouth dropped. Oh my, Chris was jealous.

I turned to him half smiling and half in shock. "Are you, Christian Collins, entertainer and entrepreneur, jealous?", I gasped.

Chris' voice got low and he lowered his face to mine although we were almost eye-to-eye, "Should I be?". His deep sea green eyes bored into mine.

My breath hitched and my heart rate increased ten billion fold. Holy cannoli, when did he get so bold? It was hot! "N-no", I squeaked. Oh, sweet baby Jesus, please have mercy on me! I was going to faint.

Note to self - bold Chris is too hot for me to function. That's all.

"Good", he smiled his usual brilliant smile. I clutched my heart, to his confusion but he ignored it. "So, when's your interview?".

"Four, so, I've gotta get going pretty soon", I said checking the time on my phone. 2:38, that only gave me about a half-hour.

Chris pouted a bit but his pouting was cut short by my Dad and Vanessa squealing like two little girls who just met... Justin Bieber. Shit, that blabber mouth. Dad and Vanessa had the cheekiest looks on their faces.

"Our baby girl's gonna be a star!", my dad said much too happily.

I grimaced at the trio of idiots. "No, I'm not. It's a one time thing", I told them matter-of-factly.

Everyone was giving us a confused look. "C'mon Steph, this duet is gonna be perfect", Justin said in an attempt to persuade me.

"Yeah, Steph", my dad was now whining. Thank you, Bieber.

"You're doing a duet with him?", Chris said looking slightly irked. Shit. I knew this was a bad idea.

"I didn't know you could sing, Steph!", Karisma said happily. "Sing?", she looked up at me with eyes so big Puss-in-Boots cave.

I shook my head. "You'll hear me sing in the song", I protested calmly.

"And the release party", Justin chimed in.

The look I shot him could only be described as a look of death. I was killing him with my eyes, slowly breaking him down. Shut your mouth Bieber. "Who said anything about a release party?".

"It's tradition", he said it like it was common knowledge. "You're a new artist so of course your first album has a release party, but since you refuse to make an album it'll be your first song".

That little weasel! I was ready to pounce when someone hoisted me over their shoulder and whisked me out the door. "Sorry, it's time to go", Chris apologized to everyone.

I heard a car beep, and no sooner had I heard the beep was I in the passenger seat. Chris jogged over to the driver's side and got in. Was this his car? It was a cute little Nissan, but I was in shock that I had just been manhandled by my crush. Did I say crush? Shit.

"Hey!", I cried out indignantly as Chris drove away from the house.

"Seat belt, please", he said calmly, grinning.

I was still in shock but now I was in shock and upset. Glaring holes into the side of his face I obliged and put my seat belt on. Today was going to be a long day.